Welcome to the start of the new football season in July. Yes July!
The beach balls are turning into footballs before we’ve even had time to unpack the deck chairs never mind fold them away again.
This year the football calendar has become even more crowded by the ridiculous decision to cram in a mid-winter World Cup, which for all sorts of nefarious reasons is being held in a country considered too hot to handle summer football. (By the way, whatever happened to all those FIFA and Qatari promises of iced water sprinklers round the edge of the pitches?)
This means that at QPR it’s another new season, another new manager. It seems like only yesterday that we were applauding Mark Warburton on his farewell lap of honour around Loftus Road. Now we have Michael Beale. (Is it Michael or Mick? The Twitter jury seems to be still out on that one). It’s an imaginative appointment.
He’s not just another familiar face plucked from the Sky pundits panel. He comes to us as a highly rated coach via Glasgow Rangers, Aston Villa and a spell in Brazil. But he is as yet untested as a manager. (I know the job title says head coach but to us he’s the manager).
He certainly talks a good game and says a lot of the right things. But media interviews and results on the pitch are two different things. Already he has marked out one big difference from his predecessor in saying that he’s less interested in having older heads sprinkled round the dressing room and that it’s time for the younger mid-career players to take on more of the team’s responsibilities. That idea will come as music to club directors still trying to curb the club’s total wage bill.
Preseason games rarely give you much of a clue as to how the real season will go but anyone dreaming of a quick promotion this season will have been sharply brought down to earth by the 3-0 defeat to a strong Crystal Palace XI. The defects of last season – conceding sloppy goals, little pace in attack and the lack of a reliable striker - have yet to be addressed.
The hope is that with just a couple of additional signings, Beale will be able to coach a young team to success. This sounds like a project for more than one season. The QPR Board and us fans will have to be patient. But as we know from the managerial merry-go-rounds of the past, patience is too often a commodity in short supply at Loftus Road.
Let’s hope this time the change of heart is real and the club don’t reach for the ejector button too quickly.
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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