Former Queens Park Rangers defender Richard Dunne has outlined what he believes the club needs to become a serious Championship force once again.
Dunne left Loftus Road in 2015 as they slipped out of the Premier League, and in the decade since, they’ve only once finished in the top ten and never been involved in the play-offs.
It feels as if something is stagnating in West London, and for a club with a proud history of top-flight football, that must be tough to take. Fans haven’t seen anything close to success since Dunne helped them to promotion in 2014, and the 46-year-old is confident he knows exactly what they need to progress.
“Stability,” he said, speaking exclusively to Football Lowdown.
“I think there’s been a lot of managerial changes at the club, which always makes things difficult, and sometimes, if the dream is to get to the Premier League and that’s all you’re chasing all the time, you don’t actually build any blocks beneath it to get that stability, and I think that’s what they need to do.”
Since Dunne left Loftus Road, the club have had nine permanent managers, with Julien Stéphan already serving a longer spell than six of his predecessors. However, after finishing 15th last season, the pressure is on him to start improving the club’s fortunes.
That might not be a linear process, as Dunne, who also won promotion from the second tier with Manchester City, outlined.
“They need to take it gradually and understand that the next step might not be the Premier League, but it might be the playoffs for a few years. That’s the target. After that, they can start trying to push for the top two if they don’t go up.
“They just need that bit of stability and that bit of organisation to not chase a dream, but to build a way to get there.”
The Hoops kick off their season with a tricky League Cup tie against Millwall, before a favourable start sees them play Portsmouth and Blackburn, both in relegation trouble last season, and Cardiff and Bolton, both promoted from League One. Anything less than seven points from those could spell yet another season of indifference in W12.
But would they stick with their boss through the tough times?
Dunne was talking to us courtesy of William Hill, who offers the best odds on Jude Bellingham World Cup 2026 goals.
