Team Line Up
		1. Lee Camp
6. Michael Mancienne		16. Matthew Connolly	29. Fitz Hall		2. Damien Delaney
10. Akos Buzsacky		14. Martin Rowlands (c)	32. Mikele Leigterwood		25. Hogan Ephraim
		17. Patrick Agyemang	26. Rowan Vine
Subs
Dexter Blackstock on for Patrick Agyemang
Gareth Ainsworth on for Martin Rowlands
Subs Not Used
Matt Pickens
Chris Barker
Damion Stewart

As sure as Night follows day history shows that a brilliant performance by QPR is usually followed by a crap one. That how it turned out at a cold Bruce Rioch Arena last night as Rangers played out a desperately dull 0-0 draw with Coventry City.

We decided to drive to the game as the train station is so far from the stadium and parked up at the leisure Ireland car park right next to the motorway which proved to be easy to find by car and decent value for money. The car park is near of the new few away fans pubs which was full of QPR fans but looked like it would struggle to cope if more than 100 people turned up.

After a long walk to the stadium we found we were on the left hand side of the away stand this year with our old seats now taken up by around 100 Coventry fans. This meant no Wimpey this year which was most disappointing. Instead we sampled a meal deal inside which was a beer and a burger for £6 which proved to be the most enjoyable part of the evening and kind of gives a hint that the match wasn't the best.

The bloke announcing the teams was trying to whip the crowd up into a frenzy saying stuff like QPR fans this is what awaits you, let's say hello to the Coventry Telegraph stand. I expect the bloke was expecting a big roar but was instead met with absolute silence as he said hello to every stand and each one seemed to have an equally ridiculous corporate name. The stand looked less than half full and the final attendance of 15,225 looked a little optimistic from where I was sitting.

The new had already filtered through that Rangers were unchanged and a look to the bench saw a small surprise with Chris Barker back among the subs in place of Kieran Lee.

Rangers kicked off attacking towards the empty seats opposite the away fans and kicked the ball straight out for a throw in. This was a pattern that would sadly continue throughout the game. The opening ten minutes were nervy to say the least from QPR as we failed to put any passes together and were making mistake after mistake with players miss controlling the ball out for throw ins and looking very complacent.

Coventry were well up for the game as you'd expect from a side in real danger of being relegated but they looked like they lacked confidence especially in front of goal. Their best player was Misfud who was playing out wide and his pace was proving too much for Delaney who skipped past the Rangers full back with ease but his shot hit the side netting.

There were very few chances but Coventry were looking the better side and De Canio quickly changed things to try and get a grip of the game. Vine moved to the left wing with Buzsacky coming into the middle in a 4-4-1-1 formation. The change had the desired effect for a short spell as we began to get a grip of the midfield and played one nice passing move as we kept the ball for around 20 passes before a through ball to Agyemang was cut out by the keeper. This was promising but sadly didn't last long.

Chris Coleman obviously saw a weak link and his side decided to do away with the football and just pump high balls over the Rangers back four. This worked with the high balls causing real problems and Connolly was struggling to judge the flight of the ball missing several headers. Coventry used the pace of Misfud and best to run beyond the back four and collect these long balls and Rangers had the offside flag to thank on a few occasions when we looked to have been caught out.

The best chance came from one such move as a ball over the top saw the offside trap fail and Best ran through one on one against Camp. I feared the worst but Bests placed shot was very well saved by lee Camp who was up quickly to block the rebound as well. He turned and gave the referee a real bollocking as it did look like Connolly had been fouled in the build up.

The home side were on the up and looked like scoring when Doyles shot from the edge of the box was saved by Camp and Best had another chance which hit fired over the bar. Most Rangers fans were looking for half time to come as we were hanging on a bit and offering nothing in the way of an attacking threat.

Rangers had one last scare before the break when Camp was again on hand to save from jay Tabb and at the break the home side would have been by far the happier at how things were going.

The mood among the QPR fans was not great during the break with many wondering why they had bothered but the general feeling was that we couldn't play any worse in the second half. That proved to be true but things didn't really improve a great deal either.

Coventry enjoyed more possession in the second half but chances were few and far between for both sides. Rangers managed a first shot on the night around five minutes into the half when Hogan Ephraim found Buzsacky and he looked to shoot from distance with his effort just over the bar.

The QPR fans urged the team on but were seeing little in the way of attacking intent. Damien Delaney hit a shot on the volley which went wide and our first (and possibly only) effort on target came from a ball into the box from the right which was headed towards his own goal by Ward but comfortably saved.

Coventry looked all out of ideas as the long high ball was no longer working and they rarely got into our penalty area to worry us. A few corners and free kicks were all they had to show for their efforts but Camp had very little to do during the second half.

Ranger's fans began to get a little frustrated with Agyemang very isolated up front but he was the one getting the blame. On the rare occasion he did get a ball to his feet he had no QPR player within 20 yards to pass to and ended up losing the ball. Most of our attacks were either long balls straight to the centre half or balls out wide to Ephraim or Vine which resulted in them running into trouble.

De Canio opted not to change until the 83rd minute but by then most fans were too bored to care anymore. Blackstock replace Agyemang and added some much needed urgency to our attack. He almost scored with his one chance as he chased a lost cause and won the ball only to see his shot from a difficult angle saved.

Ainsworth also came on late on for Rowlands and played up front in a 4-4-2 and although we finished the game on the front foot I think both sides could still be playing now and wouldn't have scored.

A 0-0 draw was about right in the end and doesn't do much for either sides ambitions this season. As the fans walked out it seemed very few were happy with the performance and the lack of ambition but after the long long walk back to the car I thought it was a point gained rather than anything to get too upset about.

Looking at the table Rangers are nine points clear of the drop but Sheffield Wednesday have two games in hand and play us on Saturday so avoiding defeat against the teams below us is vital and is something we've managed to do twice in the last week.

In the end I didn't think a lack of fight or effort was the problem last night. It was our passing game that let us down. We rarely put two or three passes together and look short of ideas. De Canio tried to change this by going 4-5-1 so we could control the midfield which worked for about five minutes but then the wide players stayed too wide and didn't offer any support to Agyemang whilst Rowlands and Leigterwood sat far too deep.

Poor old Agyemang seemed to be the one getting the blame from the fans but he was fighting a lost cause chasing long balls over his head and n the rare occasion it was played to his feet he had no options to pass to and ended up giving it away. Don't get me wrong he did have a poor game but wasn't the worst of the bunch for me with Rowlands, Leigterwood, Vine and Buzsacky all having very poor games. Delaney didn't too well either and in truth Fitz Hall and Lee Camp were the only ones to play anywhere near as well as they can.

In the end it was a pretty dire game between what looked like one very poor side and one side playing well below what they were capable of. Typical Rangers days after a good win really that we've all seen many times before.

We seemed to settle for the point very early and lacked ambition in the second half to go and win the game. I thought De Canio should have got Blackstock on with 20 minutes left and gone back to 4-4-2 as Coventry had long since run out of ideas by then and for the few minutes Dexter was on he did cause a few problems. I think this showed that despite all the talk of the playoffs the players are still
looking down rather than up and made sure they didn't lose the game rather than try and win it.

A draw was about right and the only real positive is that we've kept three clean sheets in a row.

Man of the Match: Lee Camp

Players Ratings: Camp 8, Mancienne 7, Delaney 5, Hall 7, Connolly 6, Buzsacky 5, Rowlands 6 (Ainsworth 6), Leigterwood 5, Ephraim 6, Vine 5, Agyemang 5 (Blackstock 7)