City vs QPR – from a QPR perspective

Rabid Rob Hello again, Tracy. Tell me about the QPR season so far?

Tracy Queens Park Rangers season so far has been an up and down one. When the season kicked off, it’s fair to say that QPR supporters were rather cautious about the forthcoming season and it wasn’t long before caution started to turn to anxiety as apart from one early win at the start of the campaign, with eight games having been played, we found ourselves rock bottom of the championship table on 6 points.

Our Board decided it was time to ring the managerial changes and they installed John Gregory to take over with immediate effect, and with Waddock being consigned to Gregory’s assistant.As often happens with a change of manager at clubs, we went on to win our next league game which was played at Loftus Road against erm….Hull City (sorry about that).

Rabid Rob Yes I remember…!

Tracy The honeymoon period continued as we then went on to win the next game at high flying Southampton which was followed by an exciting 3-3 draw at home against Norwich City. But just as QPR fans were beginning to think about climbing the table, our form began to fluctuate and in October we didn’t win one game, before a better November occurred with three consecutive wins, including an unexpected snatch and grab win at the then league leaders’ Cardiff City. Then came the downside because there then followed a period in which we went on a run of six straight defeats. We were beginning to get extremely worried and the nerves were calmed somewhat just before Christmas when we at last stopped the rot with a 1-0 win over Barnsley but this was short lived as the two games straight after saw us defeated at Birmingham and Norwich.

Rabid Rob So what has the New Year brought?

Tracy Our one league game so far in January saw us achieve a 1-0 win over Colchester at Loftus Road so at least we can say we are unbeaten in the league so far in this calendar year!

Rabid Rob So how do you see both clubs situation now?

Tracy At that game against our two sides which saw the return of John Gregory to QPR, both clubs were in the bottom three of the table. 18 games later and both clubs still find themselves at the wrong end of the table though at least both are currently out of the bottom 3, with us in 20th place on 30 points and Hull one place below and on 27 points. The gap to current 3rd from bottom placed club, Barnsley, is a mere 4 and 3 respectively so it’s fair to say that tomorrow’s encounter certainly comes under the old football cliché of it being a six pointer!

Rabid Rob So tell us about the QPR at the moment and who we should watch for?

Tracy As for our team, well with the transfer news of forward man Kevin Gallen having signed for the rest of the season on loan at Plymouth, the front pairing should be Dexter Blackstock and Ray Jones. Dexter is currently our highest goal scorer of the current campaign and signed for us from Southampton in the summer. He has fast become a favourite with QPR fans because the amount of running about he does during a game, coupled with his commitment, has earned him the name of Duracell. Ray Jones, who I imagine will play alongside him (though he was taken off last week in the game against Luton in the FA cup, though I think it was a precautionary measure) has just signed his first professional contract. He was discovered by a talent scout two years whilst playing on the East London Hackney marshes and was brought into the QPR youth structure. Ray broke into the first team at the start of this season and with his height has already proved himself to be a handful for opposing defenders to deal with.

Rabid Rob Who’s likely to be the ones trying to hold in our offence, which won’t be easy.

Tracy In defence we have a couple of useful central defenders in Damion Stewart (another summer signing, and who after a dodgy start has started to show good vision at the back) and a youngster called Michael Mancienne. Michael is with us on loan from that lot down the Fulham Road and whisper it quietly, but whilst his manager there, ‘the special one’ bemoans about his team’s lack of defensive options, young Mancienne is fast becoming one of the most composed of players that we have seen for many a year down at the bush. Watch him tomorrow and you’ll see what I mean.

Rabid Rob Look forward to seeing if you’re right!

Tracy In the midfield we have a choice of a couple of ‘clogger’ type midfielders in Marc Bircham and Steve Lomas. One of those will more than likely be partnering young Jimmy Smith, another loan player from that lot down the road. A chasing, harrying type of midfielder, who’s also proved himself to be a bit of an opportunist when it comes to having a crack at goal, Jimmy has great potential.

The star man though to watch out for is Lee Cook. Lee plays on the left wing and currently is the player in the championship who has provided the most assists. He’s quick paced, skilful, is capable of scoring the odd good goal or two (the admittance money at Birmingham on Boxing Day for instance was worth it just to see his goal that afternoon!) and this season has oozed confidence. Our player of the season so far by a country mile.

Rabid Rob Well, thanks very much Tracy for your time in compiling this, much appreciated. A final message?

Tracy Whatever the result tomorrow, here’s hoping for a good game and I certainly wish Hull City all the best for the rest of the season, apart from tomorrow that is!

Rabid Rob And the same goes to the Rangers! I hope they stay up, then I’ll have a game to go to next season!