Hill wants a coaching role at Rangers

Clint Hill wants to stay at QPR in a coaching capacity when his playing career finishes – and that could be at the end of next season.

The veteran defender, 35, will ask for a one-year deal when his current contract at Loftus Road expires this summer.

Beyond then, he is keen to be given a role working with the club’s youngsters.

And despite his current importance to the team – he has been player of the year for the last two seasons – the ever modest Hill has revealed he fears becoming a “burden” if he continues playing for too long.

“I’d like another year. I feel fit enough. If that’s here then brilliant, if not then I’ll hopefully plot up somewhere,” he said.

“It’ll be down to where the club is, what league they’re in and what kind of stage they are in terms of where they want to go.

“Hopefully, come May, everyone has a smile on their face, the club is moving forward, and I’ll sit down with the appropriate people and see where they want to go.”

Hill added: “Everyone I speak to says to keep playing for as long as you can. But you’ve got to weigh it up; do you become a burden?

“You don’t want to become a negative for the team. You need to watch out for that.”

Rangers have expanded their youth system in line with Football Association guidelines and say they intend to make radical improvements in the coming years.

So Hill, who was signed from Crystal Palace in 2010, is hopeful there will be a long-term role for him in west London.

“I’d love to stay here. I’ve got coaching ambitions and if I could do that here, be involved in that kind of scene, then I’d love to,” he said.

“To be a part of the future here in terms of the academy and stuff like that is something I really want to do if that kind of role comes up.

“I’m doing little bits here and there with the Under-16s and I’m hopefully going to finish my A coaching license in the summer, so I’m well on course, it’s just a question of where the club fits when I do hang up my boots.

“I love it here, I really do. My family are settled and I’ve built up an affection for the club. I really want the club to do well and I want to be a part of the future here.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs but it’s a great little club and hopefully it can get back to where it wants to be.”

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