Time already running out for QPR's Harry Houdini
Redknapp will have to outdo the great escape he achieved with Portsmouth to keep QPR up
Harry Redknapp didn't exactly hit the ground running in QPR's goalless draw at Sunderland on Tuesday and his new club will have to pick up the pace quickly if they are to have any hope of dragging themselves out of trouble.
The clean sheet at Sunderland was an improvement, as it was QPR's first shutout in 24 away matches, but a first win of the season is a more urgent requirement. QPR are eight points from safety and the term "relegation six-pointer" could have been coined for their next two matches, at home to Aston Villa tonight and away to Wigan next weekend.
Beating their main relegation rivals is the most direct route to safety for Redknapp's team, who would have dragged struggling Sunderland closer to them if they could have found a winning goal on Tuesday.
With 37 points already lost by QPR this season and a maximum of 72 to play for, Redknapp's reputation as a miracle worker will be more than justified if he can keep them up. That reputation was earned principally at Portsmouth, having saved them from relegation in the 2005-06 season, but it is probable that he will have to do even better if QPR are to avoid the drop.
He took over at Fratton Park at almost exactly the same stage of the season as he does now with QPR, but he inherited a slightly healthier position. Portsmouth had 10 points from 15 games, compared with five now for QPR after 14 games, and they ended up with 38 points - one place and four points above the drop zone.
If Redknapp earns points at the same rate with QPR as he did at Portsmouth that season, he will take them to 34 points and that might not be enough. More than 34 points - and often significantly more - has been needed to avoid relegation in 15 of the 17 seasons since the Premier League was reduced to 38 games. In those 17 seasons, even 15 of the 51 relegated clubs have finished with more than 34 points.