Former QPR defender Alan McDonald feels Joey Barton has placed the club in a difficult position.
Barton has been banned for 12 games after his Manchester City carnage.
McDonald told talkSPORT he believes Barton would have faced more of a backlash had his side not survived on the final day of the season.
"Its probably an extremely good thing that QPR stayed in the Premier League because if they had gone down I think Joey Barton's future at the club in regards to the fans would have been very, very unstable," McDonald said.
Former Northern Ireland international McDonald played over 400 games for QPR and suspects Tony Fernandes, the club's owner, and manager Mark Hughes will be counting the loss of Barton - both on and off the pitch.
He said: "There is a decision that is going to need to be made - he is going to be missing a third of the season and as a coach and a manager that is a big thing to take.
"Certainly the chairman will be saying to the manager, 'We are paying this man x-amount of pounds and we are going to get no reward for a third of the season', and that is going to be the big issue.
"Unfortunately he has got himself in trouble again and people are going to say, 'Would I take a chance on bringing him to our football club if QPR do release him?'."
Despite the celebrations following a dramatic survival campaign, McDonald feels Barton's actions have diminished the achievement.
"He has got himself in a very messy situation and from QPR's point of view it was a fabulous achievement for them to stay up this season...and all of a sudden there is a black cloud hanging over not only Joey but the club itself," he said.