QPR have a tough task on their hands looking for a first win of the season at Frank Lampard’s Coventry City tomorrow afternoon, but with that Ebere Eze sell on fee now banked there’s reason for optimism.

Coventry (1-1-0 DWW 5th)v QPR (0-1-1 DLL 18th)

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It’s the strangest things you remember.

In 1999/00 we ended up with league games against Walsall. Not because we were terrible – this was a rare positive campaign amidst the drudgery of the late 90s and early 00s at Loftus Road – but because they’d got good.

The Saddlers had been propelled into the First Division under the canny stewardship of former QPR coach Ray Graydon, with a young Michael Ricketts rampaging around in attack ahead of a cohort of Scandi imports led by Bjarni Larusson. The second coming of Gerry Francis was half-threatening to turn into a surprise top six push, with Richard Langley blossoming from the youth team, Jermaine Darlington proving a great non-league pick from the Gerry scrapbook of old, Chris Kiwomya and Rob Steiner forming an effective strike force, and Stuart Wardley escaping through a tear in the fabric of reality later used as an escape hatch by Patrick Agyemang. The pursuit of the play-offs peaked with a 3-2 win at The Bescott Stadium, furnished with a late winner in front of a jubilant away end by Kiwomya. I’d include a clip but… Tony Incenzo was the club commentator at this stage.

It’s not that I remember most though. Nor the impressive performance that afternoon from Walsall’s unheralded Argentinean left back Snr G Padula – a rare example of me seeing and loving an opponent that QPR actually signed (see, also, Buzsaky, A). No, the thing that sticks out from that game for me is Walsall used to run out of the tunnel before kick-off to Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, by American stadium rock band Starship.

Looking in your eyes, I see a paradise. This world that I found is too good to be true. Standing here beside you, want so much to give you, this love in my heart, that I'm feeling for you. And the number nine, is Andy Rammell. Keep it tight early lads.

That dream Walsall were trying to build together - standing strong together, nothing’s gonna stop them etc – ended in a relegation from a level they’d rarely been at before and have never been back to since. Now part of the dreaded “multi-club ownership”, in League Two last season they were 15 points clear at the top, with a team led by Stoke loanee Nathan Lowe with our own Albert Adomah resident super sub, but crashed into the play-offs post Lowe recall and blew out. Their supporters - surrounded by Villa, Birmingham, West Brom, Wolves, Cov etc – are fed up.

As, it seems, are the faithful at Queens Park Rangers.

I’ve given an inordinate amount of thought to that reaction from the away end at Vicarage Road last Saturday. Booing and abusing the team half an hour into the second game of a new season – Kieran Morgan’s fabulous goal in first half stoppage time seemingly saving the team from being chased from the pitch by their own fans and a mass away end walk out back to the pub. I’d predicted something like this in our Perpignan colour piece over the summer, but even I was surprised it turned that angry, that quickly. Less we forget, this an away end that stood through some absolute nonsense at the end of last season – a pathetic 3-1 at Stoke with Dembele up front which kept Mark Robins’ side in the league, a 1-0 against ten man West Brom with Paul Smyth at centre forward, a 2-1 at Boro we didn’t even seem very arsed about, a loss at Portsmouth where we got bullied – with nary a negative word or chant in anger.

It could just be ‘these previews don’t write themselves’. I’m staring into the abyss looking for something that isn’t there and finding the abyss staring back at me. Local away game, big following, hot day, on the piss, known problem child in midfield pulls out of a couple of tackles while losing 2-0, frustrated boos… shit happens. Occam’s Razor - here I am psychoanalysing why, when the obvious answer is the away end was in the Watford Spoons from 10am and then went 2-0 down after 20 minutes. But then we sold 1,800 tickets from a 2,800 allocation for Coventry tomorrow, on a sunny Bank Holiday Saturday at a ground an hour up the road which we were taking 4,000+ to very recently.

Apart from the manner in which a popular manager was dealt with at the end of last season, my conclusion from this week is people are really starting to struggle with the reality of this “development club” narrative.

We’re now into an eleventh consecutive season of Championship football. It’s the longest current consecutive stint in this division, along with Bristol City and Preston. The fans have been told throughout that our aim is to be a “development club” where the aim is to create or recruit players we can sell for profit and then trade our way out of this purgatory. Let me say now, I’ve backed this all the way through, and I back it now. Christian Nourry is entirely correct in what he said at the fans forum – you either increase your revenue with a new stadium build, or through player sales. Those are your options. What are the alternatives? In this PSR environment? Comment section open. I agree with him, as I agreed with Les Ferdinand before him.

It’s an increasingly tough sell, though, isn’t it? The home and awayers have now done a decade of away trips to Preston North End. And they’re told the biggest aim the club has is to create a player so good we can immediately sell him. You have to take people with you. Let them say we're crazy, I don't care about that. Put your hand in my hand, baby, don't ever look back. What’s the point in doing that Blackburn midweeker this winter, or even Coventry tomorrow, if this is us and what we exist for?

Jonathan Varane is probably the first cab on that rank, but then so was Alex Smithies, Luke Freeman, Ebere Eze… We got good money for them, we came back the following year, it was all the same all over again. Our sugar as a support base is a pre-season tour or friendly somewhere nice. You saw in Perpignan this summer how much of an error it was locking them out of even that 12 months ago. Kudos to the club for recognising that and changing tack.

The ultimate aim for a football club has to be to win things. You have to aim to win the league you’re in, or the cup competitions. Otherwise, what’s the point? QPR can get there in a horribly financially skewed division by bringing in serious money through transfers and reinvesting. I think we all get and understand that. But it’s been ten years now. They’ve had big windfalls in that time from Raheem Sterling, Ebere Eze and now Ebere Eze again, and the needle has barely moved. The highest we’ve finished in this league is ninth. This is the inheritance the current regime have to deal with. And a support that has been remarkably patient during the last three years does not have a lot of patience left.

The transfer window system doesn’t help. A fortnight from now we could have Saito, a left back, a progressive central midfielder, money banked, and we’ll be looking back at a long overdue proper summer of recruitment. But nor does the club’s appalling attitude to cup competitions benefit the cause either. Nor the current fitness regime, where we seemingly deliberately undercook the team for the start of the season under the promise of big results later on. I’m not advocating Ian Holloway running our assets up concrete hills in 40 degree sun, but I don’t think it’s wise tossing away home games with Preston through not being able to run. And that is what happened.

As one message boarder put it this week…
Games 1-15 – physically undercooked; beaten repeatedly and in the relegation zone; exit the League Cup immediately with kids playing because we can’t physically field a team.
Games 15-30 – get our act together, climb the table; exit the FA Cup with a reserve team to make sure we’re fit for the following league match, which we then lose; any significant offer for a player in January we take.
Games 30-46 - players hit the beach/treatment table/start eyeing the move they’d been promised when they joined; might need a scratchy win at some idiot scum like Oxford just to make sure we don’t descend too far into the shit; season ticket renewals go on sale; sell our best player(s) in the summer.

I totally, totally get it. We're operating in a sick, broken sport. Without significant player sales we are stuffed. That's a difficult sell though, isn't it? I’m on board - I don’t see a way out of this other than significant, regular player sales. But it's tough. Jonathan Varane is being linked with £5mish moves. Meanwhile Ipswich are paying £12m for Leicester’s sixth best winger. It’s going to be really, really tough to catch up.

Christian Nourry is inheriting a poor situation, in which many mistakes were made over the prior few years. Les Ferdinand wanted a development club, but Mark Warburton was allowed Stefan Johansen and Charlie Austin. Mick Beale was allowed to dictate who couldn’t be sold and also add Leon Balogun et al. At the fan forum Nourry said the supporters can play a huge role in this by backing this group of young players. It was, perhaps, one of the reasons they held the forum earlier than ever before. But one of the biggest problems Nourry has got is this credit has been burned off and the fans are largely fed up with this. The circumstances of the Cifuentes departure have poured petrol on that.

It was noticeable, when the panel was asked what their ‘five year plan’ was, how few of them unequivocally said they wanted QPR in the Premier League. Really, only Julian Stephan said that was his aim. The Frenchman said: “We have to be ambitious, in football if you’re not ambitious you stay at home. We have to be realistic but ambitious. In five years, why not in the Premier League? It’s a good ambition for everybody and a good challenge. Let’s see, I think it’s possible.” Nice. Correct answer.

Head of methodology Jon De Souza, on the other hand, said: “If we’re able to be here in five years’ time still consistently delivering the same messages that means we’ve been successful.” Hmmm, steady on Jon, let’s not get carried away.

Ben Williams added: “In five years’ time I hope we’ve had the courage to execute everything we thought was important, we didn’t back down from it, we didn’t bow our heads to things everybody else was doing, we didn’t have thoughts turned because somebody’s got their own TV programme. Within our four walls we have to have our plan, stick to it, have courage, hold each other accountable and crack on.”

To be fair Williams did say if it has worked then we’ll be in the Premier League, but still… we’re a football club. We’re in three competitions a year. We’ve just deliberately ducked out of the first one of those with obvious fitness issues and a team of kids, and we’ve now got the manager giving interviews to the BBC saying he hopes we might be good for an hour or so this week and the points don’t matter as much as the process. The head of methodology says as long as he’s sitting in front of us in five years saying the same thing that’s a success.

I don’t think there’s a support base with a better knowledge of FFP/PSR than QPR’s. I think we all ‘get it’ by now. But who wants to support a development club? A feeder club? A Brentford tribute act? You have to give people a reason to hope and believe. That this is a means to an end. I think that reaction at Watford last week and the failure to sell the away end out tomorrow is a canary in a coal mine. I say it again, our attitude to cup competitions does enormous damage here.

Nourry is right when he says “short term competitiveness versus long term sustainability is literally the most difficult thing about this job”. So, let’s finish on some reasons for optimism in the short term for those who are going to Coventry tomorrow – a bloody tough game.

The team selection last week was botched, but with good reason. They were right to try and protect Esquerdinha from playing his second ever Championship game away from home against Kwadwo Baah. Mbengue would have been a worthy opponent for one of the Championship’s most difficult wide attackers. Watford called our bluff, didn’t pick him, then slung him on later against Kieran Morgan. Fair play. Good manager. They also played with a back three, and a midfield three, which torched us. I’m less sympathetic here – if Stephan truly has watched every QPR game from last year then he should know that midfield two with Madsen in there is a disasterclass waiting to happen. If he goes with it again tomorrow and it goes badly he deserves everything that comes his and our way.

There’s no need to. Jimmy Dunne could be back, and Jonathan Varane may start. That’s transformative. Esquerdinha back on the left side; Mbengue’s mobility instead of Steve Cook’s retirement pains in the middle; Dunne on the right, Morgan legs into midfield; Varane into midfield, Madsen removed or placed out of harm’s way further forward. Totally different side. Poku’s injury isn’t as bad as feared, he’ll be back after the international break. I’m not sure I’d be spaffing that Ebere Eze money over Koki Saito as much as a progressive, positive, aggressive eight, but maybe there’s one of those to come as well. There is window left, there’s money to spend, let’s wait and see what we look like when we’re fit and available. This is a decent team on paper.

Even though I said it would happen, I was surprised by that response last week and felt it a bit of an overreaction – while completely understanding, accepting and agreeing with the reasons it happened. If we can just bite down on the mouthguard a little longer, let’s see what this team looks like in a month or two.

Links >>> Solid progress vs sod’s law – Oppo Profile >>> The Cope de Ibiza – History >>> Herczeg in charge – Referee >>> Coventry City — Official Website >>> Coventry Telegraph — Local Press >>> Sky Blues Talk — Forum >>> Sky Blues Blog — Blog >>> Sideways Sammy — Blog >>> The Lonely Season — Blog >>> Sky Blues TV - Classic Match Highlights >>> Access All Areas — Podcast

Below the fold

Team News: QPR expect to welcome back Jimmy Dunne from his hip injury. Jonathan Varane should also be able to play more than the half hour he was capable of at Watford. Those two additions alone would free up all sorts of better options in defence and midfield than we saw at Vicarage Road. Esquerdinha will likely return at left back having been left out for (failed) tactical reasons last week, with Mbengue moving back into the middle of defence. Richard Kone, according to the manager, may not be fit to start games until after the international break. The news on Kwame Poku is better than expected, but Wrexham is his best case scenario return date. Michael Frey won’t be seen until well after the next international break. Jake Clarke-Salter, at this point, is more of an idea than a physical, sentient being.

Cov’s key midfielder Matt Grimes suffered a bad cut to his shin in the free-scoring win at Pride Park last week, but has been patched up and will play. The Sky Blues will be missing both Ben Sheaf and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto with groin strains. Frank Lampard’s pursuit of Ipswich centre back Luke Woolfenden, presumably to replace Bobby Thomas who’s been linked with Sheff Utd, is still in the works.

Elsewhere: A really intriguing game tonight, and for once in this section I say that with no sarcasm.

John Eustace’s arrival at Derby and the spending of a pretty serious chunk of change (on wages if not transfer fees) has seen optimism return to Pride Park and a lot of love from the summer season previews. Lewis Travis is the latest from Eustace’s Blackburn cohort heading to the East Midlands for £3m. But this brings expectation for a team that was lucky to survive last season, particularly one with such a large and fervent home support, and they’ve started in ropey fashion – conceding five at home to Coventry last weekend as one of Eustace’s regular favourites Dion Sanderson showed why QPR fans still wake up in a cold sweat thinking about his inglorious spell at Loftus Road. The Rams are the TV game tonight against Bristol City who most (including us) expected a drop off from after an over performance in 24/25 and loss of Liam Manning to Norwich. Instead, the Robins look hot to trot under Gerhard Struber. This game might be worth your time tonight, and we don’t say that often.

Plenty of intrigue too among tomorrow’s lunchtime kick offs. We placed Marti Cifuentes’ Leicester eighth in our season preview and wondered how a support that’s spent ten years winning leagues and cups with associated European campaigns would deal with a difficult bloodlet year in the second tier. They were fortunate to beat hapless Sheff Wed on day one, and then lost at a Preston side we tipped for relegation on day two. Nathan Jones’ Charlton are next up. Home win might not be a bad bet. Hull and Blackburn is a meeting of two teams anchored by their ownership. Swanselona v Watford makes up the midday line-up.

Seven games apart from our own in the traditional kick off slot. Wrexham belatedly lifted a ban on protest banners in the away end for the visit of stricken Sheffield Blue Stripe when a number of their fans rightly pointed out their own club only needed rescuing in the first place after fans had drilled out malignant previous ownership. Their spending continues unabated, £5m for Callum Doyle from Man City now, but their off field teething problems climbing from Conference to Championship in double lively time continue.

Millwall, who we fancied, are being raided late in the transfer window. Japhet Tanganga is part of an influx of players to Sheffield Red Stripe which will enable Rhys Norrington-Davies to move to QPR. Striker Mihailo Ivanovic is linked with Leicester. The Lions head to Bramall Lane tomorrow.

Watch out for Birmingham running a hot knife through Oxford at home, and how Middlesbrough follow up with a strong start (in the league at least) at Norwich. Preston Knob End have surprised everybody with four points from two games so far, and now face strangely under-cooked Ipswich at home. Stoke have also stunned with two wins from two, but they now travel to Southampton. West Brom v Portsmouth completes the weekend line-up.

Referee: This will be Durham referee Adam Herczeg’s eighth Championship appointment, and three of those have been with QPR. Just don’t expect him to keep time. Details.

Form

- Quite the contrast in Coventry’s first two league games. They drew 0-0 here with relegation favourites Hull on the opening day before going to John Eustace’s quietly fancied Derby side and winning 5-3 with five different scorers having trailed twice. A 1-0 cup win at home to Luton bastard Town acts as the sandwich filling.

- QPR surrendered a one goal lead at home to Preston and a two-goal advantage at Plymouth in the League Cup before going down 2-1 at Watford having trailed 2-0 early on. A defeat here will be the club’s worst start to a season since that disastrous 2018/19 Steve McClaren farce when the R’s were beaten in the first four games and conceded 13 goals doing it.

- Coventry have recorded more touches in the opposition’s box than any other side in the Championship this season (73), are second for non-penalty expected goals (3.9) and third for possession won in the final third (10). She takes the chips, and gloves them into her wok, while finishing the steaks off… in the microwave. Good luck, everybody!

- Kieran Morgan’s first professional goal for QPR a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road against Coventry in the first meeting last season. The second was heading for a draw as well, until Kenneth Paal’s series of mistaken corners in injury time laid the narrative for Cov to go down the other end and win it with one of their own in the final seconds through Bobby Thomas.

- Since Mark Warburton’s QPR did the double over Cov in 2021/22 the Sky Blues have won four of six meetings with Rangers winning only the dead rubber here in the final game of the 2023/24 season. That’s as many wins as Cov managed in the previous 13 meetings.

- Remaining unbeaten in the Championship so far this season (W1 D1), Coventry will look to go unbeaten across their opening three games of a league season for the first time since 2019-20.

- Coventry have lost just two of their last 17 League games at whatever they call this ground now, and those were against promoted sides Leeds and Burnley.

- In Coventry the sides have alternated wins for the last six meetings (2020/21 was behind closed doors at St Andrew’s) which, if the sequence continues, means it’s QPR’s turn tomorrow. Rangers were the first visitors to this ground when it opened in 2005/06, losing 3-0. The R’s have since posted a 4-1-5 record here but have lost five of the last eight trips.

- QPR have lost seven of their last ten away league games (W3). In 2025 only three sides have lost more Championship games than their 11.

- The 1-0 loss here last year was Ilias Chair’s 21st game without a goal, the longest scoreless sequence of his career. His last goal prior to that was a 25-yard scorcher (and do use that word) in the 2-1 win here on the final day of 2023/24. He subsequently bagged twice in game 22 against Derby, but hasn’t scored since and is now without a goal in nine appearances.

- Haji Wright was top scorer for Coventry last season with 12. QPR haven’t had a player reach double figures for goals since Andre Gray got ten in 2021/22, including one in a 2-1 win on this ground.

- Coventry have been circumspect with their summer transfer business so far, with just three incomers. One of those is Brighton keeper Carl Rushworth who previously impressed on loan at Swansea in this division and will cover for long term injured Oliver Dovin rather than accident prone Brad Collins or Ben Wilson. Rushworth has received a yellow card in both Cov’s games so far this season, already equalling his highest previous season total. Given referee Adam Herczeg’s dealings with Joe Wildsmith at West Brom over Easter, this could be an interesting combination. Milan van Ewijk has also matched his yellow card total of last season (two) in two appearances.

- Frank Lampard played QPR the most times in his career without scoring – seven games. (Nerrrrrrr, *makes wanker sign*)

Prediction: In our Prediction League for 2025/26 we’ll once again be handing out prizes for being top at Christmas and overall winner from The Art of Football - sample the merch from our sponsor’s newly extended QPR collection here. We welcome a new contributor this year as QPR_Hibs won last season’s Prediction League at a canter and has agreed to lend his thoughts to the previews...

“Do you remember that famous vaudeville joke? The one about the lost tourist who sees a musician in the street and asks "can you tell me the best way to Carnegie Hall?" The reply, "Practice, practice, practice!"

“The thing is QPR obviously do practice - the media team issue those weekly 'Inside Training' videos (or 'Outside Training' as Silverbirch rightly calls them) - but watching the first half against Watford on Saturday it appeared several of our players didn't seem to know how to defend properly or what positions to take up. The sort of stuff that should be drilled into them on a daily basis. I said in last week's preview that I didn't think we would yet be up to speed and so it proved. I mean you don't get good in an afternoon! Lovely strike by Kieran Morgan notwithstanding.

“Coventry stuck five past Derby last week and are unbeaten in their three games so far, so this looks like a tough away fixture. I expect us to be a whole lot better going forward this time with Kone potentially starting the game. Will Julien go with two up front is the question? I don't think he will. If Jimmy Dunne is available to start at right back then the three-man midfield of Varane, Field and Morgan may be an option. There has been a lot of debate about Sam Field on the forum in the last few days. Cards on the table - he'd be in my starting XI every single time.

“On paper this looks like a home banker and as Myke correctly pointed out on the forum, QPR need to score twice to win any game at the moment. I can't see happening this week. Kone with a late consolation.”

QPR_Hibs Prediction: Coventry 3-1 QPR. Scorer – Richard Kone

LFW’s Prediction: Coventry 1-1 QPR. Scorer – Richard Kone

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Pictures - Reuters Connect

Geoff78 added 10:21 - Aug 23 Wow, positive prediction from LFW! But as my wife just said they often play better against better teams. Perhaps 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
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TacticalR added 14:19 - Aug 23 Thanks for your preview. The ticket sales at Coventry do suggest that, although the Martí party is over, a lot of us are still pining for Martí. You say 'the ultimate aim for a football club has to be to win things', but for the last few seasons the aim (ultimate or otherwise) has been survival. Perhaps one of the appeals of Martí was that he brought a bit of style to the struggle for survival. Perhaps this is why the aim of some in the hierarchy seems to be mediocrity: it's one step up from survival.

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