http://www.soccersweep.com/qpr-can-harry-defy-the-stats/ Written by Phil M. Since the Premier League was established in 1992, itâs become common knowledge that the team that props up the rest of the league at Christmas is a near certainty for relegation. In fact, the only team to buck this trend was West Brom in 2005 and even then this was arguably more attributable to the teams above them slipping up on the final day of the season, than a heroic escape by the Baggies. This season, QPR were the bottom placed incumbents during the festive period, but are they on the fast track to the Championship as the majority of their predecessors have been? There have been plenty of negative adjectives used to describe Rangersâ campaign so far â gutless, tepid, and hopeless, to name just a few â and the club can have few complaints at finding themselves in their current predicament. The start of the season saw a wave of optimism at Loftus Road. The Chairman, Tony Fernandes, had been more than generous in his support of manager Mark Hughes in the transfer market, with the likes of Ji-Sung Park, Samba Diakite and Junior Hoilett added to the ranks. Esteban Granero, Julio Cesar and Stephane Mbia would also shortly be arriving. Talks of a European push, a new stadium and a state of the art training ground did nothing to lessen the euphoria surrounding the club. QPR kicked off against Michael Laudrupâs Swansea as red-hot favourites, but were alarmingly cut open at will by a well drilled and clinical Seagulls team who helped themselves to five goals, as the Loftus Road faithful sat in stunned silence in the scorching August heat. In truth, the Superhoops never really recovered after the Swansea debacle and one abject performance after another followed right up to the end of November. Mark Hughes, with such an impressive playing career behind him and with an array of coaching badges to his name, was simply unable to inspire his side out of the rut in which they found themselves. At the end of November, the situation was bleak. Hughes was sacked, having failed to win a single match all season and the fans were already resigned to the inevitable relegation. Cue Harry Redknapp. It would be fair to say that Redknapp isnât universally popular â Spurs fans are notoriously divided as to how successful he was as Tottenham manager, but his track record with taking over struggling teams and, not only moving them away from the bottom of the league, but transforming them into exciting and competitive Premier League outfits, is second to none. One of Redknappâs finest qualities is his emotional intelligence â he knows how to relate to and motivate players. This simply isnât something you can obtain a UEFA coaching badge in and itâs, debatably, this crucial characteristic that Mark Hughes lacked and which ultimately cost him his job. There was a marked improvement straight away, with respectable draws away at Sunderland and Wigan, before the long anticipated first victory of the season at home against local rivals Fulham. Despite a couple of narrow defeats since then, Rangers notched another impressive win away at Chelsea and have knocked an imposing West Brom side out of the FA Cup. There can be no doubt that QPR are still in a precarious position, but January has brought with it an air of optimism, not seen since last summer. The defence have been solid and formidable, and players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, so disappointing for much of his Rangersâ career, have been playing like men with a new lease of life. Once again, it seems that Tony Fernandes is willing to open the cheque book to support Redknapp in the transfer market. The club have today announced the audacious signing of Loic Remy and the rumours are rife that heâll be followed by his French compatriot, Yann MâVila, in a matter of days. These are players who, potentially, have yet to hit their peak and they represent the complete opposite of the clubâs recent policy of signing big names whose best years are behind them. There is no question that 2012 was a forgettable year for most QPR fans, but with an experienced and canny manager now installed, a continually supportive chairman and a rejuvenated squad with some exciting new additions, 2013 could be very bright indeed. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but Rangers may yet pull off âthe great escapeâ and defy the statistics. Harry certainly believes they can. Quite possibly relegated? Quite possibly revived!
I think this is a pretty good article, barring a couple of errors. Reading beyond the first few lines, I think this guy may be referring more to Christmas as the festive period in general, rather than specifically Christmas day - it is true that Reading were bottom on December 25th, but QPR were bottom on December 26th - correct me if i'm wrong! I'm not sure where the Seagulls came from - Swansea are the Swans (hey, even the pros make errors -I remember reading a tabloid newspaper during Arsenal's unbeaten season, who described Arsenal's left back as Joe Cole!) - but this guys makes some interesting points about the psychology of management - i.e. you either have man management skills, or you don't - Hughes vs Redknapp etc. All I know is that the team have been busting a gut in recent games, and we might just get out of trouble yet with the addition of Remy and hopefully a few others in the coming days.
Are you the author mate? Because I can't think of another reason why some clown with 5 posts to his name would come on here to defend that drivel. Get your facts straight. That's the number one rule within proper journalism. If you can't even get that basic tenet correct then you're a sh*t head.
Would have been decent if he could get the basics right. Infuriates me when journalists make comments but cant get things right.
Everyman and his dog seem to be writing about us, most are misinformed and source rubbish reports elsewhere which is why we get so much crap written...
Sorry Swords - I'm a relatively new on here and don't often post. I wasn't aware that you're not allowed to state your opinion on here without being insulted. I probably won't bother again. In short, no I'm not the author, but just thought it was an interesting article, if a little long!
Swords is the forum cyber-bully, loves dishing out the insults but runs away crying when he gets a taste of his own medicine. Just call him a scum supporter!...
Apologies mate. I've only just realised you're a QPR fan. I thought you were on the wum from another Board. Don't stop posting on my account.
TBF to Soccer boy, I thought it was the journo defending his piece when I read that post last night as well!
Mate you guys are imploding faster then a nuclear fission reaction!! Hoping for some serious revenge in February.
