Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Only about a month and a half late, please read on for my summary of QPR's strikers last season. With all but Dexter Blackstock and Samuel Di Carmine still at the club, most of what I've said should still have some relevance. Despite the recent addition of Jay Simpson as well, this is still the area of the team with the most deficencies and the problems of last season look to have extended into this campaign, with a less than impressive goals per game ratio so far. All (or most of the strikers) in the QPR squad have differing qualities that they bring to the side. Unfortunately, all too often, scoring goals is not one of them.

Dexter Blackstock, 39 appearances (36 league), 12 goals.

Perhaps fittingly at a club which you can never second-guess, the most prolific of them (if you can use that word), is no longer at QPR having been deemed surplus to requirements. The suspicion that Flavio Briatore was not Dexter Blackstock's greatest fan was quite widely held, with Samuel Di Carmine getting the nod on more occasions than his form justified. It should also be remembered that Blackstock scored close to a quarter of all QPR's league goals last season and was the only player to break double figures.

As a result, QPR needed to strengthen their strikers even whilst he was there. With him gone and initially only an untested player from the Italian lower divisions (Alessandro Pellicori) coming in to replace him, this was shaping up to be the team's problem area. The addition of Jay Simpson on loan may help to fill the hole left by Blackstock's departure but scoring goals is still the key problem at QPR.

His season got off to a good start, with goals in consecutive home games against Doncaster and Southampton and he saved the team's blushes against Blackpool in late September when they were 10 minutes away from a third successive league defeat. A relative barren spell followed until he found his scoring boots again over the Christmas period, scoring a vital late winner from the bench in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Preston North End and getting on the score sheet on Boxing Day in a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic. His final goal for QPR before his move came on 10^th January, again saving the club from an embarrassing home defeat to Coventry City to make it 1-1.

By going through most of his goals it will look that I am paying Blackstock undue deference, especially when he still only notched 12 before leaving, but with goals such a rare commodity, they were often vital. He demonstrated an ability to turn likely draws into victories or laughable defeats into face-saving draws. Without his strikes, QPR would been closer to the bottom of the table and nowhere near the play-off spots.

His all-round game was far from faultless and he could suffer from the same lack of confidence when through on goal that befell all the QPR strikers. He had a mixed relationship with the club's supporters as well. Some games there would be howls of derision as he missed another easy chance; conversely, when left on the bench, the crowd would spend much of the game chanting his name.

Following that final goal against Coventry he went another 10 games without finding the net, which probably contributed to the management's willingness to loan him out to Nottingham Forest, where he did grab two vital goals in their successful bid to stay up. In a up-and-down season for him, he was undoubtedly the most natural goalscorer at QPR and it's still not entirely certain if the club has properly replaced him.

Patrick Agyemang, 23 appearances (20 league), 2 goals.

Patrick Agyemang's season, his first full one at QPR following a January 2008 move from Preston North End, was one which was massively curtailed by a long-term injury halfway through. Following QPR's third round FA Cup game against Burnley, the player wasn't seen again until the final two matches of the season, so any judgement on his progress has to be tempered by this lengthy lay-off.

At the same time, in the first half of the season, whilst showing a lot of qualities, including his strength, pace and work-rate, Agyemang suffered from a worrying lack of composure in front of goal, often shooting too early or being so hesitant as to allow the chance to pass. A look back at his career stats shows that he has never been a prolific striker, despite an early vein of form for QPR when he first arrived and provided eight goals in his first six appearances. At Preston he managed 21 goals in four seasons, far from a spectacular amount.

With Blackstock departed, QPR need someone else to supply 15-20 goals or perhaps more if they are to be promoted. Now supposedly back to full fitness, Agyemang should get far more first-team opportunities but I would be very surprised if he is the player to provide those goals. It would be unfair to write him off yet and this is a make-or-break season in his QPR career, but he needs to add goals to his game and quickly.

Samuel Di Carmine, 32 appearances (26 league), 3 goals.

Despite the mitigating factors of both his age and lack of experience in England, a quick look at Samuel Di Carmine's goal record tells you all you need to know about his time with QPR. A return of 3 goals was woeful and highlighted that the club trusted him for much longer than he merited, most likely under the instruction of Flavio Briatore. His ability to hold up the ball was questionable and most damagingly, his finishing was poor, his wonder-goal against Birmingham City notwithstanding.

The owner's faith in the player was demonstrated during that match, which Di Carmine started on the bench. Early in the second half, Briatore was seen remonstrating towards the bench demanding a change. Within minutes, Hogan Ephraim was off with the Italian taking his place and on this occasion, he repaid the favour with a blistering strike to beat a side now in the Premiership. That incident also laid bare, perhaps for the first time, the grey area which now exists over team selection at QPR, with no-one sure how much input the owners, chiefly Briatore, demand. In many ways, the whole episode was detrimental to the club's public image and the supporters' faith in those running the club.

Di Carmine is now back at Fiorentina but I'll be surprised if he gets a long run in their team. He is still only 20 so further development is not out of the question, but it looks like lower-division football could be his level. A poor acquisition and one which hampered the team's attack.

Heidar Helguson, 21 appearances (20 league), 5 goals.

Back to the other end of the spectrum for QPR signings; an ageing player no longer wanted by a top-flight club and struggling to find a move elsewhere. It would be wrong to expect QPR to challenge for big-name players just because the owners have a few million quid in the bank and Helguson was far from a bad signing, but the excitement levels will remain relatively low when such players do arrive.

The club definitely needed further options up front halfway through the season, with Dexter Blackstock in patchy form and very few other players willing to share the scoring duties, so in that respect, bringing in Helguson on a loan deal (which has now been made permanent) made sense. Again though, he has never been a prolific goalscorer, his best campaign being for Watford in 2004-5 when he produced 16 goals in 39 league appearances.

That type of form would be greatly welcomed at Loftus Road but taking into account his finishing last season, this is far from guaranteed. Out of all the QPR strikers, Helguson somehow managed to consistently miss the most glaring opportunities, a trait which he has seemingly carried into this season. Considering his experience in English football in this division and the Premiership, it makes sense to have him in the squad but as with Agyemang, he now needs to contribute more to the team's goal tally.

Rowan Vine, 7 appearances (2 league), 1 goal.

Though not quite spoken of in the tones reserved for Akos Buzsaky last season, Rowan Vine's absence for much of the league campaign meant that he held a dear place in the heart of many QPR supporters. As the club continually laboured through games without finding the net, a small consolation was the thought that Vine, a player who had shown some promise in his brief time with the club, could soon return and be the regular goalscorer that was so desperately craved.

He signed from Birmingham City in January 2008 for £1m after a successful loan period at Loftus Road. Before that he suffered through two less than stellar seasons with the Midlands club in which he struggled to get playing time. His price tag and track record prior to moving to west London are indicative of the current owners' attitude to front men (tending towards loan acquisitions or low-money buys of lower league players) but that is not to belittle Vine's potential for the club.

In previous spells at Luton Town, Colchester and Brentford, the player has never been prolific, with a similar scoring record to Agyemang. I'd be surprised if that suddenly changes with the Hoops, but as a squad player he could be valuable.

Angelo Balanta, 13 appearances, 10 league, 2 goals.

In his rare league starts for Rangers, his performances went sent on loan to Wycombe Wanderers and his pre-season form, Angelo Balanta has shown himself to be Loftus Road's most promising striker, barring the recent loan addition of Jay Simpson.

He came up through the youth ranks and broke into the first team in 2007-8 under Luigi De Canio going on to make six starts, bagging his first professional goal at Loftus Road in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Utd. Halfway through that season he put his name to a two-year contract which will keep him with the club until the summer of 2010 and the club would be foolish to let him go in that time.

A goal in the Carling Cup at the start of last season wasn't enough to prevent a loan move to Wycombe though there is clearly no harm in a player as young as Balanta picking up any experience he can get. Reports back from Wycombe were largely complimentary with three goals in only nine starts and I wouldn't be surprised if other lower-division sides are knocking on Jim Magilton's door later in this season.

If you throw in a blistering pre-season in which he was by far the Hoop's most improved player, the question is surely when not if he will become a first-team regular. A slight injury has reduced him to only one appearance so far this season when he was placed on the left wing on the opening day. The addition of Simpson and even Pellicori could again limit his time on the pitch but QPR will have to find a way to utilise this player sooner rather than later, because if his ambition matches his ability, he can only wait on the bench for so long.