Johannes Hoff Thorup to QPR news: Face-to-face meeting, Don Goodman surprise, other candidates to be linked | OneFootball

Queens Park Rangers haven't made a final decision over the identity of their new manager, so here's a round-up of the latest over this vacant position

Queens Park Rangers have been closely linked to the former Norwich City manager Johannes Hoff Thorup as a replacement for Marti Cifuentes, but there has been no confirmation of the club's decision yet. Here's a round-up of the latest developments.

QPR put manager Marti Cifuentes on gardening leave for their final game of the 2024/25 season following a breakdown in relations with CEO Christian Nourry, as well as having been closely linked with the vacant position at West Bromwich Albion.

Rangers finished the 2024/25 season in 15th place in the Championship, and were eliminated from both the FA and Carabao Cups in the Third Round.

Thorup's face-to-face meetings with the QPR hierarchy

Former Norwich City manager Johannes Hoff Thorup has been most closely linked with the vacant position.

The Danish website Tipsbladet reported last week that Thorup "was recently in London to talk to the club's representatives face to face", but there has still been no confirmation of him having been appointed, as of the last week in May.

Goodman "surprised" by Thorup links to QPR after Norwich's 2024/25 season

Speaking exclusively to Football League World at the end of last week, Sky Sports Pundit Don Goodman admitted that he was "surprised" at QPR's interest in him.

He told us: “There were lots of things about his Norwich City that I liked - particularly when they had the ball in the opposition half and in the forward areas - but then there were things I didn’t particularly like, in terms of the risks they took trying to play out from the back." He did state though that he was "slightly surprised that QPR would be interested in employing him".

Goodman told us that he felt that Thorup had misjudged the mood at Carrow Road upon being appointed: "I think he believed that there was a project at Norwich City rather than something that had to happen instantly and in the very, very short term. I think he felt that he could go in, develop a style of play, develop a playing squad over the course of maybe eighteen months to two seasons before being judged."

Thorup isn't the only candidate considered for the QPR position

Although most of the speculation concerning the vacant position at Loftus Road has surrounded Johannes Hoff Thorup, he isn't the only candidate for it.

The former Lyon head coach Pierre Sage has been connected with the position for a while now, and last week the French newspaper L'Equipe confirmed that he could still be appointed to the position.

There has also been speculation concerning the former 1. FC Magdeburg manager Christian Titz, who left the German club after having finished fifth in the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2024/15 season. German journalist Florian Plettiburg linked Titz with "clubs from the Championship", though he did also mention that another 2. Bundesliga club, Hannover 96, could also be interested in him.

Both of these managers have considerable experience, but neither have managed in England before. Sage spent more than ten years coaching and was promoted to the managerial position at Lyon after having been the head of their academy. He took Lyon into the Europa League at the end of 2023/24, but was sacked in January 2025 after a poor run of results. There has also been interest in him from Lens and Leicester City.

Titz is another graduate from the academy system. He came up through the ranks at Hamburger SV, and also managed Rot-Weiss Essen, before taking over at Hannover in 2021, getting them promoted to the third to the second tier at the end of his first full season in charge. He quit at the end of the 2024/25 season and, according to Plettiburg, is "ready for a new chapter".

With the season now over and QPR supporters starting to get restless ahead of the summer, the time for the club to make a final decision over this appointment is surely now close.