Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

I said earlier that Peter Ramage could not exactly be considered a boo-boy – if only the same were true of Gavin Mahon. His, and the team's performance in a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich Town was a nadir for the whole season, but particularly for Mahon. He was directly responsible for one Ipswich goal but it could easily have been more and halfway through the second half, with the crowd audibly turning on him, his confidence vanished and a number of his passes went straight into touch. He was far from QPR's best player throughout the season and was perhaps frustratingly included in the starting line-up more often than he merited, but he didn't deserve the treatment meted out to him that day.

The weaknesses are there though; he is incredibly tentative on the ball and frequently dispossessed and seems incapable of moving the ball forward so that many speedy counter-attacks lose all momentum when he receives possession. Defensively he is more valuable to the side, as he physically imposes himself on the opposition and is unafraid to tackle, but other players in the squad can provide this role, Leigertwood in particular. If QPR are serious about being promoted, Mahon should really be functioning as a squad player next season and not as a first-team regular.

Mikele Leigertwood, 45 appearances (42 league), 2 goals.

QPR's midfield was difficult to assess last season as for a long time their formation was unclear. This meant that Mikele Leigertwood could be placed all over the pitch depending on the given day. Often he formed a defensive partnership with Gavin Mahon, the two sitting tight in midfield and delegating creative duties to players such as Lee Cook and Wayne Routledge. This often seemed like a waste of a player, with two performing the role of one. On other occasions, Leigertwood would be the furthest back in a midfield diamond (Paulo Sousa's formation of choice); sometimes he would drift to the wings; on other occasions he had to deputise at the back.

Had he been allowed the security of playing in one position and in a settled midfield, Leigertwood could have been one of QPR's better players. As it was, he was never less than reliable and provided more going forward than Gavin Mahon whilst still rarely sparkling.

Perhaps he is incapable of the magic moments football supporters pay to see and he isn't employed by QPR to provide them, but the quality and incisiveness of his passing in the final third needs to greatly improve.

Matteo Alberti, 14 appearances (12 league), 2 goals.

Matteo Alberti 's newness to the side and his lack of appearances over the season meant he remains something of a mystery. As with most of the foreign signings during the Briatore era, little was known about him prior to his arrival. He signed from Chievo Verona, at the time a Serie B side, in summer 2008 without having made his debut for the Italian side, so he was hardly blessed with a great deal of experience.

Appearances from the bench during QPR's first three games of the season were far from noteworthy and he promptly disappeared from sight until the New Year. From then, he made sporadic appearances for the first team, though managed only six league starts over the course of the season. He tended to be placed on the wing, supposedly his preferred position, but looking at his stocky build and average pace, this could be questioned. He clearly has good technique and can pass well but appeared to struggle with the pin-ball nature of Championship football and would often be caught on the ball. His value as a squad player could still come to the fore, but he will most likely remain at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to midfield places this season.

Wayne Routledge, 19 appearances (19 league), 1 goal.

On his arrival from Aston Villa halfway through the season following a productive loan spell at Cardiff, Routledge looked to be just the player QPR needed – pacy, good on the ball and genuinely creative. In his first outings he was brimming with confidence and willing to do something few QPR players were – take players on (Lee Cook notwithstanding, though Routledge tended to be more successful at beating players than his more experienced teammate). He is without a doubt one of the quickest, and perhaps, most skilful, players in the squad but his season petered out greatly as it did for the whole team.

Just as QPR needed to put in committed and workmanlike performances to push for promotion, their confidence and form vanished and though it would be unfair to say the same of Routledge, he still struggled in the final months. If he has the ability to cut it as a Premiership player is far from certain (as is whether he will ever be able to test that with QPR) but in the Championship, players like Routledge should stand out. He now needs to do that week in, week out if QPR stand a chance of being promoted.

Akos Buzsaky, 13 appearances (11 league), 1 goal.

As a newcomer to QPR, Akos Buzsaky was the player who most intrigued me at the start of the season (and not just because of the difficulty I had in pronouncing his name). It was more for the reverential hush which descended whenever his name came up – if QPR were to be promoted, only one man would be leading them to the Premiership apparently. The fact that he was injured and would not play for some time only raised his stock with QPR fans. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and any setbacks for the team could be mitigated by his imminent return.

By the time I actually got to see him play then, I was expecting a Bergkamp style magician – someone who would transform QPR from a functioning mid-table Championship team into world beaters (having now seen some of his previous goals both for QPR and his previous clubs, the Bergkamp analogy could still hold).

That he didn't quite meet those expectations shouldn't be too surprising. He was gradually brought back into the team, his first start being the 1-0 League Cup win over Aston Villa in late September. Following that he showed flashes of brilliance (a finely-struck free-kick against Blackpool which set up Dexter Blackstock to score; a superb strike against Nottingham Forest for his only goal of the season) without ever truly setting the world alight, only for his progress to be immediately halted by an injury which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Apparently he is now close to full fitness and an injury-free season for Akos could be massive for QPR. Their miserly goal tally was not only due to profligacy in front of goal but a definite lack of creativity from midfield. The reverential tones will grow louder if Akos can fulfil his promise this season.

Martin Rowlands, 29 appearances (24 league), 2 goals.

Another player held in high regard by the Hoops supporters; another player who had his season prematurely ended by injury. There the comparisons end for me though because even though he played more games than Akos Buszaky, I felt Rowlands made less impact than the Hungarian and may not be the missing factor the team is looking for.

With the captain's armband on and having been the club's Players' Player of the Year in the previous campaign, Rowlands should have been flying going into 08/09. The fact that he missed the first two games of the season through suspension didn't help as he appeared to be playing catch-up for some time after that. On top of that, he suffered from a typical syndrome in the QPR midfield in that he was never sure of what position he would play in and what his precise role was.

All explanations notwithstanding though, Rowlands still drifted through a number of games. His wonderful strike against Wolves (voted as the club's goal of the season) was a fantastic moment for the player but it was one of very few before the same injury as Buszaky killed his season in early January. He too is now approaching match fitness in time for the new season. If he can find continuity in his position and in his manager, he will undoubtedly improve on last season's indifferent form.

Lee Cook, 38 appearances (34 league), 1 goal.

It seems like my common reaction to most of QPR's midfielders based on 08/09 is a shrug of indifference. That could be a harsh reaction, but QPR do have a number of players in the middle of the park much loved by their supporters who tended to let them down last season, particularly away from Loftus Road. Lee Cook also should be placed in that bracket.

Returning for his third spell at the club – initially on loan and then later on a permanent deal – it was quickly apparent how loved he is around Loftus Road. A lot of this may be down to his demeanour, as he is one of the more down-to-earth players in the squad and clearly a massive QPR fan in his own right. He was also unwilling to toe the party line regarding managerial changes and seemed as perplexed as the supporters as to why QPR had three different managers in one season. The lack of stability didn't stop him from making his deal permanent, but it may have affected some of his performances on the pitch.

In a lucky break for a QPR midfielder, he did have a relatively settled position on the left wing but his contributions didn't reach the heights the fans were expecting. Too many runs ended abruptly and too many crosses ended in 'no man's land'. Again injury played its part as he was absent for two long spells. What must be hoped is that this is not a continuing trend – injuries at Fulham put paid to his career there.

I could safely say that few players in the QPR dressing room will want to be in the Premiership more than Lee Cook. As with Martin Rowlands and Akos Buszaky, the likelihood of that happening could be dictated by how much time he spends in the treatment room.