Lofty Heights... 'Ohhh Bobby Zamooooora!!!'

A look at Queens Park Rangers F.C. through the eyes of the fans - follow us on twitter @loftyheights70, @LoftyQPR and @qprleeroy








Monday, April 30, 2012

A Day We'll Easily Forget........


On Sunday the R's travelled to Chelsea in hope of performing the double over our London rivals as we all had our champagne on ice hoping for a dream result. 
The Lofty Heights gang assembled in hope.

 We all managed to gather everyone up at Hammersmith tube station in the Costa at the back of the tube station. Jess and myself arrived first, followed by Lofty and PK, then Sam and Luke turned up (slightly hungover it's safe to say) and then finally Jointy came in to say hello before myself and PK grabbed a quick pasty from the legendary West Cornwall Pasty Co. shop and then hit the tube. Destination Fulham Broadway.
We arrived and all you was greeted by was the Chelsea vs Bayern Munich merchandise and people advertising travel and tickets for the game, as if any them are going to actually bother going when its on tv??? Ok maybe some of the loyal Chelsea fans will but the others will happily sit in their armchairs. We arrived in the ground with about half an hour to spare. PK decided to leave his representation of Chelsea in the toilets before we enjoyed a quick beer and made our way to our seat in relative optimism.

Mark Hughes was forced into two changes from the side that beat Spurs last Saturday. Adel Taarabt missed out through suspension after his red card and Samba Diakite missed out through illness. Their replacements were Akos Buzsaky and Djibril Cisse.

The first half summary is very simple.

Sturridge scored in the first minute

The racist thug scored in the 13th minute

Torres scored two more in the 19th and 25th minutes

At half time we were shell shocked, we really did not know what had hit us. The formation was clearly wrong and Cisse was wasted on the left wing, the sooner he was employed in his centre forward position the better, even if it was to make the score more respectable. Despite our loyalty all of us considered at some point when that fourth goal went in, however we did stay to support the club we love.

The second half started a lot brightly for the R's but after a better 19 minutes, Torres scored the fifth. At this point Lofty,PK and Jenson had seen enough and left. Malouda scored the sixth on the 80th minute and for myself, Jess, Sam and Luke that was enough. Having got near the tube station we heard that Cisse scored a mere consolation.


















As a rule none of us leave a game early, the last time I can remember it happening was away at Watford six or seven years ago when we were losing 3-0 with 65 minutes gone. We even sat through the 5-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest until the end, it was probably the best away game of that season, yes a game that Paul Hart was in charge of was entertaining! Well it was down to the fans and their sense of humour, that's what I love about this club. I'm not going to dwell on the defeat, we got what we deserved from our performance in the first half.
We now need to look forward to Sunday and ensure we get three points against Stoke to enhance our survival chances. Well that is of course if Spurs do us a massive favour on Wednesday and beat Bolton, please let the gods be kind to us for once!!

There's no match of the match nominations, the person that deserves it however is the person that started the Christine Bleakley looks like a horse song, legendary. After that song it's reported that Christine was deeply saddened by the chant, however she is in a 'stable' condition. Ok it was a poor joke but at least I can end this report by making you smile.

Lofty will be back on Sunday, hopefully with good news!!

Be safe and keep the faith!!

U R'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

QPR v Spurs - An Opposing View...


As promised, the guys from www.thfc1882.com  have submitted us their side of the story from Saturday's game and a very good read it is too;

After another disappointing performance and outcome for Tottenham Hotspur Ciaran Griggs steps up to give THFC1882 his report and thoughts.Sigh. We can’t go on like this.Spurs continued their alarming run of form with a dismal 1-0 defeat to QPR. Coming into the match, Spurs were expected to arrest their slide against one of the Premier League’s new boys. QPR haven’t always found life in the PL easy but were coming into the match on the back of some very solid home form, having beaten top 4 sides at their ground this season. On the other hand, Spurs are yet to win away in 2012, a shocking record given the talent available to Harry.

The omens weren’t good for Spurs when the pre-match team news came out. Nelsen was injured, along with Saha and Adebayor, both of whom failed late fitness tests. That means that Spurs entered the match with King and Gallas at centre-half, with Bongani Khumalo on the bench. At least there was cover in that position though. Defoe was named up front and there was no recognised cover on the bench – we ARE a side challenging for the top 4, right? There is a danger that, with such a lack of options in the team, that the players try to force the game and become tense. Playing, knowing that there is no alternative for you must give you tired legs before the whistle has even blown.

So the full-team as it lined up;

Friedel

Walker – King – Gallas – Assou-Ekotto

van der Vaart – Parker – Modric – Sandro – Bale

Defoe


Looking at the rest of the team, we again played our first choice full-backs, who’ve had little or no rest this season. To counteract QPR’s more combative style, Harry selected 2 defensive midfielders, the idea being that Parker and Sandro could both destroy and hold whilst Modric sought to release Bale, van der Vaart and Defoe.

As the game started, Spurs were initially on the upper foot, with our midfield controlling the game. The pattern continued for much of the first half, with QPR having sporadic attacks. Of the opposing team, Mackie looked the brightest talent, with a couple of foraging runs down the right wing. Taarabt was disciplined, tracking back which helped QPR to keep their shape. Our main threat came in the shape of a Bale header from a corner which was tapped over by Kenny. Not long after that, Kenny was again called into action as a van der Vaart drive flew at the QPR goal.

In keeping with current Spurs patterns however, QPR took the load towards the end of the first half. Sandro went into a 50-50 challenge and as the two players went down, his hand inadvertently brushed the ball. Referee Clattenburg (Yes, we remember Mendes) gave a free-kick from a middle distance. Friedel setup his wall but despite that, Taarabt dinked an effort over it into the corner, as we watched poor positioning from our goalkeeper and poor jumping from our wall. Friedel has saved us far more times than let them down this season though, so we can forgive him that one. Half-time came at 1-0, the home side far the happier.

At half-time, Harry made a rare early substitution, swapping the largely ineffective van der Vaart for the more attack-minded Lennon. Unfortunately for Spurs however, the change yielded little benefit as Lennon and Bale spent the entire second half trying to fill in the van der Vaart role and tightening Spurs up completely. Our lack of width goes completely against the joyful, attacking Spurs of late 2011. Spurs enjoyed the majority of the possession in the second half, but failed to find any type of penetration against a resolute QPR side. QPR were determined to win this, Spurs were fatigued, bereft of ideas and bereft of options. Taarabt even did his maverick best to assist his old club by picking up a thoughtless second yellow card for kicking the ball away, with a little over 10 minutes remaining of the match.

The match drew to a close at 1-0. QPR celebrated, Spurs trudged off the pitch. Memories of 3rd place are now long gone and Spurs face a desparate fight for 4th place, with Chelsea and Newcastle both hitting their stride. Spurs lack of investment in strikers, and centre-halves, along with the asset stripping that occurred to our squad in January, have led to a threadbare squad, demoralised and tired.

Where do we go from here? 5 wins in the last 6 became 4 wins in the last 5. 4 wins in the last 5 has become 4 from 4. All the time, our manager is “100% confident” that we can achieve it. Title challengers to Europe league hopefuls in the space of 3 months…Is it all over? Not quite, I say. The fat lady is dressed and she’s back stage waiting for Ant and Dec to beckon her on. IF Kaboul and Adebayor can return to fitness and IF Bale and Lennon can re-discover their ability to stay wide,we can still do it!

COYS

Ciaran (@LordFIMM on Twitter)

Thanks again guys and good luk to Spurs for the rest of the season.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Adel 'Clatters' Spurs...


QPR 1-0 Tottenham

QPR pulled another massive performance out of the bag to gain another vital 3 points in the quest for Premier League survival, despite the best efforts of referee Mark Clattenburg... in what was a must win game for both sides.



As mentioned last week, it was also the birthday of California Hoop, which is why I am sitting writing this report late on a Sunday morning. So, the majority of the gang left the cars at home and I started the day early and met Sam and Luke in Nandos for a lovely pre match bite to eat and a good catch up which was very long overdue! From there we ventured to the White Horse for the drinking to begin and we were joined by Jointy, Lee and Jess - Lee certainly feeling the effects of a massive work night out which ended at 4.30am. Jenson and Lorna were in the Apex Rental box and we caught up with PK and California Hoop at the Stadium. Sadly, due to family committments, Corp couldn't join us today.

Onto the game and Mark Hughes kept the same side that was defeated at West Brom last week. Djibrel Cisse returned from another suspension and took his place on the bench. A decision that confused many R's fans but in hindsight, was probably a very sensible one.

Rangers gameplan was similar to that of the Arsenal game and to get in the faces of their opponents and to stop them playing and having any time on the ball. But a side with the quality Spurs have were always going to get chances and Bale's header was superbly saved at point blank range by Paddy Kenny. Van Der Vaart's effort shortly after was again superbly saved by the R's stopper.

But roared on by a noisy and passionate home crowd, the R's were doing their fair share of attacking and got their reward on 24 minutes - Rangers were maybe a tad fortunate to get a free kick when Sandro tussled with Taarabt 25 yards out. But the R's playmaker curled a beauty over the wall and past Brad Friedal.

Jenson joined the party at half time and was kind enough to bring me a small steak pie, which are definitely one of the highlights from the Corporate experience at Loftus Road. I was quickly consumed as we settled down for the second half...

Kicking towards the Spurs fans, the R's nearly doubled their lead with the again, impressive Diakete storming into the box before smashing his effort into the side netting. There were further half chances for both sides, but Spurs continued to have the lions share of possession, but the R's were defending superbly and holding firm.

Spurs best chance to equalise came with 20 minutes to go, but van der Vaart blasted his effort over from 12 yards. But on 78 mimutes, the R's were yet again reduced to ten men with yet another controversial refereeing decision. Unsporting behaviour as it's been reported, saw Adel Taarabt get his marching orders. Some say it was for kicking the ball away and others have informed me it was because he was arguing with Clattenburg. Either way, it was a very harsh decision, especially when you take into consideration the misdemeanours of England Captain, Scott Parker throughout the afternoon. More on that shortly...




Despite the setback, the R's continued to hold firm as Spurs camped in the R's half. The occasional break away saw some respite but also could have got a greater reward, but Zamora's effort was superbly blocked in stoppage time.

QPR: Kenny, Diakite (Buzsaky 70), Hill, Derry, Taarabt, Mackie, Barton, Taiwo, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Zamora. Subs not used: Cerny, Gabbidon, Traore, Helguson, Cisse, Wright-Phillips.

Man of the Match - again, probably many candidates, but the gang had it whittled down to two, with Jess and PK opting for Mackie. But for the rest of us, it was pretty unanimous and despite the sending off, the award goes to Adel Taarabt.

In summary, this was another massive result for Rangers, but an equally bad one for Spurs. Recent home performances have proved we can cut at this level and I can hope that in remaining games, we will get another to survive. When you look at the run in we have had, it will be a massive, massive achievement, but the players are certainly giving us plenty of hope and belief.

I am not going to dwell too much of yet another shocking refereeing performance, which in the end, didn't spoil a superb day for QPR. But it certainly is hard to take sometimes when you see Adel Taarabt sent off for next to nothing, but see Scott Parker deliberately hacking down Diakete then blantantly diving (as did van der Vaart) to win free kicks, going completely unpunished. It's almost embarrassing...

To see California Hoops opinion of Mr Clattenburg, click on the following link and keep them pealed at about 45 seconds....

http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/qpr-video/video-fans-celebrate-qprs-vital-win-against-tottenham/

Finally, to complete a superb day, the gang, then joined by Tony and Chris, all met in the Springbok to continue to celebrate California Hoops birthday. Originally a meeting point, the atmosphere and music were so good we stayed there all evening, before ending up in what was a tad seedy club of which I can't remember the name. We finally decided to call it a night at around 2.00 am after California and Jointy were playing Chess and myself, Sam, Luke, Tony C and PK, who was rather good at it, playing Connect 4. Myself and California Hoop also caused much amusement, taking it upon ourselves to be unofficial bouncers in the Club's VIP area. Traditional 'booze food' was consumed before we all ventured on our journeys home...

Lee will return next Sunday as we turn our attentions to what could be an interesting fixture, away at rivals, Chelsea....

Come on You R'ssssss!!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

QPR v Spurs Preview...


Myself and Lee were absolutely delighted to be asked to do a match preview for the excellent, THFC1882.com site. It is the first time we have ever done anything like this and we are thrilled to say, that the guys have published our article and it is online now.

We are very proud and pleased with our article and you can read by clicking the following link - www.thfc1882.com

We hope you enjoy are little outing over to North London, the guys will be sending us their match report from the game, for a view from the opposition.

THFC1882.com is an excellent site and well worth a look. You can also follow the guys on Twitter @THFC1882dotcom, @essexlad13 and @LordFINN

Monday, April 16, 2012

Once Again Controversy Surrounds The Weekend.


Unfortunately this weekends football was marred by controversy and it really does raise the question, are our footballing governing bodies doing their jobs properly??

We'll start at Old Trafford.
Having lost to Wigan during the week, Man United looked to get their title challenge back on the rails and needed a good start against Aston Villa. That good start happened as they gained an early penalty, who won the penalty?? Ashley Young of course!
Young was at the centre of controversy early in the fixture against QPR last week and received widespread criticism from football fans, commentators and journalists for his antics and getting Shaun Derry sent off and effectively ending the game as a contest. This week he was at it again!

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Having skipped past Alan Hutton, Young entered the box and seemingly went past Ciaran Clark at ease and there was slight contact and as Young proceeded to go down like he'd been shot, he flicked his other leg out to ensure further contact was made and con the ref even further. A penalty was awarded and thankfully Ciaran Clark remained on the field, thus giving Villa a small chance to salvage something from the game with the remaining time on the clock.

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You would of thought that with the fixture being against his former employers that Young would of been more likely to stay on his feet, but clearly he has no respect for his former employers or any other footballer for that matter and is just looking to win by any means necessary, even if it means cheating.
This whole situation could of been avoided if the FA had the guts to discipline Ashley Young for his diving and because he avoided any warning or punishment he obviously saw it as a green light from the FA to do it again. Surely now the FA will do something about his play acting?? Probably not!
Ashley Young's antics have caught the eye of fellow professionals such as Ryan Taylor who tweeted "Ashley Young is an absolute DISGRACE. He's the biggest cheat in the league. His antics are a joke …".
Even R's CEO Phillip Beard got in on the action and tweeted "Difficult to take after watching numerous replays but Ashley Young could partner Tom Daley at the Olympics."
Maybe Young should go to the Olympics, he could be our greatest chance of a gold medal, let him dive off of a 50m diving board though and see if he can trip himself up in mid air and spread out like an eagle, as he does when he falls to the floor.

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Even Alex Ferguson has come out and said that Young went down too easily. Mike Phelan, who was sat on the bench looked embarrassed and did not even celebrate Rooney's penalty, surely the club will be dealing with Young internally??
It's about time he gets a ban for simulation, if it was Luis Suarez (and I'm not a fan of his either) then he would get an instant reprimand from the FA. Suarez would be made an example out of, is it because Ashley Young is an Englishman that he is seemingly free to do this game after game?
Suarez was given an eight ban having been racist to Patrice Evra, yet John Terry was racist to Anton Ferdinand and the incident was captured on tv, yet the FA have failed to act on this. Is it because Terry is an Englishman that the FA are slow to hand out a similar offence?? Now the FA are waiting until Scotland Yard fully punish Terry for his actions. Even when that punishment is dealt by the authorities, will the FA do anything further or will they deem the police's decision as a big enough punishment and let Terry continue to play his football, thus showing that racism really is not being kicked out by the FA. The message would be if you are foreign you cannot be racist, if you're English you can be racist and be protected by the FA.


Talking of Chelsea, we'll now move onto yesterday's FA Cup Semi-Final.
Once again the call for goal line technology is out there after referee Martin Atkinson wrongly awarded Chelsea a goal when the ball had not crossed the line after Juan Mata's shot was blocked by John Terry's arse and then Assou-Ekottu cleared off the line when laying down.
This is the same Martin Atkinson that did not see Clint Hill's header go two yards over the line when we played Bolton a month ago. Was this decision lingering in his head??

Clint Hill's goal not given.
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Juan Mata's goal that was allowed (camera at an angle).
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FIFA have a meeting on the 2nd July to discuss the introduction of goal line technology and surely we will finally see our beautiful game surrounded by less controversy and assist our referee's with the help they they really do need.
All it will take is to put the fourth official behind a TV screen and review the actions and communicate through the earpieces that referees already have and use rarely. At the moment the fourth official has the task of standingon the sidelines and holding up the electronic board to signal when a substitution is occuring and also to signify how many injury time minutes there are. At least by utilising the fourth official we will now have a network of communication from the field of play and also from a technological point of view ensuring that the important decisions, like goals being rightly given or disallowed and do not change the course of games by giving teams an advantage of wrongly being given a decision in their favour.
Yesterday Spurs were cost the chance to play in an FA Cup Final due to Chelsea being a second goal advantage and giving the North Londoners an even bigger mountain to climb and Spurs recent form does not look like improving when they had a chance to reverse their fortunes yesterday.
These decisions are cruel and can deplete a squads confidence even further when they are already on a bad run of form.

Football is beginning to head in the right direction and as soon as technology is introduced and followed by the punishment of players cheating to gain an advantage then we will find even more of us walking away from games appreciating teams performances and stopping heating debate between rival fans.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

We Couldn't Hit A Barn Dorr Today......


Today the R's fans made the short trip to the Black Country for the fixture against out of sorts West Brom.
The Lofty Heights gang assembled in the West Midlands.


With the journey to The Hawthorns being one of the easiest trips of the season, almost like a home game for all of us. With Jess, Sam and Luke all in my car, Jenson had Lofty as company in his car.
Both parties left at roughly the same time of 11.30 and took the very easy trip up the M40, M42 and M5 with no issues at all, it was so easy that before you knew it we were in the East End industrial estate parking up in one of the tightest spaces possible. After everyone had somehow squeezed out of the car we made our way to the entrance and saw Jenson and Lofty making their way into the same car park.
After a short wait we made our way to a burger van and were posed with a question of having a small, medium or large burger. Without skipping a beat Jenson jumped in saying large and saw three quarter pounders enter his bun, much to the shock of the rest of the gang. This was soon down sized to a medium and everyone followed suit, except Jess who opted for a small.
On our relatively short walk to the away stand the breeze around The Hawthorns was quite chilling and had us all wondering if we was prepared for what was going to be an extremely cold afternoon.
The subject of the Grand National was on the lips of everyone and I was talking up the prospects of Shakalakaboomboom as I had been tipping it for the last two months. We'll see how it gets on later.
Lorna joined up five minutes before kick off and took her place next to Lofty and Jenson.

Just one change was made to the side that beat Swansea 3-0 on Wednesday. Shaun Derry returned from suspension and he replaced Akos Buzsaky.

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The R's started the game very quickly and Bobby Zamora had the first chance of the game. Hill's headed clearance floated over the West Brom defence and Zamora latched onto it. Zamora was one on one with Foster and the former Man United goalkeeper made a smart block and deflected the ball behind for a corner.
West Brom's movement and pace in the team meant that the R's pressure game in midfield meant that the Baggies could create space in wide areas and former R's loanee Jerome Thomas enjoyed a lot of possession down the West Brom left.
Rangers' really were not enjoying the first twenty minutes and they were duly punished in the 22nd minute.
Odemwingie on the left was closed down quickly by the R's defence but he was still able to lay a pass back to Dorrans, who was thirty yards from goal. The R's defenders were slow to close the Scottish International down, as they were with Paul Scholes last Sunday, and Dorrans hit a sweet strike into the top left hand corner. Paddy Kenny did get a hand to it but the strike was just to good for him. It has to be said it was a great goal.
Lofty's commentary to Lorna, who was sat next to him , was quite entertaining. It went along the lines of "that's a great hit...... oh bugger!" and then applauded the goal in appreciative fashion.

At half time we went down not feeling fully enthused by the first 45 minutes, however we knew that if a good second 45 were to come then we had a good chance of taking at least a draw from the game. The midfield 3 clearly was not working as West Brom were exploiting the space in the wide areas and surely it was only a matter of time until a change was made.
We were lucky enough to be joined by Iceman at half time, the first time in ages that we have had the pleasure of his company and he was as entertaining as ever. We'll be looking forward to seeing more of him in the coming weeks.

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The second half saw Rangers' enjoy more possession but never really looked all that threatening in the final third. Zamora was isolated for long parts of the game with a lack of support for much of the game. With this Hughes made a change and changed to 4-4-2. Shaun Derry came on and Shaun Wright-Phillips replaced him to give the R's more width.
The R's enjoyed much more possession and within minutes he had a volley blocked by the West Brom defence. This pretty much told the story of the half as time after time West Brom put a foot in as a shot was made and Ben Foster did not have a save to make in the second half.
Liam Ridgewell started the time wasting in the 60th minute, when he took five minutes to take a throw. After adjusting both socks and boots, then naffing around with the ball doing nothing, the R's players and management team rightly complained yet referee Moss just let this continue. It wasn't until Ridgewell gestured Hughes with a 1-0 taunt after Hughes probably gave him a few choice words, then the ref decided to step in and award a yellow card. I thought we were going to spend the rest of the game taking that throw in.
West Brom were by no means completely under the kosh. They enjoyed a few decent breakaways and could've easily capitalised on the R's wastefulness in front of goal. Shane Long had the best of the chances late on as he broke clear on goal and when under pressure from Onuoha pushed his shot just wide. There were suspicions of a penalty appeal as it looked as if Onuoha may of clipped Long just as he hit the shot past the post.

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The R's walked away from the game frustrated not to of earned at least a point out of this game. There were plenty of chances in the game, yet Ben Foster was only required to make two saves (from what I counted). Zamora was clearly annoyed that he did not score with any of his three chances in the second half and in the second half Zamora really did not have his shooting boots on as he put one well wide and then glanced a header wide from five yards out. Once Mackie joined Zamora up front and SWP went out wide we looked a better attacking force. I think when Cisse returns next week he will go straight up front with Zamora with Mackie staying wide right, Taarabt wide left and with Diakite and Barton being the midfield battlers. We do look a lot better going forwards with two up top.

We move onto Man of the Match now. The gang were largely in agreement for this one again. Mackie gets a mention for his work rate today but received no votes. Joey Barton received one votes from Sam today for a good battling performance in midfield today as he continues hos good form since returning to the starting line up. The winner, receiving all the votes from Lofty, Jess, Sam, Luke, Jenson and myself for another excellent display is Clint Hill.

West Bromwich Albion: Foster, Ridgewell, Brunt, Thomas (Scharner 81), Dorrans (Andrews 71), Mulumbu, McAuley, Odemwingie, Dawson, Jones, Fortune (Long 59).

Subs: Daniels, Shorey, Hurst, Cox.

Goals: Dorrans (22)

Bookings: Mulumbu (51), Ridgewell (61), Dorrans (70)

QPR: Kenny, Diakite, Hill, Derry (Wright-Phillips 57), Taarabt (Helguson 75), Mackie, Barton, Taiwo (Traore 77), Ferdinand, Onuoha, Zamora.

Subs: Cerny, Gabbidon, Buzsaky, Young.

Bookings: Diakite (56)

Referee: Mr J Moss

Attendance: 25,521

With the journey home being a nice easy run down the motorways, both cars were back home just after 7pm, again there was no issues on the road and a nice easy run was enjoyed by us all.
Onto the Grand National result. My tip finished 9th, however myself and Jess did both win by getting 3rd and 4th places. PK, who missed the game today did get a nice win on it by rightly getting 1st, 3rd and 4th and bagging around £350. Well done PK!!


Lofty will return next weekend with an action packed report from the Spurs game. The report will appear on Sunday as there is a birthday to celebrate in the gang on Saturday and we will be raising a glass or two to help him enjoy the occasion.
Join me in saying Happy Birthday to California Hoop.


U R'SSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

A Swans Song for QPR...


QPR 3-0 Swansea

QPR boosted their survival hopes further with a superb 3-0 win over Swansea at Loftus Road last night.


Unfortunately, due to family commitments I just could not avoid, believe me, I tried... I was unable to attend last night and as it happened, I only managed to see the last 30 minutes. Until of course, I could revel in the MOTD highlights! Also missing were PK and Corp, but otherwise, the gang were in good numbers and Lee and Jess continued their lucky home, pre match Nandos ritual.

What with the Sky coverage, Internet streams, MOTD and QPR World highlights, not forgetting of course all of you lovely people that were there, it is hardly worth writing a full report. The result and performance speaks for itself and I am certainly not a copy and paste from the BBC report and very other sites merchant, like other QPR blogs I could mention. So, here are a few select pics for you to enjoy before I go onto the LH Man of the Match.








































Man of the Match - as you would expect, plenty of contenders and Sky went for Jamie Mackie. Jess went for a true Captain's performance from Joey Barton. But with almost a clean sweep with a massive 7 votes, last nights award goes to Samba Diakete.

To finish, my apologies that it's not the report you have all come to expect and dare I say, enjoy. Missing games doesn't happen often and despite having to put my family first, my heart was well and truly at Loftus Road last night. I am back in action this coming Saturday, along with a massive R's travelling support at the Hawthorns and Lee will return with one of his legendary awayday reports.

Until then, BELIEVE!!!

Come on you R'sssssssssss!!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The FA Controversy Continues As The FA Live Up To Their Name........


Yesterday the FA made the hugely controversial decision to not rescind Shaun Derry's red card against Manchester United on Easter Sunday and it has left many people, not only QPR fans, wondering what the hell is going on at FA Headquarters.

Lets briefly run through what happened.......
Ashley Young is shown to be offside as Wayne Rooney plays the ball beyond Shaun Derry, the linesman is completely in line with this yet fails to raise his flag. Young then manages to get just level with Derry before seemingly wriggling free to be one on one with Paddy Kenny when all of a sudden Young decides to take a tumble when Derry barely managed to lay a fingernail him. If Derry could lift Young off the ground and turn him over with the slightest of touches then I think Derry is in the wrong profession and sound swiftly look to enter the Worlds Strongest Man competition because that is some some hidden talent to do that.
So with the video replays all in our favour, a referee that supports Bolton that is appointed to officiate a game that involves a team that is thick in a relegation battle with his team and also a team that his brother used to play for.
Who made the decision to make that appointment in the first place? You begin to smell a rat when those kinds of decisions are made but before Ashley Young had finished pirouetting in a Strictly Come Dancing on grass moment (which he has become quite an expert at), Lee Mason had already fetched his red card out of his pocket and Derry was dismissed. Was it a decision made because of the "foul" or because it was the ideal opportunity to allow Man United to rip into QPR and see the R's goal difference melt away, to the advantage of his hometown team Bolton?
The R's lodged an appeal and rightly so. Pundits up and down the country were saying that poor decision making led to the sending off and that Ashley Young went down far too easily, surely that gave the management team at Loftus Road the confidence that we would get somewhere with an appeal..........?

Then we get to today and the red card decision is upheld??
A statement on the FA's official website read: "Queens Park Rangers midfielder Shaun Derry will serve a one-match suspension with immediate effect after his claim of wrongful dismissal was rejected by a Regulatory Commission today [Tuesday 10 April].

"Derry was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity in the Premier League match against Manchester United on Sunday 8 April 2012."


So Derry denied a goalscoring opportunity to a player that was offside and then took a dive.............. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!

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This is the same FA that are not punishing Mario Balotelli, who could've broken Alex Song's leg and then made two dangerous challenges on Bacary Sagna and earned two yellow cards to get himself sent off, when really he should've earned three red cards for all those challenges. Where's the consistency??

This is the same FA that are charging Branislav Ivanovic with violent conduct for punching Shaun Maloney in the build up to Wigan pushing for a winner on Saturday and when that attack broke down Chelsea went on to score their winner(which was offside).
So a violent conduct charge could lead to a three game ban........ you can bet that the FA will duck that decision and fine Ivanovic a tenth of his wages and ensure that the Serbian International struggles to put food on the table for his family.

Talking about the Chelsea game, yet again a dodgy offside decision, or lack of as was the case, cost Wigan not once but twice! You can understand the second decision as it was a tight call but the first one was a joke!
There have been so many poor calls this season by the referee's assistant/linesmen/bungling idiots on the touchline that they could end up costing teams places in the Premier League this season. QPR have had their fair share of dodgy decisions against them but look at the bigger picture, many of the other so called 'smaller clubs' are having to deal with these decisions on what seems like a weekly basis.

This is the same FA that are defending Wayne Rooney and battling for his red card that he received against Macedonia when he kicked out at an opponent.

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So this FA think that kicking out at an opponent and receiving a red card is harsh. That sending a player off when Ashley Young clearly dived is a worthy red card. That thinks that because Balotelli was punished during the course of the time he was on the pitch on Sunday, that he is exempt from further punishment.
So what the FA have said to Ashley Young is "keep on diving Ashley, we won't punish it", what the FA is saying is "Mario, keep intentionally fouling people on the pitch and we won't give you any further punishment", what the FA is saying is "Wayne, kick out if you want, we have your back" and also the FA have said to John Terry is "we won't punish you, even though you have been clearly spotted being a racist by tv cameras, we will back you because you are a player from one of our 'big clubs'.

When will the FA show some consistency, some balls to make decisions that are equal to everyone? I could rant on and on about how they continue to conspire against not only QPR (especially after last years hearing over the Alejandro Faurlin case, I won't bore you with that again though) but it's also the other smaller clubs that are suffering because of it. Who's to say that one of the clubs that goes down from this season may suffer the same kind of financial difficulty that Leeds, Southampton and Portsmouth (to name a few) have done. Those clubs have nearly hit that wall due to their relegation down the leagues. Portsmouth are gripping by the skin of their teeth but do any of the top clubs care about this? Are the FA looking at how this could be prevented in future?? Are they f@#k, they are just looking after themselves and if anyone suffers outside of their bubble then it really doesn't matter.

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Its about time our governing body actually grow a set and show some equality to every team, not just the top five or six clubs.
It's about time the cheating stops, the Premier League is the greatest league in the world and the diving, intentional fouling and poor refereeing needs to stop.
We need technology to play a part and assist the officials to ensure a fair game is played and that the cheats in the game do not benefit in any shape or form. Why not throw the book at the cheats? Give them a six or eight game ban with no wages, they earn enough money to be able to afford it, why not put that money back into the community and let them benefit from the over paid person that decides to cheat to win. Harsh? Maybe but it will stop it all from happening and the football fans will have less to argue about, mean that frustrations do not boil over in the terraces and more importantly just let them enjoy the game that they have paid to see and once the final whistle has blown just allow them to revel in the moment of winning, brag to their mates and then we can just get on with the rest of the weekend. Sounds boring?? Trust me it'll make life as a football fan a lot less stressful.

Will it happen? Of course it won't, the FA are exactly what their initials state........ F@#king Arseholes.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Mason Does Bolton A Favour..........


On this Easter Sunday 2,700 R's fans (and 72,000 Man United fans) travelled to Salford to see Rangers' take on the 19 time English Football League Champions (do they shout about that enough??) Manchester United.
The Lofty Heights gang travelled in full force.


The gang departed in the usual two car formation with myself, Jess, Sam and Luke were joined by Jointy in my car as Jenson took a four strong team of himself, Lofty, PK and Ian in his car and we both took to the road at 8.15 to get a good head start on those United fans that would be heading up the M40 and M6 from the Surrey Hills.
Just over an hour into the journey we took a pitstop in the M6 Toll services as Jenson carried on up the motorway. Jointy was up to his usual antics when talking to a random R's fan whilst he was having a fag as the Rangers' fan swiftly left after Jointy had used the phrase "up there" in slightly the wrong context, the face on the R's fan was a picture before he sneaked off into the distance.
We then got back onto the M6 and proceeded to look to get back on the tail of Jenson and he decided to make a stop at Sandbach Services, where the group joined up and continued the rest of the journey in convoy.
We arrived at Old Trafford, the cricket ground, shortly after 11.20 and made our way to the bar which was open there. Jointy, Sam and Luke made their way to the ground as Jointy needed to pick his ticket up from the ticket office before he could enter the ground.
We got into the packed concourse an hour before kick off and met up with Lorna, Jack and Michael to share our optimism for the game, well that was until we saw the team selection.....

Bobby Zamora dropped to the bench as Joey Barton missed out completely as he was just a yellow card away from a two game ban. Those yellow cards get wiped away today (Monday) so he will be available now for the rest of the campaign, well that is if he does not get sent off or accumulate another five yellow cards.
Akos Buzsaky and surprisingly Jay Bothroyd were their replacements.
Having seen this it was clear that after yesterdays results that today was all about damage limitation whilst hitting United on the break.

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The opening ten minutes were all United as we struggled to gain any kind of possession. It was wave after wave of attack but with our defence being so tight and organised it just ended up being United passing around in our final third without taking any shots in anger at Paddy Kenny.
Just as it seemed that the R's had weathered the storm and started to string together some good passing football themselves, United got themselves a penalty in controversial circumstances (would you believe it!).
Ashley Young was a full yard or two offside before he gained possession and run in on the Rangers' goal. Derry put a hand on Young's back and he went down like Mr T had run him down in his tank before throwing a Snickers at his head and leaving Young on his arse and crying for a penalty. Before you knew it Lee Mason had his red card out of his pocket before you could say "Lee Mason is a Bolton fan".
The R's players were clearly annoyed by this because 1- Young was clearly offside,
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2- Young clearly dived, 3- Derry was not the last man as Onuoha was covering. Clearly Mason's agenda was to hinder the R's in an attempt to help his native Bolton and help United along to a comfortable victory and diminishing the R's goal difference.
Anyways, enough of me ranting......
Rooney stepped up and took a superb penalty and placed right in the bottom corner as Kenny got close to it, but not close enough.
With us being down to 10 men it effectively ended the game as a contest and not it really was about damage limitation.
Shortly after the sending off Rafael fouled Taarabt and clearly showed a massive amount of dissent as he jumped around waving his arms around in disgust but received no booking. Five minutes later he blatantly took out Taarabt and once again remained unpunished, now the frustration in the stands was beginning to set into the stands.
Rangers' did have a little spell to enjoy and we did have two corners to celebrate but United were in complete control.

At half time Jess and myself went downstairs and shared our frustration with Lorna and Michael but none of that was going to help us, we had 45 minutes to cheer on the team in hope that we would not have our pants pulled down and have our goal difference still in tact ahead of the two games against Swansea and West Brom.

As you would expect Man United came out and really bossed the game with Scholes really showing his class and pinging balls out wide, you would never of guessed that he had retired before the start of this season.
The R's defended resolutely throughout the second half with Paddy Kenny making several crucial saves and also the woodwork came to our rescue on more than one occasion. Anton Ferdinand and Clint Hill were keeping their impressive form at the heart of the defence as the R's somehow managed to keep United to their one goal advantage.
However on 68 minutes that advantage was doubled.
Taarabt failed to control his clearance and it went straight to Rafael. Rafael then laid the ball off to Scholes and with the R's failing to close him down quick enough he hit a dipping shot that just went under Paddy Kenny's outstretched arm and hit the bottom corner of the net. Great goal that is deserving of winning any game.
United continued to dominate the duration of the game and even the introduction of Wright-Phillips, Smith and DJ Campbell did not do anything to put the result in any danger.
United were clear winners of this one.

Again we come out of a game with another controversial talking point which has cost us a game which in all fairness none of us expected to get anything out of, however it would of been nive to of been given a fair chance.
I'm getting sick and tired of having to moan at poor officiating, however putting a ref from Bolton and a Bolton fan in charge of our game when we are in a relegation battle with Bolton seems very strange to me. I really wish I took the 4/1 on offer for there to be a sending off.

On to our Man of the Match. With two votes was Jamie Mackie for his tireless work rate. With three votes was Anton Ferdinand for a faultless display in the back four. However with four votes, today's Man of the Match is Paddy Kenny.

Two minutes after the final whistle the United fans soon emptied from the ground....

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Whereas the R's fans stayed to applaud their team off the pitch......

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With most United fans having a 25minute head start on us you'd of thought that they would of filtered through to the M6 quickly but this was not the case and the traffic was a complete nightmare for us. Once we finally got going we stopped off at the M6 Toll services once again for some grub and stretched our legs before we parted company once more for our separate destinations.
We all arrived home safely some 12hours after leaving.

Lofty will return on Wednesday for his report against Swansea.

U R'SSSS!!!!!!