Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s new fitness regime is sure to be tested to the limit as QPR face three games in six days, starting at Ipswich on Boxing Day.

Ipswich Town (6th) v Queens Park Rangers (12th)

Championship >>> Saturday December 26, 2015 >>> Weather — Cloudy, dry, mild >>> Kick off 15.00 >>> Portman Road, Ipswich

Another new foreign coach in the Premier League, another insistence that English football is hurt by the lack of a winter break.

Oh Jurgen, we had such high hopes for you as well, but here you are peddling this fallacy that England — with its appalling grass roots facilities, non-existent coaching in schools, dearth of coaches at youth level, and EPPP system specifically designed to keep the best English boys buried in colossal academy set ups where they never play any competitive football — would be able to compete with Germany and Spain if only a league where only one in four of the players are English would take a fortnight off at the end of December.

A fortnight which would, lest we kid ourselves, be immediately filled with incredibly ‘restful’ trips to Dubai, USA, Australia and the Far East for shirt-selling friendlies. The fear of “player burn out” already doesn’t stretch as far as the new “post season friendlies”. In fact, Spurs were more bothered about Harry Kane going with them on what they openly billed as a “brand building trip” to New Zealand and Australia than they were him playing for the England Under 21s.

Let’s not allow this continued rubbish that the English domestic game, and its cup competitions, are some kind of plague, eating into the national team’s chances of success.

That said, I’m not sure three games in six days can be justified even in the Championship. Not only because of nanny state player welfare concerns — though I am going to be watching Ale Faurlin through the cracks between my fingers this week — nor the severe financial impact it has on the die-hard supporters who will try and do all three matches. But also because of the quality of the matches.

Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s, FA Cup Third Round Day… Maybe I’m getting all misty eyed about it — after all, they used to play Christmas Day and Boxing Day on horrific pitches in steel toe-capped boots — but these days always used to seem to churn up some of the season’s classics. Now it almost feels like a stodgy mess of vastly changed starting elevens playing not to get beaten so they can resurface in mid-January and assess how much damage the crowded fixture list has done their chances. Maybe take out that fixture on the 28th? And just have the two?

It’s going to be a particularly tough period for Queens Park Rangers. Firstly because three fixtures are going to drift by in incredibly quick succession, while Charlie Austin is injured, almost certainly without furthering any sort of play-off bid greatly, despite the club apparently believing this squad is good enough to make the top six. Secondly, because a flawed transfer policy has lumbered QPR with several players whose hamstrings/knees are no more capable of doing three games in six days than being used for piano wire in Betehoven’s Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major. In true QPR style two of their most important players are afflicted the most by this condition and play in the same positions — Faurlin and Sandro.

But also because new manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is currently enforcing — and this isn’t unusual for new managers coming into a club looking to make an impact outside a transfer window — a fitness regime. Training is longer, harder, more demanding. The players comment about it in every interview and, at the moment, seem to enjoy and value it.

Hasselbaink will need to maintain that mood while he ‘flogs’ them. Paulo Di Canio obviously came with added insanity, fascism, narcissism and plenty of other isms besides but while he found his name, playing history and style carried League One and Two players with him, when he got into the land of the millionaires and egos people very quickly stopped listening to him and soon after that stopped playing for him. If you could still get results through screaming at players and making them carry lorry tyres up hill in training then Peter Reid would be the England manager.

Hasselbaink’s style could start to yield rewards this week, with the harsh training standing the players in good stead for a blast of games all at once. Or they could be so exhausted by it they struggle to compete. Either way, short and medium term, he has to take his new players with him, and he may find that tougher and tougher as he moves up the levels of our often detestable modern game.

Links >>> McCarthy’s glass ceiling — Opposition profile >>> Pragmatic approach — Interview >>> Steiner’s double — History >>> Drysdale in charge — Referee >>> Hogan Ephraim interview — Podcast

Boxing Day

Team News:

QPR will still be without talismanic forward Charlie Austin as he continues to be plagued by a calf/hamstring issue. That means Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will again be choosing from Seb Polter, former Ipswich player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, or no striker at all. James Perch and Jamie Mackie also remain sidelined for unspecified lengths of time.

Ipswich have no new injuries following their last game, but are still without Jonny Parr, Larsen Touré, David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop.

Town midfielder Cole Skuse broke his nose last time out, but has had it reset especially. Mick McCarthy said: “He had it done yesterday. I think the guy doing it led him on a little bit and was going to do a bit of treatment on him and then suddenly grabbed his nose and straightened it, but I don’t think it happened the first time. I think Skusey had to apologise for his industrial language after the first one, and even more for the second when he did it again. No anaesthetic, no putting him to sleep. It was a cruel to be kind job. Anyway, he’s gorgeous now, he looks fantastic, his nose is lovely and straight and he’s looking as handsome as ever.”

Elsewhere: Three games in double quick time taking the Championship sides past the 1,400 matches played mark this season as they turn and head for home at the halfway stage. The Champions of Europe play the Other Champions of Europe tomorrow — day of a week with a Y in means a Leeds game on the television of course — leaving 11 fixtures between teams without any misplaced sense of grandeur on the Saturday.

One or two good looking games — Tigers Tigers Rah Rah Rah against Big Spending Burnley, and Middlessex’s Finest welcoming Brighton — and one or two not so hot ones — Rotherham v Barings Bank, Wolves v Waitrose.

Reading down the rest, the Mad Chicken Farmers will have all on with Boro while Charlton and the Wurzels looks like a relegation six pointer. Huddersfield play Preston in a north-off, the Franchise welcome the red Dragons and the Sheffield Owls are at home to Brum. Meanwhile Tarquin and Rupert head north with the curried remains of their Christmas guinea fowl with quinoa chutney to see out the festivities with the Derby Sheep.

Referee: Darren Drysdale heads down the east coast from Lincolnshire for this one, his second QPR game of the season following the farcical 4-3 home win against Bolton during Chris Ramsey’s time in charge. For details of his performance there, and his past QPR case history and stats, please click here.

Form

Ipswich: Town are sixth, but are doing much of their damage away from home. They’ve won six, drawn two and lost three away as opposed to just three wins, five draws and three defeats at Portman Road. Burnley and Sheff Wed were notable scalps here, but both in August, and only lowly Bolton have lost in Suffolk in the nine matches since. Derby and Middlesbrough have won the last two games here, perhaps understandably, but Wolves, Cardiff, Bristol City, Birmingham and Huddersfield have all taken a draw.

QPR: Now only five teams in the Championship have drawn more than QPR following three successive stalemates and Rangers’ record of seven wins, eight draws and seven defeats, with 26 scored and 27 conceded, is a very fair reflection of their status bang in the middle of the division. Away from home QPR started with two wins from their first three trips but have only managed one win and two draws since along with six defeats. The R’s have won at Wolves, Huddersfield and Reading in the league and Yeovil in the cup, but been beaten by Charlton, Fulham, Birmingham, Brentford, Derby and Middlesbrough. Recent form isn’t great — two wins from nine, three from 12, four from 17. Ominously, Rangers have won only one of their last 11 Boxing Day matches — most of them in Plymouth.

Prediction: Reigning Prediction League champion isawqpratwhitecity tells us…

"For a team in the play-off places, Ipswich have a really indifferent home form: 3-5-3, with two of those wins back in August. They must be looking forward to some weaker opposition from us after being beaten in visits from Derby and Middlesbrough. They will have to settle for a draw however as we now have an equal-opportunity manager: the opposition gets the same number of goals as us."

Jim’s Prediction: Ipswich 1-1 QPR. Scorer: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

LFW’s Prediction: Ipswich 1-1 QPR. Scorer: Matt Phillips

The Twitter @loftforwords

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timcocking added 03:08 - Dec 26 Played against a team with Peter Reid once in 7-a-side; we won 4 - 0. Ok, he wasn't as young as he used to be. Actually, surprisingly, he was remarkably quiet and good natured. He was probably shouting less than everybody else.
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jamois added 11:29 - Dec 26 Merry xmas LFW. Two hardworking teams to run their socks off and be knackered after 58 mins.Then whoever takes their chances wins. Ipswich 2 - 4 QPR :)
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snanker added 23:39 - Dec 26 "Or they could be so exhausted by it they struggle to compete. " Prophetic words, another 2 goals shipped in the last 15 minutes and of course an injury time killer !! Town two shots on goal ! Too hectic with the training field pace ? Maybe not as this goes pretty much to script with R's costly late goals and started with Cardiff then Forest, Bolton, Boro', Bristol City and now Ipswich. The only win being against the adrift cellar dwellers !! Ultimate frustration grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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TacticalR added 22:41 - Jan 6 Thanks for your preview. I am a little sceptical about fitness being the be-all and end-all of football, partly because every incoming manager immediately announces that the players are unfit, and partly because specialists like Raymond Verheijen argue that most training is not correctly tailored to football. I also doubt whether shouting at people has ever really worked that well.

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