It's either a takeover and £10m transfer kitty, or administration and a ten point deduction. QPR are balanced on a knife edge on the eve of the new season - weary supporters are probably just hoping for a nice normal nine months.

Queens Park Rangers
Last season – 18th: Gary Waddock took permanent charge of the Super Hoops last summer and immediately set about filling the squad with bizarre foreign signings like Adam Czerkas, Armel Tchakounte and Egutu Oliseh. He blew a substantial amount of his budget on Zesh Rehman after losing Danny Shittu but did manage to bring in Dexter Blackstock from Southampton. The bookies had Rangers down as certs to go down and we didn’t disagree with them too much in this piece last season – sure enough by mid September Rangers were bottom, being annihilated by Colchester and about to be dumped out of the League Cup by Port Vale. Step forward John Gregory who immediately added two Chelsea loans Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne before leading the R’s to impressive wins against Hull, Palace, Cardiff, Southampton and Luton. A winter dip in form followed as Gregory tinkered with the team to little success but the installation of a strong spine to the team – Camp-Cullip-Bolder-Blackstock soon had the R’s purring and they raced to safety in some style in the closing weeks.

The bookies’ prediction for this season –22nd Best odds to win the league 100-1 (Sportingodds), worst 50/1 (Various).

The squad: That spine that proved so crucial to our survival last season is in place from the off this time with Cullip recovered from injury and Camp signed permanently from Derby. That’s a massive boost to hopes on the pitch however the midfield does look very short on numbers following a bad leg break for new signing Simon Walton and Gregory was still moving heaven and earth to get a loan in prior to the big kick off as we went to press.

Last season Blackstock was left to carry the can up front pretty much by himself but Gregory has added Barnsley’s Daniel Nardiello and Chelsea’s Ben Sahar to his arsenal this summer and Rangers look pretty potent in attack now. He’s also solved the full back problem with the signings of Chris Barker and John Curtis. With Adam Bolder installed as the new captain, Danny Cullip walking around with a mad look in his eyes and Mick Harford added to the coaching staff there will certainly be no slacking off and an improvement in work rate has already been noticed with Stefan Moore this summer. Gregory has pleaded with fans to give Moore, and the previously ostricised Zesh REhman, a second (or in Moore’s case eighth) chance. Hope he’s not holding his breathe.
Likely Star Player – Lee Camp – Derby fans can’t understand it but he’s a real talisman for QPR, his presence lifts the team and the fans.

The manager: I hated John Gregory before he arrived here and about two thirds of the way through last season, as we slipped to defeat against an Ipswich side there for the taking with one up front, I was starting to turn against him all over again. However, it cannot be questioned that Gregory has done an outstanding job so far. He took over a team five points adrift at the bottom of the table, and easily the worst in the league, and transformed it into a confident, entertaining outfit that finished the campaign in play off form. It’s a big year this season, and already he’s short of midfield options, but as long as Gianni Paladini remains at the club he will not leave.
QPR – Manager – John Gregory (Survival chances: 9/10)

What do we think? If the rumoured takeover goes through QPR could be a good dark horse, without it the ten point admin penalty is a real possibility. Either way there’s enough here to avoid relegation but not enough to push on towards the top. The lack of strength in depth, particularly in midfield, is already biting into the Rangers squad before a ball has been kicked and that could cause a few nervous glancing over shoulder episodes over the winter but overall this should be a less nerve jangling season than the last few..
Verdict: Lower mid table

All pictures (c) Action Images

Photo: Action Images

Queens Park Rangers Polls