Reluctant party guests — Preview Monday, 2nd May 2016 10:22 by Clive Whittingham Burnley could seal promotion back to the Premier League with a win today, leaving QPR in the familiar, unwelcome role of party guests/cannon fodder. Burnley (2nd) v Queens Park Rangers (13th)Championship >>> Monday May 2, 2016 >>> Kick Off 16.45 :-| >>> Weather — Heavy rain, brightening up later, blowy >>> Turf Moor, Burnley Hello. Is this thing on? Is anybody still there? The penultimate chapter in the Never Ending Story that is the 2015/16 Championship season following QPR takes us to just about the worst possible place we could end up. Burnley. Soon-to-be-promoted Burnley. Burnley and their shiny new training ground. Burnley and their £30m profit. Burnley and their 21 match unbeaten run, stretching back to Boxing Day. Burnley and their fundamentally brilliant manager who kicked around on Sky Sports, available to hire for a pittance, after being harshly dismissed by Watford. Burnley and their notorious work rate and tempo. Burnley who were promoted and relegated at the same time as us and got healthier as we got sicker. Urgh. This looks like a long afternoon in store. Not only because it’s always likely to be a long afternoon for a mid-table team with nothing to play for playing away to a committed, highly-efficient, promotion-chasing winning machine. But also because the defeat that’s likely to come QPR’s way will no doubt bring about another round of message board and social media hand ringing about the manager, the team, the director of football, the club, the chairman and everything else. This will, justifiably, be exacerbated by the fact that Burnley were promoted to the Premier League at the same time as QPR and did exactly the right thing. They banked all the money that was given to them, invested in infrastructure, bought George Boyd who fitted with their ethos and needs but nobody else significant or at any great cost, put up a very spirited fight including a number of impressive away results, were narrowly relegated but were then financially in a state to go out and buy Andre Gray for big money and, almost certainly, go straight back up. QPR, meanwhile, spent £80m getting promoted (just) and went there with Harry Redknapp in charge along with our accident prone Malaysian owners - with predictably ruinous results. If Rangers are beaten tomorrow (not much of an if) remember the respective approaches of these two clubs to the 2014/15 Premier League season, and what those approaches have meant for how they’ve had to go about this season, before you start piling into Les Ferdinand, Lee Hoos, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Chris Ramsey or anybody else charged with mopping up after Redknapp’s three at the back, write off all the away games, Rio Ferdinand’s eighth annual farewell tour shambles. There are few better personifications of the differences between the two clubs than Burnley’s Player of the Year elect, one Joey Barton. Everybody’s favourite political commentator spent four years at QPR during which time he, in no particular order: appeared on an indie music show denouncing the performance of a team mate who’d been outstanding before he arrived; was sent off in a crucial relegation six pointer at Hull for grabbing the testicles of an opponent; was sent off in a crucial promotion six pointer with Leicester for a combination of dissent and fighting with Gary Taylor Fletcher; was sent off in one of the most important games the club has ever faced for punching Carlos Tevez in the head after which he then started attacking other Manchester City players on his way off the field; was sent off in a crucial relegation six pointer at home to Norwich for aiming some sort of headbutt at Bradley Johnson; spent 20 minutes of an appearance on the unofficial QPR podcast moaning about the bonus structure he was expected to adhere to at Newcastle United; openly gloated about how much better training was under Mark Hughes immediately after the harsh sacking of Neil Warnock, one of only two managers to promote QPR to the top division in the last three decades; used his social media account to attack Rodney Marsh, one of QPR’s greatest ever players, while playing in a team that was bottom of the league; appeared on Question Time where he compared the choice of political parties at the general election to the choice of ugly women in a poor nightclub; said prior to QPR’s relegation, which occurred while he was on loan in the South of France, that he absolutely would not be going to the Championship with his parent club only to end up there because nobody else wanted him; openly touted for a move to Everton when it became clear Marseille didn’t want him permanently; set a club record for yellow cards in consecutive games (seven) and received 24 yellow cards across his final two seasons for the club resulting in three separate suspensions; appeared on Sky Sports after relegation was confirmed once again denouncing team mates and claiming there were bad apples in the changing room, prompting Graeme Souness to wonder aloud what on earth the captain had been doing all season and why he’d only felt the need to speak up once the club had already gone down… Most importantly, having insisted on taking every single corner and free kick awarded to QPR while he was on the field for three years he succeeded in scoring just seven times (only one from a direct free kick, at Reading) and picking up 11 assists. And yet still, despite all this, QPR made him their captain, and there are still supporters of the club now who’ll give it the “well at least he tried” bollocks. That’s how low our standards have been over the past few years. One thing you can’t accuse Burnley of is low standards, so it seemed a rather odd and bold move when they took a chance on Barton last summer on a free transfer. Quite a come down for the player, it would seem, given the money he was on at QPR, his regular assertions that he is a Premier League player, and his previous comments about Burnley as a place to live. But in an environment of strict discipline, hard work and team above all individuals, led by the superb Sean Dyche, Barton has thrived. At first he wasn’t picked at all. Having not gone through the required pre-season because of his late arrival, he was made to wait until September 26 for a substitute appearance and October 2 for a start. Compare that to QPR in 2013/14 where he didn’t do pre-season with the club, spent most of the summer trying to force through a permanent move to Marseille, and yet was thrown in from the start on day one against Sheff Wed after a week on the training ground. When he was picked, our regular Burnley contributor Ian Brookes tells us the old Budget Beckham routine, with the 50 yard passes into the third row of the main stand was in evidence. That was quickly dealt with by Dyche as well, leaving Barton to use his engine and work rate to fetch and carry at the base of the midfield. The effect has been amazing — named in the division’s Team of the Year by his fellow professionals and lauded by the Burnley fans for his commitment. To be fair, whenever he stuck to that basic role at QPR rather than trying to be some sort of all-conquering quarter back, he was very effective as well — Chelsea at home last season, he was absolutely outstanding in a narrow defeat. But at a club that has fawned over individuals and big names and egos, it never lasted long. It has at Burnley, where remarkably he’s also part of a team that hasn’t received a single red card, nor a suspension for yellow card accumulation this season. So plenty of sticks to beat QPR with here if, as we expect, this game goes the way of the recent trip to Burnley’s promotion rivals Brighton. But, personally, I’m reasonably positive about the present state of the club, and optimistic about what lies in store for us next season. I’ve seen signs this season, under the guidance of former Burnley CEO Lee Hoos and club legend Les Ferdinand, that QPR are finally waking up to reality and getting the house in order. There will be, yet another, clear out of players this summer which will hopefully bring an end to this situation where every year we’re waiting for half a dozen huge earners who aren’t even playing for the first team to run down their deals. One shudders to think exactly how much of our wage bill is tied up in Rob Green, Armand Traore, Samba Diakite, Steven Caulker, Sandro and Leroy Fer. Even with that, Hoos believes QPR will have complied with FFP this season, meaning no transfer embargo next year. Some of the signings made under the new way of doing things haven’t worked, but then lots of them have and when you’re shopping for lower prices in lower divisions and abroad you’re going to have to take a few risks and accept they won’t all work out. The form of Tjaronn Chery and Seb Polter in the second half of the season shows that they’ll also take time to settle and find their feet — both players were written off by sections of the support long before Christmas. More important than the signings they have made is the signings they haven’t — QPR walk away from deals now in a way they never used to. How wise Les Ferdinand looks now for not caving to Tim Ream’s excessive wage demands last summer and going for Grant Hall instead — Ream has been struggling to make the team at Fulham despite their relegation near miss. Burnley, and Dyche, didn’t build their climate of discipline, competitiveness, team and hard work overnight and nor will QPR simply be able to click their fingers and emulate it immediately. But it feels to me at least like the people running QPR are trying to move our club in that direction which, if they succeed, will bring its own similar results in time. Almost certainly not today, but let’s try not to go all angry mob if that does turn out to be the case. Links >>> Rowan Vine from the halfway line — History >>> Burnley in fine shape — Interview >>> Blue Monday — Podcast >>> Moss dropped — Referee MondayTeam News: QPR are without Jamie Mackie, whose hamstring operation is also likely to eat into the pre-season as well. Luckless bugger. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s goalkeeper rotation policy may see Alex Smithies recalled despite Matt Ingram’s impressive display against Reading. Either way, that position at least seems in rude health. Burnley have a doubt over Dean Marney who was asked to clear George Boyd’s hair out of the drain at the training ground on Thursday and hasn’t been seen since. Elsewhere: There are two Championship matches today as Sky focus on the race for promotion to their precious Premier League — not a lot else they can focus on in the second tier to be fair, everything else has long since been sorted. Brighton face the Derby Sheep in the first game with Burnley knowing anything other than a win for the South Coast club means they can clinch promotion by beating QPR. That would take the final spot down to the last day of the season when Brighton travel to the third team involved in all of this, Middlesbrough. Aitor Karanka’s side were left to rue a succession of missed chances and a dodgy call from a linesman in their 2-2 draw at Birmingham on Friday. If Brighton win today Boro will need to beat them at the Riverside next week to be promoted automatically. Anybody that does end up in that play-off draw will almost certainly want to face Tigers Tigers Rah Rah Rah at some point. With supporters again protesting against the ludicrous ownership of Assem Allam, and the automatic promotion push killed off by a run four wins from 14 matches, they look like ideal cannon fodder in the end of season knockout and were beaten 1-0 by Already Relegated Bolton at the weekend. Sheffield Owls’ 3-0 home win against The Red Dragons sealed the sixth spot, and I can’t imagine anybody would relish an away leg at Hillsborough in the coming weeks. Everything else at the weekend fell into the category of “well it gets us out the house I suppose”. Though one doesn’t imagine Already Relegated Charlton’s 2-1 win at Elland Road was received warmly by the Champions of Europe and their loyal band of deluded fools. Nor will Tarquin and Rupert have enjoyed their 3-0 shellacking at Brentford. Bristol City, and in-form striker Jonathan Kodija, could be an interesting one to watch at the start of next season. Kodija has 20 goals this season, and four in his last three, while City have won eight and drawn three of their final 15 games since replacing Steve Coterill with Lee Johnson. Saturday’s 4-0 win at home to Huddersfield followed a 4-1 thrashing of Sheff Wed and a 6-0 thumping of Bolton at Ashton Gate. Will they hit the ground running come August? Neil Warnock’s Christmas miracle has long since been completed, so no real drama in their 1-0 home loss against The Mad Chicken Farmers who will part company with Paul Lambert this summer. Reading continue their limping finish with a fifth defeat in six matches, this time at home to Preston, while Already Relegated Franchise lost 3-2 at Ipswich. There was also a draw between the Trees and the Wolves. Referee: The good news is that the Premier League and refereeing authorities have moved quickly to take Jon Moss away from the big games at the pinnacle of our sport following his shambolic handling of Leicester v West Ham a fortnight ago where he awarded two penalties that weren’t and turned down several others that were. I’m sure you’ve already telegraphed the bad news. Full QPR case history here. FormBurnley: The Clarets have only lost five times in the league all season, the division’s best record along with Brighton, and are on a remarkable run of 21 matches unbeaten in the Championship which stretches all the way back to Boxing Day. Just two of those losses have come at Turf Moor where they’ve won 14 and drawn six this season — Reading and Preston the two sides to win here so far. Just 14 goals have been conceded by Dyche’s men on their own patch in 22 games played. Burnley haven’t had a single suspension this season, either for red cards or yellow card accumulation. Burnley will be promoted today if they win and Brighton fail to beat Derby in the match immediately beforehand. QPR: The 1-1 tie with Reading a week ago was the thirteenth draw of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s 26 matches in charge and stretched a rather weak end to the season out to one win from seven matches. QPR haven’t won away from Loftus Road in eight attempts since a comfortable 3-0 success at Rotherham in January, though six of those matches have finished as draws. Prediction: For the penultimate time in his reign as Prediction League champion, isawqpratwhitecity tells us… "As the race to automatic promotion moves to a white-hot, three-way battle, you can rely on QPR to make it tough on some-one. We visit Burnley, who are unbeaten in the league since Boxing Day, girded in our brave task by being unbeaten in our last game. Burnley have dropped points at home this month to such cellar-dwellers as Middlesbrough and Cardiff, but I can't see them being so charitable toward us. Boro and Brighton may not have much to thank us for after the match, but we haven't exactly impeded their progress recently, either." Jim’s Prediction: Burnley 3-0 QPR. No Scorer. LFW’s Prediction: Burnley 3-0 QPR. No Scorer. The Twitter @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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