Queens Park Rangers will enjoy their Christmas dinner in buoyant mood, sitting just one point outside the Championship play-off places after a stunning 4-1 victory over promotion-chasing Leicester City.
From Humiliation to Celebration
The festive cheer at Loftus Road is a world away from the gloom that followed a disastrous start to the season under new manager Julien Stephan. The Frenchman's tenure began in nightmare fashion, with the team conceding 10 goals in their first three league matches. The low point was a humiliating 7-1 defeat away to Coventry City in late August.
In the immediate aftermath of that thrashing, Stephan issued a public apology and a promise to the fans. "I can promise one thing: it will be a completely different game next week," he stated. "We will react for sure... This is the first time in my career I have to deal with a score like this."
Stephan's Promise Fulfilled
True to his word, Stephan has engineered a remarkable turnaround. The recent 4-1 demolition of Leicester at home, with goals from Koki Saito, Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembele, and Amadou Mbengue, was a statement performance. It marked QPR's third win in their last four Championship outings, lifting them to seventh place as the league breaks for Christmas.
Contrasting his post-Coventry comments, Stephan was full of praise after the Leicester win, calling the first-half display "very close to perfection" and the atmosphere "the best feeling since I started this job." The result leaves Rangers just a single point adrift of the top six, a significant improvement from the 14th-place position they occupied at this stage last season under Martí Cifuentes.
The Form Table Since the Coventry Debacle
The scale of QPR's recovery is best illustrated by the Championship form table calculated from the day after the 7-1 loss at Coventry. If the season had started from that point, QPR would be genuine automatic promotion contenders.
The hypothetical table since the Coventry defeat shows:
- Coventry City - 41 points
- Ipswich Town - 35 points
- QPR - 33 points
- Hull City - 33 points
- Middlesbrough - 33 points
This impressive run of form, which has seen them collect points at a rate better than sides like Southampton, Leicester City, and West Brom, provides genuine excitement that a play-off challenge is sustainable in the New Year.
Stephan, who replaced Cifuentes after a protracted summer search, has clearly won over the squad and fans after a turbulent beginning. The team that looked defensively frail and devoid of confidence in August now plays with cohesion and attacking verve. As the second half of the season approaches, QPR's Christmas gift to their supporters is the very real prospect of a thrilling push for a Premier League return.
