Seventeen games in, a third of the season gone, time for a quick review of how things have gone so far for the SuperHoops.
First off, it has been fantastic to be back inside the stadium for live games with friends and fellow supporters. There have been some terrific games this season which has created a vibrant atmosphere. It’s just not the same on TV. Despite a run of injuries and a loss of form by some key players, Rangers are still in the hunt.
At the time of writing, we are sixth in the league and in one of the play-off places. But, and there’s always a ‘but’ with QPR, the team has been frustratingly inconsistent at times: a batch of brilliant goals too often cancelled out at the other end by defensive blunders. All that plus some bizarre and inexcusable refereeing decisions.
We have scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot. Only the games involving our high-scoring neighbours at Craven Cottage have seen more goals. This goal glut has lured the Sky cameras to Rangers games with increasing regularity. By the end of this year, fifteen of QPR’s twenty-four League fixtures in this season so far will have been moved to suit the Sky schedulers. Often, so it seems, just to fill a gap in the Premier League calendar.
This constant shifting of fixtures is becoming a growing source of annoyance for the fans. Inconvenient kick off times, dark weekday evenings and wet winter weather keep the crowds away. For away games this often means previously booked trips have to be cancelled. Many are left out of pocket.
Perhaps even more worrying for the club is that too many young fans are having to drop out of home games because so many fixtures are played on school nights. The young fans are the future of the game.
The advent of Sky has brought many benefits to football, better coverage and much needed money. But football and TV need to come to a better arrangement than the present one. Otherwise in a few years’ time, there will be no crowds in the grounds to fill the screens for the Sky cameras of the future.
There’s been a lot of progress this season. We now have some technically gifted young players who are a pleasure to watch. We look like a team that never stops trying. That has been a big factor in keeping what can often be a fickle crowd behind the team. We look like a team who want to play good football. We look like a team who want to play for each other and for us fans. There is a good atmosphere round the club.
The steady and measured management style of Mark Warburton has played a big part in that. This time last year Rangers were on a bad run of form and the websites were awash with demands for Warburton’s head. Luckily for all of us, the club held their nerve and did not go in for another reflex change of manager. The result has been much needed stability and a strong sense of a common purpose throughout the club.
Seventeen games in, two thirds of the season still to go but so far, so good.
Phil Harding is a journalist and writer. He lives in Hammersmith, is a season ticket holder at QPR and has supported the team since the early 70s.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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