This time it looked as if Mark Hughes was going to leave Loftus Road
happy. Sporadic boos greeted the Welshman on his first return to the
ground since he was sacked as QPR manager nearly two years ago but goals
from Mame Biram Diouf and Peter Crouch put his Stoke City side on
course to depart with three points. Two minutes from the end, however,
the home team’s best player, Niko Kranjcar, equalised with a fine
free-kick.
In truth, the hostility of most home fans towards Hughes was as subdued as QPR’s performance. Most locals seemed to confine themselves to hoping that their current team would provide cutting comment on Hughes’s reign by demonstrating that the club were now much better off than when he left – that should not have been hard given that QPR were bottom of the Premier League back then with four points from 12 matches, but Harry Redknapp’s men have made an unconvincing start to this season and were woeful for long periods here.
In truth, the hostility of most home fans towards Hughes was as subdued as QPR’s performance. Most locals seemed to confine themselves to hoping that their current team would provide cutting comment on Hughes’s reign by demonstrating that the club were now much better off than when he left – that should not have been hard given that QPR were bottom of the Premier League back then with four points from 12 matches, but Harry Redknapp’s men have made an unconvincing start to this season and were woeful for long periods here.
