MARTI CIFUENTES performed an almost near miracle in keeping QPR in the Championship last season but he is coming under pressure at Loftus Road
The Spaniard’s side — after a summer of optimism — sit rock bottom with one win from the opening 10 games.
And the Rs fans’ misery was compelled by going in front at Loftus Road on Saturday before losing to a Portsmouth team who had not yet won a game.
Some QPR fans are beginning to cite Cifuentes as the problem.
Some accused him of not having much of a game plan, being too confusing with his messaging and tactics — while others blamed chief executive Christian Nourry and head of recruitment Andy Belk for signing too many players this summer.
They made nine signings and allowed 12 to leave.
The last point is a valid one. QPR had great momentum at the end of last season — winning five of their last eight games, including a thumping 4-0 win against Leeds which effectively ended their automatic promotion hopes.
QPR had found a winning formula under Cifuentes — and you do often wonder why you would fix something that was not broken?
But Nourry wanted to rebalance the squad this summer, thinking more long-term in the club’s approach, and in doing so go for one that has more depth.
The club went for younger players they believed would grow with the them or that they could sell for a profit at a later date, to enable them to be competitive in a division with some big-hitters.
Despite having former Premier League pedigree themselves, QPR are not in the same ball park at Leeds or Sunderland or West Brom.
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They have not exactly been getting hammered this season.
But, as things stand, they have not been able to get across the line in games — apart from Luton — and drawn four times already.
My concern is they are not looking clinical enough in the final third — only scoring 10 in as many games — but more worryingly they have been leaky at the back.
Eighteen goals conceded so far does not make good reading. They have to tighten that up or a relegation battle will be inevitable.
Lots of clubs talk about an ethos and identity … and of course that is important.
Yet football is about winning. It doesn’t matter how you win, there are plenty of different ways to do that. Pep Guardiola did not reinvent the wheel at Manchester City with tippy-tappy.
But the be all and end all is the three points.
QPR fans have not seen enough of that in recent years. They have instead witnessed too much chop and changing at the top.
They were unfortunate that ex-boss Michael Beale proved to be fake in his sincerity on wanting to grow alongside the Rs when ultimately he couldn’t wait to get his coat on to dash up to Ibrox as soon as Rangers came calling.
He proved a disaster there and was terrible at Sunderland too – and his reputation in the game is in tatters as a result.
Had he stayed at a club that was a far better fit for him, I reckon they might have been challenging around the play-offs now. It’s not so inconceivable they might have done a Luton and got into the Premier League.
His mate from his Liverpool coaching days, Neil Critchley, turned out to be an awful appointment and unfortunately Gareth Ainsworth’s style of football wasn’t a good fit at Loftus Road.
Cifuentes is a good fit though. He knows what he is doing. He has good clear ideas and the players are on side with him.
They mustn’t make the mistake of sacking him now and having more change at the top.
He kept the club up last season and will do it again. But the be all and end all has to be winning first, building the culture and ethos second.
It’s a two-pronged approach that has to go hand in hand – because relegation to League One doesn’t bare thinking about for the West Londoners.
Wilder threatens love-in with rival Leeds
CHRIS WILDER was gushing in his praise for Leeds … despite fans constantly singing “Dah, Dah, Dah .. Wilder is a w****r.”
The Sheffield United boss believes it’s unlikely anyone will be finishing above Daniel Farke’s men this season after seeing his side played off the park in a 2-0 loss at Elland Road.
But after his post-match press conference, he asked the assembled journalists, “Do you think I’ve got any chance of being invited back into the Leeds Popularity Contest?” And then he turned to Radio Leeds broadcaster Adam Pope and said: “Popey, I saw you singing, ‘Wilder is a w****r.”
Heartstricken EFL family get full support
DEEPEST sympathies from everyone here at SunSport to QPR striker Matt Smith for losing his two-month old son Maddison — who was also grandson of Blackpool boss Steve Bruce
The pair understandably were away from the R’s game with Derby and the Seasiders clash with Barnsley — while Salford boss Alex Bruce, Steve’s son and Maddison’s uncle, was absent from their game against Crewe.
In times like this the football community pulls together and rallies around to lend support. That will no doubt be happening now to give them as well as Maddison’s mum and Bruce’s daughter Amy all the love and support they need.
It’s alright Jack at the age of … 105
JACK SIMMONS was the oldest fan to attend a game this weekend … at the age of 105.
The lifelong Charlton supporter took in his beloved club’s League One clash with Stockport County at The Valley.
Jack has supported the club for more than NINETY-FIVE years.
Although understandably finding it difficult to attend games nowadays, he regularly takes in the match commentary from the club’s website and watches live streams too.
He said: “My school was Charlton Central, which was close to The Royal Standard and many of us were Charlton fans.
“At the age of nine, I used to lean out of my auntie’s window and could just about see half the pitch for free!”
Jack says the first game he attended was against Port Vale in 1934 .. shortly before Sam Bartram joined Charlton from Boldon Villa!
But asked what his favourite game was, he said: “I’ve man but one that sticks out was when we won the FA Cup in 1947!”
His favourite player was Dan Welsh – “a great wing-centre half as they were called in those days.”
And finally when asked who his Charlton starting XI would be, he said: “Whoever the manager chooses, he knows best.”
Sticking with Charlton, there was a touching moment when their community coach Matt Phillips was reunited with the 78-year-old man whose life he saved.
Alan Ford collapsed while playing walking football and Matt rushed to the scene performing CPR and using a defibrillator before the paramedics took over.
Alan was unconscious for 30 minutes and had to undergo a quadruple heart bypass operation at the Royal King’s Hospital, London, as well as having a personal fitted defibrillator.
Alan said: “I just don’t know how I could thank Matt enough from my heart and my wife Sue. We love him so much. It’s very important for people to know how to do CPR because you never know when something’s going to happen.
“It’s got to be done. If you’re worried about hurting them, remember you’re helping to save them. Also to have that defibrillator there, someone trained on it, it’s so important and it’s a must really for all these sports places, workplaces, parks, wherever, to have these. You never know what’s going to happen, like it happened to me.”
EFL sponsors SkyBet are currently running an Every Minute Matters campaign, encouraging everyone to learn how to do CPR.
