Hasselbaink in talks with QPR

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is the front runner in the race to take charge at Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers have opened talks with Burton Albion manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink regarding the vacant post at Loftus Road.

The former Netherlands international is the stand out candidate for the Hoops, who dismissed Chris Ramsey last month but is he the right man to get their promotion push back on track?

There has been a trend for clubs in the second tier to poach managers from further down the pyramid in recent years – something that Burton Albion fans will be only too familiar with.

Lightning strikes thrice?

Gary Rowett – the man Hasselbaink replaced at the Pirelli Stadium twelve months ago – moved to Birmingham City and currently has them in the play-off places while Nigel Clough – who managed the Brewers for over a decade was poached by Derby County.

Though the landscape of football was far different in his father Brian’s day, Clough junior would have been encouraged by his story.

The man often referred to as the greatest manager England never had started off at Hartlepools United, where he appointed Peter Tayor (then managing, you guessed it – Burton) as his assistant.

Together, Clough and Taylor took both Derby County and Nottingham Forest from the second tier to the top division title before winning back to back European Cups with the latter – a feat simply unimaginable in the modern era.

Success stories

A more recent success story comes in the shape of David Moyes, who was plucked by Everton from Preston North End and, whilst not winning any silverware in just over eleven years at Goodison Park gained a reputation that saw him be selected as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at then English champions Manchester United.

Roberto Di Matteo cut his managerial teeth at MK Dons, taking them to third place and eventual play-off defeat in League One though that was enough to see him progress to West Bromwich Albion – who he guided to the Premier League and then, albeit briefly in an interim role, Chelsea – where he oversaw the most successful night of their history when they beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Of course in football, for every successful managerial appointment comes several that don’t quite match up, and the man who was in charge of MK Dons either side of Di Matteo certainly warrants a mention here.

Never say never go back

Paul Ince was handed the Blackburn Rovers job after winning the League Two title with the Dons, and returned to Stadium MK a year later having presided over a less than enthralling six months at Ewood Park.

Hasselbaink’s stock is rightly high, but should he remain at Burton and attempt to take them to the Championship? Should Dean Smith have remained at Walsall, who moved to third in League One with victory at Shrewsbury on Tuesday evening, instead of making the step up to Brentford?

The former Chelsea, Leeds United and Atletico Madrid forward strikes me as a man driven by success and he will certainly back himself to prosper at a higher level.

Though with a host of positions likely to be open in the summer, as there often are, perhaps his best option would be to attempt to get the Staffordshire club over the line and reassess his situation at the end of the campaign?

Burton are fourth favourites to win promotion to the Championship behind Coventry City, Walsall and Wigan Athletic, and can be backed at a price of 11/8 to go up.

Should Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink take the Queens Park Rangers job?