West London will be painted with a bright blue and white this coming Premier League season with Queens Park Rangers returning back to top flight football after a horrendous season back in 2012-13, relegating them to the Championship division. The past two years for the fans and the club itself has been harsh and leading up to this moment, everyone feels the satisfaction and delight of being brought back from the dead instantly to salvage what they lost.
A Flashback of the Past 2 Years
After Mark Hughes was sacked and Harry Redknapp was roped in during the dying moments of the season back in 2012-13, the inevitable came true with the R’s being demoted to the lower division, denying them of regular EPL action. But the odds were in favor of west London club to kick back, push into the top and retain their spot for the year ahead.
They were quick to pick up the pieces early on but were sidetracked during Christmas time which put them in an unbalanced 4th position at end point, taking matters to the playoffs where they had to fend off the likes of Wigan Athletic and Derby County. For all the fans though, it was a mind boggling two weeks before their expectation of being promoted back was achieved with last gasp winners against both sides. Zamora’s 93rd minute winner against the Rams was basically a Harry Redknapp breakdown, as he thought he’d consider retiring, after a hopeless 90 minutes of standard play. Being back in the EPL, the 67 year old has prolonged his managerial career to another high with 31 years and running to gleam on his ever growing resume.
His post match views – “If we hadn’t gone up this year I would have turned it in. I would have definitely packed up. I wouldn’t have gone back and done another year in the Championship, it didn’t appeal to me anymore. With 10 minutes to go I was thinking ‘what golf club should I join this year – should I play here or there?’ and then suddenly Bobby ruined it all.”
A Revised and Fresh Side Out to Conquer
In anticipation of the tough season QPR will face in the coming months, the veteran manager will have to keep his positives from the recently concluded Championship season and build on it to produce an appealing squad.
Their top goal-scorer for last season was 25 year old Charlie Austin who appeared in 37 games for the R’s snatching up a total of 20 goals in all competitions. He’s got that pace with him that every team looks to romp in. He can pace his game very well with every changing tempo to each fixture. Quick on his feet and a great eye for those long balls, Austin will prove to be the spearhead of the team if they get their guns blazing from day one.
The recent addition of Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, will showcase how well QPR can defend against the big teams. Experience is one thing that strikes the mind when you manager Redknapp was looking for in buying the Englishman. His physicality in the box is unmatched, but seeing as his pace is far too slow for a centre back, counter attacks through the middle will be a hassle to defend with the main man not being able to track back quick enough. Interestingly though, with QPR equipped with the 35 year old, they are looking to romp in Cardiff City captain, Steven Caulker with the highlight of their previous signing. With Caulker in the defense along with the ex-United player, hope wil be restored in the box.
Looking forward to a good season from the underdogs and we might see fierce competition from the blue and white in the coming years ahead.