QPR v West Ham - The WarnockGrant Index

So, how good or bad has QPR's start been to the season if compared with our results last season against the teams they have played so far? We finished rock bottom, of course, 5 points shy of the usual safety mark, although a full 7 points short of the necessary total to survive as it turned out. With a whole host of weak teams likely to take points off of each other in the division, my money is on 40 points being the bar to survive this season too. So, to stay up, Warnock's boys need to better our results to the tune of 7 points over the season.

So far, they are not doing too badly! The results at Everton and Wolves put them four points ahead of us, because we drew both games - albeit we were robbed at Wolves when Clattenbung disallowed Piqionne's perfectly good winner with the last kick of the game and at Everton when Piquionne was sent off for celebrating the goal that gave us a 2-1 lead with just 15 minutes remaining. Home points against Aston Villa and Newcastle also bettered our results, because we lost both games. So that is 6 of the necessary points already, and the season is only a quarter old!

But hang on, that 1-1 draw at home to Blackburn exactly matched our result last season - and  when we failed to win it, we knew we were in big, big trouble. That was, for many of us, a nail into the Premiership coffin. If you can't beat Blackburn at home, you don't deserve to stay in the division! Defeats at Wigan and at home to Bolton mirrored our points tally, but we had a net goal difference of minus 3 from the games, to the R's net minus 6 - and goal difference could well be crucial come the end of the season.  Still it is 6 points ahead of our total so far so safety beckons!

But then we come to the Fulham game and that 6-0 trouncing. Craven Cottage is, of course, home from home for West Ham, with only Zola managing to lose there since 1962, but nevertheless, we came away with 3 points, which reduces QPR's advantage to just 3 points from the equivalent games.

However, 3 points is 3 points and if multiplied by 4 (we are a quarter of the way through the season) will see QPR safely across the finishing line on a total of 45 points. So, as things stand, Warnock is out pointing Grant and heading for safety. The trouble is, QPR are unlikely to harvest points against the big teams - and we struggled too - and they haven't met any yet. Those games account for a quarter of the season in their own right, so arguably, we should only be multiplying the advantage so far by 3. But that still sees them safe by two precious, precious points.

I will publish the Index at intervals to give Rangers fans an idea of how they are faring against our experience last year - unless they pull so far clear of the drop that all comparisons become redundant.

Hopefully this post will show that I am not here to knock QPR for the sake of it. My interest is genuine and I hope the Rs survive - but my head tells me that with Warnock in charge, it aint going to happen. He is on top in the Index so far, however, so let's see how things develop!