With the season coming to
an end a midweek trip to Burnley with neither side having anything
to play for was one away trip too many for me so I stayed away
and listen to it on QPR world.
The trip to Burnley was made
even less appealing with the horrendous injury and suspension
list. The
starting eleven were without Andrew Davies (recalled by Middlesbrough,
Rose, Thorpe, Ainsworth, Rowlands, Bean, Bailey, Sturridge, Miller,
Santos, Donnelly, Shimmin and Paul Furlong. So Ian Holloway's
team sel4ection was not the easiest.
In the end he opted for the
most experienced team possible. Richard Edghill and Jamie Cureton
were both recalled. Cureton starting on the right wing and Edghill
in the unusual position of central midfield.
Pat Kayuka and Shabazz Baidoo
both got their first starts for QPR whilst the subs bench contained
not one minute's first team experience.
The first half saw very little
goalmouth action although Rangers looked the more likely to score
with several long-range efforts. Lee Cook was a constant threat
cutting in on the left and he let fly from 25 yards but his effort
was over the bar.
Youngster Shabazz Baidoo was
causing problems with his first touch and blistering pace. Burnley
were struggling to deal with him and resorted to kicking him,
which won Rangers a free kick. Kevin Gallen took control and his
shot curled narrowly wide of the post as he looked to continue
his recent good form.
Gallen had another effort
from outside the box drift wide of the post as Rangers began to
get on top and a swift counter attack almost brought the first
goal but Cureton was unable to finish it off.
It was encouraging stuff by
Rangers but someone must have run over Jude the Cat again as the
injury problems continued. Shabazz Baidoo was taken off after
a strong tackle on him. Lewis Hamilton, recalled from his loan
spell at AFC Wimbledon this morning, replaced him with Cureton
moving up front.
Cureton's move to his more
natural position almost brought a goal but his shot from outside
the box joined those by Cook and Gallen is going wide.
Cook went closest for Rangers
with another long ranger, which had Brian Jensen in the Burnley
goal more than a little concerned. With half time approaching
most fans were struggling to stay awake and against the run of
play the home side took the lead.
A cross from the right by
Graham Branch was met by the unmarked Ade Akinbyi who had the
simple task of heading past Day. The Rangers keeper had no chance
and the marking by Danny Shittu was particularly poor.
So at half time Rangers went
in a goal down and were a little unfortunate to be behind after
a decent first half performance.
Rangers emerged for the second
half with another change. Lewis Hamilton's debut was cut short
presumably by injury with Luke Townsend making his first appearance
up front. Jamie Cureton moved back onto the right wing.
The game continued at a snails
pace but Ranger's still looked the more likely scorers at the
start of the second half.
Eight minutes into the half
Rangers came so close to getting level. A free kick on the edge
of the box offered us a few options. It was Marc Bircham who ended
up taking it and his drilled shot went through the wall and needed
a brilliant save from Jensen to keep it out.
Rangers continued to huff
and puff as we pushed forward but the final ball was letting us
down and after a good first half Lee Cook was quickly fading from
proceedings.
Things got worse than we dared
think on the hour mark. Ade Akinbyi had bided his time and eventually
got his man after the twat made a fool of himself when we beat
Stoke earlier in the season. A late challenge saw Bircham stretch
red off and the injury looks likely to end his season.
Scott Mulholland became the
fourth player to make his debut during the game and Rangers were
now so inexperience it was frightening.
Any chance of getting back
in the game seemed gone but we were presented with a golden chance
to get the point we deserved. A neat move involving Gallen and
Townsend put Cureton clean through but unsurprisingly his shot
was weak and easily saved and bang goes his last chance of earning
a contract and QPR getting a deserved point.
Soon after the game was put
beyond our reach. A good run and cross by Camara found that man
again Akinbyi at the far post to score past Chris Day.
Burnley now began to step
up a gear and look to add a ridiculous look to the scoreline but
Rangers finished the game off without conceding again but go home
with no points but more injuries.
The current injury list is
now getting beyond a joke. Adam Miller, Georges Santos and Aaron
Brown will all be available at the weekend but with Bircham and
Baidoo now on the injured list it is going to be almost impossible
to get anything at Wigan.
Such a shame for this to all happen now and
end the season on a sour note with tonight's result moving Burnley
within two points of Rangers.
Below are two reports from fans who went to the
game as posted on the QPR mailing list
Akinbyi was his usual horrible self - don't think
it was premeditated. He's not the sort of player to leave it until
the second half if he's seeking retribution. It did come after
a spell in which Birch had made a few tigerish tackles (about
time) and was imposing himself a little on the game.
It was a game where I came away feeling sorry for the team rather
than angry. We had a lot of possession, attempted to play a lot
of stuff to feet but ultimately lacked the strength and cutting
edge upfront to make the possession count. There weren't the options
with injuries and suspensions but we simply had too many non-first
team players on the pitch. I would have liked to see a little
bit more leadership form the senior pros - the Gallens and Birchams
(Birch's injury looked v.serious) but it was hard.
Baidoo looked very lively from the off but miscontrolled the ball
a couple of times and then hit the biggest air shot you will see
in a season or two. That said, his head didn't drop and there
is no question he has searing pace. He looked a real handful and,
for me, was getting more into the game and becoming a bigger threat
until Burnley decided to manhandle and foul him out of the game.
He sadly limped off during the first half and a lot of the fun
went out of the game for me after that. He may not be the most
assured in front of goal but it was exciting to see that much
pace upfront - I seriously hope it's only a slight knock and before
the end of the season he gets the chance to play again.
Louis Hamilton came on the right side of midfield as we pushed
Curo up, and Hamilton just looked off the pace. I'm not writing
him off but like Mulholland in the second half, he looked a long
way away from the first team on this short showing. Perhaps he
wasn't fully fit.
In a lot of ways, this sort of game is more important to the club
than a routine 1-0 victory. Outside of the core Olly will be keeping
- the Rowlands, Shittus, Furlongs of this world - there are potentially
a lot of places up for grabs in our squad. You don't ink in or
cross out a hatful of names on one performance but it makes you
wonder.
Certain players did not look up for it or good enough - but don't
fret, they were mainly senior pros. Cureton dawdled over the best
chance of the game and he, along with Edghill were desperately
poor. Day has obviously been told to seek distribution options
with ball in hand but you can tell it's not his natural game.
Sadly, the wayward goal punts and the rooted to his line performances
still remain.
Despite getting kicked from pillar to post, Gino put in another
decent performance, trying to seek the overlap with the frustrating
Cook and doing his best in defence. Luke Townsend who came on
in the second half showed good awareness and often played the
simple ball in attack very well but I'd like to think Baidoo was
well ahead of him in the young strikers rankings.
The biggest plus of the evening has to be Pat Kanyuka. One-footed
he looked, and sure, he got caught out once or twice, but I thought
he put in a superb defensive display on his debut, especially
playing against that animal, Akinbayi. You wouldn't have picked
him out as a debutante and he seemed vocal and animated as he
helped organise the defensive line.
I really hope we see more of these youngsters in the last few
games. Bugger the results, we need to know who is the most likely
to cut it in the first team. Bit too early to tell but Bailey,
Baidoo and Kanyuka may just make it in the long term which is
excellent news for the club. Ideally, we need to see a youngster
in one of the full back berths soon as well.
Clive Gifford
Good news first. Kanyuka had a very promising first
start, looked like he knew what he was doing, partnered Dan well
and all in all looked like a potential class act. He also looks
like Richard Langley's darker brother from a distance; a likeness
enhanced by his composure at times on the ball.
More good news in that Townsend looked sharp, keen and eager and
made a valuable contribution, to no effect mind, but that was
more to do with the paucity of striking options around him and
Burnley's three at the back/flood midfield formation which made
it hard for us as a whole to get into good positions.
The best chances we had were from Cook who hit that bar thing
that they tie the nets to (form the other end it looked like it
had gone in), Cureton who broke on-on-one with the keeper and
took fifteen touches too many and to Dan who got a lose ball from
a corner stuck under is foot six-feet out. They carved us open
on numerous occasions, mostly in the second half, and Akinbiyi
nodded one and tapped another in from no yards out.
Considering we had loads of kids on the pitch, and had to keep
chopping and changing during the match, that we didn't get stuffed
out of sight is probably a bonus. But, if Burnley had anything
to play for it might have been very different as we were pretty
ragged at the end and only the pre-season friendly style lack
of urgency stopped it being a slaughter.
There was a lot of bad news though. Most immediately we've got
another first teamer out of action as Bircham was stretchered
off. Didn't notice the challenge as being particularly bad and
the lack of reaction of the rest of the team was such that it
probably wasn't anything malicious. It means we're even more thin
for Wigan who have real treason to stuff us out of sight to maintain
an automatic promotion place.
The lack of any real option to Furlong up front is such a problem
it is scary for next season, we didn't have a major threat up
front at any point and while it was interesting to see how various
youngsters managed in the situation (i.e.: in a nothing game)
it would be frustrating beyond belief to watch us play without
Furlong if we needed a win for some reason. Baidoo is great and
fun to watch, but isn't going to score regularly (although he
may provide or create loads).
Townsend was sharp and linked well, Hamilton didn't get to do
much, Cureton squandered his only real chance, Cook looked lively
at times and made a few decent runs, but both the latter looked
lightweight and ineffectual.
Gallen was again playing that role a bit deeper, which became
totally ineffectual as they got hold of the midfield and pushed
on, moving him backwards and making him even less of a creative
striking treat.
In some ways there's no point in trying to draw any conclusions
from this match, but it did feel like the Harford days a bit:
a lightweight side being pushed around by opposition who looked
like they could step up a gear and crush us at any moment, no
real power up front and a few hundred quiet QPR fans shaking their
heads and trying to find something positive to take away form
the match.
There was one guy at the back behind the goal who was getting
more and more irate as the match went on and kept shouting out
his frustration in a voice that sounded familiar from somewhere.
Just before the end I realised that he sounded like Harold Steptoe
on steroids – he had that inflexion that made everything he shouted
sound like he might burst into tears at any moment. He summed
it up really. Here's hoping that that doesn't become the prevailing
sound at LR next season.
Brendan Walsh
