Improving QPR return to league action at Loftus Road on Saturday against a Burton Albion side facing up to the growing possibility of losing inspirational manager Nigel Clough.

QPR (9-6-12, LWWLWD, 17th) v Burton Albion (6-7-14, LWLLLL, 22nd)

Mercantile Credit Trophy >>> Saturday !! January 28, 2017 >>> Kick Off 15.00 !!!!! >>> Weather — Cold, cloudy, dry >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

And so, 70 days after they last did so, Queens Park Rangers can tomorrow play a league match, at home, on a Saturday, at 15.00. A welcome end to a disgraceful situation, achieved only by dragging one of our many midweek matches forward at very short notice when a free weekend became available thanks to Rangers’ incompetence in cup competitions.

As we’ve said countless times before (sorry for banging on about this) the constant messing around with kick off times, mostly at the behest of television, threatens to kill off the things that attract television companies to show so many of the games in the first place. The crowds are generally lower and the atmosphere worse when games are shifted to early kick offs, or Thursday and Friday nights. The quality of play suffers when players are forced to kick off in the morning or at lunch time.

Everything around the club suffers when you go months at a time without a 15.00 Saturday game as well. Fewer programmes are sold, fewer fanzines, less beer and so on. Shepherd’s Bush landlords can see in excess of £7,000 wiped off a day’s takings every single time a QPR game is moved. It’s all part of the fabric of our sport, which is a fragile thing impossible to recover or repair once it’s gone or been damaged.

I find these Fan TV stations on YouTube rather hateful things but I was taken by this reaction to Liverpool’s defeat to Southampton in the League Cup semi final during the week…

… Once you stop football being the sport dads take their lads to on a Saturday afternoon and turn it into something tourists pay £200 on Viagogo to go to while everybody else watches on television because the late notice kick off change means they can no longer attend then you end up with a different sport altogether. Not a good one.
So while I’m sure the late decision to claw this game back to a Saturday from a Tuesday night has inconvenienced some, it was absolutely the right thing to do and both clubs are to be applauded for the decision.

It makes sense on the field as well. A packed February, with three midweek matches and two of the longest away trips of the season, wouldn’t have meant a lot of time on the training ground for a new manager imposing a new style on a rapidly changing squad. The fixture congestion also would have put physical strain on a group that is, for example, only one injury to Idrissa Sylla away from having a very serious problem.

Burton could be a tricky opponent. These sorts of teams on these sorts of runs (eight defeats from the last nine) are usually treated very kindly by QPR. Rangers have had joy recently conceding possession and counter attacking teams but will surely face a side looking to keep things deep and tight tomorrow and they’ll have to play on the front foot and seize the initiative themselves — it’ll require a slight change in style just as QPR seemed to have figured out exactly what their style is going to be. And there’s an added element of unpredictability now that Burton could be set to lose manager Nigel Clough either immediately before or after the game.

But, in theory, it’s a good opportunity to register another win and extend the unbeaten run in the league to five. QPR do seem to have a clear idea about what they’re doing, which hasn’t been the case for sometime and certainly wasn’t the case even a month ago. We spoke earlier in the season about Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s attacking tactics not stretching much further than hoisting the ball into a dangerous area and hoping it became dangerous simply by being there. Now there’s a clear plan of attack and a purpose to the passing and pressing, as beautifully illustrated by Ryan Manning’s goal against Fulham where he and Massimo Luongo went with Pawel Wszolek, Jamie Mackie and Idrissa Sylla as one unit to press high and win the ball back in a dangerous area. Manning’s goal the first from a central midfielder in QPR colours this season in just his fourth outing — what a difference he’s making.

But these are merely green shoots of recovery. The players seem to have a bit more confidence in themselves, the manager and what they’re being asked to do but that can all soon drain away with a abd run of results and a run of games against in from Fulham, title chasing Newcastle and then a Blackburn side that has become something of a bogey for Rangers didn’t look immediately like a points fest. Now, with this game added into the mix, one would hope the run can continue and the belief grown further.

Mind you, it would be very like QPR to lose this one then win at St James’ Park on Wednesday night.

Links >>> Goal drought hampering Burton — Interview >>> Eltringham returns — Referee

Highlights, such as they are, from the first meeting between these sides this season which finished 1-1 back in September. One of the lowest quality games of Championship football it’s ever been my misfortune to cover, at one point in the second half it descended into the two goalkeepers whacking the ball backwards and forwards to each other. Tickets are still available for tomorrow.

Saturday!!!

Team News: Ian Holloway’s long knives January claimed Ariel Borysiuk this week, he’s returned to Poland on loan. Yeni Ngbakoto has apparently rolled his ankle and is unavailable but other than that, and the permanently knacked pair of Jack Robinson and Steven Caulker, there’s a fully fit squad to choose from. Don’t expect too much deviation from the side that started at Reading and Fulham — the first time Rangers have named an unchanged starting line up for consecutive games this season.

It’s all eyes on the Burton dug out, rather than their starting 11, as Nigel Clough seems to be considering giving serious consideration to leaving the best chairman in the league to work for the worst. No news on that potential move to Nottingham Forest yet so he should still be in situ for tomorrow’s game.

Goals have been hard to come by for the Brewers so having top scorer Jackson Irvine back from his brain ache will be a boost — his eight goals are twice as many as anybody else has managed for Albion. Occasional striker Luke Varney probably wouldn’t have helped much but he’s out anyway as he and I can never be seen in the same place at the same time. In an effort to master the secrets of successful penalty taking Lasse Vigen Christensen and Cauley Woodrow have been borrowed from Fulham and both are available for debut. Will Miller has recovered from the bends.

Elsewhere: The Mercantile Credit Trophy waits for no man, so while the rest of the country is off gallivanting in the mythical fourth round of the FA Cup, the real men are getting down to the serious business of match 8,921 of this season’s main event. And let me tell you, there’s some absolute humdingers to look forward to tomorrow.

Relegated Rotherham v Barnsley, for instance. A South Yorkshire derby, steeped in footballing history, awash with quality players, refereed by Keith Stroud. That surpassed possibly only by Norwich v Birmingham, known as one of the classic fixtures of our time.

There’s be a minute and 37 seconds of clapping with two fingers ahead of Preston Knob End’s home game with Ipswich as a mark of respect for Beryl Sandwith, an old family friend of Mick McCarthy’s, who has been without heating and hot water since Thursday oweing to a boiler malfunction.

The Seventh Annual Neil Warnock Farewell Tour, meanwhile, is cooking on gas in Reading this weekend.

Shove your cup up your arse, this is the real quiz.

Referee: Geoff Eltringham refereed for eight years in the Football League without a QPR appointment, and now he’s had two in two months. He awarded Aston Villa a penalty on his first visit to Loftus Road in December, but we know not to worry too much about those with the Flying Banana between the sticks. More details here.

Form

QPR: The run of six straight defeats through December has given way to improvements in January — Rangers are unbeaten in four in the league, winning three. Ryan Manning’s first goal for the club against Fulham was the first from a central midfielder this season, and only two were scored from there last term as well — an obvious area for improvement. Manning is unbeaten in his four senior appearances for the club so far. Rangers still haven’t scored more than twice in a game since the 3-0 win on the opening day of the season against Leeds.

Burton: Albion have won only two of their last 14 fixtures, and both of those were against fellow strugglers Rotherham. They’ve lost eight of the last nine coming into this one and are finding goalscoring a real problem. Jackson Irvine is top scorer on eight, the next best is two players on four one of whom — Jamie Ward — is no longer with the club. They’ve lost their last four matches to nil prior to arriving at Loftus Road for the first time in their history, and have scored only eight goals in their last 14 fixtures. The win at Rotherham was their first on the road at this level but they have picked up draws at Preston, Wigan, Fulham, Wolves and Blackburn.

Predictions: Team in awful form, struggling for goals — all the hallmarks of a classic QPR balls up here. It will also be interesting seeing how Rangers cope with having more of the ball and the emphasis being on them to attack against a team sitting a bit deeper, as seems almost certain to be the pattern of this game in stark contrast to the recent successes against Fulham, Reading and Wolves. But with confidence returning and few injuries, I do expect us to see this one through pretty comfortably. Famous last words.

LFW’s Prediction: QPR 2-0 Burton Albion. Scorer — Idrissa Sylla

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OldPedro added 22:03 - Jan 27 This does have that classic Rangers feel to it - a game we should win which we somehow manage to lose. Here's hoping we put in a good preformance and pick up the 3 points. I'll be happy with a scrappy 1-0
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francisbowles added 10:59 - Jan 28 Welcome back. Very important game today. Got to build on the good work done recently. As always an early goal would help build the belief. Burton will be up for it wanting to give the boss something to think about Vital that our motivation and concentration are at the required level. Hope the jet lag is not too bad. Plenty of caffeine to get you going!
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