In an inverse fashion from the previous year, QPR’s 2021/22 campaign will go down as a tale of two halves and one which ultimately left fans wondering what might have been.
The Hoops came into the season off the back of a promising end to the previous campaign with supporters hopeful Mark Warburton’s side could pick up immediately where they had left off.
Ahead of it, Stefan Johansen and Charlie Austin’s respective loans were made permanent with the duo joined by the likes of on-loan Watford forward Andre Gray, free transfer Moses Odubajo and Ipswich’s Andre Dozzell in what was considered a successful summer transfer window.
Undefeated in their opening seven games, with an impressive 11 goals scored and just five conceded, QPR were sitting comfortably amongst the Championship’s top three and seemingly consolidating themselves amongst the league’s early frontrunners.
Despite seeing their winning run end with defeats against much-fancied AFC Bournemouth as well as Bristol City in September, the Hoops’ impressive form continued with a Carabao Cup win over Premier League outfit Everton.
The following round saw them unceremoniously dumped out by League One Sunderland but with the distraction of the cup out of the way, QPR’s thread-bare squad were able to prioritise the league and keep up with their big-spending promotion-chasing rivals.
Although Fulham and Bournemouth were the pacesetters in the run-up to Christmas, the Hoops were a handful of points behind in the Play-Off spots before seeing their promotion charge slowly come off course in the second part of the campaign.
January’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was the first major threat to their chances as creative outlet Ilias Chair, first-choice keeper Seny Dieng and reliable full-back Osman Kakay were all absent for the month-long tournament.
Yet, barring a 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Peterborough, Warburton’s side were undefeated throughout the duration of the competition while being boosted by the loan arrivals of Dion Sanderson from Wolves and Jeff Hendrick from Newcastle.
Surprisingly, it was only after successfully navigating AFCON and the trio of internationals had returned that QPR’s problems began to arise as from February 6th (AFCON’s official end date) to the end of the season, QPR went on to win just four of the remaining 18 league games.
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Whereas the Hoops had finished 2021 as the most in-form team in the Championship after accruing 82 points from 44 games, their horror start to 2022 year saw them drop to the very bottom of the Championship form table.
It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly led to QPR’s total capitulation, although a poor January transfer window after the success of previous ones was certainly a contributory factor.
Despite adding Sanderson and Hendrick, it wasn’t enough to keep up with promotion rivals with the addition of Hendrick particularly proving a hindrance – Warburton desperately trying to incorporate the versatile Irishman into the side without success and ultimately to the detriment of the rest of the set-up.
If the side wasn’t being chopped and changed enough already, the club also went through an unbelievable period of injuries to every one of their goalkeepers.
The Hoops were forced to recruit David Marshall from Hull to not only cover Dieng’s AFCON absence but also injuries to Jordan Archer and Joe Walsh before Dieng subsequently got injured on his return to the side.
Key midfielder Chris Willock also picked up a hamstring injury in March’s home defeat against Nottingham Forest which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
The 24-year-old had been one of the side’s most creative sparks up until that point, contributing seven goals and 11 assists in his 35 Championship appearances and with the news of his spell on the sidelines, it appeared QPR’s promotion hopes were finally over.
The rest of the campaign petered out into a disappointing nothingness and it was little surprise when the news broke that manager Warburton would be leaving Loftus Road at the end of the season when his contract expired.
Who takes over remains to be seen but whoever does become Warburton’s successor will have to breathe new life into a side that looked abject and directionless as the curtain came down on another frustrating season.