Holloway's Blue Army.

I feel IH deserves his own thread.

He inherited a club low in confidence, low in wins, low in points and dangerously drifting towards the wrong end of the table.

Now admittedly he has had the benefit of a reasonable Jan transfer window but since taking over he has:

1) Beaten Norwich - with the help of a red card to them of course.
2) Survived an appalling run of six losses on the trot that left us wondering if Ollie was even worse than JFH. Shades of SAF?!
3) Got rid of those who were dead wood.
4) Got rid of those with skill who did not want to be at QPR.
5) Instilled belief in individual players again and took the then current whipping boy - Connor - and turned him into a lean, mean goal scoring machine. Well, nearly!
6) Formed a team that does not give up.
7) Formed a team that won from 1 nil down for the first time in ages (20 months was it??).
8) Got the owners tweeting again which is vacuous at one level but important to keep them interested at another.
9) Got the fans applauding the players once again.
10 Got the fans entertained again.
11) Got that feel good factor back into our club / cave / fortress etc.

In the light of all of that, and all I've not thought of, I just thought Ollie deserved his own thread to applaud him and his efforts.

This is absolutely not a call for any Ollie detractors to apologise etc etc. That's the nature of a forum where we air our views. It's simply to highlight the remarkable turn around of the last 4.5 months which I largely attribute to Ollie.

Birch must get a mention of course. I don't know how much is down to Ollie and how much synergy there is between the two of them. Either way, long may it continue and I hope we can build from here. Again.

"Holloway's Blue Army"!!!

 

I'm excited by the team, I even like the players on the bench.
Next season top six.

 

Wouldn't that be nice with the group we have at the moment. Feels very much like a young, decent bunch who have the potential to improve with us over the next couple of seasons.

 

Well said, mate .............. you speak no lies.
Please ensure that your friends reward you with amber fluids.

 

Agree

 

A great idea of a thread.

I admit that I had my doubts on the appointment on Ian Holloway. My initial thoughts were torn between him tarnishing his "hero" status by returning to the same river (or perhaps "cave" may be more apt) and giving JFH some more time. Despite some initial positive moments, I was very concerned by the run of 6 defeats on the trot and our slide down towards the bottom of the table.

Currently, I truly admire what he has achieved. We have formed a team which plays with passion and determination, and we are developing a style. Most importantly it is entertaining. For achieving this relatively quickly, one can only congratulate Ian and QPR, and hope that it may long continue.

I now hope that we use the remainder of this season to reinforce our style, tactics, team work and confidence, and to prepare for next season, where I hope we shall be "competitive" and in the top half of the table.

In short, please keep it up. It is again very enjoyable following QPR, albeit from afar. COYR's!!!!

 

And then the question becomes, "Who can cut it in the PL?". And the circle of (footballing) life starts all over again.

 

Concentrated urine?!!
More seriously, thanks.

 

I like the way the team are shaping up under IH, and we now appear to finally be competetive in this league. Hopefully next season will see further consolidation and squad strengthening, pushing those at the top end of this league, and a stronger push the season after. The biggest issue may not be our team, but those of the newly relegated teams with the millions in parachute payments, and what they can afford to buy, whilst we struggle under FFP. Obviously the PL is the end-goal for every club, but I would be happy with us being a strong force in the EFL and maintaining our identity, which IH has redeveloped with the players he has introduced to the squad, than head into the maelstrom that promotion would bring and it all to fall apart again - if we do make it to the PL lets hope that the owners take stock of their past mistakes and have a coherent plan for IH to implement.

 

True, but some clubs have kept a core of their original team on getting promoted. Leicester, Bournemouth, Burnley and Watford come to mind.

However, we are discussing this out of context.

In my opinion, our objective for next season is consistency and to be competitive in the Championship. If in the future we are close to the playoffs, and if we even manage to get promoted again, then we may start polemics as to who can cut it in the PL.

 

Well said that man! Proper hoops, proper badge, proper manager, proper players. Got my Rangers back!

 

Well said, RTID. Must admit wondered what the hell was going on when we lost 6 on the trot, but glad owners at last bucked the trend and stayed with Ian. Hope he can keep up the good work he is doing. Digressing I know, but after watching the "Wilson of the Wizard" game in Barcelona last night, I have finally realised that football really is fantasy sport. Unbelievable!

 

I must confess, I'm beginning to care again. A competitive championship team which tries its best even if not playing fantasy football is nothing to be ashamed of. Cheers Ollie.

 

Agree with this and i,ll admit when we went on that losing run i had my doubts. Credit where credit is due and we have a " team" now playing for each other and the club and the supporters. Credit also to our new coach who came in from Hartlepool. Our upturn in results coincided with his arrival. Positive times ahead me thinks.

 

He's got me going up to loftus road again. I've been on strike since Warnock not being appointed.

 

Yep. I would willingly go. I am however listening to the match commentaries on Player, and I admit that I am actually enjoying it!

 

I was completely opposed to appointing Ollie as manager & after the first 30 minutes at Ipswich we were very poor for a number of games.

However, I list a few positives that we have experienced since the start of 2017:-

1) We have a squad of around twenty players that will give us blood, sweat & tears every time they are on the pitch. Most, if not all of them, can actually play a bit!
2) Even when the football is not good, and that has been the case in more than one game, we are trrying to win the match! That should be a given, but It's not uncommon in football for avoiding defeat to be the priority. This was why Tuesday was so good to watch. Two sides trying so hard to win!
3) I have seen more entertainment in 2017 than the combined total from the start of the 2012-13 season.
4) The number of players that I would like not be at Rangers is now less than the fingers on one hand. In fact, I'm struggling to think of more than two!
5) It is a youthful side that will improve as they gain experiemnce, provided they are still not afraid to express themselves. We will also be able to sign better schoolboy players now that they can see a way to first team football.
6) The value of the club's playing assets would have increased quite dramatically since January & the accounts MAY even show a profit sometime due to the transfer values we might receive.
7) The atmosphere around the ground has greatly improved & that feeling of togetherness is returning.

I'm sure there are many others that can be named.

So a big thank you to all of the management & players at Queens Park Rangers.

 

What's Ollie's record now since he took over? I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves but there is bags of potential in the side now. I hope Ollie send the owners don't get overly excited and bring in too many new faces in the summer, the squad won't need the usual overhaul just some embellishments.

 

I get the impression that for the first time since summer 2011, the squad is united; and not riven by cliques.

This had to be done, we were on a never ending cycle of managers and their signings.