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Queens Park Rangers F.C. season 2008-09

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Queens Park Rangers
Season 2008–09
Manager Flag of Portugal Paulo Sousa
Flag of England Football League Championship season in progress
FA Cup Last 64
League Cup season in progress

During the 2008–09 season, Queens Park Rangers will be playing in the Football League Championship, their fifth season of their current spell at this level.

Contents

[edit] Pre-season

[edit] New managerial team

Ian Dowie was announced as the replacement for Luigi De Canio as manager on 14 May 2008.[1] Tim Flowers was later named Dowie's assistant, reprising his former role with Dowie at Coventry City.[2]

[edit] Sponsorship

Following the termination of the club's sponsorship deals with Car Giant, Le Coq Sportif and Sellotape at the end of the previous season, in July it was announced that Gulf Air would be the new shirt sponsors.[3] Further sponsorship packages were also announced including Abbey Financial Services, Chronotech and Lotto Sport Italia.[4]

[edit] Matches

All but one of QPR's pre-season fixtures were held away from Loftus Road while the ground underwent upgrading work ahead of the new season. Despite the optimism surrounding the club on the back of the investment and player transfers, Rangers suffered defeats in 3 out of 5 of their warm-up fixtures. The club started positively, winning 3–1 against Conference National side Stevenage Borough followed by a 1–0 win over Football League One side Northampton Town. However a pre-season tour to Scotland saw Rangers lose 2–0 and 1–0 (respectively) to Scottish Premier League sides Falkirk and Kilmarnock. The pre-season fixtures culminated in a 2–1 defeat at the hands of Serie A side A.C. ChievoVerona in front of just 3,540 at Loftus Road.

[edit] Events

Queens Park Rangers started the season against Barnsley at Loftus Road. Fitz Hall scored twice in as many minutes after Iain Hume put the Yorkshire side 1-0 up in the fifth minute. Hall also missed a penalty in the second half, but Rangers held on to win the game 2-1. A win at Swindon in the League Cup followed before the first defeat of the season to Sheffield United, 3–0 at Bramall Lane. Comprehensive home wins against Doncaster Rovers, Carlisle (in the League Cup) and Southampton followed before a win away against Norwich City saw Rangers put together a five game unbeaten streak.

Defeat at Coventry was swiftly followed by the highlight of the season so far, an impressive 1-0 win away to Aston Villa in the 3rd round of the League Cup with Damion Stewart getting the decisive goal. The result meant that QPR entered the 4th round of the competition, for the first time since the 1995-96 season, where they were drawn away to Premier League giants Manchester United. The euphoria of the Villa result was short-lived and Rangers returned to losing ways at home to Derby County just 3 days later. By early October, QPR had slipped to 11th in the Championship league table following defeat to leaders Birmingham at St Andrew's and former manager Terry Venables was speculatively linked with a return to Loftus Road to replace Ian Dowie if no improvement was seen in the club's form[5]. Meanwhile Dexter Blackstock stood out as an early contender for the club's top scorer for the season with 5 goals in 13 games in all competitions.

On 23 October reports in the British press announced that the club would cap the maximum ticket price at the Category 'C' (£35) level as a response to the worsening economic situation. This led commentators to speculate that the club was damaged by negative press surrounding earlier proposed ticket price increases[6]. The following day, 24 October, Iain Dowie was sacked after just fifteen games in charge of the club.[7] While the press continued to speculate on Dowie's replacament touting Roberto Mancini and Kenny Jackett among several others as potential candidates,[8] existing player/coach Gareth Ainsworth was appointed caretaker manager in the interim and, in his first game in charge, ended Reading's 100% record at the Madejski Stadium, grinding out a 0–0 draw.

Just over three weeks after their defeat at St Andrew's, Rangers took on league leaders Birmingham again, in a mid-week fixture at Loftus Road. In Ainsworth's second game in charge a 10-man Rangers won 1–0 courtesy of a 25 yard goal from Samuel Di Carmine.[9] At the start of November Rangers travelled to Ipswich losing 2–0 before picking up a 1–0 win over Cardiff at Loftus Road a week later. The mid-week League Cup tie at Old Trafford saw QPR defeated 1–0 missing out on the last eight of the competition courtesy of a Carlos Tévez penalty. The woes continued 4 days later with only the club's second home defeat of the season, this time at the hands of Burnley. By mid-November the side's average of less than 1 goal-per-game led to them being ranked 21st in terms of the attacking statistics of the 24 Championship clubs despite sitting 10th in the league table.[10]

On 19 November Paulo Sousa, a former Portugal midfielder and previously assistant coach of the Portugese national side, was announced as the first team coach ending Gareth Ainsworth's six game run as caretaker.[11] The following day Tim Flowers stepped down as assistant coach and news sources (including the club's official website) reported Rangers had signed Bolton striker Heiðar Helguson on an emergency loan deal.[12] Signed to a two-and-a-half year contract, Paulo Sousa became the sixth first team coach of the club in 13 months. Just three days into his appointment, Sousa's first game in charge saw a ten-man QPR comprehensively beaten 3–0 away at Watford leaving them firmly in mid-table, 9 points above the relegation zone and 3 points from the play-offs.[13] Purported new signing Helguson did not appear for the club at Vicarage Road with rumours later surfacing that the deal had not completed.[14] On 24 November QPR announced that long-serving club secretary Sheila Marson's contract had been terminated. She had been with QPR since 1973.[15] A mid-week fixture against struggling Charlton saw Sousa's first victory (2–1) with Dexter Blackstock (who returned from suspension) scoring twice. Four days later Rangers travelled across London to Selhurst Park, drawing 0–0 with Crystal Palace, a match which featured Premier League striker, Heiðar Helguson, who had completed his loan move from Bolton earlier in the week.[16]

QPR took on league-leaders Wolves in the first game of December. Played in a late kick-off at Loftus Road and in front of the Sky Sports cameras, Rangers put on a fine performance despatching their high-flying opponents with a 1–0 win courtesy of a 20 yard effort from skipper Martin Rowlands in his first full appearance since returning from injury.[17] Despite dominating their next game, away to Sheffield Wednesday, QPR were beaten 1–0. The game marked Rangers' sixth defeat from eleven away fixtures, and in which they had only scored twice.[18] A week later Rangers scored their first goal in 9 'away' fixtures, managing a 1–1 draw with Plymouth. Loan-signing Heiðar Helguson put QPR into an early lead before Plymouth equalised late in the second half.[19] On 20 December, Helguson was again on the scoresheet, netting twice alongside Dexter Blackstock's winner in Rangers' 3–2 victory over Preston North End.[20]

The Christmas period saw Rangers draw 2–2, twice surrendering the lead, away from home at Charlton on Boxing Day.[21] Two days later they played host to Watford, holding them to a 0–0 draw.[22] As the January transfer window opened, QPR signed former England U21 international Wayne Routledge from Aston Villa. The club also made recent loan signings Borrowdale and Helguson's moves permanent.[23][24] A small crowd of under 9,000 spectators saw Rangers start their FA Cup campaign with a goal-less draw with fellow Championship side Burnley, in the Third Round Proper.

[edit] Current squad

As of 02 January 2009.[25]
No. Position Player
1 Flag of England GK Lee Camp
2 Flag of Ireland DF Damien Delaney
3 Flag of Jamaica DF Damion Stewart
4 Flag of England MF Gavin Mahon
5 Flag of England DF Fitz Hall
6 Flag of Antigua and Barbuda MF Mikele Leigertwood
7 Flag of England MF Wayne Routledge
8 Flag of England FW Rowan Vine
9 Flag of England FW Dexter Blackstock
10 Flag of Hungary MF Ákos Buzsáky
11 Flag of Ghana FW Patrick Agyemang
13 Flag of Latvia DF Kaspars Gorkšs
14 Flag of Ireland MF Martin Rowlands (captain)
15 Flag of England DF Peter Ramage
16 Flag of England DF Matthew Connolly
17 Flag of England MF Lee Cook (on loan from Fulham)
No. Position Player
18 Flag of Italy MF Damiano Tommasi
20 Flag of Argentina MF Emmanuel Ledesma (on loan from Genoa)
21 Flag of Italy MF Matteo Alberti
22 Flag of Italy FW Samuel Di Carmine (on loan from Fiorentina)
23 Flag of England GK Jake Cole
24 Flag of the Czech Republic GK Radek Černý
25 Flag of England MF Hogan Ephraim
26 Flag of England MF Gareth Ainsworth
27 Flag of Iceland FW Heiðar Helguson
28 Flag of England DF Joe Oastler
29 Flag of England DF Gary Borrowdale
33 Flag of Australia GK Reece Crowther
- Flag of England MF Danny Maguire
Flag of England FW Romone Rose
Flag of England MF Chris Arthur

[edit] Out on loan

No. Position Player
12 Flag of England MF Adam Bolder (at Millwall)
19 Flag of Colombia FW Angelo Balanta (at Wycombe Wanderers)
28 Flag of Pakistan DF Zesh Rehman (at Blackpool)


[edit] Transfers

In

Name Nationality Position From Fee
Radek Cerny Flag of the Czech Republic GK Slavia Prague Free
Peter Ramage Flag of England DF Newcastle United Free
Kaspars Gorkšs Flag of Latvia DF Blackpool £250,000
Joe Oastler Flag of England DF Portsmouth Free
Emmanuel Ledesma Flag of Argentina MF Genoa C.F.C. Loan
Matteo Alberti Flag of Italy MF Chievo Verona £200 000
Lee Cook Flag of England MF Fulham Loan
Daniel Parejo Muñoz Flag of Spain MF Real Madrid Loan
Damiano Tommasi Flag of Italy MF Levante UD Free
Samuel Di Carmine Flag of Italy FW Fiorentina Loan
Heiðar Helguson Flag of Iceland FW Bolton Wanderers Loan
Gary Borrowdale Flag of England DF Coventry City Loan
Wayne Routledge Flag of England MF Aston Villa £300000

Out

Name Nationality Position To Fee
Jake Cole Flag of England GK Oxford United Loan
Matt Pickens Flag of the United States GK Released
Sean Thomas Flag of England GK Wealdstone Released
Chris Goodchild Flag of England GK Released
Chris Barker Flag of England DF Plymouth Argyle Undisclosed
Zeshan Rehman Flag of Pakistan DF Blackpool Loan
Andrew Howell Flag of England DF Released
Aaron Goode Flag of England DF Released
Stefan Bailey Flag of England MF Grays Athletic Released
Simon Walton Flag of England MF Plymouth Argyle £750,000
Daniel Nardiello Flag of Wales FW Blackpool Part Exchange

[edit] Results

[edit] Football League Championship

Kick Off Opponents H / A Result Scorers Referee Attendance Position
2008-08-09 15:00 Barnsley H 2–1 Fitz Hall 29, 31 Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire) 14,694 6
2008-08-16 15:00 Sheffield United A 0–3 Graham Laws (Tyne and Wear) 25,273 15
2008-08-23 15:00 Doncaster Rovers H 2–0 Dexter Blackstock 5, Emmanuel Ledesma 28 Mike Thorpe (Suffolk) 15,536 8
2008-08-30 15:00 Bristol City A 1–1 Dexter Blackstock 18 Darren Deadman (Cambridgeshire) 17543 8
2008-09-14 16:00 Southampton H 4–1 Dexter Blackstock 1, 77 Damion Stewart 63, Patrick Agyemang 90 Kevin Friend (Lancashire) 13,770 4
2008-09-17 19:45 Norwich A 1–0 Martin Rowlands 33 Rob Shoebridge (Derbyshire) 24,249 4
2008-09-20 15:00 Coventry A 0–1 Dean Whitestone (Northamptonshire) 16,718 4
2008-09-27 15:00 Derby H 0–2 Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) 14,311 5
2008-09-30 20:00 Blackpool H 1–1 Dexter Blackstock 79 Grant Hegley (Hertfordshire) 12,500 8
2008-10-04 12:45 Birmingham A 0–1 Andy D'Urso (Essex) 18,498 11
2008-10-18 15:00 Nottingham Forest H 2–1 Angelo Balanta 48, Ákos Buzsáky 60 Fred Graham (Essex) 15,122 7
2008-10-21 19:45 Swansea City A 0–0 Tony Bates (Staffordshire) 13,475 9
2008-10-25 17:20 Reading A 0–0 Chris Foy (Merseyside) 20,571 9
2008-10-28 20:00 Birmingham H 1–0 Samuel Di Carmine 54 Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire) 13,594 7
2008-11-01 15:00 Ipswich Town A 0–2 Trevor Kettle (Rutland) 20,966 7
2008-11-08 15:00 Cardiff H 1–0 Gavin Mahon 80 Lee Probert (Gloucestershire) 13,247 7
2008-11-15 15:00 Burnley H 1–2 Dexter Blackstock 14 Keith Woolmer (Northamptonshire) 13,226 10
2008-11-22 15:00 Watford A 0–3 Andy Penn (West Midlands) 16,201 12
2008-11-25 20:00 Charlton Athletic H 2–1 Dexter Blackstock 17, 80 Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 12,286 10
2008-11-29 15:00 Crystal Palace A 0–0 Rob Styles (Hampshire) 16,411 10
2008-12-06 17:20 Wolves H 1–0 Martin Rowlands 63 Iain Williamson (Berkshire) 13,416 7
2008-12-09 19:45 Sheff Wed A 0–1 Nigel Miller (Durham) 14,792 9
2008-12-13 15:00 Plymouth A 1–1 Heiðar Helguson 16 Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) 10,747 9
2008-12-20 15:00 Preston H 3–2 Heiðar Helguson 16, 34, Dexter Blackstock 86 Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 14,103 9
2008-12-26 13:00 Charlton Athletic A 2–2 Lee Cook 18 Dexter Blackstock 68 Paul Taylor (Luton) 21,023 9
2008-12-28 15:00 Watford H 0–0 Clive Penton (Sussex) 16,196 9

[edit] FA Cup

Round Kick Off Opponents H / A Result Scorers Referee Attendance
R3 2009-01-03 15:00 Burnley H 0-0 Anthony Bates (Staffordhsire) 8,896
R3 Replay 2009-01-13 TBC Burnley A TBC

[edit] League Cup

Round Kick Off Opponents H / A Result Scorers Referee Attendance
R1 2008-08-12 19:45 Swindon Town A 3-2 Balanta (32), Blackstock (46), Delaney (54) Richard Beeby 7,230
R2 2008-08-26 19:45 Carlisle United H 4-0 Stewart (48), Ledesma (56, 63, 85) Keith Hill 8,021
R3 2008-09-24 19:45 Aston Villa A 1-0 Stewart (58) Lee Mason 21,541
R4 2008-11-11 20:00 Manchester United A 0-1 Phil Dowd 62,539

[edit] Competitions

[edit] League Championship Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
26 38 10 8 8 25 26 -1 9 2 2 20 11 +9 1 6 6 5 15 -10

Last updated: 5 January 2009
Source: Football League
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

[edit] League Championship Results by round

Round 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
Ground H A H A H A A H H A H A A H A H H A H A H A A H A H H A A H H A A
Result W L W D W W L L D L W D D W L W L L W D W L D W D D

Last updated: 5 January 2009.
Source: Competitive Matches (League Championship)
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win.

[edit] Table

P
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 26 18 4 4 54 30 +24 58 Promotion to
Premier League
2 Reading 26 15 6 5 53 24 +29 51
3 Birmingham City 26 15 6 5 34 23 +11 51 Qualification to
League Championship playoffs
4 Cardiff City 26 11 11 4 36 25 +11 44
5 Burnley 26 12 7 7 40 35 +5 43
6 Sheffield United 26 11 8 7 37 25 +12 41
7 Preston North End 26 12 5 9 36 32 +4 41
8 Crystal Palace 26 11 7 8 38 28 +10 40
9 Queens Park Rangers 26 10 8 8 25 26 −1 38
10 Ipswich Town 26 9 8 9 35 28 +7 35
11 Swansea City 26 7 14 5 33 30 +3 35
12 Bristol City 26 8 10 8 30 32 −2 34
13 Sheffield Wednesday 26 9 7 10 25 37 −12 34
14 Coventry City 26 8 9 9 29 31 −2 33
15 Plymouth Argyle 26 9 6 11 27 29 −2 33
16 Barnsley 26 9 5 12 28 32 −4 32
17 Blackpool 26 7 10 9 26 33 −7 31
18 Derby County 26 7 8 11 28 37 −9 29
19 Watford 26 7 6 13 38 44 −6 27
20 Norwich City 26 7 5 14 32 42 −10 26
21 Nottingham Forest 26 5 9 12 26 38 −12 24
22 Doncaster Rovers 26 6 6 14 17 31 −14 24 Relegation to
League One
23 Southampton 26 5 8 13 21 39 −18 23
24 Charlton Athletic 26 4 7 15 28 45 −17 19

Last updated: 29 December 2008
Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "QPR bring in Dowie as new coach", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7400236.stm, retrieved on 15 May 2008 
  2. ^ "Flowers named QPR assistant boss", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7411253.stm, retrieved on 22 May 2008 
  3. ^ New soccer strip, Gulf Daily News, 3 July
  4. ^ QPR signs Abbey as its financial partner, Marketing Week, 19 June 2008
  5. ^ QPR 'consider return of former England boss Venables' as pressure mounts on Dowie Daily Mail, accessed October 15, 2008
  6. ^ QPR owners head for showdown as ticket price cut fans the flames The Guardian, accessed October 23, 2008
  7. ^ "QPR part company with boss Dowie", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7689062.stm, retrieved on 24 October 2008 
  8. ^ "Iain Dowie axed by Queens Park Rangers", Evening Standard, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/article-23577723-details/Iain+Dowie+axed+by+Queens+Park+Rangers/article.do, retrieved on 24 October 2008 
  9. ^ QPR 1-0 Birmingham, BBC Sport, 2008-10-28
  10. ^ QPR at Statto.com
  11. ^ "Sousa is new QPR first-team coach", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7736118.stm, retrieved on 19 November 2008 
  12. ^ "QPR net Helguson as Flowers quits", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7739750.stm, retrieved on 20 November 2008 
  13. ^ "Watford 3-0 QPR", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7727310.stm, retrieved on 22 November 2008 
  14. ^ "Gillespie could start against QPR", Sporting Life, http://www.sportinglife.com/football/nationwide1/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=nonwire_soccer/08/11/24/manual_185609.html&TEAMHD=nationwide1, retrieved on 25 November 2008 
  15. ^ "Where there's a Will there's no way Scots will be in Team GB", Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1089089/Where-theres-Will-theres-way-Scots-Team-GB.html, retrieved on 25 November 2008 
  16. ^ "Crystal Palace 0-0 QPR", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7742105.stm, retrieved on 29 November 2008 
  17. ^ "QPR 1-0 Wolves", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7748629.stm, retrieved on 6 December 2008 
  18. ^ "Sheff Wed 1-0 QPR", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7763332.stm, retrieved on 9 December 2008 
  19. ^ "Plymouth 1-1 QPR", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7764585.stm, retrieved on 22 December 2008 
  20. ^ "QPR 1-1 Preston", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7775848.stm, retrieved on 22 December 2008 
  21. ^ "Charlton 2-2 QPR", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7787611.stm, retrieved on 26 December 2008 
  22. ^ "QPR 0-0 Watford", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7802239.stm, retrieved on 28 December 2008 
  23. ^ "QPR sign Routledge and Borrowdale", BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7808809.stm, retrieved on 2 January 2009 
  24. ^