In my opinion, QPR boast some of football's most passionate fans.
It was shown in the Stan Bowles Benefit match, and it was shown once again yesterday as the Hoops put on an excellent display to defeat Reading 2-0.
As a new feature, Get West London wants to give fans a platform to express their views.
First up, we have a piece from Chris Checkley (@TheQPROptimist).
Optimism can merely mean you’re confident about the future successes of someone or something; in this case it’s fair to say I feel incredibly strongly about the forthcoming prospects for Queens Park Rangers Football Club.
We have so much to be proud about right now, just look at what the club supported for our very own Stan Bowles, but that’s just one of many high-profiled pieces that’s hit the PR spotlight.
Naturally there is an increasingly strong divide between fans and their beliefs on what is to come for the club, to which can arguably be understandable after leaving it late to secure safety in the Championship last season.
However if you pull everything back and give an honest evaluation on the clubs situation and the market of football as a whole today, then quite frankly you should be realistic about how tough life in the Championship is.
Putting the endless details aside for one moment, because I could write a column on that alone, let’s break down the positives of the squad we have at Holloway’s disposal.
We have one of the best keepers in the divisions, a key midfield trio in Scowen, Luongo and Freeman and 3 very different but solid strikers at this level. I purposely left the defence out because it opens up a whole new argument but it leads quite nicely into my last point, which is consistency.
All good teams that get promoted including our title winning side of 2010/11 have a very regular starting eleven. Our defence that season in reality was no better than what we have right now and, I honestly believe that the current crop can achieve so much more, if tampered with less.
The Super Hoops have only won 2 of 6 opening days of the season clashes, so Saturday's clash with Reading was an even more worrying affair for the pessimists among us.
Thankfully as I write this I can joyfully say it’s now 3 in the last 6 and our wonderful team of Shepherds Bush sit second in the table. Tactically Ollie deserves huge credit because the 11 men out there gave Reading zero time on the ball and it would be easy to say that QPR looked like the Play-Off losers of 2017.
Their wasn’t a bad player on the pitch but naturally huge praise goes to Freeman, Scowen and of course our number 9 Conor Washington, who made the difference.
Looking at it closely the midfield was given particular roles which allowed individuals the freedom to go play their games and create opportunities to score.
If we can continue to untap the potential we have then there is real hope for this season.
Interestingly the omissions of Sylla, Smith, Ngbakoto and Manning provided insight that our depth is improving very slightly. Don’t forget we will eventually have Hall, Cousins and supposedly Steven Caulker coming back into the fold at some point in the near future.
What does it mean for the club? In truth it is only one game and no fan should get carried away, because as we already know there is a tough run of games home and away coming up. However it does seem that there is a shape being forced upon the team that they want to buy into, but further to this a strong morale building among them that should bring some much needed pride to the fans week in week out.
Ultimately as said already, things take time but wholesale changes to the team and large incoming of transfers doesn’t solve everything.
My suggestion is that as a whole we should re-adjust the expectations of what can be achieved this season and going into next, anything more is a wonderful bonus that everyone will enjoy. Keep making noise and praising for the good and encouraging the mistakes, there is a light at the end of tunnel, that’s one thing I am sure of.
For anyone who might be interested in writing a fans column for Get West London, get in touch via direct message at @QPR_GetWest or @PhilSpenc23. Alternatively send me an email to phil.spencer@trinitymirror.com.
