Sun 30 Jul - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 1min
We are now at five days and counting until Derby County head to Sunderland for their 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship opener.
Our countdown to the new campaign continues here on dcfc.co.uk where we have been profiling all of the club’s that Gary Rowett’s side will be coming up against over the next 10 months.
Today, we take a look at Ian Holloway’s Queens Park Rangers…
Manager: Ian Holloway
Nickname: The Rs/ The Hoops
Stadium Capacity: 18,439
Finishing Place Last Season: 18th (53 Points)
Top Scorer (2016/17): Idrissa Sylla (10 Goals)
Promotion Odds (According to Coral): 12/1
Home – Tuesday 21st November 2017 (kick-off: 7:45pm)
Away – Tuesday 6th March 2018 (kick-off: 7:45pm)
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Derby County
Derby County 1-0 Queens Park Rangers
Ian Holloway would have been very much looking forward to this summer’s pre-season.
As we mentioned with Ipswich Town earlier in this series, you only have to look to one statistic that reflects how the 2016/17 season went for the Hoops.
Their 18th place finish was their lowest for a decade as the rebuilding job from their recent relegation from the Premier League in 2014/15 continues.
Holloway returned to the club he calls home back in November – he was a former player and manager at Loftus Road in the late 1990s and early 2000s’ respectively – to replace Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the former Burton Albion boss, after he only won 13 of his 47 matches in charge.
The Hoops, by Holloway's admission, were inconsistent last term.
Holloway’s tenure started with a home win over Norwich City by was followed by six straight defeats, but things started to pick up and supporters were given a glimpse of what could be.
The damage from their early season form meant they were unable to make a strong climb up the Championship table, but their spell of good form did ease any relegation worries.
Holloway’s men recorded eight wins and three draws in 15 matches to steer themselves away from the drop zone and by March they were the form team in the division – despite sitting in the lower half of the table.
The last thing QPR would have expected from that was the ending to the season they had.
Starting with a defeat to Derby, seven defeats from eight games – including a 4-0 final day humbling at Norwich City – saw the Hoops end the season with a bump – placing extra incentive on this summer and making sure they are ready for the 2017/18 campaign.
Movements in the transfer market have been limited so far as the Rs seek the right type of additions to their squad, but having spent a whole summer drilling in his methods to a group of players that are clearly talented, Holloway will be hoping to see far more consistency from the Hoops this coming season.
