Pre-season is a funny time of year. It's neither one thing nor the other. Games are being played, sometimes at stadia with big crowds. But do they amount to anything? Do they tell us anything at all about the season to come or are they just an elaborate way of getting the players fit?
In the past, QPR pre-seasons were either very low-key or chaotic. Sometimes they consisted of not much more than a couple of trips down the road to play a couple of our non-league neighbours such as Harrow Borough or Hayes.
Or, if Neil Warnock was in charge there'd be a trip to the West Country to play a few teams there (Neil conveniently had a house nearby). Then again there were the more exotic foreign trips, which often seemed to consist of a flight to Italy to play teams who only Gino Paladini had ever heard of. Sometimes the other team really was a figment of Paladini's imagination and they didn't turn up.
These days in football Pre-Season (note capital P, capital S ) has taken on a totally different feel. It's become big business. For many Premier League clubs it has become a chance to make even more money. North American tours by the top clubs now play in front of 70,000 sell-out crowds packed out with TV.
(An ominous warning for the future here, by the way. If Manchester City v. Milan at a distant American stadium can attract huge crowds and big gate receipts, then the dreadful idea of a money-spinning global Premier League played at grounds all over the world is going to come back to bite us. That idea hasn't gone away).
In our more modest way, QPR has jumped on the Pre-Season band wagon too. Our recent friendly against Spurs attracted a near capacity crowd of over 17,000 to Loftus Road. There was even a "one-off limited-edition cap" for each spectator!
In Cifuentes we trust
The best news for Rangers over the summer has been no news on the managerial front. We kept hold of Marti Cifuentes. The Shepherds Bush managerial merry-go-round has stopped, or at least paused, thank goodness. Last year Cifuentes bought stability and sanity to the club at a time when we were in free fall to relegation. The football improved vastly, as did the results. Now can we build on that?
Although the early season friendlies are an unreliable guide to the season to come, what has been troubling is that in the six games to date we haven't scored. Last season, not scoring was one of our big problems. In several games we were well on top, missed easy chances then lost by the odd goal.
We have signed a new striker Zan Celar from Swiss club Lugano. Judging by his numbers, he can score goals. Last season he was joint top scorer in the Swiss league. Let's hope he quickly adapts to the Championship. QPR desperately need a reliable striker especially since Sinclair Armstrong and Chris Willock have both left. The other two major close season signings have been a new muscular midfielder, Jonathan Varane, and new goalkeeper Paul Nardi, from Belgian club Gent.
A new style of play
Last season our keeper, the veteran Asmir Begovic, looked increasingly fallible. It was clear that he wasn't comfortable with the club's new style of playing it out from the back. Under pressure, the defence would often lose control of the ball and end up just belting it aimlessly up the pitch. It looks as though the new guy is much more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
The new goalkeeper is important to the Cifuentes style of play. Judging by last season, Cifuentes clearly has a firm view about how he wants his teams to play football. He wants a compact passing game with the ball firmly on the ground: if not a "full-Guardiola" then at least a "half-Guardiola". The key question for the coming season is do we have the players who can deliver the pattern he wants? Or if we don't have the right players how far is he prepared to compromise the pattern of play to fit the players we do have?
The start of any new season is often a mixture of hope and foreboding. This year can we keep up the promise of the second half of last season or are we in for another long winter of chewed finger nails as we flirt with relegation again? Few of us have very high expectations. Loftus Road has seen too many false dawns for that. Last season we only avoided relegation by a sudden upturn at the end of the season. So a good season this year for me would be some good football, some exciting games and a comfortable mid-table finish. At least it would be better than trips to Devon or games against non-existent opponents.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
