QPR should be convinced of appointing Johannes Hoff Thorup on one Norwich City factor | OneFootball

QPR are looking for a new manager, and there's one factor that might influence them over the former Norwich manager Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Queens Park Rangers are in the hunt for a new manager, and there is one factor which may play into the club's thinking when the time comes to considering the former Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup.

QPR finished their 2024/25 Championship season in 15th place, and Marti Cifuentes paid for an underwhelming season with his job, albeit the biggest factor behind him being stood down appeared to be talks with a rival EFL club over a vacancy. This leaves the club in need of a replacement, and one name that has been linked with the vacant position is the former Norwich manager Thorup.

Thorup may not have worked out at Norwich, but he did succeed in one key area

Norwich sacked Thorup with a couple of games of the season left to play, eventually ending their season in 13th place. But while Thorup's time in charge at Carrow Road can hardly be considered a success, there was one significant way in which he did succeed.

Throughout the 2024/25 season, the Championship has been an extremely difficult division in which to score goals. But Thorup did manage this at Norwich. Despite finishing in the bottom half of the table, the 71 that Norwich scored in their 46 matches was the second-highest in the division, behind only the champions, Leeds United.

This goal charge was led by top scorers Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent, who scored 18 and 15 respectively for them in the league, almost half of their tally for the season.

Queens Park Rangers could certainly do with more goals next season

Like most other Championship teams, QPR could certainly do with a little more firepower in front of goal next season.

Despite only finishing two places and just one point behind Norwich in the final League table, Rangers scored 18 fewer goals than the Canaries, while they only conceded five goals fewer as well. The Championship is a division of fine margins, so having that greater firepower could make a huge difference.

QPR's list of goalscorers for the 2024/25 season tells its own story. While Norwich ended the season with two players who reached double-figures in the league, Rangers couldn't manage one, with top scorer Michael Frey topping their scoring chart with just eight goals.

But the problem ran deeper than this, because their second-highest goalscorer was defender Jimmy Dunne, who scored five. They only had one other forward - Rayan Kolli - who scored more than two.

Figures from Sofascore

There are good reasons why QPR fans could have reservations about Thorup being appointed as their new manager. After all, he was sacked by Norwich before the season ended because their season had been such a disappointment.

But Thorup does have something to recommend him, and arranging a team to be able to score goals might at least offer Rangers fans some hope that at least next season might at least be more exciting, even if there remains a lot of work to do to get them back fighting for a return to the Premier League following an absence of more than a decade.