Julien Stéphan: Why QPR Finally Feel Like a Club With a Manager Built for the Long Term

My son Ned with Saint Julien.

After writing my last piece on why I’m broadly supportive of the direction QPR are heading, it only felt right to follow it up with something more focused on Julien Stéphan, the man quietly stitching everything together on the pitch.

A stat from Jack Supple caught my eye recently: Since the turn of the century, only three QPR managers have managed 9 or more wins in their first 20 league games: • Julien Stéphan (9) • Michael Beale (9) • Neil Warnock (10)

When you look at that list and what each of those managers represented in their respective moments, you realise very quickly that Stéphan is doing a better job than he’s getting credit for.

And given the almost constant swirl of negativity around the club lately, it felt like time to explore why.

A Better Squad Helps — But It’s Not the Whole Story

It’s true that Stéphan has benefited from a few transfer windows under Nourry. The squad is deeper, younger, more athletic and more balanced than the one Cifuentes inherited. But I also remember, very clearly, fans in August insisting the squad lacked experience and leadership after Colback, Fox and Andersen departed.

So the idea that this season’s improvements are just about having better players never really stacked up. What’s changed is more fundamental: the manager understands the squad, the league, and the moments within games far better than many realised early on.

1. A Manager Who Builds Structure, Then Adapts It

While a lot of managers arrive with a “philosophy”, Stéphan arrived with something far more useful in the Championship: a framework.

His base is a 4–2–3–1, but it’s used in a way that flexes depending on the opposition and moment of the match. At various points this season we’ve seen:

• A more vertical 4–2–4 when chasing goals
• A narrow, compact block when protecting a lead
• A deeper press, triggered only in specific areas instead of blindly hounding the ball
• A return to possession control when the team needed to reset tempo

The best example was the pivot after the early 7–1 defeat at Coventry. Many managers would double down on their principles. Stéphan did the opposite: he changed. QPR became more direct, more vertical, more purposeful. That shift produced a six-game unbeaten run and immediately gave the squad a shape and identity they understood.

That adaptability has been the biggest breath of fresh air. For once, QPR have a manager who isn’t imprisoned by ideology.

2. A Clear Playing Style — But Not a Fragile One

Under Cifuentes, we aimed for possession dominance and control, and while that stabilised the club, it often came at the expense of real threat. Matches were neat, safe, and low-event.

Stéphan has taken the opposite route.

We’re still capable of possession and structured build-up, but the essence of this team is:

• Direct transitions
• Vertical running
• Quicker attacks
• Selective pressing
• More purposeful risk-taking in the final third

You can see it in the numbers:

• Goals are up
• xG is up
• Shot volume is up
• Games are more open, yes, sometimes too open, but always competitive

The team now asks questions of opponents instead of politely waiting for openings.

3. Smart Use of the Squad and Clear Player Roles

Stéphan’s personnel decisions have probably been the single biggest difference-maker.

• Jimmy Dunne moving back to centre-back tightened the defence and immediately reduced goals conceded.
• Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell have transformed our attack, one a runner who stretches defences, the other a direct, hard-working forward perfect for vertical transitions.
• Rotations have been meaningful, not random.
• Young players have been used with intention: to solve tactical problems, not to tick boxes.

These aren’t changes you make by accident. They’re changes you make when you see the squad clearly and you’re brave enough to adjust.

4. Results Back It Up — and the Performances are Upward

Stéphan’s side aren’t the finished product, but they’re definitely a team, one with a clear direction.

Some numbers that matter:

• QPR scored 9 goals in the first 5 matches this season (it took 10 matches to reach that number last year).
• Expected goals are up from ~1.06 per game last season to ~1.37 this season and ~ 1.56 in the last 5 games.
• We’ve had multiple matches with 20+ shots and dominant xG totals.
• We’ve had runs of defensive improvement after targeted tactical adjustments.
• And again: 9 wins in his first 20 league games, something only two other managers have done this century.

When you combine all of that, you’re no longer talking about coincidence. You’re talking about evidence of a manager who understands how to build.

5. Most Impressively: He Sounds Like He Loves the Job

I don’t always put too much stock into interviews, but Stéphan’s have been outstanding.

He’s articulate, honest, ambitious, and consistently positive without drifting into clichés. You can see he wants to be here, he understands the challenge, and he’s energised by it, not drained by it.

It makes a difference. Players feel that. Fans feel that. The club feels that.

And after some long, grey years of uncertainty, that sense of alignment matters.

6. The Early Ridicule Looks Worse With Every Passing Week

One thing that’s been forgotten, or maybe quietly swept aside, is just how much disrespect Stéphan had to deal with at the very start.

He arrived in England, in a new league, with no prior experience of the Championship, and before he’d even settled into the technical area, parts of the fanbase were:

• openly ridiculing him
• questioning whether he picked the team himself
• suggesting Nourry was pressuring him or pulling strings
• writing him off after a handful of games in a tough spell

It was unfair then, but with hindsight it looks absurd.

Because what Stéphan has shown since is the clearest possible evidence that those early narratives were miles off the mark. His adaptability, his tactical clarity, his in-game management, the defined structure of the team, and the improvement of individual players all point to a manager who absolutely knows what he’s doing.

If anything, the early disrespect only underlines how impressive his work has been. He handled a rough start, ignored the noise, adapted quickly, and built something real. Many managers would have buckled under the scrutiny; Stéphan grew from it.

It’s not just a good response, it’s the perfect rebuttal.

Why I Rate Stéphan So Highly

It comes down to this:

• He’s pragmatic.
• He’s adaptable.
• He’s statistically improving the team.
• He’s using the squad intelligently.
• He’s coaching players up, not down.
• He’s building a style that suits the Championship.
• And he’s winning matches at a rate we’ve rarely seen from new QPR managers this century.

Is there still work to do? Absolutely. Is the defence perfect? No. Are we going to have inconsistent spells? Of course, every team in this division does.

But for the first time in years, it feels like QPR have a manager whose ideas fit the club, the league, and the squad.

And while some fans might still be stuck in a cycle of doubt, I’m choosing, once again, to back the direction of travel. Because the metrics, the performances and the trajectory all point the same way:

Julien Stéphan is building something. And it feels good to be excited about that.