Stuttering QPR face tough Sky date in Birmingham - full match preview
Friday, 3rd Oct 2008 10:16

Without a win in three league games QPR are unlikely to be relishing a trip to second from top Birmingham City - a club they haven't beaten at any level for nearly a quarter of a century.

Birmingham City (2nd) v Queens Park Rangers (8th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday October 4, Kick Off 12.45pm
St Andrews, Birmingham

Ten days ago in this same city QPR were on top of the world after a victory against Premiership side Aston Villa. How quickly things change in football. Two poor performances at home and a nasty atmosphere among the QPR fans as a result has had everybody feeling a little bit grumpy this week as first our unbeaten home record went west, then our place in the play offs on the fledgling league table followed suit.

After the superb win at Aston Villa I wrote that we might have to start believing that QPR are the real deal this season - clearly the players felt the same and the infamous quote "if he was an ice cream he'd have licked himself" sprung immediately to mind as our fancy new team flicked, tricked and back healed its way to a deserved defeat against Derby and then went within nine minutes of doing the same against Blackpool.

Dexter Blackstock bagged the late equaliser against Pool, and had another one disallowed, which takes him to five goals for the season so far and well up there in the division's scoring charts. After one superb season at QPR and one terrible one I still can't make my mind up whether he's a good player who endured some poor form last year, or if he is indeed just a poor player who goes through patches where the ball keeps falling to him in the right place - certainly he'd have been hard pushed to miss his chances against Blackpool and Southampton and he should have had at least that many again with the chances missed. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt for now.

Similarly with our team, I'm yet to decide if we are indeed the real deal and three games without a win either side of the Villa success is down to fatigue, over confidence or poor form or if we are indeed still a middle of the road, or even poor, Championship side that started well but is destined for a season of under achievement. There are few clues in our wildly inconsistent form so far - annihilated at Sheff Utd but strong and deserving of points at Bristol City and Norwich, free flowing and free scoring against Doncaster and Southampton but rank and a collection of individuals rather than a team of players against Derby and Blackpool.

I doubt we'll get many clues this Saturday against Birmingham either. A tough game this one, live on Sky at an unhappy hunting ground for the R's recently. I wouldn't be surprised to see us play well in and win or fail to turn up for it at all and take a good smack round the head. Now more than ever before you simply cannot possibly guess which QPR side is going to turn up.

Five minutes on Birmingham City
In Birmingham City QPR face a team that was in the Premiership last time for the second time in seven days. Derby County were of course a top flight side in name only last year but still looked better than Rangers in all departments last weekend and that’s a worry coming into this one. Birmingham were the team I gave the most chance of bouncing straight back this season after the disappointment of the last campaign and they have done nothing to suggest I was wrong about that so far.

City were of course one of those clubs cursed with the ‘sleeping giant’ tag through the majority of the 1990s, playing in the third tier in a giant old decrepit ground and generally looking like they were going nowhere fast. The club was owned by a couple of clothing manufacturers from the City from 1989 onwards but the collapse of their business exacerbated the poor performance of the team and by the time David Sullivan came along and paid £700k for the entire club in 1992 it was in administration and struggling against relegation from the First Division – as was.

Barry Fry and his revolving door transfer policy controlled things on the pitch, bouncing back from a relegation to the third tier at the first attempt as the new look St Andrews took shape around them. Fry was removed in 1996 to make way for former QPR boss Trevor Francis and under his guidance the club made further strides forward, reaching a play off and League Cup final but never quite achieving promotion to the promised land of the Premiership.

One of the players Francis brought to the club early on Steve Bruce left the Blues midway through Francis’ spell in charge to take up the managerial reigns himself at first Sheffield United, then Huddersfield, Wigan and Crystal Palace. Bruce made a habit of walking out on clubs at the drop of a hat early in his career so it was no surprise to see him keen to flea Selhurst for St Andrews when the job came up in October 2001 – Francis sacked due to a lack of progress in the latter months of his reign.

Despite his lack of loyalty to clubs Bruce had already proven to be a more than useful manager and after a lengthy battle between Simon Jordan and his Birmingham rivals Sullivan and David Gold Bruce was in charge by the turn of the year. He set about building a Birmingham side capable of making that next step – beating Norwich in the play offs within six months of taking over.

Teams have often found that actually staying in the Premiership is a lot tougher than getting there in the first place but like Ipswich before them Birmingham had spent so much time working towards it and planning they seemed to a fair a lot better than many thought they could or would. They consolidated with a midtable finish in their first season and actually made the top half in 2003/04 – players like Robbie Savage, Mikael Forssell and Christophe Duggary were the clear stars.

Sadly for Brum Bruce went away from what he’d done well to this point, and started to pay big money for foreign players and people with little to prove and little motivation to perform. Emile Heskey earned big money to lead the line but couldn’t replicate Forssel’s 17 goal season of the year before. Fernando Colly, Mario Melchiot, Bruno N’Gotty – poor players in the first place and even worse after being given lucrative long term contracts by the Blues. Relegation back to the second tier at the third time of asking didn’t cost Bruce his job, but he was fortunate because it was his recruitment policy that got them there.

Still, the key to making mistakes is learning from them and once back in the Championship Birmingham turned to younger talent like Arsenal’s Niklas Bendtner and Cardiff’s Cameron Jerome. They won promotion back at the first time of asking but removed Bruce midway through last season with speculation about a takeover affecting contract negotiations with the manger – ultimately he was allowed to move to Wigan where he did, and continues to do, a superb job.

It seemed a strange decision to let Bruce leave to me, and an even stranger one to turn to Scottish national boss Alex McLeish as his replacement. McLeish did a good job with Hibernian north of the border, and started well before fading at Rangers. He took over a Scotland team in excellent position in their European Championships qualifying group despite being drawn with France and Italy and didn’t get them through. It may just be me but I could never really see from that CV why every Premiership job going was linked to him at one time or another and it was no surprise that with McLeish in charge, and boardroom battles and police investigations ongoing, that the club filled the third relegation spot last season.

McLeish, like Bruce before him, was kept on despite the failure and with the majority of the team sticking together through the transfer window they look well equipped for another immediate return to the top flight this season.

Men to watch
Birmingham were relegated last year, but didn’t get rid of many players, and consequently they have the look of a lower to middling Premiership side rather than a Championship one – this promises to be very tough for QPR.

James McFadden is the big name in attack – he was brought south by Everton from Motherwell after impressing in the SPL but he always struggled to start regularly in his favoured position, or fulfil his potential, at Goodison Park. Consequently his best performances and goals came when on international duty, including a memorable 30 yarder to beat France in Paris during the ultimately unsuccessful European Championships qualifying programme. No real surprise then that when Everton decided he was surplus to requirements a manager who had him with Scotland stepped in to give him another chance of top flight English football – he only managed four goals after his January move, not enough to keep Brum up, but despite speculation to the contrary he remained at St Andrews over the summer and now represents a huge threat to Championship defences.

McFadden is partnered in attack by different combinations of Cameron Jerome, Gary O’Connor and Marcus Bent. When you think that QPR will be selecting from Blackstock, Agyemang and Di Carmine for this match it really strikes home how much better equipped the home side are than us, particularly in attack. Bent has never scored prolifically since his time at Port Vale but has never been short of a club in this league and the one above so must do something for somebody, O’Connor is back after an unhappy spell in Russia while Jerome needs few introductions after scoring twice against us the last time these teams shared a league.

That’s without mentioning Kevin Phillips – mostly used as a substitute to great effect by McLeish so far this season but lethal at this level whatever form his appearances take.

At the back Maik Taylor is probably the division’s best goalkeeper and with Radhi Jaidi and Liam Ridgwell in front of him the Brum side looks pretty mean. Ridgwell is captaining the side after making a rarely seen move across the city from Aston Villa – in the Premiership he always seemed prone to daft challenges resulting in penalties and brain explosions producing own goals but he seems like he’s more than good enough for this level, especially with Tunisian veteran and former Bolton man Jaidi providing the brawn and intimidation alongside him. Good partnership for this level that one.

In midfield McLeish added Everton dog of war Lee Carsley to the mix in the summer which certainly adds experience and toughness to the side. That’s much needed with former Arsenal trainee Quincy Owusu-Abeyie providing flair going forwards towards the embarrassment of riches in attack. Those strikers will be grateful for the service of Gary McSheffrey who regularly tops the assists chart at this level along with our own Lee Cook but found the step up to the Premiership just a little bit too tricky at the first time of asking. Seb Larsson was another expected to move on after relegation but the classy midfield players has remained and should be back in contention this weekend after injury.

Previous Meetings
This was the Boxing Day fixture the season before last as Birmingham fought for promotion under Steve Bruce and QPR battled against relegation with John Gregory in charge. It looked odds on for a home win when Matthew Upson came up from the back to put Brum ahead but despite a strange formation and poor performance QPR drew level when Lee Cook cut in from the left and fired an unstoppable shot past Taylor and into the top corner. Cameron Jerome gave Birmingham the lead again just after the hour and in truth QPR rarely looked like coming back into the match for a second time.

Birmingham: Maik Taylor 7, Kelly 7, Jaidi 8, Upson 8 (Larsson 89, -), Sadler 7, Johnson 7, Nafti 6, Clemence 6, McSheffrey 8, Bendtner 8, Campbell 6 (Jerome 59, 7, (Muamba 90, -))
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Danns
Booked: Bendtner
Goals: Upson 22, Jerome 62

QPR: Royce 8, Bignot 6, Mancienne 6, Rehman 5, Stewart 7, Milanese 7 (Rowlands 75, 6), Bircham 8 (Bailey 59, 4), Smith 5, Cook 6, Furlong 6, Blackstock 5 (Ray Jones 81, 5)
Subs Not Used: Cole, Ward
Booked: Milanese
Goals: Cook 31

Match Report

At Loftus Road earlier that season it was men against boys as Gary Waddock’s forlorn looking QPR side produced their best performance of the season and were still beaten 2-0 after two defensive howlers. N’Gotty stole in unmarked to open the scoring midway through the first half and Cameron Jerome ended the game as a contest in the first minute of stoppage time when Matthew Rose allowed a long ball to bounce and was then out muscled by Jerome who chipped Jones for the second goal despite Brum being down to ten men after Bendtner’s red card. In between Rangers went close on numerous occasions, not least Egutu Oliseh’s deflected twenty yarder that somehow missed when it looked destined for the bottom corner.

QPR: Paul Jones 5, Rose 4, Rehman 4 (Baidoo 74, 8), Stewart 5, Milanese 6,Oliseh 8, Bircham 8, Ward 7, Cook 7, Nygaard 5, Blackstock 6 (Ray Jones 45, 6)
Subs Not Used: Cole, Bailey, Kanyuka

Birmingham: Maik Taylor 8, Johnson 6, Jaidi 8, N'Gotty 8, Larsson 6, Danns 7, Dunn 7 (Kilkenny 76, 6), Muamba 7 (Martin Taylor 90, -),McSheffrey 7, Campbell 8 (Jerome 71, 8), Bendtner 7
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Forssell
Sent Off: Bendtner (68)
Booked: Johnson, Dunn, Bendtner
Goals: N'Gotty 23, Jerome 90

Match Report

Head to Head:
Birmingham wins: 20
Draws: 13
QPR wins: 14

Previous Birmingham v QPR results:
2006/07 Birmingham 2 QPR 1 (Cook)
2006/07 QPR 0 Birmingham 2
2000/01 Birmingham 0 QPR 0
2000/01 QPR 0 Birmingham 0
1999/00 QPR 2 Birmingham 2 (Steiner, Kiwomya)
1999/00 Birmingham 2 QPR 0
1998/99 Birmingham 1 QPR 0
1998/99 QPR 1 Birmingham 0
1997/98 Birmingham1 QPR 0
1997/98 QPR 1 Birmingham 1 (Barker)
1996/97 QPR 1 Birmingham 1 (Spencer)
1996/97 Birmingham 0 QPR 0

Team News
Iain Dowie has selection headaches piling up with few injuries and more midfield players to pick from than he can ever possibly need. Ledesma and Parejo both played poorly in the two home games last week and they face threats for their place from Leigertwood and Buzsaky among others. Matt Connolly must be likely to return at right back after a poor showing from Peter Ramage on Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether the team lines up in the 4-4-2 formation favoured by most fans or the 4-5-1 system that limits us at home but adds solidity away.

Birmingham hope to have Seb Larsson back in their side – he missed the draw at Derby on Tuesday after pulling up with hamstring issues in the warm up but is said to be fit enough to make a return this weekend.
Injury List

Referee
It's our old friend Andy D'Urso in charge for this one - he had our televised game with Stoke last season, sending off Andy Griffin and overseeing a 3-0 QPR win that included an offside goal so let's hope for more of the same.
Details

Elsewhere
QPR are joined on Sky Sports this Saturday by Coventry and Southampton which is the somewhat strange choice of evening match – wouldn’t expect too much from that one to be honest. Charlton v Ipswich has an attractive look about it, and Barnsley v Doncaster should be a keenly contested local derby. The games of the day, apart from our own, look to be Bristol City against Sheff Utd and Wolves visiting Swansea.
Tony’s Championship preview

Form
QPR’s form is up and down like a bride’s nightie at the moment. No wins from the last three matches but only two defeats from six road trips which have included wins at Aston Villa, Swindon and Norwich. It’s difficult to know which QPR side will turn up to be honest. One worrying statistic for me is the sudden lack of goals in our team – four against Southampton but only three in the five games since then and one of those came from a centre half.

Birmingham are pretty erratic themselves at the moment. Blackpool recorded a won the last game at St Andrews, a result that shocked everybody except Blackpool themselves, and Brum have since won at Cardiff and drawn at Derby in what looked like two tough away matches this season. Birmingham though have five wins and two draws from nine league games this season which is a very decent return and sees them lying second going into the next international break.
Form Guide

Prediction
To hell with this predicting QPR wins, that’s getting me nowhere fast! I thin somehow with so many games all at once we’ve tied ourselves up a little bit in team selections and knackered some of our key players. Dowie doesn’t seem to know his best starting eleven any more to me and a couple of weeks off may well help with clearing minds and refocusing. Sadly we have this game in the meantime and if we turn out the same hotch potch midfield full of square pegs that we’ve seen in the past couple of home games we could have real problems with a talented Birmingham side.
Birmingham 2 QPR 0

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