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








Saturday, March 29, 2014

Goodwillie Ensures R's Cock Up Golden Opportunity......


Rangers' returned to Loftus Road following on from Tuesday nights excellent victory against Wigan as Blackpool were the visitors. Blackpool have not won away since November, surely this was a certain three points for the R's?

The gang arrived at the ground with Sam and Jenson the only members not in attendance due to family commitments and a stag do respectively.
We all enjoyed seeing Burnley suffer defeat to Champions elect Leicester which also meant that we could close the gap on Burnley to seven points if we could gain the all important three points.
The gain were all in high spirits following Tuesday's battling performance and were expecting to see a victory as long as we showed the same grit and determination, otherwise who knows what would happen.

Surprisingly there were three changes from Tuesday's winning eleven. Joey Barton and Kranjcar missed out through injury as Benayoun missed out through suspension and were replaced by Karl Henry, BAE(WHY?!?) and Will Keane(WHY?!?).

Rangers' started the game in what looked like the same 5-3-2 formation, with Hughes and BAE as the wing backs, the same formation that failed miserably at Charlton in the 1-0 defeat.
The same lacklustre tempo was showing in the opening exchanges and the team did not look as if they knew how they were supposed to play with each other and the lack of understanding was clear for all to see.
Blackpool were made to look like a good side as for the duration of the 90 minutes we were playing with ten men as Will Keane run around like a headless chicken and whenever a ball was played to him he run away from it before complaining like a little b!tch every time. How he's a Man United player I really do not know! It's a shame they didn't lose today as they may of wanted to recall him, fat chance that will happen if they see this performance!!
Anyway as I was saying, Blackpool were looking like a good side as they moved the ball around their defence and midfield with some fluidity and were able to capitalise on the space yielded by the R's as they opted to play with two 'strikers'. Off the back of this Blackpool took the lead with their second effort at goal.
Blackpool's corner from the R's left was flicked on by Basham towards the far post and Goodwillie evaded the attention of Dunne to nod home from close range! Shocking defending by our defence as Zamora was too late to challenge Basham and then Dunne was too casual in losing Goodwillie and letting the Scottish International get one of his easiest goals of the season.
You would've thought that this would spark live into the home side, however this proved not the be the case as we looked totally imbalanced and clueless in terms of going forward. If it wasn't for Ravel Morrison then I think we could've been looking at a potential Blackpool second as Goodwillie run through on Green's goal, however his effort was sliced well wide when he had two team mates awaiting a pass to the back post.
Rangers' had a clear penalty shout waved away when McMahon (I think) seemed to outstretch an arm to control a high cross field ball that was intended for Zamora and when it hit his arm we all expected to see a point to the spot, however it was waved away!
Aaron Hughes limped off on 32 minutes and he was replaced by the returning Danny Simpson. It didn't take long for Simpson to get himself involved as he was on hand to throw himself at BAE's cross and force the first real save that Gilks had to make in the first half.

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As the players exited the pitch Green was still clearly fuming at the decision to not award a penalty for the handball and vented his frustration at the linesman who had a clear view of it and could've helped his fellow assistant out with the decision, however he, like many other linesmen decided to keep quiet and not do the right thing in awarding the spot kick.
At half time we were all deeply frustrated as we could clearly see that Keane is well out of his depth here and making no impact at all, he needed to be replaced as he was offering absolutely nothing except being a handicap for our aspirations of getting back into the game.
It was also clear that BAE really does not want to be here and his distinct lack of effort was hugely frustrating, especially when we have Yun Suk-Young on the bench who was Man of the Match at Middlesbrough seeing that frizzy haired cnut walk straight back in the team when he clearly wants to be back at Spurs! I'm sure there are plenty of R's fans that would happily volunteer to drive both Keane and BAE back to their clubs were they belong and let the youngsters we have in our armoury like Petrasso a chance to shine.

The second change was made at the interval as Onuoha made way for Junior Hoilett. We can only assume a bump to the head that Onuoha took in the first half was the reason he was the casualty for Hoilett's introduction rather than BAE.
Hoilett made an immediate impact as he became only the second R's player to show any attacking threat by running at the Blackpool defence, the other of course being Morrison, as Hoilett dragged his first shot wide of Gilks goal.
Morrison then saw he had a fellow team mate who also wanted to take the game by the scruff of the neck and soon got himself in on the act as he fired two powerful efforts on goal, however they were right down the throat of Gilks who saved easily.
Morrison then continued his ambush on the Blackpool defence, this time he turned them inside out beating three defenders before he was hacked down however yet again we were left frustrated by the lack of decision being made in our favour.
Zamora was then pulled off and replaced by Maiga, what more can I say?
Just as it was not looking to be our day at all due to poor play and poor tactical decisions we actually equalised!
Morrison and Hoilett linked up before the latter skipped past two challenges and fired across goal into the bottom corner! A well taken goal and gave us some much needed confidence going into the final ten minutes of the game.
Shortly after the equaliser Blackpool were given a great opportunity to seal the winner as Dunne was caught being far too casual once again but the resulting effort on goal went out for a throw in! That pretty much sums up the 90 minutes we had to endure!

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A truly diabolical result and all but ends our threat to Burnley's automatic promotion charge as we have an outside chance of gaining second, however it's certain that we have a play off place and now need to concentrate on finishing third, avoiding playing Derby and Wigan in the process.
I've had my moans about Keane and BAE, as far as I'm concerned we need to keep them away from the squad as we have other players within it who are more worthy of a place within it and will fight more for the shirt.
Hoilett made a real impact when he come off the bench and in all honesty I cannot understand why he's not been starting, yes he is a frustrating player, however he is one of those who will always give it 100% and produce a rare moment of magic. He and Morrison looked like the only people on the pitch today that would threaten in front of goal and if it wasn't for them our goal threat would've been minimal.

Onto our Man of the Match. A near clean sweep today as Luke voted for Karl Henry but the winner with votes from Jess, Lofty, PK, Lorna and myself is Junior Hoilett as he totally changed the game for the R's and made us a more attacking threat along with Morrison.

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Lofty will return next Saturday as we face an uphill battle against Eddie Howe's Bournemouth side.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Rangers' Enjoy a Bit More Rob of the Green.........


Tuesday evening the R's looked to continue their winning ways having been fortuitous at Middlesbrough courtesy of the bobble late in injury time as we played hosts to a team very much in form, Wigan Athletic.

With this being an evening kick off the gang were slightly depleted as Sam looked after her twins and PK attended his work duties. Jess missed the opening 20 minutes of the game due to train issues. Lofty, Jenson and I all met up at the usual parking area before heading to the new Jerk Chicken van which is now at the end of Sawley Road and sampled the new flavour on offer from there. I have to say we all highly recommend it for food, it was certainly appreciated by us three and they will certainly get more custom off of us in the future!
We then took the short walk down to the box office to meet Luke and Trev for a catch up before we entered the ground to take up our usual positions as we then met Michael and Zach who kindly let us know what happened at Boro on Saturday and rubbed in how we missed out on seeing Zamora's wonder goal.

Two changes were made to the starting eleven from Saturday as Richard Dunne returned in the place of Saturday's Man of the Match Yun Suk-Young. Also there was a starting place for the rejuvenated Bobby Zamora in place of the ineffective Will Keane.

Rangers' started the opening exchanges well and always looked threatening down our left hand side with Clint Hill almost playing the role of a wing back, however Wigan were also looking extremely dangerous on the counter attack, with McClean's pace and trickery always threatening to turn Dunne and Hill inside out as he beared down on the R's defence on the counter attack.
It was Wigan who come the closest first of all as Chelsea loanee(or reject as we like to call him) Josh McEachran's free kick fizzed just wide of Rob Green's left post from 20 yards out.
The deadlock was broken on the quarter hour mark in what was a great team move by the R's.
Carroll's corner was cleared out to Barton, who was 30yards from goal. Barton then thumped a cross field ball to Kranjcar, who controlled the ball on a sixpence before threading the ball to Carroll. He then pulled the ball back into the path of Clint Hill, who then superb back heeled the ball past the Wigan defender and into the path of Yossi Benayoun who slid well before poking home past Ali Al-Habsi to get the all important first goal of the game.
This did very little to break the spirits of the visitors who looked to get back on level terms and continue their 10 game unbeaten streak.
James Perch was next to take aim at the R's goal but only found Green in good form as he beat the ball away to safety.
Wigan came even closer just past the half hour mark as Collison wriggled free down the R's right side of defence and saw his shot hit the legs of Green before the R's goalkeepers trailing arm prevented the ball rolling into the back of the net and out for a corner instead.
The final let off of the half came when McClean broke clean through to be one on one with Green and took one too many touches before firing the ball across goal and wide of the far post, massive let off!!

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At half time there was a pleased gang as the R's performance showed the grit and determination that had previously been lacking in our performances. We were saved on many occasions by Nedum Onuoha and Clint Hill as they swept up any potential Wigan attacks that were threatening. The R's were also very grateful to Rob Green and the five saves he was forced to make in the first half. We also saw flashes of effortless brilliance from Ravel Morrison that gave us the attacking impetus as we looked to break on the counter. The one that sparked debate in the half time discussions was the performance of Tom Carroll. Lofty and I were full of praise as he was enjoying his best half of football for us in a long time, however Luke and Trev were not as convinced as us.

Onto the second half and Wigan picked up exactly where the first half ended, with the visitors in clear control of the game and if it wasn't for some desperate yet effective defending from the R's then we could've found ourselves back on level terms.
Five minutes into the second half and it was very nearly all level as Ramis header looped towards goal before hitting the top of the crossbar!
Rangers' finally started to find some rhythm past the hour mark and had a glorious chance to double their lead as Zamora broke clear of the Wigan defence and had all the time in the world to pick a place for his shot to end up, however he took too much time despite being one on one with Al-Hasbi. He ended up teeing up Benayoun, however his shot was blocked by the Lactics defence.
It wasn't until this point that we realised that Gary O'Neil had actually come on at half time for Niko Kranjcar.
Rangers' again presented them with a great chance to extend their lead as Aaron Hughes' cross was met by Benayoun, however his effort sailed over.
The game was becoming increasingly stretched out and just when it looked like McClean had squirmed his way through on goal once again it was that man Hill that made a perfectly timed challenge to deny them of what would've been a certain goal.
Then came the turn of Ravel Morrison as his free kick, after Barton had been fouled, was struck beautifully before beating Al-Habsi, only to smash the underside of the crossbar and bounce as far as Zamora, who could not convert into a partially open goal.
As the game entered injury time Jordi Gomez attempted to run at the R's defence from deep in midfield, however as he ran across Benayoun he decided to take an easy tumble under minimal contact which earned Benayoun his second yellow card and sent for a slightly early bath.
There was still time for one more Wigan attack after this when substitute Nicky Maynard looked to of placed his header wide enough of Green, however the R's 'keeper flung himself to his left to pull off a stunning save and protect the three points for the R's.

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Usually I would make a sarcastic comment amount small travelling away support, however I will applaud the 200-300 travelling fans that made the long trip to Loftus Road on a cold Tuesday night. They certainly done their best to get behind their team.
I can quite easily say that had the game ended in a draw then it would've been what Wigan warranted as they are a very good side that plays good attacking football which was coupled in with hard work for once another, you can see how they went 10games unbeaten. They will definitely be in the play offs come May if they continue playing in the fashion in with. They have a great manager who will to good things to the club as well.


Man of the Match time now. Mentions go to Bobby Zamora for his hard work and really putting a shift in over the course of the 90 minutes. Nedum Onuoha are also worth of mentions from us, however a vote from Jess for Clint Hill's immense defensive performance. The remainder of the votes are a clean sweep from the gang tonight means our Man of the Match is Rob Green who made countless saves in order to keep us in the lead and bringing the three points home.



I shall return on Saturday as we look to continue the good run of form when Blackpool visit Loftus Road.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

'Bobble' Zamora...


Middlesbrough 1-3 QPR

Rangers finally got that little bit of luck that has been deserting them all season, which saw them snatch a very late victory in injury time at the Riverside yesterday...


As mentioned the other night, it was a collective decision from us all not to make the long ol poke up to the North East for this one, with very much a case of a been there, done that scenario for us. The gutless lay down and die showing in Sheffield did nothing but enhance the decision, but little did anyone know what was going to unfold before us..

Well, what usually happens when work find out I am not attending a game, is that I am often dragged in, which was the case yesterday, but I was home just before 3 to hopefully find a stream and sit and watch the game.

Rangers actually started well and Barton tested keeper, Konstantopoulos ( who from now will be referred to as the home keeper), who parried his powerful effort into the path of Carroll who saw his effort saved by the feet of the home keeper. Shortly after, Butterfield brought a decent save out of the returning Rob Green, but could have done a bit better minutes later as Boro took the lead - Friend forced his way into the box, got a fortunate ricochet of Barton before firing low, the ball squirming from Green's hands, he tried to scoop the ball out but it was already over the line and helped on it's way by Adomah.

Rangers looked completely out of sorts at this point and Boro were dominating and Whitehead's effort was deflected over before Friend again tried his luck at Rob Green. But shortly before the break, Rangers stepped it up a bit and Morrison saw his 20 yard effort tipped over by the home keeper. The resulting corner saw the ball fall to Benayoun who completely skied his effort some way over from close range.

But just before the break, he redeemed himself and brought Rangers level - great work from Morrison on the left, set up Kranjcar who's effort deflected into the path of Benayoun who fired high into the net for his first QPR goal.



Onto the second half and after Adomah's effort was comfortably saved by Green, it looked then if anyone was going to win the game it would be Rangers. Morrison and Kamara got involved in a bit of pushing and shoving following a late tackle from the on loan Rangers man. Both received a yellow card - as did Joey Barton for being there and for being Joey Barton, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Hoilett tested the home keeper and Morrison's superb individual effort flew just wide as the game was petering out towards a point apiece. In stoppage time, George Friend sent a powerful effort inches wide from the edge of the box and Boro could smell a late winner.

Rangers then managed to clear their lines but as Omeruo sent his pass back towards the home keeper, the ball bobbled and the home keeper took an air shot - Bobby Zamora had continued to chase the ball down and got his reward , taking control of the loose ball, taking a couple of touches before tapping into the empty net. He stood there, arms aloft and looking amazed before heading to the away end to celebrate. I can only imagine the bedlam amongst the R's faithful!!

But the late drama wasn't over - a long ball was flicked on by that man Zamora, into the path of Morrison who advanced forward, cut to the edge of the box to finish brilliantly with his left foot to make the points safe for the R's and grab his 5th goal in 7 games.



Queens Park Rangers

  • 01 Green
  • 18 Hughes
  • 13 Yun
  • 17 Barton Booked
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 06 Hill
  • 35 Benayoun (O'Neil - 76' Booked )
  • 10 Carroll Booked
  • 12 Keane (Zamora - 64' )
  • 04 Morrison Booked
  • 19 Kranjcar Booked (Hoilett - 61' )

Substitutes

  • 02 Simpson
  • 23 Hoilett
  • 25 Zamora
  • 26 Murphy
  • 36 O'Neil
  • 38 Donaldson
  • 42 Petrasso
Man of the Match

Happily the texts started to come in shortly after the final whistle. Lee and Jenson picked out the impressive Yun Suk-Young at left back, Jess and Luke went for Zamora, Luke didn't see the game but gave his award for late goal, which was much the same for Jess's award. Sam didn't see the game and myself, voted for another commanding display and a superb goal for Ravel Morrison. Which leaves a tie and an Editor's choice to make for myself... and I will go against my original vote and give it to our newly found Super Sub -  Bobby Zamora!

In summary, Rangers deserved their victory for a decent second half performance although be it in bizarre circumstances. But as mentioned, it was nice to see the R's finally get that bit of luck that turned a good performance into the win they deserved. Maybe, just maybe this will be the kick start to a commanding run in of which now we have a home game double header.

Lee will return in the week as the R's take on Wigan on Tuesday evening...

Come on you R'ssssssssss!!






Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A Terrible Tuesday at Wednesday..


Sheff Weds 3-0 QPR

QPR's fading promotion hopes and indifferent form continued with another gutless performance away from home, in a game that saw Richard Dunne sent off to add to our woes further...

 

With this being the 2nd rearranged date for this match and being midweek etc, there wasn't any LH representation at Hillsborough tonight. My daughters School Parents evening was on my personal agenda, but I was back in plenty of time to settle down to watch or at worst, listen to the match. Unfortunately, I managed to find a live stream..

It was all going reasonably well at first, with Wednesday threatening little, not that Rangers were threatening much either. We could and probably should have been ahead on 32 minutes, when Morrison's volley hit the ground, over the defence but neither Hill or Zamora made the final contact. The home fans were fuming the ball got through so easily!!

But the game changed on 35 minutes when Leon Best was sent free on the left, Richard Dunne checked across, down went the former QPR loanee and the ref pointed straight at the spot. To make matters worse, the red card followed. After seeing it back, I have to say it was a bit of a soft penalty to say the least with little contact and was it really worthy of a red card? Anyway, my opinion certainly won't change anything and Maguire made no mistake, giving the home side the lead.

Rangers literally held on for the rest of the half as Wednesday laid siege on the QPR goal..

Harry Redknapp made 2 changes at half time, replacing Henry and Hoilett with Kranjcar and Yun respectively. Yun now slotting into left back with Hill moving into the centre. I was actually thinking at this point that with a bit of heart and passion, we could still get something out of the game..

I really should have known better as after a positive 5 minutes of the second half, the home side doubled their lead, when Best beat Onuoha with surprising ease before firing past Murphy. From there on, the hope of any sort of fight back diminished and the R's simply laid down and died and Wednesday were tearing us apart..

The third and final goal duly came on 71 minutes when Buxton got the better of Barton in the box before firing low into the far corner. I have to say at this stage the betting ads that kept popping up on the live stream were certainly the highlight by completely blocking out the farce I was watching in front of me. It wasn't as if there was an alternative on telly as the Chelsea game and I would rather drink cat's wee than watch that lot..

It seemed to take an age but the game finally came to a close and Niko Kranjcar's pathetic, powder puff stab at goal in stoppage time completely summed up the evening..

Queens Park Rangers

  • 26 Murphy
  • 18 Hughes
  • 06 Hill
  • 20 Henry (Kranjcar - 45' )
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 05 Dunne Dismissed
  • 36 O'Neil (Carroll - 83' )
  • 17 Barton
  • 25 Zamora
  • 04 Morrison
  • 23 Hoilett (Yun - 45' )

Substitutes

  • 10 Carroll
  • 12 Keane
  • 13 Yun
  • 19 Kranjcar
  • 35 Benayoun
  • 40 Maiga
  • 41 Lennox
Man of the Match - N/A

I will sign off for now as I am tired, fed up and simply refuse to dwell on that performance any further. However, I will return at the weekend to review our next daunting away game at Middlesbrough..

Come on you R'sssssssssss!!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Ravel Provides R's With Mor Delight........


The R's returned to Loftus Road having suffered a 2-0 defeat to Brighton on Tuesday despite being the better team for much of the game it was the lack of fire power that ended up being the achilles heel once again, we were about to find out.

Unfortunately the gang were missing Jenson through illness, however Jess and I arrived just after 2pm and took to the short walk down the Uxbridge Road, totally ignoring Lorna unintentionally in the process before arriving outside the Loft entrance and meeting up with Michael, PK, Sam and Luke before entering half an hour before kick off. Lofty was just behind us as he engrossed himself in the Rugby in the pub before the game.

One change was made from the side that lost on Tuesday night as Assou-Ekotto, who cried off injured after just another mistake that cost us the opening goal against Brighton, was replaced by Aaron Hughes.

Before the game started we all stood for a minutes applause to remember our greatest ever manager Alec Stock, a man who led us to League Cup glory in 1967 as well as two promotions, one of which taking us to the top division for the first time in our history.

Yeovil started the game very lively as Miller and Holmes were proving to be too much for the R's defence to contain. Yeovil had two great chances to open the scoring as Lawrence forced a good save from Green before Ayling curled an effort just wide.
In fact with all their early pressure it was Yeovil who should've been a goal to the good but had a goal ruled out. Green's clearance was poor and went straight to Lawrence who in turn happily fired into the back of the unguarded net, only to see the referee rule the goal out for some unknown reason. Lofty, PK and I all looked at each other is disbelief as we felt it was a perfectly goal and would've felt harshly treated if we were Yeovil fans.
However a matter of minutes later Rangers' found themselves a goal up. Hoilett's teasing run found him on the edge of the penalty area before squaring the ball to Morrison who in turn faked four efforts before finally taking aim when he had seemingly taken too long and saw the ball fly into the left hand post and cannon into the back of the net! A sublime finish from the youngster who is fast becoming relied on by the R's for his goalscoring ability.
The game continued as an end to end affair, however Yeovil were dealt with a blow as Holmes had to be withdrawn from the game with just half an hour on the clock. Holmes really looked like one of the two main forces in the Yeovil line up that can potentially hurt off so it was a huge relief to see him go off. However this did not make the visitors any less of an attacking threat as they continued to battle away and with a bit of luck they could've easily got themselves back in the game.
Rangers' were dealt with a massive blow of their own as Traore limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Niko Krancjar.

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At half time we were content with the performance and in all honesty just good to see that we had managed to get ourselves in front and show some fighting spirit to keep us in the lead. The next goal was going to be crucial as the team that got it would have the momentum to go on and close the game out.

The second half started off with the same end to end action but it was Krancjar who had the first efforts of the half, however Stech was on hand to make two comfortable saves from the Croatian.
On the hour one of our worst nightmares came true. Rob Green came off the worst in an aerial challenge with former R's loanee Miller. Whilst trying to play through the pain Yeovil almost levelled as Lawrence's fantastic shot from 20 yards out curled towards the top right corner, however the R's were extremely lucky to see the ball cannon off the post before being cleared to safety.
Minutes later Green was withdrawn from the game as Brian Murphy came on to make his first league appearance for the R's. Just before this all happened Bobby Zamora came on for the ineffective Will Keane.
Jermaine Jenas nearly made it 2-0 on 67 minutes when he chested down Morrison's flick before hitting a dipping volley that struck the top of the bar.
On 70 minutes the decisive second goal arrived.
Junior Hoilett ran at the Glovers defence down the right wing before delivering a pin point cross to Zamora, who was unmarked at the far post, as he duly obliged to head home from close range. It was Zamora's first goal for the R's in over a year and all but wrapped up the game.
Zamora seemed to grow in confidence after the goal and looked a totally different player that was chasing back and even making the five yard passes he was previously incapable of. Well it was either confidence or the fact he has been told he can look for a new club, someone else will have to pay his wages now. All that being said, if he continues to show the effort he did this afternoon then he could actually make a positive impact before his departure.
Just as we were ready to celebrate a 2-0 victory it became three in injury time.
Aaron Hughes' header forward was cleverly dummied by Barton as Krancjar then took the ball forward as the R's broke three on two as Zamora awaited a through ball on the right, with Morrison waiting on the left as Krancjar slipped through two defenders before laying the ball off to Morrison who then drilled his shot into the bottom corner and sealed an excellent victory for the R's.

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Firstly I have to commend the travelling supporters from Yeovil who really got behind their team and added to the atmosphere in the ground today. They can be very proud of their team who work extremely hard for each other and with Holmes and Miller providing a great attacking threat I really hope they manage to save themselves from relegation as they certainly don't deserve to be there on the two performances against us this year. There are at least four or five worse teams in this division, so I hope they survive come the end of the season.
Today was an improvement on the previous performance at Brighton and we finally showed some potency in front of goal as Morrison became our second highest scorer this season as he bagged his fourth goal in five appearances since joining on loan from West Ham. He's fast becoming our Mr Reliable, however he has flourish as Barton and Jenas have also put in some fantastic performances alongside him.
The down side coming out of today is that we could be without Rob Green (rib), Armand Traore and Jermaine Jenas (both hamstring) for Tuesday's trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

Today's Man of the Match saw Sam vote for Joey Barton, Luke voted for Jenas as Jess, Lofty, PK and I all voted for our match winner Ravel Morrison. There has to be a mention for Nedum Onuoha as well who was superb at the heart of our defence today.

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Lofty will return on Tuesday ahead of a double header of away games at Sheffield Wednesday and then Middlesbrough next Saturday.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Goal Shy Rangers Surrender at the Amex..


Brighton 2-0 QPR

QPR's fast fading promotion hopes were dealt another blow as Brighton ran out 2-0 winners at the Amex Stadium Last night..

As expected, with it a new ground for everyone,there was almost a full gang contingent for this one, with only PK missing out again due to work commitments. Sam and Luke joined myself and Jenson for the trip whilst Lee and Jess travelled in from Caterham. We left Maidenhead at just after 3 and despite the good old M25 trying it's best to slow us down, we were in Brighton at 5.15 and met Jenson's friends in a superb pub called the Cricketers in the Town Centre. Highly recommended!! With it being my Birthday last weekend, Jenson pulled out a late surprise as the friends we were meeting, we were also joining for some Corporate Hospitality!

So from the excellent pub, we were whisked off in a people carrier to the very impressive Amex Stadium of which we briefly bumped into Lee and Jess before heading into the BMW lounge. A pint and a very nice pie were consumed before we took our seats and if Tony Fernandes needs any further ideas about the planned new QPR Stadium, I suggest he gives this place a visit!! Absolutely superb!!



It was far too late to start writing this on arrival home last night or should I say, this morning, but the good thing about writing the next day is that by now, most of the reports have been read and does our loyal and superb audience really want to sit through another? But what I will say about the game in it's entirety is that had we had a striker, we would have won, it's that simple.

The chances were aplenty in the first half, Jenas curled the ball wide in the early stages, Traore tested Kuszczak in the Brighton goal, as did Hoilett and Morrison from long range, the latter bringing a superb save from the Polish Keeper. At the other end, Brighton's only real chance fell to Ulloa who shot wide of the near post.

Coffee and a very welcome brandy awaited us at half time and warmed us up nicely for the second half, perhaps a bit too much for Jenson who's condition was deteriorating rapidly as man flu was kicking in..

The second half continued in the same vain as the first with Hoilett testing the keeper again at his near post, Onuoha later saw his close range effort charged down by Upson. Traore forced another fine save from the Brighton stopper and Hoilett tried his luck again, this time firing just wide. All the home side could muster was a long range effort from Lingard which was comfortably saved by Green.

Then on 77 minutes, disaster struck as Assou-Ekotto was caught napping, allowing Saltor to get past him before firing across goal for the oncoming Ulloa for the easiest of tap ins. The acoustics in the Stadium were definitely evident now as the home fans erupted!!

Assou-Ekotto then did his normal, 'I've f*cked up so I will cry injury' routine and he was replaced by Maiga. At this point, the Barton hating Gentleman on my left seemed concerned that we had another striker on the pitch, I told him there was no need for him to worry and sadly I was proved right - Morrison fired over a superb low ball from the left which evaded the keeper, saw Keane miss out and Maiga hesitate before drifting wide. I am sorry, but you are strikers, these are the sort of deliveries you should thrive on, so throw yourself at them, stick out a leg, anything apart from what you did last night and then have your head in your hands!



Keane then saw an close range effort easily saved and then Brighton made the game safe on 86 minutes. A corner was drifted in towards the 6 yard box and Ward arrived unmarked to poke the ball home with embarrassing ease.

Queens Park Rangers

  • 01 Green
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 39 Assou-Ekotto (Maiga - 79' )
  • 16 Jenas
  • 05 Dunne
  • 06 Hill
  • 23 Hoilett
  • 17 Barton
  • 12 Keane
  • 04 Morrison
  • 03 Traore

Substitutes

  • 18 Hughes
  • 19 Kranjcar
  • 20 Henry
  • 26 Murphy
  • 35 Benayoun
  • 36 O'Neil
  • 40 Maiga

Man of the Match - a clean sweep, nothing more to add - Ravel Morrison 



Away Day Pie Rating

This has to be a contender.. we were informed by Clive that Brighton actually make their pies on site so they are nice and fresh  - Myself and Jenson pulled out a faultless 10 each from our Steak and Ale served in the Corporate area. Steak and Ale was also the choice of Luke and Lee, giving an 8 and an 8.5 with comments such as - lovely , distinctive ale flavour, nice pastry and eaten with no fork with no spillages!! Sam opted for the cottage pie and also came in with a high 8.5 mark...

So the Brighton Pies rating is a very impressive - 9/10

In summary, and I have to refer and agree with Lee's rant on twitter last night after the match -

 a poor January transfer window saw us loan 4 strikers, only one of which up to scratch at this level and the other 3 not even suitable for our U21's! Game winners like Wickham and Graham were not even looked at for some unknown reason! At least we have a shining light in Ravel Morrison, however unless our "strikers" start delivering then we are in for a long end of season!

Again after mentioning the strikers I am drawn to the stats - QPR had 21 shots at goal, 8 on target and left with 0 - Brighton 3 attempts on target and 2 goals...

Nothing I can really add to that and it is there for all to see..I think the Birmingham game papered over the many cracks that still exist and I am personally not even that sure we will make the play off's now if I am brutally honest..

Lee will return at the weekend when Yeovil are the visitors to Loftus Road..

Until then, Come on you R'ssssssssss!!!

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Rangers Un-Ravel Birmingham..


Birmingham 0-2 QPR

QPR happily got back to winning ways in what was a surprisingly comfortable outing at St Andrews this afternoon...



With it not being the most gruelling of away trips, I met with Jenson in Wycombe at 11.30. Due to family commitments, PK wasn't able to join us today. So, the journey gladly was an absolute breeze and we only really got held up in Birmingham itself, where Jenson and I amused ourselves by taking in the somewhat cultural splendour of the city and checking ourselves in on the social networks at some weird and wonderful places, including the superbly named Karachi Fried Chicken!

We arrived in plenty of time to have a chat with some locals, before meeting up with Lee, Jess, Sam, Luke and later, Lorna before enjoying some pre match chat and refreshments inside, causing a very controversial Pie Rating.. But more on that later..

Despite much apprehension amongst us about the game, Rangers settled into the game very quickly and produced a first half performance of which had we gone in at the break, 3 or 4 nil up, nobody would have complained much..

Kevin Doyle was completely taken out by Robinson outside the box on 14 minutes and from the resulting free kick, the R's were ahead - Ravel Morrison curled his free kick powerfully over the wall and keeper Randolph could do nothing except help it on it's way.



The home side were almost level shortly after as Huw's cross found it's way all the way through but Green took no chances and clawed the ball over the bar. On 21 minutes it could and probably should have been 2-0 when Doyle's cross from the left, found Traore who volleyed wide.

Morrison was involved in the next 2 Rangers chances, seeing one effort charged down by Robinson and dragging his next effort wide after jinking his way into the box. As the half wore on, Hill headed Barton's centre onto the bar and Dunne's header, again from a Barton cross went into the side netting..

Onto the second half and Birmingham looked very lively in the early stages. A cross from the right saw Green save well, low down from a fierce Huws drive. But after weathering the early second half storm, Rangers took control again and thought they had doubled their lead when Morrison's through ball found Jenas who slotted the ball home, only to be ruled out by the offside flag.

Novak and Macheda were introduced by the home side as they hoped to push forward but with 18 minutes remaining, the points were safe for Rangers - some great battling from Gary O'Neil, found Jenas who wriggled his way into the box before squaring the ball to Morrison who coolly side footed home.



Substitute Will Keane saw an effort comfortably saved as Rangers went for the third, which was the final action of the game that I can remember anyway as the R's saw the game out to the delight of the very healthy R's contingent behind the goal..

Queens Park Rangers

  • 01 Green
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 39 Assou-Ekotto
  • 16 Jenas
  • 05 Dunne
  • 06 Hill
  • 23 Hoilett (O'Neil - 70' )
  • 17 Barton
  • 14 Doyle (Keane - 84' )
  • 04 Morrison (Carroll - 87' )
  • 03 Traore

Substitutes

  • 10 Carroll
  • 12 Keane
  • 18 Hughes
  • 20 Henry
  • 26 Murphy
  • 35 Benayoun
  • 36 O'Neil
Man of the Match

Very nearly a clean sweep, with Sam giving her vote to the again impressive and playing out of position, Armand Traore. A Special mention for Doyle's superb work rate was given by Lee, but his main vote, along with votes from myself, Jenson, Jess and Luke, goes to Ravel Morrison.


AwayDay Pie Rating

Myself, Lee and Jenson all sampled and thoroughly enjoyed a Chicken Balti, filled with huge chunks of Chicken with plenty of spice and flavour and all getting a vote of 9/10. The Best Pie of the season so far were the collective comments. However, Luke opted for the Chicken and Mushroom and absolutely slated it for being dry and the outer being burnt, which also was that burnt, some packaging was stuck to the base. He rightly gave it a mark of 3. So basically, if it was a rating for just the Balti's, it would be a massive 9/10 vote,  but Luke's very disappointing Chicken and Mushroom, brought Birmingham's Pie Rating down to 7.5/10.

In summary, it was another one of those memorable away days for us all with the R's putting in their best performance for a good few weeks now. With all due respect, Birmingham were probably one of the poorest sides I have seen this season on this showing but that is taking nothing away from the way Rangers went about their work this afternoon. Let's hope this victory will give everyone a huge lift and we can take this into our season run in..

Not wanting to sound selfish in anyway but I celebrate my Birthday tomorrow  (Sunday) and QPR have given me the perfect present to kick off festivities.

I will return midweek as a huge gang contingent make their way to the seaside on Tuesday as the R's travel for their first appearance at Brighton's Amex Stadium..

Come on you R'ssssssssss!!!








Saturday, March 01, 2014

Not Very Draw-matic.....


The R's returned to Loftus Road hoping to recover from last week's atrocious performance at Charlton. Our visitors on this occasion were none other than the Champions of Europe(cough), Leeds United, with the added joy of the SKY cameras once again being in attendance to attempt to continue their curse on us.

The gang, which consisted of Jess, Sam, Luke, Lofty, PK, Jenson and myself were joined also by Nik, assembled just outside the Upper Loft entrance with just over half an hour left before kick off as we made our way in for the usual pre match banter and review of current performances, which have been shocking as we all know! We were joined by Michael and Paul during the course of the pre match build up.

Surprisingly only one change was made to the losing side last week as Karl Henry replaced the ever disappointing Tom Carroll.

Rangers' started the game very tentatively as they looked very nervous against one of Europe's giants(cough) and it was Leeds that were given the first opportunity to break the deadlock.
Good link up play between Leeds loanee Connor Wickham and Ross McCormack saw the latter breeze past Dunne and poke the ball in front of the R's defender before being taken down for a stonewall penalty, or so it looked from my position. I'd be very interested to see this one again as several of us thought it was a penalty, however there are those who argue against it being awarded. We shall see later on in the highlights!
McCormack himself brushed himself down and very tamely bobbled his effort towards the bottom left of Green, who gratefully smothered the ball.
Just minutes later Leeds were given the second opportunity to open the scoring and this time duly obliged. Chris Foy awarded a free kick after Traore was adjudged to of fouled a Leeds player when it seemed clear that he got a large piece of the ball and fairly.
However that man McCormack stepped up once again to this this curl his free kick around the R's wall and into the left side of Green's goal with him being rooted to the spot. A very good free kick in all fairness, just very frustrating that is came from what looked like a contentious decision.
Rangers' did struggle once again in the midfield area as Austin and Murphy of Leeds continued to pile the pressure on the R's midfield and almost run proceedings for the opening half an hour of the game.
The final fifteen minutes of the half saw the R's try to play more like their usual selves as we saw more of the ball being knocked around on the floor with more movement coming from our wide players Hoilett and Traore and once they switched wings we saw a lot more success from our wingers providing more service for Doyle.
Morrison was enjoying a lively half also as his attacking runs from the halfway line made the Leeds backline back peddle quickly, however on many occasions we saw Morrison take on one player too many before losing the ball and putting us on the back foot. Morrison himself was involved in the R's best move of the game as Traore linked up with Morrison before a neat piece of trickery played in Doyle, who in turn presented a great opportunity to Jenas, but his header wasn't timed well as his header looped into the arms of Jack Butland.
A minute before half time the scores were levelled!
Doyle showed great strength on the edge of the penalty area before he laid the ball off to Jenas, who in turn stroked home from twenty yards out and relieve some of the tension within Loftus Road and give the home fans some belief finally!

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The goal just before the break made the interval more enjoyable that's for sure and was pretty much a fair reflection of a half with few clear cut opportunities for either side.

Just minutes into the second half Rangers' could and should've taken the lead through Traore as he latched onto Morrison's through ball to go one on one with Butland but found the Leeds 'keeper too good to beat on that occasion.
Wickham carved a chance out for himself just after the hour mark as he managed to beat Dunne before shooting across goal and saw his shot slide just wide of Green's far post.
From this moment on there were very few chances created by either side as Leeds looked happy to settle for a point in the end, however they were not put under any great threat from the R's front line as Keane's arrival in place of Hoilett did nothing to inspire us in front of goal despite his hard workman like performance.

All in all a draw was a fair result for both teams as the contest fizzled out in the final half an hour as both teams looked too scared to over commit and potentially make the mistake that would lose them the game. The Leeds fans were in fine voice, well those that travelled anyway(decent for a 12.15 kick off though), as they sung all of 4 songs throughout the 90 minutes with a few in the crowd wearing yellow suits, what is all that about?? All that being said, they made more noise than we did all game..
One other thing.... can SKY just leave us alone??? They seem to want to ruin our season whenever we look to be putting in half decent performances in our quest to gain promotion. We've not won a home game whilst being on the TV this season and in fact we've only won two out of our nine games televised on SKY, which were our first two against Bolton and Leeds. #BuggerOffSky

On to our Man of the Match. A majority vote has seen a landslide decision as Lofty voted for Nedum Onuoha, PK voted for Rob Green but with votes from Jess, Sam, Luke, Jenson and myself our winner today is the R's Air Asia Player of the Month Armand Traore for being the most threatening R's player on the pitch and being at the heart of anything we done right on the day.

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Lofty will return next week as we head into a quick double dose of away games versus Birmingham on Saturday and Brighton on Tuesday.