Holloway has named three goalkeepers in his squad, with last season's Player of the Year Alex Smithies joined by Matt Ingram and Joe Lumley, who impressed whilst on loan at Bristol Rovers during the second half of last season. The defenders comprise of Jake Bidwell, Darnell Furlong, Grant Hall, Niko Hamalainen, Osman Kakay, Joel Lynch, Nedum Onuoha, James Perch and Jack Robinson. Fit-again Jordan Cousins is joined by fellow midfielders Luke Freeman, Sean Goss, Ryan Manning, Josh Bowler and Yeni Ngbakoto, with Ebere Eze, Reece Grego-Cox, Jamie Mackie, Matt Smith, Idrissa Sylla and Conor Washington completing the squad. Pawel Wszolek, Massimo Luongo and Michael Petrasso miss owing to their international commitments. Caulker not there, nor Gladwin..anyone else?
Is that squad really that bad? If they aren't too scarred from last season and with a couple of additions surely we can be competitive? Suppose it depends where people set their expectations. If we are already on the players backs before they've even kicked a ball in pre-season then we truly are fooked.
The one person missing from the squad who I think should be there is Shodipo. In theory that squad looks far too good for relegation but I have the same concerns as Stroller.
We know who we have signed (ie not much in terms of immediate first team possibles) so there's nothing too surprising. I'll echo Terry in saying Shodipo is an obvious miss. Also, and forgive my ignorance, is Ariel Bor..... still on the books? While it's pretty much the same group who limped over the line, they also topped the form table and I'm sure, given that Ollie said a lot about fragile confidence when he took over, that there will be an emphasis on mental toughness. As always, I'm on the optimistic side and just hope they can prepare as well for the start of the season as last year (the one thing that JFH got right).
That's not the squad. That's just a list of players in the training camp. Some are absent due to international duties. But it still shows how badly we need to make some signings quick. It also shows that we don't have the foundations for being promoted, even if we had a great bunch of signings. You need a strong squad unit to have been together for a while before being able to gain promotion and not get relegated from the EPL the season after.
I think it has the potential.to surprise us. If Cousins, Yeni and one or two others play well then who knows?!
Hopefully he will be back soon, fit again in the squad. QPR’s Shodipo still recovering from injury By West London Sport 27/06/2017 QPR winger Olamide Shodipo is still having treatment on an injury which cut short his loan spell at Port Vale last season. Shodipo, 19, made six appearances for Vale before his campaign was ended in March by tendinitis. He remained in London when the Rangers squad departed for a pre-season trip to Portugalat the weekend and appears to be some way off a recovery. Shodipo made his senior debut for the R’s against Leeds on the opening day of last season and featured 11 times in the Championship before moving on loan in January. http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/qpr-winger-treatment-injury
