Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

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)