West Brom are haunting QPR for one clear reason - Julien Stephan must break the curse | OneFootball

Rangers have failed to get the better of West Brom on several recent occasions

The nature of the current Championship season has made the majority of individual clashes extremely tough to call, with Queens Park Rangers currently epitomising the word 'inconsistency'.

The West London side have showcased both the good and bad they have to offer throughout the first three months of Julien Stephan's tenure at Loftus Road, despite the fact there was clear and understandable hope amongst Rangers supporters that the club could finally start to look upwards as the Frenchman replaced current Leicester City boss, Marti Cifuentes in June.

After years of stagnation in the Championship, it is fair to say that many were excited by several of the club's additions in the summer, with the most high-profile coming in the form of Koki Saito, Richard Kone and Kwame Poku, albeit the latter has, unfortunately, been unable to show exactly why he was held in such high regard from several second-tier sides after flourishing for Peterborough United in League One.

The Hoops' season thus far can certainly be broken down into three parts, as they were able to remedy a horrendous start to Stephan's reign, which included a 7-1 hammering at the hands of league leaders, Coventry City, with a six-game unbeaten run between late August and mid-Octoer, before returning to their previously inconsistent ways of late by winning three, drawing one and losing five of their past nine league outings.

West Bromwich Albion are another side who find themselves in a similar position, with Ryan Mason's spell at The Hawthorns still yet to get off the ground despite an encouraging start to the campaign, with the Baggies positioned in 12th and, like QPR, have 25 points to their name.

Usually, this would make a one-off encounter somewhat unpredictable, although those from the capital, at this point, will want nothing more than to see the back of the West Midlands side.

West Bromwich Albion have been a constant 'bogey team' for Queens Park Rangers

There are many instances where superstitions and curses have made their way into the minds of football managers and supporters, with this exact fixture the cause of many negative feelings for those of a Rangers persuasion.

During a time in which their supporters hope to have seen a corner turned after previous criticism which had come Stephan's way as a result of game management, team selection and substitution calls, the Hoops couldn't have seen a worse fixture, from their point of view, crop up on the fixture list for this coming weekend.

Indeed, Albion have certainly had the Indian sign over this particular opposition for many seasons at this point, and it is a run which stretches as far back as August 2018, when a newly-relegated side under the management of Darren Moore completely took their London opponents to the cleaners with a 7-1 rout at The Hawthorns, which included a brace from former Rangers winger, Matt Phillips.

It is also a fixture which evokes joyous feelings for those in B71, with a dramatic 2-2 draw between the two sides in July 2020 proving enough for West Brom to seal a return to the Premier League under Slaven Bilic, before returning to the second-tier immediately after a poor campaign in the top-flight.

That wasn't enough for Rangers to stop Albion continuously getting one over them on the pitch though, although the Londoners would succeed on one occasion, with an 89th-minute winner from Charlie Austin - who played for both clubs - seeing them victorious for the only time in the past 12 meetings between the two sides.

Despite it being a chaotic season for the Baggies last term amid several managerial changes, they would still pick up maximum points against QPR, which included a 3-1 win on the opening day, courtesy of a hat-trick from Josh Maja at Loftus Road.

As previously mentioned, both sides have struggled for consistency in the first 18 games of the season.

With the Christmas and New Year period looming large, the upcoming clash provides an opportunity for either West Brom or Rangers to start building momentum, as they are both just four points outside the play-off places at present.

Although the aforementioned 'curse' could fill Stephan with a small feeling of trepidation, albeit all the aforementioned results were before his appointment, it will certainly encourage the 45-year-old that the majority of his side's points so far this season have come away from W12.