QPR get favourable start as fixtures are released
Thursday, 17th Jun 2010 09:09 by Clive Whittingham

Rangers begin the 2010/11 season in exactly the same way they did in 2008/09, and face three sides from the bottom half of last season's league in the first four games.

With two of the sides relegated from the Premiership stricken by financial problems and the other managed by Brian Laws there is unlikely to be a repeat of last season's table that saw Newcastle and West Brom bounce straight back to the top flight at the first time of asking as the top two. That makes the Championship a more open competition than it has been for years and there will be at least a dozen sides with designs on the automatic promotion spots - a fact underlined by QPR's ridiculous tag as favourites with some bookies already.

For a full list of QPR's fixtures please visit the club's official website qpr.co.uk

Rangers start the campaign with Barnsley at Loftus Road which bodes very well. Rangers completed their only double of the season against the Tykes last season, winning 5-2 at Loftus Road in September with Akos Buzsaky scoring two fine goals and then triumphing 1-0 at Oakwell in the penultimate match of the season thanks to a first half thunderbolt from Mikele Leigertwood. Iain Dowie's QPR side beat Barnsley 2-1 on the opening day of 2008/09 with two goals from Fitz Hall who missed a second half penalty as well.

In a disappointing season Rangers only clocked up five away wins last year, although that was still an improvement on the previous campaign's total of three. In 2010/11 Rangers will face three of the sides they beat on the road, Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Derby, in the first month of the season. As in 2008/09 a trip to Bramall Lane awaits on the second weekend of the season and manager Neil Warnock will be hoping for no repeat of the 3-0 defeat that Iain Dowie's side suffered at Bramall Lane two years ago. He should be confident of success at Pride Park in the second away game though - Rangers have won two and drawn two in four trips to that ground so far.

Warnock told the club's official website: "It's always nice to start the campaign with a home match, so we've got to be fairly happy with that. I don't think there will be too much difference between any of the sides in this division next season, so it didn't really matter who we got. I'm pleased we're at home though - the Barnsley match followed by the Port Vale Carling Cup tie at Loftus Road a few days later will give some of the new lads a little bit more time to adjust to their new surroundings. All in all, we've got to be quite happy."

The Sheff Utd fixture provides an immediate return to Bramall Lane for QPR's biggest signing of the summer so far - goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. The Blades were furious that Kenny turned his back on them this summer to link up with Warnock for the third time in his career after they had stood by him during his nine month drugs ban last season. Kenny, likely to be replaced by Steve Simonsen in the Steel City, is sure of a hot reception on his return.

Overall it's a start that should promise great things for any team hoping to be involved in a promotion hunt next season. Barnsley and Scunthorpe did not travel well last season, although the Iron did win 1-0 at Loftus Road in January as our club imploded on itself, and Sheff Utd and Derby both had mediocre seasons at best. So far this summer Sheff Utd have signed Barnsley's Daniel Bogdanovic to beef up their attack, and Scunthorpe have added Rochdale's Chris Dagnall to their arsenal, ostensibly to play with Gary Hooper but it it's more than likely that he will be replacing their top scorer of the last two seasons rather than playing with him.

The R's end the season on home soil as well with Leeds United in town. In a wide open division I actually quite fancy Leeds to make a big push for the top two, mainly due to the ability of their manager Simon Grayson, so that could turn out to be a real cliffhanger on the final day. Paulo Sousa's frosty relationship with both QPR and Neil Warnock is sure to make the Boxing Day clash between Rangers and Swansea at Loftus Road go with a bit of a bang as well.

It's certainly a tougher end to the season with Hull City and Leeds at Loftus Road and trips to Cardiff, where QPR do have a reasonable record in recent times and won last season, and Watford, where our record is pretty shocking.

R's fans face some awkward midweek trips with Swansea and Barnsley away both listed for Tuesday nights. Both fixtures with Millwall, Ipswich and Portsmouth will also be played during the week - affecting the attendances for what would otherwise have been three of the biggest gates of the season in W12.

Photo: Action Images

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