A QPR’s fan’s eye view: Spurs vs QPR

QPR come to WHL on Sunday. I bet you’re dying to hear what a die-hard superhoop thinks of their prospects this weekend and for the season in general. I distracted one from licking his Rodney Marsh poster long enough to ask him a few questions.

So who are you and why are you a QPR fan?

We are the Mitchell boys! QPR fans for life. My dad lived on Loftus Road in the 60s and has been a fan of the superhoops ever since. I was therefore born a QPR fan! I now have two teenage boys of my own who have been brought up in the family tradition and the four of us are now season ticket holders.

It’s been a crazy few months down your way. The revolving door at Loftus Road must have been in danger of spinning its way through to the earth’s core. Are you pleased with the new recruits?

Absolutely, it’s fantastic to finally have an owner who wants to invest in the club. We have brought in quite a lot of experience this summer which I think is important to help us get properly established in the Premier League. It’s also nice that big name players like Park, Granero, Cesar etc are now considering joining the R’s, this gives us a real hope for the future. Hopefully the focus in January will switch to some younger talent to help build for the future.

And any you regret seeing the back of? (Not Barton I guess?)

It’s never nice to see players who have given their heart and soul to the club moving on but we need to establish ourselves in the best league in the world so sometimes hard decisions need to be made. We were sad to see Paddy Kenny leave although it was disappointing to see him bad mouthing the club recently on twitter. Helguson also played a massive part in us staying up last season until he was injured. It would have been nice to see him in the squad this year.

With regard to Joey Barton’s antics; we may well have won that game against Man City at the end of the season last year if it wasn’t for his rush of blood. He never really justified his ridiculous salary when he was with us, and after that game we were glad to see the back of him to be honest.

The Swansea result was a bit of a shocker, was it just a case of new players introducing themselves to each other or does the rushed signing of Cesar indicate a deeper problem?

We were away on holiday for that match so couldn’t make it, which, with hindsight, was probably a good thing. I think the new team just needs some time to gel. Our performances since have been improving and after the match against Chelsea last Saturday the signs are starting to look much better. Cesar was unbelievable and certainly justifies Sparky’s decision. I think Rob Green was a bit of a wrong turn to be honest.

Sparky’s tightened things up at the back since then, is that down to a change in personnel (new goalie? Nelsen?) or a change in tactics/attitude?

It’s a combination of quality players joining the ranks and the training regime starting to pay dividends I think. Did you see how Nelsen completely tamed £50 million Torres on Saturday? Ferdinand was solid as a rock (despite all of the distractions) and, as I said above, Cesar was just genius!

What are the club’s ambitions this season would you say? Relegation avoidance or is something more positive achievable?

Last season was all about staying up but I’d like to think that this year we have slightly higher ambitions. A good mid-table finish would be a great result I think. We’ve certainly got all the ingredients to make it happen, it’s now down to Sparky and the boys to pull it all together.

You’ll have noticed that there have been lots of changes at White Hart Lane over the summer. How has it looked from West London, like a cunningly organised plan or a slow motion train crash?

It was interesting to see how things fell apart a bit with Redknapp and all the England speculation last season. However, in a similar way to what’s happening at Loftus Road, the new Tottenham set up has got some great potential, but might need some time to gel. You’ve got some quality players so it all depends on whether AVB can get them working as a unit (unlike his recent attempt on the other side of London).

And finally a few quick ones –

Did you enjoy the Olympics?

The Olympics were fantastic! Especially the Paras which were so inspiring in many ways. Team GB did us proud, let’s hope the feel good factor in the country lasts.

Any Spurs players you’re looking forward to seeing? (I don’t mean in the Olympics.)

New boys Dempsey, Dembele as well as Defoe and Bale (at one stage we were hoping Defoe might make the trip across to Loftus Road). Here’s hoping they all have a bit of an off day this weekend :-)

Tony Fernandes is a Hammers fan I see. Are you running out to Bubbles yet?

That’s just a vicious rumour! I met him in Brazil at the Grand Prix last season and while he may at one time had a soft spot for the Claret & Blue, you could certainly tell that he’s a Superhoop through and through these days. Just look how much money he’s putting in. No bubbles here!

And a score prediction please.

Spurs 0  Super Hoops 1

Many thanks to the Mitchell boys for their time, much appreciated. I would do an Eastenders joke but I’m sure they’ve all been heard before.