QPR are well and truly up and running in the 2025/26 Championship, with three wins in a row now following Saturday’s impressive performance and 1-0 win against in form Stoke.

A Queens Park Rangers side in a 442 set up, tricky and skilful widemen wreaking havoc, a cultured ball player in the middle of the park, two strikers in a big man-speedy man combination… one would be forgiven for wondering whether the magnificent grey mane of Gerry Francis had crept back into the dressing room for a third swing at managing this team.

He’ll certainly have enjoyed watching on from the posh seats on Saturday. There was a real 90s flavour to this QPR setup and style and, after a nightmare beginning to the season, strong hints that they’re starting to enjoy what they’re doing.

The winning goal was late in arriving, but came from a couple of sources who’d been threatening it all day.

Koki Saito had an electric afternoon, tormenting full backs on both sides of the pitch and twice drawing awkward saves from visiting keeper Viktor Johansson with long range shots. When he drew his fellow Japanese star Tatsuki Seko out into the deep waters of the right wing a quarter of an hour from time and squared him up, the Stoke substitute became the subject of significant lifeguard interest. Sure enough, Saito skipped to the byline in trademark style for a cut back that set in motion a duffed Lewis Baker clearance and beautiful, first-time, left-footed finish into the top corner by Harvey Vale. Even the excellent Johansson was getting nowhere near that one, and if you found yourself drawing comparisons with Bobby Zamora’s play-off winner you weren’t the only one. Stoke always have had issues with Vale.

Vale should have scored in the first half. Baker was caught on a super-high press by Liam Morrison, Richard Kone fed the regained possession into the penalty area, and Vale had the freedom of Loftus Road to compose himself and pick a spot but ended up panicking and shooting straight at the keeper. He was later first to the rebound off one of Saito’s speculators but could only chest the ball wide of the target.

When Vale did eventually find the net, it felt like it had been coming for him, and for QPR as well. Once again the Londoners looked far more comfortable and threatening in a game where the ball was dominated by the opposition – Stoke finished with 65% possession here. The one time Rangers did try their dreaded goalkick routine and build up from the back it went badly, with Varane caught on the edge of his own box setting up a Stoke long throw, corner, and roasting for Norrington-Davies at the hands of Manhoef.

Much better to invite Stoke on and then spring them with counters when you’ve got strikers as handy as Kone and Burrell hanging around. Those two thought they’d combined for the opener midway through the second half when Kone ran clear from his own half in transition, brilliantly squared it across the penalty box for Burrell, and the Jamaican shot for the bottom corner – Johansson, improbably, got down to make a one-on-one save. With a smart stop up in the top corner from Vale’s 20 yarder on the end of a flowing passing move, it was another one of those days where you felt Rangers would have won more comfortably against a less adept keeper.

This as good as Rangers have looked when risking a two-man central midfield for some time. Usually that sees us outnumbered and played through too easily but, bar one or two nervy Varane moments, that didn’t occur. Credit to Nicolas Madsen for arguably his best performance for the club so far. Adept and skilful with the ball, he also did the dirty work well, winning multiple headers and producing a brilliant block on Lewis Baker in his own area in the first half when had he got a shot away it surely would have opened the scoring.

That collective willingness to work hard and defend their goal was exemplified before half time by a Liam Morrison block on another Baker shot during scrambled defence, and Richard Kone journeying all the way back to the edge of his own area to rescue a situation two minutes into the second half caused by Varane losing the ball in a dangerous spot.

Stoke, as we’ve mentioned a time or two before, have finished in the bottom half of this league for the last seven consecutive seasons. During that time they’ve brought in just shy of 100 players for well north of £75m. A monkey throwing darts at the telephone book would pick better signings than this lot. Hell, a dart throwing monkey would be a better signing than a lot of the tat brought to the Potteries by the likes of Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones. This the sort of club that buys a sofa from DFS when there isn’t a sale on. But City arrived at Loftus Road on a surprisingly bright run of four wins from their first five games. Has Mark Robins finally cracked the code and freed them from Championship purgatory?

A 1-0 defeat here suggests perhaps not but, much like this fixture last year, they’ll leave with justified grumbles about 50/50 calls going almost exclusively in QPR’s favour.

When Amadou Mbengue set off after his own wild touch midway through the first half it brought him face to face with Ben Pearson the Goblin Boy in the centre circle. The pair crunched into a meaty block tackle on both sides of the ball and Pearson was left in a heap. Referee Tim Robinson didn’t even award a free kick. Subsequent replays and still photographs suggest this was extremely generous. Pearson, who rather chugs through games these days like a petrol car somebody’s accidentally topped up with marine diesel, had already been extremely fortunate to survive pisballing about in the vicinity of Richard Kone who robbed him of the ball and planted a Les Ferdinand-style piledriver an inch wide of the bottom corner from 20 yards (Championship beware, do not take liberties with this guy around). He then responded to the apparent injustice of the Mbengue incident by coming straight back onto the field from his treatment, deliberately booting Burrell into the Ellerslie Road stand, getting a yellow card for himself and forcing Robins to hook him at half time. There’ll be no Ben Pearson red card then, I’ll tell the children. A bear of very little brain.

Stoke fumed again in the second half when Rumarn Burrell, another not in the mood to give defenders a moment of peace, tried to burst beyond the last defender and toe a loose ball in at the Loft End. Keeper Viktor Johansson sprang from his line to seize upon the danger. Burrell left a boot in and caught the Swede in the face. A re-run of the Jonathan Kodija v Joe Lumley incident at Villa Park all those years ago. I want my striker to go for that, we’ve been too damn nice for too damn long, but that was a bit naughty. A thick yellow card.

This wasn’t an easy game to referee. Robinson, a Premier League official, only gets one look at these incidents and at the time on the day I thought he’d called them both right. It’s only when you slow them down later that you start sucking your teeth a bit. It also doesn’t help the officials when absolutely anything and everything that happens provokes these enormous, arm-waving histrionics and six player committee surrounding the referee making out like it’s the worst challenge they’ve ever seen. Nor players rolling round on the floor apparently career threatened suddenly leaping to their feet and playing on. Everything was wrong in the world for Ben Wilmot, who looked like he could have a miserable time at Cadbury World. But that’s easy for me to sit here and write on a sunny Sunday morning with three points in the bag. Stoke have been on the end of some rough justice two years running at Loftus Road, you could hear what the away end thought of Robinson’s performance and I dare say this would be a different match report if I was writing it for The Oatcake.

Still, not the referee’s fault that Million Manhoef somehow contrived to head over from half a yard out when their best player Sorba Thomas’ searching cross had Paul Nardi rooted to his line as per. Not often I say this, but I’d have scored that one myself.

The Pearson incident wasn’t the only wild moment of Mbengue’s frankly fairly unhinged afternoon. Charging round, flying through the air, scant regard for his own safety or the welfare of those around him, rocks and diamonds, hours of fun, a total liability, and very QPR indeed. Just be glad you weren’t his primary school teacher. His battle with Man City loanee Divin Mubama raged all day. Mbengue was adamant at one point the Stoke striker had elbowed him (he hadn’t) and raged on the touchline during his treatment. Already yellow carded, this felt like a red waiting to happen and Stéphan at one stage was physically holding him in position by the head and pointing out that with ten minutes to go and leading the game 1-0 it would be just wonderful if he could make it through the remainder of the game without killing anyone. NO BEN! When Mubama was substituted, Mbengue followed him off with words and a wave, sparking a further confrontation. And at full time he celebrated so raucously in front of the away end players from both sides had to come and move him away. Mad as a bag of bees.

The decision not to safeguard the future of the win and clean sheet with a substitution seemed strange to me. Steve Cook could have come and done ten calmer minutes in there I’m sure. Likewise up front where Burrell’s tireless chasing and Kone’s all action performance were starting to wane late on. Kone was moving like somebody advertising a walk-in bath by the end. Would Paul Smyth or Rayan Kolli have perhaps been able to help here? Karamoko Dembele was prepared, and then sat back down. In the end Rangers made just one substitution, and saw the result through. Kone’s glorious, humiliating nutmeg which drew a foul and yellow card from Lawal showed the value of leaving him out there and Nicolas Madsen stung Johansson’s palms with the free kick.

Rangers have their first dreaded three game week of the league season approaching, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing unchanged teams and one substitution as we navigate Sheff Wed, Oxford and Bristol City. For now though the team looked comfortable in its skin here, and with the best depth it’s had on the bench for a while – albeit unused for now.

Kolli did make himself half useful from the sideline. Parking his enormous Sideshow Bob affair in front of Tchamadeu to obstruct his throw in, an act that sparked such a temper tantrum he ended up throwing the ball straight back out for a QPR throw. Shithouse Island drinks are free. I love all that me.

The points were preserved by two big efforts in stoppage time from Liam Morrison. First a header deep in his own six-yard box as Stoke flung balls and bits of old boat our way searching for an equaliser. Again, you’d ideally want your goalkeeper to neutralise those situations, but when Nardi did come for the next cross everybody wished he hadn’t bothered as an awful attempt at a double punch (if you can put two hands on the ball that’s a catch) gave Aaron Cresswell a free hit at an open goal – Morrison somehow made the save of the game with an outstretched leg down in the bottom corner. Superb from the Scot, less so from the man behind him. Morrison did blot his copybook with a dire pass out of defence late in the day that had him sweating like a bag of cats at a greyhound meeting, and he was fortunate sub Cissé stuck the chance it created high over the bar.

Nothing is more obsolete than yesterday’s vision of the future. In just half a dozen games to start this season QPR have completely altered their approach and style of play and now look an effective, threatening side. When your manager is willing to pick two strikers, and they’ve got the pace and persistence of Burrell alongside the power and precision of Kone, you’ll always have a chance in a game. From outright despair I’m increasingly excited by what we might have on our hands here.

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QPR: Nardi 5; Dunne 6, Morrison 7, Mbengue 6, Norrington-Davies 6; Vale 7, Madsen 7, Varane 6 (Hayden 61, 5), Saito 8; Burrell 7, Kone 7

Subs not used: Cook, Dembele, Field, Frey, Hamer, Kolli, Morgan, Smyth

Goals: Vale 75 (unassisted)

Yellow Cards: Norrington-Davies 42 (foul), Mbengue 67 (general lunacy), Burrell 72 (foul), Nardi 90+3 (time wasting)

Stoke: Johansson 7; Tchamadeu 6, Lawal 6, Wilmot 6, Cresswell 6; Rigo 6 (Jun-Ho 55, 5), Pearson 4 (Seko 46, 5); Manhoef 5 (Cisse 55, 6), Baker 5, Thomas 7; Mubama 6 (Bozenik 81, -)

Subs not used: Bocat, Bonham, Donley, Phillips, Talovierov

Yellow Cards: Pearson 39 (being a knob), Baker 52 (foul), Lawal 88 (foul)

QPR Star Man – Koki Saito 8 An electrifying presence.

Referee – Tim Robinson (Sussex) 5 A first game of the season for this Premier League official and not an easy one to keep hold of at all. Much like this fixture last season there were a number of contentious, 50/50 decisions, and on each occasion the judgement came down on QPR’s side. Mbengue’s runaway charge into Ben Pearson in the first half wasn’t even given as a free kick, which at the time I felt was a fair call on a block tackle on the ball (and the referee does only get one look at it) but seeing it again we’ve perhaps got lucky there. Likewise Ruman Burrell leaving one in on Viktor Johansson in the second half. I think if I was writing for The Oatcake here this mark would be two lower and a lot rantier – particularly on little stuff that frustrates fans like adding five minutes of stoppage time, booking the goalkeeper for time wasting during that period, and then blowing the final whistle dead on five minutes.

Attendance – 16,481 (1,800 Stoke approx.) I’m not sure those contrasting Liam Morrison incidents right at the end will have done a lot for his health, but wonderful to see and hear from Andy Sinton on his return to Loftus Road after his recent heart attack.

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Pictures - Ian Randall Photography

Northolt_Rs added 10:05 - Sep 22 How wonderful is it to read a report like this about a great performance and a great win? Top marks all round for a brilliant afternoon at LR. I’m starting to love this group of players…. If Carlsberg did birthdays eh, Clive?
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dannyblue added 10:40 - Sep 22 “Just be glad you weren’t his primary school teacher.” Genuine LOL
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bellomatic added 12:12 - Sep 22 I might be a bit dim, but can someone explain the headline. What were Stoke's previous issues with Vale?
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Ned_Kennedys added 12:12 - Sep 22 Great report with some laugh out loud comments 👍
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Marshy added 12:58 - Sep 22 Great game. Great atmosphere. Great win. If we can keep up the momentum then we could have a a very good season. When you consider we still have Chair, JCS and Poku to come back, the overall squad looks very solid for the first time in many years. I was going to give my MotM to Vale, but that fantastic goal line clearance at the end edged it for me in Morrison’s favour. He was excellent throughout. As for Vale’s goal- “unbelievable”. Even the celebration was in the same Zamora corner of the pitch. Happy days!

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Northernr added 13:17 - Sep 22 Bellomatic - Who's the other team in Stoke? ...
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M40R added 14:30 - Sep 22 Great report again: hard to add anything!
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Sittingbournehoop added 21:04 - Sep 22 From the utter despair of the Coventry game to where we are now, quite incredible really. I was convinced we had a manager that wouldn’t last beyond October and a shambles of a team with relegation written all over them. Very exciting to watch, I love a 442 formation with pace an power and skilful wingers. Saito was great to watch and has moved up a gear from last season. Vale has bags of potential and took his goal very well and hit it instinctively when he had no time to think about it. Kone is the real deal, we’ll only have him for a season or two before he goes for a big money move. Very much a Gerry Francis look about the team, love it!

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snanker added 01:13 - Sep 23 Good gawd what a turnaround plenty more pace on the pitch has made formation, performance and result wise. Credit the manager and staff for instilling enjoyment and confidence in the group and a game style that suits our front men. I'd have bayoneted myself if I'd seen our no.27 in the oppo trench a century + ago. Not sure exactly where this goes but I am actually enjoying the ride so no downside parting quip needed

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LLoydy added 20:34 - Sep 23 We should talk more about Liam Morrison, quiet and unassuming next to an absolute (and very QPR) lunatic there's a huge amount to like about him
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