Nobody said it was easy — preview Friday, 28th Feb 2014 20:25 by Clive Whittingham QPR prepare to welcome Leeds United to Loftus Road on Saturday in midst of a blip or a full blown crisis, depending on who you believe. Queens Park Rangers (4th) v Leeds United (11th)Old First Division, Old Old Second Division >>> Saturday March 1, 2014 >>> Kick Off 12.15 >>> Loftus Road, London, W12 >>> Live on Sky Sports 1 Rarely does a team win promotion without a blip. You get the odd 100-points and 100-goals season, and we've seen them at this level reasonably recently from Newcastle and Reading, but, to steal a line from Airplane, there are always times when things aren't so good, and right now things aren't so good. Harry Redknapp says QPR are having a blip, and to be fair to him a three game losing run wouldn't even have been considered that in the not-too-distant past. As the popularity of football has increased and the money exploded, so the media coverage of the sport has sky-rocketed to keep pace, and all three things seem to have contributed to a shortening of tempers and patience. The television money available to Premier League clubs, and the threat of being without it after relegation, has created a ludicrous situation at the bottom of that division where even two of the better run clubs — West Brom and Swansea — sacked perfectly good managers at the slightest hint of trouble. Are either better off under Pepe Mel and Garry Monk than they were with Steve Clarke and Michael Laudrup? The Baggies are apparently already considering following Fulham's lead in sacking a second manager of the season. Money has certainly been the root of all evil at QPR for the last three years. It enabled the previously skinted R's to bring in Shaun Wright-Phillips, Joey Barton, Luke Young and others in a big rush at the end of the 2011 transfer window, creating a massive disparity between the earnings of the players who'd fought so hard to get the team into the top flight and the newcomers. The team spirit, such a key part of Neil Warnock's promotion winning side, was obliterated. Rangers only got more stupid under Mark Hughes' management, at one point going from paying Paddy Kenny somewhere in the region of £20,000 a week and his understudy Brian Murphy about a quarter of that, to paying Robert Green twice that amount and Julio Cesar double it again — taking the goalkeeping budget from £25,000 a week to the best part of £125,000 a week without any noticeable improvements in the standard of goalkeeping, and further damaging the atmosphere, ethos and attitude around the place at the same time. QPR, under Tony Fernandes, have allowed themselves to become a retirement home for ageing players miles beyond their prime to come and top up their pension with a wage far beyond that which their waning ability should allow them to earn. And it's meant that Rangers, like the rest of football, can become riddled with anxiety when things go slightly wrong — which they do frequently, because of said flawed squad and club building plans. Rangers need to get back to the Premier League soon, to try and cover the massive outlay the board has made with the television money, rather than stay in this division for a few years and build the club properly etc etc I've done this to death. It's why Rangers go out and spend money on Karl Henry in the same week that Leeds (not exactly a shining beacon of reasonableness themselves) go out and buy promising young Crewe captain Luke Murphy in the same position. It's why Rangers would rather sign 34-year-old Aaron Hughes on loan from Fulham, and then ridiculously play him right wing back at Charlton last weekend, rather than giving any first team chances to Michael Harriman who remains on loan at Gillingham, playing well. Such acquisition-led strategy, for which Harry Redknapp is famed, adds pressure to the management, because as we saw from Tony Fernandes' Tweet last week, they haven't quite grasped what the problem is at QPR and want to know why the team is playing badly when the board has provided "everything that has been asked for". Again, it comes back to money. Money totally dominates the modern game and means that a three match losing run is enough to see stories circulating in the press about the team that's fourth in the league sacking their manager. It will be interesting to see what Harry Redknapp does over the coming weeks, starting with this match against Leeds. I always got the impression that he quite fancied leaving QPR in the summer. Brought in as a fire fighter, to try and keep QPR in the Premier League, he failed, but given the situation left for him by Mark Hughes little blame was attached to him. He could shrug his shoulders, say he gave it his best shot, retreat to the Match of the Day studio, and wait for the next Premier League club to sack a manager and the bookies to immediately install him as favourite all over again. His absence over the summer for a knee operation only furthered that idea for me, and all season he's given the impression of somebody who either doesn't really want to be here, thinks this is going to be very easy for Rangers this season, or both. Given the players at Rangers' disposal — there are the thick end of 100 England caps among this squad for a start — and the budget available to them relative to other Championship clubs, easy is what it should have been, but then you only have to look at what happened to Wolves in this league last season to know it was always going to be, as Harry would say, very, very 'ard. Perhaps this week might serve a positive purpose, kicking both the players and management up the backside. Redknapp has actually seemed a little agitated, and almost interested, at times over the past seven days defending his position — the first time he's been either all season. Perhaps we might see a little more care taken with the team selections as a result. He can rightly point to the absence of four key players with long term injuries all at once — no club regardless of budget wouldn't suffer in similar circumstances — but his team selections, both the shape and personnel, have been erratic and random for several weeks. Look at Will Keane, Gary O'Neil and Tom Carroll who have all started, been left out altogether, been taken off very early, been sent on as sub, and played in several different positions in recent matches. It gives the impression that Redknapp is rather thrashing around. Last week at Charlton Rangers lined up in a wing back formation, switching out of the 4-4-2 that failed them so miserably against Reading the week before. That shape works for some players — Ravel Morrison, Armand Traore, Nedum ONuoha — but not for others and Aaron Hughes won't be a right wing back as long as he's got a hole in his arse. I was struck by a comment Felix Magath, Fulham's latest manager for the next few weeks at least, which rather got lost in all the media scare stories about him making his players run up and down mountain sides carrying sacks of coal in the dead of night and the depths of winter. Magath has won trophies in Germany, but has also arrived late in seasons to save sides from relegation - at Nurnberg, Bremen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. As well as his infamous obsession with player fitness, he also spoke about getting a close knit group of Fulham players together and not wanting to work with a large group. QPR have done the opposite, gorging themselves on eight loan signings and swelling their squad as the season has gone on. They have Yossi Benayoun and Niko Kranjcar — ostensibly the same player and certainly not a pair you could pick together with ease — and now Ravel Morrison to fill the "maverick" role. Mobido Maiga and Will Keane were both signed when only one was really required. And yet in other areas — right full back for example — they're woefully short. Perhaps it would help Rangers if Redknapp too settled on 13 or 14 players for the next few games, and picked them regardless, just to try and get some of that consistency of selection that was so prevalent during an 11 match unbeaten run earlier in the season that brought with it a club-record haul of eight consecutive clean sheets. Reverting back to that 4-2-3-1 system, regardless of the nonsense perception that you're less attacking with only striker up front, could also yield benefits given that it suits so many of QPR's players — Clint Hill and Richard Dunne get protection from a deeper lying midfield, Tom Carroll gets time and space on the ball where he can be effective, and Kranjcar, Morrison and Hoilett all receive possession in areas where they can be dangerous. Remain calm. Stop making wild, sweeping changes to the team's personnel and shape. QPR are still fourth, very nicely positioned, and capable of making a big impact on the promotion race. Consistency of selection may bring back consistency of performance. Furthermore it might also dispel the impression that Redknapp, and the club, are unclear of how they're going to snap out of this "blip" and are panicking a bit about it. At the moment, whatever Redknapp says in his dour press conferences, and the players swear when trotted out for the usual PR spin and bullshit about doing it for the fans, the team selections and tactics suggest that's entirely the case. Links >>> http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/34241>Opposition Profile >>> http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/34202/champions-ele >>> Referee >>> Betting
QPR celebrate lifting the Championship trophy at the end of the 2010/11 season following Leeds United's last visit to Loftus Road. Although the Yorkshire side won 2-1, with goals from Ross McCormack and Max Gradel, a positive verdict from the FA on the Ale Faurlin transfer saga meant the R's had been confirmed as champions before kick off. SaturdayTeam News: Rangers face the same three headaches they had for the defeat at Charlton last weekend — two of them self inflicted. Joey Barton serves the second match of a his ban for accumulating ten yellow cards, and Harry Redknapp must decide which three of his ridiculous eight loan signings are sitting out entirely this weekend to comply with league regulations — Benoit Assou Ekotto, Kevin Doyle, Will Keane, Tom Carroll, Mobido Maiga, Niko Kranjcar, Fat Brazilian and Reformed Ravel Morrison must be slimmed down to five names for the starting line up while the other three will collect their money for sitting in the stand. Nothing like a bit of forward planning, and this is nothing like a bit of forward planning. Of course Rangers would be in a better state were Charlie Austin (shoulder), Danny Simpson (back), Ale Faurlin (knee) and Matt Phillips (ankle) not all sidelined with long term problems. Andy Johnson is also doubtful with an ankle injury. Given that QPR's mad scramble for an Austin replacement eventually led them to signing three strikers on loan right on the transfer deadline — Doyle, Maiga, Keane — Rangers fans may be tempted to make a Marge Simpson grumbling noise that Leeds were able to go out and pick up Sunderland's Connor Wickham on a temporary deal after eight goals in 11 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday. He will make his Leeds debut this weekend but there's to be no Loftus Road return for Rangers' former Player of the Year Paddy Kenny who has an ankle injury and has been replaced by England Under 21 international Jack Butland on loan from Premier League side Stoke. Elsewhere: Well good on QPR for at least trying to keep things interesting I say. The top four or five clubs looked set to roar away into the distance for a while there but Rangers' recent rocky patch has brought a veritable smorgasbord of the great and the good of English football back into play with Blackburn, The Globetrotters and Brighton all now showing an interest in play off football in May. Five teams are within five points of sixth place, and if the injuries at Nottingham Trees and Loftus Road continue to bite, then fifth and fourth may come into play shortly as well. Perhaps, just perhaps, after several thousand rounds of this monotonous shit, the Championship is about to get quite interesting again. Apart from QPR's game at Leeds, which the country is no doubt awaiting with the same excitement and glee as a homeowner awaits his latest electricity bill given the quality of recent R's games on the television, everything is knocking off at 15.00 on Saturday as is only right and proper and good and pure. The Trees v The Globetrotters catches the eye. A win for Uwe Rosler's barmy army sets a (collective noun corrections welcome in the comments section below) herd/murder/clutch/collection/pain of cats among a corale/flock/innocence/gaggle of pigeons at the bottom of that top six picture. Reading, currently bang in between the two of them, will be grateful of their home banker against Yeovil. The game of the day takes place on up ahead, with second place Burnley meeting third place Derby. If you want to be all cynical and miserly about it you could say that the latest quest for supremacy between what Harry Redknapp would no doubt term two of the genuine giants of the English game only plays into title chasing Leicester's hands — given that they'll surely win their home match against Resurgent Charlton Atheltic however resurgent the Addicks may have looked during their recent resurgence. What else is happening then? Brighton at Millwall. That's what. And Blackburn at Champions Elect Bolton. Best of look to her majesty's constabulary at both events. Ipswich v Birmingham, Udinesev Blackpool, Bournemouth v Doncaster — meh, not quite so interesting now is it? Christ there's a lot of bloody teams in this league. Huddersfield face Barnsley in this week's Yorkshire-off, and technically Sheffield Wednesday do likewise with Middlesbrough although only a geographical pedant would count Middlesbrough as being part of the self-declared God's own county. It's in a smog-encrusted wilderness all of its own. Referee: QPR fans certainly have plenty of fond memories of this Saturday's referee Chris Foy, who was in the middle that famous afternoon when Rangers beat nine-man Chelsea 1-0 with a first half penalty and Big Racist John got all big and racist for himself. Foy actually has a chequered history with Rangers, and upset goalkeeper Robert Green for allowing a West Brom goal last Christmas when the keeper seemed to have been impeded on the line. For his full Rangers case history and recent stats please click here. FormQPR: First the bad news. Since Charlie Austin's shoulder fell apart against Bolton at the end of January — the club's fourth league win on the bounce — Rangers have not won in four attempts and have lost their last three scoring just once in the process. But their 25 goals conceded overall, just 12 of them at Loftus Road, is the league's best defensive record and only Reading and Leicester have won on this ground this season — the R's have won 11 and drawn three of 16 home matches so far. Scoring goals has been a problem — Charlie Austin is top scorer with 14 and Matt Phillips second with three and neither has played for a month. The R's have notched 37 times overall this season, which is the worst record in the top six by a full 13 goals — Burnley and Reading have managed 50 each. Leeds: United had a dreadful Christmas with no wins in eight and a run of five straight defeats that included a 6-0 drubbing at Sheffield Wednesday and an FA Cup exit at lowly Rochdale. That culminated in the bizarre non-sacking of manager Brian McDermott on transfer deadline day which in turn sparked a 5-1 home win against the same impressive Huddersfield side that QPR struggled manfully with in January. They've now lost one of their last five games (two wins, two draws) and have addressed a goalscoring issue that had seen them fire blanks in five of their last eight, including the last two, by adding Connor Wickham to their attack from Sunderland. Wickham, a big money purchase from Ipswich as a teenager, scored eight goals in 11 games on loan at Sheff Wed earlier this season. On the road this season Leeds have won five, drawn three and lost eight. They've won just one of the last seven away games though, at Yeovil, and lost four of the others. Betting: Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding tells us… "I believe last week was a turning point for a lot of fans. I certainly felt it was for myself. When the line-ups were announced, I shook my head in disbelief. Did Harry truly believe that a midfield of Jenas and Carroll was the best option available to him? It really feels like he is clutching at straws - the fact we have eight loans of which only five can play says a lot. His team selections week after week say even more. I said it in the preview last week and it was apparent after 30 minutes of the game. Charlton are a dreadful side — I've never seen so many mis-placed passes, yet few could argue they deserved their win on Saturday. QPR look exactly what they are: a group of eleven players thrown together in the hope they gel into some kind of team performance. It just doesn't look like happening. "I don't know what is going on since Steve McClaren left but I would love to be a watcher of our training sessions because tactics look non-existent ever since. I must add at this point I am not one to jump on bandwagons etc but I know what I've been seeing and it does not bode well. Hopefully with Charlie and Danny coming back into the team shortly this may help but I'm not hopeful. "With Barton missing, Harry has the same problem trying to pick a midfield that works and its clear to see where this is concerned, he is just throwing mud at the wall and hoping some sticks. Leeds come to Loftus Road in indifferent form although to be fair to them, they have only lost one of their last five games, and that was only a late defeat at the home of in form Brighton. QPR are priced at a general 5/6 to win this game and I for one think that is way too short. "Leeds have bolstered their squad with the loan signing of Conor Wickham and a price of 4/1 Leeds does interest me from a betting point of view. However, being the eternal optimist, I would much rather back Leeds on the Draw No Bet market with the insurance of stakes returned if a draw, a winning bet if Leeds win. Currently available at 27/10 with Victor Chandler, this represents value (unfortunately!)." Recommended bet: QPR v Leeds - Leeds Draw No Bet - 27/10 BetVictor. Prediction: Reigning Prediction League champion Mase tells us… "Rangers and Leeds have another opportunity to delight the millions of TV viewers on Saturday lunchtime. Both clubs will be hoping to use the early fixture to put pressure on the teams above them in the table. Had this been scheduled for when Charlie Austin was still fit I would be a lot more confident, but the baby really seems to have gone with the bathwater and our brain-ectomised coaching staff seem to have no idea how to mend it. After three poor losses in the league, you can sense that a fourth straight 'reverse' could have a terminal effect on chairman-manager relationships no matter how much they, or Cap'n Hill, may deny it in public. "In conclusion, Leeds have timed their arrival well. After a woeful (and therefore hilarious) start to this year, they have emerged to become very dark horses for play off reckoning, although it would be unfair to say they have done so quietly (because they are so massive). This will be their fourth successive away match and they have shown themselves to have found some resilience and goal-scoring threat, unluckily drawing against Middlesbrough last time and losing at Brighton before that despite long spells of dominance in both. "They have just added Connor Wickham to the squad and you just know he will score. "More pressure on Redknapp and more disquiet among the faithful? I make this prediction, as isawqpratwcity noted last time, because the Prediction League is slipping away and I want to chase my losses. Much like QPR and their scattergun approach to player deployment." Mase's Prediciton: QPR 1-2 Leeds. No Scorer (tactical for Prediction League, but if I had to pick, then Kevin Doyle). LFW Prediction: QPR 1-1 Leeds. Scorer — Ravel Morrison Tweet @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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