Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

After labouring to a Boxing Day victory over Bristol City, QPR and new manager Paul Hart crashed back to earth quickly yesterday after a 3-0 defeat at Ipswich Town. It's a result that leaves the Hoops in tenth, five points off the play-off spots and with some teams above them afforded the luxury of games in hand. What can be taken from this lacklustre defeat then?

1 - Paul Hart's honeymoon is definitely over. It could be debatable if the new boss ever had such a luxury in the first place. If a manager takes over in the summer, such as Jim Magilton, they are afforded time to train with their new players, get to know them and if possible make additions where appropriate. Hart (pictured above) was never going to be so lucky, but a string of positive results could have given him a bit of breathing space. Instead, Rangers look to have barely progressed from the car-crash football which marred Magilton's last few days at the club and the reaction from the home support on Saturday shows that patience is now exhausted. It seems unfair that the new guy, thrown into the middle of this mess, should bare the brunt of bruised expectations but if he didn't know he had a tough job on his hand before, after yesterday's performance he surely will.

2 - QPR's defensive problems are far from sorted. You have to go back over two months to a 4-0 win at home to Preston for QPR's last clean sheet and the ease with which Jon Walters and Jon Stead found the net yesterday suggests that this dismal run could be set to continue. Since that game, QPR have tried five different combinations at centre-back and all to little positive effect. As it's cold outside and there's not too much to do, I've done a bit of number-crunching to show the performance of the QPR centre-backs in the 13 games since they kept a clean-sheet. It's far from pretty reading.

Kaspars Gorkss and Damion Stewart - 540 minutes together - 11 goals conceded = a goal every 49 minutes.
Gorkss and Fitz Hall - 300 minutes together - 8 goals conceded = a goal every 37 minutes.
Gorkss and Matt Connolly - 150 minutes together - 2 goals conceded = a goal every 75 minutes.
Hall and Stewart - 90 minutes together - 3 goals conceded = a goal every 30 minutes.
Hall and Connolly - 90 minutes together - 2 goals conceded = a goal every 45 minutes.


What to conclude from that? Well, if football were that simple, the manager should just pick Kaspar Gorkss and Matt Connolly (pictured above) and bank on letting in a goal a game (but no more). It's hard to draw conclusions when some partnerships have played far longer than others, but Hall, Gorkss and Stewart have all played for significant periods during this 13-game run and none have been able to bring stability to the side. Where Gorkss was reliable last season, he now looks tired and lacking in confidence, with Jon Stead able to easily brush him aside for his opening goal yesterday. Hall on the other hand has really struggled since returning from injury. Whilst remaining a formidable presence going forward, at the back he has tended to over-play it and at times, put his defence in jeopardy.

The defence is more than the two centre-backs of course, but I can't help thinking that if the new manager could settle on a trusted pair in this position (one hopefully containing Matt Connolly) he could go some way towards shoring up a porous back-line. At the same stage last season, Rangers had conceded just a goal a game compared to 36 goals in 24 games this season. Any success by the end of this season will need to be built on a more solid foundation.

3 - It's far from easy to get out of the Championship. The unpredictability of the Championship is now bordering on a cliche and one that The Football League Show are happy to trot out most weekends but QPR's results this season do show that they can compete with most sides and at the same time, are liable to get beaten on any weekend. Ipswich Town were on the brink of the relegation area going into this game but, going on the radio commentary admittedly, easily brushed aside Rangers' efforts. More number-crunching shows that over the last ten years, you need roughly 77 (77.3 to be exact) points to get in the play-offs. Once there, it helps if you finished fourth, the most likely position to be promoted from (barring first and second of course smart-arses). To hit that total, QPR require roughly 44 points from their remaining 22 games - or just under 15 wins. Again, it's never that simple and with clubs stretching down to thirteenth in the table still eyeing a play-off spot, it could take a lower total to sneak in. But with each passing week and each failure to win, the Hoops are moving further away from the stated ambition of the current board to push for promotion this season. It's not impossible, but it's going to be far from easy.

4 - January is a big month. State the obvious again, right? Why should any month in the season be more important than another - clubs especially in the Championship always play roughly the same amount of games, free from the pressures of European football?

Well, for a start there is the small matter of the FA Cup. Though QPR's record in this competition recently is woeful, a decent cup-run could be vital in raising morale and winning round those in the Loftus Road crowd who seem to already have doubts about the new boss. In the last nine seasons, they've fallen at the first hurdle each time including such memorable highlights as First Round defeats to Grimsby Town and Vauxhall Motors of the Unibond League (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2502973.stm). To even be in the hat for the fourth round would be a morale boost.

On top of that, the four league games over the next month could all be critical. After a pretty shambolic end to the decade and taking nothing for granted, they now have a chance to make amends straight away with two eminently winnable home games against Plymouth at the start of the month and Scunthorpe at the end. In between are two very tricky away fixtures at Blackpool and Nottingham Forest and if QPR are to be considered promotion candidates alongside these two sides, they will need positive results in both fixtures.

Finally, January could be a vital month because it raises the possibility of a touch of squad-strengthening. Considering recent form, this could be a pleasing solution for the new manager but I'm sure there will be time for more discussion of potential additions once the new year arrives...

Ipswich Town - Lee-Barrett, Delaney, McAuley, Leadbitter, Norris (Colback 54), Peters, Stead, Walters, John (Wickham 75), Rosenior, Edwards (Garvan 54).

Subs not used - Bruce, Counago, McLoughlin, Brown.

Goals -  Walters (4), Stead (63 & 78)

QPR - Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Leigertwood, Routledge, Buzsaky (Agyemang 66), Gorkss, Watson, Williams, Simpson, Taarabt (Balanta 78).

Subs not used - Hall, Connolly, Faurlin, Taylor, Borrowdale.

Referee - Mr S Tanner

Attendance - 25, 340

Damion Stewart returns from suspension for Rangers and with Fitz Hall less than convincing on Saturday, Paul Hart could decide to give him a chance in the central defence whilst Matt Connolly is also in contention after returning from a hip injury. Barring that, the new manager will not want to tinker too greatly with the side though Adel Taarabt who sat out Saturday's win could have the freshness to make a difference.


After a disastrous start, Ipswich are now trying to slowly lift themselves up the league table and are now unbeaten in six. The nature of their 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace will have riled them as well so QPR will fear a backlash. QPR also have a less than excellent record against Ipswich in recent years, with no wins in seven games. The last time the two clubs met, at Loftus Road, Jim Magilton was sat in the away dug-out and masterminded a 3-1 smash and grab victory. Rangers' fans would be more than happy to see the reverse today.


The result on Saturday was vital for QPR but the performance suggested the side are still to regain the confidence of their purple patch earlier in the season. Roy Keane has also struggled to impress his own supporters at times this season, but for all their lack of flair, he has made Ipswich into a hard team to beat. As a result, I have to sit on the fence for another game and I can see the honours being shared in this one.

SCORE DRAW

Ipswich Team News


Ipswich Town - A Potted History



British Pathe Golden Moment

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=33380 - The previously mentioned Ipswich manager Jackie Milburn playing for England and up against Argentina and their 'dead-pan' faced goalkeeper Rugilo.

QPR scraped past fellow play-off rivals Bristol City in their Boxing Day clash to earn their first win in seven games but a significant proportion of the Loftus Road crowd still booed the team off the pitch at full-time. What did we learn about the team, their performance and the fans from this game then? 

1 - You need an in-form striker to win. If you have just lost a manager, not won a game in seven matches and confidence is low, you need to take whatever chances you can get. Luckily for QPR, in a match in which they mustered only two shots on goal, they found the net with both and could once again call on the unerring instincts of Simpson to open the scoring. At only 21 Simpson is still in need of as much experience and match-time as he can get, but a record of a goal every other game speaks volumes for how he has adapted to the Championship. QPR have been crying out for a '20 goal a season' striker - in Simpson, they might have found one and without having to fork out huge sums as well. 

2 - Goals from midfield are always welcome. Mikele Leigertwood has never been known for his goalscoring and it would be foolish to get carried away just because he has found the net four times this season. What he has shown though is an ability to find the target from outside the area which can make the difference in very tight games. As with Simpson, when playing a well-organised team like Bristol City, a moment of luck or magic can make the difference and Leigertwood's strike yesterday was closer to the latter, almost passing a shot into the corner of the net from well outside the area.

3 - Winning ugly can work. Whereas QPR took the only chances they had, Bristol City had more than a few opportunites to get back into the game. After a wonder-strike from Nicky Maynard, more on that below, QPR were left hanging on for the win. Paul Hart decided to shore up his defence by bringing on both Matt Connolly and Gary Borrowdale late on which recieved a less than welcome reaction from some of the crowd. They may be living in a bubble in which QPR should hammer teams at home every weekend playing scintillating football but in reality, Rangers have been struggling to stay in contention with the Championship's pace-setters in recent weeks. Paul Hart was right in saying that the win was everything and should he have chased more goals only to over-expose his defence, the reaction would have been far more unforgiving. When your team has been routed 5-1 at home to Middlesbrough, a win over a decent Bristol City side should be welcomed rather than criticised.

4 - Nicky Maynard scores unbelievable goals. Though my prediction for this game was off the mark, I did say that Maynard finding the net was more than likely. How he did it though could not have been predicted. Controlling the ball in mid-air, he then flicked it up to himself, before driving the ball into the top corner with a sideways volley. It was a moment of complete improvisation and though I've argued that Simpson is doing the business for QPR at the moment, the club's league position could be even rosier if they had a striker with that type of ability.

QPR now face Ipswich Town tomorrow who suffered a mauling at Crystal Palace. They will need little motivation to undo such a poor result whilst Paul Hart has an opportunity to see if his side can win pretty.You get the feeling though that he would take three points however he can get them and after the chaos of recent weeks, that alone should be enough for now. More on that game to follow....

QPR - Cerny, Ramage, Hall, Leigertwood, Routledge, Buzsaky (Connolly 83), Gorkss, Watson, Faurlin (Agyemang 63), Williams, Simpson (Borrowdale 83).

Subs not used - Taylor, Pellicori, Balanta, Taarabt.

Goals - Simpson (32), Leigertwood (40).

Bristol City - Gerken, Orr, McAllister, Fontaine, Carey, Maynard, Hartley, Skuse, Williams (Sno 70), Haynes (Sproule 83), Saborio (Clarkson 71).

Subs not used - Henderson, Elliott, Edwards, Nyatanga.

Goals - Maynard (57)

Bookings - Haynes, Maynard, Sno.

Referee - Mr D Phillips

Attendane - 13,534.

Bloody footballers eh? Derided for most of the year as egotistical prima donnas with absolutely nothing in common with the average supporter, footballers definitely serve their penitence over the Christmas period. Whilst everyone else is snug at home opening presents, footballers have to rouse themselves from luxury king-size beds, kick the model girlfriend out of the house and get in the Bentley to go for an hour's training on Christmas Day. It would bring a tear to the most cynical of eyes. Not only that, but they have to play some matches as well and for QPR, it starts with Bristol City today.

QPR Team News

Still to play since the bust-up at Watford, Akos Buzsaky returns to the QPR squad today following a pelvic injury. Much of the momentum to remove Jim Magilton was attributed to Buzsaky and from early on, there was clearly something of a clash, with the ex-manager publicly criticizing the player on more than one occaision. How he responds now that Magilton is gone could have a significant impact on QPR's current form.

He could also be joined in the team by Matt Connolly who has recovered from a knee injury and that will make up for the absence of Damion Stewart who sits this one out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Sheffield United.

Form

Both these sides have definite promotion credentials, but the potential folly of talking either team up has been seen recently when both suffered from woeful form. City have one win in seven, QPR one in nine. The latter club also have a remarkable ability to kick themselves in the teeth, both on and off the pitch. Where there is chaos behind the scenes, there is often a complementary lack of conviction from the players, with 20 points thrown away from winning positions this season.

Historically, City have a less than stellar record at Loftus Road though, with no wins there since 1977. They did shade it in this season's previous encounter between the two teams however, a rocket strike from Nicky Maynard separating the sides.

Prediction

In my defence, QPR are genuinely an incredibly hard team to predict this season, especially now that a new manager is once again at the helm. Which players will he favour? What type of football will he aim for? Will the defensive weaknesses of recent games be dealt with? The evidence of the Sheffield United game showed that QPR had regained some steeliness at the back but at the expense of much of their attacking threat and Paul Hart sides haven't been goal-rich in the past. With very little to go on, I will play it safe and I think the lack of wins will continue for both these sides for at least one more game.

SCORE DRAW.

QPR's chaotic season now enters the busy Christmas period in which Paul Hart will look to seize control of an increasingly erratic team as soon as possible. By the second weekend in January, we'll have a better idea of which players the new boss is likely to favour and what sort of football they could produce. In the meantime though, Rangers will have played three more Championship fixtures and will also know their FA Cup fate. The first game in their Christmas quartet is Bristol City at home on Boxing Day and below is a quickfire account of Saturday's visitors.

Bristol City Team News

The most significant absentee for Bristol City could be on the bench, where manager Gary Johnson may miss out with a chest infection. Perhaps the temptation of staying home for some Christmas telly was just too enticing.

Two midfielders could also be snug in front of the box rather than travelling to Loftus Road. Marvin Elliott is far from certain after picking up a knee injury against Reading whilst Ivan Sproule will almost certainly not play after suffering a hamstring injury in the recent match against Doncaster.

Bristol City - A Potted History

Only the galactically stupid would dare to instigate a North-South debate of any kind, even less one that relates to football. A quick look at a list of English top-flight winners suggests that the North has the advantage in bucketfuls though. Of the top 13 clubs in terms of league wins, only two could be truly classed as coming from the South (Arsenal and Chelsea) with 9 clubs north of the Midlands.

All that is a very protracted way of saying that the south of England has been far from a footballing hotbed. Up to 1920, Bristol City were the only non-London club south of Birmingham in the Football League and they took advantage of that unique position to enjoy their most successful period. They achieved a historical high of second in Division One in 1906/7 and lost out to Man United in their solitary FA Cup Final appearance in 1909.

Far from repeating those successes though, after relegation in 1911, they didn't return to the top flight until 1976 under the stewardship of Alan Dicks - a thirteen-year manager of the club who was subjected to chants of 'Dicks Out' whilst managing Fulham in the early 90s. Once again, that promotion failed to usher in a golden age for the club which hit the rocks and almost went out of business in the early 80s (see below).

The closest City have come to the top flight since has been under current boss Gary Johnson who guided the club into the Championship during the 2006-7 season and then to within a whisker of the Premiership when they lost the 2008 play-off final to Hull City. Along with possibly 12 or 13 teams in this division, they will be hoping to go one better come May.



Relegation to the fourth division is pretty bad. If your club goes bust and eight of your best players have to accept redundancy to ensure its survival, then you know you're in quite a tough spot. As Churchill once said, "never was so much owed by so many to so few", though he may not have been referring to the Ashton Gate Eight as they became known. Following pressure from their board and despite some being on ten-year contracts, Julian Marshall, Chris Garland, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken, Geoff Merrick, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney and Trevor Tainton all tore up their contracts at the eleventh hour to save the club from extinction. They are pictured in happier times below:


The Grass Is Always Greener - Life as a Bristol City Supporter

Despite the upturn in their side's expectations in the last few years, City supporters are far from the most content bunch at the moment looking at the opinions proffered on one of their forums: Bristol City's Fans' Forum. Whilst admitting that the club has the best squad he has seen in 29 years, one member was particularly aggrieved at the 'boring, negative' football currently on view at Ashton Gate. Tactically, a lack of width and anyone to cross the ball was another common gripe. Whilst they class themselves as optimistic in general, it would seem that optimism is being tested right now.

Star Man

QPR know all about one of the most potent talents in the City squad. As they closed in on a fortunate draw at Ashton Gate in August, they were eventually undone by a roasting strike from Nicky Maynard, the club's record £2.25m signing from Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 2008. With his pace as a prime asset, the player quickly moved up from the youth set-up at Crewe and mustered a commendable 37 goals in 59 games.

In his first Bristol season, he struggled to find the net on a consistent basis but this time out, in a side which has been lacking in an attacking edge, his goals so far have kept the club on the fringes of the play-offs. Paul Hart looked to have shorn up some of the frailties in the QPR back-line last weekend, but there would be worse bets than backing Maynard to find the net on Boxing Day.

Team news on QPR and a commonly woeful prediction to come Saturday morning. In the meantime, Merry Christmas.

Hoop Dreams  - always the first to breaking news. Yes, it is finally time to deal with the sacking of Jim Magilton and his hasty replacement by Paul Hart with Mick Harford as his assistant. Clearly this was far from a good time to take a break from writing about QPR.

When I left things, Rangers were ready to face Watford off the back of a truly miserable 5-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough - the only game Gordon Strachan has won since joining the club eight games ago. It was a startlingly bad performance and one which demonstrated complete chaos at the back and an absence of spirit throughout the team. Just three days later, the increasingly malignant atmosphere around the club exploded.

Taking on a decent if far from spectacular Watford team, manager Jim Magilton (pictured below) chose to drop some of the club's best performers over the course of this season, including Adel Taarabt and Jay Simpson, preferring a front partnership of Patrick Agyemang and Rowan Vine. The football produced on the night by QPR was limp and predictable - a series of aimless long balls and mistimed passes which somehow resulted in Rangers taking the lead. That Agyemang failed to celebrate his surprise strike and instead shrugged off his teammates in an angry display was surprising but it only hinted at the level of discontent in the QPR ranks.

The three goals in reply by Watford and whatever was said in the QPR dressing room after the game then acted as the spark. Within hours, pictures came out of Akos Buzsaky standing crestfallen on the side of the Watford pitch, unable or unallowed to enter his own team's dressing room. By the next day, the news was even harder to digest as Buzsaky accused his manager of head-butting him in a post-match altercation and in the fall-out, which I won't go over here, Magilton departed the club just a week and a half later.

The facts of what went on that night are unlikely to ever fully be established especially as the club has once again quickly drawn a line under Magilton's time at the club, as if he were never there. Magilton's sacking definitely fits a pattern both in the ease with which it happened and the general confusion for supporters who are rarely given a reasonable explanation by the current QPR owners.

That is not to say that it was the wrong decision as there were a number of signs that the team's morale was worsening by the week. But for all that, the QPR job has now become one of the most unappealing in football and in light of the short-term nature of Paul Hart's (pictured left) contract, the club will most likely have to go back out into the job market to find another manager in the summer. They could well recieve a frosty reception.

More on Hart's appointment and the Boxing Day clash with Bristol City to come...

A truncated match preview for this one I'm afraid - the demands lof the Championship fixture list are too much for me. Below is the team news and what will very likely be (on the evidence of recent games) a hopelessly inaccurate prediction from me.

QPR can be thankful of one fact tonight; their opponents can't play Heidar Helguson, the man Rangers loaned to Watford halfway through September. Since then, Helguson has shown that, for him, there is no home like Watford, with five goals in just six games. Considering the flakiness of the QPR backline at the moment and the 'old club' rule, Helguson would have been nailed on to score tonight but the terms of his loan demand that he sits this one out.

Another loanee signing for Watford who has made an impact this season, Henri Lansbury, could miss out with a hip injury. Defender Jay DeMerit should be available though.


Jim Magilton will probably ring the changes following Saturday's debacle though he could be lacking for options in certain positions. Loan signing Steven Reid will miss out with a hamstring injury so the manager can't make too many changes in central midfield. Likewise at the back, Matt Connolly is unavailable with a pelvic injury. Damion Stewart could be brought into the centre of the back four though and Peter Ramage deserves a game at right-back.


QPR could do with an easy ride after the embarrasing mauling they recieved from Middlesbrough, but they're unlikely to get it tonight. Watford have won their last three home games at a canter - 4-1 against Sheffield Wednesday, 2-0 against Preston and 3-0 against Scunthorpe.

They have a decent record against Rangers in recent years as well, winning five of the last six games at Vicarage Road.


The unfettered optimism I've shown in recent predictions has to be tempered now. QPR have gone from playing well and dropping points to just outright playing badly. The absence of Helguson will affect Watford and give the visitors renewed confidence. But in the context of recent games, a point from this away game will be more than respectable for the travelling R's and it's what I fully expect to happen.

SCORE DRAW

Before discussing this game, below are the highlights from the BBC's Football League show. QPR were top of the billing on Saturday night so you don't have to scroll too far to see a game most R's fans would rather forget (it's only available until Sunday 13th December):

Going into this game, QPR had shown a very soft underbelly at the back which led to just one win in their last five games. After a home drubbing, which taken with the defeat at Doncaster and draw to Coventry serves as a massive wake-up call to the side's promotion ambitions, that underbelly now looks chronically weak and in need of some immediate repair before a bad run turns to a nightmare one.

This was a rare missed game for me at Loftus Road, which considering the circumstances was perhaps not a bad thing, though as Jim Magilton put it after the game, sometimes you can learn as much about a team in defeat as in victory. What, going on the Football League highlights then, did we learn about QPR on Saturday?

Firstly, the defence, which saved the club from an embarrasing league finish last season, seems to be suffering a collective crisis of confidence. Two players, looking at the Boro goals, had particularly torrid games on Saturday - captain Mikele Leigertwood and infrequent starter Fitz Hall. Both looked off the pace and were guilty of backing off players to a dangerous degree.

For the former and going on his own public utterances, right-back is not his preferred position and though that doesn't mean he cannot perform there, it could be time to use a right-back by trade, even if that player is the much-maligned Peter Ramage.

The latter player had a two-month layoff already this season, but on his return, he has been less than commanding at the back and struggled throughout the game to deal with the aggressive forward play of Leroy Lita. It raises another question of why last season's Player of the Year, Damion Stewart, is currently warming the bench.

The game also showed that this midfield is currently lacking in bite, with Gary O'Neil appearing to run the majority of proceedings. The holes left by Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands look bigger by the week, with none of the current midfield crop able to play the defensive role in front of the back four which could provide some much needed stability.

Finally, the side still look woefully short of options up front. The double substitution which brought Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang onto the pitch had immediate effect with Vine setting up his strike partner to put QPR back in the game. From then on though, the team looked top-heavy and Boro picked them off with three further goals in the last half-hour. More to the point, can either of these players find the net on a regular basis? If not, Rangers will remain damagingly tied to the performances of Jay Simpson, who is allowed to have the odd off-day considering his age.

Sitting in the stands, it is of course easy to suggest the club has to go straight into the transfer market at the first sign of a bad result. This was more than a bad result though and placed in the context of a poor run, with now just one win in six, suggests some of the team's problems are more than superficial. The club's owners have backed the manager in the loan market but not with any significant permanent buys, barring Alejandro Faurlin (pictured below), who unsurprisingly has been one of the season's top performers. Where could this team go with two or three more players of that quality?


Jim Magilton and John Gorman have a big task now to lift their players before tonight's game with Watford - more on that later. When the dust then settles, they might start identifying a few important reinforcements to try and buy come January.

HIGHS: Good opening spell, took the game to Boro.

LOWS: Inability to close down Boro attacks, more woeful marking on set pieces and a real lack of bite in the midfield.

QPR - Cerny, Hall, Gorkss, Borrowdale, Leigertwood, Routledge (Pellicori 80), Buzsaky (Vine 52), Watson, Faurlin, Taarabt, Simpson (Agyemang 52)

Subs not used - Taylor, Ramage, Stewart, Williams

Scorers - Agyemang (54)

Bookings - Hall

Middlesbrough - Jones, Pogatetz, St. Ledger, Williams, Wheater, Yeates, O'Neil (Digard 79), Arca, Osbourne, Lita, Kitson

Subs not used - Coyne, Hoyte, Riggott, Emnes, McMahon, L. Williams.

Scorers - Kitson (31), Lita (pen 50, 60), O'Neil (75), Yeates (87)

Bookings - Lita, Osbourne

Referee - P Gibbs

Attendance - 13,949

For the Hoops, Matt Connolly, who was already out for a long spell this season with glandula fever, now has a hip problem and so could miss out this afternoon. It will be disappointing for the player who will have been ready to make amends for one of his poorer games against Coventry last Saturday.

Steven Reid joins him in the treatment room with a hamstring injury which could damage his potential impact on his one-month loan. Rowan Vine is closer to first-team football after using the international break to undergo a hernia operation and Lee Cook is edging nearer to contention - expect him back at Christmas or the New Year if all things go to plan.


QPR's current position in the table is more a reflection of their breakneck form in October but they now have just one win in the last five games. At the same time, performances in recent matches have still been above par, barring a slack defeat at Doncaster so the points tally at the moment isn't matching what happening on the pitch.

Boro though will be equally keen to take home the three points. They're without a win in five so Gordan Strachan is still to taste victory since taking over four games ago. If you're fond of omens though, he waited until his fifth game in charge to win at Coventry and Southampton. Expect that fact to be repeated ad nauseum on the Football League Show tonight should Boro win.


The last two games which I thought Rangers would win comfortably have shown how hard it is to maintain form in the Championship, though Rangers have done themselves few favours in that time. But the football they are producing has been of a high enough standard to suggest the recent lack of wins has been a mere blip rather than a sign of any terminal decline. So it's hard to go for anything else than a home win again, though the keeper and back four will have to be switched on from the first minute.

HOME WIN

QPR welcome Middlesbrough to Loftus Road tomorrow with both clubs keen to get a much needed win after recent dips in form. If you're keen to bone up on Rangers' opponents but pressed for time, the quick guide below will fill you in on all the vital information.


Boro aren't overwhelmed by injury problems at the moment with Gary O'Neil likely to come back into the side after suffering with a groin injury. The one doubt is Marcus Bent, a recent loan addition who it was hoped would bring goals back to a misfiring side.


Boro flirted with the notion of turning professional for much of the late 19th century to the extent that a breakway team was formed - with the spectacular title of Middlesbrough Ironopolis. In fact, the breakaway side made it to the Football League before the real Boro, but the world wasn't ready for such an elaborate moniker and they went bust in 1893. The more factually named Middlesbrough Football Club stepped up to the league in 1899. In 1905, they sign centre-forward Alf Common and to borrow the style of British Pathe, "there was nothing common about the transfer fee", as he was the first £1,000 player. They achieve their best-ever top flight finish in 1914, when they reach third.

A rather big-headed striker named Brian Clough sets about a phenomenal scoring record in the 1950s when he reaches 197 goals in just 213 games and a similarly big-mouthed manager, Jack Charlton, leads the club back into the first division in 1974. Note no trophies or final appearances up until this point.

The early 90s see the club drop in and out of the top flight on a regular basis but the surge in money in the game in the mid-90s extends to the North East and Boro go on a splurge, building a new stadium and signing, amongst others, Juninho and Fabrizio Ravanelli. The club come fleetingly close to glory in 1996-7 when they reach two cup finals but are also relegated - more on that below. And it takes the intervention of the much maligned Schteve McClaren for the club to win their first trophy in 2004 when they land the Carling Cup in 2004.


Clear evidence here on 22 seconds that goalkeepers didn't get the protection they do nowadays: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=82745.


I'm a sucker for synchronicity and to my mind, Boro were close to both their greatest achievements and their lowest ebb in the same season. Can many other clubs have experienced as rollercoaster a season as Boro did in 1996-7? For a start, Boro had two of the most entertaining players in the Premier League that season. From the midfield, they could call on the unpredictable talents of Juninho whilst up front, they had a former Champions League winner on their books in the shape of Fabrizio Ravanelli, who provided 17 goals over the course of the season.

Their talents were allied to a steely spine of experienced players that included Nigel Pearson, Neil Cox and Clayton Blackmore. Somehow, despite dire league form and the deduction of three points, they still collectively reached both cup finals. Their route to the FA Cup Final was far from the hardest and they were particularly lucky to scrape past Chesterfield, needing two games to beat them in the semi-final whereas in the League Cup, they had a couple of noteable scalps including Liverpool.

Of course, neither run to Wembley ended in glory. The task of beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final was always a tall order but defeat to Leicester City over two games in the League Cup would have been particularly hard to swallow. But after years of dormant slumber, to explode to life in such a way in just one season must surely take some beating.


And yet, in exactly the same season, the club were relegated from the top flight, in no small part thanks to a three point deduction when the club called off a league game against Blackburn because too many of their players were ill. In short, the modern history of Boro could have been quite different had that season turned out slightly differently. Had they won both or one of their cup final visits and managed to avoid the drop, there would have been no tears from Juninho on the final day, no immediate departure from him and Ravanelli and potentially the club would have been taken far more seriously in England and abroad.

It's a very Premiership-centric way to look at their history and admittedly, the club have since been in and out of the Premiership and have added their first trophy but it did feel like they were on the verge of greatness over those memorable twelve months.


Clearly, Boro fans feel slightly aggrieved on a regular basis with quite a few saying it's hard to be a Boro fan because results 'always go against us'. Arnoldsballboy on the Footy Mad forum said the level of support from Boro fans at home games can be fairly mixed but away from home, they normally try to make as much noise as possible. The decibel levels at Loftus Road could do with being raised a few notches so it will be interesting to see if they live up to this prediction tomorrow.


Defenders don't always catch the eye, particularly of neutral viewers, but one of Boro's most important players so far this season has been Sean St Ledger, a Republic of Ireland international and a current loan signing from Preston North End. The centre-back has clearly done enough to impress because he is now linked with a permanent move to the club in January. He cemented a reputation as a reliable performer at Deepdale and became a firm fan favourite, so he could be a significant capture for Boro should they finally get him for good. 

I've been more than a bit slack this week and so am only now getting round to discussing the Coventry game from last Saturday.

There doesn't seem to be too much point in going through a minute-by-minute analysis of the game this far after it. QPR were clearly the better side for long stretches of the game and played some of the best football they've played at Loftus Road this season. Some of the linking moves in Coventry's half were excellent and I haven't seen the possession stats, but it looked like Rangers absolutely bossed this one.

And still somehow only got a point. Slack defending was blamed for the defeat at Doncaster and if anything, the collective effort at the back was even worse here and resulted in two points dropped and a thoroughly pissed-off manager after the game. In what was far from his most ebullient press conference, Jim Magilton couldn't fault his attacking players but was clearly more than a bit angry with the soft two goals QPR conceded. He said that for all their creativity, any team in the Championship still needs to 'defend for their lives' and his clearly hadn't. It wouldn't surprise me if defending set pieces hadn't featured in some way on the training pitch this week.

Results across the Championship weren't too damaging for the Hoops though who remain in fifth. This weekend brings Middlesbrough to west London. After a blistering start to life in this league, they've gone off the boil in recent weeks with Gordon Strachan (pictured left) yet to achieve a win since becoming their manager. In other words, both teams will desparately be craving three points on Saturday. More on the game and QPR's team news tomorrow.