Match Preview Norwich City v QPR Friday, 25th Apr 2008 09:12 QPR face their final road game of the season on Saturday with a trip to relegation threatened Norwich City. Norwich City (18th) v Queens Park Rangers (14th) So it all comes down to this. 46 matches in three different competitions, 36 different players used, 62 goals scored, 65 conceded (eight of them in injury time), three different managers, one multi millionaire, two multi billionaires and in two games time it will all be over. A trip to Norwich and a home game with West Brom is all that separates QPR from a summer of spending and expensive season tickets. I always laugh when I look back at the old season videos that always started “it’s been a season of change at Loftus Road”. What the commentator basically meant was we’d started badly, changed a manager halfway through, ended well and convinced ourselves that next season would be the season. There were about ten seasons on the bounce where we hoped for more next season only to be disappointed. You get the feeling this summer is going to be different. In a way these two games mark the end of an era at QPR. Come August we will, for the first time in a long time, start a season as favourites to win the league. We'll also be spending more money on players than just about all of our rivals and expectations will be high. These two games represent the last of the 'expect the worst and hope for better' attitudes that have accompanied QPR fans on their travels over the past decade. Next season most will be expecting us to win these kinds of games and it remains to be seen how the players and management cope with that next season. For now we couldn't really have two better games to end with. Norwich away is always a high scoring, attractive game usually played out in good weather in front of a large travelling support from W12. It's an ideal game to have at the end of a season, unless of course you're chasing a league title. There won't be as many QPR fans there as normal on Saturday though, under 1500 tickets were made available to the visitors in a ground that holds almost 30,000 people - one wonders if Norwich fan Mick Dennis took note of that after all his recent childish bleating about how QPR treat away fans at Loftus Road. Never give you less than 3000 tickets do we Mick? West Brom next week is the perfect game to round our season off, considering the low point of the campaign was the 5-1 hammering at their place followed by a similar going over at Colchester three days later. Both games promise to be attractive attacking affairs and with Norwich still needing points at the bottom and West Brom still fighting hard for the silver pot at the top QPR will have to put all thoughts of summer holidays out of their mind if they're to avoid defeat against these two sides who still have their seasons on the line. This Saturday has added spice for Norwich fans - Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin are both playing their final games at Carrow Road and will be keen to go out with goals and points to their name. Dublin in particular has developed a real knack of scoring against QPR for Norwich and Coventry - that, and his attitude to the game, has earnt him a great deal of respect among the QPR fans usually only reserved for players that have once played for us and since moved on. Be nice if he could keep away from our net just this one last time though. There's certainly been no sign of slacking from the QPR players so far since safety was confirmed, in fact last weekend was as well as we've played for some time. The R's are currently seven unbeaten and if we could somehow find a way to carry that run on into the summer it will put the players and the fans in the right frame of mind to hit the ground running come August. Five minutes on Norwich City It’s all a far cry from the 2003/04 season when Norwich rode all the way to the Premier League with Darren Huckerby in inspired form and Matt Svensson, Leon McKenzie and Iwan Roberts banging the goals in. They even had Peter Crouch on loan for a little while mid season. Nigel Worthington took his team to the Premier League and after picking up Dean Ashton from Crewe in the January transfer window he should have kept them there. Seven home wins was more than any of the other bottom four teams managed, but the Canaries were the only side not to win away all season and a 6-0 thumping at Fulham on the final day hammered home the point and the final nail. Norwich missed the play offs by 13 points the following season and in truth Worthington was starting to live off past glories with the side going backwards rather than forwards. He may well have been sacked had a 2-0 deficit against QPR at Carrow Road three games before the end of the season resulted in a defeat. Fans were signing petitions to get him sacked before the game and with the R’s 2-0 up and a fourth defeat in five games looming the board may have decided to start with a clean slate the following season. As we know Norwich came back and won that game, and picked up all three points at Cardiff a week later. Short term joy for the fans, but long term pain as Worthington clearly didn’t have another promotion in him and him staying in the post held Norwich back still further the following season. The Ulsterman was fired ten games into the 2006/07 season after a heavy home defeat by Burnley. The board went for former Norwich midfielder Peter Grant to replace him, he’d been coaching at West Ham prior to the appointment but had no managerial experience. Grant could only steer Norwich to a lower mid table finish and the Premiership looked as far away as ever. Little over a year after sacking Worthington the board removed Grant from his position as well with Norwich bottom of the table after 11 matches. Grant had lost his top scorer Rob Earnshaw from his squad and used the money to buy second rate Scottish footballers and, more importantly, Czech striker David Strihavka who is barely a footballer, never mind a replacement for Earnshaw. In came Glenn Roeder with many fans calling for Paul Jewell. Roeder had endured tough spells with Watford and Gillingham before managing West Ham to a seventh placed Premiership finish, and then relegation a season later. Relegating a West Ham team with the likes of Defoe, De Canio and Cole in it took some doing and Roeder’s reputation took a bit of a hammering because of that, his health wasn’t too clever at that time either, so he retreated to the comfort of Newcastle United’s academy where he did a superb job. He became the latest in a long line of managers to fall victim to the “this is a big club that deserves better” syndrome at Newcastle after taking over from Souness as the manager at St James’ Park – his departure sparked further decline rather than progress it has to be said. QPR had a long look at him before Norwich gave him a chance and he’s rewarded them by dragging them out of the bottom three and into the middle of the table. Much like when John Gregory took over at QPR last season the initial turn around was so spectacular that season ticket holders at Carrow Road were looking up rather than down and dreaming of the play offs. They went 13 matches unbeaten over the Christmas period and headed away from the drop zone towards the top half of the table but a 4-0 hammering at Leicester in February brought that to an end and they’ve only won three out of 11 games since. With two games to go they need a point from this game to make themselves safe – defeat could see them facing a nervy trip to Sheff Wed next week with relegation a distinct possibility. They’d have to be very unlucky to go down now though, especially after getting to the widely recognised safety point of 52 points three games ago. Who to watch out for Huckerby was a massive signing for Norwich back in 2003 when they paid three quarters of a million pounds to Man City and beat West Brom to his signature. He’d scored five goals in 16 games while on loan and shown the form of his professional career at Carrow Road. That continued after the permanent move and he bagged 15 goals as the Canaries moved up to the Premier League. Despite occasional flashes of brilliance at Coventry and Leeds, and a decent record of a goal every other game at Man City, the Premiership has always seemed a bit beyond his abilities to me. He’s just never quite done it up there and it’s a surprise to me to see Sunderland chasing his signature this summer as his Norwich deal expires. 40 goals in 170 odd games in yellow we’ll mean he’s always remembered in Norfolk and he can expect a warm reception from the home crowd on Saturday, although in truth this hasn’t been his best season and he’s starting to look his age now. The problem players like Huckerby, who base so much of their success on pace, find when they go past the 30 mark is they’re just not as quick or as threatening any more. He doesn’t seem sure whether he’s staying or going any more but his contract is up, no offer is on the table, and the likes of Palace, Sunderland and Major League Soccer are waiting for news. Dublin of course never relied on having too much pace and he’s definitely leaving this summer. He started his career at Norwich as a trainee but made his name in the John Beck side at Cambridge. A bad injury ruined his dream move to Man Utd but he formed a great top flight career for himself with first Coventry and then Aston Villa. He scored against QPR on his Coventry debut at Loftus Road and he’s done that with alarming frequency ever since. He’s ended his career where it began, at Norwich, with 16 goals from little over 60 matches played both up front and at centre half. Whenever Norwich have played QPR over the past couple of seasons Dublin has been the best player on the pitch and, despite his goals against the R’s, there seems to be great respect for this old pro around the QPR message board community. He may insist on scoring against us but he’s one of the good guys and will be a sad loss to the game this summer when he retires to the television studio. A bold late bid from Cambridge United to take him back to the Abbey Stadium for an Indian summer has fallen on deaf ears. QPR will be keen to keep both on a short leash and avoid any nostalgic final goals this Saturday. The main goal threat for the home side will actually be carried by another duo, one coming to the end of his career and another on just beginning. Jamie Cureton will need no introduction to QPR fans after his indifferent spell at Loftus Road. He’s bagged 12 goals and a Player of the Year award at Carrow Road this season after moving last summer from Colchester. Alongside him is Man City loanee Ched Evans who has nine goals from 18 starts since moving east on a temporary deal. The Welsh Under 21 international announced his arrival in the Championship with a terrific 30 yard goal at Cardiff earlier this season but he already had four goals by that point and has turned out to be a shrewd signing. He has scored Norwich’s last three goals. Further back Keiren Gibbs is a tricky little midfielder on loan from Arsenal and Luke Chadwick is an awkward customer when he plays, though he does hit the deck under minimal pressure. Matt Pattison worked with Roeder in the Newcastle academy but has become more known for his drinking exploits than football performances since signing for Norwich. It’s not hard to see why Norwich are struggling when you look at their defence which quite incredibly still includes Gary Doherty more often than not. He’d be a weak link if he was a link at all. The slowest player in the league bar none and a complete liability that Rangers must target. Bally Smart, no that’s not a typo, may not be too familiar to QPR fans but the Norwich YT was named as a QPR player to watch by the Hull City programme when we played there a fortnight ago. Your guess is as good as mine. Past Meetings QPR: Camp 7, Rowlands 8, Stewart 7, Cranie 8, Barker 6, Ainsworth 7 (Jarrett 86, -), Bolder 6, Leigertwood 8, Ephraim 8 (Timoska 90, -), Sahar 6 (Moore 68, 7), Vine 8 Norwich: Marshall 8, Otsemobor 6, Shackell 4, Dublin 7 (Murray 46, 4), Drury 4, Croft 4, Russell 4, Jarvis 5, Lappin 3 (Strihavka 63, 3), Martin 4 (Brown 76, 5), Huckerby 4 Unusually for two teams that usually enjoy a goal glut when they meet the last meeting at Carrow Road also only had the one goal in it – Norwich were the victors this time, during the Christmas period of 2006. Rangers were as poor in this game as Norwich were at Loftus Road earlier this season and deserved the defeat that was handed to them by Dion Dublin (who else?) after a mistake by Damion Stewart. Norwich: Gallacher 7, Colin 7, Shackell 7, Doherty 6, Drury 7,Croft 8 (Hughes 77, 6), Safri 8 (McVeigh 88, -), Etuhu 7, Huckerby 7, Dublin 8, Earnshaw 7 QPR: Royce 7, Bignot 5, Stewart 7, Mancienne 7, Milanese 5,Gallen 5 (Blackstock 77, 5), Rowlands 7 (Ward 41, 5), Lomas 7, Cook 5, Furlong 5, Ray Jones 5 Head to Head Previous Norwich v QPR Results: If you can stand it, the disastrous 3-2 defeat at Carrow Road in April 1976 that cost us our one and only league championship is this week’s memorable match. Click here to read a match report, recall some player connections between the two clubs and read some great memories of this fixture from supporters. Team News Ryan Bertrand is Norwich's only doubt with an ankle injury. Referee What’s happening elsewhere? Form Norwich are below halfway on that form league with two wins and four defeats from their last six matches. They’ve lost their last two, at home to West Brom and away to Ipswich, but beat Burnley 2-0 at Carrow Road prior to that. In their last six home games Blackpool, Stoke and West Brom have all won, while Norwich have beaten Barnsley, Colchester and Burnley. Overall at home this year they have nine wins and six draws from 22 games. Their home defensive record of 22 goals conceded is second only to Leicester in the bottom nine. Prediction Fancy the R’s for a win? Discuss this match on the Message Board Click here and be the first user to comment on this story
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