Following the defeat to Southampton on Wednesday evening, Queens Park Rangers fans are quickly losing patience with manager Julien Stephan. With four defeats in their last five games and no home win since mid-September, supporters have taken to social media to react to his post-match press conference.
QPR has had a bit of a rocky season thus far.
Julien Stephan, a former Stade Rennes and Strasbourg manager, arrived at Loftus Road this summer to replace the departing Leicester City-bound Marti Cifuentes, and he did not start well.
The R’s failed to win any of their first four games, including a 3-2 defeat at League One Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup and a 7-1 thrashing away to Coventry City in the league, putting early pressure on the Frenchman.
However, QPR responded powerfully by going unbeaten in their next six games, including four victories, propelling them all the way into the play-offs.
Now that they appear to have hit a rough patch of form again, with only one win and four defeats in their last five, pressure is once again mounting on Stephan from R’s fans, who expressed their opinions on social media after responding to Stephan’s post-match interview following a 2-1 home defeat to struggling Southampton.
Stephan stated he ‘enjoyed the game’ and ‘enjoyed the way his players played’ despite the 2-1 setback to Southampton, who had won only four of their previous 51 league games, leaving R’s fans understandably angry by his remarks.
Queens Park Rangers fans react to Julien Stephan’s post-match press conference following Southampton’s defeat.
QPR have now dropped to 16th in the table, with only Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday conceding more than their 23 goals this season, as concerns grow surrounding the West London club.
R’s fans have not been shy in sharing their thoughts on the club’s current predicament and their displeasure with Stephan’s words following Wednesday night’s setback.
With Stephan’s comment about enjoying the game, this QPR supporter didn’t hold back in stating that he didn’t enjoy the game, falling behind 2-0 to a team with only three league away wins all season.
Although QPR had a much higher expected goal return than Southampton and doubled the number of shots, R’s fans were disappointed with their attacking prowess, labelling their attacks as slow and their set-piece routines as predictable.
A harsh answer from this QPR fan, who sums up all of the club’s current difficulties in a single tweet. Supporters are gradually losing patience with Stephan’s team selection and lack of attacking zeal, and if nothing changes soon, he may be treading on thin ice.
Julien Stephan needs to swiftly improve his performance at Queens Park Rangers in order to ease the mounting pressure from R’s supporters.
Three primary concerns and annoyances have been expressed by QPR supporters regarding Stephan at the moment: his lack of attack pace and energy, the team’s inconsistent game-by-game selections, and his insistence on starting Paul Nardi in goal despite criticism for his play this season.
Since football is a results-driven sport, supporters usually don’t care all that much about a team’s style of play as long as they are winning.
Fans of QPR are currently unhappy with both the football and the performances, which can only be problematic for the manager.
For their last game before the international break, the R’s head to Bramall Lane to play Sheffield United. This game could be crucial for Stephan, who may find his job at the club in jeopardy if he can’t convince his team to perform well and get a result.
After 14 games, the Blades are in the relegation zone, with only Sheffield Wednesday, their local rivals, above them. They are also going through a bit of a crisis.
It will be a crucial match for both teams, but particularly for Stephan, who must perform and get the outcome that a team playing a club in the early stages of relegation would want.
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