It's early days - and perhaps we should not be expecting to see the fruits of Harry Redknapp's labours just a few days after his appointment - but tonight's Premier League match at Sunderland (if it goes ahead) may just give us a clue as to how he is handling QPR's problems on the pitch.

We may also get to see how he rates the squad he has at his disposal - that first team sheet will be very interesting.

Here are three of the main issues:

1. Sorting out that defence

It is clear to see what the problem is: when defending set pieces, nobody seems to know what they are doing. Harry has identified the problem and intends to fix it, but simplifying whatever system they were supposed to be playing under Mark Hughes - it was difficult to tell. He, perhaps, may also want to give Julio Cesar some specific training with the new goalkeeping coach David Coles - if he comes in. It is quite probable that Cesar - a Brazilian who has spent most of his career in Italy - will not have had much exposure to aerial bombardment. If Coles becomes Harry's goalie coach, as expected, it may make the No1 jersey up for grabs once more: Coles was Rob Green's coach at West Ham most recently.

2. Tippy-tappy lite

Under Hughes the quality of possession and passing improved dramatically, but the chances we were creating were not of the high quality variety. As a result we have the highest shots to goal ratio in the Premier League. The reason: it was all so slow. Any side worth their salt (and a couple who weren't) could organise into two banks of four by the time we got round to thinking about attacking. Anyone who witnessed Harry's first training session on Sunday would have been heartened to see the new boss organising two teams of six moving the ball quickly from keeper to scoring chance. If that's the way we're going to be playing it, so much the better.

3. The Adel question

He has categorically stated that he has no problem with Adel Taarabt - but can he afford to have the Moroccan magician in a side struggling against relegation. Adel was sold at Tottenham because he could not push past Gareth Bale and Luca Modric, so the chairman considered him surplus to requirements. Harry did suggest that all was not perfect with Adel and that he has work to do in improving his work off the ball. It would be interesting to see whether working with Harry makes or breaks QPR's talismanic - and longest serving - player.

Follow Sean Smith on Twitter @seanshorn

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