Opposition Chat - Queen's Park Rangers

Last updated : 21 September 2004 By Graeme Smith

QPR's fan view come from Dave Barton, who runs www.queensparkrangersfc.com

Who are you; where are you from and how long have you supported your club?

Dave Barton originally from Shepherds Bush but now live in Langley near Slough.

I’ve supported QPR since birth so 28 years and counting.

What was your first game?

The last game on grass in around 1981 before we put the plastic pitch down. I don’t remember anything of the game apart from my Dad and his mates running off afterwards to get a bit of the pitch which we had growing in our flat for several months afterwards. It all seemed very exciting so I was hooked.

Describe the most memorable and worst game you've seen and why?

Most memorable was probably away to Sheffield Wednesday in May. There were 7,500 QPR fans packed into Hillsborough. We needed a win to go up and we did it with a 3-1 win. I finally saw QPR win something, even if it was only second place in the old third division.

Worst was probably Vauxhall Motors in the FA Cup a few years ago. We managed to take them to a replay and then a penalty shoot out, which was something of a cup run for us. It was deeply humiliating though and probably one of the worst nights of my life.

Who do you consider as your current local rivals, and why?

We still consider our local rivals as Chelsea but I’d expect most of their fans have forgotten about us now or never even seen us play. Fans like me who grew up in the 80’s will always hate Chelsea and remember the days when we used to finish above them in the league every year and they would get just a few thousand fans for home games and their biggest foreign import was Ken Monkou.

Who are the best and worst players you have seen?

I’ve seen plenty of great players at QPR but the best was probably Les Ferdinand. He was the perfect centre forward for us. He was brilliant in the air, very quick and scored loads of goals. I was devastated when he left and every summer since he left has seen QPR fans dream of him coming back for one last season.

Worst player is Gus Ceaser. We had him on loan from Arsenal in the early 1990’s to sort out a defensive injury crisis. Sadly he was the one defender who stayed fit and in one game he made John Fashanu look like Thierry Henry.

Which current or former Leicester player impressed you most?

David Connolly is a proven goalscorer in this division and looked a quality player for West Ham last year and Dion Dublin has always been quality so I expect he’ll do well in this division.

Best former player has to be Gary Lineker. He was one of the best forwards around in the 80’s.
Muzzy Izzett was also an excellent midfield player in recent years.

How did you fare last season?

Last season was a great season to be a QPR fan. We were outstanding at home staying unbeaten in the league at Loftus Road. The support from the QPR fans played a major part in this with the noise and numbers in the stadium being far better than during our Premiership days. Our away form was not so great but we did more than enough to get promoted and the celebrations at the end of the season will never be forgotten.

Some say we made hard work of promotion despite having some of the best players in the division but off field problems badly hurt us and could have cost us promotion. We lost giant defender Dan Shittu twice to cruciate knee injuries, fellow defender Clarke Carlisle went into a clinic with a drink problem, another defender Terrell Forbes was arrested over an alleged rape.

One week in March we lost every goalkeeper at the club through injury and had Steve Palmer pencilled in for goalkeeping duty until we were able to sign Lee Camp on loan a day before a vital game at Hartlepool. On top of all that we had plenty of other injuries and we lost our assistant manager Kenny Jackett with just a few games to go which didn't help matters.

Life was never dull but the spirit within the club was superb with fans getting right behind the team and even holding a bucket collection and various other fund raising events to pay for Jamie Cureton to sign for us in January. Going into the last day of the season we needed a win to go up and we got it with a 3-1 win in front of 7,500 QPR fans at Hillsborough which was a nice way to end the season

How do you think you'll do this season?

We’ve had a mixed start to the season so far but the aim is to stay up and finish around mid table, which is where I think we’ll finish. Some of our better players from last year have still not found top form yet like Martin Rowlands and Kevin Gallen but when they do hit top form we could surprise a few of the so called bigger clubs.

We do lack strength in depth but when our first eleven are fit then we are a match for anyone. I can't see us bothering the top of the table too often but we have a very hard working squad and a manager as enthusiastic as any in the league so I think we'll sit around mid table and probably flirt with relegation and the playoffs at various times but end up sitting nicely boring in about 14th place.


So what do you think of Leicester?

Leicester have done really well over the last ten years especially under Martin O’Neil. I think most neutrals were happy to see a small club winning trophies and beating the big boys every week. Mickey Adams is also a top manager especially in this division and I think he’ll get you there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

The manager is probably the key man for you this season. Mickey Adams is an excellent manager at this level and gets his teams well organised and hard to beat which is always a good place to start in this division.

I don’t think you quite have the quality you did last time you went up now that Izzet has gone but you'll be hard to beat and if you can avoid injuries you should be pushing for the top two again this season.


Is your manager barking mad?

You don’t get many managers madder than Ian Holloway. His post match press conferences are legendary. He is the most quotable manager we’ve ever had and the most likeable as well. His now classic comparison of a scrappy win over Chesterfield to going on a lads night out and pulling an ugly bird is his best one!

Are you happy with your Chairman/Backroom staff?

Up until a few months ago I’d say no but a change at boardroom level has left a lot of fans happy. Gone are the last remains of the Chris Wright era who managed to bring us out of administration worse off than we went in and make a £4million loss despite getting to a playoff final and having Fulham ground share with us. We now have a fan as Chairmen and a board who are looking to cut costs and have the one thing the previous regime didn’t have which is a business plan. World cup winner Dunga has also put money into the club but the downside of that is the new board seems to want a new manager, which has not gone down to well with the majority of fans.


Which team do you want to beat the most this season and why?

It would be nice to beat Cardiff after they broke our hearts in the Millennium Stadium but I really don’t care who we beat as long we keep winning.

What sort of line-up can we expect from you?

A 4-4-2 formation with Chris Day in goal. Back four of Marcus Bignot, Gino Padula, George Santos and Matthew Rose. By the time we play Leicester though Dan Shittu may be fully fit and ready for his first full game back after a long lay off but our recent good form will probably see him on the bench again.

Midfield will be Martin Rowlands, Marcus Bean, Marc Bircham and Lee Cook with Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong up front.

Predicted score?

We’ve been doing really well recently but this will be a tough test and I think it will be a 1-1 draw.

Who's going up?

Leicester, West Ham and Wigan

Who's going down?

Any three from about 12 clubs but I’ll go with Brighton, Gillingham and Rotherham.