QPR are buying pedigree and there’s some sense in that

“QPR are buying pedigree and there’s some sense in that”Share:

You can call Mark Hughes a lot of things, but ageist is not one of them. After Queens Park Rangers secured Premier League survival by the skin of their teeth last season, Hughes has set about building a squad with more experience than you can shake a walking stick at. Of the new arrivals at Loftus Road, Ryan Nelsen, Robert Green, Andrew Johnson and Park Ji-Sung are all the wrong side of 30. The Life’s a Pitch panel runs the rule over the Welshman’s buys and wonders whether his strategy of bringing in golden oldies may be a little short-term.

“They’re buying pedigree and there’s some sense in that,” says the Guardian’s Dominic Fifield. “It’s not going to work in the long term, apart from people like Junior Hoilett, but for the moment, if they can establish themselves in mid-table, they can build on that.”

As Dominic points out, not all of Hughes’s new boys are getting on a bit; forward Hoilett is a mere pup at just 22 years old. The panel agrees that the speedy youngster, signed from Blackburn Rovers on a four-year deal, will strengthen the QPR squad.

“Junior Hoilett’s a good, young signing, but they have signed a lot of experience,” says the People’s Dave Kidd. “That’s understandable in a lot of ways. They’re starting off from a very low base. They were very lucky to escape relegation and if Bolton had got a result at Stoke they’d have gone down. These are decent signings that are going to make sure they’re not battling relegation on the last day of the season.”

With the arrival of Johnson, Hoilett and Park, and the likes of Djibril Cissé, Bobby Zamora and Adel Taarabt already on the books, Mark Hughes should have plenty of strength in depth when it comes to going forwards. But does he need to pay a little more attention to other areas of his squad?

“Park is a good signing, Hoilett’s a good signing, but they’re signing attacking players – [Bobby] Zamora, Johnson, etc,” says journalist and author Ian Ridley. “I’m not sure they’ve got enough in midfield, particularly if Joey Barton goes – and I’m sure he will go at some point, if anyone will take him. And at the back, are they really any stronger than they were? Strikers win you games, but defenders keep you up.”

 

Whilst I wouldn't object to a quality defender being added to the current complement to ensure cover, these panel guys seem to have missed the point that once last years side had been better balanced and organised, they were adequately prem standard.

'Strikers win you games', they said, 'but defenders keep you up'. Sounds good but how can you stay up without winning games? As far as I can see, we still need another striker to cover Cisse. One who can just as reliably bang 'em in.

Zamora and Johnson ain't goal scorers as such but, with added quality in midfield, they'll certainly do a job in keeping the ball on the right side of the half-way line. That alone will ease pressure on the defence.

 

would just like to see us add a couple of quality defenders, so i wont be biting me nails for 9 months