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








Sunday, September 28, 2014

One 'Pelle' of a Winner..


Southampton 2-1 QPR

QPR's away day woes continued, however it was a much improved performance against a very much inform Southampton at St Marys this afternoon..



The trip to Southampton is certainly one of the easier ones of the season and just Jenson was missing today, still holidaying in sunny Cyprus. I was the first on the road and picked up PK, Sam and Luke in Burnham and had a trouble free journey to Winchester Services to meet up with Lee and Jess - and after arriving back in the Country in the early hours from their own holiday in Cyprus, arrived looking extremely well refreshed and extremely tanned, making the rest of us look like we had all been ill...

After a spot on lunch, the ease of the journey continued until we hit Southampton itself and along with PK's navigational skills, crawled towards the ground through the heavy traffic and arrived at around 2.15pm. We then joined the massive 3000 plus R's contingent in the Stadium and it was safe to say, we were all a bit concerned with how Rangers would set up for the game, following the previous disastrous away encounters.

As we climbed Mount Everest to get to our seats, much entertainment was provided by a female supporter sitting just in front of us with her husband, who was extremely vocal and expressive in her support for the team.. in honesty, it was sometimes annoying, but mainly entertaining, but you just couldn't knock the passion of her support.. good on you Girl!!!


Onto the game and it was no surprise that it was the Saints making all the early running, creating 3 good chances in the opening 5 minutes, included a deflected effort that struck the Rangers upright.

After losing Sandro to a head injury, Southampton continued to pile the pressure on but were finding Rob Green in fine form in the R's goal. It wasn't until the 36th minute for the R;s first effort on goal, but Phillips sadly shot high and wide. But Rangers confidence was growing after surviving the Saints onslaught and some good work from Vargas, found Austin who dinked an effort just wide just before the break.

It's safe to say that we were all much more encouraged by the fact that at half time, the game was far from over as we had a drink on the concourse.

Onto the 2nd half and on 54 minutes, Southampton took the lead - Tadic's wayward cross from the right evaded everyone, but Mane kept chasing. he then completely wrong footed Isla and Phillips with a cheeky back heel for the oncoming Bertrand who found the net from a tight angle. I am sure the excellent Rob Green would feel he could have done better.

It was almost 2 minutes later when Tadic was denied by Green from close range but by now, Redknapp had made a change bringing on Hoilett for the again, ineffective, Phillips.. and it was Hoilett who was instrumental in bringing the R's level on 66 minutes - dribbling across the box before finding Vargas on the right, who found Charlie Austin with his back to goal - the R's number 9 took one touch, swivelled 180 degress before firing home!! A superb goal which saw over 3000 R's fans go beserk and give the Saints fans to the left of us, plenty of stick!! Sam and Jess took the chance also to celebrate with the young lady in front of us!




But just two minutes later, they were giving it straight back - and what a goal it was too! Pelle controlled a knock down and then sent an acrobatic volley past Rob Green for the Saints to regain the lead.

The game was now going to from end to end with Rangers looking so much more threatening coming forward with Junior Hoilett on the pitch. Davis and Long went close for the home side with Austin and Fer having chances at the other end, before Niko Kranjcar's 30 yard free kick smacked the Southampton cross bar.

Queens Park Rangers

  • 01 Green
  • 03 Traore
  • 04 Caulker
  • 05 Ferdinand
  • 14 Isla
  • 07 Phillips (Hoilett - 58' )
  • 30 Sandro (Henry - 11' Booked )
  • 10 Fer
  • 24 Vargas (Zamora - 77' )
  • 09 Austin
  • 19 Kranjcar

Substitutes

  • 06 Hill
  • 12 McCarthy
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 20 Henry
  • 22 Dunne
  • 23 Hoilett
  • 25 Zamora
Man of the Match

The gang were certainly divided on this one but we do have an outright winner - myself singled out Armand Traore, with Sam and Luke picking out Leroy Fer. But with 3 votes from Lee, Jess and PK, for the second week running and with a bit of luck, would have been on the scoresheet again, todays winner is Niko Kranjcar.

Away Day Pie Rating

With being full up from lunch earlier, Lee took one for the team with this one and chose a Chicken Balti from the Pukka range - the feedback was that with Pukka you can't really go wrong but there were no thrills added, giving the Southampton Pies a rating of 7/10.

Well, despite defeat, I think many were encouraged with the R's performance, especially in the second half and after his showing, I think Hoilett has to be considered for a start next time out in place of Matt Phillips. Also, I singled out Isla for some criticism last week, but Lee pointed out yesterday something that I also went on to look at very closely. A lot of the criticism has also been pointed at Rio Ferdinand, but on several occasions yesterday, Steven Caulker was caught out going forward, leaving Isla to come back on cover him in central defence and the more we watched it, the more it was becoming a concern. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Nedum Onouha returns next week and it may well cause uproar of the place he may well take... we shall have to see..

We shall return next week to review another tough away trip, this time across London to West Ham..

Keep the Faith and Come on you R'ssssssssss!!!


Saturday, September 20, 2014

A Late Show from Niko...


QPR 2-2 Stoke

A superb, late free kick from Niko Kranjcar rescued a vital point for QPR in the lunchtime clash with Stoke, where Mark Hughes made his long awaited return to Loftus Road..



Following last weeks thumping at the Manchester United Love In Show, we were all hopeful of a much improved result and indeed, performance against a Stoke team who have got good results away from home so far this season. Myself, Jenson and PK met for a spot of breakfast at the Burger Van before kick off , but were a tad too late to be in time to welcome Hughes back off the coach. In fact, the whole Hughes was a bit low key all in all as the focus was of course, more importantly on the game itself. Let's face it, the Welshman's Ego hardly needs boosting any further. We caught up briefly with Sam, Luke, Zach and later, Lorna. Lee and Jess were absent today, holidaying but watching the game from sunny Cyprus, which is why you have me for this report!

Onto the game and let's be honest, even with a different Manager, a game against Stoke is never going to be one for the purists and so it panned out here. After all, it's still practically Pulis's team that Hughes is now taking the credit for. What is also needed for this fixture is a strong referee, which sadly, was very lacking. Very much so to when Stoke went in front on 11 minutes despite a positive start from Rangers - Moses beat Isla all to easily and crossed the ball in for Peter Crouch who literally planted Rio Ferdinand two foot into the turf before heading across to Diouf who made no mistake. A certain foul which was somehow missed by the referee and his assistant..



Rangers pressed for an equaliser but Stoke were breaking very quickly at times, only the wrong decisions or final ball letting them down. Kranjcar went close from long range later in the half but 3 minutes before the break, Rangers found their way through - Mutch's corner found Caulker who got the better of Shawcross and who's header was helped over the line by former Ranger, Peter Crouch.




With some problems on the work front filtering through to me, I stayed in my seat for the half time break and was becoming confident that now we had made the breakthrough, we could go on and gain another valuable victory.

But we were dealt a second blow shortly after the break, following Joey Barton's departure through injury in the first half, fellow hamstring victim, Jordan Mutch left the field on 50 minutes. A minute later, the bad news continued when Isla was muscled off the ball again, far to easily, by Moses who pulled the ball back to Crouch, leaving Ferdinand wrong footed before blasting home against his old club.

Again, Rangers had it all to do again and despite the setbacks, pushed hard in the second half. A succession of 3 corners at the Loft End had the home fans screaming in anger as at each corner, Shawcross practically molested Steven Caulker on each occasion and on each occasion, went unpunished.

But Rangers got their reward with two minutes left when Kranjcar, who literally got kicked to bits all afternoon, was brought down on the edge of the box by Sidwell, the Croation playmaker stepped up and curled a delicious free kick into the top corner. Truly uinstoppable and a point that was just about deserved by Rangers..


Queens Park Rangers

  • 01 Green
  • 05 Ferdinand
  • 03 Traore Booked
  • 04 Caulker
  • 14 Isla
  • 17 Mutch (Henry - 50' )
  • 19 Kranjcar
  • 08 Barton (Phillips - 34' )
  • 10 Fer Booked
  • 24 Vargas (Zamora - 70' )
  • 09 Austin

Substitutes

  • 07 Phillips
  • 12 McCarthy
  • 15 Onuoha
  • 20 Henry
  • 22 Dunne
  • 23 Hoilett
  • 25 Zamora
 Man of the Match - completely and utterly unanimous from us all, even with the late votes coming in from Cyprus and after mentions for Fer and Traore, todays worthy winner is Niko Kranjcar.

Well, a point was pleasing today after coming back twice from behind to earn it. Pleasing also that Rangers kept battling on to the end and showed plenty of character, that was sadly lacking at Old Trafford last week.

On the downside, I have to express some disappointment in Mauricio Isla who was badly at fault for both goals today. Now, he has shown that he has plenty of pace, but he rarely ventures forward which is baffling, making the decision to sell Danny Simpson just as baffling, as he has no real direct competition for his place. Early days though...

I'm not sure if Lee is going to return the favour next week or not at this stage, but whichever way, we will be back to review Rangers visit to St Marys to take on Southampton for our first of an away double header...

Keep the Faith and Come on you R'ssssssssss!!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Another Away Di-saster for QPR..


Man United 4-0 QPR

QPR turned in another away day nightmare, as a new look Man United comfortably claimed their first win of the season at Old Trafford this afternoon.



Unfortunately, there was no LH representation in Manchester this afternoon, as we all collectively, and stuck to our guns by simply refusing to pay a massive £46 for a live TV game, as well as the impending Motorway madness that was predicted a week or so ago, with the M6 pretty much screwed for the majority of the Old Trafford crowd travelling back to the South after the game.

I must say, I have not been looking forward to these notes since the final whistle and now some hours later, I am still absolutely furious! Anyway, so the TV it was today, or should I say a total Man United 'Love Fest'. As far as the TV and media were concerned, their was only one team playing today and their were to be many of their very expensive new recruits on display.

I tuned in at 3.30 and apart from a brief, minute long interview with Harry Redknapp, it was the Manchester United show!

Unusually, Rangers chose to wear their all white 3rd choice kit today instead of the blue and white hoops.. well, we may as well have carried a white flag out with it!! If I was to cut and paste the Spurs report from a few weeks back and just changed a few names, I'm sure not a lot of people would notice the difference.

Well, I assume we all saw the match so I am not going to put everyone through the pain again, but up until Di Maria's cross that went in, we weren't doing that bad at all.. nothing as an attacking threat, but defending well enough. Bu Herrera and Rooney put the game out of sight before half time, before Mata made it four on the hour with embarrassing ease. Thankfully, United took their foot of the gas a little and introduced Falcao to the crowd with just over 20 minutes to go. Only a save close range from Rob Green prevented a debut goal. With Traore on in the second half, it was much improved from Rangers, but we should have got at that suspect defence long before the second half.

In keeping with the weekends Man United 'athon', I will this week post their line up from the day, instead of our own... because as mentioned, the media suggested their was only one team playing today and sadly after today's showing, I think they were right...

Manchester United

  • 01 de Gea
  • 06 Evans
  • 02 Rafael (A Valencia - 67' )
  • 05 Rojo
  • 42 Blackett
  • 08 Mata (Falcao - 67' )
  • 07 Di María (Januzaj - 82' )
  • 17 Blind
  • 21 Herrera
  • 20 van Persie Booked
  • 10 Rooney

Substitutes

  • 03 Shaw
  • 09 Falcao
  • 11 Januzaj
  • 13 Lindegaard
  • 24 Fletcher
  • 25 A Valencia
  • 44 Pereira
Man of the Match

..for the 2nd time this season, I have refused any nominations, but again, keeping with the TOTAL  Man United 'Love In' Weekend theme, todays award goes to Angel Di Maria for a fine home debut.



It was obvious that we have learned nothing from the Spurs defeat. As QPR supporters, we can take defeat and the occasional thumping, but to go away from home and not even have a go makes this extremely frustrating. I only hope this is addressed as more beltings will surely be coming our way..

With Lee and Jess shortly off on their holidays, I will return next weekend following the visit of Stoke and that bloke who manages them now...

As always, Keep the Faith and Come on you R'ssssssssssssss!!








Monday, September 01, 2014

Transfer Deadline Madness Finally Comes To An End.....


Transfer Deadline Day was it's usual manic self at Loftus Road during the course of today with numerous rumours coming out all day but once the window was closed we can be very happy with the business that has been conducted.

With all the rumours around Defoe, Borini failing to agree terms with the club after a few hours of negotiations.

The first signing came at around 9pm as Tottenham defensive midfielder Sandro moved from North to West London in a £6 million fee and signs a three year deal.

Sandro spoke to the Official QPR Website -

He will wear the number 30 shirt.

“I like new challenges and this is one I’m really looking forward to. Working with Harry again, who I share a great relationship with, is very special to me.
“Football is in my heart and I’m very happy at this moment. I’m very pleased to be here and I’m looking forward to meeting my team-mates.
“I had a good relationship with the fans at Tottenham Hotspur and I will try my hardest to get the QPR fans to like me.
“I will give everything on the pitch and fight for every minute. I’m ready and raring to go.”

He will wear the number 30 shirt.

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The second signing was the return of Niko Kranjcar as he signed on a season long loan from Russian club Dinamo Kiev.

Kranjcar enjoyed a loan spell with the R's last year as he helped us clinch promotion back to the Premier League despite suffering a hamstring injury in the Play-Off final which consequently meant that he missed out on World Cup duty for his native Croatia.

Kranjcar spoke to the Official QPR Website after signing -

“It’s a great feeling to be back, it feels like home. I felt a special emotion with the club and the fans.
“The fans were phenomenal last season. I had a great relationship with them and hopefully it’s only going to get better. 
“I really feel happy here, at a club where I really want to play, and I play with all my heart. I can’t wait for my season to start with QPR.
“I believe I still have something to prove, for myself and for all the fans. The Premier League is a lot more physical than it was in the past but I’m looking forward to it. I have no doubt this club is going to be in the Premier League for a long time.”

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Kranjcar will wear the number 19 shirt once again for the R's.

Welcome to both Sandro and Niko for what is going to be a very interesting winter period at Loftus Road.

McCarthy Joins the Real Hoops.....


Three pieces of business were conducted over the weekend as one player walked through the door as two left on Saturday and Sunday.

Firstly Alex McCarthy, one of very few Reading players that would be welcomed to the club by myself, joined the R's on a four year deal from the fake hoops for a fee believed to be around the £2-3 million mark.

McCarthy was one of very few players that came out of Reading's relegation season from the Premier League and continued that form last year, solidifying his reputation as one of the best young goalkeepers in England.

McCarthy spoke to the Official QPR Website shortly after signing -

“I spoke to Harry a few times and that was probably the icing on the cake for me.

“I’m only 24 and I want to be playing games – there are goalkeeper’s out there that have sat on the bench and been forgotten about. I don’t want to be one of those. It’s a great challenge for me.”

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It was also announced on Saturday evening following our victory against Sunderland that Danny Simpson had left the club to join Leicester City for a fee believed to be £2 million.

Personally I'm very surprised by this one as Simpson only played one bad game in the opening game of the season and is now getting farmed out.

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I hope the moves turns out well for Simpson as he did do a lot of work behind the scenes in supporting the QPR in the Community and Kiyan Prince Foundation.


The second player to leave was Loic Remy.
Remy leaves the R's to go and warm the bench at our bitter rivals Chelsea for the next four years.
Remy's release fee was supposedly £8.5 million for any club that was in the Champions League, however Chelsea agreed to pay an additional £2 million....


Good Luck Danny Simpson and welcome to Alex McCarthy.