Sky Sports, with Ford, takes you to the heart of the action. Three defeats in four for ailing Rangers, can Stephan arrest their slide? Middlesbrough are running red hot with seven wins from ten, is Hellberg leading Boro back to the big time? /keysie Heeeeere we go, heeeeeeeeeere we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, this is it.

QPR (13-8-14 WDLWLL 15th) v Middlesbrough (19-9-7 WWLDDW 2nd)

Sky’s Super Sunday Brunch Spectacular >>> Sunday March 8, 2026 >>> Kick Off 16.30 >>> Weather – Grey but mild >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

As Arsenal prepare to lift the Premier League trophy for the first time in two decades playing a brand of football that would have Arsene Wenger rolling over in his grave and Tony Pulis heading off to the back bedroom with a moist towel… as goal after goal after goal gets scrubbed off with interminable delay because the bloke before the bloke who passed to the bloke who got the assist accidentally flopped his bollock marginally ahead of the last defender when a pass was played to him some time ago… as we all sit and chat amongst ourselves for one excruciating ten minute spell after another while the referee deals with the Premier League’s IT department because we cannot possibly get through the rest of the half if he cannot be in constant radio contact with fourth official Andy Madley… it’s almost like the rest of the world has sat up and taken notice of something a lot of us have felt for a long time. This is all a bit shite.

Not like your grandad sitting in The Goldhawk and saying “the game’s gone” because we play on an occasional Sunday now, or we’re allowed a tool hire company to advertise on our shirts, or they’ve started sending people off for two footing the talented players through the back of the kneecap… like, properly, shite. Unwatchable, granular, over coached, technocratic, boring old shite.

I used to be completely obsessed. I’d watch every game. Literally, every game. You tell 16-year-old me they now show Freight Rover Trophy Games live on TV I’d have been even hornier than 16-year-old me was all the time anyway. We moved matchday pubs, around Shepherd’s Bush, based on who had gained or lost their Sky subscription. We spent an entire pre-match away at Ipswich in a Riley’s Snooker Hall because it was the only pub near the ground showing the lunchtime game. We sat in one of those pound-in-the-jar type places in Newcastle after we’d lost there, eating a Sunday roast while staring up at a very different collection of beef curtains, because it was showing Arsenal v Swansea. We got turned away at the door of The Horns in Shoreditch because we were going there to watch Watford – “but it says you’ve got Sky Sports?” “Yes, and if that’s the reason you’re here then you shouldn’t come in.”

And now? I got through all of Fulham v Spurs last week, because I though it was funny, but I can’t remember the last time before that. Arsenal average a minimum 30 second delay over every restart of the game. That’s not their corners and free kicks. That’s everything. Every goal kick, every throw in, takes another half minute out of the game. At Leeds v Sunderland during the week the game eventually played for 106 minutes, of which the ball was in play for 50 of them. The second half lasted 57 minutes and 54 seconds, with the ball in play for 24 minutes. Sunderland spent four minutes taking six goal kicks and eight minutes taking 19 throw ins, while Leeds spent a further 4 minutes 30 on their 22 throws.

I thought it was just me, growing old and finding other things in life, but it’s like a switch has been flicked this week. Gary Neville, rightly, livid at the repeated delays in the Spurs v Arsenal game because the referee’s communication equipment has broken down. Widespread ridicule of a series of not even marginal, just plain ridiculous offsides (that 5% error margin Liverpool got at Fulham not a thing any more, no?). Ruud Gullit saying the modern sport is “horrible” and “unwatchable”. Arne Slot not a fan, even before he lost at Wolves. Jonathan Liew drawing comparisons with the downfall of society and living standards in general across a Guardian long read.

Turns out it’s not just a little bit of my soul that detaches and drains away every time a goalkeeper sits down and pretends to be hurt so the rest of the players can flock to the touchline and hear the latest pearls of vital wisdom from Paul Heckingbottom.

This week the EFL voted through plans to extend its end of season play-off competition to include the teams in seventh and eighth. I’ve been more surprised by general election results in Belarus.

Obviously I think this is generally a bad idea: because the play-offs are already brilliant and don’t need tampering with; because it rewards mediocrity; because it once again benefits the richer clubs with bigger squads who will now play a more tired opponent or get a bigger bite at the cherry if they have a bad time after relegation; because I’m scarred by sitting in empty stadiums watching 7th placed Catalans Dragons play 8th placed Hull FC for the benefit of absolutely nobody at all. They say look at that Dan Ballard goal against Coventry last season, how can you not want more of that? I say look at how Bristol City did in that same competition, why would you want a bigger repeat? The 7th and 8th placed teams in recent times for you - Blackburn/Millwall, Hull/Boro, Blackburn/Millwall again, Boro/Blackburn, Reading/Cardiff, Forest/Millwall, Boro/Bristol City, Preston/Millwall. Lots of high quality, Premier League teams in waiting there?

But then, I’d probably have been against the play offs in the first place, because that’s what I’m like (don’t like change) and they’ve been absolutely brilliant. I could be persuaded on this. One humdinging 4-3 qualifying game between 6th and 8th and I’m going to be hooked.

In theory it’s great for fans of clubs like ours – as our players disappear on that flight to Mykonos in the first week of March yet again, the idea of being able to drag some faux excitement out into the depths of April (oooooooh, imagine) is very welcome indeed. As ever with QPR, though, it doesn’t really follow through in practice. Since relegation from the Premier League in 1996 QPR have played 24 seasons of second tier football, getting relegated once and promoted twice. Had this play-off set up been in place throughout it would have benefitted us… zero times.

I suspect if you put this one to a vote of supporters it would get through as well, maybe 60/40 in favour. That did get me thinking, though, about how many times we’ve been asked, about any of this.

When there’s a big, game changing proposal on the table how many clubs in the EFL actually poll their members and season ticket holders to see what they think about it before casting their vote? It seems the answer is none – even among the supporter-owned outfits like Wimbledon, Exeter and Chesterfield. VAR is deeply unpopular with supporters. Every poll you see at the moment comes out about 70% in favour of abolishing the bloody thing entirely. Yet when Wolves got it to a Premier League vote they were the only side that went with the motion – the rest voted 19/1 in favour of keeping it.

Things like scrapping cup replays, sticking Premier League reception classes in the EFL Trophy, fortnight long international breaks, ever more intrusive broadcast slots, ever widening VAR creep are deeply unpopular among a majority of supporters, and yet they’re inflicted on us anyway without anybody ever asking us.

I think it’s pretty obvious how QPR will have voted in this extended play-off referendum, firstly because we stand to benefit from it and secondly because it reportedly went through with 66 out of 71 clubs agreeing and only Tranmere voting definitively against. We asked the club to confirm they’d voted in favour of it and they told us they wouldn’t be disclosing how they’d voted. So, not only are QPR’s season ticket holders and members not asked what they think, but they’re also not allowed to know what our club thinks either.

We’re a really good example actually. Tony Fernandes, when he was our owner in the Premier League, voted in favour of the FFP rules we ended up getting stiffed by. A QPR owner for a relatively brief period of time, with a track record of disastrous decision making, helping to bring into being something the club has been wrestling with ever since. We’re left here with the consequences, he’s long gone.

There could be a statement on our official website on Monday saying clubs have approved the introduction of VAR to the Championship next season. And that would be it. Zero consultation, zero say. The only power you have is to withdraw your custom, as if it’s a supermarket or a mobile phone company or a tech giant you disagree with, rather than something you have emotional attachment and a long history with.

I don’t know what the solution is. It would be wholly impractical to poll everybody on everything. But I do believe a big reason the sport looks like it does at the moment is because decisions are made by a tiny number of people, mainly for financial motivations, with no care or consideration for what the people who actually consume the product think.

And if you think this doesn’t feel very much like a QPR v Middlesbrough preview, well that’s because I’m a bit afraid about what QPR v Middlesbrough might look like as well.

Links >>> Six-goal cliff-hanger – History >>> ’Hellball’ – Oppo Profile >>> Smith in charge – Referee >>> Middlesbrough Official Website >>> Teeside Gazette — Local Paper >>> FMTTM — Message Board >>> Boro Breakdown – Podcast >>> One Boro — Forum >>> Bonkers for Boro — Blog >>> Boropolis — Podcast

Parish Noticeboard – Closures on 12 Tube and train lines this Sunday including total shutdown of the Circle and Hammersmith and City Lines, and no Elizabeth Line between Ealing Broadway and Paddington.

Below the fold

Team News: This week’s big return is Kwame Poku’s third attempted comeback from a season of hamstring injuries from the bench. Poku was last seen in the Battle of the Fallen against Sheff Wed on January 4. There’s been no news of Nicolas Madsen’s hamstring scan following the 5-0 defeat at Southampton, which I assume means it’s really good news on his length of absence. Dave Mc at WLS reports Justin Obikwu’s mysterious six-week absence is a bone bruise on his shin. Still no sign of his debut, nor the on-again-off-again comeback of Ilias Chair. Ziyad Larkeche, Karamoko Dembele, Rumarn Burrell are long term absentees. Rhys Norrington-Davies returns after being forbidden from playing against his parent club in the Sheff Utd match. Amadou Mbengue continues to walk the high wire on nine yellow cards – if he can get through this week he’ll avoid a two-match ban.

Leo Castledine got a start and two sub appearances under his belt after arriving from Chelsea in the winter transfer window but hasn’t played since January due to injury – he’s back in full training this week and may make the bench. Former QPR goalkeeper Seny Dieng is back at The Riverside after his brief loan at Sheff Wed.

Elsewhere: Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. Silence the pianos and with muffled drum. Bring out Preston v Oxford, let the mourners come.

Bit of a weird weekend this one with FA Cup fifth round (I know, I was surprised too) ties taking place involving Wrexham (at home to The Scum) and Norwich (away to The Scum) which robs the Championship of two fixtures and bumps us into Sky’s Super Sunday slot in lieu of any action from “The Best League In The World” /Keysie.

Of course, with Bristol City playing their rearranged cup tie at Port Vale as recently as Tuesday they’ve only been sure they’d be playing league leaders Coventry this week for a couple of days. All eyes will be on Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues as they attempt to go eight clear of Boro and 11 of Ipswich ahead of our game the day after. There is, however, another little niche stat brewing – it’ll be a year this weekend since Bristol City were last awarded a penalty if they don’t get one in this game. Away from home they’ve had two penalties in five years (Feb 18 2023, and Nov 6 2021). This follows a sequence of 837 days from 2020 to 2023 where they weren’t awarded one either. Follow @nopen_bcfc as they chart the misery.

Two early games for you on Saturday affecting the top and bottom of the table. Play off chasers Hull (5th) and Millwall (4th) clash on Humberside while Blackburn (20th) play Portsmouth (19th) at Ewood Park.

Michael O’Neill’s side have a four-point buffer down to Leicester who occupy the final relegation spot ahead of a tough trip to Ipswich this weekend. With West Brom deciding - having sacked Ryan Mason because he was doing his best but too inexperienced and then Eric Ramsay because he was too inexperienced and a bit shit – that James Morrison is going to take the rest of their season ahead of a trip to Sheff Utd this weekend, it’s a great chance for Rovers to put some daylight between them and the drop zone. Blackburn still have West Brom and Leicester to play at home (although only Sheff Wed have won fewer home games) and Oxford away on Tuesday so it’s these mini-league games that could well decide their fate.

All pretty run-of-the-mill elsewhere with Charlton playing Birmingham in the Lyndon Dykes derby, Derby getting their gimme at home to hapless Sheff Wed, and Swansea playing Stoke for want of something better to do with their time.

Full midweek round to come Tuesday/Wednesday. Deep joy.

Referee: QPR will be hoping for a repeat of Josh Smith’s last trip to Loftus Road when they beat league leaders Coventry 2-1. Smith was originally down to officiate the first meeting at the Riverside in December but was replaced late on by David Webb. Details.

Form

- Since Christmas, only Sheff Wed (zero), West Brom (one) and Leicester (two) have won fewer Championship matches than QPR (three).

- QPR have lost three of their last four games at Loftus Road, conceding nine times in the process, and four of their last six. This after putting together a home run of five wins in six games.

- First goal the winner? Boro have won all 19 games this season when scoring first – zero draws, zero defeats when they’ve gone 1-0 up, including QPR’s visit there in December. Rangers aren’t too badly off in that regard either – they’ve only lost four points from winning positions so far (Preston H, Wrexham H). Albeit far fewer winning positions than Boro have been in.

- Boro have won 11 of their 18 games under Kim Hellberg, taking 36 points from a possible 54, scoring 34 goals and conceding 17.

- Boro have only lost one of their last ten league games coming into this one, winning seven. That culminated in the impressive 3-1 success at Birmingham on Monday but prior to that they had lost at Coventry and drawn relatively easy home games with Leicester and Oxford so it’s also only one win in four prior to Sunday’s meeting.

- Only Coventry have won more (21) and lost fewer (six) than Boro’s 19 wins and seven defeats to this point.

- QPR’s 54 goals conceded is the division’s worst record bar Leicester (56) and Sheff Wed 71.

- By contrast, only Stoke and Ipswich (both 34) have a better defensive record than Boro’s 35 goals conceded.

- QPR’s most recent win, at Hull, came with just 40.7% possession. Rangers’ last 17 victories have all come with less of the ball than the opponent, dating back to a 2-1 against Blackburn at Loftus Road last February.

- 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. Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway, who both scored in the first meeting, are the top Boro scorers in the league with 11 and seven respectively.

- Matt Targett scored twice in the first half of Boro’s 3-1 win over Birmingham on Monday, as many goals as he’d bagged in his prior 74 league games combined.

- Kieran Morgan (19y 348d) is the youngest player to reach 50 appearances for QPR since Nigel Quashie (19y 188d) in January 1998. @JTSupple

- These sides met on March 11 last season at the Riverside Stadium with Boro winning 2-1 with goals from Tommy Conway and Anfernee Dijksteel – Steve Cook got the consolation QPR strike. At that point Rangers were 14th with 11 wins, 11 draws and 15 defeats for 44 points from 37 games. Going into this one the R’s are 15th with 13 wins, eight draws and 14 defeats for 47 points from 35 games.

- QPR have lost the last four meetings between these sides conceding 11 goals in the process, including the first meeting this season when Strelec, Conway and Whittaker all netted in a 3-1 Boro victory. The last time Rangers won was a 2-0 at the Riverside under Gareth Ainsworth in September 2023. The last time the R’s won the fixture at Loftus Road was 3-2 in August 2022 under Mick Beale.

- QPR have never lost five times in a row against Boro.

- Boro have won their last two league visits to Loftus Road, having won just three of their first 26 league visits between 1966 and 2022.

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…

“There’s a running gag that we have in our house, which derives from a line in an obscure 1969 Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song called ‘Shirt.’ Specifically the bit that goes like this:

Good morning. Could I have this shirt cleaned ‘express,’ please?
Yes, that'll be three weeks, dearie.
Three weeks? But the sign outside says 59-minute cleaners!
Yes, that's just the name of the shop, love.

“Anyway, they claim that life imitates art, and indeed it did a couple of weeks ago when my other half and I popped over to Dublin to visit her folks. Needing to get a cab from the city centre to a village called Lucan where they live, we called a taxi firm called ‘Lucan Cabs,’ who apparently no longer go to (or from) Lucan due to driver shortages. It actually WAS just the name of the ‘shop.’

An awful set of February performances, where Rangers picked up just four points out of a potential 15, has seen us drop down to 15th place before the start of the weekend’s fixtures. The visit of high-flying Middlesbrough is probably the last thing we need on Sunday. Apparently, their manager studies previous opposition games and works out a plan to beat them, which seems a little unfair. In addition, we really could do with some players returning from our treatment room, sooner rather than later.

“RND should, at least, be back in defence and Smyth deserves to start over Saito, who has been poor all season. I thought Morgan was OK against Sheffield Utd, and I would definitely play him with Hayden in midfield rather than Varane.

‘Hello, Number 40 – what’s your name and where do you come from?’
‘Bonjour, Cilla, my name’s Jonathan, I’m from Lille and I like walking round Windsor, visiting the British Museum and passing back to the goalie.’

“I guess Kone, Vale and Bennie will continue up front, and we’ll probably play a goalkeeper and some guys in a back four kind of set-up. But I’m not allowed to tell you who they will be, in case it gives the opposition a competitive advantage. You’d think six more points would just about be enough to keep us in the Championship for another season, and I think we will get them, eventually. I just don’t expect too many this weekend.”

QPR_Hibs Prediction: QPR 0-3 Middlesbrough. No scorer.

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

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