Sheff Wed and QPR, two teams united in a love of farce and catastrophe, have both come up with same latest, greatest plan for salvation, at the same time, and they meet on Saturday at Hillsborough.

Sheff Wed (1-0-3 WWLLWL 20th) v QPR (1-2-1 LWDDDW 12th)

Sky’s Super Saturday Brunch Spectacular >>> Saturday September 14, 2024 >>> Kick Off 15.00 >>> Weather – Warming slightly, dry >>> Hillsborough, Sheffield, S6

For a child of the QPR 90s, Sheffield Wednesday was a good place to go if you wanted a kick in the nuts. All Carlton Palmer hat tricks and Gordon Watson swaggering about.

Shortly before QPR cut loose at Old Trafford one New Year’s Day, they got warmed up with a performance that wasn’t a million miles away from that at home to the Owls. Terry Cinzano, open necked shirt, voicing over about “flying broomstick form” and “great imagination” as Ray Wilkins chipped the goalkeeper from 30 yards. What a time to be alive. “A shame really that Rangers threw it away in injury time, Hirst was Wednesday’s scorer.” Ah.

The Palmer treble (in the first half, ye Gods) had been and gone by that stage. A season on, a QPR team good enough to finish fifth in the Premier League might have fancied its chances in the League Cup, having dodged a typical embarrassment over two legs against Grimsby with the aid of a penalty shoot out, and then ignored a pretty flagrant attempt on Andy Sinton’s life to win 2-0 at Bury. Alas, Sheff Wed away, another four goals conceded, John Helm whittering on about how marvellous it was for Roland Nilsson to get the fourth just a few minutes after somebody had poked him in the eye. Yeh, absolutely bloody magical.

Things got worse the year after. Sinton now played for the opposition, and for Rangers it was another three defeats, another League Cup campaign ended, this time at home. I had to ask my dad what “Indian sign” meant. Are we allowed that one any more? Wilkins described it as a “bogey”, as he would. Probably safer. Few more obvious signs that Rangers were not much longer for the Premier League than Mark Bright and bottle green Wednesday rolling into W12 in early September 1995 and winning 3-0 with embarrassing ease.

The decline in S6, however, fell almost in step with that in Shepherd’s Bush. Wednesday would follow us down into the First Division, and financial meltdown, for much the same reasons we ended up there ourselves – poor managerial appointments, retainment and recruitment. Of course they stuffed five through us at Hillsborough when we met again, but there was no curse or hex about that – even Gerald Sibon and co were good enough for a 5-2 against QPR’s class of 2000/01 which conceded five goals in games for fun and sport. The Second Division soon beckoned for both clubs.

After all this it speaks to my sado-masochistic tendencies towards self-flagellation that I’d choose Sheffield for my studying/dossing/playing intramural football years. Nevertheless, as uni (and the people there) offered me the glimpse of escape from my teenage hellscape (and the people there) so QPR started to turn the tables. Not only on Sheffield Wednesday, but football as a whole. The locals never tired of telling me Guylain Ndumbu Nsungu (later of Darlington, Gillingham, Bradford, then the Darlington women again) was coming to get us and ruin the whole thing, but Ian Holloway’s side swept the husk that remained of the blue side of Sheffield twice in my first year, crucially winning the final game of the season 3-1 to secure automatic promotion. Another quiet night at the library that was. Not.

It was all black balloons and on the pitch at full time at this stage, Wednesdayites fed on a diet of stories Dave Allen was going to move them to the Owlerton dog track and those Rory Noonan posts that used to plague the old 606 message board before the BBC closed it. QPR were, seemingly, on the up. These two clubs have continued to move in step though. Sure, there have been times when it seemed one or the other was getting its act together - Rangers went five without a win in these fixtures through the 2014-2017 period when Carlos Carvalhal was spending big money on multiple strikers trying and failing to get promoted back to the Premier League; Mark Warburton’s R’s absolutely trounced the wreckage that left behind when we all thought one permanent signing of Stefan Johansen and we might be going up ourselves – but boom and bust for these two has come and gone with remarkable similarity.

At the beginning of the the 2023/24 season QPR and Sheff Wed were the worst two teams in the Championship, with the worst two managers, by a thousand miles. The only thing destined to keep Rangers off the bottom of the league was Wednesday, and vice versa. The only hope we could offer in our season preview was that they’d be worse than us. QPR won two of their first 17, Sheff Wed one of their first 18. It was embarrassing. That both stayed up was fairly miraculous. That they did it in much the same way rather curious.

Both totally reversed their previous direction with a younger coach from the continent – in the Owls’ case the youngest manager in the league, Danny Rohl. Both sound good on the television. Both ridiculously handsome. Neither talking about "emptying the tank". Neither wearing cowboy boots.

Both put results on the board straight away: Wednesday five league wins from eight games in December; Rangers three wins and four draws over a similar period. Both lulled through a gruelling winter: Sheff Wed one win in eight; QPR no wins in eight across the same period of time. The Owls bottomed out with a 4-1 at eventually relegated Huddersfield on February 3; QPR did the same 11 days later with a pathetic showing at another fellow struggler Stoke City. It starts to get a bit spooky and uncanny this because just as Rohl’s team wet the sail and came roaring home with a remarkable sequence of results needed to survive (five wins through February and March, nine wins from the last 16 games) so Cifuentes’ Rangers posted five victories through February and March, nine wins from the last 17, to stay up with plenty to spare. Both sides won their last three matches. Through the looking glass here people.

What differs is the chosen style of play.

Jose Mourinho’s success at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan from 2004 to 2010 inflicted a dreadful style of play and school of thought on the rest of this sheep-like sport that that ball is your enemy, you’re at your most dangerous when you have possession, give the opposition the ball, get deep, tight and organised, wait for them to make a mistake, and then pounce. It led to some dire years of football, romanticised during this latest international break with this pure/prime Barclays #Barclaysmen (#puke) trend, that was actually broken, at least in part, by Ian Holloway’s Blackpool going into the top flight and coming within a gnat’s cock hair of surviving there with a centre back combination of Ian Evatt and Alex Baptiste just by getting the ball and attacking teams with it a bit.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Rohl is a throwback to that insufferable nonsense, more of a Klopp-influenced Gegenpressing (puke x2) German coach, but he does seem to thrive most when the opposition have the ball and he can send his team out on a full, high court press and then be ruthlessly quick and aggressive attacking on transition in big numbers.

Pep Guardiola’s success with Barcelona and Man City more recently has, similarly, convinced the rest of the sport that if you haven’t got two centre backs and a goalkeeper pisballing about with possession in their own six yard box then you’re some John Beck-type dinosaur who’s simply not doing it right. The fact you’re never going to be able to beat Man City at that and win anything, because they spend a billion quid on their team and you can’t, doesn’t matter. There’s now a right and a wrong way to play football, and coaches who subscribe to that (Russell Martin, Luke Williams, Mike Williamson), are in high demand. We recently saw Vincent Kompany stubbornly, happily, take Burnley straight back down refusing to budge from those ideals because he knows how football works at the moment and, lo, while Burnley go to Millwall and Plymouth, he’s now the Bayern Munich boss. The fact that type of football is every bit as boring as watching a Tony Pulis team lump it 80 yards while he marauds around in a tracksuit yawping “go on Jon” is a point for another time, and boy don’t you think I won’t be making it between now and May – 48 match previews a year don’t write themselves.

Cifuentes has certainly shown himself a good deal more flexible, malleable and pragmatic than that. The equaliser at Luton last week came from Steve Cook deciding the time had come to turn their centre back around with a channel ball – a centre back, at £10m, it turns out, unable to cope with Michael Frey. Our manager is, however, a Cruyffian idealist at heart. He does want to have possession, he does want to build up from deep.

So, while QPR and Sheff Wed survived in similar ways last season, their managers subscribe to different Substacks.

In the individual match ups thus far, Rohl is two for two. We can make excuses for that – QPR led the game at Hillsborough last December until the final minute of normal time, had a golden chance in that minute to make it 2-0 which Sam Field spurned, and then contrived to concede twice in the seconds that remained and lose; at Loftus Road they were coming off a titanic effort to post two wins in three days over Easter and looked leggy/tired/complacent. They were, however, for me, certainly two of - arguably the two biggest - Cifuentes tactical failures so far.

In both matches he gave rare starts to Sinclair Armstrong as a lone striker, despite Bambo Diaby being a) as strong and b) as quick as him, nullifying the main/only advantages of a striker who has two clubs in his bag and it’s both the same club. In both matches QPR were prone to going far too long, far too early. In the first, admittedly while the Spaniard was still getting to know what he had at his disposal, he emptied the midfield late in the game to add another centre back to the ones he already had (Steve Cook came off the bench ten from time) and that concession of possession and midfield ground in a game Barry Bannan was already bossing left right and centre proved critical.

For the modern generation of tactical and analytical football fan, it makes tomorrow’s match up in the Steel City pretty fascinating.

Both managers sacrificed ideals and principles to keep their teams up last season. Cifuentes went longer, earlier, more direct, more physical, with Jimmy Dunne at right back, and Isaac Hayden in midfield, to help a team (and a goalkeeper) struggling to pass out and a danger to itself and others at set plays. QPR went from the worst dead ball team in the league over the season to the best in the final dozen games. Rohl abandoned his 4-2-3-1 to pack the defence after conceding four at Huddersfield and six at Ipswich, and at times went after sides with a flat front four in a desperate quest for the points they needed.

Both were always going to spend this summer trying to mould their teams more in their image, and when Rohl’s Wednesday smashed through the back doors of Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth on day one it looked like the hype about him (not you Wazza), and them, might be real. QPR, meanwhile, were well beaten by Carlos Corberan’s West Brom – or as we’re catchily referring to them now Marti Cifuentes’ QPR Two Years Later. Since then, though, tomorrow’s hosts have found it difficult. Sunderland perhaps one of those days, Leeds our pre-season tip for the title, but a 3-0 at Neil Harris’ Wawll? My word. Three defeats, no goals scored, nine conceded. Teething problems. QPR, meanwhile, seem to be feeling more comfortable in their own skin. Having not recovered a single point from a losing position on the road last season, they now have four from trips to parachute payment relegatees Sheff Utd and Luton.

Sheff Wed, of course, now win 2-0 tomorrow to switch the narrative back again, but I still find these two interesting to study in tandem. Two teams relegated out of the Premier League, just as the TV money exploded, at much the same time for much the same reasons, who’ve dug themselves into many of the same holes in the same ways trying to get back, now walking in step once more with spookily similar and yet entirely different continental coaches.

Sorry, that all got a bit serious there didn’t it? Three cock jokes and a gob bumming in the Palace previews, promise.

Links >>> Transfer Window Wrap - Patreon >>> Promotion party – History >>> Weird weekends – Oppo profile >>> Langford in charge – Referee >>> Perryipheral thoughts – Column >>> Sheff Wed Official Website >>> Sheffield Star — Local Paper >>> London Owls — Blog >>> Owls Talk — Message Board

Below the fold

Team News: QPR remain without star man Ilias Chair and Morgan Fox Morgan Fox, although both are now Back Out On The Grass™ so may be able to feature soon. Lucas Andersen returned from his farcical injury suffered against Sheff Utd with a second half cameo at Luton so the main decisions this weekend seem to be around which combination of Dembele, Saito, Smyth, Andersen and Madsen play in support of in form target man Michy Frey.

Rangers only had two senior players away on international duty. Paul Smyth played seven minutes of a 2-0 win against Luxembourg and 13 in a 1-0 loss to Bulgaria for Northern Ireland. Zan Celar was a 63rd minute sub for Slovenia in a 1-1 draw with Austria, then played an hour of a 3-0 win against Kazakhstan. The offish seems to think he scored in that game but every other site has it down as a Benjamin Sesko hat trick. Alfie Tuck and Rayan Kolli were both away with the Wales and Algeria youth set ups.

Although Danny Rohl was being predictably coy about the situation, Sheff Wed could be missing all three first choice centre backs for this game. Dom Iorfa (not the offside one), Michael Ihiekwe and star man Di’Shon Bernard are all doubts, though I feel a bit of the Jonathan Woodgate press conference about this list. Bernard isn’t actually injured, but was away with Jamal Lowe playing for Steve Candy’s Jamaica side in a game that kicked off at 3am Wednesday morning our time. When they pushed Bernard back into action after a similar trip last season he injured himself in the warm up at Swansea and missed a month of the run in. Yan Valery was withdrawn from international duty with Tunisia with a calf problem but will probably come on over. Nathaniel Chalobah is definitely out, he's made one brief League Cup appearance so far which is very much par for that particular course.

Elsewhere: Sky’s Super Saturday Brunch Spectacular lurches back into action tonight with a north-off between Hull Tigers and Sheffield Red Stripe. I felt sure Hull’s Turkish ownership would steam into the end of the transfer window all hot and heavy as they had done a year ago (to be fair, so did their manager Tim Walter), while Chris Wilder’s Blades looked a busted flush after their dreadful one-year Premiewr League stay. In the end, though, it was United who made the eye-catching signings and City who leave themselves looking woefully short versus what they had last season. Let’s see if that plays out on the field tonight.

Nothing especially cruel among this week’s clutch of Saturday lunchtime kick offs. Leeds at home to Burnley is the clash of the two automatic promotion favourites (that once-an-hour, three-coach Northern Rail special across the Pennines will be a delight). Wawll at home to Luton is a throwback to the more innocent times of the 1980s, but more to the point it’s a big game for the visitors who are yet to win in the Championship as a newly relegated parachute payment side. They’ve brought in Victor Moses as a free agent to try and kick start some signs of life. Oxford have started impressively, and could be a good bet at home to Stoke if that form continues.

Gab Sutton FC have won their first four games of the season which means another win tomorrow at Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth on their procession to the league title would set a club record of 15 points from 15 available to start a new campaign. At the other end of the fledgling table there’s a grim looking face off between Derby and Cardiff which looks like an early relegation six pointer to me. In between we’ve got Boro v Preston Knob End, Swanselona v Norwich, and Tom Cleverley’s surprisingly competent looking Watford hosting Coventry.

Blackburn v Bristol City is this week’s exciting meeting between two teams beginning with B.

The Sunday game is Portsmouth at home to West Brom.

And, of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven Goran Eriksson in the crowd.

Referee: OIiver Langford’s 28th appointment with QPR, last with us for a 0-0 at Sunderland in April. No club has been refereed by him more. Details.

Form

Sheff Wed: The Owls came into this season on a wave of optimism following their fairly miraculous escape from relegation in 23/24. They won none of their first 13 league games and one of their first 18 last season, but finished two places and three points outside the relegation zone having set play-off pace through the second half of the year under new boss Danny Rohl. Wednesday won eight and drew three of their final 14 matches, including a run of six matches unbeaten to finish (a 2-0 win at Loftus Road amongst them) and three wins from the final three matches. They lost only one of the last ten and two of the final 13 games at Hillsborough.

That had some tipping them as high as the play-offs in their season previews for the new campaign, and there was plenty of hype around as they trounced Plymouth 4-0 in Sheffield on day one. But things have gone a little awry since with three straight league defeats, nine goals conceded, and none scored. The 4-0 against the Pilgrims was swiftly cancelled out with the same score at Sunderland, Leeds won 2-0 in the Steel City and perhaps more surprisingly they were then beaten 3-0 at Millwall where despite 61% possession they had just four shots with xG of 0.16. Only Cardiff (ten) have conceded more goals so far than Rohl’s men (nine). They’ve enjoyed trips to the East Coast in the League Cup in amongst those games, with a 2-1 win at Hull and then a 5-1 on the other side of the river at Grimsby.

Sheff Wed did the double over QPR last season, winning 2-0 at Loftus Road and scoring twice in injury time to turn around a dramatic 2-1 win at Hillsborough. Those were the first meetings since the 2020/21 lockdown season when Rangers scored a last minute Macauley Bonne header here to draw 1-1 and then won 4-1 in Shepherd’s Bush as the Owls headed for relegation and Mark Warburton’s side hit a hot streak to finish the campaign. Three meetings in 2019/20 all went the way of the away side with Jordan Hugill scoring twice in S6 before Wednesday won twice in West London including an FA Cup fourth round tie. Rangers have lost only one of their last five visits to this ground, winning twice.

Michael Frey has been directly involved in 4 goals in his last 4 appearances for QPR (3 goals, 1 assist), after registering just 1 goal involvement in his first 10 games (1 goal).

What a complete performance tonight from the big man🔥

🔵#QPR⚪️ pic.twitter.com/43gzPOEqlr— Jack Supple (@JTSupple) August 30, 2024

QPR: Rangers’ 3-1 defeat to West Brom on day one was the first time they’d lost at home in the opening game at this level, and the first time they’d lost their first game of the season for three years in a row since the mid-1990s. It’s taken Marti Cifuentes’ team four league games to post their first win.

Since day one, however, the R’s are unbeaten. They won 2-1 at Cambridge in the cup, stuck three draws on the board against Sheff Utd (2-2), Plymouth and Luton in the cup (both 1-1) and then won at Kenilworth Road in the league (2-1). Starting with consecutive away games at two of the relegated Premier League sides was always going to be tough, but QPR have taken four points having trailed in both games against Sheff Utd and Luton. Last season they didn’t recover a single point from a losing position away from home. No team has had more shots on target in the Championship so far than QPR’s 23 efforts – although a chunky ten of those came in the one game against Plymouth. Michael Frey has three goals in four appearances after scoring just one in his first ten games for the club. Rangers have covered the over 2.5 goals bet in five of their last six Championship games.

Already at this early stage in the season QPR have only two players who’ve started every game (Jimmy Dunne and Kenneth Paal) and only Paal has played every minute of every game. In the league six players have played every minute – Paul Nardi, Dunne, Paal, Steve Cook, Jake Clarke-Salter and Sam Field.

Prediction: There’s still time to enter our Prediction League for 2024/25, where 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. For the first time last year we had joint winners so this season you’ll be hearing from one or both WestonsuperR and SimplyNico in the match previews.

Nico’s Prediction: “This is a difficult one. Last year, we did not do well against Sheffield Wednesday, and Rohl was, alongside Marti, the pick of the bunch in terms of managerial team turnarounds. However, leaving aside their first day demolition of Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle, Wednesday have not been great so far this season, but are apparently turning a corner (albeit now possibly with a number of injuries). At our end, the players were starting to gel as a unit prior to the international break and playing some good attacking football in patches (although also, annoyingly, switching off at times as well). With some Marti time over the course of the last two weeks, I would hope that we are not going up there to lose. I am going to say that this will be a tightly fought win for us.”

Weston’s Call “Wednesday’s opening day win vs Plymouth was very impressive but they have struggled since, which makes this prediction tricky. Our result at Luton was clearly our best this season but we could we easily have been two or three down and a loss so I’m going to sit on the fence and go with a draw, Frey to continue his good form with a goal.”

Nico’s Prediction: Sheff Wed 1-2 QPR. Scorer – Karamoko Dembele

WestonSuperR’s Prediction: Sheff Wed 1-1 QPR. Scorer – Michy Frey

LFW’s Prediction: Sheff Wed 1-1 QPR. Scorer – Michy Frey

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Pictures - Ian Randall Photography

TacticalR added 14:20 - Sep 14 Thanks for your preview. Those are intriguing parallels between the two clubs and between the two current managers. There were certainly uncanny parallels between our relegation escapes last season. Of the two managers, Cifuentes seems more creative, perhaps because of his Cruyffian ideals, and perhaps because he had to be because of the very limited options he had up front last season. We have seen this season that Cifuentes is keen on getting in creative players.

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