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- Next Up: WBA in the FA Cup
- Video from 44 Years Ago: QPR FA CUP
- Next Up: WBA in the FA Cup
- Video from 44 Years Ago: QPR FA CUP
"QPR KEEPS ME AWAKE AT NIGHT"
Snippet quote by Tony Fernandes in Financial Times article re Air Asia
"...Mr Fernandes retorts that 80 per cent of his time is spent on AirAsia – but admits football is a source of greater worry.
“QPR keeps me awake at night, not the aviation business,” he says.." Financial Times
MIRROR By Robbie Savage
False dawn: Why QPR will still go down despite Stamford Bridge success
Queens Park Rangers gave their fans something to cheer when they shocked Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but Robbie Savage says despite that result the Hoops will still fall through the relegation trap-door
Nail-biting season: QPR and Harry Redknapp face a massive task if they're to survive in the Premier League this season Nail-biting season: QPR and Harry Redknapp face a massive task if they're to survive in the Premier League this season
One swallow doesn’t make a summer - and sadly, one sensational result will not save Queen’s Park Rangers from relegation.
Harry Redknapp rightly celebrated QPR’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge as one of the greatest of his career.
Nobody would begrudge Rangers their grandstanding on the pitch because they had gone 14 months without an away win, and nobody gave them a prayer of ending that against the European champions.
I don’t want to be a killjoy, but I think Harry might have started working his magic a bit too late to save Rangers from going down.
Don’t get me wrong: Redknapp is still a fantastic manager, and the way he turned QPR round from the shambles of last Sunday’s home defeat by Liverpool to pull off the shock result of the season speaks volumes for his ability to organise and motivate a team.
But when he looks at the Premier League table in the cold light of day, and at his team’s next three games (Tottenham, West Ham and Manchester City), Harry will know that QPR have still got it all to do.
For me, clubs with the best chance of avoiding relegation have natural goalscorers to provide the firepower, or the ability to stick away a half-chance in tight games.
Newcastle, who are dropping like a stone, have sold Demba Ba - but they still have Papiss Cisse, and when they get Hatem Ben Atrfa and Yohan Cabaye back from injury, I still think mid-table should be their natural habitat.
Sunderland were outplayed at Liverpool in midweek, but if Steven Fletcher stays fit, I believe they will be safe.
Aston Villa’s point at Swansea stopped the haemorrhage of heavy defeats, and masked the way they were massively outplayed for 30 minutes at the Liberty - Villa could have been four or five down by half-time - but Christian Benteke and Andi Weimann’s partnership up front gives them hope.
Southampton will not have much to spare, but they played so well against Arsenal on New Year’s Day that should give them all the confidence they need to climb the table.
And Wigan have sailed close to the wind so many times before that you do wonder if this might be the year their luck runs out.
But do Reading have a natural goalscorer? No - Pavel Pogrebnyak arrived with a decent pedigree, but he has scored only three goals in the first half of the season.
Good enough? Djibril Cisse is a good finisher, but is his work rate high enough for a side struggling at the foot of the table?
Paul Gilham
And do QPR have a natural goalscorer? Well, yes and no. Djibril Cisse is a decent finisher, but he doesn’t put himself about often enough to be the prolific striker Redknapp needs.
If you combined Cisse’s clinical instincts with Jamie Mackie’s work-rate and desire, you would have the perfect combination: but one does not put himself around enough, and the other is not a natural goalscorer.
When Shaun Wright-Phillips revealed that his winner at Chelsea was his first goal in 54 games, that said it all for me.
How can a player of SWP’s pace and ability go 54 games without scoring? That’s an unbelievable statistic.
After QPR’s first-half performance against Liverpool, which was the worst I have seen from a Premier League side for as long as I can remember, I gave them no chance of getting out of trouble.
Now, after that remarkable win at Chelsea, I’m afraid the odds are still slim and none... and slim left town some time ago. Mirror
UPDATED TABLE - JANUARY 3, 2013
| POS | LP | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | (1) | Manchester United | 21 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 54 | 28 | 26 | 52 |
| 2 | | (2) | Manchester City | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 41 | 19 | 22 | 45 |
| 3 | | (3) | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 39 | 27 | 12 | 39 |
| 4 | | (4) | Chelsea | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 19 | 20 | 38 |
| 5 | | (6) | Everton | 21 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 35 | 26 | 9 | 36 |
| 6 | | (5) | Arsenal | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 40 | 22 | 18 | 34 |
| 7 | | (7) | West Bromwich Albion | 21 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 33 |
| 8 | | (10) | Liverpool | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 26 | 8 | 31 |
| 9 | | (8) | Swansea City | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 29 |
| 10 | | (9) | Stoke City | 21 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 29 |
| 11 | | (11) | West Ham United | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 26 |
| 12 | | (12) | Norwich City | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 24 | 34 | -10 | 25 |
| 13 | | (13) | Fulham | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 32 | 37 | -5 | 24 |
| 14 | | (14) | Sunderland | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 29 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | | (15) | Newcastle United | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 39 | -12 | 20 |
| 16 | | (16) | Aston Villa | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 41 | -24 | 19 |
| 17 | | (17) | Southampton | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 38 | -11 | 18 |
| 18 | | (18) | Wigan Athletic | 21 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 39 | -17 | 18 |
| 19 | | (19) | Reading | 21 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 40 | -17 | 13 |
| 20 | | (20) | Queens Park Rangers | 21 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 36 | -19 | 13 |
| POS | LP | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
TABLE FROM A YEAR AGO
| POS | LP | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | (1) | Manchester City | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 56 | 16 | 40 | 48 |
| 2 | | (2) | Manchester United | 21 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 20 | 32 | 48 |
| 3 | | (3) | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 46 |
| 4 | | (4) | Chelsea | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 40 |
| 5 | | (5) | Arsenal | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 31 | 7 | 36 |
| 6 | | (7) | Newcastle United | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 25 | 5 | 36 |
| 7 | | (6) | Liverpool | 21 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 35 |
| 8 | | (8) | Stoke City | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 31 | -9 | 30 |
| 9 | | (9) | Norwich City | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 36 | -4 | 28 |
| 10 | | (13) | Swansea City | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 25 | -2 | 26 |
| 11 | | (10) | Everton | 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 25 | -4 | 25 |
| 12 | | (11) | Sunderland | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 24 |
| 13 | | (12) | Aston Villa | 21 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 23 | 27 | -4 | 24 |
| 14 | | (14) | Fulham | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 29 | -6 | 23 |
| 15 | | (15) | West Bromwich Albion | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 30 | -10 | 22 |
| 16 | | (16) | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 37 | -14 | 18 |
| 17 | | (17) | Blackburn Rovers | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 32 | 44 | -12 | 17 |
| 18 | | (18) | Queens Park Rangers | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 36 | -17 | 17 |
| 19 | | (19) | Bolton Wanderers | 21 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 25 | 46 | -21 | 16 |
| 20 | | (20) | Wigan Athletic | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 41 | -23 |
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