Preview: Bolton Wanderers v QPR : We Actually Play Football Too You Know

Well, that was quite the week, don’t you think?

TV’s hot new drama, Bolton Wanderers, returns to our screens for a new series, facing off against Steve McClaren’s Queens Park Rangers.

The face of the match is very different to that which we all expected just 48h ago when the club was staring at as 12-point deduction for going into administration due to a hefty £4.8m debt owed to BluMarble Capital.

Our opponents have had a much quieter week, with under-fire manager Steve McClaren finding a way to get his neck out of the noose following their terrible start. Investment in the squad (remember when we used to do that?) arrested a shocking opening four games which yielded precisely zero points, including a 7-1 spanking at West Brom and a 3-0 humbling at home to Bristol City.

The signings of Tomer Hemed, Geoff Cameron and Nahki Wells from Brighton, Stoke City and Burnley respectively have had an immediate impact. They helped QPR to defeat local minnows Wigan Athletic by a solitary goal, and then a second consecutive clean sheet this time away at Birmingham City.

This upturn in form has brought them from the foot of the table to the heady heights of 21st place, with four points from their six games.

Wanderers arrive into the game with form very much an afterthought. With the excitement of avoiding administration soon giving way to a grieving process following the sad passing away of former owner Eddie Davies, nobody really knows what to expect from the game.

Well, I do.

Wanderers should win. Phil Parkinson will have bunkered the lads down and fostered the sort of team spirit that helped up get promotion in 2016 and avoid relegation the year after. Wanderers should approach the game with the sound of grateful supporters ringing in their ears.

Things could have been very different but let’s celebrate the positives. We should also remember Eddie Davies with the respect he deserves. He gave us the best of times.

Most all, Wanderers should win. It would be the best ending to the most up-and-down week that we have perhaps ever had.

COYW.