[Archived] QPR [Away]; 7th December.

[m1st]

INTRODUCTION.

Well, for the last time this year, it’s one of m1st’s verbose previews telling you more than anybody sensible would want to know about Queen’s Park Rangers and our involvement with them, ahead of next Saturday’s game at their place. About which, m1st had slightly greater optimism than he had before the kick-off against Leeds until Tuesday night at Portman Road.

HISTORY.

QPR are one of the older clubs in the British professional game, being founded in the 1880s. Although their badge shows date of their foundation as 1882, that actually refers to Christchurch Rangers, the older of the two clubs [the other was St. Jude’s Institute, founded in 1884], whose merger in 1886 lead to the establishment of QPR. However, if you read the SkySports Football Yearbook, 1885 is mentioned as the year for the merger.

There was a “North-South divide” in English football in the earliest days of the Football League, largely due to attitudes towards professionalism. The Football League, in which professionals played from the start, was confined to the North [mainly the Northwest] and the Midlands, while the County Football Associations in the south were against the concept of professional players. That meant that many of the London clubs at that time competed in either the Southern League or the Western League.

QPR turned professional in 1898, and joined the Southern League. From 1900/01 to 1908/09, they actually entered teams in both the Southern League and the Western League, in which they won Division 1A in 1905/06. Two seasons later, they won the Southern League, which qualified them to play in the first-ever F.A. Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge against Manchester United, who had won Division 1 of the Football League. The match was drawn 1-1 and, in those days, the authorities must have decided that the trophy couldn’t be shared so the clubs played a replay at the start of the following season, which the northern team won 4-0.

Despite the rather embarrassing events at the end of the 1907/08 season [see “Whoda thought it?” below], Rangers remained in the Southern League until after World War 1 when the Football League was expanded over a couple of seasons, leading first to the creation of Division 3 in 1920/21, mainly of teams from the Southern League, including QPR. It was re-named Division 3 [south] the following season when Division 3 [North] was created. Rangers remained in Division 3 [south] until the 1947/48 season when they were champions – in the days of Divisions 3 [North] and [south], only the champions went up to Division 2 to replace the two relegated teams.

So our first League meeting took place in 1948/49 season. However, QPR only remained in Division 2 for three seasons before being relegated so it wasn’t until the 1967/68 season when they were promoted to Division 2 that we met again.

By then, QPR could be said to be the coming team. Their manager Alec Stock had first come to note when managing the then-non-League Yeovil Town to an historic run in the F.A. Cup in 1948/49. He’d managed other clubs, including A S Roma before taking over as manager at Loftus Road in 1959. He had been in charge of the team for a number of years before Jim Gregory, a lifelong QPR fan who had made a fortune in the second-hand car trade and who could, in a way, be seen as the “Uncle Jack” of his era [certainly as far as QPR were concerned ] became club chairman in the mid-1960s

In 1966, the team narrowly missed out on promotion from Division 3 [League One in modern-day speak], but the following season, they achieved a “double” by being the first Division 3 team to win the League Cup in the first Final to be held at Wembley Stadium, when they overturned a 0-2 deficit to beat West Bromwich Albion, the previous season’s Cup-winners, 3-2. They then won the Division 3 championship.

Our two teams therefore met again in Division 2 in the 1967/68 season, at the end of which QPR were promoted for the first time in their history into Division 1 when they were runners-up. That first-ever season in Division 1 wasn’t the happiest, however; they were rarely out of the relegation zone. Alec Stock left the club to be replaced by Tommy Docherty. It took him only four weeks to decide that he couldn’t work with the QPR Board, whereupon he resigned and was replaced by Les Allen as player-manager. He couldn’t prevent the club being relegated to re-join us in Division 2.

In 1971, Gordon Jago, who had been a coach at Loftus Road was promoted to Manager and developed a team which played some exciting football and returned to the top division as runners-up to the Lancashire team which plays in the same colours as Aston Villa and West Ham United, at the end of the 1972/73 season.

Jago resigned as the QPR manager in 1974 and was succeeded by Dave Sexton who took the team to its highest-ever final League position at the end of the 1975/76 season, when they finished second [behind Liverpool], and qualified them for European football for the first time in the UEFA Cup, getting through to the quarter-finals.

This led Manchester United to offer their Manager’s job to Sexton, whose assistant, Frank Sibley, was appointed in his place at Loftus Road. This was not a successful measure and the team was relegated at the end of the 1978/79 season. Tommy Docherty was re-appointed manager but he was replaced by Terry Venables during the 1980/81 season. He led them as close to F.A. Cup success as they’ve come when they were beaten in a replayed Final by Tottenham Hotspur. The following season, they returned to Division 1 under Venables’ management. They finished 5^th in Division 1 and again qualified for the UEFA Cup.

These successes led him to the management of Barcelona and he was briefly replaced at QPR by Alan Mullery, who was sacked only a few months into the 1984/85 season. Frank Sibley was again appointed as manager but the team had a disastrous run and only narrowly avoided being relegated. Sibley was replaced during the close season by our former manager, Jim Smith who, in his first season in charge took Rangers to the League Cup Final where they were runners-up to Oxford United, ironically the club from which Smith had resigned to take the manager’s chair at Loftus Road.

By the start of the 1990s, QPR seemed comfortable in Division 1 but hopes for better times were kindled by the appointment of a popular former player, Gerry Francis, who had taken Bristol Rovers to promotion from Division 3. During his 3½ seasons at Loftus Road, spanning the last season of the old Division 1 and the beginning of the Premiership, the club generally remained in the top half of the table. Francis resigned part way through the 1994/95 season and was replaced as Player/Manager by Ray Wilkins.

During the 1995 close season, however, the club sold Les Ferdinand to Newcastle United and were unable to replace him with as efficient a goal-scorer. This deficiency was a major factor in QPR’s unsuccessful struggle to avoid dropping out of the Premiership at the end of the 1995/96 season. They remained in Football League, Division 1 [as the Championship was then known] until the 2000/01 season when they were relegated to Division 2, just as we were leaving Division 1 for the Premier League.

Ian Holloway eventually stopped the rot and brought the team back to Division 1 [now the Championship] in 2004. A couple of seasons later, he was suspended [“placed on gardening leave”, according to the QPR website], following rumours about his imminent departure to manage Leicester City.

This was a period of some “behind the scenes” turbulence at Loftus Road and, looking back on the events of the time relating to the ownership of the club, it’s not too difficult to see some parallels between events there in the period from 2005 and those at Ewood from, ooh, say November 2010. In that time, they’ve been owned by some seriously wealthy people and the only QPR fan I know personally took pleasure in mocking the comparative poverty of Roman Abramovitch, compared with his club’s owners!

Even so, apart from the two last seasons, they’ve remained spent all that time in the Championship. So no guarantee, then, that having wealthy owners automatically means Premier League status.

WHO’DA THOUGHT IT?

QPR assumed that winning the Southern League in 1907/08 would lead to them being accepted into the Football League. However, Tottenham Hotspur, who’d finished 8^th in the Southern League, were accepted instead and this led to QPR having to re-apply to the Southern League. Because the following season’s fixture list had been published before they were re-admitted, they had to play each of their 1908/09 fixtures in midweek.

Between their foundation and 1917, when they settled at their present Loftus Road ground, QPR played at “nearly 20 different stadia” Apparently, that’s a [southern?] League record - can’t you just tell that I’ve lifted that from Wikipedia?! However, in the “potted history” on QPR’s own website, I counted 13 grounds on which they apparently played before they settled into Loftus Road, the ground of a local amateur team, Shepherd’s Bush FC. Among the 13 is White City, the venue for 1908 Olympics, which, in addition to a couple of games played there in 1912, they’ve also tried out as an alternative to Loftus Road on a couple of occasions in the 1930s and the 1960s.

In the early 1980s, QPR were the first team to install a plastic pitch for League games but the technology of artificial playing surfaces was in its infancy and the surface was unpopular with opponents so the experiment was ended towards the end of the decade.

COMMON LINKS.

There have been nearly as many links between the manager’s offices of our two clubs as there have been among the playing staff.

The first player I can recall moving between the two clubs was Simon Barker, a mid-fielder with us in the mid-1980s. He was in the team which won the Full Members’ Cup in 1987 and joined QPR at the end of the following season when they were a Division us. He stayed with them for 10 years before joining Port Vale. When his playing career ended, he joined the Professional Footballers’ Association where he’s one of three Assistant Chief Executives.

Roy Wegerle is one only two of the players I’ve found who played for both teams who came from them to us. He joined us in March 1992 during the season we won promotion to the Premier League. However, his opportunities at Ewood in the Premier League were limited by the arrival of Alan Shearer during the close season leading to us becoming inaugural members of the Premier League and he moved on to Coventry City less than 12 months after he’d joined us. Before coming to England, his football career developed, where it ended, in the USA.

Another man who played for both clubs and whose career developed in the USA is Ryan Nelsen. Am I over-stating things when I write that there can have been few Rovers’ players of recent times held in such affection as him? He certainly did me some favours when I was on holiday in his home city of Christchurch a couple of years ago because my Rovers sweater was recognised by the bar staff in the hotel in which I was staying, leading to me being offered several free drinks in the hotel!

I don’t remember reading that he’d been to Lourdes for a miraculous cure of the knee injury which prevented him playing much for us in his final half-season at Ewood. Something like that must have happened though, because after he’d joined Tottenham Hotspur, then managed by current QPR boss Harry Redknapp, just as the January 2012 transfer window was closing, he featured in their first team squad much more often than he’d played for us that season. He followed Harry to Loftus Road but left them at the beginning of this year when he was appointed Head coach at Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.

Another Rovers’ stalwart who left the club around the same time, although you [i!] got sometimes got the impression he didn’t really want to go, was Chris Samba. He left us in February last year for Anzhi Makhachkala who at the time were offering mega-bucks for players. However, he also experienced racist attitudes among the Russian football-watching public and in January of this year, he joined QPR in their fight to avoid relegation. When that fight was unsuccessful, he went back to Anzhi Makhachkala, but in August, the billionaire who owns them decided to cut their budget so he was one of a number of players who were sold to Dynamo Moscow for whom he now plays.

The last of the players to leave us for QPR during our relegation from the Premier League in 2012, and the only one still to be on their books, is Junior Hoilett, who, despite the assurances we were given by the bloke who was “team manager” at Ewood at the time – you know; the one who had his drinks spiked and is now “managing” in Brunei [where he’s apparently giving a trial to another Rovers’ “star” of yesteryear, Francis Jeffers], wouldn’t sign a new contract for us when his contract expired at the end of the season we got relegated.

When thinking of players who have worn both shirts, the most recent name was that of Bradley Orr, who is on a season-long loan to Blackpool. When I was preparing this section of the Bolton Preview earlier this season, I came across the name of Keith Andrews, who is so highly valued by the current management at the Reebok that he’s on a season-long loan to Brighton. As I wrote then, ‘ “Keith . . . needs no introduction”; so I’ll not bother giving him any!’ I think the same applies to Bradley!

Unusually, three of the Rovers’ managers within my memory: Jim Smith; Ray Harford and Mark Hughes have also occupied the Boss’s seat at Loftus Road. We recruited “the Bald Eagle”, as Jim Smith became known, from Colchester United to consolidate the work that Gordon Lee had done in getting us back to Division 2 in the mid-1970s. He moved on to Birmingham City, then Oxford United before joining QPR about 10 years after he had become our Manager.

Ray Harford came to Ewood as Kenny Dalglish’s Chief Coach in 1991 and helped us become one of only three teams to be founder-members of both the Football League and the Premier League at the end of that season. When Kenny decided to stand down, Ray took over as manager but resigned a couple of months after Alan Shearer had been sold to Newcastle in Shearer’s attempt to win more trophies – got that one wrong, eh, Alan?! Harford became manager of West Bromwich in February 1997 but resigned at the end of that year to take over at QPR. Unfortunately, that was a turbulent time at Loftus Road [he was one of four managers in a 12-month period from September 1996] and he was dismissed about 10 months after his appointment, with the worst success rate of any permanent QPR manager.

Mark Hughes took over from Graeme Souness in 2004 and stayed with us until he took over the reins at the Etihad Stadium in 2008. Dismissal there was followed by his appointment as manager at Fulham, whom he left at the end of the 2010/11season. He joined QPR, succeeding Neil Warnock at the beginning of last year. He lasted there for less than a year.

OPPONENTS’ OPINION.

The QPR fan I mentioned above is exiled in the West Country so doesn’t get as many chances as he’d like to see his team and therefore preferred not to be questioned for this part of the Preview. So apologies; I kept meaning to go on one of the QPR equivalents of this Board but even m1st’s leisurely approach to life was affected by Christmas shopping and preparations, so I’m afraid there’s no Opponents’ Opinion on this Preview. My New Year Resolution is: “Must try harder!”; promise!

WHERE TO DRINK.

As ever in one of m1st’s Previews of an away game, what follows comes from the website: www.footballgroundguide.com I’ve emphasised the first paragraph.

“There are no pubs for away fans in the immediate vicinity around the stadium. Most away fans head over to nearby Shepherds Bush Green where O'Neills is popular with away supporters.

“To find O'Neills and Shepherds Bush Green; exit Shepherds Bush Market Underground Station (the Hammersmith & City line station], turn left out of the station and the Green is a short way down the road on the right. On reaching 'The Green' pub (home fans only) turn right and O’Neills is down the bottom on the right hand corner. Diagonally across Shepherds Bush Green opposite the Central line entrance to Shepherds Bush Underground Station, is a retail complex called Vue, which upstairs includes a Wetherspoons outlet. Otherwise alcohol is available in the away end.”

CURRENT FORM.

It probably tells you how sad an old man m1st is that I get fascinated by the way positions in the Form Table alter. I mean, after last Saturday’s games, you could have been forgiven for looking at the full League Table in which QPR were 12 points and 10 places ahead of us and thinking that the Form Table of the last 6 games would probably be similar. In fact, we were level on points [8] and only the fact that their goal difference [-1] was one better than ours put them above us!

After Tuesday night’s games [ours at Ipswich; theirs at home to Bournemouth], those positions had altered. QPR’s loss @ Burnley dropped off the 6-game Form Table, as did what for me was our most depressing home result of the season, the 0-1 defeat by Charlton. However, QPR tonked Bournemouth 3-0 while we were losing at Portman Road.

SATURDAY’S GAME.

So Saturday’s game will start with the home team in the Promotion Zone and us anchored in mid-table. And, as one who didn’t make the round trip to East Anglia on Tuesday night [i’m finishing this off!], I’m not sure what team will start for us.

In my last Preview [the Middlesbrough game], I suggested that Eastwood should start, as much as anything else to give Kean a bit of a break. From what I recall, the comments of those who’ve seen Eastwood weren’t that optimistic about that. I know that Kean made that point-blank save after about 30 minutes last Saturday but I still worry about some aspects of the younger keeper’s game.

The “Marmite” player [Lowe] will presumably start, despite what many on here think of him. Presumably Dunn will be back [for the first hour or so], and I guess that Gestede hasn’t been signed to warm the bench. But, if we have Gestede & Rhodes up-front, doesn’t that mean more of a 4-4-2 line-up, with no starting place for Rochina?

So as much to start the discussion as anything else, I’d like to suggest the following squad to start on Saturday:

Eastwood;

Kean, Dann, Hanley, Spurr;

Lowe;

King, Dunn, Carney;

Rhodes, Gestede.

Subs: Kean; Henley, Kilgallon, Williamson, Marshall, Rochina, Campbell.

[West Yorks Rover]

That's a cracking preview !!!

Unfortunately I think we will get a battering 4-1

My ' Black Dog ' has descended.

[SoldierMo]

Has kean become that bad you want to play him right back??

[pick32]

If we play negative against QPR we will get over run and battered, I'd like us to take the game to them that's when they look vulnerable.

Kean

Henley Hanley Danny Spurr

Taylor Lowe Cairney King

Dunn

Rhodes

[chaddyrovers]

Kane is suspended for this game btw.

my team would be

Eastwood

Henley Dann Kilgallon Spurr

Marshall Lowe Cairney Taylor

Dunn

Rhodes

I dont think Hanley will be fit enough to play after coming off last night.

I would drop Kean, Williamson and King.

[K-Hod]

3-0 QPR, Austin and Hoilett to rub our noses in it.

[m1st]

Has kean become that bad you want to play him right back??

Well done, Soldier! Is my face ?

[FGS5635]

We would all have taken 3 points out of 2 away games. We keaned it up last night, so will have to do it the hard way now. This league is so crazy we will probably win this

I think they have tried wrapping kean in cotton wool to protect his confidence. Its now time to tear into him and give it him straight, he cant get any worse.

If we are to go down away from home, at least go down swinging with some attacking intent

Kean

Henley Killa Dann Spurr

Cairney Dunn

King Rochina Taylor

Rhodes

If hanley is fit then he plays instead of killa

[JonnyBRFC]

I can't imagine Dunn having the legs for the centre of the park. I'd play the below.

Kean

Henley Dann Killa/Hanley Spurr

Cairney Lowe

King Dunn Taylor

Rhodes

Gestede Rochina DJ Judge on the bench to allow us to change the game a bit.

Cairney needs to play in the middle of the park. It was a shame Taylor had to withdraw from the game, I was shocked when I thought Bowyer broke up a winning team but guess he had no choice.

[FGS5635]

He'd probably do less running in centre mid than he would in the hole.

[RevidgeBlue]

Bowyer. needs to take some firm action with this underperforming squad.

Imo Lowe and King need to stop being automatic selections, they're either not good enough or not consistent enough respectively. Cairney and Taylor need to be fixtures in the centre and on the right of midfield respectively. Henley in for the inconsistent Kane/Kean may be no bad thing and Rochina in behind Rhodes. Sell Best and Campbell off for scrap, Gestede on the bench as a plan B if things aren't working.

Eastwood/Kean

Henley Dann Hanley Spurr

Taylor williamson Cairney Dunn

Rochina

Rhodes

[tomphil]

Hopefully some sort of backlash from last night although this is a game where we could play well and still get tubbed.

QPR 4 - 2 Rovers (Rhodes, King)

[rovers11]

Gestede, Eastwood, Taylor, and Henley in.

DJ, Willo, Kean, Kane out.

Remember, anything can happen in this league. A lot of shock results last night so this one is not a foregone conculsion and they've got to lose at home at some point.

[Amo]

Kean

Henley - Dann - Hanley/Kilgallon - Spurr

Lowe - Cairney

Taylor - Rochina - King

Rhodes

[Tom]

Anyone but Kean

Henley Dann Killgallon Spurr

Taylor Lowe Cairney King

Dunn

Rhodes

Not expecting anything from this if last night is anything to go by

[roversR4ever]

Anyone but Kean

Henley Dann Killgallon Spurr

Taylor Lowe Cairney King

Dunn

Rhodes

Not expecting anything from this if last night is anything to go by

Agree with you but would prob stick with Dann Hanley. In my view its a much stronger team than last night. If both Evans and Robinson were fit would be even better.

[Doug]

I'd give it a go. Playing as we do away from home, I don't expect anything but defeat, so take the bull by the horns and go for it!!

Youth team goalie

Henley Dann Hanley Spurr

King Cairney Lowe Rochina

Dunn

Rhodes

[Amo]

Don't see the point using up one of Dunn's 10 games of the season for a home-banker.

[roversfan99]

Robbo

Henley Dann Kilgallon/Hanley Spurr

King Williamson Cairney Taylor

Rochina

Rhodes

[the original david brent]

For anybody drinking beforehand, Walkabout in Shepherds Bush Green was the 'away friendly' pub when i last went to QPR 2 years ago. Its next door to O'Neills which is also worth a visit.

Unfortunately i am not bothering this season and saving my money for Huish Park in 2 weeks!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

0-5 Rovers.

[Leonard Venkhater]

0-5 Rovers.

(Hoilett 5 OG)

[broadsword]

Wankytash to make his debut in goal.

[yoda's brother]

0-5 Rovers.

not funny

[Tom]

Agree with you but would prob stick with Dann Hanley. In my view its a much stronger team than last night. If both Evans and Robinson were fit would be even better.

I was going off the assumption Hanley won't be fit