Ainsworth's tough baptism continues with visit of table topping Birmingham - full match preview
Tuesday, 28th Oct 2008 08:52

Life doesn't get any easier for QPR caretaker Gareth Ainsworth - following Saturday's trip to Reading he now faces table topping Birmingham at Loftus Road.

Queens Park Rangers (9th) v Birmingham City (1st)
Coca Cola Championship
Tuesday October 28, Kick Off 8pm
Loftus Road, London

If Iain Dowie’s style of play, the team’s lack of goals and stories about just who picks the starting eleven at Loftus Road these days wasn’t enough to depress you ahead of a match against a team QPR haven’t beaten in 14 attempts, a table topping team at that, then consider this – we’re into the return fixtures already. Never fear though, Gareth Ainsworth is here to lighten the mood.

Gareth is a QPR treasure. Our longest serving player and an infectious personality. It may have simply been a case of last man standing gets the job when the caretaker role was handed out last week but the board might have really dropped on by letting Gareth take charge, even if it is only to be for a few games. A wholehearted player who enjoyed some of the best form of his career at QPR he’s made a friend of every fan at the club and everybody in attendance tomorrow will surely give him their full and vocal support.

He may not have the dug out experience required to do this job long term but he heavily influenced the style of play when Luigi De Canio was in charge and he won’t stand for anything less than 100% effort and commitment from his players at Loftus Road tonight. We may finally get to see some of that high tempo, fast, attacking and committed play that Dowie promised pre-season and failed to deliver.

In Birmingham QPR face the league leaders in a daunting fixture that they have failed to win since 1985, but in the game between these two a little over a fortnight ago McLeish’s men showed enough to say that they are not invincible and could be got at in the right circumstances. QPR may be lacking a striker worthy of the name but with Ainsworth revver up in chief, the players freed from the shackles of Dowie and his taste for long aimless balls into the channels and the fans sure to give the caretaker manager a rousing reception these could just be the right circumstances.

On the other hand the uncertainty and speculation could get the better of our players and we could be comfortably swept aside by a team superior to our own in almost every department. Who knows?

Hopefully this match preview is reaching you without problems, we have had some technical difficulties over the past few days caused by me trying to add the bookings from Swansea onto the card count, the weight of which crashed one of the servers. QPR players’ discipline willing we’re through the worst of it.

Five minutes on Birmingham
It was noted by one or two that this section of the Birmingham preview for the away match was heavily weighted in favour of the club’s history up to but not including the last 18 months – that was very deliberate on my part because these previews can be a swine to write when the games come so close together and I wanted to save myself something to write about! Parts of my brain are still unusable after writing five Luton Town previews in four months the season before last so I do what I can to ease what remains of my mental faculties through the winter these days.

In more recent times Birmingham have rejoiced in making life hard for themselves. After years of near misses under Trevor Francis Steve Bruce finally took them up to the premiership via a play off final victory against Norwich in 2002. It’s normally the case that the promoted teams, particularly the one that goes up through the play offs, find it very difficult to consolidate their position in the top flight but Bruce managed it with Birmingham with something to spare. They attracted French international Christophe Dugarry to St Andrews and supplemented him with the battling talents of Damien Johnson and Robbie Savage – nobody enjoyed playing Birmingham and they finished mid table in their first campaign, following that up with a top half finish in 2003/04 that defied fears of second season syndrome.

Like I say though, they seem to enjoy making life difficult for themselves. Having consolidated and pushed on into the top half finish board members at St Andrews were talking about cementing their place at the forefront of the chasing pack behind the top four but Bruce’s transfer policy of buying older pros on big wages started to backfire, injuries and poor form reduced them to a poor outfit and they were relegated in their third season.

Bruce kept his job, and again Birmingham defied recognised logic to return at the first time of asking, helped in no small part by the loans of Niklas Bendtner and Sebastien Larsson from Arsenal. After getting his fingers burnt with old pros on big wages in the Premiership Bruce made a point of going for younger, hungrier talent like that pair and his line was led in the promotion season by Cardiff’s Cameron Jerome, a big money buy following relegation. It’s a reasonable reaction to dislike Bruce as soon as you see him, if only for his part in that bloody Man Utd team of the 1990s, but it’s hard to deny that he did a super job at Birmingham during his time there.

All the more strange then that the club should do its very best to make his life hard upon return to the top flight, eventually losing him to Wigan midway through the campaign. Talk of a takeover for Carson Yeung, police investigations into goings on behind the scenes, and still Bruce looked more likely to keep them up than not. After his departure Birmingham turned to Alex McLeish and were promptly relegated.

I blame Mark Hughes for this personally – his success with Wales and the ease at which he transferred that into club management at Blackburn Rovers seems to have created this illusion that somebody who has managed at international level is immediately the answer to all your problems. McLeish did a good job at Hibs, and a reasonable one to begin with at Rangers but he failed to qualify for the European Championships with Scotland despite being left an in form team in terrific shape by Walter Smith and yet he was linked with every Premiership job that became available prior to taking the St Andrews post. Birmingham paid heavy price for being swept up in the hype, they won only three of their final 20 matches and were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One side Huddersfield Town. They also lost the big city derby game 5-1 to Aston Villa.

Despite that McLeish was kept on for this season, and while it could be said he is rebuilding his reputation by leading them back to the summit of the Championship I’d contest that even my Gran could get this Birmingham City squad into the top three this season. Their list of injured players for Tuesday night’s game at Loftus Road would all be the first name on the QPR team sheet were they contracted to us and the Birmingham team is still likely to be far better than ours on paper even without them – and we’re one of the favourites for this league ourselves remember.

As well as retaining his own job McLeish has been fortunate to still be able to call on Scottish international James McFadden who he bought from Everton in January and was allowed to keep through the summer transfer window. Seb Larsson also remained and is one of the best midfielders in this league, Liam Ridgwell and Rahdi Jaidi an outstanding centre half partnership, Maik Taylor a super goalkeeper and so it goes on. They have five strikers to call on, all of whom would be challenging for the division’s golden boot award if they were selected regularly, and they have good strength in depth.

It remains to be seen if any damage is done to the squad by the January transfer window vultures but even allowing for that it will take a disaster, or something really special elsewhere, for Birmingham to finish outside the top two this season. The real test of Mcleish’s ability, or lack of it, will come next year as they attempt to keep their place at the top table.

Men to watch
Let’s just consider those missing players for Birmingham this week shall we, and perhaps any passing QPR board members that think we’re good enough to be promoted this season may also care to cast a glance over this list. With fitness tests and decisions from Alex McLeish still to come Birmingham are likely to be missing David Murphy, Stephen Kelly and Rahdi Jaidi form their defence, Damien Johnson and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie from the midfield and James McFadden from the attack. Of those, only Johnson would struggle to walk straight into the QPR side in his club suit.

Even without that little lot Birmingham still have a very strong side to bring to Loftus Road. In goal experience Northern Ireland international is about as good a goalkeeper as you’re likely to find in this division and he boasts the league’s best goals against record so far. That’s due also to the excellent defence in front of him which despite missing three key players on Tuesday night is still a pretty formidable force.

Liam Ridgwell, a boyhood QPR fan, hardly endeared himself to the travelling faithful at St Andrews earlier in the month when he tried to con Andy D’Urso into allowing an opening goal that he clearly punched into the net. In the Premier League Ridgwell, at Aston Villa and for a short time at Birmingham, always looked like a player with a mistake in him and it never surprised me to see him flat on his back in a penalty area with the ball in the net or the referee pointing to the penalty spot. However he looked dominant and controlling against QPR at St Andrews, albeit against meagre opposition, and he’s certainly plenty good enough to star at this level. In Jaidi’s enforced absence Martin Taylor, he of Eduardo injury and almost QPR transfer fame, is his centre half partner.

In midfield I’ve already mentioned Seb Larsson who spent most of the summer being pursued, and pursuing himself, a move to the Premiership but has ended up staying put and looked a terrific player when we faced him just a few weeks ago. For all the flicks and tricks of Larsson and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie on our visit the Birmingham midfield was well anchored by former Everton man Lee Carsley and Agustien on loan from AZ Alkmaar on Holland – Birmingham’s goals for and against point to cautious set up despite the talent available to them.

It’s in attack though where McLeish really has an embarrassment of riches. Former Hibs man Garry O’Connor signed for Brum last summer after an unhappy spell in Moscow during which time he also managed to upset the national team management with his constant squad withdrawals and changes of heart. He didn’t cut it in the top flight and looks to me to be carrying a spare tyre or two around his waist but he set up the winner against us at St Andrews and bagged two at the weekend against Sheffield Wednesday to take his season total to six in all competitions.

That’s one more goal than his partner at the weekend Kevin Phillips who needs no introduction or preview whatsoever. We’ve seen time and again what he can do, and we saw it again in the corresponding fixture. Cameron Jerome and Marcus Bent wait in reserve, James McFadden struggles to get a game, it really is a super line up to pick from. QPR would love just one of them to be available for selection in Hoops on Tuesday night.

Previous Meetings
QPR faced Birmingham just a couple of short weeks ago and were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline in front of the Sky cameras. On the back of poor home performances against Blackpool and Derby Iain Dowie changed the formation back to 442 and used Agyemang and Blackstock together in attack. QPR had marginally the better of the first half with only long range shots from Cook and Leigertwood to show for their efforts, then Kevin Phillips did what he does best on the stroke of half time making the most of an error from Fitz Hall to fire in from close range after good work wide on the left by Gary O’Connor. QPR rarely looked like scoring in the second half and the home team were able to cruise through to full time with little bother.

Birmingham: Taylor 7, Parnaby 7, Jaidi 8, Ridgewell 8, Murphy 7, Larsson 8, Carsley 7 (Nafti 50, 6), Agustien 6, Owusu-Abeyie 7 (McFadden 75, 6), Phillips 7 (Jerome 80, -), O'Connor 8
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Martin Taylor
Booked: Ridgewell (deliberate handball)
Goals: Phillips 45+1 (assisted O'Connor)

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 4 (Connolly 87, -), Hall 5, Stewart 6, Delaney 4, Rowlands 5 (Ledesma 80, -), Leigertwood 6, Mahon 6 (Buzsaky 68, 6), Cook 6, Blackstock 5, Agyemang 5
Subs Not Used: Camp, Parejo
Booked: Leigertwood (foul)

Match Report

Gary Waddock was in charge for the last meeting between these two at Loftus Road, his 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: 21
Draws: 13
QPR wins: 14

Previous Birmingham v QPR results:
2008/09 Birmingham 1 QPR 0
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 Birmingham 1 QPR 0
1997/98 QPR 1 Birmingham 1 (Barker)
1996/97 QPR 1 Birmingham 1 (Spencer)
1996/97 Birmingham 0 QPR 0

Team News
Officially QPR are without Rowan Vine through injury and Damien Delaney who is banned for collecting his fifth yellow card of the season at Swansea seven days ago. Unofficially God only knows what team the committee will select for this one, it seems to depend what kind of a mood Flavio is in. I’d be surprised if Blackstock wasn’t recalled after an impressive cameo against Reading on Saturday although I’d be surprised if Parejo was dropped or a one up front formation used. Parejo could drop back into midfield with Blackstock partnering Di Carmine or the Italian could make way. Expect the same back four and goalkeeper to start if nothing else.

Whoever starts up front for QPR will be relieved to know that Rahdi Jaidi may not be fit in time for this game – the giant Tunisian centre half turned in a typically uncompromising performance against the R’s a couple of weeks ago but missed the victory against Sheff Wed on Saturday with a thigh injury. Full back David Murphy also missed the Owls victory with a knee injury but should be fit to return should Alex McLeish choose to change a winning team. Former QPR man Stephen Kellly and long serving midfielder Damien Johnson are long term absentees. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and James McFadden are struggling with thigh and groin injuries respectively.
Injury List

Referee
‘Ghost goal’ referee Stuart Attwell is the man in the middle on Tuesday night, his first Championship match in five weeks following his disgraceful decision to award Reading a non-existent goal in a 2-2 draw at Watford earlier this season on the say so of his linesman. That madness apart Attwell is a very promising, and normally very reasonable and sensible young referee destined for big things. This is his first ever match involving QPR or Birmingham.
Details

Elsewhere
Bristol City, sixth, welcome Sheffield United, fifth, to Ashton gate in the game of the night on Tuesday. Second placed Wolves against high flying and ever attractive Swansea City also has the look of a good game but I can’t help but think that the main focus will once again but on us as Gareth Ainsworth takes charge of his first home fixture against table topping Birmingham City. Lower down the table there’s a meeting of two under pressure managers as Jim Magilton’s Ipswich host Alan Pardew’s Charlton. There’s a relegation six pointer and Yorkshire derby to look out for as well as Doncaster look to avenge their 4-1 defeat at Barnsley a fortnight ago.
Tony’s Championship Preview

Form
It’s goals as much as results that QPR are short of at the moment. The Nottingham Forest game was the only occasion in eight matches in which QPR have scored more than a goal in a match, and we’ve failed to score at all in five of those – including the 1-0 defeat against tonight’s opponents. The R’s haven’t scored a league goal in open play against eleven men since the draw at Bristol City in August and have won only one of the last seven matches. Their form under caretaker control is somewhat better – Mick Harford won two and drew two of his five matches in charge this time last year.

Birmingham may be top but they’re no free scoring outfit themselves. Saturday’s 3-1 victory against Sheff Wed, who concede goals on the road for sport, was their biggest haul in the league so far this season and they’ve only scored more than one in a game on four occasions in 13 attempts. Still with only two goals conceded at home and six on the road Birmingham have won nine of those matches so when they do score it counts. In six games on the road this season, against Southampton, Norwich, Bristol City, Cardiff, Derby and Burnley Birmingham are yet to be beaten – winning three and drawing three. They did however lose 2-0 at Southampton in the League Cup.
Form Guide

Prediction
Very difficult to call QPR at the moment, as I showed at the weekend by grossly underestimating our players’ commitment to the cause and tipping a big defeat at Reading. Gareth Ainsworth will certainly fire the boys up and I’d hope for vocal and passionate backing from the home crowd. However Birmingham are a high quality side, and QPR are notoriously terrible in midweek home games. I’m tipping a defeat, but a narrow one, and I travel on the 12.18 from Sheffield tomorrow with hope in my heart.
QPR 0 Birmingham 1

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