“Criminally underrated” – Strong defence launched for 17-goal QPR striker | OneFootball

He was never a main character at Loftus Road, but may have fared better if given more chances by Ian Holloway.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Every club has a list of suspect signings from past windows, and Queens Park Rangers are certainly no different on that front.

One that may be brought up by some at Loftus Road is former Guinea international Idrissa Sylla.

The striker had a unique style that wasn’t always easy on the eye, but he did certainly notch a few goals during his time with Rangers.

Asked for his most unpopular opinion about his club, our QPR Fan Pundit, Louis, immediately wanted to defend the record of Sylla at QPR.

Idrissa Sylla was underrated during his time at QPR

Speaking to Football League World, Louis said: “I think there are a lot of unpopular opinions that can be said about QPR, but I do feel that a few years ago when we had Idrissa Sylla, I genuinely think he was criminally underrated as a striker.

“Obviously, he wasn't the best footballer in terms of technical ability, but for that spell he had, or that one season, he scored goals for us.

“As a team, as a club, we weren't in the best way. We were very, very average, below average, Championship side, but he put the ball in the back of the net.

“I just think at the time, and even after that spell he had, if he stayed around and was played more, I do think he would have scored even more goals for us.

“You look at his overall numbers and think, ‘Well, his goal scored to his appearances don't really add up’, but a lot of those appearances were sub appearances and the games he started with the ratio to the goals he scored was very good.

“I just feel like a lot of fans thought he was awful in terms of ability, but at the end of the day, what do you want from your striker? You want your striker to put the ball in the back of the net and, you know, if they're a goalscorer, they're a goalscorer.

“He was a very unique player, but he did a job for us, and I think he was definitely very, very underrated.

“It was a shame to see him leave the club and I don't think Ian Holloway at the time fancied him much.

“But yeah, honestly, I loved Sylla, and it was a shame we couldn't have him for longer.”

QPR could use a striker like Sylla today

Sylla signed for the Hoops from Belgian side Anderlecht, for a deal mooted to be in the region of £1.75m.

Despite the outlay on his transfer fee, the forward found Championship minutes tricky to come by, managing just 14 starts in the 2016/17 season.

Nevertheless, despite his restricted minutes, he managed to reach 10 goals before the season closed, impressive given he was often restricted to cameos.

He was similarly thrifty the following season, reduced to 13 starts that season but still netting seven goals.

But better opportunities never arrived for Sylla at Loftus Road, and, having drifted further to the sidelines in his third term at the club, he was sold to SV Zulte Waregem for an undisclosed fee in January 2019.