Source: FOOTYMAD
Npower Championship Matchday One: Queens Park Rangers v Barnsley
Match Preview Team News Well it doesn’t seem two minutes since The Reds ended their last campaign with a draw at the Hawthorns but here we are again, ready for another nine month journey through the newly sponsored Npower Championship- the Reds 70th season at this level, more than any other club! Reds boss Mark Robins has two concerns for the opening day trip to West London, and it concerns two of his new recruits. Winger Jim O’Brien is likely to miss out with the thigh injury that has restricted him to just two pre-season friendlies. Martin Devaney is set to deputise as he did against Sheffield Wednesday and Chesterfield. Argentine Jeronino Neumann will also be missing as international clearance has not arrived- the same problem Simon Davey had with fellow Argentine Hugo Colace two years ago- and with Robins intimating that it could take three weeks to come through, the pony-tailed star may not be ready until September. If the friendlies are anything to go by Robins is set to start the season with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Goran Lovre filling in just behind Andy Gray who has seen his Oakwell career turn around since the end of last season. At the back Jay McEveley and new captain Jason Shackell are set for their debuts. All in all only five of the team which started the final game of 2009-2010 are set to start this weekend. Likely Lineup: Luke Steele Jay McEveley Jason Shackell Stephen Foster Bobby Hassell Adam Hammill Nathan Doyle Jacob Butterfield Martin Devaney Goran Lovre Andy Gray Head To Head QPR and Barnsley are set to meet on the opening day of a Championship season for the second time in three years. The two sides met at Loftus Road in the 2008-2009 curtain-raiser and despite Iain Hume hitting a debut goal, two goals in two minutes from Fitz Hall earnt the R’s a 2-1 success. This should come as no surprise as Barnsley have won just ONCE at Loftus Road in 23 visits and have suffered some heavy defeats down the years. They have lost the last seven trips including a 5-2 thumping there last season and a 4-0 hammering in 2003-2004. The one sole success came way back in 1950, when amazingly the Reds won 5-0! Overall Barnsley have collected just three points from their last 20 visits to this part of West London. It’s a different story at Oakwell however. Neil Warnock’s side did win 1-0 in the Reds final home game last season but that was the Rs first success in this part of South Yorkshire since 1996. Barnsley 0-1 QPR 24/4/10 Match Report Barnsley 2-1 QPR 28/2/09 Match Report Barnsley 0-0 QPR 26/2/08 Match Report Barnsley 2-0 QPR 30/1/07 Match Report Last Six Barnsley v QPR results: 24/4/10 Barnsley 0-1 QPR (Championship) 26/9/09 QPR 5-2 Barnsley (Championship) 28/2/09 Barnsley 2-1 QPR (Championship) 8/8/08 QPR 2-1 Barnsley (Championship) 26/2/08 Barnsley 0-0 QPR (Championship) 19/1/08 QPR 2-0 Barnsley (Championship) Overall Record: QPR Wins: 22 Barnsley Wins: 14 Draws: 10 QPR Goals: 74 Barnsley Goals: 71 At Loftus Road: QPR Wins: 18 Barnsley Wins: 1 Draws: 4 QPR Goals: 51 Barnsley Goals: 25 Last Season: Queens Park Rangers fans will once again have been left disappointed after failing to mount a promotion push last term. The R’s finished a lowly 13th, 13 points off the top six, mainly due to a dreadful end to 2009 and start to 2010. Between the 28th December and 13th February the Rs played nine matches, failing to win any and losing five in a row. This abysmal run that left the club teetering on the brink of the relegation zone saw managers Paul Hart and Mick Harford depart, with ex Reds winger Neil Warnock defecting from penniless Crystal Palace. The wily 61 year old helped lift Rangers into midtable with five wins- including a 1-0 success at Oakwell, and five draws from his 14 games in charge. Barnsley looked like claiming a shock play-off spot at the same time as QPRs slide over the new year. The club made a shocking start to last season, losing five of the first six games which saw Simon Davey axed as manager and replaced by Rotherham boss Mark Robins. Robins engineered a stunning revival which saw the club move from rock bottom in September to ninth in February, helped in no small part by an eight match unbeaten run from the end of October to the end of December. It proved though to be a false dawn as once survival looked secure with a 1-0 win over Blackpool at the end of February, the club went on the slide. They would win just one of the final 13 games, which included a 6-1 thumping at Newcastle, and they finished the campaign on a run of 10 matches without victory. Last six 2009-2010 Results QPR: 2/5/10 QPR 0-1 Newcastle (Championship) 24/4/10 Barnsley 0-1 QPR (Championship) 20/4/10 QPR 1-0 Watford (Championship) 17/4/10 QPR 0-1 Cardiff (Championship) 10/4/10 Crystal Palace 0-2 QPR (Championship) 5/4/10 Leicester 4-0 QPR (Championship) W: 3 D: 0 L: 3 F: 4 A: 6 GD: -2 Points: 9 Barnsley: 2/5/10 West Brom 1-1 Barnsley (Championship) 24/4/10 Barnsley 0-1 QPR (Championship) 17/4/10 Swansea 3-1 Barnsley (Championship) 10/4/10 Barnsley 0-0 Derby (Championship) 5/4/10 Barnsley 2-2 Peterborough (Championship) 3/4/10 Sheffield United 0-0 Barnsley (Championship) W: 0 D: 4 L: 2 F: 4 A: 7 GD: -3 Points: 4 Overall playing record for 7th August: QPR: Rangers have only ever played twice on this date- winning one and drawing one. They defeated Huddersfield 3-1 on the opening day of the 1999-2000 Division One season, with goals from Jermaine Darlington, Chris Kiwomya and Gavin Peacock, whilst they drew 1-1 with Rotherham on the opening day of the 2004-2005 Championship season, Gareth Ainsworth on target in that game. QPR: Played 2, Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 0, Scored 4, Conceded 2. Barnsley: The Reds have also only played twice on the 7th of August, drawing one and losing one. They were defeated 3-1 at Charlton on the opening day of the 1999-2000 season, but of course would bounce back to make the play-off final at the end of that season- incidentally Darren Barnard netted for Barnsley. The draw arrived on the opening day of 2004-2005 when a new look Barnsley side were held 1-1 at MK Dons- Paul Reid netting a debut goal. Barnsley: Played 2, Won 0, Drawn 1, Lost 1, Scored 2, Conceded 4. Record on the opening day: (1999-2009) QPR: Rangers have won five and lost just one of their opening day games in the past 10 years, and are unbeaten on the opening day since 2006- one of those five victories came against Barnsley in 2008. The one blemish in the last 10 years was a 2-0 defeat to Burnley on the opening day of the 2006-2007 season QPR: Won: 5 Drawn: 4 Lost: 1 Scored: 18 Conceded: 9. Barnsley: Barnsley have a pretty poor opening day record having won just three in the last 10 years, losing six. They haven’t won on the opening day since a 2-0 success over Swindon on the opening day of the League One season in 2005-2006- a season that ended in promotion. The Reds have lost three of the four opening day fixtures since returning to the Championship, the only respite being the 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day last season- but then The Reds went and lost the next five games! Barnsley: Won: 3 Drawn: 2 Lost: 6 Scored: 12 Conceded: 21 Mad Sites: www.queensparkrangers-mad.co.uk www.barnsley-mad.co.uk Official Sites: www.qpr.co.uk www.barnsleyfc.co.uk Other Fixtures: Friday, 6 August 2010 Norwich v Watford, 19:45 Saturday, 7 August 2010 Bristol City v Millwall, 15:00 Burnley v Nottm Forest, 15:00 Coventry v Portsmouth, 15:00 Crystal Palace v Leicester, 15:00 Hull v Swansea, 15:00 Middlesbrough v Ipswich, 15:00 Preston v Doncaster, 15:00 QPR v Barnsley, 15:00 Reading v Scunthorpe, 15:00 Leeds United v Derby, 17:15 Sunday, 8 August 2010 Cardiff v Sheff Utd, 12:35