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More questions than answers, more uncertainty than hope - preview
Friday, 1st May 2015 20:00 by Clive Whittingham

QPR need to find only the second league win at Anfield in the history of the club on Saturday as their Premier League status hangs by a thread.

Liverpool (5th) v Queens Park Rangers (19th)

Premier League >>> Saturday May 2, 2015 >>> Kick Off 15.00!! >>> Anfield, Liverpool

Four points the gap, 12 points left to play for, Liverpool in poor form, Man City in indifferent form, Newcastle surrounded by people pointing and laughing. The hope, for some, persists.

"Wouldn't it be just like QPR to mess up this West Ham game then win next week at Liverpool?" we said seven days ago. They're going to bloody need to now, after fulfilling the first half of that bargain in monotonous fashion.

Judging by the tone of the general discussion among the QPR supporters, minds are already turning towards the 2015/16 Championship — which players will stay, how much will we get for the players that leave? Will Tony Fernandes step down? Will that trip to Rotherham's new ground be on a Tuesday night? And who will be the manager?

The tactical shrewdness against West Brom, Villa and Chelsea gave way to over-caution when optimism was required against West Ham. The Karl Henry left wing experiment, so necessary and successful against Branislav Ivanovic, so completely over the top for Carl Jenkinson, was hard to justify last week. Centre backs at full back compounded that situation. Rangers had nothing to frighten West Ham with, and when they searched for more gears late in the day with Leroy Fer's introduction no traction could be found. Worse still, don't think the Hammers completely stunting Rangers' attack simply by marking Matt Phillips with a decent full back will have escaped the attention of future opponents. Support for a permanent Chris Ramsey appointment has waned again.

And yet… Rangers missed a penalty in that game, and Adrian made an astounding save in injury time to deny Phillips. There should have been at least one penalty awarded in the home defeat to Tottenham. One bad kick from Rob Green cost a point against Chelsea. Is Chris Ramsey simply unlucky? Is his apparent negativity last week simply born out of what he has at his disposal — Vargas and Zarate injured, inheriting an unbalanced squad in the first place with no obvious left winger. People ask why Adel Taarabt sat unused on the bench, why only two substitutions were made, but how many managers are going to ignore Adel Taarabt before the supporters do the same? He's a player I love, who can change a game, who has undone West Ham before… but he's not bothered is he?

Is it just that two years of Harry Redknapp has made the very simple, basic things Chris Ramsey does seen groundbreaking? I couldn't believe how taken aback I was to see the QPR manager at Leicester on Wednesday night, taking notes on a future opponent. But that's meant to be standard behaviour. "Good team, very 'ard. Bondy has had a look at the tape," is not normal. Or competent.

Very few managers come with a guarantee — is Ramsey more or less likely to succeed than an outsider? You can take somebody, like Paul Jewell for example, who enjoyed tremendous success in difficult circumstances at Bradford and Wigan only to find he completely bombs with your club, as he did at Derby, Sheff Wed and Ipswich.

Mark Warburton at Brentford has been linked. A man of principal, with a clear style of play, with a strategy and an ethos and a focus on youth and buying low and selling high and all of that stuff. But Brentford are run immaculately, entirely the opposite of QPR. Look what happened to Uwe Rosler when he left that environment and went to a more chaotic one.

Paul Clement is attractive, for his CV and his QPR connection. Could that be a masterstroke waiting to happen? Could it be a disaster? Never been a manager, never been at a club without bundles of cash and beautiful facilities.

I'm tempted to say it doesn't matter who our manager is, because the problems aren't to do with the manager. But throwing your hands up in the air and writing the club off as permanently fucked and beyond repair is like Harry Redknapp's strategy for an away game i.e. no kind of bloody strategy at all. It feels like it needs somebody to just come in and grab it by the balls. Build it in his image and succeed despite everything - exactly what Warnock did when he arrived, albeit with Bhatia and Saksena overseeing things. Mick McCarthy has done this, spending no money, following Jewell into Ipswich.

I appreciate these previews, which aren't really previews at all at the moment, are me simply musing and asking questions at the moment but that's how it feels. I look at Ramsey and wonder all these things, and just when I decide one thing (West Brom away) something else happens (West Ham home) and I go another way.

If it's the hope that kills you, what does uncertainty do?

Links >>> Moneyball sums don't add up — opposition profile >>> Post-Suarez doldrums — interview >>> QPR's first win at Anfield — history >>> It's the hope… Podcast >>> Atkinson in charge — referee >>> Jack Grealish's hair — presser

Saturday

Team News: Bobby Zamora is refusing to get out of the iron lung and is likely to be replaced by Leroy Fer, making his first start in three months, in attack. Other than that it's as you were — crap and one-paced mostly — with a decision to be made about whether to recall Yun Suk-Young and/or Mauricio Isla in the full back positions or go again with centre halves out of position.

Daniel Sturridge has finally called it quits in his quest to play again this season, and is likely to require an operation on his hip. Mario Balotelli has been told to sit on the naughty step, and the city's lady-folk (and gays — equal ops) are still reeling from the news that Jon 'The Hunk' Flanagan is out for nine months. Lucas is fit to return though.

Elsewhere: Cheap RyanAir flights are still available if a sunnier climes appeal more than sticking around for Big Racist John and the Referee Baiters lifting the league title after their home win against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Frankly, taking a minimum-wage, zero-hours contract cleaning the toilets at Lisa Riley's favourite Indian restaurant appeals more than sticking around for Big Racist John and the Referee Baiters lifting the league title after their home win against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Pity those of us working the Telegraph sports desk on Sunday.

Still, on the positive side, an early kick off this close to Bunga Bunga in Battersea should make for an entertaining evening of Pards Pardew rampaging around the joint on his banter bus.

Apart from that, all that remains is to try and trump up the "race for fourth" into some kind of Sky subscription-justifying cliffhanger and, in that spirit, perch yourself right on the very edge of your seat for Tottenham v Man City immediately after.

The logic of brining Dick Advocaat in and giving him lots of money for a job he knows he's leaving in two months' time anyway is looking a little thin as Sunderland plunge into the bottom three. With the form of the Ostrich Botherers surely likely to produce another victory against hapless Newcastle on Saturday, Sunderland desperately need a win at home to Southampton. Burnley, unable to score and surely doomed, go to Big Fat Sam's Big Fat Farewell Tour which will be on par with an afternoon spent reading the Liberal Democrat's Manifesto.

There's some other stuff going on too. Tim Sherwood v Everton, Louis Van Gaal v West Brom, Swansea v Meticulous Mark and the Taffia.

After another successful week in PR — justifying spending £0 of the £250,000 Premier League grant to improve awaydays for supporters on the Hull supporters, while completely abandoning North Ferriby United possibly forcing their voluntary relegation — the Allam family welcome Arsenal to their mad world of bullshit on Monday night.

Nurse, the big tablets please.

Referee: Martin Atkinson is the man in the middle for this one, not a referee who has been particularly kind to QPR over the years but one who awarded the R's a questionable penalty at Arsenal on Boxing Day and oversaw the 2-0 win at Sunderland earlier this season. Atkinson was in charge of this fixture the last time it was played, on the final day of the 2012/13 season when the hosts won 1-0 against already-relegated Rangers. For his full QPR case history and stats, please click here.

Form

Liverpool: Liverpool's meek surrender at Hull during the week did QPR few favours and made it three matches without a win for Brendan Rodger's team. They've lost four of the last seven in all competitions and now lie fifth, six points off the Champions League pace with Tottenham and Southampton a point and two points further back respectively. At Anfield though, the form has held up — the loss to Manchester United last month is their only defeat at home in 16 matches since Chelsea won here before Christmas. That said, Sunderland, Leicester, Bolton and Blackburn have been able to snatch draws on this ground so far this season. In their title near miss last season Liverpool scored 101 league goals with Luis Suarez contributing 31 and Daniel Sturridge 21. With Suarez gone and Sturridge permanently injured, Liverpool have lost almost exactly those 52 goals from their season — scoring 47 times so far in the league. Raheem Sterling is their top Premier League scorer with seven.

QPR: Rangers have lost only one of their last four, but just one point from six at home to Chelsea and West Ham — and no goals scored in 180 minutes of action — has all but condemned them to the Championship. The R's are four points adrift of safety with four games left to play, three of them away, two of them at Liverpool and Man City. Rangers have won only two of the last 18 games in all comps but both those wins have been away from home — at Sunderland and West Brom. They have scored at least once in their last nine away games, and managed seven in the last two against West Brom and Villa — one more than they scored in all of Harry Redknapp's away matches combined this season. They are yet to beat a side placed higher than thirteenth in the Premier League this season. Conceding 59 goals in 34 games is the worst defensive record in the division.

Predictions: Reigning Prediction League champion WestonSuperR tells us…

"The point at which I thought we were down was the lost to Everton - even the win at West Brom didn't get me to really believe we would stay up. All hope was completely extinguished with the dire team selection and subsequent performance and result v West Ham. Surely it's now simple question of when and not if.

"It's always going to be difficult at Anfield and despite their poor form I fully expect them to win comfortably. Rodgers won't want their season to end in a whimper and the pace they have will cause us all sorts of problems. Looking likely now we will be done before our last home game."

John's Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 QPR. No Scorer.

LFW's Prediction: Liverpool 0-1 QPR. Scorer — Charlie Austin

The Twitter @loftforwords

Pictures — Action Images

Photo: Action Images



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TacticalR added 22:10 - May 1
Thanks for your preview.

I think it's fair to pose questions if the answers are not evident.

At the moment it feels to me like every time we get a chance we throw it away.
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Dorse added 08:10 - May 2
'The Karl Henry left wing experiment'? Judging by his recent comments, I thought he leans more to the right.
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