NEWSATDEN looks at all of Millwall’s 23 opponents ahead of the 2018-19 Championship season.
Next up, Lucas Ball casts an eye over Queens Park Rangers.
Name: Queens Park Rangers
Nickname: QPR; The Rs; The Hoops
Manager: Steve McClaren
Stadium: Loftus Road [18,439]
Postcode: W12 7PJ
Club website: www.qpr.co.uk
Nearest train station: Shepherds’ Bush
Match-day directions: footballgroundguide.com
Promotion odds (Sky Bet): 16/1
Last meeting: Sky Bet Championship – Millwall 1-0 QPR [Steve Morison 55′]; December 29, 2017
Last season: 16th in Sky Bet Championship
Goals for: 58
Goals against: 70
Top league goal scorer: Matt Smith (11)
First-team 2018-19 transfers
Ins: Toni Leinster [free transfer from Union Berlin]
Outs: Alex Smithies [£4 million to Cardiff]; Jamie Mackie [free transfer to Oxford]; Jack Robinson [free transfer to Nottingham Forest]; Jay Emmanuel-Thomas; Nedum Onouha; James Perch [all released]
It’s been a poor summer for the Rs so far. After Ian Holloway left the club, Steve McClaren was appointed manager but he has very little room to manoeuvre in the transfer market following the club’s breach of Financial Fair Play rules.
The owner has been trying to cut spending in the last couple of years and released some high earners this summer, with the only incoming player being signed on a free transfer, even after the £4 million sale of first-choice goalkeeper Alex Smithies to Neil Warnock’s Cardiff.
This side struggled under Holloway last year and McClaren is no better tactically, having a worse squad at his disposal too.
Prediction: Relegation
Financial woes may cause QPR to struggle this year and McClaren is not a particularly successful manager in this division, with his most recent Championship spell being at Derby.
QPR have lost some quality players due to being unable to afford their wages and a lack of progress, making just one signing from a second-division German side. It’ll be tight at the bottom, but I think that they will just go down.
Striker Matt Smith will find it hard to thrive with a worse group, with his goal chances relying on the service of those around him.
This season’s fixtures:
QPR vs. Millwall – Wednesday September 19, 2018 [Kick-off: 7.45pm]
Millwall vs. QPR – Wednesday April 10, 2019 [Kick-off: 7.45pm]
Image: Millwall FC