Wat a shambles!!

Tonight’s game was one that many of the Lofty Heights crew were dreading as we have such a poor record at Vicarage Road in recent years. We’ve only won there once since 1988 and tonight we never looked like adding to that solitary win.
A quick visit to The One Bell pub was the start of our time in Hertfordshire as Me, Sam and Justin met up with Nik, Connor and a few other QPR fans in there for a pre match beer and no-one was confident of a result. We all said that if we were offered a draw then we would quite happily take it, whereas Justin was going with the stats and predicted a 3-0 or 3-1 defeat (if only that bet was put on!) We met Lofty inside the ground prior to kick off in the tight concourse in the away end.

Four changes were made to Saturday’s dismal performance against Middlesbrough. Gorkss, Taarabt, Buzsaky and Simpson (four of our best players) made way for Stewart, Ramage, Vine and Agyemang. A very confusing decision to drop Gorkss when there were two other defenders that performed worse than him, and to drop our top scorer and two of our most creative players yet leaving in Watson and Leigertwood, who have both been disappointing as of late just makes me scratch my head, especially as these changes pushed our best ball playing midfielder out to the left, just doesn’t make sense to me!!



The game started off as a really tight affair in the opening 10minutes or so but as the half grew older it was the home side that looked to be more of a threat in the attacking third and the more likely to create any openings.
Chances were thin on the ground, only Cleverley’s drive that flashed past Cerny’s post was the only chance to note as the half was 30minutes old.
Despite the home side looking to have the upper hand it was Rangers that took the lead on 34 minutes. Faurlin played a sublime ball into the path of Agyemang. He ran across the 18 yard box and then placed his shot into the bottom left corner for his second goal in two games.
The goal seemed to give the R’s some confidence going into half time but it was just typical that we would switch off in defence and concede yet another sloppy goal on the stroke of half time. Harley’s cross from the Watford left found Cowie in acres of space at the back post and he played a ball back over to the other post where the advancing Doyley wasn’t picked up and thumped a diving header into the unguarded net to score his first ever goal in ten years of playing for the Hornets. Poor defending! So many questions have to be asked about what was happening and who was supposed to be marking who.

Half time was upon us and as we were making our way to the concourse for our half time chat we were reminded by the annoying person who was on the PA that it was Doyley’s first goal for the club and really got under the Rangers fans skins. Once we finished scratching our heads it was time for the second half.



Watford came out the better side in the second half and if it wasn’t for a fantastic save from Ellington by Cerny. Ellington’s header looked to be sneaking just inside the left hand post but Cerny was at full stretch to make sure the ball stayed in play and was cleared.
On 56 minutes the Hornets got the second goal that they deserved. Danny Graham played in Cowie and he drove his effort into the bottom right corner. It was going from bad to worse!
Taarabt entered the game shortly after the second goal, he replaced Vine.
Despite the change Watford were still the better side and really should’ve added a third. Harley’s shot was beaten away by Cerny but it fell to Henderson and his header was brilliantly saved by Cerny as he recovered from the first shot and beat the ball away from danger.
Rangers pushed for the equalizer but were really lacking ideas up front. Taarabt was having one of those games that just frustrate the hell out of you. He was persistent in taking 9 touches before attempting 3-4 step over’s and then losing the ball when it would’ve been easier to slip in an easy pass.
Watford were still making chances and it was that man Doyley that nearly scored once again! He let rip from 25 yards out but his effort flew high and wide of Cerny’s goal.
Two further substitutions were made as Rangers looked to try and salvage something out of the game. Jay Simpson came on for Wayne Routledge, a decision that didn’t go down well with the travelling supporters and was booed and the chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” started off. The other substitution was slightly more popular. Buzsaky came on for Leigertwood, who once again had a disappointing game in my eyes.
Rangers did press for the final 15minutes and had one real chance to note, Buzsaky skying the ball from 12yards out.
Things got really stupid when Fitz Hall dived in and conceded a foul on the edge of the box. The Rangers fans started chanting “off off off” for the challenge. Now I know that Hall has been pretty poor of late and doesn’t deserve his place in the team ahead of Gorkss but to do that is pretty harsh and will not help him out at all. Just my opinion, I’m sure others will think differently to me.
Just as we thought things couldn’t get any worse they did!
Cleverley broke clear of the Rangers defence and stroked the ball into the bottom left corner and really annoy the 1,442 Rangers fans in attendance.

As we made our way out of the ground the final whistle blew and put us out of our misery. The annoying announcer decided to harp on about the Doyley goal once again and said that there will be some Doyley memorabilia being made to commemorate the goal. As u can imagine this was met by a wave of f%@k off you .... by the R’s fans trying to leave the ground.
I can honestly say that I really don’t know what is going on at the moment. Last year we had one of the best defensive records in the division by playing a settled back four and having a player of the season and runner up player of the season as our two centre backs yet Jim just doesn’t seem willing to play them together and opts for Hall who for me isn’t any better than Stewart, Gorkss or Connolly. Something else that really grinds my gears is the fact that Watson has been poor in his last four outings and Leigertwood has been poor in his last 2-3 games were played as a centre midfield pair yet Faurlin who has been outstanding in the centre was pushed out to the left. It puzzles me how players that have been consistently poor, like Watson, have managed to remain in the starting eleven. It’s obvious to me that the 4-2-3-1 formation we were playing during our fantastic run in October needs to return and the 4-4-1-1 that we are now playing needs to be ditched. Personally I would pick a team like this once one or two injuries clear up :-
Cerny
Connolly Stewart Gorkss Borrowdale
Faurlin Buzsaky
Routledge Taarabt Vine/Cook
Simpson

Again that is there for debating purposes.

Watford: Loach, Mariappa, Cowie, Graham, Doyley, Harley (Severin 83), Cleverley, Cathcart (De Merit 46), Ellington (Henderson 57), Eustace, Hodson.

Subs not used: Lee, Bennett, Sadler, Bryan.

Scorers: Doyley (43), Cowie (56), Cleverley (90)

QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Hall, Leigertwood (Buzsaky 75), Routledge (Simpson 72), Vine (Taarabt 59), Agyemang, Watson, Faurlin, Borrowdale.

Subs not used: Taylor, Pellicori, Gorkss, Williams.

Scorers: Agyemang (34)

Bookings: Stewart (82), Hall (88)

Referee: Mr A Penn

Attendance: 15, 082 (1, 442 Rangers fans)

Today’s Man of the Match can only be awarded to one person this evening and that is Patrick Agyemang. He took his goal well and worked hard throughout the game, thats as good as it gets.

After the game we took a walk into the high street and had 20 odd Watford fans clock us 5 Rangers fans and proceeded to chants their songs at us, it was all in good sprits and unfortunately we had a pretty drunken Nik in our company and he decided to counter their chants in his own one man band, was a very funny thing to witness and certainly helped us forget about the match and gave us something to laugh about, it was very funny to watch. Once had had grabbed our food Nik disappeared off to the club he was going to and we headed for our cars in hope that the traffic had died down. Once the grub was finished and we had finished randomly beeping our horns at random people, which evidently cured a problem I had with my headlight, we went our separate ways and the night came to an end.

R's on The Road.......... To Watford

On Monday night we travel to Watford to play in front of the Sky cameras once again. Here are a few hints and tips for those taking the short trip to Hertfordshire.



The Stadium.

Current Capacity – 19,900

Watford have been at home at Vicarage Road since 1922. From 1922-2001 the ground was owned by Benskins Brewery and they bought the ground from its freehold outright and owned the stadium for the first time in its history. However due to the clubs poor financial state in 2002 they had to sell the ground and agreed a £6m deal but agreed a £7m buy back clause in the future. This option was taken up in 2004 and once again owned the ground.
Redevelopments at Vicarage Road have been prominent for the last two years as improvements are made to the ground. The South-West corner has been the main focal point of this and when it is finished it will house the new dressing rooms and a new media centre. The East Stand will be the next subject of redevelopment and they hope all work will be completed by 2011.

Away fans are housed in the Vicarage Road end for this fixture. The stand holds 2,200 people and offers a great view of proceedings on the pitch. The concourses however are the tightest you will ever come across and will struggle to breath down there. There is a betting facility down there also.



The History between the teams.

At Watford (54)

Watford 20
QPR 22
Draw 12

Vicarage Road hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Rangers. Since 1988 the R’s have once won once in eight attempts, the solitary win coming two seasons ago during the Christmas period with a fantastic display of football and ending up 4-2 victors.
In the last five meetings at Watford the home side have won four of the matches, with the outcome being either 3-0 or 3-1. This game promises goals and lets hope they end up in the right net as far as Rangers are concerned, especially with the Sky cameras on us.



How to get there.

By Car:- The post code for today is WD18 0ER.
There are many ways to enter Watford. Via the M1 you should come off at junction 5 and take the A4008 into Watford town centre. Via the M25 you should come off at junction 19 and get onto the A41 towards Watford and once again head towards the town centre. On reaching Watford you will be greeted by the inner ring road. For the easiest parking I would suggest the Church Street multi storey car park as it is open for 24hrs and will only cost you £2.50 for 4hours. The ground is a 5 minute walk from there.

By Train:- The overground station at Watford is the Watford Junction train station and is a 20 minute walk to the ground. You can catch the Metropolitan Line down to Watford High Street or alternatively walk for the 20minutes if you choose. The directions should you decide to take the walk are as follows. Leave the station & take main road straight opposite (Clarendon Road) all the way (over Ring Road at lights) up to the High Street. Turn left and go past Wetherspoons (Moon under Water) on your right and then take the first right after 100 yards into Market Street. Continue along again crossing Ring Road to T junction & then left at chip shop. Vicarage Road is the next right turn.
Watford High Street tube station is on the Metropolitan Line and is a short walk away from the ground. Come out of the tube station and take a left onto the High Street. A short way up the High Street is King Street on the left hand side, go up there and follow it up to the end of the road (Lady’s Close) turn right and this will lead you onto Vicarage Road. At the start of Vicarage Road take a left and then follow the road into the away end.


Pubs 'n' Grub.

With the ground being only a 5-10 minute walk from the High street you have a full array of food and drinking outlets to take advantage of. Everything you could possibly want is here and needs no build up.

Christmas comes early for Boro.

Today we hosted a visiting Middlesborough side that under new manager Gordon Strachan have lost two and drawn two during his four game reign and hoped to beat an indifferent Rangers side.

In attendance today were Lofty, California Hoop, Sam and Me. Unfortunately due to a holiday and other reasons we were missing PK, Corp and Jenson. At least they didn’t miss much!

Only one change was made from last week’s 2-2 draw against Coventry and it was a forced one. Matt Connolly was replaced by Kaspers Gorkss in the heart of the defence.



In the opening exchanges it was Rangers looking the more threatening side. Three corners in the opening four minutes was the only reward Rangers had for their pressure.
Adel Taarabt had two good chances to open the scoring but his efforts went high and wide and he also had an effort deflected away for another corner. Once against the corner provided no real danger.
The momentum soon changed in favour of the visitors.
Mark Yeates unleashed a 30 yard drive, with a lethal dip on it, and Radek Cerny dived in despair as he saw the ball crash against the bar.
Moments later we had the opening goal of the game.
Boro had a free kick 35 yards out. Gary O’Neil floating in a lovely ball and Dave Kitson was on hand to flick home from 12 yards out. The marking from the set piece was once again awful and Kitson was left free in space to poke his effort home.
Boro continued to have the better of the half as Rangers looked a shadow of the team that dazzled us in October.

The half time gathering was mainly focused away from the game we had been watching as it was a pretty unentertaining half to watch.

The second half came along far too quickly for our liking but we returned to our seats to endure another 45minutes.
Boro had a corner two minutes into the half and ended up scoring from the corner but the ref spotted a handball before the goal was scored and awarded a penalty.
Leroy Lita, who Rangers fans just love to hate, stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Straight after the goal a double substitution was made. Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang came on for the poor Akos Buzsaky and the lonely Jay Simpson.
The substitution soon paid dividends and a goal was quickly clawed back. Vine broke away down the left hand side and squared the ball in the box for Agyemang, who was off balance, he swung his foot at it and sidefooted home from 8 yards out.
Poor Rangers defending aided Boro to get a third goal of the game. Leigertwood gave the ball away cheaply on the right hand side. Lita was given the ball and he run at Hall before turning him inside out far too easily and placing his effort home from close range.
The show wasn’t over and on 75 minutes a 4th Boro goal was added. Lita again was at the heart of it, his effort struck Cerny’s left hand post and the ball fell kindly to Gary O’Neil and he put the ball into the empty R’s net.
It was at this point Lofty made a swift exit and 5minutes later Sam and Me headed for the exit after witnessing a dismal defensive performance.
After we left a 30 yarder from Mark Yeates made matters worse for the R’s.

Defensively today we were awful and didn’t seem to have a clue. Leigertwood and Hall were really poor today. In fairness to the defence, last season we had one of the best defences in the league and that was mainly down to us having a settled back 4. So far this season we haven’t played the same 4 for more than 2games running and we need some stability in this area.
Its also evident now that Simpson really needs some proper help up front. We cant play Routledge up there with him as this takes away our width down the right hand side without him being there.
Another player that has disappointed me of late is Buzsaky. He looks a little disinterested, maybe this is because he is being played out of position? Who knows.

QPR: Cerny, Hall, Leigertwood, Routledge (Pellicori 82), Buzsaky (Vine 52), Gorkss, Watson, Faurlin, Simpson (Agyemang 52), Borrowdale, Taarabt.

Subs not used: Taylor, Ramage, Stewart, Williams.

Scorers: Agyemang (54)

Middlesbrough: Jones, Pogatetz, Yeates, Lita, St Ledger, O'Neil (Digard 79), Arca, R
Williams, Wheater, Kitson, Osbourne.

Subs not used: Coyne, Hoyte, Riggott, Emnes, McMahon, L Williams.

Scorers: Kitson (31), Lita (Pen 50 & 60), O'Neil (75), Yeates (87)

Bookings: Lita (50), Osbourne (58)

Referee: Mr P N Gibbs

Attendance: 13, 949

Lofty's Man of the Match today could quite easily be awarded to Damion Stewart as he warmed up exceptionally well and was the best defender to touch the turf during the 90 mins. However just for his effort the player receiveing the award today is Alejandro Faurlin.

I Donny like the performance.

Today as we woke up we could see that we were going to be greeted by miserable weather as the Lofty Heights crew took to the road for the long trip to South Yorkshire as Doncaster Rovers played hosts for the day.

The Crew consisted of 5 members today. Jenson was the driver as Lofty, Sam, Justin and myself took to the road without PK due to his work commitments.
We had a pretty smooth journey up the M1, apart from the roadworks at Nottingham, and promptly arrived at the Keepmoat at around 2pm.
Lofty and I indulged in a few pre match beers, for tasting purposes only. Lofty also checked out how the football famous chicken balti pie, as made by Hollands, which has been awarded by Lofty as "the best pie of the season so far." Once that was polished off we took to our wet seats just behind the goal as the rain poured down in Doncaster.

Jim Magilton made 4 changes from the 2-1 win at Sheffield Wedsnesday two weeks ago. Tommy Williams and Steven Reid came in to make their debuts at the expense of Peter Ramage and Adel Taarabt. Matt Connolly and Alessandro Faurlin took the place of the injured duo Gavin Mahon and Fitz Hall.



The first half was a very poor and scrappy affair with no real chances to note and caused no excitement at all for us in the visiting end.

As the 45 minutes dragged on it was time for half time. The queue for another drink was unbearable so we didnt brave it at all so decided to stand around and view the half time scores and checking the various accumulators that had been bet as well as checking the scores for our in car score predictions throughout the league.

We got back to our seats a few minutes before the start of the second half, which made a change, and witnessed the first Rangers sub of the day. Adel Taarabt entering the fray at the expense of Faurlin.



The substitution instantly injected some much needed urgency at the top end of the field and we looked a little more dangerous.
Three minutes into the half and Rangers had there first real chance of the half. Taarabt played in Simpson who was through on goal and just outside the Doncaster 18 yard box. Rather than take a touch and advance into the box, the Arsenal loanee instead hit the ball first time and pulled his shot harmlessly wide.
Minutes later Taarabt ran at the Rovers defence as space just seemed to keep appearing in front of him. He got to the edge of the box and created the opportunity to shot but refused it and ended up over playing and the chance was wasted.

Disaster soon struck!
Doncaster with their first telling attack of the half ended up having a shot deflected wide for a corner. From that corner the R's defence fell asleep and allowed Rovers to take it quickly and advance so easily inside the 18 yard box. The cross was delivered and who else but Billy Sharp got on the end of it to score against the club he just loves scoring against.

Rangers seemed to be gettin on top of the game before the goal but found themselves a goal behind.
Five minutes after the goal Magilton decided to put all his eggs in his basket and made a double sub. Agyemang and Pellicori came on for the out of sorts Buzsaky and Simpson.

Before we knew it Doncaster grabbed a second.
Dean Shields was allowed to run through the midfield and hit a curler from 20 yards out which slipped past Cerny and was well worthy of winning the game.

Doncaster continued to play their passing game and on 75 minutes they managed to string together around 30 odd passes and were really starting to take the preverbial out of the visiting team.
This was enough for us and we uncharacteristically left the ground with 15minutes of the game left to play.


This was a very bad day at the office against a Doncaster side that did keep the ball on the floor well and made us look extremely poor. We once again lacked leadership in the centre midfield and with Mahon and Rowlands on the sidelines for a sustained period of time we really do need someone to stand up and be counted and rally the troops when we need it.

Lofty's Man of the Match would remain vacant for this game but the contribution by Adel Taarabt when he came on was hard to ignore and therefore has to be awarded it.
Watson and Williams didnt enjoy good games at all and will need to buck their ideas up in time for the next game at home to Coventry.

Ainsworth departs to Wycombe as Taylor arrives

Today QPR announced two more loan deals, one departing and one arriving.
Gareth Ainsworth has joined Wycombe on a months loan and Chelsea youth goalkeeper Rhys Taylor on a six week loan deal.

Gareth Ainsworth joins a Wycombe side that now has former R's player and manager Gary Waddock in charge. Wycombe are rooted to the bottom of the table in League 1 and gradually losing touch with the teams around them, so the addition of Ainsworth's passion and commitment to the teams cause will no doubt be a great benefit to Waddock and his side.
Ainsworth is a very popular character around Loftus Road and after six years with the club, is the longest serving player at the club alongside Martin Rowlands.



Rhys Taylor has come from the Chelsea youth ranks and is highly rated by the coaching staff over at Stamford Bridge. He has penned a deal until the 4th January and will provide competition for Elvijs Putnins for the number two slot in the goalkeeping order.

I hope you join us all here at Lofty Heights in welcoming Rhys Taylor and wishing Gareth Ainsworth a very successful spell at Wycombe before returning back to continue helping us with our charge up the league.

Reid books in at Loftus Road

Today QPR announced the one month loan signing of Blackburn Rovers midfielder Steven Reid.



The loan signing comes after the R's have been dealt with two massive blows to the midfield, Martin Rowlands sidelined with his ACL injury and as announced last week Gavin Mahon is to be out for four months after his knee injury.

Jim Magilton told the Official QPR website "He's a class act. He can pass; he can tackle; he can shoot; he's box-to-box - he's a very, very good player."

Reid himself is looking forward to playing some competitive football having suffered a string of injuries over the last few years but having been fit for the last few months but has found it difficult to break into the Blackburn first team.
Reid has Championship experience as well after playing for Millwall during their time in the second tier of English football.

I hope you join everyone at Lofty Heights in welcoming Steven Reid to Loftus Road and hope he enjoys his time here.

R's on The Road.......... To Doncaster Rovers

This Saturday we return from our International break recharged (hopefully) and raring to go as we take another trip to South Yorkshire to take on Doncaster Rovers.
As always we provide with a little snippet of what to expect upon your arrival.



The Stadium.

Current capacity - 15,231

Doncaster moved into the Keepmoat stadium at the start of 2007, playing Huddersfield Town on New Years Day . After spending 84 years at their previous home, Belle Vue. The stadium is very similar to the new stadium that are built nowadays, it is shaped like a bowl, is used as a multi purpose venue and is the host to not only Doncaster Rovers, Doncaster Belles and Doncaster Lakers Rugby league team also have The Keepmoat as their home.



The stadium cost £21million to build and is the only stadium in the Football League(apparently) to be housed next to a lake.

Away fans are housed in the North Stand that traditionally holds 3,344 supporters. The view of the pitch, leg room and facilities in this stand are all said to be pretty good. The one downfall about the stand (and the rest of the ground included) is that there is a substantial tarmaced strip that runs around the outside of the pitch and pushes the fans further away from the pitch than we would all like.

The History between the teams.....

At Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rvs. 4
Q.P.R. 1
Draws 1

The game between the two sides at the Keepmoat last year was the first meeting between the two teams since the 1984/85 FA Cup tie ,that Rovers won 1-0. Unfortunately Rangers were not able to buck the unsuccessful trend here and ended up losing the game 2-0 courtesy of a Damion Stewart own goal and a close range header by Paul Heffernan. The game really was one to forget and had very few exciting points to note. Lets hope that isn't the case this time around!

How to get there.

By Car :- The post code being used for todays journey is DN4 5JW

This is a very easy ground to find, the hardest part of the journey is the distance. Travel up the M1 and leave at junction 32 to join the M18. Leave the M18 at junction 3 and you are only a mile away from the ground. There are a limited number of parking spaces at the stadium, around 1000 i am lead to believe and it will cost about £5 to park there. I am unaware of any other parking opportunities in and around the ground but I am sure there will be an alternative option if needed.

By Train :- The train station is roughly two miles away from the stadium so it would be best advised to get a taxi to the Keepmoat. There is also a dedicated bus service to the ground available from the Doncaster Interchange bus station which is adjacent to the train station. The bus to catch is the route 75X service and runs roughly every 10 minutes and taking just under 10 to get to your destination.

Pubs 'n' Grub

As the stadium is on the outskirts of town, there is not much choice in pubs.There is one pub on the retail park just around the corner from the Keepmoat and if you do require a tipple I would guide you there. It is a Beefeater so you can really kill two birds with one stone and eat as well as drink there. There is also a Pizza Hut, McDonalds and KFC in the same area. There is also another option if needed. There is a bowling alley by the Vue cinema on the other side of the lake that may appeal to some of us.
Food inside the ground includes- Pies (including the Chicken Balti pie), Pasties and Vegetarian 'Pizza Pods are supplied by Shire Foods and cost £2.30 each. Burgers and Hot Dogs are also available.

Williams Returns......

Today QPR have announced the short term loan deal of former Rangers left back Tommy Williams.



He comes in on a short term loan deal until the 4th January and is available to play in the FA Cup for the Superhoops as long as we avoid Peterbrough in the 3rd round draw.
Williams is out of contract in the summer at The Posh and doesn't look to be close to signing a new deal, hence why he has become available.

Williams comes in to provide competition for this seasons first choice left back Gary Borrowdale. Its pretty safe to say that Borrowdale has come on leaps and bounds from the start of the season and is one of the R's most improved players of the season (he's certainly made me eat some of my pre season comments about him) and I hope that he is given a fair crack of the whip.

Jim Magilton told the Official QPR website "When we heard that Tommy might be available on loan, there was no holding us back. To be fair, Gianni Paladini has worked wonders to get it done so quickly and we couldn't be more delighted to bring in a player of his calibre and experience."

Tommy Williams also expressed his delight at returning to W12 by saying "I enjoyed my time here previously and I can't wait to pull on the jersey and hopefully cement my place in the side."

I hope you will join us here at Lofty Heights in welcoming Tommy Williams back to Loftus Road in what will hopefully be a successful second period at the club for him.