The Rangers Revolution began with four players making league debuts for QPR at Sheffield United but it wasn't enough to get a win and keeps us in the relegation battle just three points off the bottom three. Rangers took the lead through Patrick Ageymang scoring his first goal for QPR right on half time. Rangers struggled after the break though and failed to create any chances of note.

Sheffield United hit back through a comical own goal from Damion Stewart before more poor defending saw Lee Hendrie grab his first goal of the season and grab the points for the home side. Rangers had a late chance to get a point when Buzsacky's shot beat the keeper and was cleared on the line by the hand of a defender but the referee gave a corner rather than a penalty.

Disappointment then but not the end of the world as this new team will take time to settle and have another week to work on things before the visit of Barnsley next weekend. This defeat may turn into a good thing with the recent playoff talk being calmed down and a bit of realism returning to Loftus Road.

Due to the price of train tickets and the game coming just before pay day I couldn't make the trip north so here are some views of fans who did go from the QPR Yahoo Mailing List

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Well that was a strange one. Not a particularly good game and obviously a bad result, I would have taken a draw today as I am sure we all would have, we started pretty well and during the first half we were the better team, PA's goal looked to be taken well but as it was up the other end we couldn't really see what lead up to it looked to me to be a defensive cock up.

Defensive cocks ups must have been catching as both of their goals looked to me to be scrambles in the box the first we think was a OG but again we couldnt see what happened very well, again the second was bobbing aroung in the 6 yard box and then was in the net.

To be fair to Sheff U they arent a bad side, but what grates me about them is they are a typical Robson side, just nasty, dirty and whingey, this was summed up by the last chance we had ball into the box which eventually fell to Buzz on the edge of the box who drilled it into the far corner only for the defender to supposedly head off the line, this was a deffo pen unless the bloke has a rubber neck and it can stretch 3 feet, you can tell in these situations by players reactions the defenders all looked sheepish and the Rangers players surrounded the ref, who had a long look at the defender and then bottled it totally, I hope they show it on the championship and I am proven right, if it wasnt handball then it has to clearance of the century.

To be honest we deserved a point but nothing else, too many players had off days today and they are all going to need time to gel no doubt about it. Rowly was his usual hard working self and Mahon I thought was very good. Vine was missing for large parts of the game and they had clearly earmarked Buzz as our main man. I would have liked to have seen Hogan get a run as we were having no joy from either flank.

Hard to put my finger on what was wrong today and although dissapointed we have to accept that going to places like these is never gonna be easy, lets not get ahead of ourselves we are a better team than we were 2 months ago but miracles dont happen over night, we will have to be patient for the full revolution to get going. You R's

Tracy Stent

If ever a wake-up call were required after the last couple of weeks we've had at the club with the recent spending spree in the transfer market, then today at Bramall Lane was as good a place as any to receive it.

The frustrating thing is what happened today was so inevitable that I'm only surprised the players on both sides did not walk off the pitch afterwards with pre prepared scripts in their hands.

Anyway, let's rewind a bit. Sheffield United for today's game had an offer on the price for tickets (tenner for adults and a fiver for kids) of which QPR were included, which was a nice bonus for those that had made the trek, though it was difficult judging how many R's fans were there today as we sat down the front, but the lower tier when looking up did look quite full.

We parked up near to the Bramall Lane end and spotted some locals, walking from a main road, that appeared to be enjoying some nice looking chips and found a brilliant chippy called the Salt and Batter, had to join a queue outside but they were certainly worth it and chips all round for just over a fiver, better than the £18 at Chelsea last week! If we go there next season folks, remember this tip.

Into the ground and straight to a Ladbrokes for the usual pre match bet but I didn't know the team so played it safe on just having a wager on the score, if I'd known that Agyemang were starting then I would have stuck a bit of money on him as our first goal scorer. The next game I go with my instinct!

During the warm up Stewart was once again practising on his heading and Akos was looking a bit sharp with the shots he was firing into the back of the net. Chris Barker made a point of coming over and clapping/acknowledging the fans during it (I wonder if he got to hear about the J Cole shirt stuff?) and then when the teams were announced I have to admit to being slightly disappointed that it appeared we'd only be starting with one main striker up front.

The team was: Camp (gk), Connelly (rb), Barker (lb), Stewart (ch), Hall (ch), Lee (lm), Vine (rm), Rowlands (cm), Mahon (cm), Buzsaky (cm/just behind Agye), Agyemang (cf). The discounted tickets offer seemed to have done the job of encouraging the locals as there was a large crowd inside Bramall Lane and they were very vocal before kick off with their Annie's Song rendition! If anyone knows what the story is behind Annie's song being belted out there then please help me by satisfying my curiosity. Ta.

In the first half we were kicking toward the other end so we got a bit of a chance to see our new defenders in action up close in spells during that half.

I liked the look of Connelly but there were elements of inexperience showing through at times. At one time for instance he was chasing down the ball on the flank and he felt that his opponent had run it out and he stopped for a few seconds with his hand up before he realised that the ref had not blown up, by then the ball was in our box and Hall was first to make the clearance for a corner. However, Connelly then went on to make amends from the resulting corner by being first to pick the ball up in the area and play it out to safety.

Hall, from what we saw of him in the first half is a centre half not afraid to get stuck in. There was a fair old tussle going on between him and Tulse on occasions and at one time he made sure that he was first to the ball in a battle between himself and Billy Sharp to leave him in a heap in the middle of the muddy penalty area. One thing I will say is that decisions could go against him during games due to his physical strength, and we saw one such instance this afternoon when a ball was played through, we were caught out, though it sure looked offside to us, and Hall as the last man back at that time following a tussle (with I think Hulse) was penalised for pushing though the resulting free kick went wide.

As for the game during the first half, well we played some nice stuff at times and we really could/should have been ahead after 20 minutes when Buz hit a lovely struck free kick from around 25 yards but which Paddy Kenny made a superb finger tip save. The corner which resulted from this could have seen us score but Agye couldn't make his header count. Before this Akos had had a couple of opportunities go wide, and during this spell midway in the half we were quite literally all over what looked like at that time a rather poor Blades side.

However, no matter how much nice football going on, or the amount of attacks being created, we were agreed that we needed to score before the break and so it was just on the stroke of half time that we did indeed take the lead. Mahon found Connelly on the right who broke free and put in a lovely cross into the area, it looked like it was nodded on (couldn't see by who) and there was Agyemang ready to take his chance, no messing and into the back of the net went the ball. Nice celebrations on and off the pitch and was really pleased for the ageing man.

Injury time was held up and it was during this period that the blades really should have equalised, as Hall cleared the ball in our area, and with Camp the other side of goal, the ball fell straight to Hulse and all he had to do was head the ball into an empty net but he headed it wide. A terrible miss for them but fantastic for us as it meant we went in with the lead.

Now, considering that we were playing at a place where the home side have had a poor run in recent games; considering that they were flirting at the wrong end of the table; and considering that there was a large crowd there expecting better, what would you have expected their manager to say to his side in his dressing room team talk?

Go out and start having a go from the off? Forget about the central midfield area so much as the opposition are kind of flooding it there, hit them on the flanks? We need goals and we need points, get the ball into their area as much as possible? It's certainly the kind of pep talk I'd have expected of Robbo and we spoke about the need to possibly change the second half tactics from the start of the second half to give the opposition an element of surprise. Dexter or Hogan on to give support to Agye up front perhaps.

Sure enough, the home side come out like a completely different one compared to the poor side that was out there in the first. They were hitting us with breaks, winning corners, and whilst all this was going on, we were doing the inevitable of sitting back. That's not to say we weren't trying, Agyemang especially did well in chasing what looked like a lost cause and to win us a corner but which came to nothing.

The thing is, the home crowd had found their voice and fortunately for us the ref waved away a couple of penalty appeals from them but it was only a matter of time before their players responded to their fans and sure enough with around 15 minutes having gone in the second half, the breakthrough occurred.

A scramble down the other end in the box, it looked like some kind of unlucky deflection going on and the ball was in the back of the net to make it 1-1. At this time Emma and me were saying quietly to each other that we needed to ring the changes, and we needed to make them right there and then, but there was no sign of a sub being made and then lo and behold, five minutes later we found ourselves 2-1 down.

Another scramble in the area, it looked like the ball had been cleared initially, but more ping pong ensued and from just yards out Hendrie put the blades ahead. Their crowd went mad, there was much sighing going on in our end (well perhaps more stronger than sighing, but you get my drift!) and with just under 20 minutes remaining, Gigi at last decided to bring on Dexter Blackstock to give support to Agye. Barker was the man that made way, Lee pushed back into right full back defence, Connelly went the other side, and Vine switched to the right wing.

After that, every time Vine got the ball you could feel the expectation from the R's fans but he couldn't quite rise to the levels expected of him, though he made some good runs and showed fine strength to shake off his marker/s in patches. To be honest, we didn't really have much answer to what had occurred and still United were trying to hit us where it hurt, quick on the counter break, balls into the box, and fortunately for us, a couple of bad misses!

The assistant held up the board to show 4 minutes left and it was during this time that we were very unlucky not to have equalised, Buzsaky unleashed a shot from inside the area following good work by Vine and we were literally on our feet to celebrate the ball hitting the back of the net so sure did it look to be a goal with the keeper stranded on the other side, when Kilgallon somehow managed to clear the ball off the line with a fine header after suddenly appearing from nowhere. There were handshakes going on between himself and Kenny and I was watching that, along with cursing our luck, when I noticed a group of our players surrounding the ref. There was talk of handball by some but I didn't notice any handball, though maybe that's because his body was blocking what we could see with regard to what was happening in front of him! Will be interesting to see a replay of it.

At the final whistle a group of the players continued to berate the ref and this annoyed me because we are still missing Mikel Leighertwood with a 4 match ban due to complaining to the official after the Plymouth game so surely we should have learnt by now regarding this kind of after match whinging? Of course it was all heat of the moment stuff, but we really need to clamp down on this because we could have ended up with losing more of our players had the official decided he was being abused.

And again, not many players came over to acknowledge the fans at the end with Hall, Mahon and Rowlands making the point of coming over. Hmmmm. When waiting for the girls to come out of the ladies (took ages) we seemed to be the last to exit and I noticed some of the players from the concourse area via one of the entrances come out onto the pitch to have a warm down. I felt like shouting out to them no more sitting on leads and 4-4-2 for Saturday please!

So, quick overall impression? Well, Rome wasn't built in a day and perhaps this defeat will help to temper some of the levels of expectation (by both fans and the board) but it was worrying in the second half how we created so little. Our right side containing of Connelly and Lee was very young; our central pairing of Mahon and Rowlands worked well in the first half, both worked their socks off, but in the second half perhaps could have done with Bolder coming on in place of Mahon; and I was surprised that Hogan did not feature at all.

Barnsley will be very interesting to say the least in terms of team selection and how players respond. Sheffield United as I say were poor in the first half, but came out looking inspired in the second. On paper they have an excellent looking squad and with Beattie to come back for them, I doubt they'll be in danger of going down, despite the R's chants to them about going down in the first half.

Player performances:

Camp: I have no idea if he could have done better with either goal as couldn't see too much due to the sheer number of players in the way down the other end. He made a couple of expected saves in the first half. Not much more I can say about him today! 6

Connelly: Showed lovely composure at times, and then on other occasions his inexperience showed. He's young, has a fair bit to learn, but I'm sure will be an asset to us. 6.5

Stewart: Got caught short a couple of times but apart from that had a steady game. 6.5

Hall: Probably the most assured/determined defender on the day. Won lots in the air and stuck to his man (Hulse/Sharp) like glue. 7

Barker: Didn't get tight enough in the first half but made some important tackles/clearances when required in the box. A steady game 6.5

Lee: Made some good runs in the first half and showed a nice first touch. Had a tendency to over hit at times. Doesn't look though to be a specific out and out winger and would be interested to know if he feels more comfortable at full back? 6.5

Mahon: Excellent first half, lost it a bit in the second. Looks like a leader on the pitch and did not stop talking, organising throughout. For a large midfield man he looked to have a nice touch on the ball and he seemed to have a good understanding going on with Rowlands. 7

Rowlands: Rowly has been my most outstanding player in recent games, and in the first half today, again showed class. Spraying balls out and around, helping in defence, nice vision between himself Mahon and Buz. Second half he was quieter, he looked to pick up an injury at one point after throwing himself into a tackle which led to a corner for Utd. He seemed to be limping quite a bit but obviously wanted to carry on and managed to shake it off. 7.5

Buz: Every time he touched the ball my heart seemed to flutter. If things had been different he could have had a hat trick in the first. Instead he saw a keeper that was equal to most of what he could throw at him (bar the lost minute shot) which was frustrating. 7.5

Vine: Rowan obviously prefers to play on the wing than as an out and out striker which is fine as it gives him the freedom to use his pace and strength. In the first half he enjoyed this role (linked up well with Mahon who had vision to send him into spaces that were Rowan made) and towards the latter end of the second half we saw more of him. He seemed to come more to life when Dexter came on, perhaps giving him more encouragement by having the extra man within the area? 7

Agyemang: Big Pat did a fine job in holding the line today. His strength and physical presence was a good attribute, and he took his goal really well. Perhaps could do with practising with his heading a bit more, but when it comes to the ball on the ground he was scrapping and fighting for every ball that came his way. 7.5

Subs:

Blackstock: Not much time really to judge. 6.5