The low down

Of all the takeovers to have happened in football recently, the one made by Formula One magnates Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone for Queens Park Rangers was perhaps the most eye-catching.

Marooned at the foot of the Championship table, with no wins to their name after the first eight games of the season, it was evident that change was required and that is exactly what has happened at Loftus Road.

On Saturday September 1 2007, QPR announced that Briatore and Ecclestone had made a recommended offer for the Club.

Briatore said: "Bernie and I were delighted to receive a recommendation from the Board of QPR for our bid for the Club and we look forward to working alongside Gianni Paladini and his team.

"We are fully aware of the history of QPR and the loyal fan base that it has; we are therefore totally committed to bringing future success back to the Club.

"Gianni, Bernie and I are all determined to see the Club return to the Premiership as soon as possible."

Despite the positive off-the-field news, Rangers' poor start to the campaign continued and following a 5-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion at the end of September, the Club terminated the contract of manager John Gregory.

Gregory had been at the helm for just over 12 months and although he successfully guided Rangers to safety last season, there is little room for sentiment in football and a new Board of Directors will invariably want their own manager in place.

Mick Harford was placed in caretaker charge and with the addition of loanees Rowan Vine, Martin Cranie and Jason Jarrett to the ranks, the 48-year-old guided the R's to their maiden win of the campaign against Norwich City on Monday October 8, in front of the live Sky Sports cameras.

Then, at the end of October, QPR appointed the Italian Luigi De Canio as their First Team Coach and he oversaw a 2-0 win over Hull in his first game in charge.

But there was no quickfire recipe for success and when the Sky Blues administered a 2-1 defeat in his second game at the helm, QPR went on a seven-game sequence without a win to highlight that a squad overhaul was required.

This came during the January transfer window when the Club's powerful new owners granted De Canio the licence to go out and splash the cash and he brought in no fewer than nine new faces at the start of 2008, while showing the exit door to several others.

The former Udinese and Siena manager snapped up Akos Buzsaky, Matthew Connolly, Hogan Ephraim, Patrick Agyemang, Fitz Hall, Rowan Vine, Damien Delaney and Matt Pickens to give the Hoops' squad a complete overhaul and results have picked up considerably, albeit without any real consistency.

However, with their points tally getting ever nearer the magical 50-point safety margin, attentions will presumably soon switch to summer redevelopment and turning QPR from Championship strugglers to top flight contenders.

Current Form

QPR welcomed high-flying Stoke to Loftus Road at the weekend and certainly got their home form back on track in a 3-0 victory after two games without a win on their own turf.

A 1-1 draw to Sheffield United was preceded by a 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Burnley and allied with a goalless draw at Barnsley a week ago, the Hoops had gone three matches without a victory prior to the weekend.

Before that they had recorded impressive back-to-back victories over Southampton and Bristol City as a host of signings made by manager Luigi De Canio during the January transfer window began to make their mark.

Rangers have won four away matches so far this term but there is no real pattern to their away results. They have won two, lost three and drawn one of their last six on the road but they do struggle with conceding goals away from W12.

With 30 in the Goals Against column from 17 away games, they have the joint third leakiest rearguard in the Championship on their travels.

The Last Time we Met at the Ricoh Arena

Coventry 0 QPR 1, April 7 2007

On-loan Jimmy Smith eased QPR's relegation fears with the only goal in a tense game at the Ricoh Arena at the tail end of last season.

Smith fired QPR ahead after Coventry keeper saved Paul Furlong's initial shot.

But the Londoners were also grateful to another fellow loanee Lee Camp who made great first-half saves to deny Khalilou Fadiga, Elliott Ward and Adam Virgo.

Dele Adebola headed a chance wide late on but the visitors held on to move five points clear of the drop zone.

CovDrawsQPR

League 40 24 33

FA Cup 1 1 1

League Cup 1 0 0

Total 42 25 34