They may be level on points with fellow new arrivals Burnley , but worryingly for boss Harry Redknapp and owner Tony Fernandes, they have the playing staff — and the accompanying wage bill — that befits a comfortably mid-table side.
It marked the end of a largely unhappy spell in the top flight, having only escaped the drop the previous season on the final day. With Redknapp in charge and Fernandes still willing to bankroll the club, the Loftus Road faithful had every right to be confident going into last season.
However, after a fantastic start, the team faded badly and only achieved promotion — the bare minimum expected — via the play-offs. Fernandes has plied the club with funds to pursue countless transfer targets and pay new acquisitions wages that would make many clubs vying for Europa League places balk. However, his choice of managers has lacked savvy.
Even if these three have the necessary skills and gravitas to keep a disparate squad together and organized, both on and off the pitch, it may not be enough to keep their heads above the water as the season progresses. Nelsen's then-approaching departure made signing a replacement center-back a necessity for Redknapp. Samba has the best part of five years of Premier League experience, is physically imposing and strong in the air. In theory, his presence offers a nice counterpart to the scrappier Clint Hill beside him in defense.
His size and decent goalscoring record—17 in his time at Blackburn—have given people the impression he is a first-class defender. In reality, Samba is nowhere near that level. There are reasons top clubs have shied away from the year-old, and they are mostly to do with him being a decent individual player but not someone particularly adept as part of a defensive unit.
He has little instinct for organization, and his concentration can be found severely wanting when tasked with keeping track of opposition forwards i. In his last season-and-a-half at Blackburn, he was as big a culprit as any for the club's woeful defending. Up until his last league match for the club in , Samba played in 16 of their 20 games, a spell in which they conceded 43 times. The season before that in which he played in 33 of their games Blackburn were just as shambolic, conceding 59 goals.
If not for the frequent superb work of goalkeeper Paul Robinson, they would almost certainly have gone down a year earlier, as they could not defend whatsoever. Samba was not solely to blame for Blackburn's defensive struggles, but all this is to show he is far from being the man capable of solidifying QPR up at the back alone. Their defense is not altogether dissimilar to that Blackburn one, with players like Hill and Nedum Onuoha decent but not especially commanding presences at the back.
Behind them, Julio Cesar will give them some chance of keeping teams out. But as the Swansea game demonstrated, he is going to have some off days, and even then there is only so much he can do. That Adel Taarabt has been, in goals and assists, responsible for eight of QPR's 19 goals this season says something about the onus on him to lift this team. Taarabt has played some terrific football this season. To watch the Moroccan in full flight is to witness hope for the team around him.
If he is capable of summoning such breathtaking moments of quality, then surely those around him can rise to make the most of the advantages he gives them. Shaun Wright-Phillips shows flashes of the speed heading towards goal that wowed so often in his younger days. Jamie Mackie is a grafter, but not an especially potent threat upfront.
Loan arrival Andros Townsend is an earnest, brave winger who might yet contribute some big moments, but is still learning his trade at this level. The Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been superb in after a patchy first season. There is a succession plan to ensure older players such as the captain Stefan Johansen, signed from Fulham, are eventually replaced by players such as the former Ipswich midfielder Andre Dozzell. Continuing to find that value will guide their progression.
Now QPR hope a fertile academy will complete the picture. It is offered via Tifosy Capital and Advisory, which was co-founded by the former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli, and echoes a successful scheme rolled out with Norwich in Planning permission was granted in September; it will mean academy players are no longer based away from the first team and Ferdinand believes it is a crucial step.
On the other hand, it took some skill to avert a freefall into League One. Read more.
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