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








Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Harry Points Us In The Right Direction

€
Due to the beauty of the amazing fixture machine the R's fans hit the road as they travelled to Sunderland in horrible conditions to see Harry Redknapp take charge of the R's for his first game.

The day started as a disaster for Lofty as he got stuck on the M25 due to an overturned lorry. This left Lofty stranded on the M25 not moving and despite the assembled gang waiting as long as they could  so he could make it, but unfortunately time was not on his side and by the time he exited his nearest junction the gang of Jenson, who was the designated driver for the day, PK, Luke, Jess and myself, were in Northampton. in what was a smooth first hour of driving. Sam also could not make the trip as she was looking afterher beautiful twins.
 We soon hit traffic as the M1 was closed for half an hour due to animals being on the road, we only saw police, so make whatever joke you wish to of that. After being at a standstill for 40minutes we finally were on the move but only to find out that ahead of us we had the A1m down to one lane and needed to find an alternate route that would enable us to make up he lost time and get to the ground on time and relax after what had been a stressful journey.
Due to some excellent driving by Jenson we arrived wth 20minutes to spare despite having an ETA of 20:10 at one point.
On our walk around to the other side of the ground to take the long hike up the stairs with our oxygen masks at the ready, we bumped into Lorna and after a 10 minute assent we reached our peak and headed to our seats.

Redknapp made three changes to the side that fought galliently against Man United on Saturday.
Bosingwa, Diakite and Granero replaced Dyer, Derry and Faurlin.

The R's looked to line up in a 4-1-4-1 formation and looked far more solid than in recent weeks. When defending set pieces we had ditched the dreadful zonal marking that had cost us so many goals this year and gone back to the tried and tested man marking and with this the R's looked far more comfortable defending.
Going forwards the R's were finally looking to play balls in behind the Sunderland defence for Cisse to run onto and give him the service he has been lacking this season.
Cisse was enjoying his new found service but was lacking in confidence to beat the final defender and test Mignolet. instead Cisse was hitting his shots early and having them blocked to safety. Taarabt was trying to pull the strings in midfield but was lacking movement in front of him to feed in and that was the only area that the R's were not penetrating enough. Mbia looked excellent and controlled the midfield whilst also giving additional cover when Sunderland did look to break forward.
Rangers' came closest when Mackie broke clear of the Sunderland defence and took one touch too many and had his poke blocked by Mignolet, the rebound fell to Taarabt who he scuffed his shot and had his effort cleared to safety.
Sunderland did have one chance in the first half when Fletcher turned clear before seeing his shot blocked for a corner by Cesar.



At half time we definitely felt like we edged it but 0-0 was probably a fair reflection of what we saw. During the interval we saw Rob Green go through a vigorous warm up and we found out via the power of twitter that Cesar had picked up a groin injury and was unable to carry on. So Rob Green replaced him at the start of the second half. Ironically Green was being courted by Redknapp at the end of last season to join Spurs on a free transfer instead of joining us.

The second half was much the same for the R's and Sunderland did struggle to create many problems for the R's defence. They did have great chance midway through the half and Green made a superb save on the line to keep his clean sheet in tact.
In the last five minutes SWP, who replaced Taarabt with ten minutes to go, broke clear and had his shot blocked by Mignolet.



All in all it is a pleasing way for Harry to start with and we can definitely build on it and go forwards and start putting points on the board and make in-roads to the deficit that is currently a challenge to overcome.
We look heavily over balanced in midfield, however we ll now be more solid and organised defensively, our real challenge is going to be finding where we are going to get match winning goals from. With Cisse and Mackie being the only strikers in our 25 we need players like Taarabt and Hoilett to weigh in with their fair share of goals to get our heads floating above water again.

The Man of the Match was a majority decision this week. Lorna and myself put our votes up for Mbia and his commanding yet calm performance in midfield.
However after picking up the votes from Jenson, PK, Luke, Jess and Lofty (who managed to watch a stream at home) as Armand Traore. Traore was influential down the R's left and was often the only R's player advanced down the left wing to swing in crosses to the Sunderland box.

The pie ratings today were a mixed bunch.

PK went for the Steak and Ale pie, nice and had a tasty filling. 6

Luke opted for the Meat and Potato pie. really thick pastry to get through and wasn't that great. 4

Jenson had a Chicken Balti, nice filling and was tasty. 6

I also had a Chicken Balti and found the top crust about three inches thick and an effort to get to the filling. Disappointing. 4

This gives Sunderland an overall pie rating of 5.

We soon got back to Jenson's car and hit the road back ad hit trouble on the way back as the A1 was closed around the Leeds area and we had to detour around the dirty town before getting back on the M1.

I leave this report now with us in Nottingham and flying back to our promised land.

Great driving Jenson!!!

I will return on Saturday after our game against fellow strugglers Aston Villa.

Keep the faith!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

R's Spark Returns as Redknapp Arrives...


Man United 3-1 QPR

QPR were perhaps expectedly beaten, but it was a performance of previously lost heart and passion that caught the eyes of the R's fans this afternoon, in what was an excellent display in front of newly appointed Manager - Harry Redknapp!!

With Mark Hughes being sacked on Friday, Rangers went straight for their man and the expected appointment was confirmed just before lunchtime as myself and the gang were on route to Old Trafford. Needless to say,all of us here at Lofty Heights are over the moon with this appointment and we welcome Harry with open arms..













A warm welcome and very good luck, Harry Redknapp, we hope you enjoy your time here with us!!

As mentioned, we were on route when we heard the good news, with myself and PK in convey with :Lee, Jess, Sam, Luke and Perry. Jenson joined us later as he was spending the weekend away in Manchester. After a bit of a stop start journey, as it always is going to Manchester, we arrived at about 2pm and headed straight to the ground. On route, PK was sadly ripped off by a programme seller who charged him £5 for his programme when the price was in fact £3. I wonder how much money this low life  made for himself today and indeed, throughout the season. Visiting fans be warned, this kind fellow sells his programmes outside the Trafford Pub!!

There wasn't an awful lot of time for us before kick off, but time enough for myself and Lee to try a pie. Just the two of us this time as we warned the other Pie Samplers amongst us. More on that later.

Onto the game and with Harry taking in the game from the stands, the R's were managed today by Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzweicki and following last weeks showing against Southampton, there was a huge shake up in the R's line up - with Clint Hill and Shaun Derry joining Faurlin, Taarabt and Mackie in players that were part of the promotion squad and certainly players that play with passion and wear their hearts on their sleeves.

The R's started well enough but it was United that poised the better attacking threat and there were chances for Young, Van Persie and Rooney, but the R's were holding firm at the back, buoyed by an excellent performance from Stephane Mbia at right back. Rangers grew in confidence and had the ball in the net before the break, but Mackie's header was rightly disallowed for offside. But the R's travelling fans warmly applauded an excellent first half performance as the half time whistle went.

We stayed in our seats at half time and we were slighly amused by the ever so cringeworthy Sir Alex Ferguson song that boomed out of the PA System. I can only describe the song as similar to Rod Stewart, 'We are Sailing' type of anthem. Very cringeworthy indeed...

Onto the second half and the R's faithful were in dreamland just seven minutes in - Kieron Dyer's low cross was palmed away into the path of Jamie Mackie who stabbed the ball home from close range. The R's support went absolutely beserk, the best celebrations of the season so far with the majority of the squad celebrating in front of us also. Luke in particular enjoyed the goal that much, that he was also witnessed singing his heart out to ' Walking in a Mackie Wonderland'!! An extremely rare event that we regret not catching on video...

 














As you would expect, United put the R's under pressure and forced a succession of corners. But on 61 minutes, Rangers solid back line was broken when the excellent Traore was replaced byAnton Ferdinand. Three minutes later, United were level - Rooney's left-wing corner was met at the far post by Danny Welbeck, whose header across the goal found Evans who headed home from virtually on the goal-line. Heartbreak for the R's.

Four minutes later and another Rooney corner found Fletcher unmarked, who made no mistake. The United supporters suddenly found their voices after a nervy afternoon. Another 4 minutes went by and United then made the game safe when an Anderson through ball found Hernandez, who slotted the ball coolly home. It was now becoming painful as the R's certainly didn't deserve what was happening.

Rangers almost reduced the deficit 2 minutes from time when Clint Hill saw his powerful header cleared off the line.

Queens Park Rangers

  • 33 Julio Cesar
  • 03 Traore (Ferdinand - 61' )
  • 06 Hill
  • 17 Nelsen
  • 04 Derry
  • 10 Taarabt (Hoilett - 73' )
  • 18 Dyer
  • 32 Faurlin (Granero - 84' )
  • 40 M'bia Booked
  • 09 Cisse
  • 12 Mackie

Substitutes

  • 01 Green
  • 05 Ferdinand
  • 02 Diakite
  • 11 Wright-Phillips
  • 14 Granero
  • 22 Ephraim
  • 23 Hoilett
Man of the Match - split 3 ways with Sam going for Traore - who knows what may have happened had he not been taken off. Jenson, Jess and PK went for Jamie Mackie, but todays winner with 4 votes from myself, Lee, Luke and Perry, is Stephane Mbia, who kindly came into the away end at the end of the game to give a young fan his shirt.

Awayday Pie Rating

Extremely disappointing from such a Top Club, with myself and Lee sampling a lukewarm and overcooked Steak Pie each. A mark of 4 and a 5 were given respectively, giving Manchester United a Pie Rating of 4.5/10!! and that I must say is very generous!!

Okay so the result was disappointing but the performance certainly wasn't. I firmly believe that the first R's substitution changed it for Rangers in what was a very disappointing outing from Anton Ferdinand. But we have had enough negativity recently and the heart, passion and desire shown from the R's today was there for all to see. Undoubtedly, Harry Redknapp in the stands played a huge part and if anything, Adel Taarabt tried a bit too hard at times. But what was evident was that the players were quite obviously, not playing for Mark Hughes!!

But despite the weather which caused a mammoth journey home, this was the most enjoyable away trip of the season so far and long may it continue...

Lofty Heights are on the road again this coming Tuesday for the long trip to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland in what is Harry's first game in charge. I will return with the report sometime on Wednesday and will hopefully, will be bringing some long overdue good news!!

Come on You R'ssssssssssss!!!

 


Friday, November 23, 2012

A Hughe-s Relief


Today is the day the R's fans have been waiting for all week, with the news that Mark Hughes has had his contract terminated today.



This means that Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki will take temporary charge of the away fixture at Manchester United tomorrow.

Hughes has had his highs and lows at the R's, being part of the Rangers' survival on the last of the season at Manchester City and famous stating that the club 'would never be in this position again as long as he was manager', well he was right in one sense, Rangers' have not been fourth from bottom all year!!

After some dire efforts in recent weeks and lack of tactical ambition, whilst seemingly losing the confidence of the players, all of which were evident against Southampton last Saturday as they put in a lackluster performance in a game that was dubbed as a must win in 'El Sackico'.
With a massive increase on the wage bill and heavy backing in the transfer window to bring in over 12 new players you would have thought that with the quality in the squad that the club would be pushing towards a top ten position, however we have been given effort that would be lucky to return a draw in League One over the last few weeks.

The style of football and passing element was never an issue, it's been the lack of pace and movement off the ball that have resulted in the R's being incredibly goal shy this season and struggled to pin teams back and really force an advantage to play with.
As for the defensive element of the team, we have really gone backwards. The only two positives for me have been Julio Cesar and Ryan Nelsen, the rest would be lucky to enter the Titus Bramble school of defending classes, it's been that shocking!!
So many goals have come from crosses being aimed at the far post and no-one picking up any markers purely because we have been using a zonal marking policy and no-one seems to know who they are supposed to be defending against and this has been our ultimate downfall.
Hopefully now Hughes has gone we will finally leave two people on the halfway line so that we have a chance for a quick counter attack!

The departure has come as a welcome relief to us all and we made start to actually enjoy the football, rather than just attend games for a good social, as this is what the last few games have been, a good social occasion  ruined by football.

Let's hope Harry Redknapp is appointed in the very near future!!!!!!

U R'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Hughes Out Now............. Surely????????


Today's game was heralded as a 'must win' game by both managers as the first 'El Sackio' of the season took place as the two bottom clubs in the Premier League went head to head. Rumours were that if one of the managers lost then they would be be-headed and relieved of their duties...... let's see how this one panned out.

We were lucky enough to have little Jack and our Portsmouth fan friend John join us in the Loft today and both were bringing lucky omens. Jack has never seen QPR lose and John has never seen Southampton win, the other statistic in our favour was that there has not been a draw in a game between these two sides in over 84 years. Everything was pointing towards a positive result, but for who??
Jack, John and myself made our way into the ground just past 2pm, after we had said hello to Lofty and Jenson, Jenson is celebrating a birthday so there's no doubt he'll have a sore head in the morning, hopefully nothing else will be sore!! Jenson, Lofty and Jess all went to enjoy a pre-match beer in the Springbok with Kevin Gallen and then ended up having to queue up for over 15minutes to get in the ground, luckily they missed nothing! Sam and Luke arrived in W12 early to do some Christmas shopping and then met up with Lorna before enjoying a few beverages before the game and they too also got caught in the queue and ended up missing the first 10 minutes of the game.

Hughes named an unchanged side from the side that lost at Stoke last week....... predictable really!

Well I'm going to say very little about this game because it's just very frustrating.

Southampton went 1-0 up with a carbon copy of every goal we concede from a set piece, for some reason Faurlin was left to mark Ricky Lambert and his initial header was blocked on the line by Traore but Lambert was first to react (as you would expect) and he followed up with a header from two yards out and received a   kick in the head by Diakite for his efforts.
Rangers' continued to be out fought and Southampton got the second goal they deserved just before half time. Puncheon was left with acres of space after the R's failed to clear following a Southampton breakaway. Puncheon hit a great effort from the left side of the box, leaving Cesar with no chance. Poor defending again, but that's what happens when you are the best prepared team in the league and leave nothing to chance.............oh that's why we haven't won all year!! Sorry I'm playing the usual Mark Hughes press conference that we hear every week that is full of the same b@llsh!t that we are expected to buy and believe.

The second half begun with Jamie Mackie replacing Faurlin. For me this was completely wrong as Granero had a much worse first half despite being played well out of position on the right wing.
The energy and urgency of Mackie certainly helped the R's and soon grabbed a consolation goal as Hoilett somehow ghosted in front of the Southampton goalkeeper and headed home Taarabt's cross.
It was back to the usual and showing no fight at all, with the exception of Ryan Nelsen, Samba Diakite, Adel Taarabt and Jamie Mackie. This led to Southampton regaining control of the game and they got a third goal with ten minutes to go. I didn't see how the goal occurred and all I know is that Anton Ferdinand was credited with an own goal.

I'm going to take no credit away from Southampton, they got what they deserved today and showed a lot of heart and passion on the field today. I'm also glad that the nonsense of the Nigel Adkins sack talk will slowly disappear because he deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with the Saints over the last two years. Saints fans were excellent today and have remained fully behind their manager, they deserve to do well and I'm looking forward to going back to St Mary's next year as we have enjoyed some good away days down there with their friendly fans. I wish them all the best until that day.

Man of the Match was a pretty easy one today, with only Taarabt, Diakite, Mackie and Nelsen worthy of any kind of mention. The majority vote today going to Ryan Nelsen from the gang.

Well what can I say about today?? A lot to be honest!
Firstly we hear the same rubbish from Mark Hughes before and after every game. He always says that we are the well organised in training and how great the team spirit and belief is with what they are working towards yet every Saturday we see the same sh!t, same mistakes and a bunch of players that do not look like they are fighting for each other. The fight and determination that we showed in the last two months of last season has disappeared and for me it looks like the players are no longer playing for the manager. The heads are dropping quickly and there is no belief in what the manager is trying to get them to do.
Secondly we have no plan b. We have one plan and have no other way of playing, there is a lack of variety and the movement in the team is the worst that it has been since we had Mark Hateley up front. We have lost a dimension in our play with the lack of pace and movement and we really look like a team that has no real direction or any idea of how we are going to win games. Defensively we make the same mistakes every week, I really do wonder what happens in training and how actually plan for games because for me there is no real structure in our play and what I have witnessed today is the worst performance in many years......... bring back George Santos, at least he actually cared and put some effort in despite his limited ability.
We then hear that Shaun Wright-Phillips has spoken out to a fan saying that the team are losing because the fans do not support the team................ I'm sorry SWP, who was laughing when Southampton scored the third goal??? Show that you care and actually put a performance in you under performing twat! You cannot say that we do not support the team, if that's your honest opinion then p!ss off back to Chelsea!!!!!!!

Hughes really has lost the plot and the confidence of the fans. The players do not seem to be behind him and are pretty clueless as to what they need to do on the pitch for him.
Now is not a time for excuses, we have a wealth of talented players and unfortunately from the minute the 25 man squad was named we all knew what we were lacking, attacking options! Only three strikers named, two of them injury prone and with Johnson now out for the season it leaves us with Zamora that has fallen out of love with football and happy to pick up his weekly fortune for the remainder of his contract. Why did we not name DJ Campbell and keep Helguson? At least they offer something different and they score goals, something we are struggling to do!! Instead we have been left with Hogan Ephraim and Shaun Derry (despite Derry's fight and enthusiasm) and are left lacking in the goals department.

Now is the time to go. Let's appoint a manager that will get the team playing for one another, finally have a set of tactics that will help them win a game and grow in confidence and once and for all get a bloody win in the league!!
Us as fans deserve better and so do our owners Tony Fernandes and Amit Bhatia. I do not agree with the twitter rants they get and criticism that comes their way, it's needs to remain respectful and some dignity kept by the supporters. Yes say that Hughes needs to be sacked but do not call them names that they are not, these are people that care about our club and actually do listen to the fans. Although I do not believe they will sack Hughes yet, I still know they have the clubs interests at heart. The day for Hughes to go will come, hopefully sooner rather than later!!

That's all for now!

Lofty will return next week with his report after our (if Hughes is in charge) thrashing at Old Trafford, or excellent draw (if Redknapp is at the helm).

Keep the faith!!!! 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Beyond a Stoke Now...


Stoke 1-0 QPR

QPR went swiftly back to the bottom of the Premier League following another frustrating defeat and now, an entire season of 19 games since an away win.

Despite the fortunes on the pitch, the gamg remained as positive as ever as we met in Marlow for a 2 car convey to the Potteries. Lee, Jess, Sam and Luke in one car with myself and PK in the other. Jenson, sadly missing today at a boys weekend away in Munich.

An absolute breeze of a journey saw us find the time to stop at Knutsford Services for some refreshment. But after the Gents amongst us left the toilet, in true George Michael style, PK started chatting with a bloke as was quickly led into the car park. All of our initial fears were later put to bed as it was someone who PK had met on holiday in the Domincan Rebuplic recently. Needless to say, it had us all worried for a short time..

After myself and PK treated the others to a short sightseeing tour around Stoke, we parked up and made our way to the ground at about 1.45pm, where Sam drew our attentions away from the crap burgers and too an extremely attractive Lady Police Officer, of whom it would have almost been worth getting arrested for. Into the ground and 5 of us took part in the Pie Ratings, which the results will be reported later.

Onto the game and the R's fans were in buoyant mood and the Premier League is upside down song was being heard loud and proud as Rangers started very well and saw plenty of the ball. Cisse miscued a half chance but Stoke had chances of their own at the other end, the best falling to Walters who blasted over when he really should have done better. The best chance though, fell to Rangers just before the break - great work from Hoilett on the left,  put Taarabt clear on the right. Just as we were all expecting Adel to put his foot through the ball and smash the ball home, he dinked a rather tame chip that drifted aimlessly over the bar.














Onto the second half and all off Rangers good first half work was undone just seven minutes in and it was the same old story of inept defending -  Robert Huth's free-kick into the area was flicked on by Jon Walters. The ball fell to the unmarked Charlie Adam at the back post, who half volleyed into the net. The unusually quiet home support all of a sudden found their voices, well, for 5 minutes anyway.

Rangers responded and Taarabt's deflected effort was well saved by Begovic. Just before the hour, Adel again had a great chance but when all the hard work was done, he dragged his shot well wide. On 70 minutes, the Stoke keeper had to be at his best again, denying Granero from 12 yards with a superb save.

The R's were sadly lacklustre in the last 15 minutes or so when you would have fully expected them to really go for it. In fact, it was Stoke who could have extended their lead but Walters was denied by a fine save from Julio Cesar.

Queens Park Rangers

  • 33 Julio Cesar
  • 03 Traore Booked
  • 05 Ferdinand
  • 17 Nelsen
  • 19 Bosingwa
  • 02 Diakite Booked
  • 10 Taarabt
  • 14 Granero Booked
  • 32 Faurlin (Zamora - 78' )
  • 09 Cisse
  • 23 Hoilett

Substitutes

  • 01 Green
  • 06 Hill
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 04 Derry
  • 11 Wright-Phillips
  • 12 Mackie
  • 25 Zamora
Man of the Match - could well have gone to Adel Taarabt had he taken his chances, or Junior Hoilett of his 2nd half was as good as his first. But with a clean sweep vote from all of us, todays award goes to Ryan Nelsen.

Awayday Pie Rating -

As mentioned, 5 of us took part and we all went for the Chicken Balti -

Lofty - could not fault it - 10
Lee - only faulted the crumbly pastry - 9
PK - good but not as good as Norwich - 8
Sam and Luke shared and gave 6 and 7 respectively, Luke seemed extremely disappointed.

Stoke City Pie Rating  - 8/10 (Spurs still current leaders with 8.33)

To summarise yet another frustrating day - Rangers the better side, bad defending cost us dearly yet again, some QPR muppets chanting for Neil Warnock, QPR fans arguing and fighting amongst themselves, too many players do not give a shit about our Great Club (Jose Boswinga, when you ran down the tunnel and ignored the travelling support, that was probably the fastest you had moved all afternoon) and it took an absolute age to get out of the car park. Just another QPR awayday...

Lee returns next week for what is ANOTHER MASSIVE GAME at home to Southampton. But in the mean time, I know it's hard, but Keep The Faith!!!

Come on You R'sssssssssssss!!




Monday, November 05, 2012

A View From Down Under......... Matthew Turvill


Over the past few weeks my cousin Matthew has been in England visiting the family during a three week holiday from Australia and we were lucky enough to take him to two games during his time here, at home to Everton and away at Arsenal.

Matthew has been kind enough to share his thoughts on his experience of watching the R's in the Premier League and give us all some much needed optimism.

I'm Matthew and I'm 17, its always been my dream to go to a professional football match, now on holiday in England my family made that dream come true by getting me a ticket to QPR vs Everton at Loftus Road. When I first walked into the Loft, up the stairs with my beautiful cousin Sam and Luke (Mackie) and then look out onto the pitch was amazing, we walked down the stairs into the very first row and we could see all the players warming up, I had to stand there and take a deep breath because i couldn't believe where i was, a couple of minutes later the QPR mascot came round giving everyone high fives but when it came to Samantha she ran off terrified, me and Luke stood there laughing!


Photobucket


It soon came to kick off for the first half I was sat signing WE ARE QPR, with all the fans and my cousin Lee, Mark, Mark Hillman Lofty & Lorna the atmosphere there was wicked! 2 mins into the game we had an opportunity of counter attack from an Everton corner we had the chance and we put it away Junior Hoilett was the scorer we all went mental! We dominated in possession along with everything else.. a couple mintues to go before the whistle blew for the end of the 1st half, it came to Everton corner...Distin came running through and connected with it perfectly.. it hit the post came off Cesars back and into the net, a goal that Everton never deserved, that didn't change how we played we still dominated for the remainder of the 1st half.

The whistle blew for the 2nd half, it was once again a one sided game with QPR continuing to apply pressure and creating opportunities but just could not put the ball in the back of the net, Everton were good defensively but not so good on the attack, we couldn't break them down, the whistle blew for the end of the game. We all gathered outside to discuss who was the man of the match, I had a few in mind, Hoilett, Diakite & Granero, but out o the 3 it was Granero for me, a few saying Granero and a few saying Hoilett, Granero got it in the end.

We walked out the stadium into the streets, we waited and waited for the players to walk to so we could get autographs and signatures, Granero was first out and i was first in! I got my autograph from him i was so happy!, I ended up getting autographs from Granero, Onouha, Traore, Nelsen, Hoilett & Diakite and photos with Hoilett & Nelsen, if only I could of got one with Cisse but as he walked out, I was stood infront of him...he walked straight passed me but I wasn't going to let that get me down tho I was happy with what i got! Thank you to my cousin Sam, Mark & Lee and the others to make it even better!

On the way back from the game I was talking to Sam and I said I could do that week in and week out and she said I wish you could came to Arsenal next week... and from the help from her and Luke I GOT A TICKET.... on a freezing Saturday morning we met at Aunty Jo's then we went off in the car but only this time... Luke was driving, we arrived safely at the Emirates after meeting with the others and catching the train from Cockfosters, it was so BIG, we found our seats and we were sat all together even better so i could experience it with everyone. The atmosphere at Emirates wasn't as good as Loftus Road in my opinion everything was too far apart but it was still wicked.


Photobucket


The 1st half kicked off and throughout QPR deserved a goal but yet again couldn't score they had many chances! Arsenal had a few chances in what was a very intense game. It came to the 2nd half and it continued back and forth but then a fumble in the box between Arteta & beautiful saves from Julio Cesar, Arteta running from OFFSIDE tapped the ball into the back of the net, there was loads of controversy between whether it was offside or not but it definitely was.. QPR still played good football and didn't let that effect the way they played, in the dying minutes Jamie Mackie (Lukes favourite) made a beautiful run from the wing dribbling in and out players right into the box he had a good chance he had a option to square it to Cisse but he hit it right at the keeper, the fans weren't very happy, Luke went mental kicking and screaming like a little girl ;), the final whistle blew and QPR did not deserve to lose one bit! we came to the Man of the Match decision and everyone said Julio Cesar and a clean sweep.


My overall experiences of both games was amazing I enjoyed every little bit that happened especially meeting some new people that are all lovely people and are a laugh, none of that would of happened if it wasn't to my cousin Sam!!!

It Can't Get Any Worse..... Can It?????


Yesterday was a crunch match between the two bottom and only clubs without a win in the Premier League as Rangers' played host to Reading in the early Sunday kick off.
The Lofty Heights gang gathered at Loftus Road in hope for a good result.

With this being a big game for a few members of the LH gang there were a few beers consumed before the game for Sam as she looked t settle some of the early day nerves that she had. Sam met up with Perry, Bob, Kempy and Kris in Slough before heading to the White Horse for a few swift halves.
Jess and myself arrived at HQ just before 12 and met Lofty, who was parked just behind us, before heading to the club shop to check out the John Si Park range.
We entered the ground early to soak up he atmosphere and see if I could finally buy a pie in the ground and for the first time in a month there was finally enough stock to feed us!

Three changes was made from the team that was so close to gaining a draw at the Emirates last week. Zamora and SWP dropped to the bench and M'Bia missed out through suspension. They were replaced by Djibril Cisse, Jamie Mackie and Anton Ferdinand.

The less I say about the first half the better!
It was woeful!
The players did not seem to know what tactics we were played and for the first time this season we were witnessing long balls from defence being lumped to Cisse and Taarabt and neither of them are going to win a header against two 6 ft 4 defenders. It was all wrong!
To top it off we conceded yet another cheap goal from a corner. Morrison headed against the bar at the second attempt and was left unchallenged and the rebound fell to former R's defender Gorkss and his tame volley somehow found it's way through Cesar's hands and into the back of the net.
Granero came the closest to leveling before half time with an excellent freekick that was finger tipped onto the bar before being cleared to safety.

At half time I met up with Luke and went downstairs to talk to Sam, Perry, Bob, Kempy and Kris an we were all confused as to what was happening out there. Needless to say that Lofty and Jenson were not impressed either and remained in their seat for the duration of the half as we all lost enthusiasm to get back to our seats ready for the second half.

The second half was improved and the R's began to play to their strengths and we saw more passing on the floor and managed to get Cisse more involved with the game.
The R's were denied a penalty when Mackie was pulled down by Morrison in the box as he looked to battle
through the Reading defence.
Shortly after and the R's were finally level. Diakite and Bosingwa combined well down the right before the latter found Cisse on the edge of the 18 yard box. His first touch gave Reading 'keeper McCarthy a sniff of denying the Frenchman, however Cisse managed to stretch his leg out enough to lift the ball over McCarthy and into the back of the net. Relief!!
Rangers' did start to take more control and found space in behind the Reading defence, with Taarabt and Diakite being the real shining lights for the R's.
With five minutes to go the R's had a glorious chance to take all three points. Cisse broke clear and unselfishly squared to Taarabt who was unmarked and he had the chance to grab the goal his performance has deserved, unfortunately McCarthy guessed right and pushed Taarabt's sidefooted effort around the post.
Cisse hit a shot from 25yards out on the final whistle and McCarthy once again tipped the effort around the post and despite the R's winning a corner, referee Michael Oliver instead called time and ended the game as a draw.

Today a lot of enthusiasm was knocked out of us as a lot of the R's played lacked the desire to want to win and were lacking in effort at times. Taarabt really looked like he wanted to win the game on his own at times and showed his heart throughout the 90 minutes and really did deserve a goal for all of his efforts. Diakite again stood out and his surging runs from midfield often caused the Reading defence problems.
For me today was an ideal opportunity to play our best midfield three with Diakite, Granero and Faurlin combining and breaking forward to join our attack whilst also controlling the game in the middle of the park. I really hope that Faurlin returns to the starting 11 before Park comes back from injury otherwise we could find ourselves with an unhappy player and in January we could risk losing our best midfielder and I hope that Faurlin plays a bigger part in the team sooner rather than later.

Our Man of the Match was a simple two horse race with Taarabt and Diakite receiving the votes, however it was the Magical Moroccan Adel Taarabt that received the majority vote and takes away the award this time around.


QPR

  • 33 Julio Cesar
  • 03 Traore (Onuoha - 84' )
  • 05 Ferdinand
  • 17 Nelsen
  • 19 Bosingwa
  • 02 Diakite
  • 10 Taarabt
  • 14 Granero
  • 09 Cisse
  • 12 Mackie (Zamora - 81' )
  • 23 Hoilett

Substitutes

  • 01 Green
  • 06 Hill
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 04 Derry
  • 11 Wright-Phillips
  • 32 Faurlin
  • 25 Zamora

Reading

  • 21 McCarthy
  • 02 Gunter
  • 03 Shorey
  • 15 Morrison
  • 17 Gorkss
  • 08 Leigertwood
  • 11 McAnuff (Robson-Kanu - 79' )
  • 16 Tabb
  • 10 Hunt Booked
  • 12 McCleary (Kebe - 62' )
  • 33 Roberts (Le Fondre - 88' Booked )

Substitutes

  • 01 Federici
  • 05 Pearce
  • 24 Cummings
  • 14 Kebe
  • 19 Robson-Kanu
  • 07 Pogrebnyak
  • 09 Le Fondre
Ref: Oliver
Att: 16,797


Lofty will return with his report after our trip to the Britannia Stadium next Saturday.

U R'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!