Queen’s Park Rangers have been relegated back to the Championship after two seasons in the top flight. Expectations were high at the start of the season for Mark Hughes, who had replaced Neil Warnock midway through the Hoops' first season back in the top flight and managed to keep them afloat. The former Fulham and Manchester City boss spent freely in the summer, bringing in a host of exciting players to the side. Ryan Nelsen, Fabio and Jose Bosingwa looked great additions to the backline while Ji Sung Park brought in top level experience in midfield. Among other quality signings were Stephane M’Bia from Olympique Marseille and Esteban Granero from Real Madrid. Hughes looked also well staffed upfront with Junior Hoillett and Andy Johnson coming in to compete with Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora. With a seemingly open chequebook at his disposal, Hughes signed Brazil keeper Julio Cesar on August deadline day, having brought in the experienced Rob Green initially to take the place left vacant by Paddy Kenny. Just like in the previous season, QPR had a horrible start, losing 5-0 at home to Swansea. This time round, however, they never recovered from it and had to wait a record 17 games for their first win at home against Fulham 10 days before Christmas. Mark Hughes was sacked on 24 November, with Harry Redknapp brought in at the helm to try and rescue the Hoops. The East Londoner was given a generous line of credit in January and signed Chris Samba and Loic Remy. Samba made up for the loss of Ryan Nelsen. The New Zealander, who had been exemplary in central defense alongside Clint Hill, took up a coaching job at FC Toronto in January. Remy was much needed upfront since Bobby Zamora was out with a long term injury while Djibril Cisse had departed to the Emirates. Remy would go on to become the Hoops top scorer with 6 strikes. In all, QPR only got 30 goals over the season, which speaks volumes of their lack of cutting edge. Adel Taraabt and Esteban Granero rarely shone on the wings while Park failed to secure a regular starting spot, due in part to injury. Jamie Mackie didn’t live up to the promise of the past season. Elsewhere, David Hoillett and Shaun Wright Phillips never really imposed themselves on the wings. Harry Redknapp publicly criticized the attitude of some of his players and yielded the axe accordingly.The signings of Remy, Townsend and Jenas brought about a slight improvement in the second half of the season but the Hoops still struggled to find the net. Just when they seemed poised to claw their way out of the drop zone in mid-March, they lost two consecutive tight games away at Fulham and Aston Villa, and never recovered. They ended the season rock-bottom without a win in their final nine games.
