It's been a roller coaster ride for QPR fans

What on earth has been going on at QPR?

The one thing you can be sure of about our club is that things are never going to be predictable. Chelsea fans can usually start a season with the fair prospect of a Champions League slot, Fulham fans can rest comfortable at the Cottage with a mid-table berth.

QPR? Who knows? The only thing you can be certain of is that Rangers never do it the easy way. Every season us fans are invited on for yet another terrifying roller coaster ride. Every August we get onboard, season tickets in hand, praying for the best, fearing for the worst.

Two months ago we were rooted to the bottom of the Championship table. With only one win at the time, it was hard to see where the next goal was coming from, never mind league points.

The weather warnings were out, the storm clouds of relegation were amassing over Loftus Road. Then suddenly right in the depressing depths of winter, the footballing sun broke through. Rangers won four on the trot.

What has changed?

Defensive improvements

Certainly the defence has tightened up a lot. Some of this has come from a change in tactical formation with the defence playing much narrower and the full backs tucking in. On the pitch there is now often a space of some three to four metres between the QPR left back and the touchline.

The contribution of Jimmy Dunne in defence, in the absence of several injured players, has been massive. No wonder he is hot favourite to be our Player of the Year. No wonder either that other clubs are hovering during the January transfer window.

Our coach, Marti Cifuentes, has also adopted a more selective approach to his preferred system of playing out from the back. If the ball needs clearing right up the pitch with one boot, then that is what will happen.

Youngsters shine

Several younger players have started to come though. Kieran Morgan has shown the energy and vision too often lacking from our midfield. It looks as though Spurs may have allowed a good one to slip through their fingers there.

Up front we still miss far too many chances. Jan Celar, our Slovenian international, had a miserable start to his first season: new to English football and often looking out of his depth. Then against Cardiff he suddenly scored two impressive goals. But the very next game he went down with a long term injury.

Taking his place has been Rayan Kolli, 19 years old, very raw but fast in a team short of pace and clearly with an eye for goal. So far he has scored 4 goals in a handful of appearances.

The support from fans for Cifuentes has been remarkable even when the going has got very rough. When at one point rumours in the press and from 'upstairs' suggested he could be facing the sack, the fans spent the whole of the next game singing his name. The board backed off.

When earlier in the season, several of us were pessimistic about our chances, wiser voices pointed out there was still a lot of the season to go. That is still the case. Losing at home to Sheffield Wednesday was a sharp reminder that we are not out of the woods yet.

But after the downs and ups of the last few weeks I would settle for both less anxiety and less exhilaration and opt for midtable obscurity – for the rest of this season anyway.