After a poor start to the season the Carling Cup couldn’t have come at a better time for Rangers. A chance to gain some much needed confidence and a win but on the other hand with Kenny Jackett returning with his new Swansea team the potential for another cup humiliation was a worrying prospect.

The LSA organised a protest for the game asking Chris Wright to do the “Wright thing” and had back his shares to QPR. Banners were placed in the Ellerslie Road stand whilst a leaflet handed out said the following:

”Last year Ian Holloway and our Queens Park Rangers side won promotion to the Championship backed by over 8000 supporters at Hillsborough.
I am sure as a fan and life president you were as delighted as all of us.

Mr Wright we understand that during your four years in charge things did not go quite to plan and in the end things turned quite sour.

You now have the chance to do the decent thing and make a real difference to the future of Queens Park Rangers.

Give your 13% share holding back to the board at QPR so that they can bring in people who want to invest in QPR and help breathe new life into the club.

You are Life President Mr Wright and above all you are supposed to be a fan.

Do the Wright Thing, Give the shares back to our club!

From QPR LSA.”

Back to the football and Ian Holloway sprung a surprise with the starting line up as he attempted to pick a midfield who could keep the ball better than in previous games. Kevin Gallen and George Santos started in the middle in place of Bean who dropped to the bench and Johnson who was just dropped. Jamie Cureton started up front. At the back Matthew Rose was out so it was a very welcome return to Dan Shittu. After seven months out he has made a fantastic recovery from his knee injury and it was fantastic to see him back in a QPR shirt two months ahead of schedule.

Kenny Jacketts team swapped ends so we attacked the loft in the first half. Usually this would have an effect but in front of just 4,000 fans it didn’t really matter which way we attacked in the second half as the atmosphere was more as dead as the LDV games last season.

Rangers started well and were passing the ball nicely around midfield. Gallen was a breath of fresh air in the midfield with balls being played to feet and the wide players being introduced to play far better than in previous games. Danny Shittu was his usual self at the back and it was like he had never been away. Forwards bounced off his huge frame and he was dominant in the air. He even went on one of his charges forward before being hacked down by a nasty looking tackle. He was on the end of three dodgy tackles and wisely he was taken off after 20 minutes to avoid another injury. Marcus Bean came on with Santos going back to defence but it made no difference to the way we were playing as we continued to dominate possession.

Swansea attacked towards their noisy away support and won a few free kicks and corners but never really threatened Chris Day’s goal. At the other end we were hammering the goal with long range efforts. Gallen twice went close from distance having one shot parried and one fly wide. Paul Furlong did well to turn and beat his man before his shot was parried away by the keeper.

Rowlands was having plenty of joy on the right as was Cook on the left but the final ball wasn’t quite good enough to reach the front two. The referee was also having a good game and (you may want to sit down for this bit) gave several free kicks to Paul Furlong for having his shirt pulled and being pushed all over the place. It was great to see and sitting in the lower loft for the game it was even more apparent just how often the bloke gets fouled but rarely gets the decision.

With half time approaching my girlfriend Carly decided to go to the toilet, which as it did at Sunderland produced a goal. Gino Padula whipped in a superb free kick and Jamie Cureton lost his marker at the far post and hit a nice side foot volley to open the scoring. The relief on his face was plain to see and we were on our way to a first win of the season.

We kept on playing some decent stuff as the half came to an end and the one goal lead was more than a fair reflection of the play. Before the second half the team did the usual group huddle, which has become tradition at QPR in the last few seasons.

Being so close to the pitch for this game it was interesting to watch Chris Day in the second half. He was barking out orders all through the half to his defence and he was much improved in all aspects of his game. He was never tested to often but he looked to have far more authority than he has done at other times this season.

Rangers continued to dominate though with George Santos standing out at the back. He always offered himself for a quick throw out so we could build front he back. He got us into trouble doing this a few times but it was a step in the right direction.

Just before the hour mark Jamie Cureton was taken off and he didn’t look too happy about it. Marc Bircham replaced him with Gallen going up front. The change saw us look poor for ten minutes as we looked to hit long balls rather than play through the middle but that soon changed as Bircham began to find his feet.

Chances were still few and far between but we were well on top before we killed the game off. Cook and Gallen combined on the left for Cook to cross into the box.