By Ben Kosky QPR assistant manager John Gorman has stressed that a flying start to the season is no guarantee of success come May. Rangers have stuttered in their first four Championship fixtures, gleaning a modest return of three points, but the experien

By Ben Kosky

QPR assistant manager John Gorman has stressed that a flying start to the season is no guarantee of success come May.

Rangers have stuttered in their first four Championship fixtures, gleaning a modest return of three points, but the experienced Gorman is confident of picking up pace as the season progresses.

"If you do start well, you have to maintain that the whole season, which isn't easy," he observed. "Sometimes you can start not so well, build gradually and finish on a real high and get promoted.

"Of course it's nice to get a good start because the players build up their confidence straight away. If you don't, questions are asked and managers lose their jobs, which is wrong."

Four years ago, Gorman's Wycombe Wanderers side seemed unstoppable as they marched towards the League Two title until two-thirds of the way through the season, when the manager tragically lost his wife to cancer.

While Gorman was away on compassionate leave, his team imploded and dropped out of the promotion places, eventually clinging on to a play-off place and losing in the semi-final.

"We went 21 games unbeaten and you can hardly get a better start than that," Gorman recalled. "But what happened that February, although it was away from football, affected the football.

"It had looked as if we'd go right through on a high, but it's where you are at the end that counts - and at QPR we're very hopeful of being one of the teams that are up there.