QPR have yet another new manager to lead them into 2009/10 with Jim Magilton swapping Portman Road for London W12 and charged with the task of taking the R's into the top six.

Last Season: 11th On the face of it QPR continued to make steady progress in the first full season under their new rich owners. In 2007/08 the target was survival which was achieved comfortably, the second part of the four year plan was consolidation and that was again achieved last season with something to spare. However it proved to be a bad tempered season at Loftus Road with two managers very harshly sacked, rumours of interference in the team by egotistical owner Flavio Briatore, massive ticket price hikes in the summer that the club then attempted to raise further in September until the league intervened, 11 nil nil draws and 23 matches where the team failed to score, the top scorer loaned out without the manager’s knowledge and some bizarre transfer market activity throughout the campaign. Starting the season with Iain Dowie in charge the QPR board presented him with foreign youngsters Emmanuel Ledesma, Daniel Parejo and Sam Di Carmine on loan – a tactic that was doomed to fail. Dowie was sacked after taking four points from two matches against Forest and Swansea for reasons that were never quite given in full but basically came down to Flavio Briatore not liking the football Dowie was playing – despit winning eight of his 15 matches and beating Aston Villa in the cup. Paulo Sousa looked much more like a Briatore appointment but he too was gone before the end of the season in shambolic, shameful, farcical circumstances – contract terminated for revealing confidential information about the club to supporters who posted it on message boards. Overall the football was poor, the signings were laughable with one or two notable exceptions, and Loftus Road was not a happy place to watch football.

Highlights and Lowlights: QPR beat the eventual top two Wolves and Birmingham 1-0 in memorable victories at Loftus Road and beat Aston Villa away in the League Cup underlining a fondness for playing sides from the Midlands. The R’s won 1-0 at Norwich with ten men and scored five goals in two away wns at Derby and Blackpool back to back in January as well as winning thrilling games at home to Preston and Sheff Wed 3-2. However they drew 0-0 on 11 occasions, failed to score in 23 games and 3-0 defeats at Watford and Sheff Utd were just two rough away days in a season that brought them just three away wins in the league.

Odds: Rangers are seventh favourites for the title and are as short as 12/1 with Coral. The longest odds of 18/1 come from Stan James and Ladbrokes.

The Manager: With his best mate Iain Dowie succumbing to the trigger finger of Flavio Briatore after just 15 matches, and eight wins, last season you could forgive Jim Magilton for giving the hottest hot seat in the Championship a wide berth. However with Magilton’s reputation damaged by a large outlay of transfer funds at Ipswich with no obvious improvement followed by the sack in 2008/09, and QPR not exactly an attractive proposition for managers looking for something more than a big pay off and November golfing holiday in the Algarve, it proved to be a marriage of convenience for both. Magilton spent three seasons with Ipswich, where he’d enjoyed great times as a player, but after initially rebuilding the side well following Joe Royle’s departure he stagnated and spent the final 18 months at Portman Road falling out with players and media alike and failing to nail down transfer target. A fresh start was needed and while Ipswich get theirs with Roy Keane Magilton has it at Loftus Road and although pre-season results have been mixed performances have been based around quick, passing football which will certainly appeal to the QPR players, fans and board. Whether this will be enough to keep Magilton employed until May is doubtful, but the QPR board really would be better off leaving him to get on with his job for a full year at least rather than meddling still further. The appointment of John Gorman as his assistant looks shrewd.
Survival Chances – 3/10

Players: QPR’s main strength last season was the defence with Radek Cerny winning the division’s golden glove award, centre halves Damion Stewart and Kaspars Gorkss one and two in the club’s player of the year votes and Matt Connolly named young player of the season by the club’s supporters. In contrast the attack was a constant let down with the team failing to score in almost half its games and only really Dexter Blackstock enjoying any goal scoring success – and he didn’t manage one in rangers’ colours after the first weekend in January. Emmanuel Ledesma showed promise but was released early – that still made him the most successful foreign signing of the three high profile ones made last summer, Danny Parejo and Sam Di Carmine were unmitigated disasters. The midfield on paper was very decent but with Lee Cook, Akos Buzsaky and Martin Rowlands all suffering injury problems throughout the season Rangers were never likely to fire on all cylinders. Buzsaky and Rowlands are back for the new season, joined by Wayne Routledge in his first full season at Loftus Road and Angelo Balanta who has emerged as a star this summer. The new signings Alejandro Faurlin and Allessandro Pellicori are unknown quantities but Adel Taarabt is potentially a real star in this league. Overall the QPR squad still has the same weaknesses it did last season – relying on Agyemang, Helguson and Vine to score the goals when none of them have ever been prolific except for one season at Watford in Helguson’s case, and lacking quality at full back. If everybody stays fit, particularly Buzsaky and Rowlands, then they may be dangerous but overall it has the look of a squad that will come up just short.
Likely Star Man – Akos Buzsaky if he stays fit, Adel Taarabt if he doesn’t

Transfers:
In:
Alejandro Faurlín from Instituto - £3.5m
Alessandro Pellicori from Avellino – Undisclosed
Adel Taarabt from Tottenham Hotspur – Loan
Out:
Dexter Blackstock to Nottingham Forest - £1.6m
Damien Delaney to Ipswich Town - £750k
Lee Camp to Nottingham Forest - £200k
Jake Cole to Barnet – Free
Zesh Rehman to Bradford City – Free
Chris Arthur – Released
Danny Maguire – Released
Liam Miller – Released

Prediction: With Rowlands and Buzsaky coming back to fitness and Adel Taarabt signed on loan for the whole campaign QPR look stronger than they did last season. However while the attacking options from midfield really excite, the out and out strikers they have to lead the line do not. Agyemang has never scored prolifically consistently in his career, Vine is more of a link man, Helguson is injury plagued and Pellicori is unknown. If one of them clicks, stays fit and fires then he should get all the service he needs from an excellent looking midfield line up. For me QPR are relying on too many variables to be considered serious top six material – two injuries rendered them toothless last season and would do so again if they happen this season, they are weak at left full back and in attack and as always Magilton and everybody else at the club is at the mercy of a chairman who could at best be described as eccentric.
Verdict: Better than last season, but only by three or four places.

Photo: Action Images

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