Any lingering hopes of Rangers making a last ditch raid on the play-offs effectively went up in smoke on Tuesday night after losing 1-0 to a Norwich side fighting against relegation, and without a win in nine away from home.
Manager Paulo Sousa maintained that while it's still mathematically possible, he and his players would not give up hope of making it into the top-six.
However, after a season which started with so much hope and promise, the 2008/09 campaign is in danger of heading towards a very disappointing finale. Those supporters who were hoping for an exciting run-in will probably have already turned their attentions towards next season.
Before a ball had even been kicked, Rangers were amongst the pre-season favourites to gain promotion to the top flight. The promise of major investment and 'boutique' football from Chairman Flavio Briatore was enough to set pulses racing around Shepherds Bush.
So where did it all go wrong? In truth it hasn't been an awful season by any stretch of the imagination, with the R's able to boast a fantastic defensive record having conceded only 35 goals in 35 games.
However, we have constantly struggled at the other end of the pitch scoring just 35 times; one of the worst totals in the division. Couple this with a seemingly constant inability to win away from home and you will see why we are currently languishing in mid-table.
Rangers have proven that they can beat the best in this league with fantastic home victories against promotion favourites Birmingham and Wolves, but have often struggled against teams lower down the table.
We have also been very unlucky that four of our most influential players (Buzsaky, Vine, Agyemang, Rowlands) have all suffered long term injuries. The creativity and attacking potential of these players has been desperately missed at times this season, and you couldn't be blamed for wondering where we would be, had they all been involved.
Hopefully, the situation can be compared to that of Mohamed Al Fayed's Fulham, when he and his millions took over in the summer of 1997. The Cottagers failed to go up in his first season at the club, but stormed to promotion next time round winning the league with a remarkable 101 points total.
With any luck the owners at QPR will have learnt from their first full season in charge at Loftus Road. If promises of promotion are to be honoured, then they will have to realise that it cannot be done without bringing in good quality Championship players.
The current policy of bringing in foreign stars past their best and inexperienced talent will not cut the mustard in this League. Trying to win promotion without spending the money will take a lot longer than the projected four years Mr Briatore, and I think it's time you learnt to put your hands in your pockets a bit more often than you expect us supporters to put our hands in ours.