How will Joey Barton react to being dropped? How can QPR beat relegation from the Premiership? Former QPR midfielder Richard Langley provides a player’s point of view to LFW.

For more of Richard’s opinions about the current situation at QPR, click on the banner to visit his new Kicking It My Way Blog

I was asked to write for LoftforWords this week and I immediately thought that it would be nice to have more interaction with the fans as I feel it is important for them to hear a former player’s point of view. I am sure some won't agree on all points but that is what helps contribute to a healthy debate and discussion.

With the current situation at QPR the most important thing, as we all know, is survival. How we get there right now isn't really a concern to many of us. Mark Hughes, the man in charge, is responsible for leading us out of the mess that we are in. There are a few things that worry me. Firstly, at the moment it doesn't seem like he knows his best team. We clearly have no style of play that matches from one week to the next. I don't know what we represent. Our play appears to be off the cuff.

Some teams are out and out defensive and set up with a ‘park the bus’ type attitude. Others, like Stoke, are openly direct and aggressive. Swansea will work off possession and try to play their way through you. The bottom line is that, with most teams, you know what to expect.

Since the sacking of Neil Warnock, Hughes has failed to mark his stamp on the team. There doesn't seem to be a visible difference in the way we play which does make you wonder why they replaced Warnock in the first place.

It does worry me that after the Liverpool game Hughes said they had been preparing 'meticulously' for that game because espite a 3-2 victory and an ecstatic reaction from the crowd and players I failed to see what he had worked on that could have been so 'meticulous'. The back four, for example, are looking extremely suspect, not only when defending but when they are in possession too.

Maybe it was a chance for Hughes to kid the fans into thinking he is doing a good job but I refuse to be fooled. People have asked me how can we go from being so great in the latter part of the game last Wednesday to performing so badly at the Stadium of Light and it’s because, in my opinion, the Liverpool game was a smash and grab. As great a night as it was we were lucky to get the three points.

I didn't watch the Sunderland game but for me, if the team played anything like they did for the first 80 minutes of the game against Liverpool the result may have been a fair reflection.

I think times times have changed in football. Nowadays it is not so easy to put a team of well paid stars out on the pitch and expect instant results. You need to have an identity and a system in place and this is something that Hughes doesn't seem to have. I can't really tell you how he intends to play. This lack of clarity is apparent on match days too. I'm not at the training ground to see their preparations but it comes down to one of two things; Hughes has a game plan and the players cannot orchestrate it, or his game plan is not working in the Premier League. Either way the buck stops with the manager.

Under Ian Holloway we were all clear and scripted of what we had to do. I remember on my return to QPR we had a lot of new faces in the squad. Olly sat us all down and asked the question:"Lads, what kind of team are we?" There were a lot of blank faces, the look of confusion increased when Paul Furlong raised his hand and said: "We're a Dry Cleaners gaffer." Now Olly faces the group of guys sitting in front of him and says: "Yeah you are right Furs, we 'close and press'."

So for those of you that are still confused, he wanted us to close the ball down and press the other team. Now as ugly as this was to watch at times, we all knew what we could and couldn't do. I am hoping that Mark Hughes can keep us up this season and then have time in the summer to get the team playing exactly how he wants.

In my opinion the disparity of the wages between players who are being asked to do the same job will be an issue. We also have a lot of players getting overpaid. There are players not being treated fairly yet they are being encouraged to leave the club and face extraordinary pay cuts if they do leave. Players on £10-20k per week are facing going to another club and making less than 10% of the income they take at QPR. In all honesty ask yourself if you would act any differently to the players being labelled ‘deadwood’ in the squad. We can't blame the players for not wanting to leave, it’s the club that has dished out huge contracts in the exchange for a quick fire promotion. The progress of the club is being held back by having so many players that are surplus to requirements.

Our purported highest earners, Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips, have been frustrating this year. What they need to understand is that they are the highest earners in the club’s history. We are paying them top Premiership wages and unfortunately their performances have been way below par. We are not paying these inflated wages for them to turn up and be anonymous or average. We have failed to see many glimpses of the reasons why Chelsea decided to part with £21m for the tricky winger and Joey Barton has not had the effect that the fans would have been expecting. But, in all fairness to Joey, he is not a game winner and was always going to find it difficult to make an impact at Loftus Road with the big reputation that preceded him. And again, the players cannot be blamed for being gifted with these contracts.

As a player I would feel hard done by knowing that there are certain players in the team that are earning an inordinate amount of money in comparison to the rest of the squad, especially if they are sitting on the bench or not performing as well as me. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with, if not it will divide the camp.

Joey Barton would have been genuinely upset after being dropped. As a professional it's a blow to your confidence. I have been in situations before like Joey where you know you are not playing well and that there is only so much loyalty the manager can show you. With every misplaced pass the pressure mounts. You would have the rivals for your position asking the manager when they will get a chance to play and you know the inevitable is around the corner. On occasions like these, with the crowd on your back, it was almost a relief to get dropped and have an opportunity to find some form out of the spotlight. This little break will do him the world of good. I can see him coming back into the starting XI and leading the team again.

Go back ten years when a certain part of the crowd was booing Paul Furlong. This was a big test for of his character. I remember feeling the pain Furs was going through. I cut in off the left and sent a ball flying in and Furs rose to beat the keeper and the defender to the ball to send the ball into the net but then walked away without celebrating. It affected him. But he came back that season to show his worth against Oldham in that play-off semi final, he won us that game and as a result won the supporters over and now is revered by some as a Rangers legend. I am sure Joey Barton will show the same ability to bounce back to an adverse crowd.

We are in a dog fight at the bottom of the league and it's players like Joey we will be needing to get us out of it.

My gut feeling is that we have enough genuine quality to escape relegation this season. It will be a collective effort that gets us out from the fans, players and coaching staff. It is time for us all to fight together. Whatever disagreements there are, and I am sure there are many, the players will be realising that this is their livelihood and their pride at risk. They don't want to get relegated. It's a huge test of nerve. The experience in the team is going to be vital - older heads helping out the younger pros.

If they can show the amount of passion that QPR supporters have shown over the years I am quietly confident that we can complete the task that lies ahead.

For more of Richard’s opinions about the current situation at QPR, click on the banner to visit his new Kicking It My Way Blog

Tweet @LANGERS1979, @loftforwords

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MrSheen added 22:31 - Mar 28 Thanks Richard, I am glad you are still enthusiastic about the game. I wish I could feel as fond of the current players as I did for the 2003 & 2004 team, yourself included.
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ShotKneesHoop added 22:32 - Mar 28 A really sensible article, it throws a new light on the effect that wage differences have. It must be impossible to build any sort of team spirit with that. Langers is almost implying that we might as well start again once we have sorted out what sort of team we are - and can afford to be. We can't buy team spirit or loyalty. Can Langers do a weekly article for Loft For Words on the players viewpoint? It seems like it's not too different from the fans view, but he does try to explain why some things happen.

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Northernr added 22:44 - Mar 28 ShotKnees - he's writing very regularly about QPR on his blog so check that out.
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Hunterhoop added 23:30 - Mar 28 Thanks, Richard. Good read. I've enjoyed your blog recently too. It is a very good point about wages. As fans we think £20k a week is a fortune, which of course it is, but I can appreciate how divisive it could be having a handful of colleagues on 3 times that, when they aren't justifying it. No matter what decade we're in, or what the club is, football is a team sport and you need to be a team to be successful. My biggest concern is that we're not a team at all and that will ultimately send us down, regardless of the quality we have, which is debatable anyway.

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Rs4life added 23:44 - Mar 28 Agree with your "team identity" point. Last year we had a unified dressing room and a definite style that we stuck to. This year we can hardly put the same eleven on the pitch in any given fortnight. The problem started with that rush at the end of the transfer window, I think it pissed off a fair few and didnt give us enough time to consolidate. By the time it got to January at had got out of hand, and we, in desperation, made the same mistake again, although it was arguably necessary. If we had stuck to our guns from last year, with a bit of investment in the team, but sensible, considered, long term investment, I think we'd be doing alot better than we are now. We'd have a united dressing room, a bit of continuity, and a team identity. And if we went down under this system, it would be nowhere near as damaging, and we've have a long term system in place to consolidate as a top flight team.

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N12Hoop added 23:48 - Mar 28 A good article by someone who knows what it is like to be part of a "Team". What Holloway created was a bunch of players who fought together as a team and gave their all every game. What we have now is a defence, midfield and attack who don;t appear to have any idea how to link up and, despite our teambuilding trip to Portugal,players who don't appear cohesive or united in any way. Having huge wage disparity won;t be helping, but given the position the club found itself in with not enough quality for the PL it didn't really have much choice and that was a gamble that they decided to take. I admire your optimism Richard, but so far as I am concerned we are as good as down but, hopefully, once given a pre-season MH willbe able to impose his mark and demonstrate a new united team for 2012/13. What I fear is that players will not move on because either no one else wants them or no one will pay them what they are on now in which case we could have a highly paid bunch of disinterested footballers (ie more of what we have now!).

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baz_qpr added 00:09 - Mar 29 I think Richard makes a great point about style and pattern of play, last season when we came up we had a very strong pattern / style / formation 4-2-3-1 highish defensive line pushing the midfield up to the half way line and working it side to side to get that attacking midfield 3 space and Adel to work his magic. We started that way this season but abandoned it as new personnel came in and taarabt struggled. But Warnock abandoned it as new personnel and the new way worked for Stoke and Man City and then started to fall apart. Hughes likewise clearly wants to play 2 upfront he wants us to sit deeper rather than press but going forward I'm not sure what we are trying to do. If we sit you would expect us to break at pace but we don't yet when we try to play patiently the 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1 he's played leaves us with to many players available only for sideways or straight line passes, where as under the 4-2-3-1 formation we came up with Faurlin would always have 4 options in front of him 1 next to him and the full backs for a sideways pass. IMHO we just dont have the personnel behind that front two to play 4-4-2 of any kind. We have no winger of any kind, Mackie, SWP and Adel all want to cut in, only Adel is capable of delivering a telling final ball. I think Hughes problem from an attacking sense is that he just cannot keep (other than Zamora) attacking players of the same style in the same position in the team long enough to really develop a style of play that works for 11 players, and none of the big name players who we hoped we might be able to build something around have stepped up to the plate.

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rsonist added 00:19 - Mar 29 Talking a lot of sense here. Hughes doesn't have the easiest job but by now as Richard says I think it's right to question what Hughes is telling (or trying to tell) the squad all week when they keep turning up in a shambles with seemingly zero gameplan. "Off the cuff" is about right. O'Neill on the other hand got a technically limited Sunderland side ship-shape in no time. I often wonder if he'd have found it as hard with our lot as Hughes has.

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themodfather added 01:31 - Mar 29 richard, can you still lace on the boots? agreed too many guys on vast wages and long contracts and little performance! how does clint hill and even shaun derry go on that pitch , give 100%+ and know others are on x4 their salary?? barton seems to "bully" or at least get at adel, yet adel won us a lge, barton has achieved nothing imo as yet, sadly swp has just not done what many hoped he'd do, get thru quick and either score or set up goals. we look lost of late, with no formation, ltd ideas and the back 4 at times a shambles, clinging on...confidence is one thing, what's going on at training? did the jaunt to portugal gel the team? so why are they strangers on the pitch. ciis has lost control, he can bemoan injuries but his tackle at sunderland was appalling...rightly a red and does not help qpr, his employer, i'm furious! WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO RESPECT ANY OF THE TEAMS COMING UP, 8 Games to survive..we nned wins, pts ....personally i'll accept anything to stay up, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!!

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JB007007 added 07:49 - Mar 29 Really enjoyed the article Langers, almost as much as watching you play! I like the way you say "WE" about the R's. Some good points made about the wage differences. The fact that we've tried to put three different teams out this season with two Managers has completely disjointed us. I fear that some of the "bigger" signings are simply not good enough judging by the continued simple errors. I made a point earlier this week saying we've done this completely wrong this season. I think we all know that had Warnock had a settled board, his No 1 targets signed and a proper pre season of preparation we would be in a healthier position. Easy to say that now, but look at how the other promoted teams have done - a couple of signings introduced each window to improve and the ship remains steady. Like themodfather says, just stay up by any means and hopefully we can sort things in the summer to be more cohesive and united.

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DeanoMD added 07:57 - Mar 29 hmmmm, not sure i agree with the - not the players fault - angle, whatever they get paid it's a damm sight more than most of us fans and they have a responsibility to do their utmost to perform week in week out and that has clearly not been the case with quite a few of them this season. Langers is right on the lack of team identity and both Warnock and Hughes have struggled with this. I still think we will go down and then Sparky will have a right on job on his hands but it may be for the best. Whatever happens as always it's never dull being a Rangers fan............

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DesertBoot added 09:26 - Mar 29 Really enjoyed reading that. Richard is right about what sort of team are we. We've all read that "training is going great" and about the "meticulous" planning but no-one seems to know their role in the team. I'm also making a mental comparison about the players and Hughes and previously with Holloway. We cheer and we jeer the current squad. But how many would we genuinely be sad to see leave the club. Really not convinced they are trying as hard as they could/should be.

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qblockpete added 12:17 - Mar 29 Not too much to argue about, pretty accurate portrayal of current events.
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BeauRanger added 12:57 - Mar 29 An excellent & very interesting article thanks very much. In terms of the players if Ian Holloway was able to do a lot with a little, Mark Hughes appears to be doing little with a lot? We could do with a bit of the Furs spirit right now...
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Neil_SI added 13:17 - Mar 29 I enjoyed the article, because it does offer an insight from the other side and is particularly brave, as the club will obviously be sensitive about your openness and views having been a former player. It's never an easy decision to be public in the way you have here, but that bravery should be commended and promoted - it's healthy for the most part. That leads me to another point, being open an honest is important, rather than hiding behind the truth. A lot of clubs try to play the game and massage egos that don't need to be massaged, or put too much spin that everything becomes a bit soulless and without character or personality. These are key ingredients that helps fans identify and attach themselves with the club and its players. There is obviously a balance when it comes to airing dirty laundry but sometimes that laundry does need airing from time to time.

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AshteadR added 14:47 - Mar 29 A very open and honest account, thank you.
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jo_qpr63 added 18:37 - Mar 29 Really good read. I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the disparity in wages, it is just their job after all, and if someone is getting paid more then you for doing the same job you would be slightly disgruntled, and there goes your team spirit. As for Mark Hughes and his coaching staff I think maybe they have over coached them and perhaps the players just dont really get it. They remind me a bit like watching England play, just a group of players who havnt really played much together and are a bit tentative and nervous, and a bit rubbish(apart from Diakite who is bold as brass but a bit rubbish!)

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ShotKneesHoop added 23:27 - Mar 29 Does Tony Fernandes and Philip Beard read this board? Sod Twitter and the metaphysical, philosofical and dysfunctional meanderings of the great mind of Joey the Bard, Langers makes more sense. Can Northern R or someone on the inside get the Board to read this thread? It beats TF trying to shows which side he's on by visiting local pubs and sitting in the Lower Loft to get some feedback. Read this and he's understand what's behind the dissatisfaction - it's not at him - it's at many of the recent hires.

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ShotKneesHoop added 23:29 - Mar 29 Does Tony Fernandes and Philip Beard read this board? Sod Twitter and the metaphysical, philosofical and dysfunctional meanderings of the great mind of Joey the Bard, Langers makes more sense. Can Northern R or someone on the inside get the Board to read this thread? It beats TF trying to shows which side he's on by visiting local pubs and sitting in the Lower Loft to get some feedback. Read this and he's understand what's behind the dissatisfaction - it's not at him - it's at many of the recent hires.

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parker64 added 11:38 - Mar 30 It can't come as a surprise that the wages issue might become a problem. The fact is we've paid far over the odds for very average players. The only true quality player we've signed is Cisse.
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ScubaHoop added 14:23 - Mar 30 Agree that the best signing we've made potentially has been Cisse but unless he's scoring he's getting sent off. His forced time off the pitch may be the reason why we end up going down... On another note Langers middle name is Barrington which is freaking awesome.
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18StoneOfHoop added 16:31 - Mar 30
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qprmick added 08:25 - Apr 3 With the disparity in wages, I suppose it is impossible to keep wages confidential with agents bigging themselves up. It seems as though nobody really knows what anyone is earning so inflated figures in gossip and rumours is very unsettling.
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