Team Line Up
		1. Lee Camp
28. Zesh Rehmann		6. Michael Mancienne	25. Damion Stewart		21. John Curtis
18. Stefan Moore		14. Martin Rowlands	7. Adam Bolder		25. Hogan Ephraim
		8. Daniel Nardiello	9. Dexter Blackstock
Subs
Marc Nygaard on for Daniel Nardiello
Nick Ward on for Stefan Moore
Subs Not Used
Jake Cole
Marcus Bignot
Danny Cullip

The first home league game of the season saw Cardiff City coming to town and before the game all the talk again was of the on/off takeover at Loftus Road which appears to be back on now and will be announced next week.

With that boost ahead of the game it was hoped that Rangers would get off to a good start at home and put Tuesdays defeat behind them. John Gregory made changes to the team and picked possibly his strongest available team. Damion Stewart returned in defence alongside Mancienne with Rehmann at right back and John Curtis at left back. In Midfield Hogan Ephraim made his full debut on the left wing with Stefan Moore on the right and Martin Rowlands moving into central midfield with Adam Bolder. Up front there was a return for Nardiello and Blackstock after they both sat out the cup tie in midweek.

The bench looked pretty weak though with just one striker in Nygaard among the substitutes.

The game started brightly with both sides looking to get an early goal. Rangers looked bright going forward with Blackstock and Nardiello both busy up front and Rowlands was looking good on the ball in a fierce midfield battle. Cardiff had an early chance to take the lead when Parry fired wide from the edge of the box.

At the other end Rangers almost opened the scoring with a spectacular effort. Nardiello and Blackstock combined well together and Nardiello got into the box flicked it up with his left foot and fired a volley just over the bar from an acute angle. Nardiello was unlucky with that one and he looked impressive early on chasing for everything and good on the ball as well. Nardiello was claiming a penalty after fifteen minutes when his long range effort was blocked by the hand of Loovens but to be honest t was difficult to see from where I was if it was a penalty or not.

Cardiff then began to take control as we lost the midfield battle and began to look a shambles at the back. A long ball into the box caused a bit of havoc as Stewart left it to Camp and the Rangers keeper saw it late and had to made a quality save to tip the ball away fro a corner. Trevor Sinclair then went close with a volley, which was straight at Camp, but the tone had been set and we were struggling to get out of our own half.

McLean had a great chance to put his side ahead after a defence splitting pass from Sinclair saw Rangers attempt to play offside but fail and Camp had to race off his line and make a fine save to keep the scores level.

Sinclair then came to take a corner and received a standing ovation from most QPR fans which was a nice gesture a few fans booed him and called him a Judas but they were heavily outnumbered. From the corner Sinclair created the opening goal, which what was in truth, a poor corner with even wore defending. The delivery was low and should have been cleared by Blackstock but his air shot saw the ball fall to Mclean and he turned the ball past Camp from close range. It was no more than Cardiff deserved.

It could and should have got worse for Rangers as we failed to deal with the visitors as they continued to find joy down our left hand side and whip balls into the box which Stewart and Mancienne failed to deal with. Maclean headed a great chance wide and then just before half time our offside trap once again failed miserable and Sinclair should have done better with his header, which missed the target.

Rangers were playing far too direct with Stewart hoofing it forward for the front two to chase, the midfield was being bypassed far too often and this was probably the easiest game Cardiff have had against us for a long time.

At half time some fans booed the team off which was a little harsh but it had been a poor performance so far. John Gregory will have demanded more during the break and from the start of the second half we came out of the traps flying and looked a different team.

For the first time in the game we put a few passes together with Ephraim cutting in on the left to find Nardiello and he played a lovely back heel to Rowlands burst forward and put Stefan Moore who hit a low shot past the keeper but against the post.

It was a good start to the half and we poured forward winning corners and getting some dangerous crosses into the box but without testing the keeper. The fans were right behind the team and Cardiff were doing all they could to stop the game falling over and getting the physio on for treatment. For a big bloke Glen Loovens didn't need asking twice to collapse to the floor, not something you expect to see from a central defender.

Rangers then went close to an equaliser when a hopeful ball into the box was chased down by Nardiello. Loovens looked to have it covered and was trying to shield it back to his keeper but Nardiello wouldn't give it up and nicked the ball and toe poked it towards goal and the keeper had to be alert to make a fantastic save and keep his side ahead.

Within five minutes the game was over though as Cardiff scored the killer second goal. It was a well worked goal but more poor defending as Cardiff were allowed to work the ball on the left with no tackle coming and McPhail had time and space to pick his spot and get his cross over for the unmarked Parry to head past Camp from close range. It was a killer goal and even with half an hour left it was the cue for quite a few fans to leave the stadium.

Rangers huffed and puffed after that but never really looked like scoring. Hogan Ephraim was out only creative outlet and he got some decent balls into the box but no one was able to get on the end of them.

Gregory made two changes brining off the impressive Nardiello and the unimpressive Stefan Moore with Nygaard and Ward coming on to more than a few boos from the QPR fan which is never nice to hear but Nygaard didn't do himself many favours with a pathetic performance.

Nick Ward had a chance to get us back in the game when he had time and space at the far post to volley the ball in but man who FIFA said was one of the best prospects in World football got no power in his effort and the keeper had an easy save to make. Just goes to show that FIFA do talk a lot of bollocks. In fairness to Ward he is not a winger and will always struggle in that position but I think he is too lethargic on the ball to make a career for himself in England.

Nygaard raised a few smiles at the end when a good ball to the far post by Ephraim saw the big Dane unmarked but instead of aiming a header on target he threw himself to the floor with no one near him and then looked very embarrassed.

The full time whistle brought a chorus of boos to the team and perhaps the manager as well, it would have been louder but there was only about 4,000 QPR fans left in the stadium at the end, which told it's own story.

This was a dire performance from Rangers and although it is early in the season there are plenty of signs that much work is needed if we are going to avoid another relegation battle.

The only players to look anything like Championship players were Nardiello, Ephraim, Blackstock and Rowlands. The rest were very poor. I'm very disappointed that Gregory has done nothing to improve the midfield, we have zero creativity at the moment and no width, if we are relying on Ainsworth coming back then we're in trouble. I know Cook going was always going to be a big loss but I can't believe we haven't signed a winger this summer or a player in central midfield who can put his foot on the ball and find a team mate. Instead we've gone for the battler's approach, which was so often moaned about when Ian Holloway was manager.

Cardiff looked very impressive and I'd like a few of our players to watch Trevor Sinclair's performance, as he was a different class. He hardly ever gave the ball away, kept things simple, his movement was too good for us. I doubt he'll play a full season with his injury record but it would be great for us to have a player who can just make the game look so easy.

A lot of work to be done if we are going to improve, we have too many players who are not good enough starting games at the moment. Stewart was dire again his headers have no direction and he looks lost against any kind of movement. Curtis was also poor and just seemed to be chasing shadows. I didn't agree with the booing of Nygaard when he came on but he really was useless again, why on earth did we give him a new contract.

The squad is now smaller than last year which arguably less quality so this proposed takeover with money for the manager can't come quickly enough.

Man of the Match: Daniel Nardiello

Players Ratings: Camp 6, Rehmann 6, Curtis 6, Mancienne 6, Stewart 5, Moore 6 (Ward 6), Rowlands 6, Bolder 6, Ephraim 7, Blackstock 7, Nardiello 7 (Nygaard 5)