Our current situation

I just wanted to put my view of our current situation as a club and see how many of you feel the same.

Manager:

As far as I can see, Ollie is our only choice. I can't imagine any managers being interested to come into our club with the FFP worries that we have and the transfer limitations in place. I actually feel very grateful to have Ollie as he's basically doing us a favour. He loves the club, he loves the challenge and his heart is in the right place.

Granted, he's made some confusing team selections but, then again, we can't always see what someone on the inside can see. He's the best we've got. And, truth be told, we've seen some of the best football in years under him. I know that hasn't always been consistent but I've enjoyed a good number of matches more so than under our last several managers.

Squad:

We're ****ed. The loss of key defensive players has had a much bigger impact on our results than a lot of people seem to realise. People find it easy to be critical when watching but the truth is this: if we'd had all our defenders fit and well throughout this season we would have let in far fewer goals and would be higher up the table by now. I am 100% sure about that. As of today we will have to go forward with ONE centre half in Baptiste. We will probably have to use Bidwell as his partner. Robinson has been great but everyone is nervous about him picking up an injury too. We have one RB available too, Furlong.

Based on our available players, do we have the weakest defence in the league? Perhaps arguably so.

We have one pretty good striker and two ok strikers (Sylla; Smith & Washington). Yet Ollie's hands are a bit tied in terms of having to concentrate on making defence workable and so he doesn't seem to pick the most attacking team, instead preferring to utilise the 11 for a more defensive setup (3 at back with 2 wing backs).

Furthermore, there is no need for any negativity towards the players as it is not their fault for being picked. I am really glad to say now that we do not have ONE player I can think of with a bad attitude. So, every player, when picked, genuinely tries to play to win. We need to support them as best we can. You could arguably say the same about the manager.

Overall:

Considering how much **** we're in as a club, we're still at times giving a good account of ourselves. We're in an ok position. I do fear for our upcoming 2017 fixtures due to the injuries but we're bound to come up against teams having an off day as well as punching above our weight.

On paper, this is the worst situation our club has been in for a long time. In reality, things aren't actually that bad in terms of league position, which is perhaps credit to the players and manager.

I am not at all a fan of Tony, though... I think his incompetence far outweighs his 'nice-bloke-ness' and we seem to be up **** creek largely due to him and the others around him. Ultimately, it will be us the fans who suffer.

I can't see us reaching the top six this year. I don't think we'll be relegated either as there are definitely 3 clubs worse than us.

P.s. I'm selling this programme on eBay, the one from the famous home match vs. Chelsea where Chelsea got two players sent off and John Terry was investigated for racist language: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QPR-vs-C...-10-2011-famous-match-John-Terry/282745643665

 

Top post, matey-peeps.

 

Much as I'm no Holloway hater I think you are cutting him way too much slack. On the plus side he has managed to motivate a disparate and thoroughly average group of players and you can see that every single one is giving 100% for him. But on the debit side his game preparation, team selection and tactics often appear to be completely random. In particular, there really is no logical reason why our away record under IH should be so abysmal other than the fact that the man himself doesn't set things up right. He was pretty much the same at Blackpool but there his ability to motivate was in harness with a very stable and injury-free first XI and a strikers enjoying the form of their careers. No such luck at QPR where our injury crisis and ludicrously poor options up front has seriously exposed his weaknesses.

 

I don't think we have enough players of good enough quality to realistically expect a top 6 place. That we don't have them and aren't likely to get them is probably mostly due to the FFP restraints.

I got mixed opinions on Holloway. On the one hand the players really look to give 100%, if winning the League is based on tackling and distance run we'd surely be close. I don't think he is as clueless tactically as many say. But on the other hand he changes the formation and the players too much imo. Some of his player selections baffle me. Pawel the closest to a RWB we have, gets left out for a just back from injury central midfield player Cousins who was not up to playing there. The players who most frequently score Sylla and Smith rarely start, and never do together. Wheeler is suddenly a lone striker, but showed nothing to suggest he can do that. Ollie seems to love Mackie, yet neither him or Conor have the quality needed as attackers in this League.

 

Im not a moaner and after 43 years of supporting Rangers Ive seen it all but the one thing that really p***** me off is what I call negative team selection. Players in wrong positions just fitted in for some reason......A team selected with no goalscorers?!!!! no wonder we never win away?.....Olly has lost a lot of fans who were sitting on the fence last night as I would have put my Mortgage on us not scoring. The Forest game seems to have really got to him....yes we have a lot of injuries but we had most of them when we went unbeaten for a few games and beating the top two. To me something may have happened off the pitch?!!........... .

 

There was never any hope of us being top six despite the surprise wins over the top two. We are now finding our place in the lower half and need to find our home form again before we sink into the mire. The injuries have shown just how thin our squad is and that more than anything else is responsible for our slump, Ollie needs to find a shape we stick to and can benefit from, last night was certainly one to forget...

 

Our squad is ****ing enormous mate, well over 30 players compared to a PL teams 25 plus kids.

It’s just a lower half championship squad with lots of injuries.

 

We still have one of if not the biggest squad in the league. Think we'll see it trimmed in Jan but it will be interesting to see the fans reactions. Lee Hoos has confirmed that they'd accept the right offer for any player, which would cause uproar if for example Luongo or Freeman went. Likewise if we let some of the younger lads go there would also be uproar. I think the club are on a hiding to nothing as they won't be looking to bring many (any) in, in January.

I no longer know what i think about Ollie, i like him but he's made odd selections but at the same time has got some unexpectedly decent performances out of an average side.

Tough old season innit.

 

I read somewhere it is the largest in the Championship. But when you see the standard of players we face most games it looks very thin on quality, lowest quarter more like with lots of injuries.

 

Our squad is 'thin' on quality, several of those players are barely League One quality. If we were to build a serious promotion challenging squad more than half of that lot wouldn't be included...

 

Before the start of the season, the bookies had us down for relegation. Currently we are 9th favourite for relegation.
We've over performed with the squad we have as evidenced by wins against teams that we should have lost to.
However, we do not have the consistency to get anywhere near the top six so it's just another year of survival for us.
Next year may well be the same until FFP has been dragged through even more appeals.
Expensive players are not only skillful but also get injured less. With our Lidl players, their skill is limited and they get injured!
As the injured come back however, I think we will see us finish a comfortable mid table as opposed to last year's last minute scramble.
Progress? Maybe. Only time will tell.

 

Thing is mate, I agree with all of that, but it doesn't get away from the fact that Ollie is picking strange teams with players in strange positions and seemingly over-thinking formations and tactics.
We are in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight when we should be good enough for mid-table.

 

Isn't this exactly the sort of thing he was doing at the end of last season when we reached 50 points with 7/8 games to go and then too many things were tried and we were dragged into the relegation mix, you'd have thought that Holloway would have learnt from that......

Have to say that I can't find fault with the OP, it sums us up well. The only thing we can do at the moment is hope that the injuries clear up quickly and a settled side is established again because from what I've seen, heard, read etc we're not a bad side.....

 

Agreed. I'm no footballing tactician but there are indeed some odd formations and players who were doing well (Wszolek?) not started. Then there is the stuff we don't know about like whatever happened to Lua Lua who showed some promise.
Maybe that's why Olly is bald. He' been left scratching his head too!

 

Here’s who he’s got to work with.
No. Name Position Since Date of birth (Age) Signed from Games Goals
Goalkeepers
1 Alex Smithies GK 2015 5 March 1990 (age 27) Huddersfield Town 74 0
13 Matt Ingram GK 2016 18 December 1993 (age 23) Wycombe Wanderers 4 0
26 Joe Lumley GK 2016 15 February 1995 (age 22) Queens Park Rangers Academy 1 0
Defenders
2 Darnell Furlong RB/CB 2015 31 October 1995 (age 22) Queens Park Rangers Academy 25 0
3 Jake Bidwell LB 2016 21 March 1993 (age 24) Brentford 50 0
4 Grant Hall CB/RB 2015 29 October 1991 (age 26) Tottenham Hotspur 73 0
5 Nedum Onuoha (C) CB/RB 2012 12 November 1986 (age 31) Manchester City 185 7
6 Joel Lynch CB/LB 2016 3 October 1987 (age 30) Huddersfield Town 37 3
15 Steven Caulker CB 2014 29 December 1991 (age 25) Cardiff City 49 3
18 Jack Robinson LB 2014 1 September 1993 (age 24) Liverpool 16 0
20 Alex Baptiste CB 2018 31 January 1986 (age 31) Middlesbrough 10 0
24 James Perch RB/CB/DM 2015 28 September 1985 (age 32) Wigan Athletic 71 0
29 Osman Kakay RB 2015 25 September 1997 (age 20) Queens Park Rangers Academy 1 0
32 Niko Hämäläinen LB/CB 2016 5 March 1997 (age 20) Queens Park Rangers Academy 3 0
Midfielders
7 Luke Freeman AM/RM/LM 2017 22 March 1992 (age 25) Bristol City 30 4
8 Jordan Cousins CM/RM/LM 2016 6 March 1994 (age 23) Charlton Athletic 18 0
11 Josh Scowen CM 2017 29 April 1993 (age 24) Barnsley 13 0
12 Jamie Mackie RW/LW/CF 2015 22 September 1985 (age 32) Nottingham Forest 135 24
14 Ryan Manning CM 2015 14 June 1996 (age 21) Galway United 23 1
16 Ariel Borysiuk CM 2016 28 July 1991 (age 26)Legia Warsaw 11 0
19 Sean Goss CM/LM/LB 2017 1 October 1995 (age 22) Manchester United 6 0
21 Massimo Luongo CM/AM/DM 2015 25 September 1992 (age 25) Swindon Town 78 2
22 Paweł Wszołek RW/LW/RB 2016 30 April 1992 (age 25) Hellas Verona 43 3
23 Yeni N'Gbakoto RW/LW/CF 2016 23 January 1992 (age 25) Metz 28 3
27 Olamide Shodipo RW/LW 2012 5 July 1997 (age 20) Queens Park Rangers Academy 11 0
34 Bright Osayi-Samuel RW/LW 2017 31 December 1997 (age 19) Blackpool 3 0
35 Kazenga LuaLua LW/RW 2017 10 December 1990 (age 26) On loan from Brighton and Hove Albion 15 1
36 David Wheeler RW/LW 2017 4 October 1990 (age 27) Exeter City 4 1
Forwards
9 Conor Washington CF/RW/LW 2016 18 May 1992 (age 25) Peterborough United 68 11
17 Matt Smith CF 2017 7 June 1989 (age 28) Fulham 27 8
28 Reece Grego-Cox CF 2015 12 November 1996 (age 21) Queens Park Rangers Academy 5 0
40 Idrissa Sylla CF/RW/LW 2016 3 December 1990 (age 26) Anderlecht 43 14

Are Kakay and Niko so bad they couldn’t even sit on the bench last night?

 

Lua Lua was inured recently.

 

Yes, l’m sure many of us, self included, see our position as floating between lower mid table and just outside relegation.
Last seasoned finish and position says where we really are and will continue to be for some time, methinks.

Hopefully somewhere down the track, the lord above will part the waters once again and allow us to enter the other side again to the Promise Land.

Until then, we are serving penance for our sins. ( actually, Tonz and Harry’s sins )

 

That particular penance took 40 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

...and his dad died which might have had an influence?

 

Nope can't see any problem with our team currently as it means nothing until at least March anyhow
This is just about a couple of defeats and us still not being able to even handle that
If a promotion chance disappears only hen should be concerned ... why think we are in danger ... we are not with this team and squad and the new fighting mentality. We lose we go again and I have certainly seen enough evidence from this current team to state we are a fair championship side.

Confidence is the key and breaking the taboo of an away win ... Holloway has to tinker it's his job to do that

I see many teams in this division looking very strong at the moment but for me Villa look like they are growing at exactly the correct rate to power up

Wolves Cardiff Sheffield could easily slip ... they are not last years Newcastle for example

I fully expect crazy results in this league and we are still in touch with the pack at 8 points off

I stress again that our midfield players are amongst the best in the league IMO we just do not take our chances well enough currently