"Come under a lot of unnecessary stick" - Prediction issued on QPR striker Zan Celar | OneFootball

FLW's QPR fan pundit is excited by Zan Celar despite failing to score in his first seven appearances.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Zan Celar has yet to score in seven appearances for Queens Park Rangers since moving from FC Lugano, where he was especially prolific in the Swiss top-flight.

With QPR typically playing just one up-top, Micheal Frey has taken up the lion's share of minutes as the lone striker. However, new signing Celar will be desperate to make an impact despite struggling to find the net so far.

Nonetheless, it feels as though Cifuentes will hand that responsibility to Celar in the long-run, who has arrived at QPR this summer to plenty of anticipation after appearing at EURO 2024 for Slovenia and scoring 21 times across all competitions for Lugano in 23/24.

His record in recent years speaks for itself. Having played the past three seasons for the Swiss outfit, he has managed a staggering 51 goals in 118 games in all competitions.

The deal is apparently seen as something of a coup for the club, given the level of interest there was in the striker, both from at home and abroad, with Hull City one of the clubs that were keen on bringing Celar to England.

The QPR view on Zan Celar's start to the season

QPR have lacked a prolific frontman for quite some time now, and they will hope Celar can prove to be the answer, especially with the likes of Ilias Chair and Karamoko Dembele as the creative service behind him.

Despite that Frey has taken the starting role in the majority of recent games, leaving Celar to try and impress from the bench. He has come under criticism after his seven-figure move to Loftus Road. Football League World's resident QPR fan pundit Louis Moir has provided his thoughts on Celar so far.

He said: "I think Celar has come under a lot of unnecessary stick from some of our fans.

"You have got to remember that he's come in for a price that means people are probably expecting more, but it is his first time in England and it's going to take time to adapt.

"I don't think anyone would have expected Michael Frey to be in the form that he's been showing so far. If that wasn't the case, then Celar would probably be starting every week.

"At this moment in time, he doesn't deserve to be with the form that Frey is in.

"Celar, in that Plymouth game where we drew 1-1, he should probably have scored one or two at least.

"But when he has an opportunity, he has shown that his positioning and hold up play is good. You can tell he's a good player.

"He obviously just needs that first goal to go in for him, but I am not too concerned.

"He's not even starting games at the moment, so that, obviously, is more difficult for him to get that first goal.

"I'm confident that, when he does, that he'll be capable of scoring plenty of goals at this level. His record speaks for itself in Switzerland.

"At the end of the day, that is still a decent level. He is an actual goalscorer and I have been impressed with parts of his game where you can tell he is a good player, and players just need time to adapt.

"Like I say, ones that come from a different country especially. You look back at when we signed Charlie Austin for the first time and it took him about eight or so league games to get his first goal.

"Look, it takes time. He's a good player and I am sure he will be scoring goals sooner rather than later."

QPR's striking conundrum

Following Sinclair Armstrong's Bristol City departure, and Lyndon Dykes' exit to Birmingham City, QPR are in need of Frey or Celar to make the number-nine spot their own.

Quite often, it can be difficult for players from abroad to make a fast start to life in the Championship with the physicality and intensity of the division compared to some European leagues catching some players off-guard.

However, Celar's pedigree is difficult to ignore. As a reward for his fine domestic campaign last year, he was called up to the Slovenia squad for the current European Championships, where he was a contributor from the bench.

That included a nine-minute cameo against England, too. He'll obviously be looking for a bright start to cement his position as the Hoops' leading marksman this season, but the goals will come in time, as Louis alludes to.