A huge outlay but still nil return

Match Review: QPR 0-0 Norwich

After another Transfer Deadline Day with no shortage of drama at Loftus Road and more silly prices and wages being dished out to more 'has been' players or players way out of our league if it wasn't for the money, there is still no change in luck on the pitch for the hopeless Hoops, as they squandered another opportunity for three points that, looking at the fixture list ahead, they really needed to take.

Deadline day signings Andros Townsend (who I personally have never rated having seen him go on loan to almost every Championship club and look every bit an average Championship player) replaced the completely off the boil Granero, whilst Christopher Samba replaced Toronto bound Ryan Nelsen. The other changes were forced by injuries to Nedum Onuoha, who has produced his best displays in a blue and white hooped shirt since returning from compassionate leave, and Loïc Rémy, the striker whose goals we have pinned all of our survival hopes on. In came SWP whilst Fabio was switched to right back. 

Both sides came into the game short of goals and with Rémy injured, Rangers started with Jamie Mackie as their lone striker which looked toothless and a negative set up even before it began. Norwich had their signing Becchio on the bench with part-time traffic island Grant Holt starting up top for them.

The first half was instantly forgettable. A low quality affair served up by two nervous teams. Amongst the yawns, the few moments of quality came through Taarabt for Rangers and Snodgrass for the Canaries, who looked a real quality player, but then again so do most wingers when they face Armand Traore! Neither keeper made any saves of note with off target long range efforts, scuffed shots and weak headers the order of the day. Mbia was booked on a totting up basis for a number of silly tugs to further break up any vaguely coherent moves. Free kicks were conceded in non-threatening positions and the quality of delivery from all set pieces was poor. Despite the low key proceedings and lack of any controversy whatsoever, motor-mouth Holt still found it necessary to confront headmaster referee Jon Moss as they walked off at half time.

The second half just had to be an improvement and it was. Rangers were much more positive and on 46 minutes Garrido conceded a cheap free kick to SWP. Taarabt's delivery was much improved but, not for the last time, the lack of determination to get on the end of it meant that it sailed through the six yard box without anyone getting a vital touch. But it wasn't all at one end and QPR's fragile defence needed Julio Cesar to make a fabulous one-handed reaction save to keep out Wes Hoolahan's close-range flicked effort. Cesar also made a decent stop from Bradley Johnson. Norwich were committed and niggly but gradually QPR began to get on top. The game's pivotal moment arrived in the 55th minute. Jamie Mackie, isolated and muted all game, found himself chasing a poor backpass by Garrido and was fouled by keeper Mark Bunn for a penalty. Ironically, Rangers' only other penalty this season was at Norwich away, where Cisse's effort was saved before Zamora scored the rebound. Sadly, Taarabt's shot was too close to the diving Bunn and this time the effort was turned round the post. Taarabt held his head in his hands, knowing the golden chance had gone, and as often happens when something doesn't go right for him in a game, he lost his way a little. He did still manage another couple of efforts, a free kick and a driven shot but as he faded from the game, so did QPR. Townsend showed some good energy down the left and with Zamora introduced for SWP had a different kind of target to aim for. Admittedly, Zamora actually looked more of a handful than the disinterested man who said he plays football 'because it is my job' before his injury, and his introduction did seem to cause Norwich to become very physical and pick up bookings for rash challenges. Jermaine Jenas and Tal Ben Haim came on for Mbia and Fabio as Harry tried his utmost to give Norwich different questions to answer but Rangers offered nothing in the way of a killer pass and were always short of bodies in the box. 

And so it ended 0-0, an improved second half offering some entertainment, but not disguising two teams low on confidence and out of form. The new boys did well but the lack of attacking threat and Norwich's lack of ambition meant that a stalemate was always likely. It's not quite all over yet for Rangers,  but games are running out and the gap is not narrowing. The immediate worry has to be just how long Rémy and Onuoha will be out of action. 

Man of the match: I still can't look beyond Julio Cesar as his exceptional shot stopping continues to ensure the clean sheets on which the unbeaten league run this year is founded. "Triffic" stuff from QPR's first ever Brazilian international.

Rangers clip AVB's wingers

Match Review: QPR 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Queens Park Rangers continued their recent revival in front of the Sky Sports cameras for this twice rescheduled fixture (I hate the power they have sometimes, they completely mug fans off, it is they that I think should be subsidising away fans given the amount of crap they have to go through when a game gets rescheduled!)

Rangers kicked off this lunchtime fixture with one change to the starting eleven who had brought back three points from Stamford Bridge, Ji-Sung Park returning from injury replacing the now injured Granero to the delight of the Korean contingent in the stands. Spurs were at full strength (unless missing Kaboul counts?) and both Parker and Assou-Ekotto were available on the bench. 

Spurs looked the brighter in the opening stages and on 5 minutes Defoe was allowed to drift inside and unload a fierce shot from 18 yards which Cesar did magnificently to touch onto the post. Adebayor picked up the rebound and beat Clint Hill but also saw his effort turned away by the Rangers keeper. Shortly afterwards Aaron Lennon made a shameful Ashley Young-like dive which wasn't punished by referee Lee Probert. Probert is famous at Loftus Road for once sending off mascot Jude the cat because he was confusing him with the other eleven QPR players on the field at the time! On 11 minutes SWP showed some renewed confidence and went on a jinking run and had his goalbound shot deflected just wide by Dawson. Much of the rest of the first half saw Tottenham stroking the ball around well but continuing to meet stiff QPR resistance from the determined back four well protected by Derry and Mbia. Rangers were also defending well from the front with Mackie, SWP and Taarabt all working hard to close down opponents. Spurs were probably guilty of lacking ambition as neither of their full backs showed much in the way of attacking intent. Bale was busy but delivered no end product on the left but Lennon faded from the game. Both were well chaperoned as Fabio and Onuoha gave probably their best Hooped performances to date.

Halfway through the first half Sandro was replaced by Parker. This seemed to coincide with Ji-Sung Park transforming from a promising showing of harrying and probing to a frustrated figure who always seemed to arrive on the scene two seconds after the action had moved on. Basically for the next 67 minutes, he ran around a lot but had no impact on the game.

Dembele versus Mbia was a good contest with the Belgian well shackled by the Cameroonian for the most part and, particularly in the first half, the Rangers powerhouse was able to charge forward on some of his buccaneering runs.

After the break Spurs controlled the game for 15 minutes or so with QPR unable to get any decent possession in attacking areas, despite Taarabt's continued excellent hold-up play. He was isolated as the supporting players were fully stretched defending but to his credit he showed a level of maturity without the ball and without any support which we rarely saw from him in the Championship and last season. In spite of this, Tottenham did not really work Cesar with the closest attempt being a Kyle Walker free kick from range. Rangers came back into the game with Fabio and SWP having chances to score but when they did get forward there were no bodies in the box. Dempsey and Sigurdsson (that's probably Icelandic for Smith) came on as Spurs also began to look as if they would settle for a point. An outrageous piece of skill saw SWP mug Bale tight on the touchline as QPR pushed on. On 85 minutes Mbia collided with Lloris after the whistle had been blown. 3 minutes later when Big Steph had stopped rolling over, Probert arrived to declare all life extinct as Mbia lay motionless. In a moment of pure eschatology (look it up), Mbia was risen from the dead and rejoined the match as if nothing had happened. You've gotta love the big guy, and I forgot to mention that he continued his world record attempt to be booked for ridiculous infringements in the 69th minute when he added a nonchalant handball to his repertoire.

No further action of note and nil nil was probably a fair result. Spurs are third (fourth now) in the EPL for a reason and they have bags more quality than QPR, which showed here throughout. The R's were set up to defend and try and nick a goal from a set piece. If Tottenham had scored Rangers would have been scuppered, but they didn't, so 4 points from two derbies is an excellent return. So on we go to Upton Park (via a FA Cup replay that nobody wants) for jellied eels all round.

Man of the match: There were some stellar performances in the Rangers back line and a dogged display in midfield, so this, for once, is a very tough one to call. But I'll hand it to Julio Cesar, without whom QPR would have definitely let in a goal and heads would have dropped. That's back to back clean sheets in the league for the Brazilian.

Finally, a quick line for some of our new readers: Spurs have been linked with Kazakh playmaker Dmitry Byakov, who could make all the difference as they push to secure Champions League qualification. Вы услышали это здесь в первую очередь.

C

Houdini needs time, but does he have any?

Match Review: QPR 1-1 Aston Villa

And so another 'must win, will win' fixture passes. Gameweek 15 of the Premier League and QPR are still without that elusive first victory. This was another they probably ought to have gone on to win, but the chronic imbalance of the side built by Hughes still shows, badly!

Harry started his tenure positively with a clean sheet and away point at a ground where QPR have had little luck over the past few years. However, Sunderland were also extremely out of sorts and you sensed that that was the Rs' best chance yet of winning at the Stadium of Light for the first time. So, with a motivated team playing for their places under the new boss and with the promise of some fight and passion, R's fans headed to Loftus Road for the game against the Villans in far better spirit than they would have had Sparky still been in charge. This wasn't going to be an easy game though; Villa might not be setting the world alight right now but they will have taken plenty of heart from recent displays against Manchester United and Arsenal and they will have benefited from the morale boost that comes with a late winner (as they had had midweek against Reading). Add to this Paul 'look how far I've come' Lambert's good record as a manager against the Superhoops and the fact that the R's team still comprised the same faces and same ability, fans had every right to be very cautious with their optimism.

QPR were forced into one change and made one other to the side that earned the point up at Sunderland. Rob Green, who was frozen out and in many eyes treated badly by Hughes, especially given that Cesar hadn't covered himself in glory in recent games, was back. The 'England keeper' (his agent asked me to call him that) returned between the sticks at Loftus Road to loud cheers and applause and he clearly appreciated the support he was getting. Not quite so warm was the reception given to Shaun Wright-Phillips, himself making a first start in over a month. Whilst both players have failed to live up to their billing so far when pulling on the Hoops, it would be harsh to slate Greeno for one bad (albeit woefully bad) performance and you can understand the sympathy offered by R's fans. The same can't be said of little SWP, who has, aside from his debut performance at home to Newcastle last season, been nothing like the player we were promised. Still, Harry's the boss, he makes the decisions, so we'd best get behind the team...

Greeno is back

I'm sure that every opposition manager tells his side to get in the faces of QPR during the opening exchanges and come out of the traps all guns blazing. QPR just don't find any time to settle and even after a bright start here they showed signs of being vulnerable at the back. The game was only eight minutes old and the R's were one down again, and unfortunately for Greeno we were reminded why he lost his place in the lineup. The blame can't all be put at the gloves of Green though - the R's defence were the usual shambles we've come to expect. Villa were pinging the ball around on the edge of the QPR area which through a combination of a few passes and, admittedly, some ricochets that only go against you when you're at the bottom of the league, the ball landed at an unmarked Brett Holman around 25 yards from goal. Mbia stood off his man and Holman let fly with a shot which the 'England keeper' should probably have done better with. This reminded me of the first goal Swansea scored against him in his opening day nightmare, where he was only able to palm the ball into the net rather than tip it round the post. So here we were again, 1-0 down early on due to poor defending and the clean sheet from Wednesday night was all forgotten.

This shushed what had been a buoyant home crowd who quickly realised that Harry Redknapp can't in fact perform miracles overnight. But ten minutes later we dared to believe he could again: that well-known excellent crosser Samba Diakite swiped the ball with his right boot to deliver a perfect centre onto Jamie Mackie's nut. Mackie, under intense pressure, in turn produced an excellent twisting header which went straight in the top corner. This will have had Harry purring, for he dropped the disinterested Djibril Cisse in favour of playing a determined Jamie Mackie as a lone striker and he was rewarded for his decision with a goal from the fan's favourite.

The Brummies were almost in front again moments after the equaliser: they broke at speed down the right hand side and a cross was headed in by the livewire Christian Benteke, only to be accompanied by a correct offside decision from the linesman. It's fair to say that Benteke has been Villa's biggest threat this season given the continued absence of top marksman Darren Bent for reasons only known by Paul Lambert. His hold up play and technique for a big striker of just 22 is second to none and he is clearly to Aston Villa what Ricky Lambert is to Southampton - a focal point.

For the remainder of the half Villa continued to test the centre back pairing of Ryan Nelsen and Clint Hill, who incidentally have a combined age of 69 and both have the pace of someone that age. Who would have thought that this would be the best partnership we have at the back in a Premier League side in 2012? "That's why we're going down". Well it isn't the only reason... Another is that we don't create many chances and when we finally do we often have nobody in the right place or with the ability to finish them. Shaun Wright-Phillips actually managed to get himself in a striker's position in this game as he was clearly told to run through the middle and latch on to through balls. But unfortunately for the wee man, he couldn't finish a happy meal! In the space of perhaps five first half minutes, he had two golden chances which at this level you just have to be taking! The first came from a ball lofted forward by Esteban Granero, who created a similar chance finished by Adel Taarabt at The Hawthorns a few weeks back. But where Taarabt succeeded with excellent technique, skill and a finish to match, SWP failed miserably, instead firing straight at an on-rushing Brad Guzan when one on one. The second chance was created by Stephane Mbia, himself showing some nice touches playing in a central midfield position. Mbia's through ball released SWP who elected to hit the ball first time when he probably could have afforded to take a touch and control the ball first. The effort, in his defence, was a good one and he was unlucky as it hit the post and bounced away to safety. You could say I'm being harsh with all my criticism of the diminutive winger, but when you pay several million pounds for a Premier League footballer and then pay him several tens of thousands of pounds per week in wages, you are entitled to expect better. In fairness to him, this was the liveliest I've seen him in ages, but still nowhere near the standard required to get into any other Premier League lineup. Just what people like he and Bosingwa have done to deserve places in this lineup, or in fact the QPR squad, I will never know. Maybe they're amazing in training? I don't think so somehow.

As QPR were in the ascendancy a nasty looking collision took the wind out of their sails. Stephane Mbia had to be stretchered off after clashing with a Villa player when challenging for the ball. This had the effect of galvanising the away side, who had two decent chances of their own before the extended first half was brought to an end. Agbonlahor had a good effort saved by Green whilst Brett Holman found himself in a similar shooting position to the one he had for the goal, but this time ended up ballooning it high into the away end. At half time, I was left pondering the continued selection of players who seem to be in the QPR lineup because of their names and reputations from playing at former clubs (though I'm too courteous to mention any names, Shaun, Jose). If Esteban Granero continues to put in the amount of effort he has of late then he'll soon be in this category too. I've had enough of watching him turning in circles on the halfway line to keep the ball, his sideways passing and his static-ness off the ball.

Granero in fact paid the price for his poor first half showing here, as the ruthless Redknapp hooked him in favour of Ji-Sung Park, who was returning from injury to the delight of the Koreans in the home crowd who come each week religiously to see him not appear on the teamsheet. The R's dominated the second half and to their credit looked tighter at the back; I don't actually recall Rob Green having to make a save. But once again, for all their neat build up play, there was no end product, and hardly any chances created. QPR developed an annoying habit under Hughes of playing sideways football on the edge of the box, and this continued here as they struggled to find anyone other than Mackie to run around in the Villa penalty area. Mackie was clearly identified at half time as the only real threat by Lambert and Villa cut off the supply to him and marked him out of this second half. I can't help but think that any other managers watching on will now know to do the same. Ji-Sung Park had one good chance but took far too much time over it. Wright-Phillips summed his QPR career up by inexplicably falling over when under no pressure and when about to set himself for a shot at goal. Clint Hill came closest with a header onto the crossbar but this was a difficult chance and the guy has never scored a Premier League goal (well he has scored one, but it "didn't cross the line").

And that was about it for QPR chances. The R's brought on Junior Hoilett in an attempt to find a winner but he did absolutely nothing after coming on and I'd much rather have seen Djibril Cisse give Villa someone other than Mackie to mark. This Villa side looked beatable and offered very little - this is precisely the sort of team we should be getting three points against. Villa offered virtually nothing up front in the second half. QPR's strategy to deal with Benteke clearly worked and Gabriel Agbonlahor - once the rising star of England and the face of Nike - looked lethargic and as though he was carrying a lot of timber. Karim El Ahmadi was brought on late on by Villa and he had a pop at goal from outside the area which wasn't far away but didn't have Green worried.

So all in all this was an OK start from Redknapp who at least seems to have stopped the rot, but will come up against much sterner tests than this in his managerial reign. QPR dominated the second half in particular but never really looked like they'd score the winning goal, a story of much of the early season. If only Hughes had invested in strikers that could stay fit and not sell those who scored goals for us last season! Harry has  much to fix here, and I fear that even for him this is too much...

Standard handshakes

Man of the match: He may have faded in the second half, but Jamie Mackie is the only player that stood out for me here. His passion, perseverance  determination, modest reputation and modest wage packet are the reasons he is adored by QPR fans, but it is the first three of those qualities that get him so many goals and assists in a league so many feel he isn't good enough for. Redknapp commented after the game that we wouldn't be in this mess 'if we had eleven Jamie Mackie's'. I concur, Harry.  

Still in the job!

Match Review: QPR 1-3 Southampton

Astonishingly, I'm sat here writing this match review and Mark Hughes is still Queens Park Rangers manager and still getting public backing from the 'ambitious' Hoops board!

I absolutely hate watching Match of the Day at the moment. Particularly the end credits. I've switched it off by that point. You see, when Gary says "before we go there's time to take a quick look at the league table", I'd rather not, so I grab the remote. This week I stopped listening when Lineker introduced the "bottom of the table clash" - I couldn't bare to watch that again. For what happened at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon was embarrassing at the top level of English football. At this rate, Derby County's record low points total is under serious threat!

The afternoon began badly with news that yet again we were going with one up front, and Zamora's name wasn't even among the subs list - it now transpires he'll be out for three months, no big loss to be honest... Hughes really shot himself in the foot letting Helguson go and taking on just Andy Johnson as intended cover for the lazy duo of Zamora and Cisse - a crazy decision and one that has left us very very thin on the ground indeed up front.

And on the pitch itself the afternoon just got worse and worse. The game which was a must-win and will-win certainly didn't look like the walk in the park it was built up to be. Southampton looked far better, far more coherent and far more determined in the opening exchanges which is absolutely criminal for such a crucial clash for which we had a sell out home crowd. QPR were seeing hardly any of the ball and chasing the game right from the first minute. In the 8th minute, Saints began to show what their attack is capable of - an inviting ball was whipped in by QPR reject Jason Puncheon and missed everyone, including all of the static R's back line and Julio Cesar who reacted late. It hit the post and bounced away with Adam Lallana unmarked and inches away from diverting it goalbound. Another week without any defending coached at training then? Ferdinand and Bosingwa just looked at each other.

Southampton even had time to hit the woodwork again before eventually getting the goal their positive approach and QPR's dire defending merited. Poor marking allowed the Saints to do as they pleased in the QPR penalty area and, after a corner was only partially cleared, the ball was chipped back in, played to the side and then a cross put in with Cesar out of position for Rickie Lambert, unmarked and the most prominent aerial threat in the Reds' lineup, to head home from less than one yard out. Unmarked and one yard from goal? Utterly ridiculous. But such are QPR currently. At this point the support of the fans was well and truly waning - probably because we've seen this comedy defending every week since drawing with Chelsea this campaign and still nothing has been done about it. Southampton had scored 40% of their goals all season from headers this season - surely someone in Hughes' coaching staff will have picked that up and researched Rickie Lambert's game?!

The rest of the half was shocking from the home side. The passing was disjointed and positional play atrocious. Cesar insisted on booting the ball route one but Cisse couldn't be bothered to try to challenge for it or run after it. Ferdinand won hardly any headers and allowed Rickie Lambert to be the focal point of Southampton's play, which is what their gameplan relies upon. Granero looked lost out on the wing and clearly didn't want to be there, meaning it was thrust upon Bosingwa to be the creative source down the right hand side - a man without a single creative bone in his body and crossing ability worse than most goalkeepers. Bosingwa resorted to wayward hoofs, one even sliced so badly that it went out for a throw in, but didn't look in the slightest bit bothered by how awful his play is - he's earning a silly amount of money and has already won plenty of trophies, so why bother eh? Sod off back to Chelsea, will you?

Hughes at least recognised the last woeful tactical decision on that list his at half time and took off Alejandro Faurlin, who has been brought back into the lineup of late because he is a fans favourite and was beginning to show signs of discontent at being left out of a struggling side (as I've said before, central midfield is our strongest area).

But the change was too late as the inevitable 2nd was netted before half time. Rangers and not long ago Southampton reject Puncheon was being allowed the freedom of the ground he used to play so poorly on and after a neat bit of skill to shrug off a half-hearted QPR challenge from Clyne, he picked up the ball, ran a couple of yards to a point where he had a clear sight of goal and nobody tracking him, and slammed the ball home from 25 yards beyond the late dive of Cesar. At half time, the crowd booed the side off, called for Hughes' head and elected to sympathise with Ryan Nelsen, the one shining light in our defence this season, who must be wondering what he's done wrong in life to deserve to play in this team.

Faurlin's replacement at half time was Jamie Mackie, a member of the old guard and still much loved by QPR fans for his positive mental attitude and the fact that he runs at defenders with or without the ball. His presence on the field lifted the crowd and lifted the players who turned up the heat for five minutes and earned a goal back for their efforts - a fine ball in from Taarabt, who had been far too quiet up to this point, caught out the Saints defence and forced Paolo Gazzaniga into no mans land. There, he met Junior Hoilett, who outjumped his tame effort at commanding his area and headed into the empty net. Where did this tempo come from? The goal told us what we all knew - Southampton's attack might be Premier League standard, but they rely very heavily on it to carry them through games because their defence is shambolic. Game on and the impetus with the home side, or so we thought...

No.

Incredibly, QPR couldn't cause any further trouble to what is supposedly the league's leakiest defence and worst side on paper, and it was the away side who looked the more likely after the goal. Rickie Lambert was continuing to play knock-downs and run the show from the top for the Saints because the QPR defence allowed him to. He caused havoc every time a ball was played into his path and forced a series of corners and sustained period of pressure, which eventually told when Morgan Schneiderlin was allowed to run from the right hand side in towards goal in a straight time and produce a killer ball into the area where Cesar was standing. For some reason he just loves the near post position, but unfortunately so do defenders and this time the near post guard role was duplicated by the keeper and defender. A comedy of errors then followed, where the lack of communication between the two lead to Scooby Doo putting through his own net to sum up his abject display. Ferdinand just hasn't looked like the player he did in his early QPR days and looks lazier by the week. I'll be glad when Stephane Mbia returns at Old Trafford next week, but his short fuse doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either!

This was a totally unacceptable, gutless, spineless display to round of a series of failings from the team, who are just as much to blame as their manager, don't get me wrong. But Hughes just had to go after this one, yet he hasn't! The lack of testing the opposition's keeper was what angered me most in this latest installment. The full time whistle was met by a chorus of boos and all players bar Mackie and Nelsen were snubbed by the fans at the end. QPR are now six points from safety and only twelve games have passed. Disgusting, especially given the outlay this Summer on players we didn't even need on the face of it, certainly not in our starting lineup!

But I guess all this negativity needs some perspective doesn't it? It was only ten years ago this weekend just gone that the R's suffered the ultimate humiliation, the lowest point in their history - Vauxhall Motors. I still get flashbacks to that today and with defending like we have done in recent times I wouldn't mind betting they would do us again now! Oh, and seeing as we're talking anniversaries, this weekend just gone also marked a year since our last win away from home in the league. Now that's perspective, as we have a true means of comparison in terms of resources. But not a comparable playing squad: we didn't have many big names or foreign 'next big things' in our lineup that day, we had a team of seasoned football league camapaigners who are renowned triers, many of whom had earned their right in the promotion winning season or through hard graft in long careers to play in the Premier League. And, Joey Barton and SWP aside, most were on modest wages. I can only imagine what we could have done with a Helguson or Smith in our side on Saturday, even an in-form DJ Campbell who has rediscovered his love for football again having been left in the wilderness by the club he supports and wants to play for! Neil, we were wrong, please come back and save us from Sparky and his overpaid bunch of layabouts!!

Man of the match: Ryan Nelsen - he plays on his own, you know. Feel massively sorry for him, as he's clearly a top pro and deserves to play in a team with top pro's, but has to make do with this bunch of big time Charlie's.

I should have known...

Match Review: QPR 2-3 Fake Hoops

Surprise surprise, QPR are out of the Capital One Cup! And unfortunately, I was there to suffer it...

This was a repeat of just about every home cup tie performance against inferior opposition that QPR have had over the past few years, bar Carlisle and Walsall at home (the latter, coincidentally, one I deliberately missed for the very reason above). I've seen QPR lose to Rochdale, Port Vale, Sheffield United, Northampton, Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town. I've even seen Accrington Stanley run them close. But I was lured to this game because they promised it would be different. This game they promised they would play the strongest available side (which they did). This game they promised me a ten pound ticket and extra loyalty points (which they did). And this game they promised me they'd turn in a 90 minute performance, which they most certainly didn't... In fact, I'd go as far as saying they put in about fifteen minutes of a performance.

The game started in a similar vein to the last two league games - QPR in the ascendancy and playing nice football, particularly in the middle of the park. Stephane Mbia was making his full Hoops debut and showed some assured touches, leading the couple behind me to repeatedly turn to each other to remark on how well he reads the game (obviously know his ability well after watching him for five minutes). And just like there has been in the last few games, there was yet another early injury - this time just 52 seconds in Junior Hoilett went down in pain. Thankfully, after some delay he was able to return to the pitch and went on to score the opener after 14 minutes. He beat two Reading defenders who tried to slide in on him in desperation before firing low into the far corner with an accurate finish. This was all very promising - we'd started well and even had a goal to show for our efforts, and looked as though we could now go on and win the game comfortably. But I'd forgotten to factor in the current worrying tendency of this R's team to switch off completely in the aftermath of a goal scored. A needless free kick was given away about thirty yards from goal, which Nicky Shorey (who always saves his best for us) swung in and was met by Kaspars Gorkss, who had the freedom of the QPR penalty area to manouvre himself and powerfully head home. 

Reading had barely threatened up to this point but this gave them something to work with in the game. They responded by upping their tempo. QPR still looked a technically better side, but what Reading didn't have in quality they made up for in determination and they just ran and ran to put pressure on QPR's midfield when they didn't have the ball. This knocked the R's out of their stride and the first half performance was increasingly disjointed. Worryingly, Mbia picked up a yellow card and looked as though he would get himself sent off. Whilst Jamie Mackie was offering very little in attack, and also offered absolutely nothing in defence, prompting Clint Hill to have a 'quiet word' during a break in the play. As the half wore on, Mbia's performance increasingly reminded me of the debut of Samba Diakite, who completely lost his head to get himself sent off for two bookings after just 30 minutes on that day at home to Fulham. What is it with defensive players from the French league being so eccentric? 

At half time it was anyone's game, but Reading will have been the happier with their first half performance, and you'd have expected Mark Hughes to tell his players to up their tempo and get a grip on the game. But they came out looking more disjointed than when they went in. Park lost his magic touch, Granero was shot shy and Hoilett was taking an age to set himself to shoot or even pass, a crime he was guilty of on Sunday at White Hart Lane. Jamie Mackie also continued to have a shocker.  

The referee, Roger East, was becoming more and more fussy, but this could partly be attributed to Reading increasingly employing their renowned Championship tactic of getting in his ear at every opportunity (something Mr East will no doubt have been used to, after being promoted, like Reading, to the top flight this season). The usual perpetrator in chief, Jem Karacan, had taken centre stage and began to referee the game himself, reminding QPR fans what a serial moaner, ridiculous feigner of injury and all round complete tart he is. He plays football how you'd imagine the characterless, always hard done by Brian McDermott would play.

For the whole game so far, Djibril Cisse had continued to look off the boil. He chose not to try and take on a defender with his undoubted pace but instead to shoot wildly from distance with shots that ended up closer to the corner flag, presumably of the belief that eventually one would go in. And on 72 minutes, after the QPR fans had vented their frustration with these continuous distant hit and hopes, one did indeed go in. A real rocket into the top right corner that gave McCarthy no chance (who had probably been lulled into a false sense of security by Cisse's earlier efforts). Typical!

Now it seemed the Superhoops would go on and win comfortably and Djibril had the goal he needed to get his hunger back again after having looked a bit sorry for himself ever since missing a penalty at Norwich away. But yet they didn't go on and win, because nothing's quite as straight forward as that at QPR. Again QPR were caught napping after scoring and gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position (although this one was earned by the well known extra from Platoon, Jay Tabb). Shorey again stepped up and scored with an excellent strike that went in off the bar. 

This time QPR looked shaken, panicky and subsequently neglected to defend altogether for Reading's third. The Royals broke down the left hand side and the R's sent two defenders over to deal with the same ball, leaving two biscuit boys at the far post with all the time in the world to beat Julio Cesar from about four yards from goal (Pogrebnyak did the honours). Absolutely shambolic defending, but then again, this is QPR in the cup, I should have seen it coming. Reading successfully saw out the last ten minutes through a combination of timewasting, cramping up and winning cheap free kicks off their officiating friend. There was even time for them to win what was a seemingly inevitable penalty off of him (right decision, though, this time!), which Cesar encouragingly managed to beat away very well indeed. However QPR failed to take advantage and disappointingly didn't force McCarthy into any further saves.

The concern is that this team is the strongest we have for the foreseeable future, and if we can't beat the poorest side the Premier League has to offer, then where are the points going to come from? Somehow, I'm still convinced we'll come good... Probably... Maybe...

Cesar had an eventful night, shipping three and saving a penalty, but could hardly be blamed for the outcome

Man of the match: For the first time this season, I'm going to give this to an opposition player because the QPR team was devoid of any performers warranting of the status. Kaspars Gorkss was colossal on his return to Loftus Road for Reading and had Cisse and Zamora in his pocket all game. I also always admire footballers that show respect to their former clubs when they score and the Latvian did just that after scoring the 1st. Letting him go and keeping Fitz Hall was Neil Warnock's biggest mistake, in my opinion. Having said that, we were far too kind to him on the night and he will be given much sterner tests this season.

C