Rangers Cesar point from the champions

Match Review: QPR 0-0 Manchester City

It is staggering to think that QPR fans have only seen eight home league goals this season, but given the circumstances and the season so far I think solid defensive shut-outs and points against the big boys are more welcome than entertainment value right now. As we discovered on transfer deadline day this week, value for money is something QPR don't deliver in any department anyway!

Coming in to this fixture QPR were on a reasonable run of league form , 1 win and 2 draws so far in 2013, albeit with only 2 goals scored but a miserly 1 conceded. Manchester City, on the other hand, had won all 3 fixtures since the turn of the year, scoring 7 to nil against. The R's team was much changed from the McCup humiliation and bizarrely included 2 keepers on the bench, a nice subtle 'I'm down to the bare bones' message from Harry ahead of his second favourite date of the calendar year (the other being 31st August).

In swirling misty rain the game started pretty evenly with most of QPR's play going through Taarabt while City had more possession and attacked in particular down the left hand side. Mbia had his customary early injury scare and lie down before the Champions really began to ask the questions. A succession of inswinging corners were dealt with, some less comfortably than others. It took 16 minutes until Man City played their way through with Aguero getting round the side of Nelsen and attacking the box with a low cross put behind by Hill. Corners continued to rain in from Milner and Silva with Cesar punching or more precisely flapping when under pressure. At the end of this sequence Milner broke in from the left, Silva attracted all 4 of QPRs markers and then when Zabaleta was picked out instead he had acres of space but only hit the bar with his header. Makeshift City centre half Javi Garcia then hit a screamer from fully 35 yards which faded just off target. Later in the half Taarabt barrelled his way through in a counter attacking move and forced Hart to rush out to save. This was a rare moment as by now the R's game plan of soaking up pressure and hoping for Taarabt to slip something through to Remy on the break was obvious. The slick interplay, attacking flair and incredible ball retention of the City players, particularly that of David Silva, showed the gulf in class between the two sides. It was a City onslaught and a goal looked certain.

Mbia, freshly booked for clipping Clichy, lost his footing and Tevez attacked. He found Aguero who hit his shot firm and true but it was turned round by a wonder save from Cesar.  Part 1 was completed at 0-0. Given this was against the Champions, against the wind and effectively with 10 men (as Granero seemed, at times, to be conspiring with his fellow Spaniards Garcia and Silva who had basically run the game), this was no mean feat.

The second half was more of the same but with three slight twists; QPR began to play with a bit more attacking intent and made some chances, referee Dowd started going all 'Big Team' bias and City began to look frustrated. Granero got booked and Remy opened his body to attempt a curler that went too high and wide, but it was still mostly City in the ascendancy. Dzeko was introduced for Nasri but Cesar continued to repel all efforts. Mbia had his second lie down of the evening and when fouled again on 77 minutes Rangers had a slightly off-centre free kick 25 yards out - ideal Taarabt territory. Unfortunately, and not for the first time this season, Granero exerted his seniority and blasted high and wide, prompting angry waving and boos from the terraces. Shortly after Hart had been teased by the crowd for his shampoo endorsements came the first of two controversial penalty claims, one for each side. On 73 minutes Remy was brought down in the box as he cut in from the right but Dowd ignored the appeals (a look at the replay revealed that Remy certainly made the most of it, which perhaps was what made the referee's mind up). On 87 minutes Onuoha looked to foul City bench warmer Scott Sinclair at the far end, but again, with a strong suspicion of evening things out, it wasn't given. In between Cesar had produced another pergunto salvar (that's Brazilian for wonder save) from Silva. Three subs from Harry (Park, Faurlin and Zamora) saw out the 4 minutes of added time. A clean sheet was the least Nelsen deserved on his last appearance and it was down to the stunning efforts of Cesar that this was achieved.

In my calculation of 36, 37, 38 or however many points for safety, I had nothing down for this one, so it represents a good point. Norwich on Saturday, however, will see a whole different level of expectation. Especially with the teams around us continuing to match or better our positive results!

Man of the match: As suggested by the title, it has to be the one Mark Hughes signing who has really lived up to his reputation (well at least in recent weeks). Julio Cesar has frustrated some of the world's best footballers in the last few weeks, conceding just once in the league since the turn of the year. Here he turned in another heroic display, with stunning saves from Barry in the first half and Silva in the second here. 

46 across, 1 down?

Match Report: West Ham 1-1 QPR

Rangers fans will be very satisfied to have come away with a point from the Boleyn Ground, after the Hammers banged at the door relentlessly throughout this ding dong derby.

QPR headed to West Ham for their third league derby game in a row with Loïc Rémy making his debut with a midfielder (Ji-Sung Park) sacrificed to accommodate him. West Ham started brightly mixing attacks through Cole (of the Joe variety) and Jarvis down the wings with direct balls into central areas for their debutante Chamakh to compete against Hill and Nelsen. After just 6 minutes one such attack down the right saw Diame get to the bye-line and play a low dangerous ball all the way across the goal line and out the other side. Cesar saved with his legs, as often appears the case.

Bubbles and snowflakes everywhere

Rangers were meanwhile growing into the game and on two occasions Rémy was flagged offside when running onto through balls from Taarabt. On 14 minutes this combination worked again to deadly effect with Rémy timing his run perfectly and crisply driving past Jaaskelainen for one nil from the edge of the area. A very confident finish which had the Rangers fans instantly singing his name and echoed of Djibril Cisse's debut goals away at Aston Villa last season where investment in a new striker paid immediate dividends. 

I would go as far as saying that Rangers continued to be the marginally better side for the next fifteen minutes following the goal with Taarabt strutting well creating half chances for SWP and Mackie and drawing a booking for a foul by Tomkins. On half an hour Chamakh decided he would audition for Splash but as with each of the previous two derbies, where Bertrand (Chelsea) and Lennon (Spuds) attempted laughable theatrics, the referee failed to punish with a booking.

West Ham were now on the charge and getting plenty of men in the box with Nolan heading over and Mbia appearing from nowhere behind Diame and clearing before he was able to shoot home. Nevertheless, QPR held out and went in at the break one up.

The second half can be summed up in almost a single word: onslaught. At times the Rangers goal led a charmed life with blocks, ricochets and Cesar's legs (again) all keeping the Iron out. Mbia managed to fit in his traditional 'lie in agony on the floor' time after another six yard box scramble. Only when the home fans had been wound up to a frenzy did the Cameroonian get up and walk round to rejoin play at the first opportunity, completely unimpaired. Cesar was busy, occasionally unconventionally (for him) using his hands to save. He also stood up well to the bombardment of crosses into the box from Matt Jarvis, as did Nelsen and Hill. It was extremely disappointing from a Rangers perspective that Redknapp didn't want to cut off the supply by closing down the Irons' wingers. Jarvis in particular was having far too much joy against Nedum Onuoha.

Substitutions aplenty followed as SWP and Mackie were replaced by Traore and Bothroyd for Rangers while Carlton Cole came on for Spam to replace the ineffective Chamakh, who they might as well send back to Arsenal on today's evidence. This seemed to be a game-changer as there was now much more aerial menace and there was a sense of inevitability when the equaliser finally arrived on 68 minutes. Jarvis dinked one up from the left which Carlton Cole headed goalwards. Cesar's diving save left Joe Cole with a tap in and his first West Ham goal for 10 years. Sam Allardyce reckoned West Ham had 46 crosses in the game, so based on the law of probability alone it was always likely that one would result in a goal.

Rangers continued to offer nothing up front with Rémy now anonymous and Taarabt withdrawn for Park as Redknapp demonstrated that leaving with a point was now the aim. Every time they were able to break out of their half (can't have been more than twice in the second half) Rangers looked lost and unsure whether to hold on to the ball or try to set up an attack and go for the win, which often lead to through balls being played with nobody on the end of them or cheap surrendering of possession. West Ham meanwhile continued to chuck it in the mixer but the only real concern was when Cesar was tempted to go walkies from his box but Fabio cleared up behind. Final score 1-1.

So as it turned out, this fixture was very similar to the Cisse debut of around a year ago - the new striker scored with a great goal in the first half and had the fans instantly singing with new found optimism in their voices, only to fade in the second half along with the rest of his team mates and allow the opposition to fight their way back into the game and have the away fans feel lucky to go home with anything. Under normal circumstances 5 points from 3 derby games, two of which were away, would represent a decent return. However, games are fast running out and, despite the positive of being unbeaten in 5 games in 2013 (including the FA Cup sponsored by HMV), Rangers remain 5 points from safety. Next for the Rs are three consecutive home games; FC Franchise (FA Cup (sponsored by Jessops), then Citeh and the Canaries in the EPL.

Man of the Match: One man who continues to shine is goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who showed his best form again here in East London with several 'worldies' to allow the Hoops to come away with a point they didn't deserve. His wobbly days under Hughes seem to be behind him now, fingers crossed his form continues.

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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.

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Lightning definitely doesn't strike twice...

Match Review: QPR 0-3 Liverpool

Ranger's latest attempt to re-start the kick-start to their season took place today in front of the Sky cameras at Loftus Road. But unlike last year's fixture between the two sides which proved the turning point in their season, this one was a disaster...

The team was 'freshened up' by the reintroduction of Julio Cesar in goal after Rob Green's disastrous error versus West Brom, as well as the welcome (on the face of it) return of Onuoha, Nelsen and Diakite outfield.

Rangers were extremely slow out of the blocks and seemed to lack energy and determination right from the first whistle. On 3 minutes a Suarez shot was well saved by Julio Cesar, apparently on his way directly to a festive fancy dress party dressed as a banana. On 10 minutes, Suarez was proving a nuisance once again and mugged Liverpool fan Clint Hill, strode forward unopposed and stroked the ball in for one nil, which silenced the capacity crowd.

Banana man looking beaten before the game has even started!

The game continued with QPR frenetic, and Liverpool controlled and were threatening whenever in possession. At the quarter hour Traore was missing from his full back post as Suarez cut in from the right. His shot across goal was played directly back to him by Onuoha and Rat boy scored again as he continued moving when the QPR defence didn't. What was most remarkable about this is that the goal went down as a Stewart Downing assist - surely the midfielder didn't mean it?

Rangers first attacking spell of any note saw a Taarabt free kick clip the wall on 20 minutes and Mbia attempt an audacious overhead kick. Soon Downing broke down the right again with Traore nowhere in the picture and Nelsen just cleared his own bar. Two minutes later a short corner was played to Gerrard who had all the time he needed to measure up and swing in a perfect cross for the unchallenged Agger to head home for three nil. Liverpool, sensing a score to rival Chelsea's recent eight and Arsenal's seven, pressed on with every attack down either wing causing mayhem. Traore and Onuoha were AWOL from their full back positions almost every time the Scousers attacked, the former having been guilty of neglecting his defensive duties for much of the season so far.

The first half concluded with Mbia, not for the first time, rolling around on the floor like a toddler throwing a tantrum, looking for a free kick that never came. Rangers thoroughly deserved being booed off at half time having offered nothing - no quality, no ideas, no spirit; only three nil was something of a blessing.

For the second half Cisse was withdrawn with the veteran Derry coming on to stiffen up midfield, which will no doubt have angered the Frenchman who will feel he did little to deserve to be hauled off. However this was all about damage limitation now... 

Liverpool felt at 3-0 the game was safe (2-0 wasn't last year was it!) and were now playing in second gear, probably saving themselves for tougher challenges this week versus Sunderland and Mansfield. They also seemed to over-concentrate on trying to set up Suarez for his hat-trick.  In an all-South American duel on a winter's day in miserable England, Cesar saved well from the Uruguayan on 50 minutes. From a short corner on 53 minutes Jordan 'somehow capped by England' Henderson shot over. Mbia picked up his customary booking on 56 minutes, this time for overdoing things in the theatrical department.

A rare Rangers attack on the hour mark saw Traore put in a good cross but Mackie couldn't make a connection. Granero was brought on for QPR and Lucas for Liverpool. Granero's first action was to argue with Taarabt over who should take a freekick. Unfortunately the Spaniard won, and delivered a very poor effort from as decent a shooting position as we had found all game. 

The change meant that Rangers were now playing a bizarre formation with Wright-Phillips at right back, Onuoha and Hill at centre back with Nelsen left back, Traore left wing and Mbia up top with Mackie. Presumably this was down to Redknapp finally realising that it was no good relying on Traore to defend. But after 15 minutes of this experiment clearly not working and Liverpool easily holding Rangers at arms length, SWP was withdrawn as an act of  mercy. Fabio was brought on for the home team and did nothing other than get booked and booed for his Manure links. Lucas was also booked for tugging Granero. 

Added time was played out with nothing of note other than the ball striking my knee from another wayward Mbia effort.

In summary then, the damage was all done in the first half hour after which there was no way back for Rangers. Liverpool's slick passing opened up Ranger's defence at will. Derry did indeed prevent further humiliation after the break but I don't recall Reina making a single difficult save. Onward to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday....

Man of the Match: It pains me to say it because he is everything that disgusts me about modern day footballers - a cheat, a diver, a serial complainer, unsportsmanlike and generally a prat, but there is no denying that Luis Suarez is a gifted footballer. Yes, there was Sunday league like resistance between him and the goal today, but his determination, chasing of lost causes, ability to run in behind defenders, skill and this season's newly discovered ability to finish chances make him a real handful. I've no idea how playing Daniel Sturridge along side him might work though!

Harry's Honeymoon well and truly over

Match Review: QPR 1-2 West Brom

  Rangers' mini-revival under Redknapp is well and truly over now after this one, but at least they don't look quite as toothless as they did under Hughes.

With a tube strike for the third year running (bring on driverless trains!) meaning extra cars were heading for W12, kick off of this Boxing Day turkey was delayed by 15 minutes as West Brom arrived late at the ground. Didn't anyone warn them that the whole area was likely to be gridlock given the start of the Westfield sales?! We could have done without them turning up really...

The R's went into the match on the back of Harry's first defeat in charge, a 1-0 reverse away at struggling Newcastle, a game after which Harry was very open and frank in his assessment of the situation he faces in W12. Redknapp told how Jose Bosingwa, a regular pantomime villain where this blog is concerned, refused to sit on the bench at St James' Park and was therefore to be fined two weeks' wages (£100,000). How on earth his agent managed to wangle him that contract I will never know, and I hope I never do find out just how much some of Hughes' other signings and their agents have earned out of Tony Fernandes' pockets this season. It seems as though all these 'low cost or free transfers' are actually nothing of the sort and I really do worry about the financial outgoings versus income at the club. I also fully expect us to be held to ransom in the January window with wages like this being bandied about in the press.

Anyway back to matters on the pitch here, Bosingwa was unsurprisingly left out but unfortunately our best centre back, Ryan Nelsen, also was forced to sit out with illness. The ever-disappointing Esteban Granero was dropped once more and Shaun Wright-Phillips was preferred in the lineup to him (another option in this position has to be a priority in January). That meant a back four of Traore, Ferdinand, Hill and Fabio, with veteran Hill worryingly being the best at defending of the four.

The first 16 minutes of the game were characterised by much sliding around and some highly interesting swirling patterns of the incessant rain. In other words: not much happened on the pitch. Bizarrely, the game sprung in to life when Shaun Wright-Phillips made good progress down the WBA left and put a peach of a cross (but I thought he couldn't cross?) onto Jamie Mackie's head but he couldn't get this highly reasonable chance on target. WBA hadn't done a lot to this point but when Brunt ran on to a pass from Mulumbu, Anton Ferdinand, in for the sick Ryan Nelsen, was slow closing him down and his shot from 30 yards beat Green to his left. Rangers responded with three corners in quick succession which were over-hit, under-hit then the one that was halfway decent was headed wide by Clint Hill, captain for the day. M'Bia also had a good effort from around the 30 yard mark which Foster turned wide. M'Bia's effort was very interesting when contrasted with Brunt's goal: the key difference between the two efforts was the starting points of the two keepers. Green was back on his goal line while Foster was already on his 6 yard line and this slight advancement changed the angles - at this level, goalkeepers have to be prepared for the unexpected and Green's anticipation was woeful. As half-time approached, Gera and Morrison had decent shots for WBA who had already started wasting time at free kicks, throw-ins etc.

You might have expected QPR to start the second half with a charge. But they didn't. On 49 minutes from a left wing corner the ball was skied high into the air and Green flapped the ball into his own net when it came down. At the time it looked like a major ricket by the QPR keeper, confirmed when the away fans started singing his name. Viewing on MOTD, it could be argued that he was impeded by Fortune standing his ground in front of him. Not for me: Green should have displayed much more conviction and cleared out Fortune, the ball and anything else in his way. Too timid and from a bad starting position (again), I put it down to Green.

Green saved a one-on-one, but the unevenness of some of the individual battles was becoming evident. Mulumbu versus Wright-Phillips was the most obvious where the diminutive Hooplet was out-jumped and frequently shrugged aside by his Congolese opponent (just as he is by every other opponent every week in the league). On 63 minutes Harry rolled the dice with a double sub in an attempt to revive the side, bringing on Hoilett and Diakite for the below-par Fabio and Faurlin. 

I was just wondering where Cisse was when at 68 minutes he scored with a lovely dink over Foster from M'Bia's exquisite through ball. Rangers then should have cranked up the pressure in search of an equaliser but WBA began to re-impose their highly effective 'pass and move' game and most of the action was at the West Brom end. M'Bia looked like he was heading for one of his red-mist moments as he began performing even more erratically and was booked for pulling back an opponent. For the last 5 minutes plus the added 5, Rangers did at last go for it. Hill had a header well saved on the line by Foster and there were a succession of scrambles from corners. We also saw WBA make a change late on with James Morrison subbed, possibly broken strings?

The final action was the most controversial. M'Bia went to head a cross back across goal and the ball was blocked by Ridgwell's raised arm. Referee Foy was unsighted on the other side of the box but the lino choked it and, this time with total justification, M'Bia exploded and is probably still in a strait-jacket now.

In the away game at The Hawthorns in October, Rangers gave The Baggies a two goal start then ran the game before losing 3-2. Similarly here, WBA were gifted two easy goals before The R's really got going, which just isn't acceptable because they leave themselves too much to do in every match. Green and Ridgwell controversy aside though, the better footballing team won. Rangers weren't that bad today, but what is really frustrating is that as QPR's opponents you know you just have to be patient and a mistake or two will come your way allowing soft goals. Rangers meanwhile are forced to work incredibly hard to score one every time.

Next up, home to Liverpool, the fixture that started last year's survival saving run of 5 consecutive home wins. Don't even think it......!

Man of the Match: Nobody shone in Hoops today and one man was allowed to run the game for the opposition: Youssouf Mulumbu. I seriously don't understand why this guy isn't talked about more often and linked with the bigger clubs in the league - he is sheer quality, and better still he really puts himself about. Albion fans will be hoping he continues to ply his trade unnoticed.

R's shoot themselves in the foot again as Gunners capitalise in London derby

Match Review: Arsenal 1-0 QPR

Just another routine week at QPR. Once again they looked like a half decent team that can compete at Premier League level for much of the game, only to go on and lose through being their own worst enemies.

The form book suggested that for the first time this season, Arsenal were having one of their wobbly spells where people start to question Arsene Wenger and his signings. Unexpected defeats at Norwich away and at home to Schalke will have given the R's side cause for optimism and there was genuine belief among the travelling support that they could take something back across London at 5pm on Saturday evening if they played as they had done in some of their better moments this season. And they really should have done, because Arsenal were here for the taking. And surprise, surprise, they only have themselves to blame for not doing that...

The game began with fairly even possession - not something many teams achieve against Arsenal on their own patch! But QPR's passing game has been one of the few things to take heart from this season; the midfield can push it around quite nicely at times. Most of the R's play was deliberately down the right hand side, which Hughes had clearly identified as a chink in the Arsenal armour, given Andre Santos' inability to defend and tendency to maraud into and hover in the opposition half. However, this tactic was blighted by Jose Bosingwa's dreadful delivery into the box, Bobby Zamora being in the wrong places at the wrong time and unable to win a header when he was and the general shite that Shaun Wright-Phillips produces. Quite how the latter manages to continue to be in Mark Hughes' first team plans when it is so blindingly obvious that he can't take men on, cross or shoot, is just unfathomable. 

For the home side, there was the welcome sight of Jack Wilshere on the Haemorrhoids Stadium pitch for the first time in 17 months and his every touch (some quite impressive actually) was greeted by a cheer in the otherwise library-like arena. Lukas Podolski also impressed early on with some skilful touches and powerful runs, and the Gooners did test the R's keeper on a couple of occasions. Cesar made a few nervy saves, parrying on a couple of occasions but fortunately into safe areas. All in all, it was an even and fairly uneventful first half which, given how chaotic first halves have been for QPR defensively this season, was good news. Disappointingly, though, for all their decent defending and possession, QPR hadn't carved out any clear-cut opportunities, which reaffirmed the story of their season in front of goal so far.

Despite SWP's best efforts to replicate the goal QPR conceded here last year (where he played a stray pass to Van Persie and you can guess the rest), the R's held out thanks to the heroics of a now well occupied Julio Cesar. Arsenal just didn't look like scoring and were clearly annoyed by the fact that they weren't in control (as QPR were seeing plenty of the ball, just not doing a lot with it). This frustration clearly got the better of Olivier Giroud who took out Armand Traore's bad leg with a cynical foul (I reckon he knew that he could wipe the glass man out with a tackle like that).

But then, just when the Arsenal frustration was at its peak and the game looked as though it would fizzle out for a creditable away point for the Hoops, defensive suicide was committed. I've warned in previous match reviews that Stephane Mbia looks like he has it in him to be as mental as Samba Diakite and this week my worst fears were realised when incredibly and inexplicably, after winning a free kick, he elected to kick out at Thomas Vermaelen. Unbelievable! It seems in recent weeks we've crept back into our old ways which blighted the early part of the Mark Hughes era with a series of sendings off and now we go into a crucial run of what you might call 'winnable' fixtures (well, Reading at home, Stoke away and Southampton at home is not quite as daunting as some of our early games) with injuries and suspensions we could really have done without. 

The sending off galvanised Arsenal and suddenly Rangers were under siege. Cesar was producing Houdini-esque miracles between the sticks to keep them at bay but eventually parried one shot too many to an onrushing (and offside) Mikel Arteta, who, after heading an initial effort against the bar, was on hand to tap home the rebound beyond the helpless R's custodian who hadn't had time to recover from the initial wonder-save he made. This was a poor decision by the officials but I'm sure had this one not been given, they would still have found a way through the fragile R's defence. Hughes bizarrely went on to claim that the goal changed the game, but to me it was clear that he only has one idiot to blame for the latest in a catalogue of individual errors.

Amazingly, there was still time for QPR to enjoy their best three chances of the game, two in one-on-one situations with Vito Mannone, who had had a very quiet afternoon up to now. It seems to me that the Superhoops have developed a bit of a habit of turning up the heat and actually taking risks after going a goal behind - they did so against West Ham and West Brom and attempted to do it again here. The first of the trilogy was spurned by Esteban Granero, who dragged his shot wide when all around him expected him to put the ball away after being allowed to escape the attentions of the Arsenal back line. The second was from substitute Jamie Mackie, who must have had the famous goal he scored at Derby County in 2010 on his mind as he weaved his way through the Arsenal defence, only to hit the ball straight at the onrushing Mannone. The third golden chance was an excellent free kick from Granero which had the keeper scrambling but ended up hitting the side netting. On reflection, if any of those had gone in then it would have been a deserved point, but only in the sense that Arsenal were no better than QPR on the day. 

Still, it's never dull supporting QPR and you just don't know what's going to happen next - but you can at least say with some certainty that they will press the self destruct button at some point in any given game. If you're reading Sparky, I've two things to recommend: 1) Anger management classes for the whole squad and 2) Beat Reading or you're getting the tin tack...

Man of the Match: There was one stand out performance in the QPR side here: Julio Cesar. But for his heroics at various points in the game, especially after the R's went down to ten men, the score could have been a lot higher. You still have to wonder what the hell he was thinking when he put pen to paper at Loftus Road.

A score draw that should have been more

Match Review: QPR 1-1 Everton

The teams pre kick-off

Finally I bring news of a point again for QPR, an outcome which I've no doubt every Super Hoop would have taken before the game, but given the circumstances, I'm sure they are disappointed that we didn't do more to try and win the game.

For a change, it started really well! Going into the game, QPR had built up a reputation for being slow out of the blocks. Of the 17 goals they have conceded this season, seven of them were shipped  in the opening thirty minutes of games, including 4 of these in the last 3 league matches. Equally, they have an awful habit of leaving players unmarked, committing too many men going forward and leaving themselves completely exposed to pacey Premier League wingers and front lines. Considering all this, it was pretty satisfying to see the R's carry out a complete role reversal and themselves be the scorers of a goal on a swift counter attack where the opposition had over-committed going forward for a change. With less than two minutes played, an Everton corner was cleared as far as Junior Hoilett, who proceeded to run and run and run. With the last defender and goalkeeper off his line being all that was left before him, he unleashed a shot (which the keeper probably would have got) but it caught the trailing leg of Leighton Baines which completely wrong-footed Tim Howard and sent the ball on its way into the empty net. 

Everton, who had come to Loftus Road in outstanding form and flying high in the league, looked very surprised to have conceded and continued to be on the back foot for much of the half. This looked like a game where QPR would finally click, the early goal settling nerves (although clearly not those of Stephane Mbia, who on six minutes ordered the ball boy to slow down the delivery of the ball back to the pitch!) The R's were doing their usual though - showing nice touches and putting together neat passing moves only to have no end product. I can recall a Ryan Nelsen header from a corner but not a lot else in a spell of sheer dominance. No surprise then that when Everton strung a few passes together it would lead to an equaliser...

Referee Jon Moss, a headmaster on weekdays I'm told, decided that after an uneventful 30 minutes by refereeing standards, he would play the role of primary school PE teacher and become extremely whistle-happy. Jelavic went down fairly easily on a couple of occasions and Moss was quick to award free kicks as well as be very fussy about where they were taken from and how far back the wall was. One such free kick (which, I accept, was indeed a free kick) was delivered into the area for an unmarked Sylvain Distin to plant a firm header goalbound which hit the post and then ricocheted off Cesar into the net. Cesar was unlucky having made a really good save from an earlier low Jelavic drive from another set piece, but unlucky is not how I would describe the defending. Bobby Zamora and Stephane Mbia between them should have had Jagielka and Distin covered, but Zamora completely neglected his man and in truth either of them would have had a free header here. In spite of having had two weeks' international break to work with his players on ways to reduce their catalogue of defensive errors at the training ground, it seems that marking from set pieces is not top of Hughes' priority list. The longer that goes on, the longer it will continue to plague QPR this season. Not even two minutes after the equaliser it should have happened again - this time the R's defence were rescued by the crossbar. Infuriatingly, it was again Zamora's man that was allowed to get away (this time Jagielka) and he got a powerful head on the ball under no pressure whatsoever which was a lick of paint from making it 2-1. 

At half time the mutterings from the terraces were of the 'same old story'. QPR had once again dominated possession, produced some nice build up play but again had extremely limited end product. The only difference was that this time they had taken the lead first! Maybe the shot-shyness can be linked to the continued desire of Hughes to play one out and out striker up front even when at home. Zamora as a lone striker with the players we have just doesn't seem the right choice to me, and I feel that we'd work much better if it were 4-4-2. But given Cisse has been so out of sorts lately, maybe Hughes feels he is still better off playing this system, and the decision to play Hoilett had so far paid dividends - he'd looked lively and shown a willingness to run at Everton's defence, something Cisse hasn't done enough when he has been on the pitch this season.

The second half began fairly evenly with both sides looking determined to produce a performance. In the 50th minute, Samba Diakite produced an excellent run where he emerged from deep in his own half, danced past several challenges and then produced a low cross which begged for a hooped shirt to get on the end of and smash home. Sadly, the man it fell to was QPR's pet tortoise of recent weeks, Ji Sung Park. He was far too slow reacting to the intelligence of Diakite and by the time he eventually got a shot away, it was blocked by Jagielka. 

Meanwhile, challenges were getting a little more heated and the referee was getting ever fussier, blowing even for fifty-fifties. Steven Pienaar, unrecognisable after his haircut, was the first name to go into the book for a fairly nasty challenge shortly after the Park effort. He was also the second name in the book just nine minutes later for what seemed like an innocuous tussle between him and Jose Bosingwa out on the right wing. This wasn't really a surprise given the way the referee had been going about the game since early on and Pienaar appeared to have lost his rag after his booking - whilst this offence was definitely not worthy of a yellow card, he was bound to go at some point within the next ten minutes if he had escaped here. The sending off should have given QPR the impetus to go gung-ho and instead of reacting instantly to the dismissal, Hughes let the game roll on another ten minutes before making two substitutions. Managers win praise for being quick, decisive and catching the opposition off guard with their substitutions, but it was so obvious during that ten minutes what the changes were going to be that Moyes was afforded time to ready his pack for their introductions. So when in the 70th minute Djibril Cisse and Nedum Onuoha finally entered the fray in place of Zamora and Armand Traore (incidentally, Hughes was true to his word when he said Traore would only last 70 minutes!), it wasn't exactly a shock that they didn't have the intended impact on the game that they could have done. 

For the remaining twenty minutes QPR rallied but disappointingly only produced two more saves from Howard, both from good Hoilett efforts. This was the Canadian's best performance for QPR and he has clearly been told to work on getting shots out of his feet sooner, which can only be good news. But the Hoops need more than one contributor if they are to get out of the situation they are in. Taarabt had a very quiet game compared with his last two games for QPR which was disappointing but Zamora also just doesn't get involved enough in attacking play. Cisse should have come on much earlier and been instructed run at the Everton defence, who had shown on occasions in the game that they don't like being ran at. But as was the consensus at half time, there is a much simpler way of getting more contributors to attacking play - have two up front!!! Please, Sparky. Especially at home.

Free flags for all in the home ends: not condoned by ESDB football due to the fact they are associated with plastic supporters from SW6 these days. But good atmosphere builders, admittedly

Man of the match: As alluded to at times during this match report and many others, central midfield appears to be the Rs' strongest department, with Ale Faurlin only good enough for a place on the bench behind Esteban Granero and Samba Diakite, and it was the latter that stole the show in this game for QPR. He made some excellent runs, produced some cute passes and even well timed challenges in this game (apart from once, when he picked up his customary yellow card). He's still a lunatic, but a talented lunatic at that...

C

Another fruitless away trip

 Match Review: West Bromwich Albion 3-2 QPR

QPR (without a win) went to The Hawthorns this weekend to face West Brom (with a 100% home record and having not conceded a goal there). The omens were not good, but yet again they showed they can compete at this level... in some areas anyway.

The Superhoops were forced into one change but Hughes elected to make several others. Anton Ferdinand and Jose Bosingwa returned to the starting eleven after a few weeks off each with leg related injuries. Nedum Onuoha was dropped to the bench after a horror show against West Ham on Monday night and so the back line from left to right read Hill, Nelsen, Ferdinand, Bosingwa. Armand Traore made a welcome return to the bench but with the Senegalese man you just never know if he really is fit or not. The decision to start Hill at left back suggested not. Even so, Hill at left back was a crazy decision from Hughes. This is the Premier League. A league well renowned for pacey counter attacking teams that will punish any defensive mistake. And Clint Hill is 33 and desperately short of both pace and confidence. Surely the versatility of even an out of form Onuoha would have been a better choice for the position? West Brom's right winger must have been licking his lips at the prospect of facing Hill... With Samba Diakite suspended, QPR had a ready made loony as a replacement in Stephane Mbia, who was shifted from central defence into the position of 'tough tackling' defensive midfielder. Taarabt was rewarded for his display against the Hammers on Monday with a start and he was preferred to the also out of form Cisse, leaving Zamora playing the role as lone striker.

Standard player warm up drill photo - I never find time to take pictures during the game itself!

And from early on, the travelling R's faithful's worst fears were realised. Hill was being absolutely roasted by Shane Long who was getting in behind him every time the ball was played forward. Sure enough, on five minutes, it was 1-0 for that very reason. Oh, and crap marking by Ferdinand which left Morrison a free header. Oh, and Cesar was also poorly positioned. Far too many individuals making errors and yet another early goal conceded. Absolutely infuriating stuff because yet again it was so avoidable. 

QPR responded in kind by stringing some passes together and weathered the early storm. But the R's are their own worst enemies at the moment, and after over-committing men for a short corner routine (why do we bother with those?!), the ball was given away and there were not enough people back who could catch up with Odemwingie. He played a great ball across to Shane Long who somehow managed to sky a chance from four yards when the goal was at his mercy. 

The defensive shambles continued and at times there were two and sometimes even three going for the same ball. Park and Bosingwa were particularly guilty of overlapping each others' defensive duties, whilst I can recall one occasion where Gareth McAuley had three men marking him on a set piece who ended up just falling over one and other. The lack of communication at the back was alarming and it was only a matter of time before the 2nd goal would go in. It arrived courtesy of some comedy defending that simply isn't good enough for a Premier League team. Morrison's misplaced cross was not dealt with by Ferdinand who had nobody around him and time to calmly clear but instead he elected to try to rush his clearance, slipped and inadvertently gave the ball to Zoltan Gera. With Ferdinand arsing around on the floor, nobody was within a mile of Gera who had time to set himself, look at Cesar's position and slot in to the gaping goal. 

The R's fans' frustrations were pouring out now, and sections of the away support joined in with the home fans as they told Hughes he would be 'sacked in the morning'. The frustrations were beginning to show from the players, too. Adel Taarabt managed to catch a ball from the air before it went out for a throw and then complain at the referee for giving a free kick as a result (he was lucky not to go in the book for that) whilst Mbia was looking increasingly like he could get sent off, flying into challenges Diakite-esque. This prompted the beleaguered Clint Hill to expend some more of his limited energy and run over to try to calm Mbia down, which to his credit he did to great effect. 

But then, out of nothing, QPR were back in the game. A superbly weighted pass forward (or possibly long hopeful punt) by Granero had Adel Taarabt latch on the end of it. The man who found his mojo again on Monday night then produced a superb chest and volley combination to beat Ben Foster all ends up. "Taarabt's too good for you" sang the travelling support, but in reality he is too good for us. The only reason he is with us is because he isn't one bit a team player. And I feel the same can be said for a number of our players. West Brom, on the other hand, have no real big names but work effectively as a team, and look where they are compared with us! 

For the rest of the half, QPR, who should have taken inspiration from Taarabt's moment of brilliance, continued to look shaky. Clint Hill was clearly being targeted and forced into errors, Park continued to show he is off the boil right now and SWP and Bosingwa were just god damn awful! The rest of the midfield and attack (i.e. Granero, Taarabt and Zamora) looked OK but were very shot shy. West Brom created one further clear cut chance before the half time whistle but were thwarted thanks to some Julio Cesar heroics, as he saved when one on one with Gera. These openings were arising where the West Brom attack was getting in behind the static R's back line all half and the lack of movement was unbelievable. 

Sparky had to change it at half time and so he did, replacing the 'out of his league' Clint Hill with Armand Traore. QPR dominated possession from this point but failed to test Foster at all, their best chance being ballooned over by Granero, who again seemed to take an age to work the perfect position before trying to shoot. Whatever happened to shooting on sight? Surely Mark Hughes, as a former striker, should be preaching that in the Premier League defenders won't give you time to score the perfect goal (QPR defenders aside, that is). SWP was the only player ever in space for QPR, but perhaps WBA knew he presented no danger - he can't cross, is woeful at taking on players and is generally a waste of space. Fans have even taken to sighing when he gets on the ball! Finally he got the hook midway through the second half but in spite of cries for Junior Hoilett, it was another out of form player, Jamie Mackie, who Hughes introduced. As a consequence, QPR continued to boss proceedings but still not testing keeper. And yet again I find myself referring to the moral of my previous match reports - it is essential to score when you are on top!! No surprise then when QPR were made to pay by the Albion, who, after getting a free kick which took the sting out of the R's passing game, afforded Gonzalo Jara Reyes time to plant an accurate pass into the area which was swept home by Youssouf Mulumbu (who incidentally is better than Kaka, I'm led to believe!). 

It occured to me at this point that the lack of pace in the side is the root of our problems. Granero has skill but no pace, Park has tenacity and determination but no pace, a snail would give Zamora a decent race and Mackie and Taarabt are not desperately quick either. Our only hope for pace on the field, substitute Armand Traore, was clearly not fit enough to play here, stopping his running about five minutes after coming on. Junior Hoilett was introduced when it was late enough that Hughes recognised this but had no effect because like Granero, he waits for the most perfect of openings and consequently allows defenders time to recover. Shoot on sight for god's sake!! As the board went up for five minutes of injury time, QPR found themselves in the West Brom half and at long last, the defence were caught out and Granero had enough time to look up and produce an excellent effort to beat Foster from the edge of the area. 3-2 and with two minutes of injury time to go, the Hoops sensed an unlikely equaliser and suddenly, in the last minute of added time, they had a corner. Rangers piled men forward and when the ball was partially cleared, it bounced back into the area to an unmarked Jose Bosingwa at the back post, who summed up his and QPR's performance when he blazed over with so much time and space to do so much better. 

If ever there was a game that summed up QPR's season to date, this was it. Not enough chances created, suicidal defending, but other than that, we've actually been alright (so in conclusion, not very good then!). We've played some pretty football at times and I still have faith yet, but these individual errors and our shot-shyness are costing us dear. 

The only way is up!

Man of the match: It's only fair that I reward Adel Taarabt for a couple of good performances. He goes missing at times and did so here but so do all good attacking players, and then pop up with the goods. When he was in the game, he was QPR's shining light. I just hope he finally has found his Championship form in the Premier League, particularly since Cisse has looked so poor of late. 

C

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