| News Comment | Stuttering QPR’s home woes continue against Hull – Report at 10:19:41
I agree with all of this. We can't play with Saito/Dembele/Andersen/Madsen behind Frey/Celar as their defensive work isn't good enough. And with Paal pushing into midfield Dunne is very exposed. We missed JCS hugely and also Dunne's (surprising) effectiveness on the right. His height and energetic runs really add something. I'd hoped Madsen might be able to play a defensive MF role alongside Field but it seems not. And the prime candidates for that role are very red card prone. It's odd that when he first arrived Marti concentrated on sorting out the defence, but now seems to be trying to fit too many attacking players into the team. And with Chair back there'll be even more to choose from. Did the summer recruitment not get the balance right? I like the look of Varane, but the jury's still out on him. It's a complicated problem to solve, but the bones of a forward thinking team are there and I'm sure we all have confidence in Marti to get it right soon, I hope. |
| News Comment | Frey and Nardi drag QPR through clunky Millwall show - Report at 10:41:16
The inability to play the ball forward from the centre backs is striking and definitely brings back (unhappy) memories of the worst periods under Warburton. Field almost seems to avoid the ball. There were moments when I thought his arm waving was saying "don't pass to me". This isn't new for Field, but I'd expect better of Andersen, Madsen, Paal at least making themselves available. Although he produces some lovely moments I've never been convinced by Andersen and fear Madsen may be similar. It's obviously a cliche but they look like they need to toughen up. I'd prefer Varane as a starter, but maybe he wasn't ready after the Palace game. And Colback is better at progressing the ball when he's not looking for a card. You're right Marti is still looking for the best combination of these players. I trust him to get it right soon as there are some promising signs. Excellent report! |
| News Comment | The Coventry Conference – Report at 10:06:49
A magnificent achievement - not sure which is more impressive: Marti turning it all around or Clive producing another wonderful match report. I felt strangely sentimental reading it and for a moment thought I had something in my eye. Definitely a "committed, organised, professional" job by both. Now looking forward to the player reports, but you can have a few days off first, Clive. |
| News Comment | Dykes' long awaited goal secures crucial QPR win - Report at 19:36:59
Jake CS was such class I may have given him a 9 on the ratings. I can't remember any mistakes at all, though there must have been some. I thought Colback was booked for being lippy, but certainly couldn't be sure from my seat. Just had a look at the match stats. They don't give a picture of JCS's performance at all, which just shows what do stats know? Anderson has a passing success rate of 65.5% compared to 84% for Illy, who wasn't great and 74% for Chrissy. Not sure if that proves anything but I don't think Andersen had been that great since he came. He looks good and his dead ball delivery is an upgrade (not difficult). I think he's still adjusting to the physicality of the Championship and hopefully his class will show next season. Cracking report. |
| News Comment | Act three – Report at 09:35:49
I agree that Saturday's defeat is not a reason for despair, but it may mean plenty of nail biting moments through to the end of the season. On current form and from where I'm looking Marti is the best manager we've had since...Warnock? But I'm sure we'll all continue to think we could have picked a better team or made better substitutions. |
| News Comment | Frey ties up cliffhanger on home debut – Report at 10:42:34
Agree about the ref. Thought he was very good and then seemed to make a series of bizarre decisions and of course all of in favour of the opposition. Especially like the Allen clan twitching, even more so as Chair showed he can do more than check back on his right foot for the shot. |
| News Comment | A win - Report at 19:12:49
Colback 8. I thought he was MotM, but 8? |
| News Comment | Light at the end of the tunnel, or a train coming towards us? – Analysis at 22:30:01
Really good piece, but would be even better if you'd shown how we end up with 50 points! I'll also be interested to see if good coaching can improve our goal scoring. If Marti can improve the defence is it reasonable to expect that, given a bit more time, he can do the same with our attack? |
| News Comment | The QPR is strong in this one – Report at 12:06:04
We go from rubbish to over confident so quickly and have done it under most of our managers. I agree with Clive that Marti's almost certainly the man to keep feet on the ground and make them work hard, rather than the bizarre first 20 when we were teeing up Argyle for shots. Marti is also learning with every match, every line up and every substitution. The squad may not be great but I've more faith in his ability to get the best out of them then any recent manager. |
| News Comment | Innnnn one - Report at 23:13:14
Bad, seriously bad, but not as bad as Blackburn so is that progress? There doesn't seem to be any argument for Ainsworth staying but who could we get? We can't afford anyone decent - I'd settle for uncle Neil but could we afford him? - and surely any of those talented young managers I hear about won't want to touch us with a barge pole. |
| News Comment | Clunky QPR left to settle for Swans stalemate - Report at 09:41:22
I agree Chair as MotM. Sitting in the upper Loft behind the goal I didn't see the handball for the Swansea goal so maybe it was difficult for the Ref and lino to spot. I thought there were glimmers of Willock getting into the game. For whatever reason he looks as though he's been through a really difficult time and hopefully the arm around the shoulder and some managerial love will do the trick. |
| News Comment | Called to account - Preview at 19:41:37
There is no way we can win against a team that has not one but two of our ex-strikers. |
| News Comment | Return of Wild Thing, desperate nostalgia play or just the tonic? Column at 09:15:18
There is no genius manager who coaches like Pep Guardiola, recruits on peanuts, still picks up future internationals and plays exciting progressive football while drilling a watertight defence. There is Nathan Jones and then there's a Wild Thing. Clive is right, Ainsworth is the best choice. We'll just ditch him when we're promoted to the Premier showboat! |
| News Comment | Something about a massacre on February 14 - Report at 22:05:42
Of course we're bad at the moment, of course we might end up in a relegation fight, of course we might be relegated. But whose fault is this. Happy to blame the board or DoF, but a few months back we were saying how well they'd done to get Beale and a few smart signings/loans. Since then they've bought in possibly the best candidate as manager. It doesn't look like that now, but most of us thought Critchley was a good appointment. Critchley has clearly not been able to motivate this group (so far). But there aren't dozens of great managers out there keen to come to QPR. It's easy to point to Brentford as an example of what we want to be (or Luton) but there are 70 teams in the lower divisions who are not Brentford, who yo-yo up and down, sit mid- table or flirt with the top 6 or bottom three. That's what most teams do. With our financial restrictions we don't have much choice. On top of that we've lost our star (Willock), our striker (Dykes, I know he's limited but we can now see what he gives us) and a couple of loanee kids have been crushed by Beale buggering off. And maybe a couple of our better players (Field, Chair) aren't as good as we thought. It's bottom half of the table stuff and with a bit of luck (please) we'll avoid relegation. |
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