Rangers will aim to end their rollercoaster campaign with victory over champions Newcastle United on Sunday, but what will the expectation levels be for Neil Warnock and his team heading into the 2010-11 season?

It’s been a tough year being QPR fan. Having almost cruelly been treated to some brilliant attacking football in October, Rangers were then an utter shambles in the following 4 months.
It’s fair to say QPR had a one-way ticket to relegation under Paul Hart and Mick Harford, but since the removal of Flavio Briatore as chairman QPR improved considerably to allay any relegation fears.

Of course after Briatore was cast aside, in came Ishan Saksena as the new chairman of the club whose first job was to appoint Neil Warnock as the new manager. Since then QPR have finally secured their Championship survival and attentions have been turned to what’s going to happen next term.

Warnock and his assistant Mick Jones have both spoken openly about looking forward to the summer and the opportunity to mould a team that can be successful. But, what would and should realistically be considered a success next season?

A mid-table finish can hardly be deemed an achievement, but should we get carried away at the prospect of a play-off push or dare I say it a title-tilt? It’s not that I don’t want to be optimistic about the future at Loftus Road, but one too many false dawns has left me cautious to raise hope that next season could be anything but another disappointing 10 months of football.

It’s all well and good talking your chances up, but as we have previously seen with the Briatore-era, results have to stand up with what you are saying otherwise you just look a little bit silly and inevitably end up losing the confidence of those most important at the club, the fans.

So, here’s to cautious optimism for next season and a glimmer of hope that the next one will be slightly moew enyoyable than the last.