But this QPR team is supposed to be different and I don’t think anyone expected the farce that was on offer on Friday night. Ian Holloway has made three new signings in recent weeks and all three were expected to make full debuts for this one. So it was a shock to say the least when the teams were announced. First off injuries to Chris Day and Martin Rowlands meant they were missing from the starting line up but the big shock was that Matthew Rose started the game on the right wing. Kevin McLeod returned in place of Sabin with Arthur Gnohere also starting at the back but the inclusion of both Rose and Steve Palmer in midfield was bizarre to say the least. Rangers started the game with far too many defensive players on the field and it was no surprise to see an inept and clueless display from the team as they struggled to break down Peterborough United. Barrry Fry must have been laughing his head off as the early exchanges saw long balls pumped to Furlong and very little support offered to the front two by the midfield. McLeod was trying to support the attack but he saw very little of the ball in a dire game. Peterborough had the first real chance as Clive Platt caused us problems. Platt had a stormer for Notts County against us on Boxing Day and again he caused problems beating Gink and crossing for Clarke whose shot was straight at stand in keeper Nick Culkin. The Rangers performance was awful and within 20 minutes it seemed obvious were going to struggle until the inevitable changes were made in the second half. Well I say 20 minutes, most of us could see this coming when the team was read out and the front two of Furlong and Gallen were having to come far too deep to even get a touch of the ball. It was awful and our only chance came from a Padula corner as Furlong headed over. Forbes also had a shot at goal and almost grabbed his first goal for us but it deflected over for a corner. Tommy Williams was brought on after an injury which woke the crowd up with an amusing rendition of “You should have passed to Furlong” but I thought the boos he got was a little unnecessary as he was well liked by the players and manager during his time at Loftus Road. It was Williams who produced the only piece of quality in the first half. Despite training with Williams for a year and a bit the QPR defence decided it was a good idea to give him time and space to take a touch, look up, take another touch and then cross into the box for Clive Platt to head past Culkin. For a team with so many defensive players on the pitch, it was criminal the way the midfield and defence allowed Williams so much time and space to supply the chance for Platt. The half time whistle was greeted by boos and it’s impossible to defend that performance and the only hope was that we couldn’t play much worse. Holloway didn’t make any changes at the break giving the players another chance to sort the mess out. Too many of them though were having terrible games and despite all the stick Holloway is bound to get over this you have to wonder what on earth the players were doing. The entire midfield looked like they have never seen a football before and when Terrell Forbes is the only QPR players able to find a team mate with a pass you know things have going very wrong. Peterborough couldn’t believe their luck and should have gone two up just after half time. A free kick saw defender Mark Arber have the freedom of the penalty area to shoot over when he really should have hit the target. With an hour gone and no sign of a shot never mind a goal Holloway made three changes. Steve Palmer and Matthew Rose were finally taken off and please don’t let them back in a starting eleven again unless we really have to. Paul Furlong also went off with Jamie Cureton, Tony Thorpe and Richard Johnson coming on. It was good to see Ollie make the changes but I’m sure I am not alone in wondering why at least two of these didn’t start from the beginning of the game. Still we had time to win the game but things got even worse as Carlisle and Gnohere went for the same ball and Carlisle came off worse looking in total agony on the floor. It looked a bad injury and Clarke was off getting treatment for several minutes. He eventually came back on but couldn’t run so Holloway played him up front and went with a 3-4-3 for the last 25 minutes. We were finally getting into the game pushing them further and further back. Gino went close with a free kick, which sailed inches over the bar before a glorious chance for Gallen. Thorpe’s movement caused panic in the Peterborough defence and the ball fell to Gallen eight yards out with the goal at his mercy but he volleyed it high over the bar when it seemed easier to score. That looked like the chance gone and the crowd were starting to boo the team with Nick Culkin getting blamed by one fan behind me when the poor sold had only touched the ball four or five times all night. Culkin though almost got a red card as he came charging out of his area and appeared to handle it and take a player out of the game as well. The ref only gave him a yellow though and we remained with eleven men on the field. The game though was heading for a defeat when the board came up to indicate five minutes of injury time. The team were giving it all they had now and throwing everything for an equaliser. McLeod was denied by an excellent save after a good volley but the goal finally came from the man who missed our best chance earlier in the game. Carlisle was involved with a good flick on for Thorpe who showed why he is so vital to us with an intelligent through ball for Gallen and the Rangers top scorer smashed his shot past Tyler to huge sighs of relief around the stadium. We then tried to throw it away again as Peterborough had a chance forma free kick but it came to nothing and we had nicked a point in a game where we honestly deserved nothing. That has to be the worst home performance since Vauxhall Motors last season and although I am a massive fan of Ian Holloway I have to say he got it totally wrong for this game. We were playing a team low on confidence who had come for a point and we played far too defensively. We badly missed Martin Rowlands and we continue to miss Marcus Bean in midfield but we had enough quality available to us to pick a more attacking team and win the home game. Next week we travel to Tranmere and we’ll have to start with a better team than this one because we simply won’t get anything out of the game with so many defensive players in the team. Still despite all the anger and disappointment felt at the moment I still think we can get promoted but we need to get out of this bad run quickly and show a bit more ambition from the start in games where a win is desperately needed. Man of the Match: Clarke
Carlisle |
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