Since we last wrote one of these, there's been a lot of water go under the bridge in various towns and cities in the UK but plenty in the footballing world too, arguably the most to have flowed through Loftus Road.
'Arry is back in football, the rumours were true. You can't help but think Gary Lineker might have known something was going on when he asked Redknapp on Match of the Day a couple of weeks ago whether he fancied the QPR job. Sparky finally lost his job just prior to the away fixture at Old Trafford (he should really have gone immediately after the dismal display against Southampton, but we can only assume the delay was in agreeing a provisional deal for the 65-year old former West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton and Spurs manager). Yet again Hughes' words came back to haunt him it seems - he claimed his future would not rest on the result against Southampton, just like he claimed QPR would never be in a position so close to the Premier League trap door again during his tenure at the club. He was so so wrong on both counts.
My personal take on the appointment of Harry is that he is the only man that was available that was right for the job. Much has been made of his ability to galvanise struggling teams and galvanising is precisely what Rangers need right now. Hughes might not have 'lost the dressing room' but he hardly strikes me as a motivator and a motivating, no-nonsense approach is what some of those lazy over paid lard-arses need right now. He showed straight away against Sunderland that he is quite happy to drop some of the Hughes favourites like Ferdinand and Granero and play players in different positions (e.g. Mbia in central midfield). Whilst some will say that Hughes wasn't given enough time to find his best eleven, my counter-argument is that he didn't experiment enough: he had his favourites and seemed so intent on playing only one up front and his many midfielders in positions they were not familiar with. A clean sheet is a good start, but there is undoubtedly a lot of work to do. Several of my colleagues and friends have told me that they *think* Harry is a good appointment but will reserve judgment for now because QPR's defence and attack are so woeful currently. Others have said that Harry will want to spend big in January, Fernandes will back him but we are on the road to bankruptcy. I'm not sure about that: I think people take Fernandes for a mug - he's not got to where he is as a businessman now only to go and blow it all on a football team. And then there are those that are telling me 'for every Portsmouth and Spurs relegation escape there's the job he did at Southampton'. We'll have to see, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I have to admit that with the next three fixtures against Aston Villa (H), Wigan (A) and Fulham (H) and then Newcastle away (who haven't been at their best of late), December is crucial. Harry will have to get the most out of the team he has inherited, which have thus far massively under-performed. So you'll have to come back and ask me whether it's a good appointment on New Year's Eve.
West Brom v Stoke
Some people say that bogey teams don't exist in football any more. Just ask West Brom fans about bogey sides and they will all tell you that theirs is their Staffordshire rival the Potters. Stoke have won all of their Premier League away encounters at The Hawthorns and have not lost there in nine years. West Brom won at the Britannia last season to record their first win against Stoke in any competition for 11 games. And the omens aren't looking good for the Baggies for this one - they were outplayed by a classy Swansea side the other day whilst Stoke finished their match against Newcastle strongly and scored two excellent goals (well by their standards anyway!). Having said that, West Brom have looked a different proposition at home this year to what they were last year and I think they have enough in their side to bounce back with three points here.
Prediction: West Brom 2-1 Stoke
West Ham v Chelsea
Some people say that bogey teams don't exist in football any more. Just ask West Brom fans about bogey sides and they will all tell you that theirs is their Staffordshire rival the Potters. Stoke have won all of their Premier League away encounters at The Hawthorns and have not lost there in nine years. West Brom won at the Britannia last season to record their first win against Stoke in any competition for 11 games. And the omens aren't looking good for the Baggies for this one - they were outplayed by a classy Swansea side the other day whilst Stoke finished their match against Newcastle strongly and scored two excellent goals (well by their standards anyway!). Having said that, West Brom have looked a different proposition at home this year to what they were last year and I think they have enough in their side to bounce back with three points here.
Prediction: West Brom 2-1 Stoke
West Ham v Chelsea
The rozzers will be on high alert in East London this weekend for the traditionally hoolie-heavy fixture of West Ham v Chelsea. Rafa goes into this one looking for a first win as Chelsea boss and can expect an uncomfortable 90 minutes of taunts from the home fans as well as boos from his own but although I can see them going 1 down, I think he will answer some critics (in the media at least) by bringing Torres off the bench and him grabbing a goal. Chelsea have an excellent record against the Hammers and expect this to continue with a point here and a strong finish.
Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Chelsea
Man City v Everton
Another intriguing game in the top flight this weekend is at the Emptihad, where Man City welcome Everton, who have lacked their early season consistency of late. I still fancy them to give Citeh a good game here and can see them registering in the scoring, but ultimately I'm predicting a late winner for the Mancunians. Aguerrrrrrrrrrrrrrro!(?)
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Everton
MK Dons v Wimbledon
This weekend is FA Cup 2nd round weekend, which has thrown up the very interesting tie of MK Dons v Wimbledon. I just fear it has been a bit of a media circus for the away side, who I can't help but think will be overawed by the occasion and suffer a heavy defeat to the experienced seasoned pros of Franchise FC. Judging by their morals, I don't expect many of their die hard fans will be there to see it though, probably just as well!
Prediction: MK Dons 4-0 Wimbledon
Other cup ties this weekend include such all non-league classics as Luton (yes, non-league Luton!) v Dorchester, Harrogate Town v Hastings United and Barrow v Macclesfield whilst poor Bournemouth fans are lumbered with a second trek to Carlisle in one season (once is bad enough for them). Sheffield United v Port Vale should be a decent game with both sides doing well in their respective leagues.
There's a full programme in the Championship this weekend which commenced with Birmingham's 3-2 win over Middlesbrough at St Andrews last night on St Andrews Day. The two stand out games have to be the lunch time kick off between Huddersfield v Leeds and SE25 clash between Crystal Palace and Brighton.
The fire at the John Smith's Stadium has already been stoked by comments from the Leeds hierarchy criticising Simon Grayson's reign at the club, not that any local derby involving Leeds and Neil Warnock needs a fire stoking beforehand. This one's got to be a decent bet for a red card this weekend!
Meanwhile, those lucky enough to be at Selhurst Park this afternoon should see a very different footballing spectacle between two in-form sides. It's an odd rivalry that the two sides share (as Ian Holloway has also highlighted this week) but I liken it a little to that between QPR and Luton; just about close enough geographically and some classic and controversial battles down the years have left scarred relationships between the two sets of fans.
There is a further derby day this weekend and it involves Derby too, who head to the King Power Stadium for the forgotten East Midlands derby against Leicester. The Foxes showed they have ability among their ranks with their win over out of sorts Sheffield Wednesday which J and I both attended last weekend, but they were beaten by a second minute Luciano Becchio penalty at Elland Road midweek. They are very strong at home though (won seven, drawn one, lost one) and should return to winning ways this weekend against a consistently inconsistent Derby side that have won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five games.
Preview of our teams
Manchester United are in Royal Berkshire this weekend as they take on Reading who looked to have turned the corner with their win over Everton but threw away the initiative at Wigan and let in a late goal at Villa Park on Tuesday night. I can't see United having any problem in replicating the Tottenham performance at the Madejski and believe that Reading will be vulnerable to the pace down the wings and technical ability of United's forwards. Sean Morrison and Kaspars Gorkss have done OK against the larger, less skillful attackers in the league this year but been found out by anyone with a bit of technique and pace.
As briefly mentioned above, QPR, the only winless and most hopeless side in the top four divisions, seek to finally record a first league win of the campaign at home to Aston Villa this weekend, who haven't had the best of seasons so far but have produced more encouraging signs of late and ground out a couple of results as they continue treading water. I think as long as QPR deal with Agbonlahor through use of anyone other than Bosingwa, and put players who know about marking from set pieces on and around Christian Benteke, then we really ought to be looking to this fixture to kick our season into gear. Easier said than done with the Hoops though...
Crewe are in 2nd round FA Cup action this weekend as they play host to Burton Albion of League Two. The Alex will be hoping to continue their good form of late which has had much to do with the form of loanee Lauri Dalla Valle. A money spinning tie could then arise from the third round draw on Sunday.
1.FC Union Berlin recorded a fine 2-1 win away at MSV Duisburg and will be hoping that a good run of form on the road eventually translates into some more consistent home form starting with the match at home to Bochum tomorrow. This is followed with next Friday's headline clash at home to unbeaten Kaiserslautern, so three points to carry into that would do most nicely!
So plenty of football to feast on this weekend. Enjoy! C&J
No comments:
Post a Comment