Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

QPR 1 Burnley 1 - Warnock: Referee Had A Bad Day At The Office

2010-10-30T18:10:00.000+01:00

Very early in this game, a chant came up from the 1,404 Burnley fans which very succinctly summed up the atmosphere around Loftus Road.
‘It’s just like being in church’ they sang. The Rangers supporters couldn’t really argue and they didn’t bother either, preferring to wait for their team to raise the interest levels.

It was far from gloomy, although the autumn drizzle didn’t help to lift spirits, but for a top-of-the-table side there was a lack of buzz around the ground. The next chant from Burnley’s travelling supporters of ‘top of the league, you’re having a laugh’ was harsher.

If there was little in the way of give-and-take in the stands, there was plenty on the pitch, with a number of personal battles across the turf, particularly between Michael Duff and Rob Hulse, making his first start for Rangers.

They kept in extreme proximity to each other for most of the first half and both complained of overly physical treatment from their opposing ‘shadow’.

The Burnley defender was unwilling to give an inch across the pitch, diving in to expertly steal the ball from Jamie Mackie as he readied himself to pull the trigger on 16 minutes.

Another personal battle was played out at other ends of the pitch as Adel Taarabt and Chris Eagles made competing bids for the ‘most embarrassing dive of the game’ award.

Eagles went one better by performing two laughable attempts to earn a spot-kick in the first 45 minutes, the second of which, under the merest hint of a challenge from Kaspars Gorkss, put the ex-Manchester United player deservedly in the book.

Not that Eagles wasn’t proving a handful in other ways and a combination of his driving runs and Chris Iwelumo’s strong aerial presence and hold-up play was putting Rangers’ record of not conceding at home in the league this season under jeopardy.

Eagles pulled a fizzing low shot from the edge of the area which stretched Paddy Kenny in the Rangers’ goal to the full.

He could only parry the ball out into his area allowing Jay Rodriguez a simple tap-in, but Kenny flung himself onto his shot for a remarkable double save to keep the ball out.

Having rode their luck, Rangers took full advantage through Adel Taarabt who up until that point had flattered to deceive and been fairly woeful in his final ball.

The first point of a pre-game team talk for any visiting manager to Loftus Road should be ‘do not give Taarabt space on the edge of the area’.

Perhaps his wasted flicked passes beforehand lulled Burnley into a false sense of security or more fairly, perhaps his run was just too good to challenge.

He must have twisted Graham Alexander’s blood by the number of times he switched direction before drilling the ball into the top right corner.

A beautiful goal, another collector’s item for the Moroccan and another indicator that he is a name you would leave off the team sheet with great caution.

He was high on confidence after that, embarrassing Eagles with a staggering number of step-overs and drag-backs which drew a petulant push.

An arcing cross was inches from meeting the forehead of Hulse as well and a calmly planted pass in the area should have found one of Alejandro Faurlin or Hulse but they chose to tackle each other instead.

Rangers were also collectively showing their willingness not to surrender a goal at home.

Matt Connolly strode from the area to block a long-range shot by Danny Fox while from the resulting corner, Shaun Derry whipped Eagles off the ground with a heavy but fair challenge.

The Burnley midfielder was brought off for Ross Wallace at the break after a half in which he could have been sent off.

That was after Rangers finally succumbed to a league goal at Loftus Road after 585 minutes of football though.

Paddy Kenny, who Norwich and Swansea both failed to put penalties past already this season, was called to provide the last line of defence once more.

After Iwelumo rose to head the ball down, Matt Connolly unfairly checked the run of Dean Marney and the referee rightly pointed to the spot.

Graham Alexander then ran up to place an unstoppable penalty into the top corner as the half closed.

Eagles’ replacement was lively after the break and Burnley began to dominate in the middle of the park, pushing forward and Rangers looked stretched on their relatively few counter-attacks.

Manager Neil Warnock showed his willingness to re-arrange his pack to find another goal with Rangers looking increasingly faltering in the final third, particularly in comparison with their blistering home form at the start of the season.

He brought off Hogan Ephraim for Patrick Agyemang on 61 minutes.

Ephraim seems to be the first-choice to come off in most games and by extension, must feel his place in the starting line-up is far from assured.

Wade Elliott threatened on the break for Burnley, driving from his own half and nearing the Rangers area before he drew a late challenge from Gorkss which saw the Latvian go into the book.

Neither side could create as clear openings as they had in the first half, though Jamie Mackie, who had a quiet game by his standards, did come close to planting a beautiful cross onto the head of Agyemang.

Soon Leon Clarke, who has been a stranger to the QPR team for much of the season, was on for Hulse who had failed to get a firm grip on the game.

Iwelumo could have taken all three points for Burnley, racing across the Rangers area and working the space for himself before blasting acres over the bar.

Jay Rodriguez as well came within inches of diverting the ball past Kenny with an outstretched toe.

In response Rangers laid siege to Burnley’s goal in the final ten minutes and deep into the five minutes of injury time, with Tommy Smith also joining the fray in place of Mackie.

Smith scuffed a shot from the edge of the box when he should have worked Lee Grant but he was very close to making amends with a sensational curled effort from distance.

After the match, Warnock, who is very wary to criticise referees nowadays, said today’s official, Iain Williamson, had a ‘bad day at the office’. He did fail to control a bad-tempered encounter though I’m not sure QPR’s manager is right in his assessment of Burnley’s penalty.

Though the Rangers crowd did struggle to reach a state of any excitement, one supporter showed that they haven’t lost their sense of humour, despite the team now surrendering a six-point lead to trail Cardiff, who now lead by two.

Few supporters left before the end but one particularly wealthy benefactor, Bernie Ecclestone had seen enough with quarter of an hour to go. As he stopped for a spot of schmoozing on his way out, he was met with cries of ‘Sit down Bernie’. Not quite biting the hand that feeds you, but…

It was a result no-one could be too despondent about but as with previous home games against Milwall and Norwich, it seems that Rangers are hard to beat right now but lacking in inspiration themselves. The manager said his team now need to lose a game so that they can start winning again.

Match Report - QPR 0 Norwich City 0

2010-10-16T17:05:00.000+01:00

Despite a number of players getting themselves back into first-team contention, fitness-wise, over the international break, QPR manager Neil Warnock went with an unchanged side for the visit of third-placed Norwich - a game that few would have marked down as a promotion battle at the start of the season but which has taken on such a context in the proceeding months.

It was the usual suspects looking likely to break the deadlock for Rangers in a tight and nervy first half, in which the R's goal, still to be breached at home in the league this season, lived a charmed life. Adel Taarabt and Jamie Mackie were the brightest players in the opposition's half; Shaun Derry was tirelessly chasing down opponents in the middle and Kaspars Gorkss and Matt Connolly were ably dealing with the dual threat of the imposing Grant Holt and the nimble Simeon Jackson, but there was still something missing from the R's first half performance - the key ingredient to allow a sell-out crowd to lift the roof off.

Holt showed he would be a handful with less than ten minutes gone, forcing a point-blank range save from Paddy Kenny, though it was tame enough to not overly worry the R's keeper. Mackie showed his composure in the box to control and turn back a loose ball to Gorkss following a Taarabt corner just minutes later, but the defender's well-struck shot skimmed past the far post after taking a deflection. In truth, that would represent the best chance for the R's in the first half.

No match report on QPR is complete without a reference to Adel Taarabt's, how shall we diplomatically put it, 'tendency to keep the ball for extended periods of the game'? So often a major asset to the team, there remained moments in this opening half when the simpler option of a laid-off pass went begging and Mackie made his feelings clear when his team-mate decided to try and beat Norwich single-handedly rather than play him down the wing.

After a bright start for the home side, the visitors grew in confidence, patiently building from midfield or on other occasions, moving the ball quickly to Holt or Jackson who could both confidently hold it up until team-mates arrived. Rangers themselves were all too often trying to quickly play a cross-field pass which the two Norwich centre-backs, Elliott Ward and Leon Barnett could calmly mop up.

Having amazingly not conceded a goal at home so far this season, Rangers didn't look too likely to do so here until Clint Hill got a bit too personal with Holt in the area. Climbing over the striker like his life depended on it, it was far from surprising to see the ref point to the spot. Kenny took his time to move into the goal, waiting by his post to have a long swig from his water bottle. Up stepped Wes Hoolahan... only to lamely drag the ball wide of the goal. Kenny looked like he would have reached it had the midfielder been able to get in on target - this was one battle of wills firmly won by the Rangers goalkeeper. You started to wonder just how long the R's could keep their goal at Loftus Road unbreached.

After that though, the Hoops struggled to muster anything of their own in terms of a convincing goal threat - a situation not improved by Buzsaky limping off to be replaced by Mikele Leigertwood who, perhaps understandably considering the amount of time he has spent on the bench this season, looked off the pace of the game.

He improved after the break, without ever looking likely to play the type of killer pass that the game sorely needed. Not to say that it was ever dull, just that both sides were so well-organised and so tight at the back, that a consecutive goalless draw at Loftus Road was a safe bet. At least the Rs' fans would have little chance of facing the disgusting treatment they got when Milwall's 'supporters' celebrated their 0-0 draw just before the international break.

The options to score were slowly disappearing and being firmly reduced to either 'a moment of magic' or one of madness. Or just sheer blind luck. When the excellent Kyle Walker, a very smart loan addition from Spurs, smashed the ball goalwards, the wild deflection off the crown of Jamie Mackie was inches from resting in the top corner.

At the other end, Gorkss was playing out his own football cliche, that of the brave, bandaged centre-back. With his head heavily strapped, he was first to every long ball, most crosses and any attempt to have a shot in the area. A faultless display which is a big explanation for Rangers' resolute defending this season. Holt should have done better though as the game neared its conclusion, shooting well over the bar when afforded time and space on the edge of the area.

Gorkss could have capped his day with a goal and when Rangers are searching for a winner, he can often be relied on to get a head, foot or any body part to a loose ball and force it over the line. A bout of head tennis in the area was nearly won by the Latvian. His header back across goal was in turn headed off the line by (I'm 95% sure) Andrew Crofts.

A largely anonymous Hogan Ephraim made way for Patrick Agyemang. A tired-looking Taarabt was swapped for Tommy Smith. Neither could greatly influence the game though the latter did really well to chest the ball, bring it down and shoot on the turn to force a good save from John Ruddy deep into injury-time.

A minor blip then, two nil-nil draws at home on the trot. And just the four points clear at the top. Whatever next. In the history of QPR, that's still very far from a bad position to be in. The chance to equal their best-ever start is gone but with two away games over the next six days, the players have the chance to quickly find the net again.

QPR's Squad Size Could Be The Difference

2010-10-16T13:10:00.000+01:00

Just what does it take to get promoted out of the Premiership? That is a question which QPR may find an answer to between now and next May, cast as they are as promotion certainties or at least favourites far and wide. Sufficient resources, in terms of wage bill, transfers paid and the infrastructure around the club, from the stadium to the commercial set-up, can not be ignored in judging a team's readiness to make the step up the league ladder. Two of last season's promoted sides - Newcastle and Blackpool - show the truth and error behind that statement though.

A smattering of top-class players, at least at the Championship level, certainly helps and this is an area where Rangers tick the right boxes. Adel Taarabt, though I spend most of my time moaning about him, is a serious candidate for the best player in the division; Jamie Mackie has been a revelation, a player soaring with confidence which came across even in his brief cameo for Scotland against Spain on Tuesday (why wasn't he on earlier in the game?) Akos Buzsaky on his day, though you never know when that will be, can outshine most Championship players.

Maybe though sometimes quantity trumps quality. If you have enough decent-to-good players, players with experience and with the professionalism to do what is required of them, without ever being the stars, you could have the seeds for a promotion-winning squad. Though Rangers haven't wowed the world with the type of big-name signings that were hinted at when money first flooded into this club, they have brought in players far more frequently than many of their rivals. In fact, Neil Warnock has built close to a new starting XI, with a number of his summer signings unable to even get a game whether it be through injury or through the improved form of others.

Today though he could suffer from a bizarre medical condition that only football managers seem to get - 'the nice headache to have'. Rather than a energy-sapping, nerve-wracking migraine built of worry, doubt and fear, this is just a gently gnawing pain as the boss surveys the many players on his squad sheet and realises that he just can't keep everyone happy. It's the 'type of problem you won't to have'.

With the vast majority of his squad afforded a two-week break because of international fixtures, Warnock has seen a trickle of players returning to fitness so that he now has a few of those difficult decisions to make across the pitch. With Bradley Orr returning to fitness, does he stick with loanee Kyle Walker at right-back? Does Alejandro Faurlin walk straight back into the R's midfield or did Buzsaky impress enough in a central role to warrant a further start? Should signings Leon Clarke or Rob Hulse get a look-in at the top-end of the pitch or is a front-line of Heidar Helguson, with Mackie and Taarabt at close quarters too potent to mess with?

The truth is that the manager is unlikely to make vast changes to his side. But with the fixtures now arriving in rapid succession, with trips to Swansea and Bristol City to come before next weekend, the changes could arrive soon and the real marker of QPR's promotion credentials could be how deep the well runneth - can players itching to break into the team or just coming back from injury quickly re-integrate themselves into the team when required and make up for the niggles and injury problems which will surely arise?

There are far too many questions here for one day and you can't expect me to answer them. Rangers are unlikely to give much of a pointer to how capable their whole squad is today either. But they will soon have to and over the next two months, the readiness of the club to step up a division will be called into question. Come back later today for a match report on the Hoops' sell-out game against third-placed Norwich and don't forget, two more wins and QPR will equal their best-ever start to a season. As Crazy Earl says in vastly different circumstances in Full Metal Jacket, 'these are great days we're living, bros.'

Incredible? Five Minutes on QPR's Season So Far

2010-09-28T17:14:00.000+01:00

Just over a month of not posting on here and I’ve regrettably missed so much of QPR’s incredible start to the season.

Is incredible over-stretching the point? In the context of how this club performed last season on the pitch, the utter shambles of so much of the board’s actions off the pitch and the general feeling of inertia and discontent around the place, I don’t think it is.

In every department of their team, Rangers are performing way above expectations and what seemed possible last season. At the back, just two goals conceded so far with a settled goalkeeper as well compared to a team which shipped goals for fun and consistently put itself on the back foot throughout last season. In the midfield, a healthy amount of competition so that a player like Akos Buzsaky has sat on the bench for most of this season so that even when star players like Alejandro Faurlin are injured, as is currently the case, there is enough back-up in the squad to weather any resulting deficiencies. And in attack, a number of players scoring for fun, including Jamie Mackie who came to the club to a noticeable lack of enthusiasm from most quarters but who has shown himself to be one of the most exciting players to pull on the Hoops shirt in the last few seasons.

From all the excellent performances which I have completely failed to report on, the 2-2 draw at Derby County was perhaps the most enjoyable and most out-of-character, in comparison with last season once again. Knocked for six by two breakaway goals, Rangers showed such depths of character to keep knocking away at Derby and to finally be rewarded with two of the most thrilling goals I’ve seen them score in a long time.

Were they both pretty goals – far from it, though the technique Mackie showed to score the equaliser was unquestionable? What they did show though was an immense desire to get at the opposition, to almost literally batter them out of the way until the required result was achieved. When Patrick Agyemang, a player who refused to celebrate a goal last season such was his dismay at the direction the club was heading in, is busting a gut to run from the halfway line and score, you know a corner could well have been turned.

The reaction on the bench was the equal of the hard work on the pitch, a draw celebrated like a Cup win and another indication that whatever you would knock Neil Warnock for, it wouldn't be a lack of enthusiasm for football. The best managers give the impression that very little matters for them outside of the game, with the obvious exception of their families (and perhaps not even them). I’d put Warnock in that category and that is a quality which could drive this club to success.

Enough harping on about the Derby game then, which could be well forgotten amid the flurry of wins since, but in looking back at the season so far, it is still oddly the stand-out game for me. Rangers have played some eye-catching football at Loftus Road this season where they are still to let in a league goal, but in showing that they had a Plan B, that if need be they would resort to getting balls and bodies into the opposition’s box, I believe they showed some of the qualities needed to get promoted from this league.

That is still a long way off. Tonight another game, the visit of 'no-one likes us' Milwall, that might require them to win ugly, to be patient and be willing to fight for every minute of the match. What could have been a faintly depressing or just mediocre night could be another memorable mark in QPR’s upward rise. They remain the team to watch in the Championship right now and I hope, as ever, to not miss quite so many of their games on this site as well.

QPR 2 Scunthorpe United 0 - Match Report

2010-08-21T17:07:00.001+01:00

Rangers went into their second home game of the season against Scunthorpe knowing that a win would put them top of the pile come Saturday evening, after Milwall's early defeat against fellow promoted side Leeds earlier in the day. A blistering first-half performance though suggested they could make a reasonable stab at staying there for much of this season. Not to get carried away too early though...

A settled and organised looking line-up saw a back-line of Orr, Connolly, Gorkss and Hill start ahead of keeper Paddy Kenny. Alejandro Faurlin, who is now so famous that Lady Gaga released a song about him this summer and Shaun Derry sat fairly deep in the middle behind a free-wheeling attack of Jamie Mackie and Hogan Ephraim on either wing and Heidar Helguson partnered by Adel Taarabt, both captain and inspiration behind much of Rangers play.

Taarabt went close with a freekick which he almost passed into the net on just eight minutes and Iron keeper Joe Murphy did well to get down low and tip it wide. It served as an early marker of how much of a key role he would have in the afternoon's proceedings.

Just five minutes later, you got the both the best and worst of him in one move, which is so often the case and is one of the reasons managers often mark him out as an incredibly frustrating player to watch, as Neil Warnock has already done. He beat at my count at least three players, taking them out of the game with a cocky drag-back but then with a slight flailing hand from the Scunthorpe defender, he sunk to earth in search of a penalty. It was a blatant attempt to cheat the ref which was lucky not to earn a yellow card and was also completely unnecessary.

To his wide collection of skills, tricks and party-pieces (as well as yes, dives) he also demonstrated a near-perfect dead-ball delivery today which brought the R's opening goal. His whipped corner found new-boy full-back Bradley Orr running to meet it and his downward header nestled in at the far post. It was a deserved reward to an absolutely flying, confident start from the home side.

Their shape in the opening half was almost perfect, both full-backs getting forward frequently and looking more than comfortable in possession of the football which has not often been the case in the last two seasons and probably longer. Faurlin also looks like he can still improve and even get better at this level while Derry was a much-improved presence from the one I saw struggle against bottom-division side Port Vale.

And then there was Taarabt who is so head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch, at least in terms of natural talent and ability, that his every touch now sends a charge of excitement around the whole stadium. There was a moment halfway through the first 45 minutes, when he broke from the halfway line and you could sense not only the desperation in the Scunny back-line at how to deal with him but also a genuine expectation from the crowd that he could make a goal from such a position.

He tore away, exchanged passes with Faurlin, did a brilliant on-the-ball turn and was unlucky to see his shot deflect up off a defender for a corner. Now committed to the club for the foreseeable future he could become a genuine hero with the fans for years to come. Does he try to do too much on his own? Yes. Does he provide at least one embarrassing dive in most games? Probably. But he is hands down Rangers' best player.

Heidar Helguson soon squandered one of many chances, after a perfect cross from the impressive Orr found him free at the back post, a position he creeped into throughout the afternoon with little in the way of marking from the Iron. His fairly tame header though was pushed away by Murphy.

The away side were struggling to find a way back into the match though their one goal danger, Jonathan Forte, did break through on goal just after the half-hour, and would be afforded a similar opportunity in the second half. On this occasion he chose to try and chip Kenny from outside the area but scooped his shot well over the bar.

Scunthorpe needed him to be sharper when he had sight on goal and soon after, their task became much more difficult. Rangers doubled their lead with a truly great, great goal, one which summed up the quick passing moves of the first half and showed a team high on confidence. Taarabt (of course) clipped a fantastic pass to Helguson in acres of space in the area and this time there was no mistake from the Icelander. He calmly chested it and then dinked it over the keeper, who was running to meet the ball, and into the goal.

Within seconds, the other side of Taarabt looked to have reared its ugly head again, when the referee seemed to have given a penalty when the Moroccan went to ground in the area, only to then book him for diving. It was very hard to make out if there was any contact though so I'll reserve judgement on who was in the wrong.

Before the half-time whistle, there was another chance to increase the lead, Helguson again connecting with a header following an Ephraim cross and this time he forced another great save out of Murphy, who tipped the ball wide. It would be no exaggeration to say Rangers murdered Scunny in the first half here and the only criticism would be that they didn't more clinically take advantage of their superiority.

There was perhaps an inevitable slacking off in terms of the pace and intent of QPR's attacks in the second half, though they still remained the more likely team to score throughout. Taarabt's dead-ball delivery was causing mass confusion in the Scunthorpe box each and every time he was given an opportunity and one effort found Gorkss unmarked. His header back across goal bounced up off the bar to safety.

The visitors had the odd moment where they hinted they could get a goal back - Michael O'Connor driving a fierce low shot at goal which Kenny handled poorly and was lucky not to turn into his own net.

Helguson's mixed afternoon, at least in terms of finishing, continued. He should have claimed a hat-trick at least today, first glancing a woeful header wide after another fine cross from Ephraim before the same player found him unmarked in the area following a commanding run, but Helguson turned the ball way over the goal when it looked easier to find the net.

Taarabt came off to a standing ovation with less than 20 minutes to go, replaced by the only other man who can draw such acclaim from the Loftus Road crowd, Akos Buzsaky. The like-for-like swap was a sound move by the manager, both players flourishing in a free role off the striker, but it does beg the question of who will be spending their time on the bench this season. As Taarabt is almost certainly a guaranteed starter, how will Neil Warnock find a place for Buzsaky in the team?

Forte wasted another chance to get his team back into the game. Put through on goal once more, he looked nervous as he neared the goal and though he placed his shot well it didn’t have enough pace to beat Kenny, who tipped it forward before reclaiming the ball himself.

Buzsaky staked his claim for a starting place, calmly placing a shot to the far post from inside the area which drew another excellent save from Murphy. Again, it's no exaggeration to suggest that without him, Rangers would have won this at a canter. Further subs followed, Leigertwood and German replacing Derry and Helguson before the game was out and the chants of 'We are top of the league' soon started up. QPR have certainly laid down a marker for the rest of the season in these three opening games...

The Highs and Lows Of QPR's Week; United Still To Come

2010-08-14T09:19:00.001+01:00

QPR showed two very different faces within just the first four days of this season, from a convincing victory over Barnsley in the league to put them top of the pile, to a dismal fall against lower-league opposition in the league cup which would have left the few who did turn up at Loftus Road questioning why they had bothered.

Hearing the words of assistant manager Mick Jones, who makes his return to Sheffield United today, (alongside his boss Neil Warnock and a hatful of players, most notably keeper Paddy Kenny who can expect a frosty reception following his summer walk-out) summed up pretty concisely the two extremes which Rangers provided their supporters this week.

First the excellent start to the league campaign, which Jones was clearly delighted with, despite conceding that Rangers had a stroke of luck in not conceding a penalty to Barnsley which could have made the game 1-1.

He said: "It was a fantastic performance. Once we went 2-0 up, it was game, set and match. It was not only a great performance, but there was some great football and of course a terrific performance from Adel Taarabt."

You get the feeling that Taarabt could often make the difference for Rangers this season and perhaps with his mind now fully on playing for the club, rather than fixated on auditioning for a move to a top-flight club in England or Spain, he will blossom into the truly exceptional player which he could be at this level. Neil Warnock has been quick to see the frustration inherent in watching Taarabt play and hinted that this was perhaps the reason he hadn't been able to find a big-club move, but he also showed against Barnsley how pivotal he is to QPR's creative options. It isn't stretching the point too far as well to suggest the club may have performed better against Vale had he been available for selection.

Jones, while speaking to the club's website, also revealed the quandary Warnock finds himself in when it comes to the first round of the league cup, something 'he doesn't like, never has and never will'.

For those who sat through the game, it's hard to stomach a less than committed approach to the game and looking at the personnel on the pitch, the team should still have been able to find a result, regardless of any lack of ambition for the cup. But now it is out of the way, it's back to the only competition that the manager and the players clearly want to be judged on.

It couldn't really be a tougher fixture, particularly when you throw in the number of personal grudges that could come to the surface. Warnock still speaks fondly of his time at United and enough water may have passed under the bridge to let him escape fairly unscathed, though he will have re-ignited some unpopularity by in effect poaching Kenny this summer and the keeper is likely to receive a very hostile welcome.

The defence ahead of him may be better well placed to cope though and provide a tougher challenge than the poor excuse for a defensive performance which was witnessed on Tuesday. Peter Ramage is available for selection again after serving a disciplinary ban and it will be interesting to see if he is considered a first-choice option. Likewise Kaspar Gorkss could also return, as Taarabt will almost certainly do.

That leaves Akos Buzsaky who should face a late fitness test to see if he has overcome the thigh problem which kept him out of the friendly between England and Hungary. If we are not going to judge Rangers on the league cup this season then, games like this afternoon's are the ones which will fall under scrutiny and which will decide if the club can mount a reasonable promotion challenge.

Marsh: It Would Mean The World If QPR Won The Championship

2010-08-12T12:35:00.002+01:00

As promised before the season kicked off, I have been hoping to add my interview with Rodney Marsh, originally done for H & F News, for some time. I didn't get round to it before the first league game, but that shouldn't affect its relevance too greatly, especially as Rodney was willing to talk about pretty much anything Rangers-related. So below is an edited version of the article:

He's someone who can't get close to Loftus Road before the QPR faithful pay their respects in the only way they know how.

Chants of 'ROD-NEE' follow the Rangers hero whenever he is back in London and he's just as likely to be greeted by Fulham fans after two spells with their club as well.

That adoration is tested less frequently nowadays though, with media work in the US keeping visits to QPR down to four or five a season.

Marsh said: "You can't go anywhere without bumping into QPR fans. When I chat to them, they always seem to look back to that League Cup final win over West Brom."

That's hardly surprising. Rangers fans would kill to repeat the achievements of the late 1960s when a trademark Rodney strike helped them to a 3-2 win in that 1967 final, bringing what remains their only major honour.

Younger fans might know him better for his appearance on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here but he was a regular goal-machine with QPR, scoring 44 in his first full season and inspiring back-to-back promotions to reach the top flight for the first time in 1968.

Could the Hoops repeat such achievements today?

Marsh said: "That's a tough question. In the early 1990s, they were close to being a top club, to being in the top five. I don't care who you are though, you need a Les Ferdinand, you need a Rodney Marsh."

You could never accuse him of misunderestimating his own talents. After starting his career at Fulham, he made the short journey to Loftus Road aged just 21, scoring 134 goals for the Rs before moves to Manchester City and Tampa Bay Rowdies, long before David Beckham thought of popularising the game stateside.

He's still keeping Americans informed about 'soccer' today, having just finished his own World Cup show on NBC.

"If the World Cup final had been a game between Stoke and Hull, people would have been walking out. It was absolute dross.

"I'm on the internet every day, looking up QPR, Fulham and Man City. I've always considered myself a QPR man but Fulham do hold a place in my heart - I idolised players like Johnny Haynes and Bobby Keetch."

Tennis matches against Rangers director Gianni Paladini - 'a decent player' apparently - help him keep his finger on the pulse but news about the Rs has rarely been cheery recently.

That could change with a new manager in place.

Marsh said: "I've got a lot of time for Neil Warnock and have done for many years. He's not everyone's cup of tea but I think that a lot of that comes out of his passion for the game."

The two men share a straight-talking image and Marsh is releasing a book, Loose Cannon, in September in which he promises to lift the lid on some of his high-profile bust-ups, including one with former Rangers boss Gordon Jago.

For the current manager though, he is content to provide some tactical advice.

"I don't want to tell Neil how to do his job but I think they need to find a role for Akos Buzsaky. He is a quality player. They should adjust the rest of the team around him."

Perhaps only then will the club find themselves back at the top table of English football.

"It would mean the world if QPR could win the Championship," Marsh said.

Surprisingly, Surprisingly Bad: Rangers Crash Out Of Carling Cup

2010-08-12T09:17:00.002+01:00

I missed the first day of the season, something I was far from happy about and so only had the goals to go on in judging the Hoops' 4-0 win over Barnsley, which by all accounts wasn't as one-sided as the scoreline suggested. But it was fair to say that I had fairly high expectations for their performance on Tuesday night, built both on the start to this league campaign and the general improvements seen under Neil Warnock at the end of last season.

But amazingly (and perhaps it's cup competitions that bring this out of Rangers), they really were pretty shocking. In fact, it recalled the poor home display against Accrington Stanley in the same competition last season, when players looked confused, were often remonstrating with each other and the stadium was soul-crushingly quiet except for the odd howl of pain when another attack dwindled to nothing.

At least against Stanley the team somehow managed to labour through to the desired result; though I'd say Port Vale provided a sterner test with some brisk attacking moves of their own, it was still hard to contemplate how a team supposedly with promotion to the Premiership on their mind was so quick to capitulate and so lacking in ideas to get back in this game.

It's too early in the season to start singling out individuals, something every one says before immediately doing exactly the opposite, so I will actually be honest and say that you can pick out some poor performers from Tuesday night.

Fitz Hall, supposedly capable of playing in the Premiership, looked slow and cumbersome and injected an element of panic to the back-four which was all too reminiscent of his outings last season. Sadly, two of the other weak links were both new signings, though that does mean they should be afforded a degree of doubt which Hall is quickly using up. Shaun Derry struggled to get a grip on the pace of the match and to influence it in any meaningful way while Leon Clarke up front wasted his one good opportunity and then cut an increasingly frustrated figure for the 45 minutes he had to suffer, though the level of service to him was miserable. Even Paddy Kenny was having a tough time at the back as he struggled to deal with the frequent Vale shots on a wet surface.

Plus points? Jamie Mackie looked lively and had enough confidence, spirit and willingness to attack players to indicate that he could be an important player for Rangers this season. I also thought another new player Bradley Orr looked fairly assured at left-back and confident going forward and if memory serves correct, he was largely blameless for the defensive lapses though I could be wrong.

Apart from that, there was little else to take from a thoroughly miserable night, except the notion that the manager can't wave a magic wand and disappear away all the problems which have suffocated QPR for the last couple of seasons at least. If early defeats in the cup are the trade-off for improved performances in the league, most Rangers fans would take the deal in a heartbeat, but football rarely allows such simple trade-offs and the journey to Sheffield United this weekend has now been provided an extra layer of tension, as if it needed any more in the first place.

Rowlands: I Can't Wait To Get Going

2010-08-04T17:18:00.000+01:00

After a summer in which QPR have solidly added to their squad, with the potential re-addition of Adel Taarabt still to follow once a deal over his signing-on fee is hashed out, one of the most important new options for manager Neil Warnock could be midfielder Martin Rowlands. That's once he has finally recovered from the horrible injury which has kept him out for the last nine months.

I got the chance to speak to Martin at the end of last month for H & F News and I asked him about his recovery, his hopes for next season and his love for QPR.

He's been missing from the first team since last October, when he suffered torn cruciate ligaments while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland - after falling foul of a very similar injury earlier in the year as well - and that limited his league appearances in the last campaign to just six.

Having missed half of the previous season as well, Rangers' supporters will be itching to not only see the new players Warnock has brought to their club, but also the return of Rowlands, who will hope to quickly make a berth in the midfield his own.

What was most apparent to me when I spoke to him, was that he is absolutely itching to start playing football again and he pinpointed the end of August as a potential date for a return to first-team action.

He said: "“I can’t wait to get going. It’s a massive opportunity for the club to do something this year."

After returning to light training duties, he sat out the club's recent trip to Italy for a couple of friendlies, but in the last few weeks he was close to once again taking part in full contact training with his squad mates. He also said the whole squad was in high spirits ahead of the league campaign, which kicks off this weekend with Barnsley's visit to Loftus Road.

Martin said: "The mood has been brilliant. The new players have come in. We knew that the squad needed strengthening and I expect there will be further strengthening to come. Players come and go in football, you’re used to that, especially over the summer."

Shaun Derry was one of those signings, a tough midfielder who could easily fulfill the role that Gavin Mahon so expertly performed until a long-term injury curtailed his season as well. With the manager preferring a 4-3-3 formation in pre-season friendlies too, thereby limiting the midfield places available, will Martin have a fight on his hands to get straight back into the side?

He said: "Everyone needs that. The best teams in the world have more than one good player competing in every position. It means everyone wants to do better and try to get better."

Surprisingly, despite being born in Hammersmith, he didn't grow up as a Rangers fan saying that he didn't really have a team but he clearly does have close ties to the area. So it's hard to imagine him jumping ship, even if everything isn't plain sailing straight away in the club's latest attempt to get closer to promotion.

"My three children were all born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital", he said, which is just a few minutes' walk from Loftus Road.

“You can’t get any closer to the club than that."

And he wasn't ready to start looking ahead to any games in particular, even if the club could have back-to-back London derbies against Milwall and Crystal Palace soon after the midfielder's return.

He said: "You just look forward to every single game. You can’t take your eye off that and start thinking about particular teams that are ahead. It’s a tough league, it’s the same for everyone and we all have to concentrate.”

Another Win, Another New Signing? - QPR's Preparations On Course

2010-07-26T19:18:00.000+01:00

Less than two weeks to go. As the opening day of the Championship season draws ever closer, QPR continued their 100% record in pre-season games with a 2-1 win over Ravenna Calcio in Italy last night, their second and final game of their tour there. Back at home, the club are also reported to be on the verge of signing Bradley Orr from Bristol City - a move which would add an extra layer of protection to what is already looking like a far more competitive defence for the upcoming campaign.

First to the game against the Serie C opposition, which going by the match report on the club's website, provided the toughest challenge yet in the games which Rangers lined up as part of their summer preparations.

The art of arranging pre-season friendlies is rarely given too much inspection. Many will argue that the games have almost no bearing on the season ahead, but they can't simply be about developing fitness. They also have to provide an opportunity to gel in new players, which Rangers have enough of and to restore the necessary match skills and ways of thinking which must grow rusty during the holiday break. More than that, there is surely a case for pre-season friendlies as exercises in building confidence and team spirit and turning again to the tour blogs on the QPR website, that appears to have been the case.

A part of building that confidence requires a level of opposition demanding enough to provide a realistic test while not so advanced as to crush the early optimism of the squad. It could be argued that the first two warm-up games which Rangers undertook, against Tavistock AFC and Bodmin Town were firmly in that category, leading to healthy winning margins but little in the way of testing occasions. But the last two matches, both on the Italian tour, have raised the bar, drawing from a pool of ex-Serie A and lower-league players who are much closer to Rangers' natural level. It could be that if this good form can be extended, the club will have pitched their pre-season just right.

The test posed by Ravenna didn't derive purely from their higher league position when compared to Tavistock for example, but also from their playing style. Again I can only go on the QPR website match report, but it sounds like last night's oppositon were more than happy to engage in heavy challenges (described by QPR as 'x-rated') and direct physical confrontation despite the game being a friendly. In fact, matters reached such a head that the returning Fitz Hall and a member of the Ravenna team were told to leave the pitch before tempers truly boiled over.

Before that, Ravenna took the lead through Piovaccari before strikes from Hogan Ephraim (again - his seventh of the summer) and new striker Jamie Mackie either side of half-time ensured the win. What I also took from the match report was the formation employed by Warnock - again a 4-3-3 though with slightly changed personnel, Ephraim pushed back into a roving midfield position and Mackie partnered by Heidar Helguson and Leon Clarke up front. It may be sad to get excited by formations but I would feel some twinge of excitement if Rangers went into the first games of the season offering such a confident set-up. Maybe that's just me. The manager is nothing if not a realist and wants to make the team as hard to beat as possible, which his signings confirm, but he has also spoken of his intention to entertain the crowd this season. I can't help but feel many supporters would welcome such an ambition.

Adding Orr to the squad fits firmly back into the 'tough-to-beat', realistic way of thinking but as with all the summer signings so far, the logic to me seems pretty spot-on. Still only 27 and with 229 appearances under his belt, he has often been touted as one of the best right-backs in the division and should ensure that the club no longer needs to place players out of position on the right-flank.

I really think the defence could be in a lot better shape over this campaign - both in terms of how they are likely to perform and also in reference to the depth of personnel. Peter Ramage's performances at the tail-end of the last campaign showed that the manager, as so many say, is adept at pushing tried-and-tested squad members to new heights, while the fact that Damion Stewart is only now returning to match fitness shows that Warnock will also have plenty of options.

Three more fixtures to come before the first competitive test of this gradually growing squad - they face Blue Square Premier side Crawley Town on Wednesday. On this site as well, there is still plenty to come before the big kick-off, including interviews with a QPR legend and a man who could still become one, barring any further injury problems. And of course a season preview and some potentially laughable predictions. Get ready to head straight for the bookies.

Ephraim On Song and The Madness of King Bernie

2010-07-22T09:06:00.000+01:00

How much you can ever read into pre-season friendlies can be hotly debated, but if you give the summer warm-up games any credence, you will have been pleasantly surprised by QPR's form at the moment. After successive routs during their tour of the West Country, blasting eight goals past Tavistock AFC and six without return against Bodmin Town, Rangers also saw off the more testing challenge of Torquay United with a 3-1 win last Friday.

Now enjoying the blazing sun in Italy, they continued their fine form with a 4-1 win last night against Equipe Romagna, a team made up of released Serie A players looking for new clubs for next season. By all accounts, few in the Italian side will have staked a great claim to further football in the Italian top flight, but some in the Rangers starting XI are making better pitches to be included from day one in the Championship campaign.

It may not be too helpful to read greatly into the results QPR have achieved so far, even if the level of opposition they have played has got increasingly more advanced. But the personnel selected by Neil Warnock and their subsequent performances can give some pointers ahead of the opening game against Barnsley on August 7.

Two players in particular have risen to greater prominence in the Rangers team. Firstly, Hogan Ephraim, who has been consistently selected by Warnock since the manager's arrival and who now appears to be paying off that faith with six pre-season strikes so far, including the opener in last night's game, latching onto a Shaun Derry through ball to finish from 12 yards.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, youngster Josh Parker has played a notable role in the manager's plans and along with Ephraim, has also scored in every pre-season game so far. After signing a new contract with the club at the end of last season, which will keep him at Loftus Road until 2011, he is now enjoying his best run in the first team, even if it has come in non-competitive fixtures. Last night, he formed part of a roving three-man attack with Ephraim and new signing Leon Clarke, who also netted twice to seal a comfortable win for the Hoops. According to QPR's press officer the three players insisted on sitting together on the flight over to Italy. Whatever they were talking about on the journey, they are clearly forming a bond on the pitch. Could Warnock go with such an attacking formation once the team gets down to the nitty-gritty of Championship football?

One person the press team could do with having a word with is Bernie Ecclestone, though he doesn't strike me as a man who is used to being told what to say. While honesty is refreshing in any public figure, his comments, which many will have read in the Evening Standard yesterday, are truly bizarre. Clearly the co-owner of the club is no big football fan - for starters, he supports Chelsea and his appearances at Loftus Road have been rare to say the least, which may be no bad thing. Compared to Flavio Briatore, maybe it's better for the club if one of their wealthy owners is more than happy to take a back-seat.

Yesterday's interview showed the extent of his antipathy to QPR though.

He said: "QPR? I don't have a real passion for it at all.

"I got into it by accident. I got involved through Flavio Briatore. It's difficult not to buy into his enthusiasm for things. I took some shares, I don't care. It's just something I've done."

That much was well known already. But has a club owner ever publicly stated he wouldn't like his team to get promoted before. Later on in the interview, when asked if he dreamed of promotion to the Premier League, Ecclestone said:

"I hope not. That's just even more aggravation."

Hopefully he won't consider a pre-match team talk anytime soon.

The Jubilant Month Of June? - QPR News Round-Up

2010-07-07T19:09:00.000+01:00

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, or as Scots poet Robert Burns originally said, feck fae bleurgh, something incomprehensible in Scottish. From having hoped to regularly update this site throughout June as I had so miserably failed to do in May, I've actually been even more lapse in my dedication to writing about Rangers. All I can do is blame the World Cup, which unlike Neil Warnock, I have actually been enjoying.

It also provided a much-needed opportunity to do some in-depth scouting for QPR. My own high-level analysis of each and every game in the tournament has revealed that the QPR board should be looking in the direction of David Villa, Diego Forlan, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil and they need to withdraw any bids for Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney immediately. If that fails, anyone from the squads of Ghana, Japan or Uruguay should be able to cut it in the Championship while the footballing feast in South Africa showed that it is wrong to overly rely on English players, as Fabio Capello learned the hard way.

While the England squad was finding imaginative new ways to embarrass themselves in the southern hemisphere, here is what QPR were up to...

New Faces

In the cut-throat world of football transfers, there is no point in being a shrinking violet and no-one could accuse Warnock of tip-toeing around the market this summer. He has been true to his word at the end of last season in making numerous additions to the squad, with the number of new arrivals jumping from two in May to a further three in June and also a further promise that more could be on the way. Prior to the players' return to pre-season training at the start of this month, their manager spoke of his happiness with his summer dealings so far, but also of a desire to add further 'icing to the cake' with two or three attackers possibly to follow.

So, after bringing Leon Clarke and Jamie Mackie in during May, QPR's transfer activity over the last month could best be summarised as 'better the devil you know'. Warnock has been dogged in his pursuit of three players who were formerly under his command while also coming very close, but failing, for now, in adding a fourth. He's also shown that he isn't scared to ruffle a few feathers to get his man.

Goalkeeper Paddy Kenny's arrival from Sheffield United on June 7 in a £750,000, three-year deal enraged supporters in the Steel City. They had given Kenny a standing ovation on his return to their team for the final two games of last season, after sitting out nine months following a positive test for banned substance ephedrine. His overtures of loyalty to United at the time now sound fairly hollow, but to look at it from a fairly cynical Rangers perspective, it's a deal that makes a lot of sense and should foster a healthy degree of competition between Kenny and Radek Cerny, who was much-improved at the end of the last campaign.

Alongside Kenny, the month saw Rangers linked with a multitude of names, wildly varying in ability and likelihood of actually signing, from Lee Hendrie, Roman Bednar and Tamika Mkandawire to continuous flirtations with Crystal Palace's Darren Ambrose. Two Palace players did make the switch though to join their former coach.

Midfielder Shaun Derry signed a two-year deal with Rangers on June 22 and joined up with his new team-mates once his Palace contract expired on July 1. The 32-year old who can point to spells at Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and of course Palace on his football CV is better-known for his ability to break up attacks and doggedly tackle the opposition over his attacking contributions and pace. It's not a transfer which had supporters rushing to Loftus Road to celebrate, but it could mean Rangers are a tougher team to beat next season, particularly on their travels.

Alongside him, another Palace escapee, Clint Hill, was brought in and again, it's hard not to commend Warnock for the reasoning behind his current deals. The clamour for big-name signings at QPR has surely now dissipated as supporters wake up to the reality of the type of players Rangers can attract. Even with money behind them and a well-known and respected manager on board, this is still a team which seriously flirted with demotion to the third tier of English football last season, which became a by-word for 'shambles' throughout the country and which played in a stadium which was close to half-full for much of that time.

In that respect, it's little wonder that the manager has to use his own cache with former players to finalise deals, because there are few other selling points around QPR at the moment. The attraction of promotion to the Premiership can hold little value with potential candidates until Rangers mount anything close to a serious promotion bid. So Hill is the type of player QPR can attract right now and though preferring to play at centre-back, he will provide the only does provide the club's only real option at left-back right now. The only real questions hanging over his and Derry's transfers, to my mind, would be firstly, why did the club let left-back Dusko Tosic depart following his loan deal and secondly, how great a wage bill will the club rack up if they choose to try and tempt players on free transfers? The suspicion being that often in transfers of that type, the savings made from the absence of a transfer fee are passed on to the players' monthly wage packages.

Another player unlikely to step onto the pitch for peanuts is Adel Taarabt and Warnock avoided spending all of the last few weeks in his garden or in front of the TV by heading to Morocco to try and secure a permanent move for the player to QPR. This one can be filed under 'works in progress' for now.

Goodbye... for now?

Another Warnock promise is that players will be heading through the exit door before the start of the season as well, with a number of candidates suggested in local and national press alike, including Rowan Vine, Gavin Mahon and even Lee Cook. One player who failed to feature in the manager's plans at the end of last season was Angelo Balanta and it was announced in June that he would be heading to MK Dons for a season-long loan. It isn't the best piece of news for his QPR career but it will be interesting to see how he fares because he has shown an ability to find the goals in the past.

The other 'departures' include players who were on loan at Rangers last season so who are no longer officially at the club. One such player is Jay Simpson, the R's top scorer last season and Arsene Wenger indicated that though he rates him highly, he won't stand in his way if he wants to leave for first-team football. If Warnock is serious in trying to find a consistent goal-threat for QPR, he could do a lot worse than bringing Simpson back to Loftus Road in my opinion, but he may not fit the manager's preference for a commanding, physically imposing centre-forward.

Any Other Business?

Just the announcement of the fixture list, no less, which always feels slightly weird in a World Cup year because you've not yet had the full symptoms of football 'cold-turkey'. Looking through it to plan QPR's season could be a good antidote to the no-football blues over this month and the first pre-season friendlies are just around the corner as well. Rangers start with a winnable home fixture against Barnsley but travel to Sheffield United just a week later - a fixture which could kick-start the R's season with a bang (..or a whimper). They also discovered the identity of their first-round Carling Cup opponent - Port Vale - and I can't be the only person who would like to see Rangers acquit themselves better in cup competitions next season, particularly the FA Cup in which their record has gone past embarrassing and now defies logic.

And pre-season training started again. And the manager still wants to bring in more players. And I hope, hope, hope, as always, to be writing on this site far more often from now on...

The Merry Month Of May - QPR News Round-Up

2010-05-30T17:14:00.000+01:00

This has been the longest time in which I've failed to update the blog since starting it, through a mixture of post-season complacency, QPR fatigue (a very real and prevalent condition for thousands who go to Loftus Road on a fortnightly basis) and also my having gained some other freelance work, which while very welcome, is non-QPR related .

I've been keeping my eye on Rangers of course and as should be expected for a club which could be on the precipice of major change, the last month, since that final game against Newcastle, has not been lacking in important news.

There hasn't been the flurry of transfer activity that some anticipated, though if you take many papers at face value that is not for a lack of interest on QPR's part. I recall Neil Warnock indicating he was keen to tie up as much business as possible prior to the World Cup which gives him another two weeks to add to the signings of strikers Jamie Mackie and Leon Clarke and in what is looking more and more like a done deal, Darren Ambrose from Crystal Palace. That's not to rule out further transfer activity after that point, with Warnock and chairman Ishan Saksena looking to forge a harmonious working relationship in which the manager can suggest any number of transfer targets to his boss. That process could carry on right up to the start of the season and possibly beyond.

Which suffice to say means I hope to update here on a much more regular basis between now and the start of next season. With one month of the close season already gone and the World Cup to come, plus pre-season fixtures from July 12, including a tour of Italy, the new season will be here sooner than you think and a lot could happen in that time. As ever with Rangers, it should be interesting. Below is a round-up of the last 30 days with the odd prediction on what this last month could mean for the rest of the summer.

May News Round-Up

The first player to come into the QPR squad this summer was one who was already with the club. Patrick Agyemang returned to Loftus Road following a loan spell at Bristol City during the second half of last season. It was a pretty dismal time away from the club for Agyemang, though his stay with City came as their season floundered, but it does call into question his future with Rangers.

The main tabloid game in May, when it came to QPR anyway, was who will Neil Warnock sign from Crystal Palace? Because of a) Warnock's clear affection for the club and its players and b) Palace's absolutely hopeless financial position, it is possible for any combination of players to be suggested as Rangers' transfer targets. Only a week into the close season and The Daily Mail was suggesting that Neil Danns would be making a short move for £1.5 million. By the middle of the month defender Clint Hill was being touted as the most likely candidate; by the end and over the last week, Darren Ambrose has jumped to the head of the queue and this one looks to have the most validity. Though some sites may have jumped the gun in announcing his signing, it appears that Palace's administrators need to off-load Ambrose just to pay their wage bill for the last month. Keeper Julian Speroni has also been repeatedly linked with a move to QPR, though he should really be discussed in a whole new section on Warnock's unsuccessful courting of goalkeepers.

At the same time as Danns was being rumoured to be on his way, the Ealing Gazette was reporting that Barnsley defender Rob Kozluk had also been added to the shopping list. The exit door was open this month, though surprisingly not for any of the playing personnel but for three members of the back-room staff, with head physio Paul Hunter, assistant physio Shane Annun and reserve team manager Keith Ryan all getting the chop. Youngster Josh Parker, who made four appearances at the end of last season, will remain at the club though after signing a one-year extension to keep him with the Hoops until next summer.

Into the third week of the month and Rangers were finally ready to do some business, though if it was big-name signings you craved, there was bound to be a slight tinge of disappointment. On May 13 the club moved for Plymouth Argyle attacker Jamie Mackie; by the 18th he had signed a four-year deal, though his goal-rate while in the South-West suggests he will have a point to prove next season.

Gavin Mahon was auditioning to be included as well next season - his contract expires this summer and a long-term injury over the last campaign prevented him from having any opportunity to impress his new boss. He's been talking a good game in the press though and if any player fits the Warnock-type of hard-working, tough-challenging battlers, Mahon is surely the man.

One player who has not been synonymous with graft during his career is striker Leon Clarke, but Warnock clearly sees some potential in this very, very rough diamond. The 25-year-old former Wolves, former Sheffield Wednesday man became the second signing of what is still shaping up to be a busy summer.

Over the last week, it's been a return to the hunting ground of Palace and the never-ending quest for a new keeper. As part of the former search, Ambrose now looks nailed-on to be the third summer signing. In the latter quest, The Mail was reporting that a £750,000 move for Sheffield United's Paddy Kenny had been rebuffed, while Speroni was weighing up his options and Peterborough were laughing off any suggestion that they will let Joe Lewis jump back up to the Championship.

Oh, and a former Rangers manager took a club on a much smaller budget than QPR's into the Premiership while supporters learned they would have another London derby next season, though probably not one they will look forward to with any great relish. On to June...

QPR 0 Newcastle 1 - Match Report

2010-05-02T15:07:00.000+01:00

It has been a long and trying season for QPR. One that promised much in the early autumn but which also threatened unthinkable lows as spring came around. Now, with the first hint of stability which they've craved for so long seemingly in place, all eyes are already on next season.

In the meantime, the R's had a tricky final game against the champions Newcastle United, a side in need of just one further point to finish on 100 for the season. It provided the Hoops with an opportunity to show they can compete with the best teams in the league; conversely, it also threatened to mark up how far the gap is between the home side and that going into the Premiership.

The packed away end was suitably boisterous from the first minute, though they had little to cheer on the pitch in the opening exchanges. It was Rangers that forged the first clear-cut sight on goal after neat interplay between Akos Buzsaky and Jay Simpson left Tamas Priskin with the freedom to shoot just outside the area, but he ballooned his effort well over the bar.

Buzsaky wasted an even better chance not long after. The ball broke to him in the area but on the turn he too could only lift his effort high into the arms of the Geordies behind the goal. It was certainly the home side crafting the better opportunities inside the first twenty minutes though.

Alejandro Faurlin, a player with a very realistic chance of being awarded the club's Player of the Year award tonight, has brought much to the team, not least greater composure on the ball then many of his teammates can muster, but goalscoring is not a noted feature of his game. With just one strike to his name so far, he too went close, stinging a long-range drive at the palms of reserve keeper Tim Krul and Jay Simpson wasn't far off connecting with the rebound. Dusko Tosic could also have opened his account for QPR, cutting in from the left before curling a rather tame shot into Krul's arms.

Their fans weren't overly worried, singing through a roll-call of their team and past legends, including Bobby Robson throughout the half. The topless Northerner at a cold football game has been seen enough to border on stereotype, but one Magpies fan took it a step further, wearing a green "Borat" body-thong, which verged on the obscence. The sight below will not hopefully become too commonplace at football grounds around the country:

Up front, Shola Ameboi struggled to make any impact on the game, except for one shot on the turn which went comfortably over Radek Cerny's goal and he at one point so over hit his pass that he was taunted with "You're getting sold in the summer" by the Rangers fans.

Surprisingly, it was Rangers' top scorer who made the most wasteful intervention on the verge of half-time. Played through on goal, he had ages to compose himself and even take it round the goalie, but he chose to over-reach for the ball and shoot first-time, allowing his strike to limply land to Krul. You could tell this game wasn't to be taken too seriously when both sets of footballers stopped playing at the sound of a whistle which actually came from the Newcastle fans. The referee had to reconvene them to play a few more seconds.

One player will have wished the game could have ended there.

Few, if any, players have improved as much as Peter Ramage in the last few weeks as he has been shifted to his natural position at centre-back and few players will have had a greater emotional investment in this game, as a former Newcastle player. The switch in position meant it was Ramage who had to contend with Ameobi when he broke on goal straight after the break and in bringing him down on the edge of the area, he conceded a free-kick but most damagingly, was sent from the field of play. He looked distraught at the turn of events; some of the Newcastle fans sportingly sang his name.

It forced Neil Warnock into an earlier switch then he would have liked, bringing on youngster Josh Parker for Lee Cook. He went in at right-back, with Mikele Leigertwood moving to partner Gorkss at the back.

Amazingly, it was still QPR creating the better chances and a surging run and pass from Jay Simpson set up Tamas Priskin to lift the ball into the net, only to be judged offside.

Newcastle threw Peter Lovenkrands on but were still unable to make any advantage over the depleted Rangers side.

Simpson was threatening on the break but his decision-making had deserted him. Played into space on the wing by Hogan Ephraim, he chose to cut in and run at three players rather then attempt to find strike partner Priskin who was free in the centre of the box.

The lack of bite up front finally told when Lovenkrands opened the scoring. His ability in the top tier is still to be proven, but he produced a finish worthy of a higher stage, calmly clipping the ball over Cerny from a tight angle.

Simpson too could move up to a higher division, though it's unlikely to be with his own club Arsenal, but if this was his QPR swansong, he seemed determined to not mark it with goal. Within minutes of Lovenkrands' strike, he caught Fabricio Coloccini flat-footed and had a clear line to the net again, but struck the ball at Krul who was quick off his line.

The numerical advantage soon threatened to widen the gap between the two teams even further, Newcastle sub Harris Vuckic going close with a curled shot to the far post. Lovenkrands too could have doubled his tally with minutes to go, volleying on the turn but without enough power to trouble Cerny. A free header for Priskin at the other end should have levelled the game were it not for the commanding Krul, who was making a definite claim for more playing time.

A line of police prevented the pitch invasion that the Newcastle fans so dearly wanted on the final whistle but they could already turn their minds to a quick return to the Premiership. QPR too couldn't be downhearted about this result and a performance which showed that if they build on the early promise under Neil Warnock, they could yet follow Newcastle's path one day.

45 Down, 1 To Go

2010-05-01T09:45:00.001+01:00

Both Neil Warnock and Peter Ramage said recently that they couldn't wait to get this season over and done with and they are unlikely to be the only members of the QPR dressing room to hold such opinions. That said, if any final day match could invigorate the squad, it would be the visit of champions Newcastle United.

In fairness, Rangers have maintained a professional approach to their games since learning they would definitely be in the Championship next season. Back-to-back victories followed that news, both by the same scoreline of a solitary goal which showed that at least in the back four, no-one is taking anything for granted between now and tomorrow night.

If ever there was a game to test that new-found resolve its tomorrow's fixture. Newcastle have pretty much been a revelation this season, which seems an odd thing to say when you consider their resources, massive fan-base and strong reputation, especially at Championship level.

Anyone witnessing their freefall from the Premiership though would have seen a club in crisis; horrendously mismanaged off the pitch and lacking in spirit and belief on it. I can't have been the only person who suspected their slide could continue and that a repeat of Leeds United's experience could have been on the cards. The togetherness of their season then was a surprise and off the back of their home record, they've been worthy and comfortable champions. They will be in full celebratory mood tomorrow and only the Hoops can put a small dent in their party.

QPR Team News

QPR will almost certainly be unchanged in defence, a consequence of injuries to other players (with Damion Stewart who suffered a fractured skull recently and Matt Connolly with an ankle injury both out) but also of the upturn in the backline's form. Ramage in particular has excelled in his natural position at centre-back and he has an extra motivation on Sunday of playing against his former side.

In the rest of the team, it could be time for the Loftus Road crowd to say a few goodbyes to the loan players in the squad. Though no-one's fate is sealed, Adel Taarabt could sign off on a mixed relationship with the home crowd, that's if he's fit after missing Rangers' last game against Barnsley. Jay Simpson was also left on the bench for that one and he could be given a place in the side for the last time to round off a successful season under very trying circumstances.

Newcastle Team News

QPR will welcome back Wayne Routledge tomorrow after the winger joined the North-east club during the January transfer window. It was a sale which raised a few eyebrows as though his form had been intermittent, he remained one of the few players offering pace and attacking intent in the side. Freed from some of the strains of working at QPR, he has improved at Newcastle, with three goals already in 14 starts.

Another player with an even closer connection right now to QPR is Fitz Hall, as his move to Newcastle was purely on a loan basis, although as with Rangers' own loan signings, it is far from certain what the next move for Hall will be. He is unlikely to take to the field though as he has a hamstring injury.

Fellow absentees could be striker Nile Ranger who has an ankle problem and Jonas Gutierrez has already departed the UK to join up with the Argentina squad ahead of the World Cup. Defender Steven Taylor could return though following a knee injury.

Form

Pretty peerless for Newcastle. They haven't lost since the start of February when they were on the wrong side of a surprise 3-0 defeat at Derby County. Of the subsequent 16 games, they've won all but four. Their successful and immediate return to the Premiership has been built on the back of a phenomenal unbeaten home record, with just 13 goals conceded at St James' Park but they're no slouches on the road either, with just four defeats on their travels - a record only bettered by fellow promotion side West Bromwich Albion.

QPR dream of such consistency but under Neil Warnock, there are a couple of signs that it could be achieved in the not too distant future. Firstly, compared with their form at the start of the year, they have undoubtedly become a much harder team to beat, with three defeats in 13 games, compared to eight in the 13 before that. Warnock's initial brief was to keep the team in this league and he should be commended for doing it. Secondly, they're much harder to score against with a solitary goal against in their last four outings.

Prediction

As the Geordies need just a draw to hit 100 points, I'd be stunned if they didn't achieve it. A final indicator that Rangers should be improved next season though has been their performance against the top-placed sides over the last two months. Starting off with their giddy trouncing of West Brom, they've also faired reasonably well against Swansea and Sheffield United and were unlucky to lose to Cardiff. As a result, I think both sides could end the season relatively happy with a share of the points.

SCORE DRAW

"A Strike Fit To Win Any Game Of Football"

2010-04-26T08:43:00.002+01:00

Not my words, but those of Neil Warnock, though it would be hard to disagree with his assessment of Mikele Leigertwood's bullet drive which earned QPR a 1-0 win over Barnsley on Saturday in a fairly tedious, end of season encounter.

"Mikele's quite capable of that and he produces a strike like that every now and then," said the manager.

That is certainly true. Leigertwood's goals come at fairly intermittent intervals but when they do, they tend to be in a similar vein, at least this season in which he has found the net on five occasions. Cutting in from the wing and steadying himself before shooting, the midfielder has produced more than one rocket into the opposition's net and when few of QPR's strikers can provide healthy goal returns, it can be an important weapon when games are tight.

"We were right behind it in the technical area and it was always going in from the moment he took aim," said Warnock.

I questioned to what extent Warnock would juggle his team around in these final games, especially as QPR only have respectability to now play for, but he is sticking to his word of ending the season in a professional manner and his starting line-up was as strong as it possibly could be, with the exception of Antonio German starting ahead of Jay Simpson and Josh Parker being handed his full debut at right-back. Adel Taarabt wasn't in the match-day squad due to an ankle injury and it could be that the Moroccan loanee has played his final game for the Hoops.

Peter Ramage also retained his place at centre-back and Radek Cerny continued his run in goal following Carl Ikeme's return to Wolves and though it could be simplistic reasoning, QPR have now managed three clean sheets in their last four games and were ten minutes away from achieving the same against Cardiff. Cerny in particular was instrumental in maintaining that record against Barnsley, expertly tipping a low drive from Iain Hume onto the post when the game was in its infancy.

Unfortunately for Antonio German, he was unable to make as big an impact in a rare start, failing to make a telling connection on a well-worked cross by left-back Dusko Tosic in the first half. As German has himself acknowledged though, there is plenty more work to go into his game and he deserves many more opportunities to add to his goal tally in the near future.

"It was a typical end of season affair," said the manager.

"It was very scrappy at times, but we stuck at it and the attitude of the players was very good. The goal came at a time when we were dominating, so it was perfect for us.

"I thought we were a bit sloppy in the first half defensively, but we tightened up and got the clean sheet we were craving."

Beyond the three points, that is undoubtedly the most pleasing aspect of this victory for the R's and Cerny, Ramage and even Gorkss are making a late bid to be regularly selected next season and Tosic is putting in the type of appearances to earn a permanent move to Loftus Road.

A final chance to cement their case comes next Sunday with the home game against champions Newcastle, a match with no significance for the league but an occasion supporters will enjoy all the same. After that, theories on how much QPR are going to spend this summer can take flight. The tabloids must be getting excited already.

Barnsley - Steele, Hassell, Moore, Colace, Foster, Hume, Butterfield, Macken, Potter (Dickinson 69), Hammill (Devaney 40), Doyle (Taylor 81)

Subs not used - Kozluk, Preece, Adam, Shotton

Bookings - Potter, Doyle

QPR - Cerny, Ramage, Leigertwood, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Faurlin, Ephraim (Cook 81), Tosic, German (Simpson 56), Parker, Priskin (Brown 90)

Subs not used - Vine, Balanta, Oastler, Putnins

Goals - Leigertwood (27)

Bookings - Buzsaky

Referee - Mr R Booth

Attendance - 11,944

Taarabt, Buzsaky and Faurlin All Carrying Injuries Ahead Of Barnsley Game

2010-04-23T17:08:00.001+01:00

This fixture is unlikely to feature highly on tomorrow night's The Football League Show, even if both sides can serve up a goal-scoring thriller - not when there remain unfinished stories at both the top and bottom of the table.

Firstly, the final make-up of the play-offs is still to be decided; Nottingham Forest and Cardiff are already in the hat for a Wembley visit, but two of Leicester, Swansea and Blackpool will make up the final foursome with an eye on the Premiership. That is a race QPR will be disappointed to have played no part in and all their preparations this summer will be geared towards being in contention this time next year.

A battle they are more than pleased to be free of though is that at the bottom of the table; Watford, Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday could all still succumb to the drop and join Peterborough United and Plymouth Argyle in League One next season.

All of which means few eyes will be focussed on Oakwell tomorrow afternoon for this game. Many players in the QPR squad won't be, or shouldn't be, viewing it as a meaningless fixture though. Just as the World Cup acts as a shop window during the close season, so QPR's remaining fixtures give some of the playing staff what could be a final chance to get in Neil Warnock's good books. On top of that, with just a point separating these two sides and with a troublesome final game against Newcastle, this could be the last chance to add a hint of respectability to the club's league finish.

Barnsley Team News

For their final home game, Barnsley could be without on-loan defender Carl Dickinson, who was signed on a three month emergency loan deal from Stoke City and who has made 26 league appearances so far for Mark Robins' side.

The R's chances also receive a boost due to the likely absence of striker Daniel Bogdanovic, who has a hamstring injury, and midfielder Anderson Da Silva, who has a thigh complaint. The latter player stood out from his team-mates for me when these two sides clashed at Loftus Road earlier in the season, despite the 5-2 score line in QPR's favour.

QPR Team News

It's a safe bet that Warnock will use this game to get a look at some of his younger players, most likely Antonio German and Joe Oastler, but also possibly Angelo Balanta. Those changes could be borne of necessity as well; three key players for QPR, at least over the last month, could all be unavailable.

Adel Taarabt jarred his ankle in the 1-0 defeat against Cardiff last weekend and as a result, left the pitch early on against Watford so we may have seen his last game for the Hoops, a fact likely to provoke a mixed reaction from supporters.

Akos Buzsaky took a whack to the ribs in the Watford fixture and having already broken a rib during the 3-1 home victory over West Brom, may also also be in too much pain to play against Barnsley.

Finally, Alejandro Faurlin, reportedly on the verge of signing a new deal with QPR to fend off interest from Celtic, suffered a dead leg during Tuesday night's game and will receive a late fitness check ahead of the game.

Form

Barnsley can count themselves lucky not to be more closely involved in the relegation scrap. They're only one point behind QPR, but whereas Rangers have pulled off a number of vital wins over the last two months, Barnsley haven't won in their last eight.

The identity of their most recent scalp shows how tricky an opponent they can be though. Midway through March they beat Nottingham Forest 2-1, thereby putting a serious dent in that team's hopes of automatic promotion. Over the course of the season, they've also beaten Cardiff, Blackpool twice, Middlesbrough, Leicester City and they twice came from behind to earn a memorable 2-2 home draw with Newcastle. Though they haven't pulled as far away from the bottom of the table as they once promised, under Robins they are a tough proposition to beat.

For QPR, the home defeat to Cardiff just a week ago was a knock to their confidence and was the first loss at Loftus Road under Warnock. I still believe home form will be key in potentially underscoring a successful season next time around; I'm yet to see a side play better than QPR at their home ground under the new manager and if he can iron out the complacency and immaturity which sometimes means they get less at home than they deserve, Loftus Road will be a happier place from now on.

They at least followed that up with a win over Watford which adds up to a record of four wins, five draws and two defeats since Warnock stepped into the dug-out. Those two losses were by a solitary goal as well and in a season in which they've shedded goals, the Hoops can at least point to two clean sheets in their last three.

Prediction

The degree of tinkering in the QPR line-up could be crucial because if the starting eleven is too unrecognisable, the home side's greater experience may prove decisive. However, the motivation to play for a place next season is, I believe, real with QPR and that edge should fire them to an away win.

AWAY WIN

German: The Gaffer Really Wants To Win

2010-04-23T15:31:00.000+01:00

I wrote earlier in the week about Peter Ramage's reaction to the Cardiff defeat and his motivation for the rest of the season. As a player who was established in the QPR side but has recently had to battle to retain a starting place, Ramage was clearly aware of the need to win over manager Neil Warnock between now and the end of the season, with the summer likely to bring a flurry of activity in and possibly out of the QPR squad.

If it's true of Ramage, it is equally true of younger players starting out in their careers and waiting for their big break to cement a first-team place. 18-year old striker, Antonio German, has already travelled some way down that road this season by making 12 appearances for QPR and scoring twice. He and fellow forward Rowan Vine, who is also desperate to make an impression on Warnock due to a lack of playing time this season, were both preferred to Jay Simpson and Tamas Priskin in Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Watford and the manager may choose to give both players a further chance to stake their claim for tomorrow's visit to Barnsley.

Speaking to QPR Player, German said: "We have to pick up three points and the gaffer really wants to win that."

After the trip to Barnsley, there is just one fixture left for the R's when they get the chance to welcome champions Newcastle on the final day of the season. It was a game with the aura of a promotion six-pointer when the fixture list was drawn up but unfortunately for the R's, they've spent most of this season at the wrong end of the table. They won't be joining in the Geordies' celebrations then, but the draw of clashing with Newcastle should at least ensure a decent crowd and atmosphere as the curtain closes on a frustrating campaign.

Again, the young striker was looking at the game from a positive angle.

"Newcastle is the biggest game of the season, for me anyway, because actually I've got a chance of playing in that game which I didn't think I would have this time last season."

A desire to make a mark on these games is heightened by some of the manager's public comments, particularly on the need for new blood, most of all in the forward line.

"I can understand that though", said German.

"Next season we need, I'm not going to say get promoted, but we need to finish in a reasonable position. And the manager's obviously seen that we need strikers and I can understand that. Even though I am a striker myself, I still need to improve and work hard and see where that takes me."

One key requirement for Warnock when it comes to attackers seems to be physical strength and build and just as Ramage could be offering a late answer to his defensive headaches, German certainly ticks the box when it comes to the battling, hustle and bustle style of Championship football. Rarely knocked off the ball or cowed by more experienced players, his natural confidence and tireless work rate have won him a lot of fans this season.

"I can say that's one of my strengths - the physical side of the game. He (Warnock) likes that so I'm really happy that I've got that," he said.

Despite that, he remains fairly modest and realistic in his aims for next season.

"To stay in the first team," he said.

"In and around the first team. Even if I don't start the games, I'd rather be on the bench. It's better than nothing."

Warnock: "No-One Can Point Any Fingers At Us"

2010-04-21T10:04:00.000+01:00

QPR quickly made up for the disappointment of their 1-0 home defeat against Cardiff City on Saturday by inflicting the same score line on relegation-threatened Watford last night.

It was a game with the potential to end as many home games have for QPR this season i.e after taking a one-goal lead, somehow contriving to let in an equaliser and lose two points. But though Watford applied the pressure in the second half, with Radek Cerny called on to clear the ball off the line, a strong rear-guard action from the Hoops was enough to earn them their second clean-sheet in three games; something they have rarely been able to point towards this season.

"We couldn't hold it up front for 20 minutes and that gave them momentum," said manager Neil Warnock in his post-match press conference.

"But I can't remember them having a shot on target to be honest. I thought we defended quite well and Peter Ramage was absolutely outstanding again. Gorkssy had a good second half, heading everything clear too.

"The centre-halves were vital and I thought we coped with what they threw at us very well."

After relying on another result (strugglers Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw with city neighbours United) to assure their own place in the Championship, QPR did at least return the favour last night by beating the only other side, except for Crystal Palace, which could now go down.

Akos Buzsaky's first-half penalty, after Adrian Mariappa felled full-back Dusko Tosic in the box, left Watford just two points above the drop zone and needing some return from their remaining two games at home to Reading and at Coventry.

"I thought we were quite professional," said Warnock.

"It's tough when you're safe and you play against a team fighting for their lives. We didn't create too much, but I thought we deserved the win. We owed it to our supporters first and foremost and of course the other teams in the relegation fight.

"No-one can point any fingers at us tonight."

It also marked a real turnaround in fortunes for the Hungarian himself; when QPR made the return journey to Watford earlier in the season, Buzsaky was locked out of his team's dressing room and allegedly involved in a physical altercation with then manager Jim Magilton following a disappointing defeat.

Though it is unlikely to lead him to banish any players from his own dressing-room, Warnock may have some niggling concerns about the lack of goals in his QPR side at the moment. Nine goals in the last ten games isn't disastrous, but it has meant QPR are often in the position they were last night, holding on for a win rather than having the relative security of a two-goal lead or more.

Following the Cardiff defeat, Warnock spoke of the need to bring in more/new strikers to the club, especially if Jay Simpson leaves the club when his loan deal expires. That is a distinct possibility because the manager also made it clear he wants to have just one loanee at the club next season and will have failed in his job (or been undone by injuries) if he needs to call on more.

For now, the R's can still look forward to their final two games safe in the knowledge they don't have the same immediate concerns as last night's visitors. It will also give Warnock a further opportunity to test out players who have had less playing-time since he arrived, such as Rowan Vine and Antonio German, both of whom started last night.

"Every game I'm learning," said Warnock.

"We tried a few permutations and I gave a young lad his debut.

"That's what I've got to do now, but I still want to finish undefeated and if we could get another four points I'd be very pleased."

QPR - Cerny, Ramage, Leigertwood, Vine, Buzsaky (Oastler 71), Gorkss, Faurlin, Ephraim, Tosic, German (Simpson 73), Taarabt (Cook 41)

Subs not used - Putnins, Brown, Parker, Priskin

Goals - Buzsaky (pen 38)

Bookings - Buzsaky, Cook, Ephraim

Watford - Loach, Mariappa, Lansbury, McGinn (Sordell 46), Graham, Jenkins (Bryan 82), Harley, Bennett (Doyley 46), Taylor, Eustace, Hodson.

Subs not used - Lee, Hoskins, Henderson, Oshodi

Bookings - Mariappa, Eustace

Referee - Mr P Miller

Attendance - 13,171

Ramage - "The motivation is to be here next season"

2010-04-19T12:18:00.001+01:00

It took someone else to book QPR's place in next season's Championship. Unable to gain even a point on Saturday themselves, it took an equaliser from Sheffield United's Lee Williamson against close city rivals Wednesday to ensure that only one out of the latter team and Crystal Palace would now be able to catch the R's.

It was always looking unlikely, but not impossible, that Rangers could be drawn into the bottom three as they were already on 51 points, but it left them in clear need of at least one more win in their remaining three games; at home to Watford tomorrow, at Barnsley this weekend and then welcoming the promoted Toon Army on the final day.

That necessity is now removed and Neil Warnock already hinted on Saturday that should QPR be safe, he would take the opportunity to have a look at some of the youngsters in his squad, with Antonio German and Josh Parker (both late substitutes against Cardiff) now more than likely to figure. Another player hoping to be playing in all three games and one with a good chance of doing so, is defender Peter Ramage. He is keen to make as big an impression on Warnock as possible before the summer following his comments about the need for extra recruitment.

"The motivation for us is to be here next season," he said following the Cardiff game.

"He's (Warnock) come in and he's not had the chance to bring the players he wants to bring in so obviously he's going to do that over the summer and assess what he's already got.

"For the current squad we've got to try and perform to show him he doesn't need to strengthen in that particular person's area. That's my motivation, that's what I'm looking forward to towards now and the end of the season."

Surprisingly, Ramage is staking his claim at centre-back right now. In a stop-start season, which he went into as the club's first-choice right-back, he has seen himself nudged down the pecking order with players including midfielder Mikele Leigertwood often preferred on the right side of defence.

"That's down to me," he said.

"I haven't at times performed to the best of my ability. Or maybe the manager's gone in a different direction because of a certain game.

"I had the shirt at the start of the season and it was down to me to keep it and it has been frustrating being in and out. You have to make the best of the opportunities you get and give the manager a harder decision to drop you."

Following Damion Stewart's horrible injury at Crystal Palace just two games ago, Ramage was instantly switched to centre-back and his composed, assured display was a major factor in the R's priceless victory and also a rare clean sheet. He retained his place on Saturday against Cardiff and again, rarely put a foot wrong in a game which should at least have brought a point's return. He pointed out that he is naturally a centre-back over a full-back.

"It's my position if you want to say. I've come in, I've been playing right-back but I'll play anywhere and I'll give one hundred percent anywhere I'm asked to play.

"I've enjoyed the last two games and hopefully I'll get a chance towards now and the end of the season to show the manager what I can do in that position."

In a game in which QPR had the better of the goal-scoring chances and Adel Taarabt looked to be on a solo mission to find a winner, one of Cardiff's few ventures at goals was enough to separate the sides, Joe Ledley stealing in with a far-post header ten minutes from time.

"It was bitterly disappointing but then again we've paid the penalty for not taking our chances and conceding another sloppy goal at our end.

"It seems to be the story of our season to be honest and its one we can't wait to get over and done with. We've got to try and put right what we didn't do here on Tuesday night."

"The free-kick and the goal were the best chances they had to test Rad (Radek Cerny). And that is frustrating. Defensively I thought we played really well, obviously bar the goal, it was a shocking goal to concede."

Once Rangers have navigated the challenge of Watford and then Barnsley, they can look ahead to hosting likely champions Newcastle on the final day. Many will have imagined an all-out, hard-fought promotion decider on seeing the fixture list at the start of the season, but only the Geordie team could live up to the whirlwind of expectation around their club. Rangers' own promotion challenge evaporated a long time ago, but as a former Newcastle player himself, Ramage was insistent they will still give it their all on that final Sunday.

"We've got to turn up and perform. We're still going to go out and give one hundred percent for the shirt and hopefully give the fans the send-off they deserve because its been a tough season for them. Testing at times to say the least."

QPR 0 Cardiff 1

2010-04-17T16:59:00.000+01:00

Complacency can be a killer for a football team and has often infected QPR this season. Against decent, functional yet largely uninspired opponents, they once again threw away frequent opportunities to gain a desired win and instead fell to a rare Cardiff attack with just ten minutes remaining, thereby ending a short unbeaten run for Neil Warnock at Loftus Road.

QPR's starting line-up had a slightly makeshift look to it come kick-off, with numerous players now out for the rest of the season. Damion Stewart's horror injury last Saturday and Matt Connolly's ankle injury, which could also keep him out for the rest of the campaign, meant Peter Ramage deputised at centre-back, Mikele Leigertwood took his place at right-back and Dusko Tosic made his home debut on the left-side.

The defensive changes considered, Rangers were as to be expected in their attacking positions, with Jay Simpson, Adel Taarabt and Tamas Priskin all offering a goal threat. Cardiff could call on the returning Joe Ledley in midfield with Jay Bothroyd and Ross McCormack forming a two-man frontline with Michael Chopra available to come off the bench.

The game had a slight summer holiday feel to it in the opening exchanges, with both teams playing within themselves for the first fifteen minutes, which was forgivable from QPR but surprising of Cardiff who needed the three points to secure their play-off spot. In the glorious sunshine, it was asking a lot of the crowd not to take forty winks with both sets of players playing as if they had one mind on their holiday destinations.

Adel Taarabt is often called on to fire up the excitement of both the team and the crowd and it proved the case again today. Just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, he picked the ball up in the centre of the field and afforded a ridiculous amount of space, he was able to continue his run towards goal before unleashing a stinging shot from roughly 30 yards. It pinged back off the post and across goal and awoke the dozing crowd.

It wasn't quite the catalyst it should have been though and Rangers all too often wasted possession in the final third, with both Alejandro Faurlin and Leigertwood guilty of failing to deliver passes into the area when given time and space. A brief moment of excitement was the Cardiff supporters having to take down a large Wales flag, which they did so begrudgingly to say the least. It said everything about the football on show that the rival taunting in the corner of the pitch was more diverting.

Taarabt worked a cross into the area as half-time approached, but Jay Simpson swung wildly and missed the ball, which summed up a toothless first half from both sides.

Taarabt remained the main provider after the break, clipping the ball across the area to Hogan Ephraim, but as a player not noted for his heading ability, he gently butted the ball into David Marshall's hands. Apart from that, the quality of final ball from Rangers was woeful.

McCormack and Bothroyd were also finding it hard to link up when Cardiff were able to string a pass together. On a rare occasion, McCormick whipped the ball into the area but Bothroyd, under pressure and with the ball behind him, could only deflect a shot over. The Scot soon made way for Michael Chopra.

Ephraim's headed opportunity was less than easy but he wasted a much more presentable chance just after the hour, after Simpson laid it off to him in the area and he side-footed a shot acres over the goal. It was far from the 22-year-old's best game in a QPR shirt and I was surprised to not see him replaced at an earlier stage in the second half.

The chances of a goal were diminishing by the minute and it looked like a moment of magic or an intervention from the referee would be necessary to break the deadlock. Referee Michael Oliver had his chance with quarter of an hour to go when Taarabt broke into the area but then fell under the challenge of Mark Kennedy. It looked like there was potential contact, a small flick from Kennedy and the referee took an age to make his mind up before awarding Cardiff a free-kick and booking the Moroccan for diving. Taarabt definitely has form when it comes to the darker arts so I'll gladly be corrected based on replays, but it looked like he had some grounds to appeal.

Kennedy soon had a truly game-changing involvement though. His curled cross to the far post found the returning Ledley unmarked and he needed the merest of touches to head over the line. Cue delirium from the Cardiff fans who could start dreaming about Wembley.

Warnock has a tendency to make reactive rather than preemptive substitutions and he quickly brought Simpson off for Lee Cook (which seemed to upset Taarabt who waved his arm angrily at the bench) and also, Ephraim for Josh Parker. Taarabt clearly had no problems with Cook himself though; within minutes he worked the ball to him just yards from goal and his turn forced a smart save out of Marshall.

The manager made a final gamble, replacing the largely ineffectual Priskin with Antonio German but it was all for nothing and far too late, with Rangers unable to work another goal-scoring chance in injury time. The Bluebirds fans said they were going to Wembley; all the QPR crowd can now look forward to is a chance to truly confirm their place in this league when they play Watford on Tuesday.

Ramage's Chance To Shine? - QPR vs Cardiff

2010-04-17T11:40:00.000+01:00

With the pressure now off in terms of looking over their shoulder to the bottom three, it could be an all-new, relaxed QPR who take to the field today against play-off chasers Cardiff. The R's already had renewed vigour in their steps against Crystal Palace, though it was a game which hardly required extra motivational coaching from manager Neil Warnock. That was a must-win game against close rivals, both in terms of geographical position and league places, but the incentive for today's game isn't quite as obvious, apart from adding some extra respectability to the team's league finish.

The lack of a pressing need to win could work in Rangers favour though, especially as their opponents have more reason to be nervous. Cardiff appear to be in a fairly insurmountable position to reach the play-offs but they've thrown away the opportunity in the past and will be desperate to get the three points they need to secure their play-off berth. If Rangers can play on their tension, they could nudge themselves up the table.

QPR Team News

QPR will of course be without Damion Stewart following the horrible injury he sustained in the vital Palace victory. In the first minute of the game, the defender collided with Calvin Andrew which required his immediate withdrawal from the field. It later transpired that he'd suffered a fractured skull and bleeding into the brain, but he left hospital yesterday with MRI scans revealing that the bleeding has now settled. He won't play again this season though and will have weekly scans for the next few months.

With Matt Connolly still recovering from an ankle injury, Peter Ramage is a good bet to fill in at centre-back and though he is likely to be busier today than against Palace, he could make a decent pitch to be considered in that position on a regular basis. Mikele Leigertwood will drop to right-back to cover Ramage's switch, with Dusko Tosic also hoping to build on his impressive debut against Palace at left-back.

Cardiff Team News

Midfielder Joe Ledley is likely to return for Cardiff after a quicker than anticipated recovery following operations on both hips. Manager Dave Jones has been paying tribute to the player, who is out of contract at the end of the season, this week.

"Joe gives everything he's got. That's been proved by him trying to get back as quickly as possible," said Jones.

The Bluebirds should also be able to call on captain Mark Hudson, Michael Chopra and Kelvin Etuhu who have all recovered from minor injuries.

Form

There have been few wider gaps, in terms of performance, in two consecutive games than with QPR's 4-0 defeat at Leicester City and then 2-0 win at Palace. Whereas the former showed a team lacking in ideas and togetherness, the latter was a side reborn (without getting too carried away). It also surely put to bed any remaining fears about their future in this league, as with a game in hand over Palace and Sheffield Wednesday, they are highly unlikely to now get caught.

Last weekend's win then was vital and came on the back of a poor run in form, with no wins in seven games prior to that. QPR are still unbeaten at home under Neil Warnock though - two wins and three 1-1 draws from his first five at Loftus Road, which could be taken as a promising marker for next season if the improved atmosphere and attendances can be carried over.

Cardiff are taking their time in confirming a surely inevitable place in this season's play-offs. One more win will do it, with seventh-placed Blackpool seven points behind them, but following a trio of wins against Palace, Leicester and most importantly, rivals Swansea, they've endured goalless stalemates against Nottingham Forest and Reading. They're unbeaten in eight and have won nine games on their travels this season, a record only bettered by the promoted sides, Newcastle and West Brom.

Prediction

I thought QPR would be suffering with the nerves for a couple more games yet this season and was genuinely taken aback by their commitment and team-play against Palace, which I still think ranks as one of their best performances of the season. As a result, it could be Cardiff left to stew over the table following today's games should Rangers continue where they left off and pick up another win.

That said, the players returning for the away side today could be key. I don't think Cardiff can muster the win which will allow them to breathe a sigh of relief, but I'd be equally as surprised to see the Hoops take all three points. But I did say that last weekend...

SCORE DRAW

Tables Reversed On QPR As Cardiff Need One More Win

2010-04-13T09:47:00.001+01:00

On Saturday, QPR were the side striving for the three points which could finally provide a positive slant on their season. They achieved it emphatically against Crystal Palace, with one of their best performances of the season, certainly away from Loftus Road and thereby all but guaranteeing their presence in this league next season. The result pushed them six points above the relegation area with a game in hand and Saturday's losing side alongside Sheffield Wednesday now look the much more likely candidates for the drop.

This weekend then could take on a strange tone for QPR as they face opponents in greater need of a win. Cardiff look in as good a position for the play-offs as Rangers do to stay up, but they will be aware that competitors at the top of the league are far more likely to pick up points than rivals at the bottom. It would take a monumental slip-up for them to drop out of the top six at this late stage, but they have previous in that regard, capitulating at the end of last season to allow Preston to sneak in on the final day.

Their manager, Dave Jones, has already said they need one further win to secure their play-off berth so they will be fully primed to finish the job at Loftus Road. What attitude Rangers bring to the table will be interesting to see. They seemed to have already lost their nerves and tension over facing the drop on Saturday, playing with an abandon and unity of purpose which was startling in its unexpectedness. If they can keep that positive spirit against Cardiff and play for the enjoyment of the game rather than a need to pick up points, they will cause them problems.

Talking about his side's remaining games, Jones said: "We're edging towards it. One win will probably see us there. One win should be enough. Other results don't affect us - we've just got to do our bit. It's not about teams catching us up, we've got to get away from them."

Spoiling Cardiff's procession to the play-offs won't weigh too heavily on QPR or manager Neil Warnock's minds as they are likely to still be walking on cloud nine from Saturday's result. A blistering strike from Akos Buzsaky opened the scoring for Rangers before a well-taken header from Kaspars Gorkss finished off any meager resistance that Palace could muster. Over the course of the 90 minutes, Tamas Priskin and Jay Simpson both missed opportunities to increase Rangers' lead in a surprisingly dominant performance in which Alejandro Faurlin was peerless in midfield and Peter Ramage, who had to switch to centre-back in the opening minute after a horrible head injury to Damion Stewart, was never better.

I also mentioned the battle of the keepers before this game and it was one which Radek Cerny firmly won, twice denying Palace from close range and looking though he had never been out the side, a fact acknowledged by the noisy Rangers support. Despite Cerny's assured display, rumours about Palace's keeper joining his ex-manager in defecting to QPR haven't dissipated.

Such concerns will wait until the close season though and for now, QPR can look forward to playing their remaining games in a much more relaxed frame of mind than looked likely just a couple of weeks ago.

Crystal Palace vs QPR - Preview

2010-04-09T16:30:00.000+01:00

QPR are still firmly in the driving seat when it comes to assuring Championship football next season, but their most recent results don't inspire great confidence and they could soon reach a stage where they need other teams to do them a favour.

They could help themselves immeasurably though by achieving their first win in eight games tomorrow. That would lift them onto 51 points and open up a six-point gap between themselves and their opponents Crystal Palace. Conversely, Palace will move a point ahead of Rangers should they win. When you throw in the fact that both sides have been managed by Neil Warnock this season, with Palace in a dire position following his departure and a ten-point deduction (though the blame for that cannot be placed at Warnock's door), you have the makings of an explosive Championship game. And it should be sunny. I can't wait.

Palace Team News

Former QPR manager Paul Hart could call on the services of striker Alan Lee and defender Danny Butterfield, as the pair have recovered from groin and hamstring injuries respectively and will undergo fitness tests before the game.

Lee was signed this season from Ipswich Town and with Clinton Morrison and Dougie Freedman departing the club, has made 39 appearances, scoring five league goals.

Butterfield has been the club's main right back this season, but also scored a 'perfect' hat-trick against Wolves in the Cup this season - his first goals in six years - when Palace's financial constraints meant the player was forced to play up front. It got Paul Merson very excited on Sky:

Left-back Lee Hills also returns following a suspension.

QPR Team News

As I reported earlier today, Radek Cerny will return to the QPR starting line-up for the first time since January when he played in the team's third round FA Cup defeat against Sheffield United. Considering Carl Ikeme's final game for the R's, Monday's 4-0 embarrassment at Leicester City, in which the young Birmingham-born goalie went walkabout for the Foxes' second goal, that may not be considered a hardship by QPR supporters. But Cerny was in less than commanding form before his spell on the sidelines and will want an error-free game to build up his own confidence as quickly possible.

Another new face to the team, one who has yet to play for QPR, could be left-back Dusko Tosic, a loan signing from Portsmouth. The Serbian international has turned out for the reserves but is yet to make a first-team appearance.

Matt Connolly remains doubtful as he struggles with an ankle injury.

Form

Palace resembled a team in free-fall even prior to Neil Warnock's departure. In February they suffered costly home defeats against Coventry City and Reading before a difficult March in which they went six games without a win. They've picked up the pace in the last three games though with wins over Watford and Preston and a draw at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium. Selhurst Park has been far from a fortress this season though; nine teams have visited and come away with all three points.

If Rangers fail to win tomorrow, it will be eight games without a win. They are grappling their way to Championship safety by picking up the odd point here and there, rather than making the decisive dash for safety which looked so likely after Neil Warnock won his first two games in charge. Since then, the R's have drawn five games and lost two and still only picked up one clean sheet since last October. Only Swansea, Bristol City and Ipswich Town have provided more stalemates than Rangers this season.

Prediction

First to the teams vying with QPR to stay clear of the bottom three. Plymouth (23rd - 41 points) and Watford (21st - 45 points) meet at Vicarage Road; a defeat for the away side would surely condemn them to relegation. Rangers supporters will also look towards Sheffield Wednesday's result; they're three points behind QPR but with an inferior goal difference and they have a tricky visit to Middlesbrough to contend with. That leaves Scunthorpe, just a point behind the Hoops, who travel to Preston looking to get the win which would put them on the verge of safety. Therefore, it would take a big swing in terms of goal difference for Rangers to end up in the bottom three tomorrow, not that their supporters will want to contemplate that eventuality.

Looking at their own game and despite their recent form, Rangers on paper should be favourites. They have the more experienced coach, they have a more settled side and they have a nucleus of talented players, including Adel Taarabt who on his day is one of the most talented players in this league. But I'm not sure they are as aware of the precariousness of their position as say Palace, who have been facing the possibility of dropping a division since their points deduction. I still think it's very unlikely that QPR will be in the bottom three come the final day but I can't help feeling they're going to do it the hard way and leave the issue open for a couple more weeks yet.

HOME WIN

Radek's Return - Cerny To Start Against Palace

2010-04-09T14:09:00.000+01:00

It can always take footballers time to adjust to being back in a team after a lengthy period on the sidelines; I'd argue this is particularly true of the men between the sticks, the goalkeepers, who build their performances as much on their mental powers of concentration, communication and confidence (the three C's which I just invented - feel free to copy these) as on their physical attributes and footballing skills.

Unfortunately for QPR keeper Radek Cerny, there will be no period of adjustment after Carl Ikeme's return to Wolves as the Championship season nears its conclusion. Every point counts and any mistakes could be costly and the Czech keeper will be thrown straight into the lions' den tomorrow for Rangers' visit to Crystal Palace, with just two points separating the sides and just three safeguarding QPR from the bottom three.

Cerny hasn't donned the keeper's jersey since 12th January, when the three goals he conceded saw Rangers dumped out of the FA Cup by Sheffield United. Ikeme took his place for the next seventeen games, and though he could only point to one clean sheet in that time, Cerny was hardly unstoppable prior to that, with just three shut-outs in Rangers' first 24 league games.

That statistic is surprising because in the previous season, Cerny's first with the club in which he ousted fan favourite Lee Camp from the position, he managed 47 appearances in all competitions and the Hoops conceded just 44 league goals. By comparison, 63 goals have found their way into the Rangers net this season, with only two teams, Preston and Scunthorpe, suffering from a worse defensive record on their travels.

All of which could put Palace in buoyant mood before tomorrow's game, particularly as they've managed nine goals in their last three games. But Cerny will be playing not only for his team tomorrow, but also for his first chance to impress Neil Warnock and stake a claim to be QPR's keeper next season. The 36-year old goalie, who spent three years on loan at Tottenham before joining QPR, will be loathe to start looking for another club at this stage of his career and will want assurances before the summer that he is first in Warnock's mind. The part he plays in Rangers' final five games could be crucial in gaining that assurance, with tricky fixtures against Cardiff and Newcastle before the season is out and another relegation six-pointer against Watford in just over a week's time.

To add another layer to the pressure on the keeper tomorrow, if rumours are correct, Warnock could also have one eye on the man in the opposition's goal. He already knows a great deal about Argentinean Julian Speroni, the Palace keeper throughout Warnock's three year spell with the club. In fact, following QPR's home game against Palace last November, when Warnock was sitting in the opposition dug-out, he was glowing with praise for him after he pulled off a succession of top-drawer saves to deny Alejandro Faurlin, Akos Buzsaky and Rowan Vine during the 1-1 draw.

"He's the best keeper in this division by a mile and I don't see anyone better in the Premier League," said Warnock after the game.

"It's good that nobody rates him. But he's not leaving this club while I'm manager - unless I take him somewhere with me."

What was most likely meant as a joke at the time now takes on a stranger tone considering the events in the proceeding six months, in which time it's unlikely his opinion of the keeper has vastly changed. Rangers will just be praying they do not suffer in the face of another world-class performance from the 30-year-old tomorrow.

Cerny has been commended by Ikeme and by QPR's goalkeeping coach for his professionalism during his enforced absence though and the close working relationship between Cerny and Ikeme was one of the reasons the latter player enjoyed his stay in west London so much. Cerny also had to win over Rangers' fans already on his arrival - now he will be confident of doing so all over again, while winning over his new boss as well.

In short, though it's rare they hog the headlines, all eyes could be on the keepers at either end of the pitch tomorrow.

Warnock: It's A No-Win Situation

2010-04-08T12:22:00.001+01:00

As far as fighting talk goes, it is unlikely to have Crystal Palace quaking in their boots. But you can't really blame Neil Warnock for trying to be diplomatic ahead of Saturday's vital game between his former club and his current one. He knows that he is going to get a difficult reception to say the least, though he still defends his choice of upping sticks to move to QPR a little over a month ago.

As reported in the Evening Standard, Warnock has said he is really not looking forward to this weekend's fixture.

"I won't take any pleasure from going back," he said.

"It's a no-win situation. I want both to stay up."

That is far from certain though. Three points currently separates five teams around the final relegation spot, with even second-from-bottom Plymouth not ready to surrender their Championship status, sitting four points from safety.

QPR do have the advantage of heading the struggling bunch who could still feasibly be drawn into the bottom three and have a game in hand over Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace, so their fate is firmly in their hands. But another defeat this weekend could severely dent the team's confidence, which has been gradually eroded since Warnock's winning start against West Brom and Plymouth.

The R's boss would desperately have wanted to return to Selhurst Park with QPR's safety already guaranteed, but now he faces either ceding further ground in the relegation battle for his new team or sticking a nail in his old team's coffin.

"I'm sure I'll get some stick. But the administrator was more than happy to get half a million quid for me, wasn't he?," he said, in reference to the deal which allowed cash-strapped Palace to receive compensation on his departure.

"The Palace fans are the best I've ever worked in front of."

One player who could be drafted in to help keep Palace at bay is Dusko Tosic, a Serbian international who is on loan from Portsmouth. The left-back is yet to make an appearance for the first team, but impressed in a reserve game yesterday, a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. On the other flank, he was joined by Moritz Volz, still to sign a permanent deal with QPR despite reports that the club had offered him a contract. With both pushing for first-team action though, there could be a new look to the QPR defence before the end of this season, especially as the first team has kept just one clean sheet in an incredible 32 games.

Warnock vs Hart: Another Rangers Face-Off

2010-04-07T17:36:00.001+01:00

I wrote recently about the regularity with which QPR managers and ex-managers can now be thrust together in the Championship. Hot on the heels of Paulo Sousa's return to Loftus Road, Neil Warnock squares up to Paul Hart (pictured above) on Saturday as QPR and Crystal Palace, both teetering on the brink of the relegation area, meet at Selhurst Park.

The pair missed each other by a month and a half through QPR's revolving door earlier this season. Hart took over the club in mid-December, but was on his way just five games later. Warnock picked up the slack after a protracted defection from Palace; after taking them to the edge of the play-offs this season he left them following a ten-point deduction (a punishment for the club going into administration) which has placed them in their current predicament.

Front of the queue at the Championship Job Office was Hart once again, joining Palace on March 2. He's already improved on his stint with Rangers, as this weekend will be his eleventh game with Palace and with seven points from their last nine, they are now within two points of QPR.

Neil Warnock was loathe to talk about this fixture last weekend, choosing to concentrate on Monday's game against Leicester City which didn't go too well for QPR, finding themselves on the end of a 4-0 thrashing. Other results, particularly Palace's 3-1 win over Preston then turned a poor day into a disastrous one for Rangers.

He certainly won't be expecting a warm atmosphere on Saturday though. He ranks as one of the league's least popular managers with supporters at the best of times, with every set of away fans singing some uncomplimentary songs about him since his arrival at Loftus Road. Where that is often in jest though, many at Selhurst Park are likely to have stronger views about his short journey to west London to take over QPR.

Rumours that he intends to raid Palace in the summer, who are still desperate to find cash to satisfy their administrators, won't do him any favours either, with keeper Julian Speroni and midfielder Darren Ambrose supposedly top of his wish-list.

Neither manager will be too keen to stoke this one up unnecessarily, with Hart simply admitting that it will be a nervous game, as reported on Eurosport. But you can be sure, that this latest instalment of Rangers' managers facing off is the most important yet. More to come on Saturday's six-pointer later this week...

Feelgood Factor All But Extinguished - Leicester City 4 QPR 0

2010-04-06T09:47:00.001+01:00

When the margins between winning and losing are so tight in the Championship, luck is always a helpful friend to have. Unfortunately QPR's seems to have deserted them, along with the feel-good factor following Neil Warnock's arrival, any defensive stability he had found and much of the goal threat at the opposite end. What was looking like a poor Easter after the Sheffield Wednesday game now appears horrendous following a thrashing at Leicester and also taking into account other results yesterday. It leaves QPR in a position they must have thought was past them when they trounced West Brom in Warnock's first game. They're now three points off the relegation area following Crystal Palace's win over Preston and Watford were also a minute away from beating West Brom. The only saving grace for the Hoops was that Scunthorpe and Wednesday also lost and that they still have a game in hand.

The absence of luck showed up in Leicester's shots on goal to goals scored ratio, though the away side did a lot to help in that respect. The Foxes were one-nil up with their first shot registered in anger through Andy King, but it became much worse when Carl Ikeme, desperate to leave QPR on a high-note, went walkabout just before half-time and gifted Martyn Waghorn a goal. It was at least the equal of Radek Cerny's clanger against the same team at Loftus Road earlier in the season.

Five minutes into the second half, another shot on target, another goal, Waghorn again taking advantage of space on the break to drill the ball past Ikeme. I can only go by the QPR Player commentary here, but Leicester were apparently playing very poorly. Playing poorly and 3-0 up; what will happen if QPR come up against a team high on confidence and in-form before the end of the season?

Steve Howard capped the misery with twelve minutes to go, by which time Rangers were playing Damion Stewart as a centre-forward. His comments after Saturday's game made me question what Warnock looks for in a striker. It would now seem that it is to have spent their career as a centre-back. It is of course important to have a physical presence up front but this smacked of desperation.

Rangers had a few moments of respite - Adel Taarabt struck the post with a typically solo effort and Jay Simpson came close to forcing them back into the game when he beat two players in the second half but could only strike the ball directly at Chris Weale's feet.

Amazingly, things were worse at other grounds where Palace had gone into a 3-1 lead over Preston and Watford were beating second-placed West Brom. Chris Brunt saved their blushes, but at the end of the day, Rangers' five-point cushion had been cut to three.

As messages to the rest of the league go, losing 4-0 to a team which hadn't won in five won't strike fear into the heart of any of the other teams embroiled in the relegation battle. Palace on the other hand defiantly showed that they are unwilling to allow their ten-point deduction to force them down a league. Both teams meet on Saturday in an atmosphere which was already guaranteed to be charged thanks to Warnock's defection from one to the other just over a month ago. Now every stereotype about six-pointers can be thrown at the game, with the winner placed in the driving seat towards safety and the loser perched on the precipice. The commentator for QPR Player said they could now be sucked 'into the relegation vortex' - that is a scary place to be.

The additional consequence of this dismal defeat is that the buzz around Warnock's appointment is now well and truly extinguished. It didn't help that he spoke about wanting to bring in his own players almost from day one. Few will argue that numerous changes aren't needed, but these are still the players he needs to keep QPR up, loan players included and it may not have done wonders for their confidence to have the added pressure of worrying about playing for their shirt next season. It could be easily argued that this should be an added motivation and a reality of football life, but it doesn't seem to be working right now.

Leicester - Weale, Morrison, Brown, Berner, Hobbs, King, Wellens (Adams 80), Spearing, Howard, Waghorn (Vaughan 80), Gallagher

Subs not used - Logan, Neilson, Oakley, N'Guessan, Kermorgant

Goals - King (5), Waghorn (45,50), Howard (78)

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage, Stewart, Gorkss, Hill, Leigertwood, Cook (Buzsaky 55), Faurlin, Ephraim, Taarabt, Simpson (Balanta 77)

Subs not used - Cerny, Tosic, Oastler, Vine, German

Bookings - Ephraim

Referee - T Kettle

Attendance - 22,079

Leicester City vs QPR - Match Preview and Team News

2010-04-05T12:40:00.000+01:00

QPR look like they intend to secure their Championship status the hard way with a number of unappealing fixtures on the horizon. Considering their away form this season - just four wins and none in the last 12 - any game not at Loftus Road instantly becomes more demanding, but today's will be a test for its own reasons.

Leicester are smarting from a run of four defeats, their worst run for more than three years, which puts their play-off potential in severe jeopardy, with Blackpool just a point behind them. Their local paper, the Leicester Mercury, is worried enough to have started a vague Dare to Dream campaign to get people behind the promotion push - though it doesn't seem to have much point beyond telling supporters to go to games.

The Hoops, of course, need the points for their own reasons, with games against relegation candidates Crystal Palace and Watford to come and the visits of Cardiff and Newcastle to still contend with. A fifth away win today would ease a few worried minds as the season nears its conclusion.

Leicester City Team News

The biggest bit of team news for Leicester City is one they have been dealing with for some time. Top scorer Matty Fryatt's broken jaw against Doncaster Rovers at the end of February was less than welcome; the player has been out ever since, recently returning to light training but needing to make up about 9lbs in weight which he lost due to inactivity after this jaw was wired and plated.

No other Leicester player has yet hit double figures and though they adjusted gamely af first, including a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in their next game, a lack of inspiration up front hasn't helped over those last five games in which they've failed to win, including four defeats.

Midfielder Lloyd Dyer could also miss out after picking up a knock during Friday's 3-0 defeat against West Brom but defender Wayne Brown and importantly in the context of Fryatt's absence, strikers Paul Gallagher and Yann Kermorgant, should all be available.

QPR Team News

Rangers continue to assess Jay Simpson on a match-by-match basis as he struggles with a hamstring injury. Starting the game against Sheffield Wednesday, he wasn't quite up to full speed and came off on 73 minutes to be replaced by youngster Antonio German. Neil Warnock may chose to rest Simpson with an eye to the crucial game against Crystal Palace.

It is also likely to be Carl Ikeme's last game for the Hoops as he is contracted to return to his parent club Wolves tomorrow. Unless Warnock chooses to gel Radek Cerny back into the side straight away, Ikeme will turn out for the Hoops one last time. Defender Dusko Tosic could also get his first start for the Hoops, although one of the loanees would have to make way with Matt Hill surely the most likely candidate.

Form

As mentioned already, Leicester's form is escaping them at just the wrong time. Four consecutive defeats have left them clinging onto the play-offs, though they will point to next weekend's game against Peterborough as a saving grace, with rivals Blackpool instead travelling to St James' Park. Following that game Leicester could do QPR a favour as they face Watford at home, followed by fixtures against Preston and Middlesbrough. In short, they need to start winning and quickly and will look to their three remaining home games as the best opportunities to book their place in the play-offs.

They've had the beating of QPR once already this season; another game in which the Hoops took the lead only to throw away through a combination of calamitous keeping and poor defending. Rangers' record at the Walkers Stadium will improve their pre-match confidence though; they've picked up seven points from their last three visits there and have only lost once, in January 2005.

Prediction

In front of a home crowd desperate to revive their side's season, QPR will probably look to today's game as a bonus fixture from their remaining matches; one that they will not automatically expect to get anything from, but will be mightily pleased if they do. The big winner today could be Ian Holloway, former manager of both clubs. Anything less than a win for Leicester and his Blackpool side could place themselves in the driving seat for the play-offs by beating Doncaster at home, thereby ending that team's hopes of sneaking into the top six as well.

Fear could largely dictate the opening to this game with so much at stake for both teams and with Leicester guaranteed to not have their top scorer and QPR's uncertain to start, goals will be at a premium. Rangers are trying to ensure their safety in incremental steps with four draws in a row. It's not the most thrilling way to stay up but I think it could become five draws today, which would set a Championship record this season.

SCORE DRAW

Ikeme: "I Wish I Didn't Have To Go"

2010-04-05T11:10:00.001+01:00

It is increasingly difficult to keep a track on the number of loan players at QPR these days. Neil Warnock admitted to having to drop Marcus Bent at the last minute prior to his first game against West Brom because, unbeknownst to him, he had exceeded the permissible number of loan players in his match-day squad. Bent now seems to have gone walkabout; Dusko Tosic, a left-back from Portsmouth, was brought in by Warnock but is still to play and a significant proportion of QPR goals this season have come from loan players, particularly Adel Taarabt and Jay Simpson.

Warnock's selection headaches will be eased slightly following today's game which will be keeper Carl Ikeme's last for the club, freeing up a loanee spot in the squad, as the player has to return to Wolves. But judging by the high regard for Ikeme around QPR, particularly from goalkeeping coach David Rouse and from Ikeme's own comments, it will not be a completely welcome return.

After Saturday's game, he said: "I've loved it here and I'm disappointed to be going back.

"I wish I could stay."

It's rare you see such honesty from a player returning to his own club, but it's a reflection of Ikeme's place in the pecking order at Wolves. As their third-choice keeper he faces time spent in the stands instead of on the pitch, a prospect which is far from appealing to the Birmingham-born player, who admitted he isn't a good watcher of games. He also confessed that one of the most enjoyable aspects of his time at QPR was the sheer number of games he got to play, with virtually an uninterrupted spell between the posts since his arrival.

That was in January and before he had even played his first game, QPR had confirmed the worst of their stereotypes by parting company with manager Paul Hart. So Ikeme's first game in the Rangers gloves was under Mick Harford, a 2-2 draw with Blackpool which in the context of this season looks like a decent result.

"Three managers in the space of a few months is a bit crazy," he said.

"It wasn't what I was expecting but I had heard a few stories. I think now the new board is in charge though, it's a more stable club."

You could have forgiven the player for doing a runner after only his second game. That was a 5-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest and though few would have attributed blame at Ikeme's door, it can't have done wonders for his confidence. He stuck to his guns though, even when the club went on to further defeats against Scunthorpe and Peterborough and he formed an important part of a more solid defence under Neil Warnock, earning the club their first clean sheet since October when they beat Plymouth on March 9.

He really couldn't have joined at a worse time and it was clear that he had quickly picked up on the negativity which was surrounding the club. Importantly though, and well-placed as an outsider to judge, he felt the atmosphere had greatly improved and that the supporters were now wholly behind the team.

"I think the fans have seen that the club has started to move forward," he said.

"They're getting behind the team even though we're in a sticky patch which is important."

Not to forget that he was keeping Radek Cerny out of the side for the duration of his stay in west London. Cerny had some blips this season, most notably in the home game against today's opponents, Leicester, when he gifted the away side a goal, but he was also the custodian when QPR finished last season as the safest defence in the league. That Ikeme was able to supplant him without any friction between the two says a lot about the character of both men.

Unfortunately, league rules state that he has to return to Wolves after today's game despite almost no chance of playing in their first team before the end of this season. He said his one regret was leaving whilst Rangers are still unsure of their Championship status, although a clean sheet and even a win against the Foxes today would go a long way towards settling that.

The door isn't closed on a possible return even though Warnock may prefer his own candidate, such as former colleague Julian Speroni at Crystal Palace. But regardless of his future involvement with the club, it was clear that he is leaving with a high regard for QPR.

Six Games To Go; There's Only One Peter Ramage and Adel Taarabt's Future

2010-04-05T10:12:00.001+01:00

The disappointment around Loftus Road was clear on Saturday as another game the home side was in complete control of slipped from their grasp. This was as one-sided as most of their recent performances with Sheffield Wednesday posing very little goal threat apart from the occasion when found the net with twelve minutes to go. That was a sucker-punch to the home team and their supporters and there wasn't enough left in the tank to make a late rally for the three points. Alejandro Faurlin (pictured above) finally claimed his first QPR goal with his well-taken strike after 23 minutes, but a failure to capitalise led to the almost inevitable equaliser, Tom Soares in the right place to head home Tommy Spurr's deadly cross.

It seems ridiculous that for all the initial promise of the Warnock era, the club still haven't rid themselves of any lasting relegation fears. It would still take an epic collapse for QPR to make up the final drop spot, but should they lose this evening, Saturday's game against Crystal Palace and Warnock's return to Selhurst Park will be absolutely crucial.

1 - What type of team is Warnock aiming for? The manager has made it pretty clear that he is looking forward to creating his own QPR XI, despite also claiming this was the most talented set of players he has ever worked with. The number of loans at the club is clearly frustrating him, although he has already played to type as a QPR boss by bringing in a loan player himself, Dusko Tosic, with few apparent plans on when to actually play him. If Matt Hill is set to return to Wolves, then it would surely make sense to have a look at Tosic in a competitive game as soon as possible, because considering Portsmouth's nightmarish financial situation, if he turns out to fit the bill, he could arrive permanently on the cheap. I know that QPR view every game as a must-win at the moment and perhaps the manager doesn't want to tinker too greatly, but an international footballer should be able to handle the pressure of a home game against Sheffield Wednesday.

Warnock was also bemoaning the lack of a physical presence up front for QPR. Jay Simpson and Tamas Priskin are about as slight a front two as you can get, though to be fair to the former he is unafraid to track back and win the ball himself. My one fear is that Warnock will aim to get a 6ft-plus hard man into the ranks this summer, a target man for the high balls which dominate much of Championship football.

In conjunction with a player like Simpson that could work. On its own it could mean QPR become quite a dull team to watch. He is right in stressing the need for changes and too much of a value can be placed on playing attractive football over winning matches. But there is already enough talent in the squad to suggest that Rangers could become a winning team whilst entertaining the crowd as well. I'm sure that is what he is aiming for.

2 - How worried should QPR be about the bottom three? This is a season in which no-one wants to submit to the drop. A number of teams are hanging onto life in the Championship by a thin thread and compared to Plymouth, Crystal Palace or Watford, Rangers are surely in an insurmountable position. The unwillingness of those sides to lie down though must raise a few concerns and Neil Warnock admitted that all the clubs near the bottom are getting nervous. Palace earned a draw at Middlesbrough as did Watford at Preston whereas the most surprising result must have been Plymouth's win at Doncaster, which keeps them within three points of safety and puts a big dent in Donny's hopes of creeping into the play-offs.

Looking at the last ten seasons, the final relegation perch has been occupied by a team gaining on average 44.2 points, which makes you wonder where the talk of a 50 or 52 point safety marker comes from. Well, just two seasons ago, Leicester City were relegated on 52 points on the final day, a total QPR are still four points off. Gillingham were relegated on 50 in 2004/5; Walsall on 51 the season before. Rangers have to play two of the more likely relegation candidates as well; Crystal Palace in less than a week's time (as if that game needed any extra spice) and Watford at home on April 20. Those games should ultimately decide how nerve-wracking the final weeks are going to be.

3 -The supporters should be in full voice though. Relations between the team and the fans were far from peachy during Mick Harford's tenure, with the Ipswich game in particular standing in my memory as a match in which the supporters seemed to have lost all hope in their players. What has been notable is that despite the frustrations of the last three home games - all 1-1 draws - the crowd have largely been appreciative of the players' efforts.

There have been the odd moments of discontent; a few howls at misplaced passes and a degree of criticism for Tamas Priskin which seemed unwarranted. But hearing a whole corner of the crowd sing 'there's only one Peter Ramage' on Saturday showed how far the supporters are behind the latest incarnation of the QPR "project". Without patronising the player too much, he would surely admit himself that he has had a mixed relationship with the Loftus Road crowd but there was nothing ironic about their cheers. For work-rate alone, few can outrank Ramage and his well-taken goal against Preston showed there is something to his game going forward now as well. The supporters still need to play their part in ensuring that QPR don't quickly return to the negativity on and off the pitch which ruined much of this season.

4 - Will Adel Taarabt be around to share in that optimism? The Moroccan seems to have stepped up a gear in the last few games, with a remarkable performance against Preston. Though quieter yesterday and still prone to trying to win games alone, he really can strike fear into most back lines as he strides forward from midfield.

Cynical observers might suggest the upturn in his contribution is directly related to the impending opening of the transfer window and it is certainly true that QPR might flinch at paying close to £5 million for the player, a sum of money rarely spent in the Championship. Warnock admitted the club weren't front of the queue to sign him despite reiterating that Taarabt is fond of QPR. There are rumours that he is keen on forging a career in Spain. If he does leave, it is unlikely that a like-for-like replacement can be found but someone to match that creative spark will have to be found.

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage, Stewart, Gorkss, Hill, Leigertwood, Faurlin, Ephraim (Cook 81), Taarabt,.Simpson (German 73), Priskin (Vine 89)

Subs not used - Cerny, Oastler, Buzsaky, Balanta

Goal - Faurlin (23)

Bookings - Taarabt

Sheffield Wednesday - Grant, Spurr, Buxton, Purse, Beevers, Potter (Clarke 72), O'Connor, Varney

(Johnson 69), Soares, Nolan, Tudgay

Subs not used - O'Donnell, Hinds, Simek, Gray, Jeffers

Goal - Soares (77)

Attendance - 13,405

QPR 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1

2010-04-03T17:06:00.003+01:00

Another failed opportunity for QPR and one which makes Monday's game against Leicester look more unpleasant that it should be.

There was nothing too radical about the QPR line-up apart from the pleasing news that Jay Simpson was back in the starting eleven. Simpson had only started two of QPR's last four games because of a niggling hamstring problem, though Neil Warnock has probably been more sensibly cautious with the player than he would have been had QPR been pushing for promotion for example.

Very little of note happened in the first ten minutes, apart from Kaspars Gorkss managing to skew at least two clearances completely unchallenged by an opponent. He almost seems to perform better under pressure, going neck a neck with a striker. If left with time and space to think about what he is going to do next, the result will often be a wild clearance into the stands.

Simpson showed his value to the team early on though, nipping onto a half ball in the area and laying it back to Alejandro Faurlin who placed his shot directly at the keeper. You had to wonder what it would take for Faurlin to get his first goal in QPR colours?

The star man of the moment for QPR, Adel Taarabt, started quietly but grew into the half and came close to creating the opener, his fiercely accurate corner finding Tamas Priskin who could only head wide.

Faurlin soon answered the question over his lack of goals though and it all started from another wild Gorkss clearance. He punted the ball forward with seemingly little concern about its direction but it found Priskin in acres of space on the right wing. Unfortunately, the forward didn't control the ball quickly enough, allowing Wednesday to get men back but he still carried his run into the area and forced Lee Grant to tip the ball wide.

From the resulting corner, Faurlin showed his coolness above all others to flick the ball back into the area. Centre-back Damion Stewart similarly headed it up into the air and when the ball fell down, it found the grateful Faurlin to slam it into the net from point-blank range. A very deserving scorer which was acknowledged by the QPR crowd.

Marcus Tudgay was looking very isolated in attack for Wednesday and barring a mid-game nap which often afflicts QPR, it was hard to see how they could not turn their lead into the three points which would all but guarantee Championship football next season.

Priskin continued to benefit from some wayward balls from the back which said a lot about Wednesday's commitment to marking the player. Within minutes of the second-half kicking off, left-back Matt Hill ballooned the ball into the area where it dropped to Priskin. He let the ball bounce before hitting it high on the turn and it clipped off the bar, possibly with a touch from the keeper on the way. Priskin was certainly getting in the right positions if still too tentative to take advantage of them.

Taarabt's best moment of the game could have doubled the advantage on 58 minutes. With a trademark cut-back, he worked himself some space and then drove his shot from fully 25 yards just above the top corner. "Sign him up, sign him up," echoed down from the stands, in reference to Taarabt's loan status and the need to break upon the piggy bank should the manager desire to make his move permanent.

Somehow the Rs weren't able to put the game out of reach though, despite a complete lack of attacking intent at the other end from Wednesday and as it dragged on, nerves crept into their play and onto the stands.

It's been a tell-tale problem for at least the last six games and again, the away team were allowed the luxury of getting back into the game. Tommy Spurr curled a deadly cross to the far post and Tom Soares was in the perfect position to plant his header into the net.

As usual, it woke QPR up. Mikele Leigertwood went close, a trademark long-range shot just avoiding the goal. Lee Cook was soon on for Hogan Ephraim as well, to join Antonio German who came on for Simpson before the Wednesday goal but neither substitute nor Rowan Vine who came on with minutes remaining could alter the outcome of the game. If anything Leon Clarke should have won it for the Owls though, a curled free-kick catching the Hoops out and just evading the final touch which would have taken it into the net.

Another incredibly frustrating game for the home supporters then and though its still unlikely that QPR will be drawn into the bottom three, the abundant nerves around Loftus Road won't be disappearing anytime soon if the team continue to throw away leading positions.

"A Win, A Win, My Kingdom For A Win"

2010-04-03T09:32:00.001+01:00

Well-known football supporter Billy Shakespeare would have had a field day with QPR. The calamities on the pitch, the intrigue behind the scenes, the sense of impending tragedy; he could have wrote six or seven decent plays based on the last two seasons alone. But the man who penned 'Am I so round with you as you with me, that like a football you do spurn me thus?' (that one is real), would have struggled for decent storylines from the last few QPR matches.

Five games without a win sounds miserable but QPR have been far from poor ever since Neil Warnock took over as manager. In fact, for large spells of their last three games, they've been the better team. But for a good story, sooner or later you need a win and QPR desperately need to take something from their next two games on the bounce, against Sheffield Wednesday today and then Leicester on Monday.

I wasn't able to write anything on the Preston game and it would seem a bit redundant to go into it now. Suffice to say, Adel Taarabt had a commanding performance for the R's and showed why patience is needed when what he is trying to achieve doesn't always pay off. Rumours have started up about a potential £4.5 million price tag on his head should QPR want to make his loan move permanent. If he is happy to be at the club, committed to the cause and employed in the right way on the pitch, he could be well worth that fee.

The club will look to him again today for inspiration in a game which would appear to be the easier of the two Easter fixtures. Were it not for Crystal Palace's ten-point deduction, the Owls would be prime relegation candidates and could still find themselves in the bottom three before the season's end.

But only three points separate them from QPR. Should Wednesday get the result today, the R's would be nervously contemplating a late season survival act from Palace. Warnock's blistering start seemed to have dispelled any fears about going down but five games without a win, despite the battling performances, is enough to awaken a few jitters again.

QPR Team News

Jay Simpson is still far from certain to be in QPR's starting line-up and though Tamas Priskin admirably stuck to his guns and got his first Rs goal against Preston, it's hard to not see some correlation between Simpson's absence from the side and the inability to find a win. He missed the Swansea game, came off earlier then expected against Derby and sat it out against Preston as well as he struggles with a hamstring injury. The manager may be looking to field him in at least one game over Easter though and could well rest him today and hope he can make a big impact for Monday's trip to Leicester.

Matt Connolly is the other likely absentee, potentially for both games. The back four against Preston was Ramage, Gorkss, Stewart and Hill and I'd be surprised to see any change from that this afternoon. Dusko Tosic could be denied another opportunity to make his debut for the club since his loan move from Portsmouth.

Sheff Wed Team News

Wednesday should be able to call on winger Jermaine Johnson and defender Lewis Buxton as they attempt to lift themselves away from the bottom three. Johnson has been out for the last three games whereas Buxton has been missing since January.

Form

As mentioned above, in terms of performances and sheer 'hardness-to-beat' (I think that's a word but to return to Shakespeare he was always making them up so this is my gift to the English language), QPR have been greatly improved for some time but there is still the nagging doubt over the lack of wins. It's only three so far this year, though all have been at home which must give the side some confidence going into this encounter.

The recent Derby game can be taken as a good marker for this clash - the R's were rightly judged the favourites going into that game and on the evidence of their blistering start, they were more than capable of beating the Rams. But as the season nears crunch time, even supposed formalities become far more prickly as the collective efforts of sides at both ends of the table kick up a gear. Could the same be true of Wednesday?

Their recent record suggests so and another draw could be on the cards. They're unbeaten in five (though with just one win) and have drawn their last three away games. That run has come against testing opposition as well. After kicking off March with an important home win over Leicester City, they went on to draw at Swansea City and Preston, before a scoreless home match against Derby and a home win over Watford. After shipping five goals at Reading, they also seem to have corrected some of their defensive frailties with the same amount conceded over the last seven games.

Prediction

Taking the Easter fixtures as a whole, QPR would surely be happy with a return of four points from both games, especially as the the team has so little recovery time following today. That would put them on 51 points, with another five games in which to get a further win (or even draw) to secure their Championship future (if that points total is even necessary).

Perhaps that is to consider their ambitions in too negative a light though. Perhaps their sights are firmly set on maximum points from both games and a respectable mid-table finish after that.

It's hard to predict what they'll get from both games, especially as this clutch of fixtures is bound to throw up some surprising results but to take today's game in isolation, I believe they'll rid themselves of the laziness which turned three points against Derby into one and finally give their manager the next win he has been craving.

HOME WIN

Tosic Could Play Tomorrow But Volz Holding Out For Better Deal

2010-03-26T17:05:00.000Z

After mentioning his eagerness to start bringing his own players into the QPR squad last weekend, Neil Warnock has wasted no time in keeping to his word. Yesterday came the news that the Hoops had beaten a number of Championship clubs to sign Serbian international left-back Dusko Tosic (pictured above) on loan from Portsmouth until the end of the season.

Then, to shore up the other side of his defence, he offered former Arsenal and Fulham player, Moritz Volz, who has been training with the R's, a similar contract for the remaining games of the season, though judging by comments on Volz's own website, he is still holding out for a deal from abroad.

Tosic Straight Into QPR Squad

Tosic became available after signing for Portsmouth, a deal which the Premier League refused to ratify unless the player was immediately loaned out to a Championship club, because of the current restrictions placed on the South coast side after going into administration. QPR were not the only ones to be tracking the breakdown in the player's move to Pompey as Swansea boss Paulo Sousa had discussed a potential move for the player in his press conference following last Saturday's draw at Loftus Road. So, in one way, the R's finally got the upper hand over their former manager this week.

The 25-year-old started his career in Serbia with OFK Beograd before moving to French club Sochaux in 2006. A two-and-a-half season long spell at Werder Bremen followed which yielded just 22 appearances before the move to Portsmouth on February 12. Forced to move onto the Championship, at least for now, the player revealed how QPR came first in his thinking.

He said: "I didn't want to play for any Championship team, it had to be right. I have watched a couple of QPR matches and there are some very good players here.

"The Club has a great tradition also, which is important."

Hoops boss Neil Warnock said: "This is a good opportunity to have a look at a young international footballer from now until the end of the season."

The player, who has made nine appearances for his country, will now be available for QPR's match-day squad as they travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End tomorrow.

Volz Not So Sure

German full-back Volz (pictured above playing for Fulham) was offered a similar short-term deal to Tosic, but he is dragging his heels because of potential interest from abroad. Volz is tongue-tied over the identity of his foreign suitors, but it looks like QPR have a battle on their hands.

Writing today in his online diary, the player said: "A few options have come up in the last 48 hours for me to play out the rest of the season with a club.

"One was QPR which was really pleasing. After the time I've spent there training its nice to feel I did well enough to warrant being offered something .

"However another very attractive option has also come up abroad which I am hoping will materialise. A few things need to be sorted out first..."

"But overrall I'm just delighted that I'm getting opportunities to play some proper games between now and the end of the season as that is the one thing I need now."

Hoops Stuck In Limbo - QPR 1 Derby County 1

2010-03-24T10:30:00.000Z

Two 1-1 draws in a row for QPR, but they will take more satisfaction from the first in that series than last night's result against Derby County. Against Swansea on Saturday, it was Rangers marshalling their resources and their will to get back into a game which was slipping away from them. The momentum they gained in finding a late equaliser against the Swans was carried in to last night's game in which they battered Derby in the opening minutes but it was a momentum the team was unable to sustain.

Once again, they came very close at the end of the game to taking all three points after Shaun Barker cancelled out the opener from Lee Cook (pictured above), but from a potential six points from two home games, QPR managed just two. It's still unlikely that they will be sucked into the relegation area with a seven-point cushion following last night's game, but they still need to make up the necessary points to ensure survival with three away games out of four to come.

Why do Rangers so often throw away winning positions? If you'd cut out the second half display against Swansea and the first 20 minutes against Derby, you would have a contender for the team's best performance of the season. Sadly, they are rarely able to maintain a performance across one single game. At my reckoning, they've dropped points from a winning position in over a quarter of their games.

As far back as the second game of the season, the R's were unable to see out a 1-0 lead at Plymouth Argyle and conceded an equaliser in the 93rd minute. Since then, they've drawn away at Newcastle and West Brom despite leading (the latter in which they threw away a two-goal cushion), but more damagingly they've failed to see out a win against Notts Forest, Palace, Coventry, Sheffield United and now Derby at home.

That's not counting the games when they took the lead and went on to lose, such as Leicester at home when Adel Taarabt's opener failed to prevent a 2-1 defeat or one of the low points of the season when Patrick Agyemang's goal against the run of play at Watford only precipitated a three-goal collapse. I'd be surprised if any other Championship side has been quite as incapable of holding out for victory.

QPR's game doesn't really suit sitting back and trying to kill a game off but if that is the case, they need to show a more natural inclination to keep up a pressing game and a search for further goals when they take the lead. The Championship is a very tight league, particularly at this stage of the season, so teams will rarely sail into unassailable leads regardless of who is playing who (unless it's Blackpool playing Swansea as surprisingly occurred last night). But Neil Warnock will still look to toughen this side up and increase their smarts the next time they find themselves in the ascendancy.

Rangers lead came through Lee Cook, his first goal of the season and first strike since Boxing Day 2008. There are few more popular scorers than Cook, particularly considering the long road back to first-team football which he has endured. Previously plagued by injury during a spell at Fulham, Cook underwent keyhole surgery on his knee at the end of last season which kept him from a football pitch until the end of January.

Even then, coming into a QPR team shorn of any confidence, it took time to stake a claim to start every game with a recent bout of flu doing little to help. But he is making that claim now and as a supporter of QPR since childhood, few in the current squad can rival Cook's commitment to the club. His return to the side could also be a marker for two players, Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands, who are also suffering from long-term injuries.

Assuming QPR pick up a couple more wins, as I am sure they will, thoughts will turn to next season pretty soon. Neil Warnock has already hinted at his desire to bring in his own players and also to reduce the number of loan players at Rangers.

I was ready to say that the QPR squad has a much more healthy size and competitiveness to it at the moment but much will depend on who the manager deems surplus to requirements. With players like Cook and Hogan Ephraim back in contention, talented players like Akos Buzsaky left on the bench and having to prove themselves when they do come on and Mahon and Rowlands still to return, competition to get into the R's midfield could be tough next season.

Even up front, where few would argue against further investment, the emergence of Antonio German also gives the manager an extra option if searching for a win, not forgetting Angelo Balanta who seems to have slipped under the radar since Warnock's arrival.

But there will be investments across the squad, from the goalkeeper on, and it will be interesting to see which of the loan players Warnock tries to hang on to.

I doubt if Adel Taarabt has the stomach for another season of Championship football and Carl Ikeme will soon be heading back to Wolves. Marcus Bent is missing in action and Tamas Priskin has done little to impress. That leaves Matt Hill and Jay Simpson. The latter has been a godsend for QPR this season, but as with Taarabt, it could well be a case of the player receiving better offers than QPR can muster. Hill, on the other hand, is growing in confidence but again, Warnock could well favour his own candidate. Which is basically a very long-winded way of saying expect a lot of new faces for the first day back next season.

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage, Stewart, Gorkss, Connolly (Hill 33), Leigertwood, Cook (German 59), Faurlin, Taarabt, Vine, Simpson (Ephraim 78)

Subs not used - Cerny, Buzsaky, Balanta, Priskin

Goal - Cook (45+2)

Bookings - Faurlin

Derby County - Bywater, McEveley, Barker, Hunt (Davies 61), Anderson, Green, Savage, Pearson, Tonge, Porter (Hulse 82), Sunu (Leacock 46)

Subs not used - Martin, Moxey, Teale, Martin

Goal - Barker (67)

Bookings - Leacock

Referee - Mr K Wright

Attendance - 12,569

Rangers Ready For Cautious Rams? - QPR vs Derby Preview

2010-03-23T10:42:00.000Z

After going toe to toe with Swansea City on Saturday, QPR face a test of a different magnitude tonight for their second home game in four days against Derby County. Despite just one point separating the two sides, Rangers will have the rare honour of being favourites ahead of this match. But from thirteenth position down in the league, every side is fighting to get to at least to 50 points to ensure no last-minute nerves about staying up. If Rangers are to make that target, with two tough away games ahead at Preston and Leicester, they will be hoping for a maximum return against the Rams tonight.

QPR Team News

QPR can welcome Damion Stewart back into the fray after serving a one-match suspension on Saturday following his sending-off against Reading. Jay Simpson, who didn't feature against Swansea as well, is also a likely starter - Neil Warnock revealed after the game that Simpson was left out as a precautionary measure with a tight hamstring.

It could also be keeper Carl Ikeme's last game for the R's. The loanee from Wolves is contracted to stay in west London until April 6 but Warnock said he is considering one or even two further loan deals before the end of the season. As the Hoops already have an abundant supply of loan players to pick from, it would be necessary to cut Ikeme's stay short to make way for any new arrivals, particularly as only five loan players can be named in the match-day squad. The manager also bravely insisted that he is not the type to worry over having only one goalkeeper in his match-day 18, so there will be much impetus on Radek Cerny to remain fit until the end of the season.

Derby Team News

Sheffield Wednesday supporters were denied one of the chief joys of watching the Championship on Saturday i.e giving Robbie Savage a hard time, as the Welshman was rested for the first time this season. Savage has an uncanny ability to wind up home crowds and has even been berated at a darts tournament in the past, but QPR's supporters should have the opportunity to vent any frustration in his direction tonight when he returns to Derby's match squad.

They might be less pleased to see him back for his playing contribution though as his constant presence in the Derby side until Saturday demonstrates his importance. Any failings physically which he may now have are compensated by his work-rate and reading of the game, so the R's' midfield pairing of Alejandro Faurlin and Mikele Leigertwood are unlikely to be afforded much time on the ball.

Nigel Clough could also call on Gary Teale and Lee Croft in his midfield, after both return to match fitness, but another player who is now injury-free, Lee Hendrie, is likely to complete a loan move to Brighton and Hove Albion today.

Form

A glance at the table shows just one point separating these two sides though it would be fair to say they've enjoyed dissimilar seasons. When the two sides met at the end of October, with Rangers recording a 4-2 win at Pride Park, Derby were on the edge of the relegation area while QPR were in sixth and challenging for the play-offs. Not long after that game, everything started to go wrong for QPR whereas Derby's form took a slight turn for the better after the turn of the year, including an ill-tempered 1-0 win over rivals Nottingham Forest in front of 32,000 supporters at their own ground.

In short though, whereas QPR's season has been one of a peak and then a stomach-churning lurch to the bottom, Derby have been nestling in the bottom quarter of the table for most of this campaign. Does that give them an extra advantage in games like tonight's? Are they better primed to scrap their way clear of the bottom three?

Form over the last five games would suggest not and that if either of these two sides were to get caught up in the relegation battle again, the visitors would be the better bet. After beating Watford at the start of the month, they've lost at Reading and Doncaster and followed it up with draws against Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday. They've not won on the road since beating bottom-side Peterborough on January 16, one of only two away league wins all season.

QPR on the other hand still have just one defeat under Neil Warnock and even that, a 1-0 loss at Reading, was a close-run affair. After banging three past West Brom though, the goals have slightly dried up with just two in their last three games. In that context, the return of Simpson tonight could be vital particularly considering Tamas Priskin's lack of popularity around Loftus Road which looks to be severely affecting his confidence or his ability or both.

Prediction

One of Nigel Clough's pre-match comments struck me as providing a good marker for tonight's game. Speaking about QPR, he said: "They are playing a different formation or have been doing. Whether they change or not, we don't know, so we might change to accommodate them a little bit." Despite the closeness of their league positions, it would seem that Derby are heading to west London with a plan to contain QPR in the back of their minds. That could be reading too much into Clough's intentions, but I would suggest that a point would satisfy the away side tonight.

The home team on the other hand will be keen to gain further benefit from the increased goodwill around their stadium following Warnock's impressive start. Even in the tough climate of their game against Swansea, they managed to produce some dangerous, spirited football which by the end, could easily have brought a victory. In terms of outlook, I see something of a gulf between QPR and Derby in this fixture and it's one I think the home side will exploit.

HOME WIN.

QPR 1 Swansea 1 Match Report

2010-03-20T17:03:00.000Z

Everyone knows that Swansea have become very hard to beat under Paulo Sousa. What QPR showed today however, is that they are an equally tough prospect under Neil Warnock. Trailing to a slightly fortuitous Nathan Dyer goal, they called on substitute Antonio German to level what was a surprisingly entertaining game.

The Hoops were forced into a further change than was predicted prior to this game as Jay Simpson was absent (still not clear why but I suspect he must be injured as he wasn't even on the bench). Therefore, Adel Taarabt was placed up front with Tamas Priskin with Akos Buzsaky coming in on the right wing. As predicted, Matt Connolly shifted to centre-back to make up for Damion Stewart's absence and Peter Ramage came in at right-back.

Most of the opening half was fairly static with both teams loathe to commit themselves too early. There was nothing gung-ho about Rangers' attacking play, they were content to take their time in picking out a pass (particularly Adel Taarabt who will hold onto the ball for as long as humanly possible before deciding what to do with it) and unsurprisingly, Swansea's main attacking outlet was on the break, with Nathan Dyer using his pace to cause Rangers a few nervous moments in the opening 45 minutes.

On eleven minutes he hit the post, getting the merest of touches to direct the ball past Carl Ikeme only to see the ball agonizingly trail along the line. Within minutes he almost forced a bizaare own goal as well, deftly controlling the ball in the area only to see QPR's Matt Hill, who was desperately tracking back, nearly divert the ball into his own net.

Apart from that, goal-scoring chances were few and far between which began to frustrate the home crowd who were particularly unsympathetic towards two Hoops players - Peter Ramage and Tamas Priskin. It is certainly true that certain players attract more criticism than their performances merit whilst others seem immune from the crowd's ire regardless of how they play and Ramage certainly fits this category. Despite his at times woeful distribution of the ball, he rarely makes the clangers which other QPR defenders have made this season.

Priskin does himself little favours with his ostentatious yellow boots and relaxed attitude to tracking back. He also seems to suffer when it comes to the physical aspects of the game as well and he was all too often brushed off with ease by the domineering pairing of Alan Tate and Ashley Williams. At the same time, it was surprising to see how quickly sections of the crowd got on his back. Though he has played enough games to be able to deal with it, he looked slightly dazed for the first 45 minutes.

The Hoops rallied well though as the end of the half approached and Hogan Ephraim had the ball in the net but was judged offside, which looked the right decision. Then Akos Buzsaky picked the ball up on the right wing in the kind of area he's previously worked wonders, but his curled effort to the far post was comfortable for Dorus De Vries. Whilst all this was going on, Neil Warnock appeared completely unconcerned with Paulo Sousa's comments in midweek and spent much of the half berating the ref.

Swansea looked the far fresher team after the break though with Guillem Bauza enjoying the run of the midfield and Dyer continuing to give Hill a torrid afternoon. All three combined to open the scoring for Swansea. Bauza stabbed the ball forward in search of Dyer and had well over-hit it, but it took a knock off Hill and landed luckily at the winger's feet on the edge of the area. From there, he could calmly pass the ball into the net.

Warnock gambled straight away as it was clear the game was slipping from QPR's grasp and it more than paid off. Buzsaky and Priskin were both brought immediately off on 57 minutes, the latter substituion meeting with such an exaggerated level of applause from some quarters that it bordered on the sadistic. That said, the manager was right to make the changes and Rowan Vine joined them soon after, replacing Ephraim.

Cook and German were bundles of energy compared to the unnoticeable performance from Buzsaky and the limpness of Priskin, but it was Vine's quick-thinking in the box following a corner which guided the ball into the six-yard box and the feet of German. For one so young, he appears to live to score goals and if any player was going to get on the end of the speculative pass, it was German. He poked it across the line and then teared away towards the home fans to celebrate.

WIth fifteen minutes left, Rangers were in the ascendancy with Cook in particular staking a claim for a starting place against Derby on Tuesday. For his dead-ball delivery alone he adds another element to the Hoops' attacking play and seems more naturally suited to running the line than Buzsaky. It was a Taarabt free-kick which came close to winning the game for Rangers though with five minutes remaining. From the edge of the area, the ball clipped off the Swansea wall and looped down to Matt Connolly, who headed in only to be adjudged offside.

It was the closest either side game to ending the stalemate, but this was far from the dull draw which it could have been.

All Change At The Back For QPR - Swansea Match Preview

2010-03-19T16:16:00.000Z

Two teams with very different priorities meet tomorrow at Loftus Road, but for both, the game could have a large bearing on how their seasons pan out. QPR welcome Swansea City with the former team looking to consolidate its position away from the relegation area and the latter trying to stay in touch with the automatic promotion spots or at least stake their significant claim to be in this season's play-offs.

QPR have been a very different team since Neil Warnock arrived and immediately gave them a massive lift by inspiring them to a victory over West Bromwich Albion. What is perhaps surprising is that Warnock hasn't once tinkered with his side so far, even though you suspect he would be keen to give the once-over to as many of his players in a competitive scenario as possible. He clearly feels now is not the time of the season to overly rotate his squad and may prefer the comfort of the close season to truly get an appreciation of all his players.

He will need to change things tomorrow though, at least in the back four. Defending has been QPR's biggest weakness this season, one which came very close to completely derailing their season. Though they've righted a lot of those failings, they're still not free of relegation worries. The scalp of Swansea tomorrow however would put a lot of minds at ease.

QPR Team News

The need for a switch at the back is the result of Damion Stewart's sending-off against Reading in midweek, a red card which did little to impress the manager in its foolishness. As a result, Matt Connolly will most likely switch into the middle two alongside Kaspars Gorkss and Peter Ramage will come in at right-back.

Apart from that change, it should be business as usual and I wouldn't expect too much unnecessary tinkering before playing a team as capable as Swansea. Expect Mikele Leigertwood and Alejandro Faurlin to form a solid pairing in midfield, with the latter player in particular growing in confidence and importance to the team by the week. If Warnock sticks with his preferences of previous games, he'll place Hogan Ephraim and Adel Taarabt on the wings, with Tamas Priskin and Jay Simpson up front, so Marcus Bent may have to sit out another game because of loan player restrictions.

Swansea Team News

The Swans could call on midfielder Andrea Orlandi, who previously played at Barcelona on loan, after he missed the last four weeks with a hamstring injury. Current Wigan boss Roberto Martinez brought Orlandi to Swansea in 2007/8 from Alaves, prior to which he spent two seasons on loan at Barca, making 66 appearances for their B team and four for the first team. In a stop-start career so far in Wales, he made 23 league appearances this season prior to his injury, though as he only started training again yesterday, Swans boss Paulo Sousa may judge it too soon to hand him a starting place.

Form

As mentioned yesterday, these two clubs have an idential records in terms of points over the last six games, with Rangers just topping their visitors in the form table because of a goal difference of plus two (compared to Swansea's of zero).

In fact, over the season up until now, the Swans' goal difference is only six to the good which could be taken as a factor in their failure to catch up with the league's top two. They've let in an incredibly miserly twenty-five goals in the league so don't expect Rangers to score at will tomorrow, but amazingly they've also scored the fewest goals as well, with just thirty-one. Even bottom-side Peterborough, who have looked doomed for much of this season, have found the net more often.

Rangers will have few complaints about their points haul since Warnock arrived, except perhaps that some more sympathetic refereeing and less head-strong defending on Tuesday would have earned a draw. The two home games under the new manager have been particularly promising with West Brom beaten 3-1 and Plymouth beaten 2-0.

Prediction

Not many goals. Rangers look a much better prospect defensively over the last four games and so, despite the need to make some changes, they will be hopeful of shutting out the away team. At the same time and as mentioned above, Swansea are the masters of the no-score draw, with eight so far, and though they will push for a win, they are unlikely to sacrifice their controlled play to get it. No-one wants to predict a goalless stalemate and Rangers haven't featured in one yet this season, which suggests that, for all their flaws, they can't be accused of being boring. But if one is to arise, tomorrow is a good bet and so my prediction. Which probably means they will be 1-0 up inside ten minutes.

NO-SCORE DRAW

Will Paulo Sousa Have The Last Laugh At Loftus Road?

2010-03-18T17:32:00.000Z

When you get through managers at the rate QPR have done in the last few seasons, you know the club will come up against the odd ex-manager from time to time. Should Hull be relegated and he stays in his job, the Hoops could open their doors to welcome the return of an Iain Dowie team next season. Before that happens, they will certainly have to face up to Paul Hart again, now at Crystal Palace, on April 10, with Palace fighting for their lives to remain in this division. And should Jim Magilton find his way back into management, who is betting against him leading a team out against Rangers in the foreseeable future?

A reunion which could really smart will occur this Saturday though, when Paulo Sousa returns to his former home ground with Swansea City. Sousa managed 26 games at QPR, not a bad achievement considering the all-too brief tenures other managers suffered whilst Flavio Briatore was calling the shots. Sousa was eventually sacked for the rather vague indiscretion of imparting confidential information to supporters.

Going by word of mouth at the time and a number of the players' comments before he left, Sousa was highly respected in the QPR dressing room. Players often spoke about his different vision of the game and of his desire for the players to be able to line-up in a number of different systems or formations - and to be able to switch between them during a match. That didn't sit too kindly with a board which required a simple 4-4-2 approach to the game and which favoured high-scoring matches over defensive solidity. The resoluteness of QPR's back-line last season could be largely attributed to Sousa's organisational skills and compares favourably with the absolute shambles in terms of defending for much of this season. The number of goals conceded by Rangers in this campaign would have been unlikely under Sousa's watch and Neil Warnock is only now starting to address the problem.

A quick look at Swansea's record this season confirms that the Portuguese certainly knows a thing or two about preventing the opposition from scoring. No side has conceded fewer than the Swans, not even Newcastle with their considerably larger resources and numerous players with Premiership experience.

Admittedly, the goals haven't flown in at the other end, which was also a problem during his time at QPR and was probably a more truthful reason behind his sacking, but despite a few recent blips, Swansea still look nailed on to be in the play-offs this season and their league form could stand them in good stead for the crucial knock-out games. That's because they are very hard to beat with only the Toon Army suffering fewer defeats. Come the play-off semis or the final, it would be unsurprising to see them nick promotion by the odd goal.

All that has little to do with QPR of course, except for a vague wondering over what might have been. But it certainly adds an extra spice to this weekend's clash, even if one of the chief architects of Sousa's departure, Flavio Briatore, has now firmly taken a back-seat when it comes to the team's affairs. Had Sousa brought his promotion-chasing side to west London a month ago, it could have been very embarrassing for the Hoops. As it stands now, they have every chance of putting history behind them and showing that under their new manager, their future is as bright as Sousa's own.

Over the last six league games, both teams have identical records with three wins, a draw and two losses, which is more satisfactory for Rangers' current requirements than Swansea's. The Evening Standard, in a brief article today, borders on characterising Saturday's game as a clash of two footballing philosophies - Sousa's possession-heavy, quick-passing side against Warnock's in-yer-face, direct Rangers. It's a little early to know what style of football Warnock is intending to play, though he is clearly appreciative of the talents within his squad and has some understanding of the Loftus Road crowd's fondness for attractive, attacking football.

It is fair to say though that QPR will have to be at the top of their game to break down the Swans' defence, though anyone at Warnock's opening two games will know that he has already inspired them to some adventurous football of their own at Loftus Road. Though Rangers would love to be facing up to their old boss as fellow promotion candidates, it will still be a fascinating encounter for their fans. They will just hope that, as another Portuguese manager did on his return to west London this week, Sousa doesn't get the last laugh.

Late Penalty Halts Warnock's Unbeaten Start

2010-03-17T12:11:00.000Z

It seemed inevitable that Neil Warnock would eventually come up against what is often described as a 'controversial refereeing decision' and so it proved last night, when a debatable sending-off and a late penalty resulted in a 1-0 defeat for QPR at Reading.

What was surprising though was the manager's remarkably calm, almost philosophical reaction to the red card for defender Damion Stewart (pictured above) and Gylfi Sigurdsson's 85th minute spot-kick which separated the sides. Maybe it is a reflection of Warnock's increasingly relaxed approach to the game as he reaches the twilight years of his career - remember that his final instruction to his players prior to his first game against West Bromwich Albion was for them to smile and enjoy themselves. Also, even Warnock must be aware of his reputation for referee-baiting and so most likely doesn't want to run off in fits of anger every time he comes up against a vaguely questionable decision.

It was also probably a reflection of QPR's performance because there remained much to be hopeful about, particularly that Rangers were able to control large chunks of the game even with ten men and especially before going a man down, had numerous clear-cut chances to take the lead.

Stewart was booked for a 50-50 clash with Reading's Shane Long but walked on 44 minutes for a challenge on the Royals' keeper, Adam Federici, as he attempted to make a clearance. After re-organising the team to a 4-5-1 formation, with Tamas Priskin playing as a lone striker, Warnock's Rangers were able to hold on until the 85th minute when full-back Matt Hill felled Sigurdsson in the box and the in-form midfielder went on to score from the spot.

Warnock, however, though unhappy with Stewart's first yellow, wasn't too displeased with either of the key decisions.

He said: "You can say that the red card cost us. We defended really well. Damion's first booking is never a booking in a million years. He never took his eye off the ball.

"But the second one was his own fault. What was the goalkeeper going to do other than kick the ball? He must have launched a 100 kicks tonight so it was silly and he let his mates down."

Of the penalty, he said: "At Liverpool, it's a penalty. At Reading, it's a penalty.

"If you leave your foot out as a defender, you are inviting the foul. I thought it was the wrong decision but 90% of referees would give it. But we had four or five opportunities when we could have gone down and you wonder whether I have to coach my players to go down."

After describing this Rangers squad as the most talented collection of players he has worked with coming into the game and with another fierce challenge ahead this weekend as ex-Hoops manager Paulo Sousa brings his Swansea side to Loftus Road, Warnock remained confident about his team's progress. Compared to what came before, seven points from 12 is not a bad return and it leaves the Hoops six points off the relegation area.

"You don't often come to Reading and out-play them but we did and I have learned a lot about the players tonight," said Warnock.

The learning curve continues on Saturday. More on that game and Rangers' preparations to come.

Reading - Federici, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, Griffin, Tabb, McAnuff, Kebe, Sigurdsson, Howard (Rasiak 61), Long (Church 67)

Subs not used - Hamer, Khizanishvilli, Gunnarsson, Matejovsky, Robson-Kanu

Goals - Sigurdsson (85)

Bookings - Rasiak

QPR - Ikeme, Stewart, Gorkss, Connolly, Hill, Leigertwood, Faurlin, Ephraim, Taarabt (Ramage 80), Simpson, Priskin (German 87)

Subs not used - Cerny, Borrowdale, Buzsaky, Cook, Vine

Bookings - Stewart, Connolly, Hill, Leigertwood, Faurlin

Red cards - Stewart (two bookings)

Referee - Mr G Ward

Attendance - 16,886

Rangers Head to Resurgent Reading

2010-03-16T17:54:00.000Z

Had these two clubs met just two or three weeks ago, this game would have taken on the complexion of a relegation six-pointer. Though neither side is certain of playing in the Championship next season, upturns in form for both have allowed their supporters to relax somewhat. Both sit on 44 points and will know that two or three more wins should guarantee them safety. After that, they can start to look up the table and see how high a finish they could possibly achieve. But first things first....

Reading Team News

On-loan defender Andy Griffin, an arrival from Stoke City in January, could return to the Royals' starting line-up after recovering from a hamstring strain. He will be given a late fitness test ahead of tonight's game. Two of the club's midfielders though, Jem Karacan and Kalifa Cisse, are unlikely to start - both rated as a couple of weeks away from first-team football.

The player to currently watch in the Reading side is Gylfi Sigurdsson. The midfielder is Reading's top scorer with twelve goals in all competitions, including both goals in the weekend's 2-0 win over Bristol City. Alongside his goalscoring, he also offers frighteningly accurate crosses and dead-ball delivery which will require maximum concentration of the Hoops' defenders.

QPR Team News

No fresh injury concerns for QPR, but Marcus Bent could miss out again as Neil Warnock tries to balance the number of loan players at the club - only five can be named in the match-day squad. Lee Cook was a late substitute on Saturday to replace Hogan Ephraim - perhaps Warnock will bring in a measure of squad rotation to get a proper look at Cook tonight. Akos Buzsaky will not want to spend too many more games on the bench either, but whilst the team is playing well and with more tailor-made wingers at the club, he could be left on the sidelines once more. I wouldn't expect too many changes from Saturday's side anyhow, with Tamas Priskin and Jay Simpson likely to lead the line once again.

Form

Since the turn of the year Reading's form has been steadily improving and so where they were once seriously flirting with the drop, they are now putting together a run which should soon see them safe. They've also been putting the ball into the net with greater frequency. In their last five games, they've put four past Derby County, five past Sheffield Wednesday and three past West Bromwich Albion and came close to causing an FA Cup upset against Aston Villa.

For Rangers, it's much the same as prior to the Sheffield United game. Warnock has achieved a number of things already in his short time at the club, including recording back-to-back wins and inspiring Rangers to their first clean sheet in donkeys' years. Now he has to try to deal with another albatross around QPR's neck - their inability to win on the road. It's November since their last away victory and just as Sheffield United was a tough ask to break that run, considering Reading's form, it may not be any easier tonight.

I believe, with the new manager in place, Rangers should have enough at home until the end of the season to be comfortably above the relegation area. But it would do wonders for their resurgent confidence to increase their points haul away from Loftus Road. If they win tonight it would also be their first league double of the season after beating the Royals 4-1 at home in back in October.

Prediction

Both teams have greatly changed since that game though. QPR were at the height of their powers then but a storm was brewing behind the scenes which they are only now starting to get over. Reading on the other hand were absolutely wretched then and for some weeks after.

That defeat at Loftus Road formed part of four defeats in a row and it could be argued that for once, a cup run actually helped a team's league form as their results greatly improved after their shock win at Anfield at the start of January.

That result alone shows what Reading are capable of and in Sigurdsson they have one of the best players outside the Premiership. QPR could make a case for placing Taarabt in the same bracket and tonight's contest could be a question of which of those two players can most greatly influence affairs. It's hard to bet against either side tonight, so I'm sitting on the fence - I'm expecting a highly entertaining score draw, possibly 2-2.

Prediction - 2-2

Taarabt In Rich Vein Of Form, Warnock's Film Tastes and Leigertwood Cautious

2010-03-16T09:10:00.002Z

Taarabt Back To His Best

Every team, however hard-working and organised, wants to have a player capable of the special moments which supporters pay their hard-earned money to see. The importance of a well-trained, competitive defence hardly needs to be stated, especially for a team like QPR who have been shipping goals all season. But few would walk through the turnstiles to watch Kaspars Gorkss and Damion Stewart all afternoon, however vital they can be.

Adel Taarabt, on the other hand, is a player that neutrals may even front up 20 quid to take their place at Loftus Road in order to see what he can do and I say that as someone who has spent a great deal of the season questioning his contribution to the team.

Without doubt he can be the most infuriating player in the Rangers' line-up. At the same time, if QPR are struggling for inspiration and someone to actually win them a game, Taarabt is never a bad option.

So it proved on Saturday, though he couldn't extend Neil Warnock's winning run to three in a row, but did manage to maintain his new boss' unbeaten record with a wonderfully opportunist goal to earn the Hoops a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United.

When Taarabt scores a cracker, it is often a long-range gem as the swerving, dipping shots he can produce from distance are one of his strongest weapons. Saturday's vital goal which brought a deserved draw going by the run of play and chances created, was more emblematic of a goal-hungry striker though. In fact it reminded me, in the way he stretched to reach Jay Simpson's knock-on and then powered past his marker, Marcel Seip, before coolly slotting the ball home, of Alan Shearer. Or considering Taarabt's gait, the real Ronaldo (you know, the fat one who was rarely found on the sides of buses in his underwear). Both goals from the game can be seen below for as long as they remain on YouTube.

Am I getting carried away? Undeniably. But this goal was more about sheer strength and desire over inspiration or technical ability. It showed another side to the Moroccan's game and again demonstrated that in the right mindset, he can be a truly terrific player and one who should only get better. Of course, if and when his talent truly blossoms, it is far from clear what club he will be playing for.

Warnock Shows His Northern Roots

Neil Warnock has reminded QPR's supporters of his background on a few occasions since his arrival. As a Yorkshire man born and bred, he often brings up his provenance to explain why he is so outspoken and honest in his views, as if everyone from that part of the world spent their days waving their glasses at referees and swearing. But the biggest reminder came on Sunday night when he appeared on Match of the Day 2 and likened Wayne Rooney's performance against Fulham to the film Kes.

Kes, for the uninitiated, was Ken Loach's Barnsley-based 1969 film about a troubled boy and his growing love for a kestrel that he trains. Warnock was, I believe, referring to the football scene in the film and suggested that he could imagine Rooney putting out jumpers for goalposts such is his desire to play the game. Not a bad film to turn to for inspiration.

It made me wonder if Warnock incorporates his film tastes into his pre-match talks. Maybe he draws on Saving Private Ryan and the refrain of "Earn it" before sending his players into battle. He could always turn to Glengarry Glen Ross for tips on how to wind up his team - "You see pal, that's who I am. And you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you - go home and play with your kids."

Or maybe some Scarface advice for the younger players - "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

Anything as long as he doesn't return to his Sheffield roots and play them The Full Monty before their next game.

Captain Sensible

In all the excitement surrounding QPR's resurgence in form, it is good to see that the players aren't getting too carried away. The team's captain no less, Mikele Leigertwood, has played down any foolhardy talk of a late dash to the play-offs and insisted at the weekend that their main focus is still on avoiding relegation.

Getting above the 50-point mark is the first stop on the route to Championship football next season, which means Rangers need two more wins before they can start to breathe a little more easily. In their current form that shouldn't take too long, though this weekend's visitors, Swansea City, led by former Rangers boss Paulo Sousa, won't be too keen to help them in their aim.

Anyway, Leigertwood for now is looking down the table rather than up and considering how bad QPR were earlier in the season, it's hard to blame him for still being in a slightly conservative mindset.

"We have got to take each game as it comes, survival is first and foremost for us and anything other than that is a bonus," he said.

Hard to argue with that.

All Eyes On Neil Warnock Once Again - Sheffield United vs QPR Preview

2010-03-13T12:51:00.000Z

It has been very hard not to focus on Neil Warnock since his arrival. As QPR have turned round their form, won two games on the trot and kept their first clean sheet in donkeys' years, the players have enjoyed a small degree of acclaim, but most of the attention has rightly been heaped on the new manager.

That is very unlikely to change today as he travels to the club he is most famously associated with, and whom he supported as a boy, Sheffield United. The win over WBA was pretty unexpected, the victory on Tuesday night probably less so. But if Warnock can make it three on the bounce, QPR's supporters will be in dream-land.

QPR Team News

Lee Cook returns to the squad after getting over a virus and will give Warnock a new attacking option on the wing. He was one of the few QPR players to regularly perform under Mick Harford, so surrounded by players in an altogether more positive frame of mind, he could really get going as the season nears its conclusion.

Captain Mikele Leigertwood, a former Blade, is also fit after suffering a gashed shin against Plymouth in midweek.

Sheffield United Team News

The Blades will never give up on the idea of the play-offs until it is mathematically impossible and they are far from those type of considerations just yet, sitting just four points behind sixth-placed Cardiff City who have a game in hand.

They will be without striker Ched Evans though who is out with a broken collarbone but can call on Darius Henderson who is now available after serving a suspension. Jamie Ward and Lee Williamson are both unavailable though with hamstring injuries.
Form

Improving all the time for QPR. With three games won out of their last four it isn't even too late for typical play-off talk to resurface around Rangers once again, though none of the players have got caught up in such speculation, and defender Kaspars Gorkss claimed such talk has been damaging to the club after the WBA game.

If they prefer to just concentrate on the day job and forget about silly talk of pushing for promotion, the next task on the horizon is improving the side's away form. Warnock has shown the players how to win games again and also how to keep a clean-sheet. Now he needs to remind them how to pick up points on the road which has been a relatively rare experience for Rangers. Their last away success came last November when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 and they've lost their last four away games at Middlesbrough, Coventry City, Peterborough and Nottingham Forest.

They don't have a particularly great record against Sheffield United either and have failed to beat them in their last seven attempts. This season the clubs have already met three times and Rangers have been less than inspiring in each game. Two dire draws in the league and cup, the latter which led to a capitulation at home in the replay, would suggest that Rangers could struggle today and that the game could be low on entertainment.

That said, whilst QPR's form looks to be on an upward curve, United's has been going in the opposite direction. They've lost three of their last four games and desperately need a result today to get their promotion challenge back on track.
Prediction

When QPR were losing (and you don't have to look back to far to remember that), it seemed like whatever they did, they were doomed to end up pointless. Different combinations in defence, new strikers up front, new personnel in the dug-out - all failed to have the required effect on the team's results.

Could the opposite effect now occur? Could the positive spirit which was abundantly clear in their last two games spur them on to an equally lenghty winning run? Is a late dash for the play-offs completely unfeasible?

Probably yes. But sometimes footballers can be simple beasts. Caught in a losing streak, they, just like the supporters, can start to believe they are doomed to failure. Likewise, win two games in a row and they can think they are world-beaters. If Warnock can harness that feel-good factor once again, I expect them to make three in a row this afternoon.

AWAY WIN

Taarabt Ups His Game Thanks To Warnock

2010-03-11T19:05:00.000Z

After recording his second win in just two games at QPR, a feat which Paul Hart and Mick Harford were unable to achieve during their tenures at the club, it is clear that Neil Warnock has made a strong impact on a squad which had the confidence of a pub team before his arrival. Rangers beat relegation-threatened Plymouth Argyle last night, 2-0, thereby moving up to 15th in the table and leaving a six-point cushion between themselves and the drop spots.

More importantly, they also recorded their first clean sheet in an incredible 25 attempts. Adel Taarabt sent the Hoops on their way with a first-half penalty before turning provider early in the second period to plant a free-kick on the head of defender Damion Stewart.

With little difference in personnel between Warnock and Harford's playing squads, the only possible conclusion is that the breath of fresh air provided by the change in management has worked wonders in the Rangers dressing room. That said, Hart and Harford must look at QPR's last two performances and wonder how they couldn't get the players to gel quite so convincingly. If you wanted to be hyper-critical of the squad, you could rightly ask how they could be so abject just a few weeks ago and now be setting the world to rights.

Taarabt is probably one player who won't have to check his conscience too strongly because under Harford he was an infrequent starter. Returned to the starting line-up for Warnock's first two games, he has been the most clear beneficiary of the 'new manager effect' and is now recreating the form which took him to Spurs, whom he is on loan from, in the first place.

The Moroccan's talent is rarely in doubt but his application to the game and decision-making is frequently criticised. Warnock believes he can get the best out of the 20-year-old though, as reported in the Evening Standard yesterday, after consulting Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.

"I know he's got a lot of skill but I've spoken to Harry and he's the sort of player who will make you pull your hair out at times," said Warnock.

The QPR crowd could back that statement up and it's a surprise they are not all bald after watching Taarabt on the Loftus Road pitch this season. Capable of moments of sublime skill, such as a contender for the Hoops' goal of the season at home to Preston earlier in the season, he has been equally capable of running into a corner-flag cul-de-sac rather than pass the ball and when he does, he often finds touch rather than a team-mate. When supporters gathered outside the stadium in January to protest Flavio Briatore's chairmanship, it was notable that Taarabt came in for some stick on leaving the ground, including chants of 'why don't you pass the ball?'

He is contracted to stay with QPR until the end of this season at which time he will return to White Hart Lane, with an extension to his loan stay unlikely unless Warnock can put together a remarkable last-minute charge into the play-off places. But even if that is a far-fetched idea, QPR's supporters will be hoping to see the good side of Taarabt in the remaining weeks of the season.

"He's a gifted lad who's working harder than he's ever done and he's going to do that to get into Harry's Premier League squad," said Warnock.

"But I think I'm the right manager for him. He knows he doesn't mess about on the half-way line - if he does he knows what he'll get from me."

Another Hoops loanee, Jay Simpson, who has 12 league goals this season, could be playing in hoops of a different colour next season if some reports today are to be believed. Simpson is on loan from Arsenal and though Arsene Wenger is reportedly a fan, he will have stiff competition to hold down a starting place at the Emirates, with Robin Van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo da Silva, Carlos Vela and even Andrey Arshavin all above him in the pecking order to start as a striker.

As a result, Celtic could launch a bid to take the youngster north of the border this summer. Celtic boss Tony Mowbray is on the lookout to add to his attacking options at the Parkhead club. Though Mowbray is far from certain to stay in his job next season, if he does, Simpson could be top of his transfer list. Even if he doesn't opt for Glasgow, after an impressive season in the Championship he is a good bet to move on this summer.

The remainder of QPR's season then could largely depend on two players unlikely to be there next season. But if they can reproduce their best form up until May, they will leave with better memories than they would have just a month ago.

Warnock Ready For Argyle - Preview And Team News

2010-03-09T17:10:00.001Z

How quickly things can change in football. A month ago, QPR lost to bottom-side Peterborough, just a week after supporters demonstrated outside Loftus Road to voice their displeasure with the way the club was heading. In the four weeks since, Rangers have acquired a new chairman, a new manager and a new outlook on life. If you can beat the second-placed team in the league, surely you can beat most others.

The logic of Championship football is probably not so straight-forward and the Hoops face a very different challenge tonight when they welcome Plymouth Argyle, a side clinging on for dear life to stay in this league. The Pilgrims are seven points off safety and need to accrue some points quickly before they are consigned, as Peterborough surely are, to League One football next season.

Manager Neil Warnock is certainly convinced that his side face a tough challenge.

"They're fighting for their lives, as are a lot of teams for one reason or another, so we'll have to produce the goods again to get the result we want and need" he said.

"They'll come to keep it tight and hit us on the break unlike West Brom who came here and were very open."

He also hinted that QPR looked like a team who weren't used to winning on Saturday. The extent to which he has cured some of their psychological gremlins will be revealed this evening.

QPR Team News

Lee Cook is doubtful for Rangers as he struggles to get over a cold which kept him out of Saturday's memorable win and will be given a late fitness test. Apart from that, there aren't any fresh injury concerns.

The biggest selection headache for Warnock against WBA was getting the right number of loan players in the squad. The manager rather honestly revealed after the game that he originally had Marcus Bent down in the match-day squad and the player himself had to remind Warnock that he had too many loan players down - only five can feature in a squad of 18. In a case of shooting the messenger, Bent was promptly dropped.

Argyle Team News

Plymouth's main concern is over midfielder Craig Noone who is doubtful after picking up a knock in the club's weekend 1-1 draw with Preston.

Form

Despite the heady rush of optimism around anyone associated with QPR, one win isn't enough to banish memories of QPR's form for much of this season, though they now have two wins in their last six league games.

A sore subject as mentioned before on this blog is their defensive record this season which is staggering for its lack of clean sheets. Their last league shut-out was against Preston on October 17 so if Warnock can inspire the team to keep Argyle at bay tonight, he might be hailed as the messiah.

Argyle's form is little better than QPR's which is why of course they have occupied a position near the foot of the table for the majority of the season. They've won only one of their last eight games though they are becoming increasingly hard to beat with 1-1 draws with Swansea City, Leicester City and Preston in their last four games and they were close to a miraculous draw in their 4-3 defeat at Bramall Lane.

Prediction

Plymouth really are hanging on by a hair's breadth and some of the results mentioned above show that through sheer will they are desperately trying to stay in contention to stay up. At the same time, it also shows that they lack enough imagination and attacking potential in their team to actually start winning enough games.

Warnock is right to warn of the test ahead tonight. But he showed on Saturday the value of man management and personality in inspiring footballers to raise their games. The confidence should still be coursing through the team and so the league position could look slightly better tomorrow.

HOME WIN

Gorkss Is Happy To Listen To The New Boss

2010-03-08T08:55:00.001Z

In the warm glow around Loftus Road on Saturday after their 3-1 win over West Brom, the only tarnish on the happy proceedings was the team's inability, once again, to keep a clean sheet.

Last season, QPR's reasonable league finish, with talk of the play-offs until relatively late in the season, was built on the back of a defence which rarely gave the opposition the satisfaction of scoring and Rangers finished the season with the best defensive record in the league.

It is hard to understand, then, what has gone wrong for the Super Hoops this season as many of their current problems have their root in some woeful play at the back. It's now 24 games in all competitions since the club kept a clean-sheet, so working on the back four's collective play will be top of new manager Neil Warnock's to-do list.

Kaspars Gorkss, the Latvian international who joined the club in July 2008, has formed a part of that defence for much of this season and though he was happy to see Warnock's reign at QPR kick off with a win, he also admitted that he is far from pleased with his and his colleagues' inability to keep the ball out of their own net.

"We're not good enough defensively, maybe," he said after the game.

"At the beginning of the season we were scoring four goals every game so it wasn't too bad but once we stopped scoring we still conceded at least a goal every game so that's a big problem for us.

"Obviously for me as a defender it's very frustrating that you can say that West Brom didn't have any clear cut chances and they still get a goal against us and I think it was the same against Doncaster.

"It is a bit frustrating but hopefully we can change that as well."

The managerial switches may have harmed the defence's cohesiveness, though there were a few switches in the dug-out last season as well, but if QPR are to climb away from the bottom three, they will surely have to record a clean sheet sooner rather than later.

Warnock's influence on the training pitch could be crucial there and Gorkss confirmed that he had given the players his trademark tough first training session to show them who was boss.

"He made us wear shin pads on our first training," he said.

"I think as a professional player you need to take on every idea that a new manager has and just accept his philosophy of the game.

"I think that's what we need at the moment.

"We just need a leader who prepares us for the matches, for the fight.

After switching jobs at the age of 61 and signing a three-and-a-half year contract, Warnock has also lost none of his passion for football and described how he instructed the players to smile and enjoy the game before sending them out against West Brom. Once again, Gorkss confirmed that his personality was already having an impact on the players.

"I think everyone knows how enthusiastic he is about doing things and I think his enthusiasm is transferring to the players," he said.

"It shows on the pitch as well and it helped us to win."

A real mark of progress for QPR then will be when they do finally prevent the opposition from scoring. The next opportunity is tomorrow against Plymouth - a game which on paper should be simpler than West Brom, as Argyle are currently mired in the relegation area. So the most contented person at full-time would definitely be Kaspars Gorkss if the Hoops' goal remains untroubled.

QPR 3 West Brom 1

2010-03-06T17:34:00.000Z

QPR started a new era at Loftus Road with a surprise win over promotion-chasers West Brom which did their hopes of staying in the Championship no harm.

They absolutely raced off the blocks here and it was clear that their new manager, Neil Warnock, had made an instant impact on his players.

West Brom admittedly looked pretty lethargic in the opening minutes but there was a definite swagger to Rangers play. Kaspar Gorkss and Matt Connolly had overcome whatever knocks had put their selections in doubt, with the latter player at right-back and Damion Stewart partnering the Latvian in the middle of the back four, with Matt Hill on the left.

Mikele Leigertwood and Alejandro Faurlin played the holding roles in midfield with Warnock going for Hogan Ephraim on the left wing and Adel Taarabt on the right. That left Tamas Priskin in a pair of bright yellow boots to partner Jay Simpson up front.

Anyone who had seen Priksin's brief previous appearances for Rangers would have questioned if he had the ability to pull off such a cocky choice of footwear but in the first half, Priskin was very lively, at one point nonchalantly flicking the ball onto Adel Taarabt who was brought down by Youssuf Mulumbu in the middle of the park.

Rangers were 1-0 up after just twelve minutes, though there was a touch of luck to the goal. Taarabt did well to find space down the right touch line and curled a low cross into the box with Jay Simpson ready to sniff out a goal. It was comfortably within Scott Carson's reach but he somehow managed to fumble it away. In the melee, it landed to Simpson for probably his easiest goal of the season.

The second goal was pure class though. After a brief flurry of passes in the middle of the park, Faurlin smartly worked it across the field to Matt Connolly who somehow was completely unmarked and in acres of space on the edge of the box. Connolly's reaction was calmness personified though, especially for someone who plies their trade in defence. He quickly controlled the ball and then tucked it under Scott Carson who was quickly advancing in his direction.

West Brom were very poor up until that point but as the half neared its conclusion they began to hold a greater degree of the possession. With ten minutes remaining in the half, Jerome Thomas flashed a pinpoint cross into the R's box and Chris Brunt placed a header high over Carl Ikeme. It showed that however much he may have fired up the team, Warnock hadn't corrected team's defensive lapses in concentration just yet, this being their 22nd game without a clean sheet.

They failed to maintain their pressure on the QPR goal following the break though and once again it was the home side who looked more dangerous.

With close to an hour played, Warnock made his first substitution, replacing the quiet Ephraim with Akos Buzsaky and it paid dividends just five minutes later. Rangers won a free-kick in a very unpromising position, around 40 yards out and near the managers' dug-outs.

A bevy of players were ready in the box for Buzsaky to pump the ball in which he did, whipping a high, curling ball straight into the area. Somehow it evaded everyone, including Carson, whose positioning looked questionable, bounced up and hit the top end of the right post. From there, it came down and trickled into the net. It was a truly bizarre and slightly fortuitous goal and it completely knocked the stuffing out of the visitors.

West Brom continued to keep the ball whilst rarely threatening the Rangers net and in fairness, the Hoops could have added to the score line before the end to truly embarrass their opponents. Both Simpson and late substitute Rowan Vine had excellent chances, particularly Simpson who was threw on goal, but they both panicked with poor finishes.

The confidence throughout the Rangers side today though was apparent and a massive change from some of the fearful performances at Loftus Road since the new year. It also lifts them away from the relegation trouble, though the new boss is unlikely to be resting on his laurels just yet.

QPR vs West Bromwich Albion - Team News and Preview

2010-03-06T12:04:00.000Z

Graham Taylor has not been the only person in football to suggest that Neil Warnock has jumped from "the frying pan into the fire" by joining QPR this week.

Warnock's previous club, Crystal Palace, were put into administration this season, leading to a ten-point deduction and they are now just one position off the relegation area. QPR obviously have a greater degree of financial security than Palace, but in terms of the league, it is right to say that there was little difference between the job Warnock would have had to perform there and now has to do at Rangers.

The Hoops are just three points ahead of Palace and as if Warnock's job of familiarising himself with a completely new squad wasn't hard enough, his first game in charge is against second-placed, promotion-chasing WBA, who need all the positive results they can get to hold Nottingham Forest and potentially even Swansea off for the second automatic promotion spot.

QPR Team News

The team news hasn't been kind to the new boss either.

QPR's season has lurched from one crisis to another but a common theme on the pitch has been defensive ineptitude. They haven't kept a clean sheet in 21 games and to make matters worse, central defenders Kaspars Gorkss and Matt Connolly could both miss out today. Connolly is recovering from an ankle injury whilst Gorkss hasn't trained all week after picking up a knock. With Fitz Hall on loan at Newcastle, that leaves Damion Stewart as the only recognised first-team central defender on the books.

Lee Cook, who only returned to the side at the end of January following a long-term injury, could also miss out after struggling with a cold this week.

Up front, Tamas Priskin and Marcus Bent should both be fit after recovering from groin and hamstring injuries respectively so Warnock will also have to decide whether to start with either of them or retain 18-year old Antonio German in the side alongside top scorer Jay Simpson.

West Brom Team News

West Brom striker Roman Bednar is not expected to play after missing their game last weekend with a groin strain. Fellow front man Ishmael Miller could start though after getting over an ankle injury and midfielder Giles Barnes is also in contention after an Achilles problem.

The Baggies have also dared to tread where QPR did earlier this season by bringing Blackburn's Steven Reid in on a one-month loan. Reid only played two games for the Hoops but his addition to the squad alongside defender Tommy Williams seemed to unsettle the side back in November. He played in the club's 2-0 defeat to Doncaster and 2-2 draw with Coventry City which were followed by the embarrasing 5-1 defeat to Middlesbrough and then the bust-up at Watford.

Form

QPR will be praying that their momentary upturn in form against Doncaster two weeks ago wasn't just that - a positive blip in an otherwise horrendous run of results. That was still the club's only win since Boxing Day last year and they shave the poorest form in the whole league, with those three points all they have to show for their last seven games. Going up against West Brom, they rarely prosper either, with no home wins against the Baggies in nine years.

West Brom remain firmly in contention for the second automatic promotion spot with just one league defeat in their last six games and won't have completely given up on winning the division, despite trailing leaders Newcastle by six points. They have the second-best away form in the league over the last six games, behind Swansea but their last two trips have ended unsuccessfully, with a 3-2 FA Cup defeat at Reading and a 2-1 league defeat against Bristol City.

Prediction

The 'new-manager' syndrome is a very seductive idea in football and does tend to work against QPR, but rarely for them. This season, four different managers have made Rangers debuts (including the pairing of Steve Gallen and Marc Bircham, who took charge for one game only against today's opponents) and by a strange twist, all have managed draws (Jim Magilton and Mick Harford in the home and away games against Blackpool and Paul Hart against Sheffield United).

Could Neil Warnock buck the trend either way? Reading some of his comments in his column in The Independent, it appears he likes to make a strong impression on his new players straight away, saying that he put his new charges through a "robust" first training session. With his infectious enthusiasm for the game and strong will to win, he was clearly an excellent candidate to get QPR out of their current predicament.

I still believe they will do that, but I don't think the fight-back will start today. As mentioned above, the defence has been the weakest point of a highly ineffectual season and it is down to the bare bones today unless Gorkss and Connolly can both come through late fitness tests. As a result, the new manager will have to piece together a make-shift defence which could struggle against the league's top scorers. I expect a gutsy committed performance from the Hoops and there's not been too many times you could say that this season, but at the end of the day, I expect West Brom's class to win out.

AWAY WIN

Warnock Says "You Either Love Me Or Hate Me"

2010-03-04T14:19:00.001Z

QPR's new manager Neil Warnock is well-known for his frank talk and honest assessments of the game, though plenty of linesmen and referees probably wished he kept some of his opinions to himself over the years.

But Warnock, picutred above at previous club Crystal Palace, showed today that he can be as equally forthright when it comes to discussing himself. Speaking to Rangers' website, Warnock acknowledged that for many, he is football's answer to Marmite.

"I know fans either love me or hate me, but all I ask of the QPR fanbase is that you get behind me and the team and make Loftus Road a fortress again," he said.

"The support of the Super Hoops will play a massive role in my time here."

Many Rangers' supporters have grown increasingly disheartened with the club over the course of this season and there have been numerous voicings of their disapproval.

Previous QPR manager, Paul Hart, who took the vacant position left by Warnock at Palace this week, was booed by the Loftus Road crowd after just two games in charge due to a frustratingly negative performance against Bristol City.

Fan power could also have contributed to QPR's last chairman, Flavio Briatore, deciding to take a back-seat at the club and cede his position to Ishan Saksena.

Flavio's last two games as chairman were marred by boos and chants towards the director's box, with several hundred supporters congregating outside the stadium following a 1-0 defeat against Scunthorpe in January to call for his resignation.

So Warnock is smart in looking to win over the home crowd as soon as possible. Of course, the easiest way to win the adulation of QPR's fans will be to turn around the club's woeful form and ensure that they play Championship football next season.

Rangers are still just three points off the relegation places and the new manager doesn't have the luxury of any easy games as he settles into the job, with second-placed West Bromwich Albion visiting on Saturday and a trip to another of his previous clubs, Sheffield United, within the next two weeks.

One manager, Graham Taylor, has even questioned the thinking behind Warnock's switch from Palace to Rangers in his Daily Express column.

"Why join QPR at 61?" Taylor asked.

"Obviously his position at Palace had to be under threat due to the club being placed in administration.

"But he seems to have jumped out of one fire and straight into another."

Taylor certainly backs up Warnock's self-assessment by claiming that he was always top of his list of 'Opposing Managers To Avoid' on a match-day.

The Rangers' crowd will get their first taste of his own peculiar brand of charm this weekend.

Managerial Merry-Go Round Takes Another Turn... And Volz Edges Closer To Deal

2010-03-02T17:52:00.000Z

Things are never entirely simple when it comes to QPR.

Following an announcement on QPR's website last night, it was taken as certain that Neil Warnock was signing on as the Hoops' new manager.

However, Warnock's former club Crystal Palace threw a slight spanner in the works today by revealing that no compensation deal had been finalised and the deal was far from done.

Whether that was posturing on their part is unclear but Rangers' fans can finally breathe easily.

Neil Warnock is definitely in place, compensation has been arranged and the new boss has even lined up his back-room staff with Mick Jones, who worked with Warnock at Notts County, Huddersfield, Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield United and then Palace set to be assistant manager and another Palace boy, Keith Curle, signing on as first-team coach.

To add to the confusion, Palace have quickly moved into the managerial market themselves to appoint Paul Hart - who was the QPR boss just two months ago.

Hart famously lasted just five games at Loftus Road but is now charged with an even tougher job to keep Palace in the Championship after the club was docked ten points following their administration.

For all the noises coming out of Selhurst Park today, Warnock was pretty certain of his intended destination in his column for The Independent, which read as a love letter to the Palace supporters.

"Leaving a club in administration for one with huge potential must look like an easy decision but it has been one of the most difficult of my career, and there's been a few" said Warnock.

"The reason I am sad, as well as excited, is that of all the clubs I have been at the fans at Crystal Palace have been the best.

"It's easy to say, but I'm not just saying it because I'm leaving.

"The support they have given me and the players during a very difficult few months, and beforehand, has been fantastic and is something I will never forget."

Volz Under The Microscope Once More

Whilst getting to grip with a whole new squad, the new boss will also have to give the once-over to a player who has been regularly linked with QPR in recent weeks.

Former Fulham and Arsenal full-back Moritz Volz has been training with QPR since the turn of the year as he attempts to recover from a series of injuries which have kept him out of competitive football since last season.

His latest outing on the QPR reserves roadshow comes tonight when Rangers' second string line up against Millwall Reserves at Dartford Football Club.

Angelo Balanta and Gary Borrowdale are also expected to feature.

Warnock Ready To Work With QPR's New Boss

2010-03-02T08:50:00.001Z

The best kept-secret in football is now out.

Weeks of speculation about the future identity of QPR's manager are at an end as Crystal Palace's Neil Warnock finally signed on the dotted line yesterday after a compensation deal was hammered out between the two clubs.

The Hoops have been on the look-out for a new boss since Paul Hart left at the turn of the year, with caretaker manager Mick Harford freely admitting that he was there only to look after the club in the interim. Warnock's name was closely linked with the QPR position, especially after his former club Crystal Palace went into administration and were docked ten points. It left him in an unenviably insecure position at the club and more receptive to offers from elsewhere.

Those offers came quick and fast from west London and the two clubs agreed a deal yesterday, which is reportedly set to improve Palace's coffers by £500,000. There were rumours of a £1 million release clause in Warnock's Palace contract, so with that club in administration, it may have been a question of QPR haggling down their London rivals over the last few days.

Despite Rangers' precarious league position, just three points off the relegation spots, Warnock was adamant that he was making the right decision.

"I am delighted to be joining a club with the history that QPR has," he said.

"As a manager, Loftus Road is always a place I loved because of the fantastic atmosphere there. Looking from afar, I believe this is the perfect time to come in, with the new structure and chairman in place."

Signing a manager of Warnock's calibre is certainly a considerable achievement for QPR's new chairman Ishan Saksena and his financial backers Lakshmi Mittal and Amit Bhatia. For all his characterisations as a serial moaner and hot-head, Warnock has bags of experience in the Football League at clubs including Huddersfield Town, Plymouth Argyle and most notably at Sheffield United who he took into the Premiership and to the FA Cup semi-finals.

The degree to which Warnock forges an easy working relationship with Saksena could have great bearing both on his future with the club and QPR's potential. Recent managerial appointments have been blighted by interference from previous chairman Flavio Briatore which meant that few lasted any great length of time. Though he will not be able to go into the transfer market before the end of this season, it will also be interesting to see if he recieves significant financial backing from the club, beyond investment in loan signings and free transfers.

Saksena said: "Neil was always our number one target so we are delighted to announce him as our manager.

"He has great experience in English football and a phenomenal track record. I believe he is the right man to help QPR achieve its ambitions."

He faces a formidable test in his first game in charge though as QPR welcome promotion-chasing WBA this weekend.

Middlesbrough 2 QPR 0 - What Just Happened?

2010-03-01T12:07:00.000Z

QPR managed to have only the miniest of mini-revivals and returned to losing ways this weekend with a 2-0 defeat against Gordon Strachan's Middlesbrough, which meant the North East club completed a double over Rangers for the first time in their history.

After finally winning a game, against Doncaster Rovers, the weekend previously, it was always a tall order for QPR to maintain that form against a Boro side, who for all their fluctuations in form, remain promotion candidates. That said, opting for a 4-5-1 formation, with Jay Simpson on the right wing and youngster Antonio German leading the line alone, quickly established that Rangers' ambitions were not far-reaching. When you add the usual calamitous defending into the mix, which led to two successfully taken penalties for Boro, it is unsurprising that the Hoops returned to west London pointless.

1 - "We made silly mistakes and got punished for them". No truer words have been spoken than manager Mick Harford's following the game. A compilation of QPR's defending this season would be X-rated stuff and not for the squeamish and it continues to amaze me that a side which had one of the meanest defences last season has become so flaky at the back.

Kaspars Gorkss, in my opinion, has been one of the better signings of the Briatore era, a player who already had experience at the Championship level and who, after a shaky start to his QPR career, grew in confidence and stature last season. His form hasn't been helped by the team's in general this time round but when a normally reliable player starts to commit defensive howlers, it's hard to see how Rangers will ever get another clean-sheet. His foolish lunge at Leroy Lita which led to Boro's second penalty effectively killed the game before half-time.

Similarly, I've never been in the Peter Ramage-bashing brigade and have found it hard to understand why players are often played out of position at right-back whilst Ramage sits on the bench. I suppose he gave one indication on Saturday though. Natural pace is not his strong card but it was still far too easy for Jeremie Aliadiere to round him and he compounded his error by going to ground and drawing the penalty.

2 - The manager is right in another sense as well. Mick Harford has repeatedly said the club needs a manager to come in. Without being harsh, it makes you question what he is then - is he not a manager himself? - though I think in fairness he is pointing to the need for stability at the club, for someone who could be at Loftus Road for a number of years and could start to rebuild the team.

Co-owner Amit Bhatia said similar things last week and at the time, I took that as potentially a vote of confidence for Harford but I don't know how right that was and all the reports suggest Boro was his last game, with Palace's Neil Warnock still the most likely replacement.

The results under Harford certainly haven't been good enough for him to take the job long-term, something which again he bravely acknowledges. But as I've said for the last few weeks, a decision needs to be made really quickly.

3 - QPR have been poor. But some teams are poorer. The one saving grace of this season could be that there are just enough teams in this league worse off than Rangers, in terms of playing staff and their respective talents, for them to avoid the drop.

Their own efforts barely merit Championship football next season but when sides such as Sheffield Wednesday are being comprehensively routed by five goals against fellow relegation candidates Reading, you know that something is wrong. Plymouth as well, for all their best efforts, seem unable to pull themselves closer to safety and along with Peterborough still look like more than a good bet to go down. That leaves one place and though QPR shouldn't rely on other results, they are at least getting some help from the teams around them right now.

4 - Faith in youth can only extend so far as well. The enthusiastic and ambitious play of Jay Simpson and full debutant Antonio German against Doncaster was one of the main reasons that Rangers broke their winless run last weekend but it is hard to expect players of their inexperience, particularly German, to recreate that form week in, week out.

Playing German as a lone striker could be taken as a massive vote of confidence from Mick Harford and the player will never shirk the hard work needed to perform that role, but against David Wheater, the youngster failed to strongly influence the game.

Sadly, QPR's youthful options took another knock this weekend as highly-rated 15-year-old striker Raheem Sterling finally left the club for Liverpool, for a reported fee of £500,000. I've not seen Sterling play but if he is as good as some say, it was clear that he would eventually leave and it could have been detrimental to his ambitions to force him to stay at the club. That Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United were all after him suggests he could be a sensational talent and it seems that Liverpool's Academy set-up won out.

When QPR do bring in a new manager though, he needs to look into QPR's own youth set-up though, to ensure that the club can continue to develop talents such as Sterling, if only for the financial benefits they can provide.

Middlesbrough - Coyne, Pogatetz (Taylor, 78), Lita (Arca, 83), Aliadiere (Franks, 65), Killen, Flood, O'Neil, Robson, McManus, Wheater, Naughton

Subs not used - Jones, Hoyte, Miller, Grounds

Goals - Robson 38 (pen), 44 (pen)

Bookings - Killen

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage, Stewart, Leigertwood, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Cook, Faurlin (Taarabt, 69), Hill (Borrowdale, 54), Simpson, German (Bent, 54)

Subs not used - Cerny, Vine, Balanta, Ephraim

Bookings - Gorkss

Referee - K Woolmer

Attendance - 17,568 (523 QPR)

Middlesbrough vs QPR - Team News and Preview

2010-02-26T16:20:00.000Z

After the turmoil of last weekend when QPR managed to switch chairmen and win their first game in two months in the space of two days, Rangers aren't looking any more settled ahead of another vital Championship game tomorrow.
The future identity of the club's manager is still less than clear, though comments by shareholder Amit Bhatia in midweek suggest that stability could be favoured over further change, so Mick Harford could well remain in charge until the end of this season. If that is the board's decision, its intelligence will receive a stern test tomorrow. It's one thing to narrowly beat Doncaster at home, but the Hoops need to add points away from home if they are to comfortably avoid a relegation battle.

Middlesbrough Team News

One of Boro's recent additions, Scott McDonald, who was the fifth Celtic player to join the club this season when he arrived during the January transfer window, is unlikely to be fit for tomorrow's game after recently undergoing a hernia operation.

Fellow striker Chris Killen, another addition from Celtic, is more likely to figure though after recovering from the hamstring injury and virus which have kept him out for the last three games.

QPR Team News

QPR's main concerns lie in defence, although Matt Connolly, who faces a late fitness test, has actually played admirably in the centre of midfield in the last two games. If he isn't ready in time for this game, recent loan addition Nigel Quashie is likely to start.

Peter Ramage has also been suffering from an abdominal strain after coming off during the Doncaster win, but he is a safer bet to be ready in time for tomorrow's fixture.

Barring those two, the other absentees are of course Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands, with Mahon potentially back by April but Rowlands unlikely to be ready before the close season.

Form

Boro are hanging around on the fringes of the play-offs and though it could take a gargantuan effort, it is surely not beyond them to sneak into the top six before the end of the season. They will have to greatly improve their form though which has been mixed at best under Gordon Strachan.

They've lost half their games since he arrived and have moved from the edge of the automatic spots (they were in fourth and two points off second when Gareth Southgate departed) to ninth and five points off the play-off spots. To put that in context though, QPR were in sixth after Southgate's final game. Boro have also never done the double over QPR, but they'll be confident after their 5-1 win at Loftus Road earlier in the season.

QPR's form is still far from impressive, though to be fair to Mick Harford and the team, the improvements in terms of performances have been growing. Hopefully the steep learning curve the new boss has been on will now pay off.

The players have also increased their work effort and team play in the last couple of games as they collectively seemed to realise that their season was heading towards a terrible climax. Bear in mind though, they've lost their last three away games without scoring and just finding the net tomorrow would be a bonus.

Prediction

It was hard to not get overly pessimistic about QPR since the turn of the year when everything about the club smacked of a lack of planning and togetherness. Many people from the chairman to the manager down to the players were saying the right things, about commitment and work rate, with little evidence of it on the pitch and every game took on the tone of a must-win fixture as they neared the bottom three.

The pressure isn't off yet, though a draw tomorrow would be less than disastrous and it was hard to not feel a renewed sense of hope around the club last weekend when the news of Flavio Briatore's resignation chimed nicely with the performances of Jay Simpson and Antonio German the next day. German has just committed himself to the club until 2012 and if his development is handled correctly, he could definitely make an impression at this level if not higher.

In trying to match this all-new optimism, I am plumping for a draw for the Hoops tomorrow, which would be a decent result in the context of this season.

SCORE DRAW

Will Middlesbrough be Mick Harford's Last Game?

2010-02-24T15:53:00.000Z

QPR head to the Riverside stadium this weekend for a crucial Championship fixture, as a win could put further breathing space between themselves and the relegation area.

Rangers are currently just four points off the drop zone and they have some tricky fixtures ahead, with games against Sheffield United, WBA and Swansea City all before the end of March.

On top of that, Boro will be no walk-over themselves and they handed out an embarrassing 5-1 defeat to QPR at Loftus Road earlier in the season, one of Jim Magilton's last games as manager.

To add to the intrigue, it could well be Mick Harford's final game in the dug-out as the club could be onto their sixth manager of the season by next week (after Jim Magilton, Steve Gallen and Marc Bircham who co-managed one game, Paul Hart and then Harford).

There are growing rumours that Harford will soon step down, with Crystal Palace's manager Neil Warnock still seen as the most likely replacement. The Evening Standard reports today that Harford is resigned to quitting his post and that Warnock has met with QPR bosses on more than one occasion to iron out a deal.

Warnock refused to comment on a possible switch after his side's defeat at the weekend and even discussed his plans for Palace's weekend game against Doncaster Rovers so he appeared to have committed his short-term future to them.

They also have their FA Cup replay against Aston Villa tonight after drawing 2-2 at Selhurst Park a week-and-a-half ago. Should they win, it could be viewed as the perfect send-off for Warnock though alternatively, he might be reluctant to leave if his side is still in the competition.

The uncertainty over his future at Palace, after the club was plunged into administration, will be the most likely motivation for him to quit, with a sizeable contract at Loftus Road his potential prize. At 61, he can rightly expect a degree of stability in his career plans and playing a waiting game whilst Palace search for new investment may not suit.

Palace themselves could also welcome the deal. Though they will be reluctant to lose Warnock, who clearly yields a lot of influence around the club, the compensation they would receive will be greatly welcomed by the club's administrators. There are rumours of a £1m release clause in his contract and though Rangers will want to negotiate a better deal, the financial boost from a switch will be hard for Palace to ignore.

Harford certainly seems to have accepted that his days are numbered. He met yesterday with new chairman Ishan Saksena and though I don't believe he was instructed that his services aren't required, he didn't receive any further assurances either, apart from his current mandate to look after the team. He acknowledged himself last weekend that results under him needed to be better to make a real case for him to stay.

Lee Cook and senior players backed Harford but their endorsement is unlikely to sway either Saksena or chairman of the football club, Gianni Paladini.

Will it bring a barn-storming performance on Saturday then, if the players believe they are playing under Mick for the last time? Though results have been poor as mentioned, he has won the respect of his players and others beside, as he genuinely seems to have a lot of affection for QPR and a lot of concern about their future.

Of course, QPR need a positive result this weekend for bigger reasons than giving Harford a good send-off, not least their precarious league position.

Who Will Be QPR's Next Manager?

2010-02-23T17:49:00.000Z

In the natural world, the QPR manager would be a mayfly. Hatched into golden sunshine, head full of promise and wonder, within 30 minutes or a day if he is lucky, a trout or other carnivorous beast will come along and extinguish his all-too-brief flame. They might just have time to reproduce (this is the equivalent of Paul Hart handing the reins over to Mick Harford, the analogy does stretch) but more often than not, if you blink you will miss them.

Mick Harford then has done remarkably well to still be buzzing around Loftus Road (okay, I'll stop now) particularly considering the dismal run of form the club embarked upon in his first six games, losing five and drawing one. On the seventh time of asking, Mick finally led the club to a long-awaited three points and with Flavio Briatore now taking a back-seat, the axe might not be wielded so liberally in future at QPR.

That said, Harford himself has intimated that the club need a permanent manager and quickly and he is humble enough to admit that certain candidates are more suitable. On top of that, with a new guy, Ishan Saksena, in the board-room, the impetus to make a completely fresh start will be strong and in football, there is always a queue of former players or unemployed managers ready to step in at any time. Who, then, are the favourites to succeed Harford should the club decide to dispense with his services?

Neil Warnock - Warnock's succession to the post of QPR manager has been presented recently as the worst-kept secret in football. Following his Crystal Palace side's impressive 2-2 FA Cup draw with Aston Villa on February 14, Warnock said he was unsure if he could stay at the club, mainly because of the uncertainty following their fall into administration. Even more so than at QPR, should new owners be found at Palace, they could well bring in their own candidate and might also feel that Warnock's personality is too strong to allow them room to manoeuvre.

On the other hand, he has poured cold water on the idea of a switch in recent days. Following the weekend's defeat to Coventry City, Warnock refused to answer questions about the QPR job, but following a press conference today, all signs were that he will be at Palace for at least their next two games, the important FA Cup replay with Villa tomorrow and the even more vital Championship game with Doncaster this weekend.

Another deterrent could be his age - at 61, it was widely felt that the Palace job would be his last. After all that is said, he still has to be the favourite amongst the names being banded about at the moment.

Iain Dowie - When you get through as many managers as QPR, you can never rule out the possibility of turning to an ex-manager for help. One report in the weekend's newspapers suggested that Iain Dowie, who lasted five months in the job back in 2008, could answer Rangers' calls once more. Whilst Neil Warnock still looks like the favourite, Dowie could be a relatively risk-free option if that doesn't materialise and also with better experience of Championship football than Mick Harford.

Maintaining QPR's image as a credible, progressive club if they have to re-hire managers they have previously sacked could be harder though, although with Briatore out of the picture, Dowie could enjoy a more pleasant working experience should he return. A back-up option.

Mick Harford - Perhaps the stability the club craves and which Harford himself says is so important to their future will best be served by sticking with the current incumbent, despite his poor match record since taking sole responsibility for the team. He himself said his chances of the job would be vastly improved had results been better but in terms of performances, QPR have been on a gradually upward curve in the last few games. On top of that, he seems to have won the respect and trust of a previously inharmonious dressing room. Could it be a case of better the devil you know?

Alan Curbishley - Curbishley has been long-linked with a summer move to Loftus Road and the suspicion around the new year was that Harford was merely holding the fort until Curbishley could step in. The main stumbling block was his compensation claim against West Ham, whom he left 17 months ago and against whom he successfully lodged a complaint of unfair dismissal. With that matter now settled and with the manager keen to get back into the game, he could be an easier and less costly alternative to Warnock, with no need to compensate a previous club as he is a free agent.

Lothar Matthaus - We are now into the realms of the long-shot. Matthaus' recent attendance at Loftus Road was enough to get tongues wagging that QPR were dipping back into the European market to find their new manager, following previous experiments with Paulo Sousa and Luigi De Canio. As reported in the Evening Standard, Matthaus is another candidate who is eager to get back into the game and his previous record, including spells in Israel, Brazil, Austria and Hungary indicates that he is pretty flexible when it comes to employment.

Of all the options listed above, this seems like the weakest option though as he has no experience of English football. In the time it would take him to adjust to life in London and his new team, QPR could have slipped into the relegation area. Highly unlikely.

If it is one of these options or none, I'd suggest that the key factor is that a decision is made quickly.

If they are happy with Harford, the new chairman should make a statement to that effect and let the supporters know that he will stay at least until the end of the season.

If they feel he is not the right man, they need to plump for a preferably experienced candidate soon, ideally someone with knowledge of the squad and the Championship. QPR have some very tough fixtures ahead and further uncertainty could push them nearer to the relegation spots once again.

What Just Happened? QPR 2 Doncaster Rovers 1 Talking Points

2010-02-22T12:06:00.001Z

Two entirely unexpected events happened at QPR this weekend.

Firstly, with little in the way of prompting barring some angry chants at the previous two home games, Flavio Briatore (pictured above) stepped down as chairman of the club. Briatore was increasingly seen as the root of all QPR's problems - the chopping and changing of managers, the embarrassing PR gaffes and the lack of real investment on the pitch. Whether that is true will now be tested as he takes a back-seat with a reduced shareholding and little in the way of any real power at the club.

The second unexpected event was that Rangers won a game, their first since Boxing Day and at just the right time, as before the visit of Doncaster they had slipped down to within one point of the drop zone. They now have a healthier four point cushion from the relegation places, though considering their upcoming fixtures (including Middlesbrough, WBA, Sheffield United and Swansea City within the next month), they can't turn their eye from the scrap at the bottom just yet.

How then did QPR manage to break their losing run and does it herald a new dawn of victories to come?

1 - First off, QPR's performance was far from fantastic. The first half in particular was pretty dire and the lead which Rangers took into the break came against the run of play, full debutant Antonio German, just 18 years old, reacting quickest to a saved shot to bundle the ball over the line. Prior to that, Doncaster were tentatively setting about QPR though with just one man up front, they lacked the bite to cause any real damage.

The Hoops' confidence only grew after the goal and in the second half, tell-tale nerves at being in the lead surfaced again. James Hayter's equaliser was like a knife through butter, with Rovers afforded far too much time and space to work the ball to him in the area for a simple tap-in.

Even when QPR worked one of their best moves of the game to retake the lead, Akos Buzsaky showing his superior ability by chipping a through ball to Jay Simpson to score, they still failed to kill the game off (Simpson being uncharacteristically wasteful of a clear run on goal to shoot well-wide late on) and sat off Rovers who pressed ahead deep into injury time. If Donny's passing hadn't been so sloppy, Mick Harford could have been lamenting another missed opportunity.

But the performance did demonstrate an upward progression under Harford, though the most cynical would suggest it couldn't fail to after how poorly QPR performed against Forest (0-5) and bottom-side Peterborough (0-1) for example. They took their chances when they presented themselves, they had enough shape and organisation to repel Doncaster for much of the game and up front, they put faith in the right players.

2 - Experience isn't always the answer. In bringing in Marcus Bent and Nigel Quashie on loan, Harford was quick to point out that they could be the wise heads to settle QPR's nerves and start grafting some wins.

While both could still influence the course of QPR's season, it was two players at the other end of the spectrum who finally got the club back to winning ways. Jay Simpson's potential isn't news now, but he kept up his admirable scoring record with his deft control and precision finish to win the game.

The real difference could have been his 18-year old strike partner Antonio German though. He's been pushing for a starting place since raising the team's tempo as a sub in recent games, but it was still surprising to see how assured he was and seemingly lacking in nerves. There are still a lot of rough edges to his game and both players were caught off-side more than they should have been, but their work-rate, enthusiasm and energy showed that sometimes, the younger alternative is better.

3 - The biggest question for Rangers now is whether to keep their faith in Mick Harford. It would be typical of the idiosyncratic way that QPR do business that they would choose to replace Harford just after he finally leads the team to a victory. After the changes at the top of the club though, the temptation to start with a fresh slate could be strong and the Neil Warnock rumour is gathering momentum. On top of that, Harford himself admits that the club needs someone long-term and that he will accept the club's decision on who that should be. I believe he is absolutely genuine when he says he wants what is best for QPR and he now seems to accept that a new manager could be the solution.

4 - Relegation Watch. Until QPR have amassed at least another 13 points, it would be foolish to ignore results around the bottom of the table and as mentioned, they have tough fixtures to come.

This weekend, everything was going right for QPR's fans though. First Briatore steps down, then they win and then a look at the Championship results puts them four points off trouble. Ipswich won at Sheffield Wednesday, which puts the latter club in real peril, Scunthorpe and Plymouth could only draw, Reading lost as expected at Blackpool but the real boon for QPR was Coventry's late win at Crystal Palace. That means that whatever your feelings on the rightness of Palace being deducted ten points, they are well and truly in danger of the drop themselves.

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage (Taarabt 77), Stewart, Gorkss, Connolly (Borrowdale 85), Hill, Buzsaky, Cook, Faurlin, Simpson, German (Vine 90+3)

Subs not used - Cerny, Oastler, Quashie, Balanta

Goals - German (25), Simpson (76)

Doncaster Rovers - Sullivan, O'Connor, Chambers, Hird, Ward, Stock (Mutch 86), Wilson (Roberts 83), Oster, Coppinger (Shiels 83), Sharp, Hayter

Subs not used - Smith, Spicer, Dumbuya, Guy

Goals - Hayter (51)

Referee - D Whitestone

Attendance - 10,960

Flavio Quits

2010-02-19T21:57:00.000Z

It's more important than the revelation of Archie's killer on Eastenders (does anyone care?) and far more significant than Tiger Woods saying he is sorry on American TV.

It's been announced tonight that Flavio Briatore has stepped down as chairman of QPR, two and a half years after buying into the club with Bernie Ecclestone and then bringing in further investment from steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and his son-in-law Amit Bhatia.

He will be replaced as chairman of QPR Holdings by Ishan Saksena, who was appointed as managing director of the club last December and sporting director Gianni Paladini will take the role of chairman of QPR FC.

Briatore and QPR have suffered a fairy torrid season and sections of the Loftus Road crowd have called on Briatore to quit the club since the turn of the year.

With all eyes looking towards the Premiership at the start of the season, the stated aim of Briatore and his fellow owners, things have gone from bad to worse on the pitch and the club currently sit just one point off the relegation zone.

That's not been helped by events off the pitch though.

At the end of last year, Briatore became embroiled in a Formula One race-fixing scandal which put in jeopardy his ownership of QPR. His name was only cleared by the decision of a French appeal court on January 5 and that ruling is still subject to a further appeal from the FIA, Formula One's governing body.

On top of that, public utterances about fans criticizing the board and the sale of a number of popular players, with little in the way of long-term replacements, left Briatore unpopular with sections of the Loftus Road crowd.

At the last two home games, a number of anti-Flavio chants were heard and following the 1-0 defeat to Scunthorpe on January 30, several hundred QPR supporters demonstrated outside the ground with calls for Briatore to quit.

"My three years as chairman of QPR have been an exciting and incredible experience," said Briatore tonight.

"I'm proud to have helped save this historical club and to have contributed in paving the way to its future success."

Both Briatore and Ecclestone will remain as shareholders in the club.

I will hopefully have a lot more on this news and more on Ishan Saksena over the next few days, not forgetting the fact that QPR still have a vital game against Doncaster Rovers tomorrow.

QPR vs Doncaster - Team News and Match Preview

2010-02-19T17:03:00.010Z

After a glorious day in London, cold but bright, QPR know they will have to play their game against Doncaster tomorrow, in sharp contrast to the wash-out on Tuesday night when their game against Watford was called off. They can't rely on the rain to save them this weekend.

That was the third game called off at Loftus Road this season and whether it's purely bad luck or there are deeper reasons, such as the relaying of the pitch as has been suggested on some message boards, Rangers were awarded a longer break than any other Championship side this week (except Watford of course).

Will they have wanted a longer rest though or will they have been itching to play and try and get some points on the board? The midweek results now leave them in a precarious position, just one point off the drop zone.

A week is a long time at QPR as well. We've had hints from the manager himself that he could be leaving, a supposed vote of confidence from senior players which saved his job and continuous rumours about sporting director Gianni Paladini's future at the club and a potential takeover from Lakshmi Mittal and son-in-law Amit Bhatia against Flavio Briatore. At this club, the players can't just kick back and not think about football when the long-term future of their manager and even club is under constant scrutiny.

A valid argument could be made for Watford as an easier game over Doncaster as well. Though there is little to separate those two sides in terms of league positions, Doncaster have impressed me on the few occasions when I've watched them as one of the more organised and attractive teams in this league. After a bad end to January (a heavy home defeat to Middlesbrough at home and a loss at Cardiff included), they've also turned their form around off the back of two excellent victories over Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday. The extent of their ambition tomorrow in going for three points will largely dictate how easy an afternoon QPR can expect.

QPR Team News

Mikele Leigertwood finally serves the third game of his three match ban following his red card against Peterborough whilst striker Marcus Bent is still far from certain to play following his injury against Ipswich. Hogan Ephraim has also now emerged as doubtful with a potential ankle injury.

Doncaster Team News

Rovers have few, if any concerns in the injury department which may explain their recent upturn in form. They could make a late call on defender Gareth Roberts who is back in training following a knee injury.

Form

I don't know what to write here anymore. See my Watford preview. Does having a game postponed count as improving your form?

As mentioned above, Donny's form, on the other hand, has improved over the last month. Prior to those wins over Forest and Wednesday, they earned a commendable 0-0 draw at Leicester City and when they are successful, it's often built off the back of a clean-sheet. They let in just one goal in the whole of December and had four wins on the trot, including victories over Palace and Derby.

Prediction

Before the Watford game, I turned to my flaky understanding of the laws of chance to predict that QPR would have to go unbeaten against Watford, that they couldn't possibly go another game without getting at least a point. I can't evoke such dubious reasoning for this game though and faced with hard facts, I again think they could genuinely struggle.

The lack of bite up front is the main source of my reasoning, plus new doubts over whether Adel Taarabt will even play and what type of mindset he will be in if he does. It's no revelation to say that QPR need players like Taarabt and Akos Buzsaky to pull their weight in terms of creating chances and goal attempts if tomorrow's likely front-line, the inexperienced pairing of Jay Simpson and Tamas Priskin, is going to benefit. Lee Cook's work rate has kept Rangers just in contention in the last few games but he cannot be relied on alone.

If the defence can settle their nerves and keep Rovers out early on, a point at least should be possible. The attitude and ambition that the away side bring to the game will be crucial as well, because Donny may well be happy with a draw. But if Rovers repeat the performances of the last month, this is another defeat for me.

AWAY WIN

Harford Fears Sack... Despite QPR Postponement

2010-02-17T11:23:00.000Z

QPR managed to call time on their run of defeats last night, but only because their fixture against Watford was postponed due to torrential rain.

But despite receiving a game's reprieve, manager Mick Harford still isn't confident of keeping his job after five defeats in the last six games.

"There's rumours flying in that I'm not going to be here after tonight, rumours that 'X' is coming in," said Harford, speaking to The Sun.

"It's typical with QPR but, if it is for the good of the club, I'm all for it."

On getting the job, I suggested that Harford would be desperate to make the most of this job, after a series of caretaker roles and less than successful permanent appointments in the past.

It now seems that he is resigned to another caretaker role though and has admitted himself that another manager could be more qualified to do the job than him.

If that is truly how he feels, it is best that the club appoint someone new as quickly as possible though I fear they could lose further ground in the table as the new guy inevitably takes a few games to adjust to the team.

In that sense, if the current rumours have any validity, Neil Warnock would surely be a more risk-free appointment than Lothar Matthaus, as he has bags of experience in the Championship, will surely be relatively well versed in the QPR squad and is far from lacking in the necessary confidence to make his own decisions.

Harford could have been forgiven being slightly more bullish. I mean it's not like QPR lost again last night, though rain in west London was responsible instead of an actual performance on the pitch.

There is still little in the way of explanation on the QPR website though, which doesn't compare favourably with the Watford site (which has a full interview with their manager Malky Mackay about why the game was off).

Some supporters were left confused as the club posted a message before 6pm yesterday saying that the game was on and that 'at this stage, there is no risk of the game being postponed' despite heavy rain throughout yesterday afternoon and forecasts for it to continue into last night.

As late as 6.35pm, the Watford Observer was reporting that a second pitch inspection was to be held, with no news released that the game was off till roughly 7.10pm, less than an hour until the kick-off.

You'd almost think QPR didn't want to play at the moment.

QPR vs Watford - Latest Team News and Match Preview

2010-02-16T17:12:00.000Z

QPR have lost easier games and to worse teams than Watford this season and in the run of games without a win since Boxing Day, each new match has taken on an increased significance as managers and players alike insist the turnaround in their fortunes will start immediately.

So the Hornets provide the latest opportunity for QPR to salvage a truly horrendous season and though it's easy to class every game now as must-win, you can't help but feel the club need to be taking some points, preferably six, maybe four, from their next two games - both home matches - against Watford tonight and then Doncaster on Saturday. After that it's Middlesbrough and WBA and I mentioned recently that the Hoops don't have the easiest of run-ins so tonight is really a massive chance for them to keep their distance from the bottom three.

Look on it in a more negative light though and Rangers, should they lose, could be just one place above the relegation area by tomorrow night by my calculations. Should Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and Scunthorpe all win tonight, they will jump ahead of the R's leaving Crystal Palace and Reading who meet tomorrow. Should either win, they would also move ahead of Rangers, leaving just tomorrow's losers, Plymouth and Peterborough below them. Even a draw for Palace, a team deducted ten points this season, would take them ahead of the Hoops should QPR fail to win tonight. It's not the rosiest set of scenarios ever, is it?

QPR Team News

To prevent a further slip down the table, QPR have close to a full squad to call on barring their two long-term absentees, former Watford player Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands. On top of that, there is Mikele Leigertwood, who serves the final game of a three-match ban and Marcus Bent, who is yet to recover from the hamstring injury sustained against Ipswich Town a week ago.

Tamas Priskin, who started his career in England with Watford, could start in place of Bent but manager Mick Harford could hand a first start to young striker Antonio German who has impressed with three substitute appearances recently.

A more surprising bench-warmer over the last two matches was Adel Taarabt, a player often likely to earn some howls from the crowd when he fails to pass to a team-mate but also capable of moments of individual brilliance that few others in the squad can match. He, Akos Buzsaky and Lee Cook are the three players I'd mark out as capable of turning QPR's season around, with Jay Simpson providing the goals.

Form

None worse than QPR's, not too much more to say about it. Five league games lost on the bounce against mainly bottom-half Championship sides.

Any silver linings? Well, amongst those defeats, there has only been two league games at Loftus Road since the turn of the year. Both were lost, to Scunthorpe and Ipswich, by the odd goal. Prior to that, QPR's home form wasn't bad, with just two defeats from August to December, against Leicester and Middlesbrough. You get the feeling their remaining home games are going to be critical in keeping them up - they have eight more between now and May 2nd, including tonight's game.

Prediction

Bringing in new players in January hasn't worked (or has perhaps hindered the team). Swapping the managers hasn't worked. Trying every combination known to man in defence hasn't worked. Maybe it's time for some old-fashioned superstitions. Well, QPR last won a game on Boxing Day, so their supporters should have spent today in their dressing gowns, half-drunk and unable to move from over-eating. Unless you start eating turkey sandwiches right now you just don't care enough about your team.

I'm going to go with mathematical randomness though (not that I have any understanding of it). They simply can't keep losing every game, can they? They're not THAT bad. There must be some law of nature that says you can't lose six Championship games in a row. If there is, I fully expect QPR to break it, but that said, I think the losing run will end tonight. Though not with a win of course.

SCORE DRAW

QPR vs Watford - All You Need To Know About The Hornets

2010-02-16T13:20:00.001Z

Can you pinpoint the moment when QPR's season began to unravel? A defeat at Doncaster in November followed by an unnecessary 2-2 home draw with Coventry City were ominous markers but far from disastrous. But in quick succession came a 5-1 Loftus Road defeat to Middlesbrough and then the ominous night at Vicarage Road when behind-the-scenes problems were thrust into the limelight.

If Patrick Agyemang, a man who managed two goals in the whole of the previous season, fails to celebrate a strike then something is wrong. When the team then goes on to meekly concede three goals and a player is left out in the cold following the game, rather than sharing the dressing room with his teammates, then something truly bizarre is going on. If there is a single game that marked the start of QPR's downward spiral, it was surely that game just over two months ago.

Considering the run of form since and some of the performances displayed, should QPR lose by a similar scoreline tonight, few would grumble if Mick Harford repeated one of his predecessor's alleged actions and head-butted a few of the players, even in sight of the supporters. Hopefully the need for manager-on-player violence will be averted but Watford are unlikely to prove an easy three points for the struggling R's.

Watford Team News

Watford can't play Heidar Helguson under the terms of his loan, more on that below, but they are fortunate to have the services of Tom Cleverley (pictured below) to call on. The on-loan midfielder from Man United and the club's top scorer, is back in full training following a knee injury which kept him out of their last two games.

What To Expect

Watford are a tricky team to pin down. Following their relegation from the Premiership in 2007 they had to part ways with most of their best players to soften the financial blow of such a quick return to the Championship. Their financial troubles have worsened, if that's possible, since, with there even being talk of potential administration around Christmas, but somehow, mainly through smart loan transfers, they remain a difficult team to beat and though not comfortable of their safety in this league just yet, they are certainly in a more favourable position than their opponents tonight.

They're even harder to predict because their form is quite topsy-turvy. Throughout this season, they've never put together a long unbeaten sequence but similarly, they've rarely gone too long without three points either. Surprisingly, their worst run probably came after the visit of QPR mentioned above. They followed that up with defeats to strugglers Derby County and Peterborough and had a miserable January in which they were knocked out of the Cup by Chelsea but more damagingly, lost both of their league games against Doncaster and Blackpool.

Ominously for QPR, they look like they've turned another corner just in time for their trip to Loftus Road tonight. Since the start of this month, they've beaten Sheffield United and Bristol City, though they still look weak on the road, with a 1-0 defeat at Barnsley separating those two games.

In terms of players to look out for, Rangers are fortunate that one of their poorer decisions of the season can't literally come back to bite them. Heidar Helguson, twice loaned out to Watford this season, can't play tonight under the terms of his loan and with two goals in three games, he would have undoubtedly posed a threat to the R's shaky defence.

Watford certainly seem better equipped at playing the loan market than QPR. Where QPR seem to go for ageing professionals or out-of-favour players, Watford have smartly brought in a number of young players from bigger clubs with something to prove (the only loan signing which QPR have made which could fit into this category is Jay Simpson, the most successful up until now).

Midfielder Tom Cleverley, on loan from Man Utd, is Watford's top scorer with ten goals, and has a touch and control which demonstrates his education at Old Trafford. Another addition who has been well schooled in technique and attractive football is Henri Lansbury from Arsenal and at just 19, he is now an important part of the Watford line-up.

Star Man

As mentioned above, loaning out Heidar Helguson (pictured above in action against Sheffield United) to Watford hasn't looked like the smartest move since. QPR originally let Helguson go out on loan back in September and at the time, despite also losing Dexter Blackstock at the end of the previous season, it didn't appear to be the worst decision. Helguson had struggled at QPR both for form and fitness, with just five goals from 15 starts the previous season.

But the Watford old boy soon demonstrated that familiar surroundings can get the best of him. Two goals in his first game earned Watford a 3-3 draw with Leicester and he's followed that up with six more since. Therefore, when his initial loan deal expired in January and with Jay Simpson the only QPR striker finding the net on a regular basis, it was odd that Rangers allowed the player to renew his deal with the Hornets.

Simpson is a naturally gifted striker but rough around the edges and surely he could have benefited immensely from the benefit of Helguson's experience, to learn more about the physical nature and the little tricks needed to succeed in the Championship. Instead, you get the impression that Simpson himself now has to coach his current striker partner, the even wetter behind the ears Tamas Priskin. QPR's one stroke of luck at the moment is that they won't face Helguson tonight.

Hoops TV - Watford

Bit of a cheat this one. But then again, few people are as synonymous with Watford as Elton John, former chairman and life president. Below, in full Hornet regalia, Elton serenades Vicarage Road with Bennie and the Jets back in 1974. He'll be returning for his only UK concert this year on 29th May.

Ten Year Record

2008-9 - 13th in Championship
2007-8 - 6th in Championship
2006-7 - 20th in Premiership (Relegated)
2005-6 - 3rd in Championship (Promoted)
2004-5 - 18th in Championship
2003-4 - 16th in First Division (now Championship)
2002-3 - 13th in First Division
2001-2 - 14th in First Division
2000-1 - 9th in First Division
1999-0 - 20th in Premiership (Relegated)

Lend Us A Tenner?

Not a chance. Watford were very close to doing a Palace just two months ago and their financial future still looks far from rosy as they become one of the many Championship clubs to have suffered for their all-too-brief stay in the Premiership.

The club was thrust into crisis in December when chairman Jimmy Russo, who was reported to have close to a 30% stake in the club, along with his brother Vince, through their Valley Grown Salads company, decided to walk out of the club and was seeking a return on his £8 million investment.

Watford's shares were suspended in the same month and administration was a very real threat. Former manager Graham Taylor took over as interim chairman and one of the club's other major stakeholders, Lord Michael Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Tory party, repaid Russo a close to £5 million loan, thereby securing the club's survival at least until the end of this season. But don't expect this club to be splashing the cash for a while yet.

Warnock Rubbishes QPR Link... And Linesman

2010-02-15T16:38:00.000Z

Potential QPR managerial target Neil Warnock is not in the best mood right now, so unsurprisingly he doesn't appear to be keen to amass further headaches by joining Rangers.

QPR's own boss, Mick Harford, isn't the only one who could be having sleepless nights and Warnock, whose Crystal Palace side were docked ten points after going into administration at the end of last month, was still seething after his side's 2-2 FA Cup draw with Aston Villa on Sunday.

Warnock was linked with the QPR job last week but denied any contact with Rangers in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live today and Villa's equaliser was a greater source of concern for him.

A wonderful free-kick from free-scoring Darren Ambrose looked to be sending Palace to a shock win over Villa and a place in the quarter-finals but the visitors were erroneously awarded a corner with three minutes to go when the ball deflected out off their own player, Nathan Delfouneso.

From the subsequent set-piece, Stiliyan Petrov stole in at the near post to head in an equaliser.

Warnock's reaction was characteristically furious despite Palace still earning a Villa Park replay which will keep the administrators happy, going so far as to suggest that the linesman, Mr Massey, should be suspended for the foreseeable future.

"It's disappointing, it's bitter, it's a disgrace," said Warnock.

"The ball comes off Delfouneso and the officials wait to see which way they should give it... and it's a Premier League team losing 2-1, so we'll give it to them.

"I spoke with Mr Massey and what he said was: 'When I watch it at home, if I was wrong, then I may be suspended.'

"Well I don't feel any sympathy if he is suspended.

"I hope it's for a long time."

Lothar Matthaus and Warnock are two managers linked with the QPR job in the last week alone as Mick Harford struggles for positive results, a trend which was exacerbated at the weekend with a fifth defeat in six games against Coventry City.

But despite admitting to being far from happy at Palace right now, Warnock insists he hasn't spoken to QPR.

"It's an insecure time at the moment.

"The administrator said to me last week that new owners could come in within a fortnight and they might not want you.

"So all I do now is plan for the next game.

"I'm planning to be here for the Reading game on Wednesday and the (FA Cup) replay.

"If I said I was happy I'd be lying.

"I'm not very happy at all at the moment, I still don't understand why we were forced to go into administration."

It seems that for now even a club in administration is a more attractive proposition than Queens Park Rangers.

What Just Happened? Coventry 1 QPR 0 Talking Points

2010-02-15T11:29:00.000Z

The worst run of results in the Championship continued on Saturday when QPR left Coventry City's Ricoh Arena pointless. That made it one point in six games under Mick Harford, a truly disastrous run of form after the club was already struggling at the end of last year. Compared to the non-performance against Nottingham Forest, the embarrassment of losing to the bottom side Peterborough and the abysmal first half against Ipswich just four days before this game, QPR did slightly improve and were very unlucky not to take at least a point against a physical, committed Coventry side. So...

1 - They're losing even when they play well. The manager called it rightly when he said QPR were the better team after this game, but that will be scant consolation for the few supporters who made the trip to the Midlands or those worriedly listening at home.

Rangers were particularly unlucky in the goal they conceded as well. Coventry midfielder Gary Deegan tried a speculative 20 yard shot which took a strong deflection off Damion Stewart and swept low past Carl Ikeme with the keeper having no chance of getting to it. After that, they had the better of the possession for most of the game and carved enough goal-scoring chances to get a result, a combination of brave defending, lack of confidence up front and bad luck conspiring to bring another defeat.

2 - After the sale of Wayne Routledge, I wondered who was going to be the creative spark in the QPR team. That question is even more pressing when Adel Taarabt can't seem to get a full game at the moment and Akos Buzsaky continues to blow hot and cold.

The return of Lee Cook (pictured above) to the side has been the one bright spot in a very gloomy last few weeks then and as with the Ipswich game, he was probably the most committed and at times, dangerous QPR player on the pitch. Frequently QPR's deliveries from set pieces this season have been less than effective but Cook's whipped free-kicks add something new to the Rangers' attack and with 20 minutes to go, he found Stewart free in the area. The defender's header was well saved by the impressive Kieran Westwood though.

3 - QPR's one stroke of luck was that they didn't slip further down the table. Due to the remaining involvement of some Championship sides in the FA Cup and the complexities of the fixture list, QPR didn't lose any further ground in the table and will have been pleased to see fellow strugglers Scunthorpe take a sound 5-1 beating at Leicester City. Plymouth kept themselves just in contention to survive the drop though with a 3-1 win at Barnsley and Doncaster's win over Forest took them three points ahead of the Hoops. QPR can't and shouldn't rely on other teams to keep them in the league but other results will take on a greater significance with each passing week, at least until the team corrects its abysmal run of form.

4 - On to another 'must-win' game then. I'm sure the games against Peterborough, Ipswich and Coventry were all must-win games as well, but Mick Harford has classed tomorrow night's home match against Watford as an essential win.

The opportunities provided by the regularity of fixtures in the Championship could be seen in two lights. In one sense, any team doesn't have to wait too long to correct their mistakes and try to turn their results around. On the other hand, it's hard to have the time and patience to address problems on the training pitch and before you know it, a bad run of results turns into relegation form.

Harford also spoke of the need of the Loftus Road crowd to fully back their side and though you can understand a degree of dissatisfaction and impatience on their part, it is true that any heckling or booing of the team is likely to be counterproductive at this stage. With confidence so low, home games are surely the club's best bet to pick up the points they need to stay in this league and Watford and Doncaster at home in quick succession are both winnable games.

A look at Rangers' games in April indicates that they won't want to be too far in arrears at that point. Trips to Leicester, Palace and Barnsley and home games against Cardiff and then Newcastle on the final day of the season offer little in the way of easy points. The turnaround will have to start before then.

Coventry City - Westwood, Wright, Clingan, Eastwood, Morrison (Sears 67), Deegan, Cranie, Baker, McIndoe, Barnett, Wood

Subs not used - Konstantopoulos, Hussey, Walker, Grandison, Jeffers

Goal - Deegan (10)

Bookings - Wright, Cranie

QPR - Ikeme, Ramage, Stewart, Buzsaky (Taarabt 67), Gorkss, Connolly, Cook, Faurlin, Hill, Simpson, Priskin (German 55)

Subs not used - Cerny, Vine, Quashie, Balanta, Borrowdale

Bookings - Connolly, Faurlin, Gorkss

Referee - D Foster

Attendance - 15,247 (586 QPR)

Coventry City vs QPR - Latest Team News and Match Preview

2010-02-13T12:56:00.000Z

The midweek defeat to Ipswich was the latest confirmation that all QPR's concerns now lie at the bottom of the table rather than anywhere near the top. With other results going against them, Rangers slumped to 17th, just two points outside the drop zone.

One of the sides to benefit from the Hoops' run of defeats is Coventry City who have more practice this season at scrapping in the bottom half of the table. Their win over Nottingham Forest lifted them to the relative safety of 14th, though still just five points from the bottom three.

Which side can seize the initiative in today's clash could have a massive bearing on their continued presence in this division then. A win for Coventry would confirm their upturn in form and give them even more breathing space whilst seriously damaging the perilously weak confidence of QPR. If the visitors snap out of their funk though and earn their first three point haul of the year, they could start out on the road to a more respectable league finish.

QPR Team News

To gain that victory, QPR will be without recent loan signing Marcus Bent. Bent made an awkward debut in the defeat against Peterborough United but in just his second game on Tuesday, he limped out after eight minutes. Though the initial signs are that the injury isn't too serious, he won't be back in time for this game.

Fellow loan signing Tamas Priskin, who came in from Ipswich Town less than two weeks ago, is available to play though. He had to sit out the Ipswich game in midweek under the terms of his loan but will likely partner QPR's top scorer Jay Simpson in attack.

Peter Ramage returns after serving his one match ban but Mikele Leigertwood has two more games to miss following his sending-off at Peterborough and Gary Borrowdale has been suffering with a calf injury but should be fit enough to make the bench.

That leaves Rangers' two long-term absentees, Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands. Rowlands is out for the rest of the season but Mahon is still on course for an April return.

Coventry Team News

The Sky Blues could throw new signing Freddie Sears straight into the action following his loan move from West Ham on Thursday. The transfer of Leon Best to Newcastle cut Coventry's striking options to just Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood, who have 16 league goals between them.

The two doubts in their squad are midfielder Aron Gunnarsson (leg) and defender James McPake (back) who will both be given late fitness tests.

Form

QPR's form before Mick Harford arrived was poor enough, but despite the best efforts of the new manager, results have really taken a turn for the worse, with just one point from 15. It's relegation form pure and simple and the club desperately need to turn it around soon. Their last league win came under Paul Hart on Boxing Day, a scrappy 2-1 victory over Bristol City. Prior to that, you have to go back to November 7th and a trip to Hillsborough for another QPR win.

Coventry on the other hand have solidly, if less than spectacularly, put together a four game unbeaten run, including some less than easy matches against Nottingham Forest and Swansea City. When the two sides last met at Loftus Road in November, a Richard Wood goal earned Coventry a 2-2 draw. In fact, they're unbeaten in five against QPR since Rangers' 1-0 win at the Ricoh Arena in April 2007.

Prediction

The previous encounter between these two sides could be taken as a good marker for this afternoon's game. Coventry were less than pretty on the day, tackling hard and quickly getting possession up to their strikers who were a handful, particularly Clinton Morrison who is rarely concerned about ingratiating himself with the opposition's supporters.

I also saw Coventry play against Doncaster over Christmas and again, they were second-best in terms of style and possession play, but lacked nothing in commitment, another late goal this time earning them all three points.

They will have few illusions about their aim for this season as well, simply staying in the league.

The key factor will be if QPR now face up to a similar goal. For too long the club have laboured under misguided pretensions of making into the Premiership but recent weeks have pulled down that facade. They still have players of a high enough quality to make relegation seem perverse, but if they aren't awake to the danger ahead of them, they could yet again come unstuck against a more hardened side.

The second half against Ipswich showed a new urgency and passion to QPR's play which they will need in bucketfuls but again, the fact it couldn't be maintained for more than 45 minutes ruined their chances. Lack of concentration at the back and lack of confidence in the attacking positions are currently strangling the life out of this side.

Look out for Rangers' performance levels in the first 20 minutes of this game; if they can come through them unharmed and without conceding they stand a chance. That said, I think home games are still their best chance of picking up the points they need and the squad's morale is still too brittle to pick up wins on the road just yet.

A draw is more than likely, but I think Coventry could just nick a win.

HOME WIN

A Tale Of Two Strikers - Bent Misses Sky Blues Clash, Sears Could Play

2010-02-12T17:41:00.002Z

One is a thirty-plus veteran striker with experience at over 10 football clubs. The other is a 20-year old rookie with just one professional goal to his name. One is injured after just arriving on loan; the other only signed for his new club yesterday and is eager to make his home debut.

QPR supporters will be cursing their bad luck at the moment, which has now extended from the football pitch to the transfer market.

They signed experienced forward Marcus Bent less than two weeks ago in a loan deal, hoping to have found the calm head who would bring goals back to a misfiring side.

But they may now be wishing they went for a younger alternative, such as West Ham's Freddie Sears (pictured above) who signed for Coventry City, Rangers' opponents this weekend, just yesterday.

Bent will miss tomorrow's vital clash at the Ricoh Arena after limping off the pitch ten minutes into Tuesday night's defeat to Ipswich Town, only his second game for the Hoops.

Sears, on the other hand, completed a loan move from West Ham United yesterday after already spending part of this season at Crystal Palace and will now compete with established Coventry strikers Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood for a starting place.

Both teams are perilously close to the relegation area but again the omens seem to more greatly favour the home side. Rangers, just two points off the relegation zone, were leap-frogged by Coventry in midweek after the Sky Blues' surprise win over Nottingham Forest.

Bent (pictured below playing for Birmingham City) looked to have tweaked his hamstring during Rangers' dismal midweek defeat and the QPR medical team now await the results of a scan though the initial prognosis was not too serious.

It also means Rangers could start with a youthful front-line of their own.

Fellow loanee 23-year old Tamas Priskin can play again after missing Tuesday's game under the terms of his loan deal whilst 21-year old top scorer Jay Simpson is back in form after scoring Rangers' only goal in that game.

Sears will be keen to make the most of a loan move which lasts until the end of the season.

He signed for West Ham aged just 11, made his Premiership debut in 2008 aged 18 and has now been capped for England U-21s.

"He is a hungry striker who is really keen to impress and I like that in a player," said Coventry boss Chris Coleman.

"He is only a young boy so I am not going to put pressure on him but he is very exciting and I think our supporters will take to him immediately."

He could get his first opportunity to impress as soon as tomorrow afternoon and I'll have a full match preview before then.

QPR's German Connection - Lothar In Town, But Volz Just Training

2010-02-11T17:33:00.002Z

When thinking of benefits to Flavio Briatore's ownership of QPR, one often cited is his bulging contacts books, full of movers and shakers across Europe in all fields, even sport should the need arise. Along with Gianni Paladini, Briatore was supposedly set to open up Loftus Road to a new level of star signings and exciting managerial appointments previously only imagined in west London at Roman Abramovich's Chelsea.

Cherry-picking of the cream of European talent hasn't quite materialised for QPR though as unsurprisingly even a man such as Briatore, with all his confidence and salesmanship, will find a struggling and under-supported side in the English second tier hard to pitch. Luigi De Canio had varied experience managing in Italy before taking on the Rangers job but I suspect the top clubs weren't knocking down his door whilst another Briatore appointment, Paulo Sousa, was clearly well-respected throughout Europe, though more for his playing achievements than his fledgling coaching career.

Wild rumours linking Zinedine Zidane and Pele to the club were probably no more than that so it's hard to know how seriously to take the latest whispers circling QPR that former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus could soon be stepping into the hot-seat. Matthaus (pictured above during his Inter Milan days) attended Rangers' 2-1 defeat to Ipswich on Tuesday night and if he is still on speaking terms with Briatore after watching that monstrosity, quite a few papers believe he will be forging a much closer relationship with the Italian as manager of the club.

In many ways, Matthaus fits the Briatore-type of appointment. His playing career was even more distinguished than Sousa's. He played in five World Cups, winning it as captain in 1990, won countless Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, Serie A with Inter, World Player of the Year in 1991...

His experience as a coach has been far less trophy-laden though, including stints managing Hungary, Brazilian side Atletico Paranaense and most recently Israeli side Maccabi Netanya. If there is a job going somewhere in the world, you get the feeling Matthaus would consider it so the idea of him pitching up in west London might not be entirely ridiculous.

Then again, Matthaus isn't the first coach to be the guest of Briatore at Loftus Road. Giovanni Trapattoni and even Fabio Capello have taken in the club's hospitality so we might as well say that Fabio will be joining the club if he fails to win the World Cup with England this summer. Now he probably could get Rangers promoted.

Volz Just Happy To Be Playing

A fellow countryman of Matthaus', Moritz Volz, had much firmer connections to the club as reported here last week but for now, he won't be signing on the dotted line as a fully paid-up member of the QPR playing squad.

With news about his potential transfer hard to come by, the one update is on Volz's own online diary in which he now reports his happiness at coming through last week's reserve outing after long-standing injury problems. But he goes on to play down his link to Rangers.

"Since I've been training with QPR there have been lots of reports in the media about me signing for them," he says.

"I've even had messages of congratulations.

"But as it stands I'm there just to train as I still have a little way to go to be at full fitness and therefore to be of full use to a team."

What Just Happened? QPR 1 Ipswich Town 2 Talking Points

2010-02-10T12:59:00.000Z

I watched last night's 2-1 victory for Roy Keane's Ipswich from the unsheltered cold of Loftus Road's West Paddock rather than the press box and paid £20 for my troubles, so by owner Flavio Briatore's rationale, I really should shut up rather than express an opinion about this game ("Some fans because they pay £20, they want to criticize").

Believe me, that would suit me fine as it's getting increasingly more difficult to find new things to say about QPR when they repeat the same mistakes on a game-by-game basis and offer little hope to their supporters that things are going to get better. Then again, Briatore reportedly only lasted until half-time for this one, so as I watched the whole 90 minutes, I feel at least better qualified than him to comment on the game. So...

1. Can Mick Harford be blamed for the team's current woes? It's clear that QPR were a struggling side even before Mick Harford stepped into the breach following Paul Hart's sudden departure. Going back even to Jim Magilton, issues over team morale and confidence were surfacing whilst the background noise of board interference and mismanagement was never far away.

But the run under Harford is really woeful. Five games played, one point, eleven goals conceded, just three in return. Will the board already be thinking about cutting their losses and appointing someone else before this run gets any worse?

Well, firstly, I think they would struggle to find someone with the relevant experience to step in straight away especially with uncertainties over Briatore's commitment to the club and no opportunities to change the playing staff.

Secondly, I think it would be a bad decision in itself anyway. Harford's long-term suitability for the job is debatable, but the chopping and changing of managers has been one of the most damaging aspects of QPR's recent history. Coupled with that, despite at first seeming relatively pleased with his side's efforts after taking the job, it is clear now that Harford is as angry as anyone about what he is seeing and is prepared to do all he can to rectify it.

After the game yesterday, he acknowledged that the club is now in a relegation fight. He is facing the hard truths around Loftus Road head on and for now, he is the best option to try and deal with them.

2. The first half was as bad as it gets. Which again the manager acknowledged after the game.

"As a professional club, that first-half performance was unacceptable," said Harford.

"It was totally inept and was lacking everything.

"It lacked effort and it lacked commitment, and that's what disappointed me more than anything."

Within eight minutes, Rangers were a goal down when the defence's unwillingness to confront players allowed David Norris the time to line up a shot which took a wild deflection off Kaspars Gorkss and into the net.

In fact, you sensed with every attack that Ipswich could score. Daryl Murphy was twice denied from close range before doubling Ipswich's lead with a rifled shot past Carl Ikeme on 38 minutes. Harford also got it right in saying the team deserved to be booed at half-time, though it will pain him bitterly to have to admit that.

3. Buzsaky and Taarabt could and should turn it around. Watching low down by the corner flag and with the game low on quality, my attention was often drawn to the subs warming up just in front of us (particularly as the Ipswich subs were getting some pretty comical abuse from one QPR supporter including "You're so rubbish I can't even remember your name.")

Akos Buzsaky and Adel Taarabt were in conference for much of the first half and cynically I first took this as them being disinterested in the game and more content to joke with each other. In truth, I think they were giving the game greater attention than I thought because when both came on at half-time, they looked to genuinely have their own game-plan and both attempted to rise above much of the mediocrity on display and salvage at least a point.

Work-rate and physical effort has at times been lacking from Buzsaky's game this season but you couldn't say that yesterday. When Gorkss went off the pitch to recieve treatment, he even dropped back to right-back and was frequently marshalling the defence to push up and play the offside trap.

Taarabt, on the other hand, finally began to ally his unmatched technique with a sense of urgency and awareness of others and was unlucky himself not to score the equaliser. Both players need to maintain such efforts to prevent a real relegation dog-fight.

4. Elsewhere... results really didn't go QPR's way. Coventry beating Nottingham Forest was surprising enough, a Freddy Eastwood goal allowing the Sky Blues to leap-frog the Hoops. But Derby's 3-0 win over Newcastle came from nowhere, ending Newcastle's run of 15 matches unbeaten, allowing Derby to also move ahead of QPR and showing that some teams are finding their form just as QPR lose all semblance of theirs.

Doncaster earned a point at Leicester to move ahead on goal difference, so by the end of the evening, QPR had dropped from 14th to 17th, just two points clear of the relegation area after Reading beat Plymouth 2-1. That win could have consigned Plymouth to the bottom three along with Peterborough, though with a game in hand on much of the rest of the pack, they won't give up the ghost. But the third relegation spot could feasibly fall to any of 13 clubs. Including QPR.

QPR - Ikeme, Stewart, Gorkss, Connolly, Hill, Quashie (Taarabt 46), Cook, Faurlin, Ephraim (Buzsaky 46), Bent (Vine 10), Simpson

Subs not used - Cerny, Borrowdale, Balanta, German

Goals - Simpson (66)

Bookings - Connolly

Ipswich - Lee-Barrett, Delaney, McAuley, Leadbitter, Garvan (Rosenior 65), Norris, Peters, Colback, Counago (Healy 65), Walters, Murphy (Stead 85)

Subs not used - Murphy, Balkestein, Edwards, Quinn

Goals - Norris (8), Murphy (38)

Bookings - Norris, Walters

Referee - F Graham

Attendance - 10,940

QPR vs Ipswich Town - Latest Team News and Match Preview

2010-02-09T17:40:00.000Z

QPR's seemingly irrepressible slide down the Championship table could be arrested or further deepened tonight, as the Rs welcome a side who are far from having a positive season of their own. Ipswich Town sit just one place above the relegation area and the buzz surrounding the appointment of Roy Keane has quickly dissipated as the club has put its own promotion ambitions on hold for this season. As we know though, QPR have the weakest form in the whole league and so The Tractor Boys may be quietly confident of picking up what would be only their second away win of the season.

QPR Team News

Rangers are forced into a number of changes ahead of tonight's game but considering the woeful result against Peterborough on Saturday, that is far from a bad thing.

Both Peter Ramage and Mikele Leigertwood are suspended and as a result, Matt Connolly will most likely deputise for Ramage at right-back and Damion Stewart should come in to partner Kaspars Gorkss in central defence.

Leigertwood played on the right side of a four-man midfield on Saturday and there are ready-made/more suitable candidates available such as Hogan Ephraim, Akos Buzsaky or Angelo Balanta.

Up front, top scorer Jay Simpson will surely be recalled after being demoted to the bench for the Peterborough defeat, as Tamas Priskin, a loan signing from tonight's opponents, is unable to play under the terms of his loan.

Ipswich Team News

Roy Keane has no current headaches in terms of injuries to his squad and will have been pleased to see striker Jon Walters come through his first game back after a hamstring injury against Middlesbrough.

Keane has a number of options up front, including Jon Stead, who scored a brace against Rangers when the two sides met just after Christmas, loan pair David Healy and Daryl Murphy, both brought in from Sunderland and Pablo Counago, who scored in the corresponding fixture last season.

Form

None worse than QPR's, truly dire and if it were to extend another two months, it would be enough to see them playing League One football next season. One point from 15, one win in 12 games, four-and-a-half hours without a goal. Try and put a positive spin on those statistics.

Ipswich are the league's draw specialists with 15 already this season and despite being seven places lower down the table than QPR, they've lost two fewer games. Just one away win all season highlights where some of their problems have come from though and particularly early on in the season, they showed a complete inability to actually hold on to a winning lead.

Head-to-head, the visitors also have the advantage, being unbeaten in eight against Rangers and winning the last three. In this fixture last season, Jim Magilton masterminded a smart counter-attacking victory over QPR which nipped in the bud any straining hopes of a play-off spot. Going on to then manage the Hoops, his time at the club now remarkably looks like a tranquil oasis of good football and decent results, despite the rumours of head-butts behind the scenes.

QPR last managed a win against Ipswich in August 2005, with a 2-1 win at Loftus Road.

Prediction

It's not looking good is it? All the above doesn't bode well for QPR's hopes this evening in front of what I'm sure will be a very low and potentially pissed off crowd. It seems silly to say it, when the club have leaked goals all season and have remarkably gone 17 games without a clean sheet, but the biggest problem could be who will step up to act as the creative provider in this team.

It could be Adel Taarabt, but he is pretty unreliable and won't respond well if the crowd gets on his back as he sets off on a trademark cul-de-sac dribble. Buzsaky has probably been the most disappointing player in the QPR squad this season. Maybe he is finally due a good game? Alejandro Faurlin does what he does well but at the moment, that doesn't appear to be a great deal. Perhaps Lee Cook or another player returning from injury will step up to the plate?

In short though, I can't see a glut of goal-chances for Rangers tonight. Considering Ipswich's record, this game has a draw written all over it. But I think it could get even worse than that for the brave few who venture out tonight.

AWAY WIN.

Harold Winton R.I.P

2010-02-09T16:41:00.000Z

Harold Winton, honorary Life President of QPR, sadly passed away last night after fighting cancer for the last five years.

The club will hold a minute's silence prior to tonight's game against Ipswich Town to pay their respects to a man who served as a club director and financially contributed towards the club's signings of Dan Shittu and Marc Bircham.

Along with sons Matthew and Alex he also paid for the signing of striker Doudou in 2001 and after stepping down as a club director was named as a honorary President by QPR.

Speaking to the QPR website, Gianni Paladini said:

"He was a true QPR fan who not only assisted the club through thick and thin, but also helped in securing the services of Doudou, Dan Shittu and Marc Bircham.

"He was a true gentleman and he will be missed by everyone at the club."

Condolences to his family and I'm sure the QPR crowd will be eager to pay their respects tonight to a man who did a great deal for their club.

What Just Happened? Peterborough vs QPR Talking Points

2010-02-08T16:50:00.000Z

Stuck in a dismal run of form, QPR laid down one of their poorest results of the season on Saturday, losing 1-0 at bottom and seemingly stranded side Peterborough United. The new manager effect clearly holds greater weight in Peterborough than in west London, with the Posh's new boss Jim Gannon (pictured above) managing what Mick Harford has failed to achieve in four games for QPR - win a match. Below is some food for thought as Rangers consider new ways to try and save an increasingly nightmarish season.

1 - Too much change can be a bad thing. Were the current management of QPR not to be proactive in trying to arrest the club's slide down the table, then a lot of observers would rightly charge them with being over-complacent. So in entering the loan market to bring in defensive and midfield cover and most notably last week, two new attacking options, Mick Harford has clearly identified some of the team's weaknesses and tried to tackle them head on.

But getting the balance of a team right, especially when morale and confidence are very low, can be difficult and going on the results and performances in his four games in charge, it certainly looks like the new boss has tried to change too many aspects of the team too quickly.

Bringing Matt Hill into the side was common sense and though it hasn't arrested the team's alarming rate of conceding goals, it does provide an experienced and vocal player who will muck in in what could be a difficult remaining few months. Likewise for Nigel Quashie in central midfield.

That QPR also had to look for new strikers is undeniable with only Jay Simpson providing anything like satisfactory performances this season. To throw both Marcus Bent and Tamas Priskin into this game though, when both have struggled for games and goals this season, seems rash now and almost like an unnecessary snub to Simpson, one of Rangers best players this season.

Sometimes these experiments work. This weekend, it didn't.

2 - Things can only get ...worse? It's bad enough to be trailing to the league's bottom side and failing to craft any decent chances of your own, but to contrive to get two of your players sent off in almost identical situations is truly laughable.

Misplaced passes in the centre of the field forced firstly Mikele Leigertwood and secondly Peter Ramage to make desperate, even foolish lunges to try and reclaim the ball, but the alternative in both cases was to allow the Posh to go on a dangerous counter-attack. Leigertwood's tackle was particularly reckless but it arose from lazy play and poor decision-making, which is blighting Rangers' season.

Ramage will now miss tomorrow's visit of Ipswich, who could draw to just a point behind Rangers with a win. More damagingly, Leigertwood will miss that game and two further fixtures at Coventry and at home to Watford, games which now take on the aura of relegation battles instead of opportunities to press for the play-offs.

3 - Looking up or looking down? QPR now find themselves closer to the relegation area then the play-off spots and though it seems ridiculous to think about it when the club has been portrayed as ambitious, Premiership-chasers for so long, few QPR fans will be confident enough to not cast some anxious glances towards the bottom of the table.

You don't have to go back too far (2003/4) for the Hoops' last appearance in the third tier of English football and as recently as 2005/6 they finished 21st in the Championship, just one place above the relegation area.

In that season, they managed to get to the magic 50-point marker which though no guarantee of Championship football, is the first landmark on the way to safety. That would basically require 6 wins from QPR's remaining 18 games (7 to be more certain) which is clearly within this team's capabilities. But with two wins in the last three months, a relegation scrap is not in the realms of the impossible either.

4 - To add insult to injury... As QPR were hitting the lows at Peterborough, a couple of their former employees were finding life away from Loftus Road not unpalatable.

Wayne Routledge seems to have quickly settled into life at Newcastle and provided a key role in their 5-1 demolition of Cardiff with two assists whilst Dexter Blackstock notched a brace for Nottingham Forest, taking him to 10 league goals this season and keeping his side in the hunt for automatic promotion. You can harp on for too long about players who have now left, but surely both still had something to contribute for QPR.

The Posh vs QPR - Latest Team News and Match Preview

2010-02-06T13:03:00.001Z

Not exactly a match to make the mouth water. Over the last six games, no two teams in the Championship have worse form than Peterborough United and QPR. As both clubs bed in new managers, with Peterborough appointing new boss Jim Gannon just this week, the overriding aim for both sets of players and supporters as well will be three points by any means necessary.

QPR Team News

One new headache for the QPR manager is who to pick from his haul of loan players. Only five loan players can be named in the match-day squad, so Mick Harford will have to choose from Carl Ikeme, Nigel Quashie, Adel Taarabt, Tamas Priskin, Marcus Bent and Jay Simpson.

Ikeme seems to have supplanted Radek Cerny in the QPR goal and with central midfield options looking light, Quashie is almost certain to start as well.

Harford worked hard to get both Priskin and Bent in this week after bemoaning the club's striking problems after the Scunthorpe defeat, so those two are also a good bet to feature.

That leaves one from Taarabt and Simpson to sit it out. If it was me I'd go with the former, despite his undoubted ability but I suspect it might be the latter. Either way, with a game against Ipswich on Tuesday, it won't hurt to rest at least one of these players.

To complicate matters, The Mirror is today reporting that the club is lining up another loan for Aston Villa midfielder Isaiah Osbourne. The 22-year old holding midfielder is not high up in Martin O'Neill's estimations and had loan spells last year at Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. With the club still to officially announce a contract for free agent Moritz Volz as well, it could soon be an all-new Rangers team taking to the field.

The addition of Lee Cook to the match-day squad and possibly the starting XI will in effect feel like a new signing as well. Cook made his first appearance of the season last weekend, coming on as a sub in the Scunthorpe game and certainly raised the bar for the team in terms of effort if not creativity. With some more match-time under his belt, he could start to have a greater influence on the team.

Form

As bad as it comes. As mentioned above, neither of these sides can buy a win at the moment.

It's not been a great start to life with Rangers for Mick Harford, with one point in three games. Peterborough can outdo that though, with just one point in four since a Boxing Day win over Bristol City. Defensively both teams are all at sea as well. Rangers have gone 16 games without a clean sheet, the longest such run by any team in the Championship this season whereas the Posh have the leakiest defence in the league, with 51 goals conceded already.

Prediction

The stats above suggest goals but I think this will be a more cagey affair. Peterborough look doomed and in a sense could play with more freedom as a result, but with Gannon appointed just days ago they will be happy to pick up only their fourth win of the season.

Rangers on the other hand are chronically short on confidence and where earlier in the season they would have set about Peterborough at will, the prospect of another embarrassing defeat may loom larger in their minds. With the home side buoyed by the buzz of a new boss, I think Rangers could really struggle in this game. Sometimes it is has to get really bad before it gets better.

HOME WIN

Peterborough United vs QPR - All You Need To Know About The Posh

2010-02-05T14:49:00.000Z

After two undeniably tough fixtures to kick off his QPR managerial career (at Blackpool and Nottingham Forest), Mick Harford was unable to halt the team's decline in form at home to Scunthorpe last weekend and now faces the biggest banana skin of all against bottom side Peterborough United. Read on for a quick guide to The Hoops' next opponents, with all the QPR team news, a match preview and a dismally ill-judged prediction tomorrow.

Peterborough Team News

The Posh can call on defender Craig Morgan again after serving a suspension as new boss Jim Gannon, formerly of Stockport and Motherwell, takes charge for the first time. Ex-QPR player Tommy Williams, who played on loan at Loftus Road this season, is doubtful though as is fellow defender Gabriel Zakuani, who has a groin injury.

What To Expect

QPR or The Circus as they could soon be dubbed will be pleased to know that somehow, somewhere, there are teams, even in the same division, who have bigger problems than their own. Crystal Palace and Peterborough would surely rival The Hoops when it comes to singing the blues. Whilst Rangers will talk for a long time about the Dark Winter of 2009 in which they lost two managers in the space of a month, culminating in fan protests outside their own ground last weekend, they still haven't had it quite as bad as some.

Just as Palace were putting together a decent run of form, they find themselves on the end of a 10-point deduction which took them from the edge of the play-offs to the edge of the relegation area.

The Posh on the other hand could have been handed those 10 points as a type of mercy payment and you'd suspect that they would still be relegated. They've had a disastrous start to the year, swapping managers almost as readily as QPR, being lambasted publicly by their own chairman and contriving to lose every game in January include potentially life-preserving matches against Derby County and the unfortunate Palace. New boss Jim Gannon, appointed on Tuesday, is the latest candidate to try and breathe life into their ailing season.

All this comes after two back-to-back promotions built on a transfer policy of buying young and ambitious non-league footballers and playing dynamic, attacking football. Under former manager Darren Ferguson, now at Preston North End, The Posh flew up the leagues on the back of some astute signings from the lower leagues including strikers Aaron McLean (pictured below) and Craig Mackail-Smith, signed from Grays Athletic and Dagenham & Redbridge respectively and talismanic captain George Boyd, signed from Stevenage Borough.

After a slow start though, this season has gone from bad to worse. Peterborough were genuinely one of the best teams I've seen at Loftus Road this season where they earned a 1-1 draw back in September, fearlessly setting about the home side on the counter-attack, but a flaky defence has meant just three wins all season and they currently looked doomed, sitting 11 points off safety. The departure of Ferguson amid accusations that he was tapped up by another club didn't help, nor has the reaction of chairman Darragh MacAnthony who claimed that the team's spirit had been "destroyed by greed, skullduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within" in an explosive statement on the club's website.

Star Man

You can't go wrong with The White Pele and no, it's not Wayne Rooney. Again, going back to that 1-1 draw at Loftus Road in early September, one of the best players on the pitch was George Boyd, Peterborough's striker/winger/defensive midfielder/wherever you want him.

Playing just behind the strikers that day, Boyd had what few in the Championship have - complete composure. The ball seemed glued to his feet for much of the game and on top of that, he had a tireless energy, flitting between different positions with ease.

That work-rate and stamina has undoubtedly contributed to him breaking the club's consecutive appearances record - currently standing at 140 league games on the trot. But more than that, he is a genuinely skilful and dangerous player, named in the PFA Teams Of The Season in both Peterborough's promotion campaigns and even in this troubled campaign, he still has a healthy return of 12 goals in all competitions

Hoops TV - Peterborough United

Forget Bergkamp against Leicester City. Ignore Rivaldo against Valencia. The greatest hat-trick ever, as declared by glenposh on YouTube, was former Peterborough legend David Farrell's trio against Barnet which left Barry Fry gurning and swearing with joy on the touch-line.

Ten Year Record

2008-9 - League One - 2nd (Promoted)
2007-8 - League Two - 2nd (Promoted)
2006-7 - League Two - 10th
2005-6 - League Two - 9th
2004-5 - League One - 23rd (Relegated)
2003-4 - Second Division (now League One) - 18th
2002-3 - Second Division - 11th
2001-2 - Second Division - 17th
2000-1 - Second Division - 12th
1999-0 - Third Division - 5th (promoted via play-offs)

Lend Us A Tenner?

With a personally wealthy if controversial figure at the helm, Peterborough have jumped up the divisions on the back of modest transfers for non-league players under chairman Darragh MacAnthony.

He made his fortune in property, forming MacAnthony Realty International in 2000, selling overseas holiday homes and bought The Posh in 2007 for a nominal £1 fee from Barry Fry, taking on £1.7 million worth of outstanding debts and overdrafts and was estimated to have a personal wealth of £68m by the Sunday Times Rich List in 2008.

Undoubtedly ambitious, he will have to dig deep if Posh are to stay in this league and one day make it to the Premiership.