LEWIS STEELE – WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID: Can QPR save crazy season

Three managers, two points from the drop zone in the Championship and one baffling dance… can QPR save their crazy season?

• QPR were top of Championship in October, but now sit just above the drop zone
• They have won just two matches since Mick Beale left for Rangers in November
• Fans blame head of director of football Les Ferdinand for poor recruitment

Queens Park Rangers fans still wince when they recall the time they managed to throw away a 6-2 lead over Partizan Belgrade to lose a UEFA Cup tie in 1984.

They remember sweeping the Serbs away at Highbury — Loftus Road’s plastic pitch fell foul of UEFA rules — and then falling apart in Belgrade. They have got experience in capitulation.

Still, what has happened this season has been a monumental mess. QPR were top of the Championship in October but, with five games to play, are in danger of falling through the relegation trapdoor.

Even in the unpredictable, dog-eat-dog world of the Football League, can you remember a surrender quite like this? Since manager Mick Beale left for Rangers in November, QPR have won just two matches — one under Neil Critchley and one under the latest boss Gareth Ainsworth.

The plight since his departure underlines the coaching nous of Beale, who led QPR to nine wins from the first 16 games. After seven straight mid-table finishes, he gave fans reason for genuine optimism that a play-off push, at the very least, was on the cards.

Gareth Ainsworth insists he can keep QPR in the Championship despite dismal run

Senior players were baffled and embarrassed during a ‘haka’ team bonding session

Buoyancy became blind frenzy when a 48-hour period saw them beat Wigan to reach the summit after Beale came out to say he was loyal to the club amid interest from Wolves. ‘The only reasons for leaving QPR right now would be selfish ones around ego, status or finance,’ he said. ‘And that’s not really me. Loyalty is to yourself first, and what you believe in. I don’t know if jumping from one club to another is a good look.’

That ended well. He swapped west London for Glasgow weeks later and, in a table since that Wigan win, QPR are rock bottom.

Beale’s statement of loyalty excited fans but sources close to the club indicate players’ mindsets were altered, with some thinking the coach ‘had a spell on the squad’ and his talks with Wolves led them to doubt his credibility and methods.

Former Blackpool manager Critchley came in and made QPR direct, despite many of the players being bought to play a possession-based game. Club legend Ainsworth did an outstanding job at Wycombe but looks doomed already at Loftus Road.

You will have seen the video after Ainsworth’s first — and only — victory, where he hired someone to perform the Haka to the squad. It is understood senior players were baffled and embarrassed. Fair enough to do so after winning promotion but, for a club with one win in 2023, why on earth would you tweet that video? It made Ainsworth a laughing stock. He may not be the only Rs hero to meet a bitter end, with fans calling for the head of director of football Les Ferdinand, who they blame for poor recruitment.

The former striker also fell out with ex-manager Mark Warburton, who on limited resources punched above his weight at Loftus Road despite the sale of Eberechi Eze to Crystal Palace in 2020.

On the pitch, many have pointed to Reading’s six-point deduction as a saving grace in QPR’s season, with the Rs two points above the relegation zone.

That is what it has come to in a season that promised so much — relying on other teams to get docked points. Ainsworth’s squad is talented and boasts Chris Willock and World Cup semi-finalist Ilias Chair but the manager is yet to get a tune out of them.

QPR are safe as it stands but, looking at their form of one win in 19 games, a squad with no leadership or trust in its coach and a tough fixture list including promoted Burnley and play-off chasing Coventry and Norwich, can anyone say this wreck of a ship will not continue to sink?

Blades fail to make the cut 

The EFL Awards shortlists were unveiled this week, with Vincent Kompany, Michael Carrick and Mark Robins up for Championship manager of the season and Josh Brownhill, Chuba Akpom and Viktor Gyokeres the best three players. 

Are Sheffield United exempt from these awards? They are a couple of games from promotion and in an FA Cup semi-final, so it seems ludicrous to leave out boss Paul Heckingbottom and star man Iliman Ndiaye.

Still, with a day in the Wembley sun and an open-top bus parade through Sheffield likely to come in the next month, ask Heckingbottom if he cares.

Scouting report: Ryan Giles (Middlesbrough)

Middlesbrough defender Ryan Giles had 70 touches on Monday, many in the attacking third

The press box at Ashton Gate offers a great view of Bristol, including the beautiful Clifton Suspension Bridge and River Avon. It also offers a great vantage point to observe games on a tactical level and so, during City’s game with Middlesbrough on Monday, it was fascinating to watch Michael Carrick’s fluid side.

Top scorer Chuba Akpom plays off the striker, in this case Matt Crooks, and causes all sorts of dangers, while young Hayden Hackney forms a solid midfield axis with Jonny Howson, now 34 and with 600 league appearances under his belt but still a joy to watch.

What caught my eye the most, though, was the relentless Ryan Giles, the left back on loan from Wolves, who had 70 touches on Monday, many in the attacking third. Giles has a league-high 11 assists, the most in a season by any Boro man since Stewart Downing in 2004-05.

He ranks highest in the league for open-play crosses (284) and fourth for chances created (81) this season. Although his final balls in this match were a bit wayward, the pacy Giles looks ready for the Premier League.

THREE GAMES OF THE WEEKEND

BLACKPOOL v WIGAN (Championship)

Saturday 3pm

Lose this if you dare. With managerless Blackpool seven points from safety and Wigan eight, both teams will be chasing victory here.

EXETER v PLYMOUTH (League One)

Saturday midday

A Devon derby with big permutations at the top of the table, as Plymouth need to bounce back from defeat on Monday. Argyle have not won at their rivals since 2016 and Exeter will be out to thwart their promotion charge.

CARLISLE v NORTHAMPTON (League Two)

Saturday 3pm

A big four days for Carlisle at Brunton Park. They can leapfrog Northampton in second with a win and then host Stockport, currently in third, on Tuesday.

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