QPR's eighth permanent manager since 2006 starts work on Saturday as the R's look to push back towards the play off places with a victory at home to Sheffield United.

Queens Park Rangers (12th) v Sheffield United (8th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday December 19, Kick Off 3pm
Loftus Road, London, W12

Another day, another new manager starts work at Loftus Road. Is it even worth introducing them on the pitch before the match any more? Could we be any more ridiculous? Does it not occur to the board that they may have been a little hasty, certainly with Dowie and Sousa, when they now find themselves going cap in hand back to Mick Harford who they got rid of initially in favour of Luigi De Canio? Rangers have now had eight managers in little over three years, Sheff Utd have had eight since 1988 and with the Blades in town on Saturday unbeaten in six having resisted the urge to sack Kevin Blackwell on an eight match winless run earlier this season the point about stability will be hammered home once again.

No club has ever achieved success this way. It’s never been done. This fact surely cannot be lost on our owners who have avoided grief from supporters thus far because “they’ve been successful in everything they’ve ever done” and “we wouldn’t exist without them” but are really trying the fans patience now. I would say, as I did when we appointed Magilton, that what we really need is a top quality manager in here and given exactly what he wants for at least two years to see if he can make a go of it. What do we get instead? A manager sacked by Conference side Rushden and Diamonds on a six month contract. It beggars belief really.

Had we appointed Paul Hart this time last year most fans would have been scratching their heads trying to remember who he even was. But he’s been on the news a bit lately because of his sacking at Portsmouth and has therefore walked straight into our job despite a track record of first team management that is right up there with the Bryan Robson’s of this world. Except for one excellent season with Nottingham Forest where they reached the play offs in this league he has achieved nothing anywhere and been sacked everywhere. Hart is a superb youth coach, you only have to look at the talent produced by Leeds and Forest during his time there, and if we were appointing him to oversee the long overdue development of an academy system at Loftus Road then I’d be standing and applauding the foresight and research done by the board. To appoint a man with his track record, on a six month contract, to manage the first team typifies the crazy, short termism that besets our club.

Our squad is currently made up of players singed by, or at least signed when we were under the guidance of, seven different managers and judging by his interviews so far this week Hart expects to be able to be allowed to make that eight in January. Now we all know of course that managers certainly don’t get total control of transfers at Loftus Road, and they may not get any control at all, but their thoughts on where we are weak and what we need are taken into account and so we have the thoughts and preferences of seven different managers washing around in our squad at the moment.

We have once again missed a chance to appoint a Curbishley/Coppell/Ferguson type character with a long term plan and instil some stability in our club. Am I that bothered though? Not really. There’ll be another one along in a minute I’m sure. Farce.

Five minutes on Sheff Utd
Recent history: Sheffield United are starting to mount a fair recovery from a poor start to the season no doubt triggered by LFW’s pre-season assertion that they would be champions this season. The kiss of death as always. In fairness I would say an enormous injury list had more to do with their poor form than anything I have written on here and it is only now, as they are starting to get players back into the fold, that they are starting to pick up the results I though they would in pre-season. A last second 3-2 win at fellow play off chasers Bristol City signalled a new found confidence and belief as well as big intentions for the second half of the season.

We all know about this big injury list because manager Kevin Blackwell told us all about it every single chance he got. Fair enough it is a bit tough to be without six or seven of your starting eleven at any one time but it is the moaning and bleating that has become a bit of a mark of Sheffield United in recent times. Promoted to the Premiership in 2006 after 12 years in this division they were relegated back at the first attempt through nobody’s fault but their own. Neil Warnock’s men initially acquitted themselves very well. Victories against Arsenal, Wigan, Charlton and Watford through November and December lifted them up to 15th in the table and although form dipped after Christmas Tottenham and West Ham were both beaten at Bramall Lane and United looked to have done enough.

The problem was it appeared that they thought so too. Neil Warnock infamously claimed West Ham would be all but down if they lost to his team, which they promptly did 3-0 and stayed up anyway at their expense. United often went into games, particularly away from home, with just Christian Nade up front and, with all due respect, they’d have been better planting a tree in the middle of the opposition’s defensive third. They could have sealed their survival at Aston Villa in the penultimate game of the season - Villa had absolutely nothing to play for and their form hinted that the cue had been on the rack for quite some time. Again they went with one up front and lost the game 3-0.

If they could have picked an opponent for their finaal match of the season when even a point would have been good enough for them to survive then Wigan Athletic probably would have been the choice, especially as United had won at the JJB Stadium earlier in the season. They lost and were relegated. Of course while all this was going on the Carlos Tevez saga at West Ham was rumbling on. United had publicly shown little interest int his initiailly while Wigan and Fulham bleated on about how terribly unfair it all was but when suddenly it was clear that United were to be the ones to suffer most from the Premiership’s farcical handling of an obviously dodgy transfer you couldn’t pick up a paper for moans and groans from South Yorkshire. I mean you could point out that had Sheffield United not missed so many penalties during the season, including two in a game with Blackburn at home, then West Ham coul;d have had who they liked playing for them it would not have mattered. Instead West Ham’s cheating, sides fielding weakened teams against West Ham and Fulham and just the general unfairness of it all got the blame rather than the Blades looking a little closer to home.

Anyway Warnock skulked off because he felt that he was now a Premiership manager and eventually pitched up at the very much Championship Crystal Palace. He was replace,d quite hilariously, by Bryan Robson who squandered a big transfer budget on the likes of Billy Sharp and looked a pretty decent bet to continue his record of relegating every single team he has ever managed prior to being relieved of his duties halfway through his first season. It says much for just how incompetent Robson relaly is that Kevin Blackwell, not exactly a tactical genius himself, was able to sweep in and guide much the same group of players from the bottom quarter of the league to the cusp of the play off zone. Had United done the sensible thing and outed Robson earlier, or not appointed the sour faced twat in the first place, then they may well have made the top six. Ultimately the season finished a game or two early for them.

They were widely tipped to just continue in that vein last season and while they did indeed reach the play off final they were a pretty dour team to watch and were beaten far more comfortably than the 1-0 scoreline suggests in the final against Burnley at Wembley. At Leeds and Luton Blackwell’s preferred style of play was certainly direct, but at Sheffield United the long ball football played is remoreseless. Their games against Newcastle and Barnsley were absolutely brutal, and I felt like I’d been through an ordeal by the time they reached full time. The ball was barely a concern during what can only be described as 180 minutes of open warfare.

Blackwell was starting to come under som pressure aorund that time as United went eight games without a win but they arrive at Loftus Road having shot up the table on a run of six games without defeat. They may yet be able to make an impact at the top of the table come May and if they do, it will once again show the value of sticking with a manager through slight losses of form and confidence.

The Manager: Having seen Leeds United fall apart around his ears and then Luton Town as well Kevin Blackwell must have started to think he was cursed. Harshly sacked from both clubs while doing a reasonable job in trying circumstances he landed on his feet at a reasonably secure club with a decent playing squad when he succeeded Bryan Robson as Blades boss midway through the 2007/08 campaign. Following Robson is always a good thing to do because however incompetent you are, you’re never going to be that incompetent but I would say Blackwell has underachieved so far.

Blackwell was a goalkeeper in his playing days, and an assistant to Neil Warnock when he cut his coaching teeth, so the style of play his team’s employ is understandable. Brian Howard decamped to Reading after barely six months at Bramall Lane bemoning the style of play and smaller strikers like Billy Sharp and Ched Evans have scored freely for the likes of Norwich and Doncaster in this division while struggling in the remorsleesly direct atmosphere of Blackwell’s team. They are thoroughly horrible to watch.

Sheff Utd last year were tough, uncompromising, nasty at times, and very difficult to beat but were also pretty uninspiring and completely outplayed by Burnley at Wembley in the play off final - the second time in his career Blackwell has lost a Championship play off final. His post match hissy fit seemed to set the scene for a walk out and I would say he is unlikely to be around this time next year if United fail in their quest to return to the Premiership for a third time. Parachute payments end this summer and the going will only get tougher if they cannot get up this season.

Three to Watch: You don’t have to watch Sheffield United and their frankly brutal style of play for very long to pick out the key man in the line up. Striker Darius Henderson is the focal point of the entire Blades team with every player on the field immediately looking high and long for him as soon as they take possession of the ball. The game plan is simple, get the ball to Henderson quickly and then feed off him in and around the penalty box. You would think that would be absolutely ideal for a little goal poacher like Billy Sharp or Ched Evans but neither have really impressed since big money moves to Bramall Lane despite both doing excellently in this league for Doncaster and Norwich respectively.

Henderson on the other hand has absolutely thrived under Blackwell’s guidance. As a striker with a mediocre goal record of one in four he looked over priced when Sheff Utd spent £2m on him from Watford last summer and initially he was in the shadow of James Beattie a little bit. Once Beattie went to Stoke in January and Henderson became the main hit man though he started to flourish and he has been one of the only Sheff Utd players to come out of this season so far with any credit at all. After failing to score in his first eight appearances he has ten in his last ten appearances including a hat trick in a dramatic win at Bristol City a fortnight ago. Henderson’s upturn in form has coincided with a similar change of fortunes for the team and United have gone from the bottom half to the cusp of the play offs in recent weeks.

Henderson is more than likely there to stay, the same cannot be said of centre half Matt Kilgallon who is expected to be one of the Championship’s big money movers when the transfer window opens in January. The distinctive looking former Leeds centre half has been a star performer in this league for some time now and will be hoping for another shot at the Premiership next year with Newcastle, which seems his most likely destination. His likely departure, and the return of former QPR laonee Andrew Davies to Stoke after a three month spell in South Yorkshire, leaves the Blades short of a more cultured partner for everybody’s favourite pantomime villain Chris Morgan. Leicester, Forest and Swansea are all likely to rival Sheff Utd for Davies’ singature in January

Morgan is one of those players that is described as “committed”, “wholehearted” and “uncompromising” by commentators as if his grtuiously violent approach to the game is something to laugh about. When I saw Sheff Utd recently against Newcastle Sky’s Don Goodman was actually chuckling as Morgan crunched through the back of an opponent on halfway with a horrendous tackle that could have caused serious injury, and Morgan seemed outraged that the tackle brought him a yellow card. You can be pretty sure that within the first quarter of an hour on Saturday Morgan will have put in a potentially crippling tackle on somebody to “let them know he is there”. He, and sadly many referees, find this acceptable. It’s not, he’s a talentless thug, and one the game should have dealt with far more severely when he fractured Iain Hume’s skull with his elbow at Oakwell last season. His presense is worth bearing in mind if we are indeed thinking of including Raheem Sterling this weekend, Morgan would probably treat snapping a 15 year old in half as a sport in itself. An odious, wrecthed excuse for a footballer.

Links >>> Sheff Utd Official Website >>> Sheff Utd Message Board

History
Recent Meetings:
These two sides fought out a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road last March, one of 11 scoreless games QPR were involved in during the season and one of 23 occasions they failed to register a goal in of their own. Kaspars Gorkss missed a sitter after Kenny parried a corner out to him in the six yard box and Matteo Alberti fired a presentable volley over the top as Rangers once again fluffed their lines in front of goal.

QPR: Cerny 8, Connolly 7, Stewart 6, Gorkss 6, Delaney 5, Lopez 6, Leigertwood 5 (Ephraim 81, -), Miller 5 (Alberti 54, 4), Routledge 6, Di Carmine 5 (Balanta 76, 6), Blackstock 6
Subs Not Used: Mahon, Hall
Booked: Stewart (foul)

Sheff Utd: Kenny 8, Naughton 7, Naysmith 6, Morgan 5, Kilgallon 5, Howard 5 (Ward 59, 6), Quinn 5, Halford 7, Montgomery 6, Henderson 6 (O'Toole 81, -), Webber 6 (Beattie 68, 6)
Subs Not Used: Lupoli, Bromby

Early season optimism brought on by two wins in the first week was quickly shattered at Bramall Lane on the second Saturday of the current campaign. Looking back a midfield of Parejo, Ledesma, Cook and Leigertwood was always going to lack a little oomph and physical presence and so it proved as the Blades cut QPR apart. Billy Sharp scored all three goals, two in the first quarter of an hour and then one just after half time when Cerny came for a corner and missed it completely.

Sheff Utd: Kenny 7, Halford 7 (Cotterill 66, 7), Naysmith 7, Morgan 6 (Ehiogu 34, 7), Kilgallon 7, Jihai 8, Speed 8, Tonge 7, Quinn 7, Sharp 9 (Webber 83, -), Henderson 8
Subs Not Used: Stead, Spring
Booked: Halford (foul)
Goals: Sharp 3 (assisted Halford/Henderson), 13 (assisted Speed), 51 (assisted Tonge)

QPR: Cerny 3 Delaney 4, Hall 3, Gorkss 3 Connolly 4, Leigertwood 4, Parejo 5, Cook 4 (Alberti 80, -), Ledesma 5, Balanta 3 (Di Carmine 46 5), Blackstock 3
Subs Not Used: Camp, Stewart, Mahon
Booked: Delaney (reacting to Halford’s foul)

Head to Head
QPR Wins – 15
Draws – 16
Sheff Utd wins – 13

Previous Sheff Utd v QPR results:
2008/09 QPR 0 Sheff Utd 0
2008/09 Sheff Utd 3 QPR 0
2007/08 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 1 (Balanta)
2007/08 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 1 (Agyemang)
2005/06 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 3 (Nygaard, Morgan og, Furlong)
2005/06 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 1 (Bircham, Moore)
2004/05 Sheff Utd 3 QPR 2 (Rowlands, Gallen)
2004/05 QPR 0 Sheff Utd 1
2003/04 Sheff Utd 0 QPR 2 (Rowlands 2)
2000/01 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 3 (Ngonge)
2000/01 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Koejoe)
1999/00 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Beck)
1999/00 QPR 3 Sheff Utd 1 (Breaker, Wardley, Steiner)
1998/99 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 0
1998/99 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 2 (Peacock pen)
1997/98 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 2 (Sheron, Ready)
1997/98 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 2 (Murray, Morrow)
1996/07 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 0 (Spencer pen)
1996/97 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Slade)
1993/94 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Barker)
1993/94 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 1 (Wilson pen, Sinclair)
1992/93 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 2 (Allen, Holloway)
1992/93 QPR 3 Sheff Utd 2 (Ferdinand, Barker, Bailey)
1991/92 Sheff Utd 0 QPR 0
1991/92 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 0 (Wegerle)

Played for both clubs:
Tony Currie
Sheffield United 1968-1974
QPR 1979-82
Currie was one of those players lovingly called an entertainer and one of Sheffield United’s and Rangers’ best loved servants. Currie turned pro in 1967 on the books at Watford after being released as a junior by QPR. A year later he found himself surplus to requirement at the Hornets as well and joined Sheffield United for £26,000. His impact was instant scoring on his debut for the Blades against Tottenham. Over the next seven seasons Currie would become an instrumental part of the Blades midfield and was key to their promotion back to Division One in the 1970-71 season. He scored 54 goals for United in more than 300 appearances and skippered them in his final season at the club. He gained international recognition too while at Bramall Lane earning the first of his 17 England caps against Northern Ireland in 1972. But when United were relegated once again two years later, Currie stayed in the top flight by joining Leeds for £250,000 which was huge a profit for the Blades even if that was scant consolation to the fans. In his time at Elland Road, TC as he was now known reached two League Cup semi finals and helped Leeds reach the UEFA Cup. But disputes with the manager and a desire to return to London saw Currie quickly on the move once again to join Queens Park Rangers. Tommy Docherty brought him to Loftus Road to aid QPR’s push for promotion but it would be his successor Terry Venables who get the best out of him. As the experienced head in quite a youthful looking Rangers team he helped the R’s win promotion back to the top flight and captained them to the FA Cup final defeat to Spurs in 1982 - unfortunately it was Currie who gave away Tottenham’s winning penalty. The following season saw TC suffer a knee injury and would only go on to play one more game for the R’s before he spent time in Canada playing for the Toronto Nationals. Spells at Southend and Torquay followed but Currie retired from football in 1988. Since then he’s been the Football in the Community Officer back at Sheffield United - a position he still holds today. -AR

Links >>> Sheff Utd 3 QPR 0 Match Report >>> QPR 0 Sheff Utd 0 Match Report >>> Match Report Archive >>> Connections and Memories

This Saturday
Team News:Prior to the managerial upheaval QPR were said to be considering including 15 year old starlet Raheem Sterling in their squad for this match - whether Paul Hart will want to take that risk in his first match remains to be seen. Hart is without long term injury victims Gavin Mahon, Lee Cook and Martin Rowlands (all knee) and will more than likely be without Akos Buzsaky as well as the club keeps up the less than convincing pretence that he has a medial ligament injury. Matt Connolly should be fit to return.

United welcome back midfield destroyer Nick Montgomery from suspension but have lost Andrew Davies and Keith Treacy whose loan spells from Stoke and Blackburn respectively have expired. The Blades have Richard Cresswell ready to partner Ched Evans in attack if Darius Henderson is not fit for the fixture. Blackwell must choose between Ian Bennett and Mark Bunn for the goalkeeping position.

Elsewhere: The stand out game this weekend is live on the BBC on Sunday lunch time - table topping Newcastle take on North East rivals Middlesbrough at St James Park, this was a Premiership six pointer last season. Boro have struggled badly since sacking Gareth Southgate, apart from a thumping 5-1 win at QPR of course, and will be desperate not to lose this game. Play off chasing Blackpool welcome West Brom to Bloomfield Road while in form Nottingham Forest have a home game with Preston live on Sky on Saturday evening. Down at the bottom Scunthorpe v Ipswich has the look of a six pointer, Reading start life without Brendan Rodgers with a tough trip to Bristol City.

Referee: Once again the league has adopted a policy of appointing a match official from the corresponding fixture the previous season and so for the second consecutive campaign we have Neil Swarbirck in charge of our home game with Sheffield United. He is a pretty steady, unspectacular official who has always been willing to give a game every chance on previous occasions. More details at the link below.

Links >>> Dean Sturridge Memorial Injury List >>> Arthur Gnohere Discipline Counter >>> Swarbrick in charge again >>> Referee League

Form
QPR: Rangers come into this game without a win in five since beating Sheff Wed at the start of November. They were denied a victory with the last kick of the game at West Brom on Monday but have taken just two points from the last 15 available and were beaten 5-1 last time out at Loftus Road by Middlesbrough. That spoiled an impressive home record of just one defeat in 15 matches stretching back to March. Prior to that Boro disaster too many draws had been the problem in W12 with Blackpool, Peterborough, Forest, Coventry and Palace all taking a point from us on our own patch. The R’s can go as high as sixth and as low as 15th depending on results this Saturday.

Sheff Utd: The last time I saw Sheff Utd play they were very fortunate to escape with a 2-2 draw at Barnsley. That stretched their winless run to eight matches that included comprehensive defeats by Blackpool and Scuntjorpe and left the Blades, pre season title favourites for many, languishing in 14th in the table. Since then though things have started to pick up and they come into this game unbeaten in six, a run that includes impressive victories at Plymouth and Bristol City. They are now two places and one point outside the play offs and have won four times away from home so far this season - Reading and Derby their other victims on the road.

Prediction: Our players have shown quite clearly over the past few wereks that despite being paid handsomely to play football they are quite ready and willing to simply turn their form off completely when something doesn’t suit them. The performances against Middlesbrough and Watford were shambolic and then suddenly at West Brom after a change of manager they put in a display to be proud of. So this one probably all depends on whether they approve of the appointment of Paul Hart or not. You know exactly what you get from Sheff Utd - long ball, physical, nasty - so if our players are under committed they could well be steam rollered into defeat, if they go out and play as they can we should have too much for them in attack. Hard one to call.
One goal defeat

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