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Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? 10:32 - Feb 7 with 11878 views

Don't you think this has been a fascinating season so far, indeed, perhaps the most fascinating for many years?

When it started, I imagine most of you, like me, were relying on a huge amount of hope. Because that was all we had really, versus the cold hard reality of a manager who was not only clearly completely out of his depth, but actively undermining the group psyche of the entire squad.

What I mean is that his core strategy seemed to be a bizarre Haka-style bravado, in place of anything resembling tactical analysis, positional awareness, or how to get the best out of a bunch of underperforming and dispirited players. Not long into the season, my impression was that the players pretty much downed tools in exasperation at what was going on. Indiscipline became rife, injuries multiplied. And as each game went by, we looked worse and worse and were soon teetering over the abyss.

Nevertheless, the fans kept turning up, hoping perhaps that their sheer collective will would lift the team above the level of being utterly dire. Surely the board would act? But when we went into the first international break and the manager was still in place we looked doomed. A large proportion of fans were crying out for that patron saint of teams in trouble: St. Colin of Warnock. For who else could save us? Who else would even come, for that matter? The list of alternative names of potential managers who might be crazy enough to take over did not look pretty.

And then a whole series of unexpected things happened. It seemed our owners finally awoke from their long stupor and realised that they could actually generate cash through naming rights. This was the start of a domino effect of events: Ainsworth was sacked, Amit resigned, Hoos became chairman and temporary CEO and, then, most incredible of all, a manager with genuine pedigree arrived. A foreign manager who spoke impeccable English: intelligent, eloquent, articulate, with fresh ideas, genuine experience, including, incredibly, a stint working with Millwall. How was this possible????

From the moment he arrived, the gloom lifted. The players were clearly revitalised. Players who had been resigned to the shadows came back into the light and started to shine: Willock in particular. A talisman in past seasons. Everything began to improve. And after a couple of creditable draws and a narrow defeat, we won three games on the spin. Amazing!

But this was a Herculean task, and inevitably the energy required to achieve escape velocity from the League 1 black hole seemed too much, even for a man of Marti Cifuentes' abilities, and we began to falter. But the remarkable events hadn't finished. A brand new CEO arrived, again, seemingly out of nowhere, young, with bright ideas, untarnished by the moldering Rangers legacy of old. But even he told us: there's no money for new players.

So we went into January with low expectations, and yet still the hope that our new coach could perform a minor miracle and turn things round. But with no injection of new players, how could this under-performing bunch survive? The end of January approached... Clearly there was no one coming in.

And then.... boom: Michi Frey (Who the f...?), well, better than nothing.... but no, there was more: Isaac Hayden - wow - a classy midfielder... WTF? But no, there was more: Joe Hodge, and young Ireland international from Wolves, a genuine talent.... WOW!

Suddenly things looked very different. Yet still we headed up to Ewood with our record there of no wins since 1999 glaring at us. Maybe a draw would do. No, we won!

And then, Lucas Andersen signed on as well.

So, here we are, with a completely different mindset from three months ago: comparing performance tables with, not just a modicum of genuine hope, but also admiration.

And this is why supporting a team like QPR is such a niche experience; something appreciated only by true connoisseurs of the beautiful game. Something mainstream armchair fans simply cannot understand. To stick to a belief in something as arbitrary as a 'football team', and not only that, but one that apparently rarely delivers the vicarious hit so craved on a weekly basis by the mainstream addicts, would appear, on the surface, to be some kind of perverse madness. But to those ITK (i.e. all of us who follow Rangers), this is why we do it. Because we are - whether by luck or judgement, it does not matter - football aficionados. And seasons like this are our pay-off. To be savoured like a fine wine, with all its unexpected depths and flavours and nuances.

Of course the season could still end up with the massive downer of relegation. But I don't think it will. I think we will survive, and then in years to come, we may even look back at this season as a remarkable turning point in the strange, chequered yet beautiful history of Queens Park Rangers.

Poll:

Who is your player of the season?

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 00:43 - Apr 27 with 1274 views

CLAREMAN1995

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 00:36 - Apr 27 by GaryT
A little reminder of where we were at the end of October. I always thought we would get out of it despite the regular backslides but looking back, we really were nailed on to go down. Marti hasn't stayed very long at any of his previous clubs but I hope he's our new Warburton and stays for a few years and builds us and himself up before moving on to bigger Premier things.

Look where Coventry were in that table what a rise hopefully they have not crashed down after that FA cup VAR fiasco

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 00:49 - Apr 27 with 1240 views

GaryT

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 00:40 - Apr 27 by saxbend
It's certainly a memorable one, but because it's only after 45 games that we can say it's memorable for the right reasons, I don't think it will be savoured. I do hope that it will be known largely as the first season of the Cifuentes era, and then secondary to that will be the memories of Dunne's winner and the tonking of Leeds. [Post edited 27 Apr 0:42]

The 1-2 at Leicester and the 2-2 against West Brom (we was robbed!) were the only other real highlights.

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 05:03 - Apr 27 with 1116 views

QuillPenRiot

This is a great season. From the proper standpoint. The most important step we take is not the first or last, or whatever, it’s the next step, Look where we came from, look at the change we made, and how much pressure was on us. We still did it. It must be something of a historical redemption.

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 07:11 - Apr 27 with 1003 views

hubble

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 23:37 - Apr 26 by ngbqpr
Thought I'd bump this one back up. We savouring now or what? Hubble the Soothsayer

Thanks for giving this a bump mate, I was thinking about this last night!

Yes, I am, and have been, savouring this season - more or less - I have wavered! But the best stories always have their reversals of fortune, the apparent disasters, the many twists and turns before the climax and its aftermath. I think what I said in my OP back in early February holds true - and I am mighty pleased that it does!

If Marti stays - and I think he will - we will go into next season with a full pre-season of the Cifuentes method instilled in our players old and new. If Eze is sold, we may even have the dosh to (whisper it) buy a decent striker. A keeper to replace Begbie, who has been pretty solid all things considered, and a couple of other players, and then who knows, maybe what I said in my last paragraph really will be the case:

"Of course the season could still end up with the massive downer of relegation. But I don't think it will. I think we will survive, and then in years to come, we may even look back at this season as a remarkable turning point in the strange, chequered yet beautiful history of Queens Park Rangers."

[Post edited 27 Apr 7:23]

Poll:

Who is your player of the season?

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 10:05 - Apr 27 with 861 views

E15Hoop

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 07:11 - Apr 27 by hubble

[Post edited 27 Apr 7:23]

Beautifully summarised, Hubbs - bravo

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 10:20 - Apr 27 with 842 views

WatfordR

Staying up is of course a tremendous achievement from where we were. And plenty's been said about that.

But what has been absolutely staggering has been the support. We've been selling out home and away allocations for months now. You know selling out the allocation for Plymouth midweek was just insane. Reportedly many more youngsters going to the away games too.

And in the greater scheme of things, if we can keep doing this, it will support the idea that a new stadium needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. That may be one of the most important developments from this season for the longer term future of the club. In 10 years, who knows, we may look back at this season as one of the most important in our history.

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 11:19 - Apr 27 with 791 views

hantssi

Is this, unexpectedly, a season to be savoured after all? on 00:43 - Apr 27 by CLAREMAN1995
Look where Coventry were in that table what a rise hopefully they have not crashed down after that FA cup VAR fiasco

And Norwich!
Mind you, Coventry did the same last season when Highfield Road wasn’t available due to the Commonwealth Games!

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