EPL Queens Park Rangers' Wage Bill Doubled Before January's Spending

The scale of the challenge facing EPL Queens Park Rangers if Manager Harry Redknapp fails to keep them in the Premier League "is laid bare in newly published financial results for last season, which show their wage bill doubled even before the latest spending spree," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. Thanks to increased TV income, revenue "rose sharply" from £16.2M ($24.4M) to £64M ($96.4M). But the initial splurge on players including Shaun Wright-Phillips and José Bosingwa -- followed by Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cissé in Jan. 2012 -- "meant that QPR's wages-to-revenue ratio stood at over 90% even before spending in the last two transfer windows is taken into account." Owner Tony Fernandes admitted in his directors' report that the board is "conscious of the need for expenditure to be closely monitored and controlled" but also the need to invest in the playing squad (GUARDIAN, 3/7).