After QPR’s morale-sapping 5-0 thrashing to Swansea at Loftus Road on the opening day of the season, Mark Hughes has moved quick to try and solve the club’s defensive woes. The wealthy Londoners (7/2 – Relegation) are continuing the splash the cash but is this necessarily going to go hand-in-hand with success this season?
A fee of £9million was agreed with Spurs for the ever-reliable Michael Dawson while the Hoops also agreed a season-long loan deal with Real Madrid for Ricardo Carvalho. With Jose Bosingwa signed too late to face Swansea it means Hughes could field a completely new-look back four against Norwich on Saturday, with Ryan Nelsen also expected to start (Norwich 5/4, draw 12/5, QPR 11/5).
QPR have also been linked with Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar, which could suggest Hughes is not completely won-over by new signing Robert Green following his howler for the first Swansea goal last weekend.
This summer the club have already brought in Junior Hoillet, Park Ji-sung, Samba Diakite, Green, Nelses, Andrew Johnson, Fabio and Bosingwa, with more new faces expected to join Dawson and Carvalho at Loftus Road before the transfer window closes. Indeed, they have been linked with Ryan Shawcross, Jermain Defoe and Kurt Zouma – it seems nailed on the already-bloated QPR squad will be extended further before too long.
All these moves, especially the defensive ones in the wake of the Swansea hammering, has led many onlookers to question their transfer policy and there have been suggestions QPR are ‘panic buying’ – which is something Tony Fernandes has been quick to hit back at.
The Chairman took to Twitter to say: “Wages are less than last year 15 players already left. And we have spent a net of 1.5 million this year. We have a fantastic team led by our very committed manager Mark. There is no panic and no overspending. ”
Ever since QPR (125/1 – Top 4 Finish) were taken over by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore in August 2007 the club have seemed to wastefully spend money and hire/fire countless managers in the search for success, and this has showed no signs of abating under successive owners.
The club’s PR activity wasn’t helped by the broadcast of ‘The Four Year Plan’ which showed the extraordinary, and sometimes shocking, behind-the-scenes activity over four years as the Hoops strived to get back in the Premier League.
If you look at the new faces signed this summer, five players are over 30 and Carvalho, 34, will become the sixth and also the 19th thirty-plus player in total on the books at Loftus Road. While most teams in the Premier League are looking towards nurturing youth and working within UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations, the west London club seem to be going down a different path.
QPR are striving for success but the way they are going about it means eyebrows are being raised up and down the country. While it is true that Dawson and Carvalho are good defenders, Hughes cannot just parachute them in and expect a sturdy Hoops defence from day one.
Whether their philosophy will work remains to be seen, but the revolution is going to be televised.
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.