Rovers host QPR tomorrow as just one point separates the two teams. We asked QPR fan account @LoftforWords for their thoughts going in to the match.
Q: Have Rovers surpassed your expectations so far this season?
A: Yes and no. Obviously Blackburn went down in a bit of a state and it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the club go the way of a Coventry or Bradford with the way it was being run.
But it’s easy to forget just how highly rated Tony Mowbray was and how well he did at Hibs and West Brom, simply because he didn’t do so well at Boro or Celtic. He seems like one of the game’s good guys and plays football in an attractive, attacking way so it’s nice to see him succeeding again.
When you look through the Blackburn team, it’s not hard to see why it’s doing well, it looks good on paper with a lot of quality players. Sheffield United and Millwall showed last season there’s nothing to fear as a newly promoted side and Rovers should follow suit.
Q: How has Steve McClaren turned it around after a tough start?
A: He’s been allowed to spend some money and bring some Premier League experienced players in – Angel Rangel, Geoff Cameron, Tomer Hemed and Nahki Wells all arrived at the end of August and transformed the team.
QPR have been in a state of rebuild and recovery for some time now after our gross overspend and FFP breaches under Mark Hughes and Harry Redknapp.
This has been the first time for three or four years that we’ve been able to add some players of genuine ability, particularly in attack where we’d previously been trying to muddle through with the likes of Matt Smith and Conor Washington.
The issue is two of them are well in to their 30s and all four of them are only temporary or on loan, so where that leaves us in 12 months’ time when our parachute payments have ended, and they’ve all gone is anybody’s guess.
We have some very talented U23s who were playing at the end of last season but apart from Eze and Lumley they’ve all gone back to the U23s to make way for the experienced temporary signings. Short term it’s working great, not sure what state it will leave us in a year down the track though.
Q: What are your aims for the rest of the season?
A: The aim for some time has been to cut the wage bill and get the club running in a more sustainable manner while remaining competitive in the Championship, and I guess that’s still the aim.
When you lose your first four matches conceding 13 goals in the process the aim for the season can only be to stay up, though our form for the past couple of months has been two points a game which is promotion standard.
If we can push on towards the top half of the table that would be significant improvement on the past couple of seasons and a big turnaround from August. It’s been quite a drag the last few years, so0 we just want a bit of fun and excitement back in our football really.
Q: What’s your prediction for the game?
A: 1-1, but I’m rubbish at predictions.
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