Sometimes maybe Hull, sometimes maybe Southampton for Julien Stephan's ever-unpredictable QPR side, now returning to Loftus Road to face a Sheff Utd side in far better nick than their lowly league position suggests.

QPR (13-8-13 LWDLWL 14th) v Sheff Utd (14-3-17 DWLWWL 16th)

Sky’s Super Saturday Brunch Spectacular >>> Saturday February 28, 2026 >>> Kick Off 15.00 >>> Weather – Aaaand it’s raining again >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

Nights like Tuesday trap football fans between their best and worst selves.

On the one hand, you want to be empathetic, sympathetic and supportive of your club and your players. You look at Finn Azaz making the Saints side tick and you remember he cost them £10m, you look at Leo Scienza running amok and you know he cost £8m, and you know it’s not a fair fight. We bring Kealey Adamson off the bench; they bring on Cameron Archer. We put Daniel Bennie up front; they sub on Ross Stewart. There’s no more point shouting and screaming at your players for not being as good as those players than there is yelling at a wall for not being a window. Why can the BT Open Reach man not extinguish my house fire? You don’t want to destroy people like Joe Walsh, Kieran Morgan, Rayan Kolli, because they’re young lads, and we’re going to need them a lot in the next few weeks.

On the other, you see Isaac Hayden let Azaz run off him for that first goal, you see Jimmy Dunne allowing a free header in the six-yard box for the second, you see Rhys Norrington Davies’ falling over his own arse for that pathetic fourth and you fume inside. You want to see these players fight back and care about what they’re doing, you want to see them tackle and get stuck in, you want to see some bloody basics. I want a senior player to stand there at 60 minutes and say “right, 3-0, game gone, but no more, we ain’t getting beat five or six here, and anybody that tries to do that to us is getting fucking hurt”. You want them to understand you’ve dropped £100+ (which may not be a lot of money to them but certainly is to us) and another half day off work to stand in that corner while the local scrote children make wanker signs at you over the fence. You want to scream and boo at them because it doesn’t feel like it matters as much to them as it does to you.

Everything Julien Stéphan has said since the final whistle has made perfect, logical sense. The Frenchman, like his Spanish predecessor, is currently working with one hand tied behind his back because of the farcical, chronic injury list he is having to contend with which now includes player of the year-elect Nicolas Madsen, who left the field with the scoreline still in the balance. He got a good result at the weekend, this is a poor result but from 3-0 it was about managing players with the forthcoming games in mind, there’s still a chance for six points from the week which is a good return in the circumstances etc etc. You get it. You want your manager to stay calm, unemotional, levelheaded through the good times and bad and Stéphan has done that remarkably this season in what is an incredibly difficult managerial position where you’ve got politics central over head, a support base that still thinks this should be a Premier League club, and a budget and infrastructure that’s more League One. For a first season in English Championship football, this is a very reasonable swing.

And then, at the same time, you hate it. That Harry Redknapp attitude of "they've got better players so what's the point". Well, coach? Tactics? Come up with something. Don't just shrug and wave them through. Oh, gave the game up at 3-0 did you? That’s nice. Wish you’d come over and told us so we could have buggered off back to the pub. Again, you want him to seethe like you’re seething. I want my manager reading the absolute riot act at half time and making sure his team come out focused and motivated so we don’t concede in the first ten minutes of the second half for the 15th-fucking-time this season. Southampton were below us at the start of play, they’re still not in the play-offs now. Charlton went there and got a point at the weekend. You’re not playing Johan Cruyff’s Ajax side. You want him to understand that while he’s tucked up in bed you’re being kept awake in the Premier Inn Westquay by a load of drunken German cruise ship passengers. You want your manager to lose his rag with things like that, to go a bit Ian Holloway with it, because as we said in the match report no team apart from Barnsley has conceded 5+ goals more often at this level in the last 20 years than QPR and those of us that trawl around watching it want it to matter and want our standards to be higher than that. We’ve lost five-fucking-nil, get mad. Tear some tiles off the wall.

The QPR support base - which must stand out as one of football’s most tolerant currently as it continues to sell out home games and say absolutely nothing at all about this club’s chronic, accepted mediocrity – doesn’t seem to know what to do with itself on such occasions. You’ve got some down the front trying to call the players out at full time, while others stand and applaud – thank you for our 5-0 boys, may we have another? You've got some on the message board begging for four points from 12 games because we're not safe yet, and others saying it's a shame people are being negative after a 5-0 loss.

This is exacerbated by the weird division that exists currently where some have nailed their colours to the Christian Nourry mast so firmly that he could literally turn up on their lawn and curl out a massive steamer onto the turf while they’re trying to have Sunday dinner with their elderly white haired mother and they’d be posting or Tweeting about what a shrewd, forward thinking move it was; while others dislike him so much he could literally reincarnate Les Ferdinand, pick him up from Hayes and Yeading for 50p and sell him to Real Madrid for £80m and people still wouldn’t have him. In those factions, every result is framed the same tiresome way.

You can probably tell now why the match report was left until Thursday morning rather than the first draft get posted on Wednesday night, and why so many of you found it so “understanding”. To be honest, on nights like that and in this environment, I’m scared to say what I actually think about QPR.

Overall it feels like we’re at that really ball aching bit that comes around every season where all our players are injured again, we’re not going up or down, there’s a dozen games left, and if you poke your head around the door of the Stansted Wetherspoons and clock which Championship teams are getting off to Myokonos on the early flight it’s us and Stoke bloody City again, as usual. A dozen games left and among the home and awayers a real feel that if we could play them all this week and get it over with we probably would.

There’s a lot of talk about the progress we’ve made this season. We started poorly, had a hot bit in the middle, everybody has got injured, and now we’re mostly poor again with the odd bit of sugar thrown in. That sounds a lot like last season to me. This week last year, 14th - just won away at Hull. This week this year, 14th - just won away at Hull. We’ve won one more game, and lost one more game.

As I said in the last piece, I’m boring myself at this point. There’s a chance to lift everybody back up with a big home win tomorrow. It’ll be tough against a Sheff Utd team that is anchored down by losing eight of its first nine league games but has been in play-off form ever since and again comes with the sort of well-furnished squad we simply cannot afford. Our strikers tomorrow – Richard Kone. Their strikers tomorrow – Patrick Bamford, Tom Cannon, Tyrese Campbell, Danny Ings.

Still, like Southampton, they’re not some sort of infallible football Gods. They’ve got a great track against us (Rangers have won just one of ten meetings and are without a home victory since 2017) but they’ve got a dreadful away record this year with ten defeats already (only Sheff Wed and West Brom have lost more on their travels).

We’re beset by injuries and distinct underdogs but whoever is upright and ready to go tomorrow, please just do exactly that. Give it a go. I would say that’s all we ask but seemingly after Tuesday we don’t even really ask that all the time. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it? Please?

Links >>> Too little too late? Oppo Profile >>> Warnock’s best – History >>> Nield in charge – Referee >>> Sheffield United official website >>> Bramall Lane ground guide >>> Blades Ramble — Contributor’s YouTube channel >>> The Sheff Utd Way – Contributor’s Website/Channel >>> S2 4SU — Message Board >>> Sheffield Star — Local Press

Parish Noticeboard – Closures on seven tube and Overground lines this weekend including Circle between Edgware Road and Aldgate and District Line everywhere east of Earl’s Court.

Below the fold

Team News: So, this could take a while. Nicolas Madsen has a hamstring problem (notoriously great injuries) the extent of which we’ll know more about next week but he’s definitely not playing tomorrow. He joins long termers Ziyad Larkeche, Rumarn Burrell and Karamoko Dembele in that regard. Ilias Chair has gone from ‘back for Christmas’ to ‘back for Hull’ but has now been downgraded to not training and no definite return date. Justin Obikwu awaits his debut six weeks after signing for the club, still no word on what is even wrong with him. Kwame Poku will train fully next week with a view to some involvement against Middlesbrough. Steve Cook has been ‘rested’ for the last two games and not even made the bench. Paul Smyth has missed the last two, no word on what’s wrong with him. Jake Clarke-Salter and Jonathan Varane have both made it back as far as substitute appearances this week. Rhys Norrington-Davies cannot play against his parent club leaving Esquerdinha as the club’s only available left back option with Sam Field on loan at Norwich. Amadou Mbengue is one yellow card away from a two match ban. Apart from that, everything’s great.

We miss a reunion with our old friend Kalvin Phillips because of – wait for it… - a suspension. Phillips got three games for cracking through Svante Ingelsson’s knee in the Steel City derby last week despite not being that sort of player at all, which means we don’t get to welcome him back to Loftus Road where he was sent off on his last appearance for cracking through Geoff Cameron’s knee despite not being that sort of player at all. He can be replaced in the Blades’ midfield by Joe Rothwell who also arrived in January and was also immediately sent off at Bramall Lane for cracking through Alan Browne’s knee despite… etc etc. Former R loanee Sam McCallum and ex-Everton clothes horse Tom Davies are both medium term absentees.

Elsewhere: Dramatic mid-table fare between Bristol City and Watford gets the weekend underway on your Sky tellybox this evening.

The three lunchtime games tomorrow mainly concern the bottom end of the table where Leicester, now third bottom and in trouble, will be hoping not only for a win at home to Norwich but also a positive Derby result against Blackburn in the John Eustace grudge off at Pride Park. Rovers’ two quickfire wins under Michael O’Neill have lifted them four points clear of the Foxes with games starting to run out.

The only other team really in the mix for that third spot at the moment are West Brom who, to the surprise of nobody, parted ways with Eric Ramsay during the week. The idea of replacing Ryan Mason, who was widely seen to be doing his best but lacking experience, with Ramsey, who is doing his best but lacking experience, always looked ropey to me and the Baggies’ only victory in 15 games now is the one we gifted to them over Christmas. Talk of Darren Moore coming back to The Hawthorns as some sort of savior in waiting is doing the rounds ahead of a must-win trip to second bottom Oxford. Defeat for the U’s there would leave them nine points adrift.

The two teams just above this and probably fine but wouldn’t want to go on a bad run are Charlton (18th, seven points clear) and Portsmouth (19th, five points clear). Pompey complete the morning fixtures at home to Hull (another kind pick for the away fans by our Sky Overlords there) while Charlton host Disney FC in the afternoon.

At the top end Coventry really seem to have settled back down after their wobble. Frank Lampard’s side have won their last three games, including tricky ties against Boro and Sheff Utd, and are back five points clear of Kim Hellberg’s side in second and nine points away from third. They host Stoke in the Mark Robins derby tomorrow while Boro are at Birmingham on Monday night (again, super kind and considerate scheduling for the travelling fan).

The chasing pack is headed by Millwall, 59 points four back from Boro after four wins in a six and a midweek humping of Birmingham. They go to Preston Knob End while Ipswich tucked in just behind in fourth host Swansea. Southampton can move to within a point of the play-offs if they win their gimme at Sheff Wed.

Referee: I don’t want to give you the impression there’s a dearth of officials up to Championship standard, but Tom Nield refereed us the week before last at Charlton. Details.

Form

- Tuesday night was the 13th time QPR have conceded 5+ goals in a Championship match since the EFL rebrand in 2004 – only Barnsley (17) have suffered that fate on more occasions in this time in the division. (If you want to add this as a cheery pub quiz question to your pre-match tomorrow then working backwards the answers are Southampton A 5-0, Coventry A 7-1, Burnley H 5-0, Blackpool A 6-1, Barnsley A 5-3, West Brom A 7-1, Forest H 5-2, Newcastle H 6-0, Forest A 5-0, Boro H 5-1, West Brom A 5-1, Southend A 5-0, Leeds A 6-1. And for fans of sacking the manager to get better results, only John Gregory and Ian Holloway feature on that list twice, Holloway over two different spells).

- QPR have lost two league games by 5+ goals in the same season for the first time since 2011–12 (6–0 vs Fulham, 6–1 vs Chelsea), and for the first time in the second tier since 2000–01 (5–0 vs Preston, 5–0 vs Wimbledon). @JTSupple

- Those two results mean, unsurprisingly, QPR have a -6 goal difference, the only minus goal difference north of 18th in the league. Only Leicester (54) and Sheff Wed (60) have conceded more than Rangers’ 52, second bottom Oxford have let in six fewer goals.

- QPR have conceded 15 headed goals this year, four more than anybody else in the division.

- QPR have conceded 13 of their 52 league goals and 15 of their 57 goals in all comps in the ten minutes directly after half time. The only team in the league with a worse record in the 45-60 minute range is Sheff Utd (18).

- This is probably not the fixture you’d choose for QPR to bounce back from that hammering at St Mary’s. They haven’t beaten Sheff Utd in four attempts, since Chris Willock scored the only goal of the game at Bramall Lane in October 2022. That is Rangers’ only win against the Blades in 11 fixtures. The last time United lost here at Loftus Road was October 2017 when Idrissa Sylla’s farcical goal sealed a 1-0 victory for the R’s – United have won three and drawn one of four visits since.

- Still, only Sheff Wed and West Brom (12 each) have lost more away games than Sheff Utd’s ten this year.

- This time last season QPR were 14th with 44 points. They are now 14th with 47. They have won one more game and lost one more game than they had a year ago – a 13-8-13 record this time versus 11-11-12 last time.

- Sheff Utd have by far the fewest amount of draws in the Championship with three. Next after them is Hull and Norwich with six each and then Swansea with seven. The Blades have drawn away from home just once.

- This time last year Sheff Utd were second on 72 points (22-6-6). Now they’re 27 points worse off in 16th on 45 (14-3-17).

- Having lost eight of their first nine games in the Championship, Sheff Utd have only lost nine of 25 games since. They’ve only lost two of the last seven and those both 2-1 against the top two Coventry and Middlesbrough.

- QPR have won three and lost three of their last six home games, alternating between the two, which might bode well for this one given Blackburn won here 3-1 last time out.

- Rumarn Burrell remains QPR’s top scorer on ten goals despite not playing since January 4, he is the first Rangers player to reach double figures since Andre Gray also netted ten in 2021/22. Patrick Bamford with nine (from just 12 starts and six sub apps) is Sheff Utd’s top scorer ahead of Callum O’Hare on eight.

- Sheff Utd made the very Chris Wilder additions of Joe Rothwell and Kalvin Phillips to their midfield in January but they have both been sent off in consecutive home games for the Blades. With five red cards Wilder’s team lead the way for dismissals in the Championship this season. QPR have had one (Mbengue v Wrexham), only Hull and Bristol City are without a sending off to this point.

- Bamford, however, has faced QPR six times in his career without registering a single goal or assist, more than against any other club. He missed a hilarious penalty here for Leeds in 2019/20.

Prediction

In our Prediction League for 2025/26 we’ll once again be handing out prizes for being top at Christmas and overall winner from The Art of Football - sample the merch from our sponsor’s newly extended QPR collection here. QPR_Hibs won last season’s Prediction League at a canter and is lending his thoughts to this year’s previews…

“Have you seen the big news this week? No, not the BAFTA awards furore. The absolutely massive story that Scotland fans will be allowed to wear their sporrans to the World Cup tournament in the United States, following high-powered talks between FIFA and the SFA. Actually, I’m not sure the talks would have been that high-powered. They probably went something like this:
FIFA – “What is a sporran anyway?”
SFA – “Nobody really knows.”
FIFA – “Well, as long as you promise not to use them to smuggle in any alcohol or other nefarious items.”
SFA – “How very dare you!”
“Anyway, now that the sporran issue has been resolved, we can move onto the more serious matters of bagpipes and ‘see-you-Jimmy’ hats.

“In QPR news, I think all is well in the world since our fantastic away win at Hull last weekend. I definitely don’t remember us playing any midweek fixture against, oh I don’t know, let’s say, for example, Southampton. Or perhaps I’ve just erased all memory of it? I do vaguely recall something about ‘Player of The Season’ front-runner, Nico Madsen limping off holding his hamstring and probably missing most of the rest of the season. Ben Williams says he’s sorry if Nico is your favourite player.

“Suggestions on the forum this week that we should go with a 3-5-2 formation against Sheffield United at the weekend seem sensible. It would bulk up the midfield a bit and give a bit of protection to Esquerdinha, who surely starts on the left in the absence of RND. Edwards may be pushed into midfield, if Cook, Dunne and JCS are all fit and available. Who plays in goal is a big call for Stéphan (or is it Nourry?) to make. Does it boost Walsh’s confidence to play him or to take him out of the firing line? Ben Hamer has featured seven times for the Super Hoops this season with varying results, though he WAS awarded the MOTM in the 0-0 draw up at Brammall Lane. The whereabouts of Paul Nardi are unknown.

“Sheffield United are somehow below Rangers in the league at present but are in better recent form. They have scored three goals in away matches four times already this season. Chelsea reject, Patrick Bamford (five-year contract, 0 appearances,) will be attempting to stay on his feet long enough to cause a threat to the R’s goal. The Blades’ away kit appears to be a lovely little black number, so we should be able to avoid any potential kit clashes by playing in blue and white hoops.

“Apparently, I’m contractually obliged to make some sort of prediction at this point. But first I’m going to slightly misquote US politician Donald Rumsfeld, who may have said ‘There are known knowns, there are known unknowns, there are unknown unknowns and then there is the form of Queens Park Rangers F.C.’”

QPR_Hibs Prediction: QPR 1-3 Sheff Utd. Scorer – Unknown Unknown

LFW’s Prediction: QPR 0-2 Sheff Utd. No scorer.

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