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.

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