The first half was the worst performance I've ever seen from a professional football team. I wish I was exaggerating that but it was woeful, a back four of Brazier, Ready, Malcolm and Barker would have been an improvement. We could have put out ten cones and done better. The defending was abysmal, matt hill absolutely useless but not just him, ball watching all the time, standing off players. I've never walked out of a half so early, I was back in the bar when the second went in. I say it was like a pub side but I doubt a pub side would defend so poorly. Ipswich were crap but could and should have been 4 up at half time. Hill looks every bit a fourth choice left back, his performance best summed up when Gorkss got injured so we had to kick it back to them from a throw in. Cook threw it to Hill who sliced the ball into the south Africa road stand, he couldn't even get that right. Bring back Marcus Bignot. Quashies idea of leading is to throw his arms in the air and point at everyone else, Ephraim took 45 minutes to play his way back out of the side, he was woeful and don't get me started on that injury prone carthorse Bent. The quickest he has moved in 97 minutes of football for QPR was when he ran off injured. We did improve in the second half when the mad idea of playing buz in the middle and I take it all back about taarbat this bloke has to play, he was superb when he came on and at least gave us a clue in the final third. In the end we probably deserved a draw on the second half showing but that was too little too late. I thought Vine got better near the end but for an hour he struggled to even control the ball. I'm still not sure why vine came on ahead of taarabt. The Paladini is a wanker chant really got going in
the lower loft, more of that in the future please, that man has
been a cancer on QPR from the day he walked in and the sooner he
goes off the better. We are going down and thoroughly deserve to
as well. Here is a more detailed match report from SM from the qprdotorg web site - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I just wanted to start by saying that the Peterborough performance (last 5 minutes aside) was just not acceptable… So much so that I just didn’t have the desire to relive what was witnessed, and viewed it more of a game that needs erasing from the memory… and fast! So I would like to apologise that my ‘report’ was a little brief (?). But I think even the most optimistic of fans wouldn’t have been able to draw any positives from it, and you certainly felt that we were almost destined for the drop following that kind of performance, especially considering the opposition. Without trying to paint a rosy picture, the recent results do point towards a bleak end of the season for us. But I can honestly say that yesterday did inspire me with some form of confidence/belief, and I will go into my reasons for that later on in the report. Call it an act of desperation if you will, but I managed to persuade my younger brother to come along with me yesterday. He came to 4 games last season, 3 of which we won and 1 that we drew. I felt that if ever his presence was needed – it was now. So after making the journey up to Loftus Road, we eventually made it into the ground around 20 minutes before kick off. There were no huge surprises in the starting line up. Ikeme continued in goal, and the defence of Hill, Gorkss, Stewart and Connolly pretty much picked itself. Encouragingly in midfield we started with Cook on the left, Faurlin alongside Quashie in the middle and Ephraim recalled on the right hand side. As mentioned above, I didn’t go into any great depth about the performance at Peterborough, but both Bent and Priskin were major let downs… for their lack of any work-rate if nothing else. Aside from a couple of short bursts of chasing, Bent almost had a Taarabt like presence about him – without the skill. So I was quite disappointed to see him starting, especially considering Harford has the likes of Balanta, Taarabt and even German at his disposal. Either way, it was positive to see Simpson rightly restored to the starting eleven alongside him. As we waited for kickoff, again the chants against the board could be heard, but nowhere near as ferocious as they had been prior to this game. I hoped that maybe we could revert back to encouraging the team as opposed to laying into Briatore. It was quite an eye-opener for my brother who hadn’t witnessed anything against the board first hand prior to this game. Before the game started we had a minute’s silence in memory of Harold Winton, which went impeccably. Undoubtedly we all appreciate everything that he has done for this club, and the complete respect that QPR fans have for him was clear for all to see. As the players headed back towards the Loft end, there was the customary huge roar of “You R’s” and the game kicked off. Sad to say, but in the opening few minutes Ipswich were looking by far the more comfortable side. The defence that seemingly backed off and backed off from the opposition at Peterborough were making exactly the same mistakes all over again. They were awarded their first corner in what seemed like the first couple of minutes, and as one of the players met the ball, he could only manage to direct it straight into Ikeme’s hands. Some of the time that Ipswich were being gifted in and around the box was terrifying though, and it was no shock at all to see them take the lead shortly after. I think it was Walters who was on the near side, and he was afforded absolute acres of space with Hill seemingly reluctant to tackle him. While wild cries from the home supporters for him to ‘put a foot in’ came in vein, we watched as the ball was centred to Norris who lashed the ball into the back of the net. It seemed to take a deflection past Ikeme – but regardless of that, the goal had been coming, and yet another chance of keeping a rare clean sheet went up in smoke. It was again a very poor goal to concede. With the travelling Ipswich fans now in full voice, just a small number of fans coming from the Q Block area started with more anti-Flavio chants – but I will stress it was a small number. I wasn’t expecting an awful lot from Bent’s home debut, and shortly after he was substituted after taking a kick to the leg. Probably a good thing in the grand scheme of things, as I thought Taarabt would be the logical replacement. I wasn’t encouraged to see that it would in fact be Vine coming on in his place… a poor piece of management in my eyes. I do hope that Harford’s well documented friendship with Vine didn’t play a part here… although I fear that it likely was the case. In fairness after being on the pitch only a matter of minutes, Vine did create our first real opening. After some fantastic piece of trickery by Cook, he found himself on the edge of the box and a defender lunged in and prodded the ball out to the wide left hand side… the ball fell to Vine who centred the ball, and after flicking up off a defenders head – it eventually came straight into the path of Simpson who was virtually on the goal line. He could only manage to head the ball over the crossbar with the keeper in no mans land. It was a bad miss, but it’s clear the deflection didn’t help his cause. For one of the first times in the game, the fans actually got behind the players at this stage… and it clearly did no harm, as Faurlin came close to almost scoring his first Ranger’s goal. Cook was again involved, and after feeding Faurlin with possession on the edge of the box, he somehow bundled his way past 2 defenders and was left with just the keeper to beat… as he cued up his shot, Delaney came out of nowhere and prodded the ball wide for a corner kick. It was a vital tackle, as Faurlin would no doubt have drawn the scores level here. Unfortunately that was about as good as it got, and Ipswich were soon back on the front foot shortly after. Again our defence seemed all over the place, and an Ipswich player found space inside the box and headed the ball goalwards towards Ikeme. He managed to get a hand to it and push it wide, the ball fell to Murphy who drilled his shot straight into Ikeme and out for a corner kick. It looked a good save, but in truth he probably didn’t know an awful lot about it. Our defending was seemingly going from bad to worse, and we conceded another shocking goal shortly after this corner. The ball came across the face of goal a couple of times, and without managing to clear the danger, it was eventually squared back centrally via a back heel… It fell to Murphy in the area, and he seemed to have all the time in the world and made no mistake in putting the ball into the back of the net. Where were the defence?! Looking towards the Upper/Lower Loft end, the frustration was now starting to boil over, and rarely have I seen so many fists and shouting being vented towards our players. I don’t ever condone laying into our players, but the defence was extremely poor here. Keane must have been rubbing his hands at what he was seeing; they were carving us open time after time. The remainder of the half followed that kind of pattern,
and I really can’t think of a QPR defence ever lacking so much
confidence as I saw yesterday. It was typified when Quashie picked
the ball up just on the edge of the box, after it was pushed out
by Gorkss. Without looking, he turned towards the Ellerslie Road
stand and blasted the ball out for a throw in. Plenty more anger
was being vented his way, and while nothing resulted from this throw
in, you do question how such a simple mistake could be made…
and it was no one off either. Similar kinds of things were happening
all over the pitch, and I think it would be fairly safe to assume
that there was little/no communication between the players at all.
We did muster one further effort on goal just before
the break, as Ephraim’s free-kick was met by Stewart, but unfortunately
the ball landed on the roof of the net. The half time came shortly
after, and a loud chorus of boo’s rang out from all areas of
the ground. The second half however was a complete contrast to that in the first. Harford made a couple of changes with both Buzsaky and Taarabt being introduced at the expense of Ephraim and Quashie. Straight from the kick-off, we looked a completely different side. After Taarabt had beaten a player along the half way line, he passed to Faurlin who played Simpson in behind the defence. Simpson found himself at a tight angle, but he really got hold of his shot and the keeper punched it over the bar for a corner kick. It would have been some goal had it crept in. As mentioned earlier in the report about the support, literally right from the kick off we all seemed to want the same thing. The noise levels were pumped right up, and you felt that maybe if we could nick a goal… well who knows!? Taarabt was looking extremely sharp after being introduced, and it was clear the Ipswich rear guard weren’t enjoying playing against him. After beating two men, he was hauled down on the opposite side and we were awarded a free kick. Buzsaky sent a pearl of a cross into the box, and I think it was Delaney that managed to clip it over the crossbar and out for another corner kick. With Cook jogging over to take the corner, he received a huge ovation by the home support, and really tried to gee us up. Taarabt came short for him, and instantly played the ball back to Cook slightly to the left of the corner flag. He drilled his cross in low, and it somehow managed to find its way through to Simpson… he spun on the spot – and the relief when the ball hit the back of the net was enormous. Finally, we had a little spark and just as importantly, the fans were now fully back on side. The rest of the half was as good as we have played in the previous 6 games or so. There was heart, fight, action… even abit of GOOD football. There were so many chances, we really should have at least managed a draw on the second half performance… But it just wasn’t to be. Had just a couple of minor things been different, I have no doubt that we could possibly be talking about a far more fruitful result. *Sorry that the second half was rushed. But as I sit here at 23:21, I fear what 2 nights with little to no sleep may do to me… I feel shattered as it is! Our day didn’t finish brilliantly either. Once arriving back to Portsmouth, we had to wait for a HGV that delayed our ferry crossing. We eventually got home at 2:45am and after being up for work in the morning (and making up for hours yesterday) I have had very little free time – hence the extremely late report. They always say it never just rains don’t they? Player Ratings – Ikeme – Actually thought that in goal he had a fairly decent game yesterday. I don’t think he had any chance with either of the Ipswich goals, he literally had no defence in front of him. One negative I did pick up on was his distribution, and I can’t really put into words how poor it was. Constantly launching the ball up to Vine who was battling with Delaney… and there was only ever going to be one winner. Literally for the whole second half, you just couldn’t help but sigh with the constant kick in Vine’s direction. I can only assume that this was what Harford instructed him to do? Hill – Really erratic display from him. Some things he did really well, and in possession (at times) he actually used the ball really well. On the flip side, for the majority of the game he was very poor. Being caught out of position, not playing the simple pass… I would have expected much more from him. Also the only player that I have seen slice a pass back to the opposition keeper out for a throw in – that was embarrassing! Faurlin – It always amazes me when some people view him as a waste of space. Another classic Faurlin like performance from him. Putting his boot in, flying in for any challenge he has just the slightest possibility of winning… Just looks so up for the fight. Some of his passing in the second half was just outstanding. A joy to watch at times. Cook – I said a couple of weeks ago that I didn’t want to get too carried away with how sharp he looked, but I’m just starting to get a little bit excited about him now. Yet again, he was probably our man of the match. Running at players, and more often that not beating them coupled with some fantastic crosses into the box. You can’t help but wonder dangerous a fully fit Cook on the left and Routledge on the right could have been. I suppose we won’t ever know. But delighted for him to get an assist, and just hope he carries on with this excellent form he is displaying. Remarkable considering his injury. Buzsaky – I have been calling for him to be dropped for weeks now, so I would guess you are likely getting abit of me ripping into him. But yesterday was the first time that I actually saw a use for him in the side again. His delivery from a couple of free kicks was first class, and he was useful in possession as well. Did a couple of nice runs past people, and always looking for the killer pass. Although it’s been a while, a very encouraging display from him. Taarabt – Ipswich just couldn’t handle him. Should have started over Bent without a doubt. Always looked lively, and for once was letting go of the ball as well. If Harford has any sense – he will start him against Coventry. Simpson – Ran his heart out for us yesterday. I know there was little mutterings of a bust up with Harford about not being picked, and while I don’t agree with him complaining about not starting… I fully appreciate where he is coming from. He is hands down our best striker, and like Taarabt he should be starting near on every game IMO. Finished his goal well and always fancied him to score if given the chance. Should have put his header in the first half away though. Vine – I’ll just start by saying that before I comment on his performance, I do understand his long term injury etc, and that is has clearly hampered his game. But he should not have played yesterday. He came on at Peterborough and looked poor, and I didn’t see much improvement yesterday. How you can have Taarabt sat on the bench and have Vine on the pitch baffles me. No idea what Harford was thinking? He needs to be playing week in week out. A loan to another club with the guarantee of game time will be best for all parties here… We might even see our old Rowan Vine back next season. In summary, looking over the last 3 games the results are alarming. To score one goal against Scunthorpe, Peterborough and Ipswich doesn’t look good at all on paper, and the fact we haven’t even mustered a solitary point does raise question marks about where we will end up this season. On the positive, the final 30 minutes or so against Ipswich were very good. Why the players couldn’t start on the front foot like that I don’t know, but I would like to think that they will take some form of confidence from that. Any other day we would likely have got a draw, maybe even a win… Another positive is that for that second half at least, QPR was united and we were all pulling in the same direction. Loftus Road was once again a hostile place for the visitors, and I just hope that we can replicate that in the coming fixtures. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us get a win against Coventry, the signs are there. But there are no two ways about it – we desperately need something to go for us! Please please get behind the players, they need our
support now. Forget booing and protesting… Let’s back
them and see where it takes us.
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