QPR endured another relegation from the Premier League as they proved utterly inept and incapable of sustaining a challenge for survival. The team had managed to secure instant return to the top-flight thanks to a lucky win in the play-off final against Derby County and the aim was to make the most of that rub of green, assembling a better squad and being a more cohesive unit as a whole. The early signs were promising as Steven Caulker, Mauricio Isla, Leroy Fer and Eduardo Vargas all looked like excellent signing who could bring up the quality in the squad. But Harry Redknapp made some strange experiments in the early weeks of the season and it became clear that the R’s will be unlikely to be anything else than a relegation fodder. Their away form was absolutely shocking from the word go as Tottenham and Manchester United served them comprehensive beatings early on. There seemed to be little balance and clear idea how the team would function and Redknapp was chopping and changing from week to week. There was the odd gutsy and determined performance at home but there was generally little progress made as the season developed, with the capital club perched into the bottom three and with seemingly glum prospects of escaping it. Charlie Austin was the shining light up front, scoring loads of goals and proving to be the fulcrum for the side, but there was generally very little to make the fans optimistic. The away form was the worst in the country, QPR losing every game on the road they have played all the way to February, and Redknapp just refused to settle on a starting 11 and persist with it. Losses kept piling and the lack of January transfer activity seemed to disappoint the manager massively. Thus, came the announcement at the start of February that Redknapp would step down from his position as a manager. First-team coach, Chris Ramsey, was put in charge for the rest of the season and he seemed to have an initial galvanising effect. He led QPR to a 2:0 win at Sunderland to finally end the away drought. But the results at home started to get worse, with a number of defeats keeping the team in serious trouble at the foot of the table. There seemed to be a bit more purpose and energy about the side with the new man in the dugout but the results remained rather poor. In fact, QPR were on a run of nine losses in ten games until an emphatic victory at West Brom revived their hopes of a great escape. There was not to be one, however, as a a tough last-gasp loss to Chelsea ended their resolve and a 6:0 hammering at Manchester City a few weeks later sealed their relegation. It has been another lesson in how to run a club as QPR proved inefficient, lacking structure and plan, and just struggled with the demands of a tough league. They will need to go again in the Championship next season and Ramsey will remain the man in charge, with hopes of better things to come.
