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To start a review of this season, you have to go back to the end of the previous season.
After the game against WBA, rumours were sufficing that Gigi De Canio who taken us from bottom of the league table to a respectable mid-table finish, was not able to commit his long term-future to the club for personal reasons. The feel good factor that was ever present during his reign, was about to be thrown out of the window within a very short space of time, with the increase in season ticket prices and the appointment of Iain Dowie.
During the month of May/June we discovered that many fans would be asked to move from prime seats in South Africa Road and others would be bracketed into categories and would be asked to pay through the nose to watch the club they have followed through the good but mostly bad times. Off the pitch, it was a difficult time for fans, knowing that in many cases that indivdually they would have to find an extra £200 to watch the club througout the season.
The appointment of Dowie was never a popular one, but intially we were filled with optimism with the loan signings of potential stars in Parejo, Ledesma and De carmine. With Flavio's contacts at Real Madrid and Fiorentina, it was believed we were getting fine young talents from the respective clubs. The fact Parejo played well for Real madrid in a pre-season tournament involving Arsenal made us think we were indeed going places. The on/off transfer of Kasper Gorkss at the time did not fill us with so much confidence, but pre-season had given rise to a degree of confidence coming into August
AUGUST
Would turn out to be the best of the season, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 heavy defeat at Sheffield United. At that time we thought a star was born in Emmanuel Ledesma and that Kaspers Gorkss would probably be one of our worst signings for years.
The marketing department were obviosuly taken in by Ledesma, as within a day of him scoring a great hat-trick versus Carlisle United, you could buy the "LA LA LEDESMA" t-shirt for under £20. That song was given to me by a very good friend and shows what an impact a simple song can acheive if a player replicates good performances on the pitch.
That month saw us gain a creditable point versus Bristol City after we went down to 10 men and great support from the QPR fans, which also saw the start and finish of the "best midfield song". For about 20 minutes of the second half it was catching on and being sang by the majority, but after that game due to players getting injured or not playing together it would never be sang again. We had comfortable wins during this month to Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers
By the end of August, we were not sure about Parejo, but thought in Ledesma we had a class player in the blue and white hoops
SEPTEMBER This month offered to fans what was both good and bad within the club at the time. From a fans point of view anyone who managed to visit Villa Park, will never forget it. A tense first half, but in the second half we managed to score with a perfect header from Damien Stewart, after good work on the right by Danny Parejo. The crowd were fantastic on the night. During this week one of the most pivotal moments of the season in my view took place on the build up to the Derby County Game. We were 4th in the league at the time, but we were about to embark on a slice of negativitiy which squashed any feel good factor that we were trying to embrace. The club decided to make the Derby County a Category A game, which had a devastating effect not only in the press but also to the fans, then I'm sure this got to the players. It did show at the time, the club tended to react to circumstance. Ledesma scores hat-trick=T-shirt, win a few games= lets take advantage and increase prices.
The club should have introduced the Category A games, prior to the start of the season, in trying to increase them 7-10 days before the game, led to much resentment. Personally, it allowed the press to overhype the story to make supporters believe that they would have to pay £50, when in reality they did not, but the damage had been done. The "family feel factor" from the day they tried to increase prices in my view, will now be very hard to reverse. Prior to this game, we were the highest placed in the league we had been all season, by the end it was the players who were feeling the heat from a series of boos by fans after a flat performance and a 2-0 defeat.
The following week to the Derby game we played Blackpool at home and only managed a 1-1 draw. With the fans still no getting over the previous week, it was now the manager and players who were starting to feel the heat.
OCTOBER
Another month that will never be forgotten. After only 12 league games Iain Dowie would be sacked and be replaced by Gareth Ainsworth. It was rumoured that after Blackpool, that the owners and manager started to have more arguments about who and who should not be playing. We will never know the truth and I suspect this will only come out publically in years to come, but we do know that anyone visiting Swansea City when we drew 0-0, knew that Dowie was probably more scared to lose then actually win. A toothless performance by a squad of players who had promised so much, back in August. How much we the fans played in the players confidence is also anyone's guess, but it did go downhill after that Derby County game.
Dowie was sacked a day before I went to a holiday/wedding in Antigua and I was only able to get the scores, but have heard the Birmingham City home game, was probably the best atmosphere this season. Down to 10 men and with such treacherous conditions down at HQ with the snow and the wind, De carmine was able to produce one piece of magic and send the QPR fans home away and we win the game 1-0, this came after a very respectable scoreline of 0-0 at Reading. We did lose comfortably by all accounts at Ipswich 2-0.
NOVEMBER
One of the higlights of this month was the visit to Old Trafford, but the negativity of the Derby game was still ringing in many fans ears. Despite this, over 6,000 made the trip to Manchester to see a performance in which we matched United in most departments, only for a late penalty from Tevez to deny us the opportunity of going into extra time. Back to the league and the first two games saw us take 3 points from a possible 6, with a defeat at Ipswich and late winner from gavin Mahon to see off 9 men Cardiff City
This month, Saw us only win 2 games, and suffer at the hands of Watford 3-0, easily our worst performance of the season. During the week of the Watford game and after being beaten by Burnley, QPR appointed PAULO SOUSA. A name which took everyone by surprise but you could not fail to be impressed with the manner in which he spoke. He had charisma and character and certainly gave the impression, he would take this club forward from the current 9th postion we found us ourselves in at the time he took charge. The two games he took charge officially resulted in a 2-1 victory at home to Charlton and a creditable draw at Crystal Palace.
DECEMBER
Paulo Sousa would lose only one game during this month, which would put him in the frame for Manager of The Month. Starting with a 1-0 win at home to Wolves, we saw Goal of The Season and a great win against high flying Wolves. An indication that we were not too far off the teams at the top.
Martin Rowlands scored a cracker to secure the victory and we were starting to see that Paulo Sousa was taking a good look at his players. It was quickly apparant that Danny Parejo was not going to figure in any formation, indeed his days were numbered and Ledesma was beginning to learn that he would not figure in the managers plans. Following Wolves, Rowlands turned hero to villian in missing a first half penalty after we had dominated Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and were very unlucky to lose 1-0.
Early December, we needed extra striking power and the club managed to secure the loan of Heidar Helgusson who scored twice in the 3-2 win at home to Preston. A game which saw us play 4-4-2 at this time, confidence was very high. Over christmas, we had two winnable games away to Charlton and home to Watford. This was the first time we started to see, change of formations, going for one up front against Watford, with Blackstock only coming on for Cook at the start of the second half. In the space of two days, the team had at least 5 changes and it could be argued, that is why we only managed to draw the two games. No doubt, playing so many games in such a short space of time, was new experience for the manager, but in general it was a good month for the new manager.
JANUARY
A mixed month, where we played our bogey team of recent years Burnley in the FA CUP. After a drab 0-0, we went to Turf moor, playing well , but heartbreak in the final minute of extra time after an error by Damion Stewart, that led to our exit in the 3rd Round and not the first time, in our clubs recent history. In the league, we signed Helgusson after he impressed with his loan period and he came good in the away win at Blackpool, this came after we spoiled the party of new manager Nigel Clough at Derby. The Derby game saw another new signing Wayne Routledge score first goal for the r;s. This signing showed our signing muscle in the championship after beating Cardiff City for his signature. Two impressive away wins, it was all loooking good. In between the two games against Burnley we were fortuntate to get a late equaliser at home to Coventry. The month of January, saw us draw for the second time 0-0 against Reading and little of note happened in that game, but it was the start of a more defensive look to our team.
FEBRUARY Due to internationals and bad weather, we were restricted to only 4 games and a really bad month, where we did not win one game. It started pretty well with Alberti scoring 2 at Nottingham Forest and on the whole we should have won the game, but two weeks later we started to see the downturn in fortunes and strange selection choices for the home game against Ipswich. The game was a defining moment in the season. In front of the sky cameras and leading 1-0 after 4 minutes, the crowd turned on stand in captain Gavin Mahon who had a nightmare game and worse still we were totally outplayed in the seconnd half to lose 3-1. Following on from that, we went to cardiff City and performed admirably and drew the game 0-0. In the space of a week, we put in another inept performance against Barnsley. We saw changes to the team and revert back to playing 2 up front. One will never know if this formation was used in training that week, but we saw for the first and only time of the season matteo ALberti play centre midfield for a 30 minute period, the use of Ramone Rose, in the second half. After playing so well against cardiff, Gavin Mahon was dropped and replaced by Miller. It seemed that the manager was trying fo find his best formation, best team and trying to use the full squad of players.
B]MARCH[/B] This month would follow on from the poor performances of the previous month. After still being in the hunt for a play off place, we found ourselves at home to struggling Norwich City. It did see a continuation of 2 up front, but no use of any wingers, with routledge playing behind the front two. It was left to the wing backs Connolly and delaney to get down the wings. Its fair to say, yet another formation used. By the end of the game, we were playing with 4 up front and Fitz Hall playing as a makeshift centre forward. We played well at home to Sheffield United, a game that saw a fanastic save from the United keeper to prevent us getting the 3 points. The majority of fans were still optimistic by the time we played doncaster Rovers away, but some were getting annoyed at the lack of attacking tactics. It was obvious we were not going to get relegated, but we were simply not going all out for the wins. A point proved at Doncaster Rovers, which from a personal point of view was the time that I really started to think, the inexperience of the manager was our undoing. We got defeated comfortably at Doncaster and then another poor performance followed at Southampton, though the management team looked happy with the point. This saw a late debut in the game from Tarrabdt, who we had loaned from Spus until the end of the season. Two wins followed, though its fair to say the Swansea game was a dire affair and the Rangers faithful by this time, knew that a Play off place was a longshot, a point refelcted in the low crowd attendance. A much better performance followed at home to Bristol City, which saw a great free kick from Lopez.
APRIL
The first saturday would be the start of Paulo Sousa's last week in charge of coaching QPR. After another disappointing home display against Crystal Palace, the manager was later questioned about the loan of striker Dexter Blackstock to Nottingham Forest and was adamant he knew nothing about it. We will never the truth, but it is fair to say he was dropped completely from the previous week game at Bristol City . Added to this, a message appeared on the official messageboard then subsequently onto this web-site with direct quotes from the manager to another QPR fan, regarding personal information . Its fair to say, the manager was under increasing pressure with results and tactics and on Thursday 9th April, he left the club, with the release of confidential information used as the main reason on the official web-site. We do not know all the extent of the confidential information revealed, but it is believed more than one supporter was told, details that should have been kept within the club. A trip to Burnley followed and and yet again, a defeat. The following week we played Sheffield Wed, arguably our best perfromance of the season, after being 2-0 down, we saw the scoring return of Rowan Vine and a great header 3 minutes from time from Damien Stewart. The crowd were fully aware that a play off spot was totally unrealistic, but it did show a team unity that had been lacking for long periods throughout the season. A trip to Wolves followed and a game that should have been drawn, with Helgusson missing a sitter, but not for the first team, it was us fans seeing another set of supporters celebrate, with Wolves 1-0 victory confirming they would be playing Premiership football next season. A poor home game against Plymouth followed with both teams thinking of the summer holidays. This game was typical of many games this season. A dire 0-0 draw.
Last Game of The Season Despite a second goal of the season by Patrick Ageymang, it was not enough to avoid defeat against a jubilant Preston team. A club which sneaked a 6th place and a play off spot after looking dead and buried a few weeks ago. The final result of the season will be scant consolation for many Rangers fans, but it did mean a little payback to cardiff City after they got promoted by beating us in the Play Off Final of 2003. Hopefully lessons will be learn't by the Rangers hierachy, and we cannot make the same mistakes again next season. Roll on next season and lets hope we find a manager that will do great things for the club and a group of supporters that will latch onto any positivity that the club can provide.
__________________
After the game against WBA, rumours were sufficing that Gigi De Canio who taken us from bottom of the league table to a respectable mid-table finish, was not able to commit his long term-future to the club for personal reasons. The feel good factor that was ever present during his reign, was about to be thrown out of the window within a very short space of time, with the increase in season ticket prices and the appointment of Iain Dowie.
During the month of May/June we discovered that many fans would be asked to move from prime seats in South Africa Road and others would be bracketed into categories and would be asked to pay through the nose to watch the club they have followed through the good but mostly bad times. Off the pitch, it was a difficult time for fans, knowing that in many cases that indivdually they would have to find an extra £200 to watch the club througout the season.
The appointment of Dowie was never a popular one, but intially we were filled with optimism with the loan signings of potential stars in Parejo, Ledesma and De carmine. With Flavio's contacts at Real Madrid and Fiorentina, it was believed we were getting fine young talents from the respective clubs. The fact Parejo played well for Real madrid in a pre-season tournament involving Arsenal made us think we were indeed going places. The on/off transfer of Kasper Gorkss at the time did not fill us with so much confidence, but pre-season had given rise to a degree of confidence coming into August
AUGUST
Would turn out to be the best of the season, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 heavy defeat at Sheffield United. At that time we thought a star was born in Emmanuel Ledesma and that Kaspers Gorkss would probably be one of our worst signings for years.
The marketing department were obviosuly taken in by Ledesma, as within a day of him scoring a great hat-trick versus Carlisle United, you could buy the "LA LA LEDESMA" t-shirt for under £20. That song was given to me by a very good friend and shows what an impact a simple song can acheive if a player replicates good performances on the pitch.
That month saw us gain a creditable point versus Bristol City after we went down to 10 men and great support from the QPR fans, which also saw the start and finish of the "best midfield song". For about 20 minutes of the second half it was catching on and being sang by the majority, but after that game due to players getting injured or not playing together it would never be sang again. We had comfortable wins during this month to Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers
By the end of August, we were not sure about Parejo, but thought in Ledesma we had a class player in the blue and white hoops
SEPTEMBER This month offered to fans what was both good and bad within the club at the time. From a fans point of view anyone who managed to visit Villa Park, will never forget it. A tense first half, but in the second half we managed to score with a perfect header from Damien Stewart, after good work on the right by Danny Parejo. The crowd were fantastic on the night. During this week one of the most pivotal moments of the season in my view took place on the build up to the Derby County Game. We were 4th in the league at the time, but we were about to embark on a slice of negativitiy which squashed any feel good factor that we were trying to embrace. The club decided to make the Derby County a Category A game, which had a devastating effect not only in the press but also to the fans, then I'm sure this got to the players. It did show at the time, the club tended to react to circumstance. Ledesma scores hat-trick=T-shirt, win a few games= lets take advantage and increase prices.
The club should have introduced the Category A games, prior to the start of the season, in trying to increase them 7-10 days before the game, led to much resentment. Personally, it allowed the press to overhype the story to make supporters believe that they would have to pay £50, when in reality they did not, but the damage had been done. The "family feel factor" from the day they tried to increase prices in my view, will now be very hard to reverse. Prior to this game, we were the highest placed in the league we had been all season, by the end it was the players who were feeling the heat from a series of boos by fans after a flat performance and a 2-0 defeat.
The following week to the Derby game we played Blackpool at home and only managed a 1-1 draw. With the fans still no getting over the previous week, it was now the manager and players who were starting to feel the heat.
OCTOBER
Another month that will never be forgotten. After only 12 league games Iain Dowie would be sacked and be replaced by Gareth Ainsworth. It was rumoured that after Blackpool, that the owners and manager started to have more arguments about who and who should not be playing. We will never know the truth and I suspect this will only come out publically in years to come, but we do know that anyone visiting Swansea City when we drew 0-0, knew that Dowie was probably more scared to lose then actually win. A toothless performance by a squad of players who had promised so much, back in August. How much we the fans played in the players confidence is also anyone's guess, but it did go downhill after that Derby County game.
Dowie was sacked a day before I went to a holiday/wedding in Antigua and I was only able to get the scores, but have heard the Birmingham City home game, was probably the best atmosphere this season. Down to 10 men and with such treacherous conditions down at HQ with the snow and the wind, De carmine was able to produce one piece of magic and send the QPR fans home away and we win the game 1-0, this came after a very respectable scoreline of 0-0 at Reading. We did lose comfortably by all accounts at Ipswich 2-0.
NOVEMBER
One of the higlights of this month was the visit to Old Trafford, but the negativity of the Derby game was still ringing in many fans ears. Despite this, over 6,000 made the trip to Manchester to see a performance in which we matched United in most departments, only for a late penalty from Tevez to deny us the opportunity of going into extra time. Back to the league and the first two games saw us take 3 points from a possible 6, with a defeat at Ipswich and late winner from gavin Mahon to see off 9 men Cardiff City
This month, Saw us only win 2 games, and suffer at the hands of Watford 3-0, easily our worst performance of the season. During the week of the Watford game and after being beaten by Burnley, QPR appointed PAULO SOUSA. A name which took everyone by surprise but you could not fail to be impressed with the manner in which he spoke. He had charisma and character and certainly gave the impression, he would take this club forward from the current 9th postion we found us ourselves in at the time he took charge. The two games he took charge officially resulted in a 2-1 victory at home to Charlton and a creditable draw at Crystal Palace.
DECEMBER
Paulo Sousa would lose only one game during this month, which would put him in the frame for Manager of The Month. Starting with a 1-0 win at home to Wolves, we saw Goal of The Season and a great win against high flying Wolves. An indication that we were not too far off the teams at the top.
Martin Rowlands scored a cracker to secure the victory and we were starting to see that Paulo Sousa was taking a good look at his players. It was quickly apparant that Danny Parejo was not going to figure in any formation, indeed his days were numbered and Ledesma was beginning to learn that he would not figure in the managers plans. Following Wolves, Rowlands turned hero to villian in missing a first half penalty after we had dominated Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and were very unlucky to lose 1-0.
Early December, we needed extra striking power and the club managed to secure the loan of Heidar Helgusson who scored twice in the 3-2 win at home to Preston. A game which saw us play 4-4-2 at this time, confidence was very high. Over christmas, we had two winnable games away to Charlton and home to Watford. This was the first time we started to see, change of formations, going for one up front against Watford, with Blackstock only coming on for Cook at the start of the second half. In the space of two days, the team had at least 5 changes and it could be argued, that is why we only managed to draw the two games. No doubt, playing so many games in such a short space of time, was new experience for the manager, but in general it was a good month for the new manager.
JANUARY
A mixed month, where we played our bogey team of recent years Burnley in the FA CUP. After a drab 0-0, we went to Turf moor, playing well , but heartbreak in the final minute of extra time after an error by Damion Stewart, that led to our exit in the 3rd Round and not the first time, in our clubs recent history. In the league, we signed Helgusson after he impressed with his loan period and he came good in the away win at Blackpool, this came after we spoiled the party of new manager Nigel Clough at Derby. The Derby game saw another new signing Wayne Routledge score first goal for the r;s. This signing showed our signing muscle in the championship after beating Cardiff City for his signature. Two impressive away wins, it was all loooking good. In between the two games against Burnley we were fortuntate to get a late equaliser at home to Coventry. The month of January, saw us draw for the second time 0-0 against Reading and little of note happened in that game, but it was the start of a more defensive look to our team.
FEBRUARY Due to internationals and bad weather, we were restricted to only 4 games and a really bad month, where we did not win one game. It started pretty well with Alberti scoring 2 at Nottingham Forest and on the whole we should have won the game, but two weeks later we started to see the downturn in fortunes and strange selection choices for the home game against Ipswich. The game was a defining moment in the season. In front of the sky cameras and leading 1-0 after 4 minutes, the crowd turned on stand in captain Gavin Mahon who had a nightmare game and worse still we were totally outplayed in the seconnd half to lose 3-1. Following on from that, we went to cardiff City and performed admirably and drew the game 0-0. In the space of a week, we put in another inept performance against Barnsley. We saw changes to the team and revert back to playing 2 up front. One will never know if this formation was used in training that week, but we saw for the first and only time of the season matteo ALberti play centre midfield for a 30 minute period, the use of Ramone Rose, in the second half. After playing so well against cardiff, Gavin Mahon was dropped and replaced by Miller. It seemed that the manager was trying fo find his best formation, best team and trying to use the full squad of players.
B]MARCH[/B] This month would follow on from the poor performances of the previous month. After still being in the hunt for a play off place, we found ourselves at home to struggling Norwich City. It did see a continuation of 2 up front, but no use of any wingers, with routledge playing behind the front two. It was left to the wing backs Connolly and delaney to get down the wings. Its fair to say, yet another formation used. By the end of the game, we were playing with 4 up front and Fitz Hall playing as a makeshift centre forward. We played well at home to Sheffield United, a game that saw a fanastic save from the United keeper to prevent us getting the 3 points. The majority of fans were still optimistic by the time we played doncaster Rovers away, but some were getting annoyed at the lack of attacking tactics. It was obvious we were not going to get relegated, but we were simply not going all out for the wins. A point proved at Doncaster Rovers, which from a personal point of view was the time that I really started to think, the inexperience of the manager was our undoing. We got defeated comfortably at Doncaster and then another poor performance followed at Southampton, though the management team looked happy with the point. This saw a late debut in the game from Tarrabdt, who we had loaned from Spus until the end of the season. Two wins followed, though its fair to say the Swansea game was a dire affair and the Rangers faithful by this time, knew that a Play off place was a longshot, a point refelcted in the low crowd attendance. A much better performance followed at home to Bristol City, which saw a great free kick from Lopez.
APRIL
The first saturday would be the start of Paulo Sousa's last week in charge of coaching QPR. After another disappointing home display against Crystal Palace, the manager was later questioned about the loan of striker Dexter Blackstock to Nottingham Forest and was adamant he knew nothing about it. We will never the truth, but it is fair to say he was dropped completely from the previous week game at Bristol City . Added to this, a message appeared on the official messageboard then subsequently onto this web-site with direct quotes from the manager to another QPR fan, regarding personal information . Its fair to say, the manager was under increasing pressure with results and tactics and on Thursday 9th April, he left the club, with the release of confidential information used as the main reason on the official web-site. We do not know all the extent of the confidential information revealed, but it is believed more than one supporter was told, details that should have been kept within the club. A trip to Burnley followed and and yet again, a defeat. The following week we played Sheffield Wed, arguably our best perfromance of the season, after being 2-0 down, we saw the scoring return of Rowan Vine and a great header 3 minutes from time from Damien Stewart. The crowd were fully aware that a play off spot was totally unrealistic, but it did show a team unity that had been lacking for long periods throughout the season. A trip to Wolves followed and a game that should have been drawn, with Helgusson missing a sitter, but not for the first team, it was us fans seeing another set of supporters celebrate, with Wolves 1-0 victory confirming they would be playing Premiership football next season. A poor home game against Plymouth followed with both teams thinking of the summer holidays. This game was typical of many games this season. A dire 0-0 draw.
Last Game of The Season Despite a second goal of the season by Patrick Ageymang, it was not enough to avoid defeat against a jubilant Preston team. A club which sneaked a 6th place and a play off spot after looking dead and buried a few weeks ago. The final result of the season will be scant consolation for many Rangers fans, but it did mean a little payback to cardiff City after they got promoted by beating us in the Play Off Final of 2003. Hopefully lessons will be learn't by the Rangers hierachy, and we cannot make the same mistakes again next season. Roll on next season and lets hope we find a manager that will do great things for the club and a group of supporters that will latch onto any positivity that the club can provide.
__________________
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