When Isaac Hayden was weighing up his future this summer, there was one option that stood above the rest.
‘That period was quite special,’ Hayden tells Daily Mail Sport when reflecting on his successful loan spell at QPR during the second half of the 2023-24 season, when Marti Cifuentes’ side won nine of 17 games to pull away from relegation danger having been three points adrift.
‘I don’t think people quite understand how difficult that scenario is. Mentally to be able to turn it around, and points-wise it was phenomenal. The camaraderie and togetherness created and harnessed from everyone was outstanding. You don’t get that everywhere.’
Back then, Hayden arrived at Loftus Road on loan on deadline day of the winter window, when things were looking bleak. He featured in each of those remaining 17 games under Cifuentes, playing a crucial role as the Rs pulled six points clear of the drop and avoiding falling into the third tier for what would have been the first time in 21 years.
‘So many other clubs have been in those situations and gone down,’ Hayden adds.
‘That period always sat well with me and when you look at the club now with the project, it aligned with what I wanted to do and where I am in my career. I’ve really enjoyed being back and it feels like I never left.’
Isaac Hayden rejoined QPR this summer, 18 months after a hugely successful loan spell
QPR have had a good start to the Championship season and sit ninth after three wins in a row
Hayden’s permanent move to Loftus Road was confirmed on August 25, after he was released by Newcastle three weeks earlier.
The 30-year-old spent nine years with the Magpies, making 171 appearances, although his future had long been away from St James’ Park.
Hayden played an important role in helping Newcastle get promoted from the Championship in 2017 before establishing the club back in the Premier League, but following the Saudi takeover in October 2021 he made just eight more appearances for Eddie Howe’s side, and in 2022 was told that he was surplus to requirements.
His arrival in west London, a few days after a chastening 7-1 defeat by Coventry, has coincided with an impressive run of form for QPR, who have picked up three successive wins.
The Rs sit ninth in what is their 11th consecutive season in the Championship and there is optimism around Loftus Road under highly rated French manager Julien Stephan.
‘It’s been a decent start,’ adds Hayden, who has come off the bench in each of the victories. ‘Especially with the turnover of players and a new head coach. That’s never easy, but the lads have done really well and we’re looking up now.’
And what about Stephan, the 45-year-old known for developing young talent and leading Rennes to their first trophy for 48 years in 2019 – and into the Champions League a year later?
‘He’s been fantastic,’ explains Hayden. ‘It’s never easy coming to a different league, but the transition period has been good. Everyone’s learned a lot and we’ve seen that in the last couple of games with the progress we’ve made. The detail, the level of work we do, and the training sessions are all second to none.
Hayden came off the bench in those three wins against Charlton, Wrexham and Stoke
The Rs are now managed by highly-rated young French coach Julien Stephan
‘You can tell he’s got that knack for nurturing and helping young players yet even as an experienced player I’m learning and improving every day.’
Hayden’s arrival came amid a busy summer for QPR, who also saw Cifuentes depart for Leicester.
10 senior players joined, while several others departed, including long-serving left back Kenneth Paal and the experienced pair of Jack Colback and Morgan Fox.
Many signings have been young and exciting talents, like sought-after Wycombe striker Richard Kone, 22, who has already netted three times in five games.
There has been a focus on bringing the squad’s average age down, a move driven by ambitious CEO Christian Nourry, who was appointed aged 26 in January 2024 with the task of modernising the club and developing young players through a data-led recruitment strategy to help achieve financial self-sufficiency.
Hayden is a slight anomaly within the squad given he is one of only four players aged 30 or over, yet he is relishing the responsibility.
‘When you hit 30 it’s almost a sacred topic,’ Hayden says. ‘For me it’s about giving as much as I can on and off the pitch and making sure I’m pushing everybody in the right direction and helping the young players develop.
‘There’s a nice balance within our squad. When I was here on loan, maybe it wasn’t as balanced as it should have been. We were the third or fourth eldest squad in the league. This summer has shown that in terms of the profile of players we’ve bought in, but there is still a good core of experienced players. And over the season you need experienced ones, and you need the young players too.’
QPR signed several young and exciting players, including striker Richard Kone from Wycombe
Japanese winger Koki Saito also joined permanently after a successful loan spell last season
Hayden, 30, is relishing his role as one of the more experienced members of Stephan’s squad and is enjoying helping youngsters such as teammate Rumarn Burrell (left)
It has been a turbulent period for QPR fans since relegation from the Premier League in 2015.
Much of it has been spent around the lower reaches of the Championship, with a ninth-place finish in 2020-21 their best performance during that time, while they have had 10 permanent managers.
However, CEO Nourry is a fascinating figure at the heart of things now after previously working for football data analytics and advisory business RETEXO.
The company has advised some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Real Madrid, while Nourry also led the company’s audit of the Rs in the summer of 2023.
Once described as ‘the Lionel Messi of the football business world’ given his precociousness, the administrator has attracted criticism from fans for some of his decisions and occasionally tetchy relationships with staff, which reports suggested included former boss Cifuentes.
However, he has developed the club through a modern, data-driven approach which has seen them adapt to new technologies like AI. He has also introduced a club-wide ‘game model’, while QPR’s innovation is shown through their appointment of a Head of Methodology and a Director of Sporting Operations.
The season has begun nicely and alongside Hayden, QPR’s squad includes former wonderkid Karamoko Dembele, Chelsea academy product Harvey Vale, talented Japanese winger Koki Saito and veteran defender Steve Cook, while Jonathan Varane, half brother of former Man United, Real Madrid and France star Raphael, continues to impress.
And Hayden is loving having a permanent home after years of uncertainty towards the end of his time at Newcastle.
QPR are trying to change the way the club operates under ambitious CEO Christian Nourry
Hayden’s move to Loftus Road came after his nine-year spell at Newcastle ended in August
‘It wasn’t easy,’ Hayden says of a three-year period when he had loan spells of mixed success at Norwich, Standard Liege, QPR and Portsmouth. ‘When you’re consistently on loan you never feel as integrated as you would want to be.
‘You get used to one place and then you move again. I was just glad to get the deal done and desperate to get in the building and start helping.’
Hayden, who spent time training with Newcastle’s academy during his exile from the first team, is also a key part of Jamaica’s quest to qualify for their second ever World Cup.
Steve McClaren’s side, which includes several other British-based players such as Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock, Demarai Gray of Birmingham and Hayden’s club-mate Rumarn Burrell, are well placed to do that.
Hayden started recent victories over Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago that have put the Reggae Boyz top of their group. Stay there and they will qualify for the first time since France ’98, in a process that has been streamlined by the fact that the three North American giants, USA, Canada and Mexico, are already in as hosts.
Confidence generated by those exploits will only help Hayden’s cause at QPR and he is optimistic heading forward.
‘It’s about progress,’ he concludes. ‘We need to follow the right processes and what the head coach wants us to do to make sure we’re not in a relegation battle like we have been. If we do that, we will climb up and be in a healthy position.
‘I’ve had a couple of years where I haven’t played as much as I’d like and you’re always playing catch-up when you’ve been training by yourself or not had a pre-season. I just want to play as many games as possible and help the club achieve as many of their goals as I can.’
Hayden had a tricky period after falling out favour at St James’ Park but he’s loving life at QPR
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Bantams lead shock early pacesetters
Long-time followers of this column will know we are big fans of Graham Alexander and the work he has done at Bradford City.
And although he’s already achieved so much at Valley Parade, the Bantams secured one of the most impressive results of his tenure on Saturday when they beat Cardiff City 3-1 away from home to inflict a first defeat of the season on the Welsh side.
It’s now an incredible six wins from nine for Bradford, who sit top of League One after last season’s promotion – and you would have got long odds on them, Stevenage and Lincoln City making up the top three at the start of the season.
There is the obvious caveat of the campaign still being extremely young, yet it all points to an open third tier which can only be a good thing.
Graham Alexander continues to do an incredible job at Bradford City who are top of League One
Duff makes his mark
Wycombe’s appointment of Michael Duff after sacking Mike Dodds last week was an intriguing one given the former defender’s recent experiences in the game.
Duff did an incredible job in taking Cheltenham Town into League One and keeping them there, while he also led Barnsley to the third tier play-off final in his sole season in charge.
A step up to Swansea City didn’t quite work out, though, before he was dismissed by Huddersfield Town last season after a dip in form saw them drop out of the play-off places in March, although the Terriers did lose eight of their subsequent 10 games following his exit.
It feels like a good move from Wycombe amid a difficult start to the season, and Duff has begun with back-to-back victories, although he admitted after Tuesday’s triumph over Wigan that he was still trying to learn his players’ names.
