Harry Redknapp already has a resigned tone to his post match comments just three matches into life at QPR following another draw at Wigan on Saturday. He was kept in the game by goalkeeper Robert Green who has spoken for the first time about his treatment by previous manager Mark Hughes.
Redknapp was honest in his assessment of Rangers’ performance at the DW Stadium, where they were fortunate to escape with a draw against a home side missing eight senior players through injury and suspension.
Redknapp said: “They got on top in the second half and we scored against the run of play and you’re hoping with 20 minutes to play you can hang on. We didn’t defend very well, we were slow getting around the ball. We started well, for 20 minutes I thought we kept the ball great, kept it well and passed it well, had a couple of opportunities. They get a corner, we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, the ball gets cleared to the edge of the box, the man on edge of the box stands there picking his nose and they come and rifle a shot in and we’re one down. There’s no lack of effort, I couldn’t fault their effort, they’re trying as best they can. I don’t think it’s a confidence thing, I think it is a bit of quality that we need, but we’ve had three games we haven’t been beaten. We have just got to keep going, we’ve got nothing else that’s what we’ve got.”
As ever the board members took to Twitter after the latest set back with Tony Fernandes saying: “Long chat with Harry. Lots to do. But we will give 150 percent. Got to believe. If players play to their potential every week we got to believe we can get out of this mess. Can't fault the dedication and passion. Probably our longest streak of not losing. But we need wins. Had a chance. Bring on Fulham. Three wins before the FA Cup and we are in the same position we were last year. Can be done. Keep believing.”
Philip Beard added: “We may have the worst Premier League record but with a couple of wins we can defy the stats and still save our season.”
But in reality it was only the performances of goalkeeper Rob Green and centre back Ryan Nelsen that kept QPR in the game at all. Redknapp said afterwards: “They were fantastic. You’d have him on your side all day long. If you had eleven of them you wouldn’t have a problem. Ryan Nelsen is a fantastic player, leader, fella, great guy, a different class. And Clint Hill has done a great job for me, probably written off he’s come back in, I’ve played him because I know what I’m going to get from him, he gives me everything he’s got. I couldn’t ask any more from him.”
Having taken time out from letting in tame shots from 30 yards out to actually turn in a decent 90 minute display for the first time in his QPR career, Robert Green is making hay while the rain has slowed to a drizzle by telling the Daily Mail all about how badly done to he was under former boss Mark Hughes.
Green said: “I came to QPR looking for a new challenge after six years at West Ham. Hitchcock, the goalkeeping coach at QPR, is an old mate and I came to work for him on the understanding that I was first choice. I'd played for England in May, I was in the European Championship squad and, at 32, I'm in the prime of my life. If he'd said to me we're also going to sign someone who's won Serie A five times and the Champions League and is one of the biggest names in South American football, I would have thought twice before signing.
“I'd read rumours in the press about Julio coming, but when I asked officials at the club they dismissed it as paper talk and said he wasn't going to sign. Now that the Brazilian had joined the club I needed to know where I stood. I asked Mark Hughes, he told me Julio was going to play, that I'd done nothing wrong and that he wanted two top keepers competing for the position. I replied, "Well, if he's going straight into the first team he's not really competing, is he? Where does that leave me?" Hughes replied, "You're free to leave whenever you want". It wasn't quite what I wanted to hear.
“The last game I played for QPR under the Hughes regime was our defeat at Manchester City, and by then I'd been told, even before the kick-off, that I would be dropped for him afterwards.”
What Green neglects to mention in the lengthy piece with the Mail is any of the numerous errors he’s made costing the team goals throughout the pre-season and his appearances in the early part of the campaign up to and including last weekend’s game with Aston Villa. Funny that.
While Green was talking to the Mail, his replacement Julio Cesar was using his time out with a groin injury to speak to The Sun about the culture shock of battling relegation with QPR after years of competing for trophies at Inter Milan.
Cesar said: “In seven years at Inter, I won 14 trophies so this is a very new challenge for me. We had so many new players arriving and it was not easy for Hughes to get a team working together quickly and getting an identity in a short time. We had some bad luck when we lost Andy Johnson, Fabio, Samba Diakite, Bobby Zamora, and Ji-Sung Park , while Stephane Mbia arrived injured. Also me and Jose Bosingwa were playing catch up because we had not trained since May.
“Mark is a good person and I’m so sad about the situation which has happened to him. When the team don’t win and results aren’t right the coach is the first person to pay but I feel guilty about this. It was not a big surprise that Mark Hughes got sacked, it was normal. If you go 13 games without a win it’s very difficult for a coach to stay. Other teams might sack their coach when they go six games without winning — but he stayed for 13.” My contract is for four years and I hope I will be here all that time.
“I liked Mr Fernandes the first time I spoke to him. He is a very straightforward person who knows what he wants. “I’m enjoying the club despite it being a bad situation at this moment. The people are great and the atmosphere is good, they are a nice family. Outside the pitch everything is nice and perfect. I’m loving London . I hope we start to win with the new coach, Harry Redknapp. I haven’t had much chance to work with him yet but he has a good reputation and you realise he has a presence around the place.”
Clint Hill, probably a bit too long in the tooth to care what he says these days, has urged Redknapp not to repeat the same mistakes as Hughes when the transfer window opens in January. He told The Guardian: "The chairman is throwing money everywhere, left, right and centre and sometimes that doesn't work. You've got to stick with people, work on them and try and get the best out of their ability. We've had loads. That's not the way to do it. I've been here three years now and I've seen loads come and go. I do think we will go and try and get a couple of players, but I don't think it will be five, six or seven. I just think we need a bit of stability. We're the bottom club and we've got a lovely 16-game winless streak, which is fantastic. I still can't believe it. The table doesn't lie. We've been poor.
"You can think: 'Oh my God, how the hell are we going to get out of this?’ Or you go: 'Sod this, let's prove people wrong.' If we do manage to do it, what an achievement it would be when you're sitting in your armchair in 15 or 20 years' time."
Despite Hill’s pleas, Redknapp admitted after the Wigan draw he’d be keen to bring Robbie Keane in on loan from LA Galaxy this winter, and tonight’s evening Standard has linked him with a temporary move for Jake Livermore from Spurs.
Of course while QPR are pisballing around, a striker they actually own is tearing the Championship apart while playing up front for a poor team. DJ Campbell scored twice and set up a third as Ipswich beat in form Millwall 3-0 at Portman Road, taking his tally to three goals in two games, and eight in 12 overall.
Harry Redknapp told the Fulham Chronicle: “DJ’s out on loan at the moment. Of course, we’ll see how he goes, and if he works hard and continues to score, then you never know.”
Rangers fans are probably less keen for Jay Bothroyd to return from Sheffield Wednesday. With just one goal from 14 appearances, Bothroyd has become a target for the Wednesday fans’ ire as the team remains deep within the Championship relegation zone. An ankle injury that kept him out of a home defeat to Bristol City at the weekend seemed to have opened a window for manager Dave Jones to return him to Loftus Road early but he will not be bowing to pressure and doing so.
Jones told the Sheffield Telegraph: “He’s here until January 2. He can’t play for them. If we sent him back now he can’t play for them until his loan is up. He’s our player. Anyone who is here is our player and we’ll deal with that accordingly. We’ll make that decision when it’s ready to make. At the moment there’s lots of different things we’re looking at; checking on players, players we’ll move out, players we’ll bring in. It’s always an ongoing thing. If you’re coming let’s all stick together. No one means to make a mistake. People come out and say ‘oh, he’s not trying’.Why would you want to go out in front of 20,000 people and not try and be abused? I’ve never understood that one. Why would he not want to try? He may be nervous, there may be a bit of fear there. Everybody tries, but when things aren’tt happening players can go a bit safe. That’s a fear factor that creeps in. And that’s what we’re trying to stop.”
Elsewhere this weekend Rob Hulse completed 90 minutes without scoring for Charlton as they drew 2-2 at home to Brighton, Angelo Balanta played the whole of MK Dons’ 3-2 defeat at Brentford and Bruno Andrade also got a full outing for Wycombe as they drew 2-2 at home to Morecambe.
Emmanuel Ledesma has been speaking about settling down in Middlesbrough with the first long term contract of his British football career. Ledesma has scored twice recently in wins against Charlton and Huddersfield as Boro have climbed to third in the Championship.
Ledesma told the local Avertiser: "It has been a really big change coming to Middlesbrough and a big step up in my football career. But in the last five months I think I have been progressing all the time. I am fighting to get in the team every week, and in the last few matches I have been able to do that so that really makes me happy. I have played quite a lot in the last couple of months and feel comfortable, doing quite well. I just want to carry on with that now and make myself an even more important part of the team.
I feel very calm now. It is nice to have the tranquillity of a three-year contract and that is something I have never really had before. There is not the same pressure of feeling like you have to constantly prove yourself all the time.Obviously, there is the pressure of wanting to do well and stay in the team, but that is different to feeling as though you have to stand out every time you go on to the field because you are hoping to earn a contract for the future. In the past, I have generally had two or three months to decide what happens to me next."
- Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill insists he is the best man for the job as pressure grows following a run of two wins from 23 games. The Black Cats are now in the relegation zone but O’Neill said: "So what do you do then? You go and put someone else in charge, he gets a group of 12, 13 games and can't win any? It's the same thing. I don't want to be boastful, but not only am I the best man for the job, I am actually the only man for the job."
- West Brom manager Steve Clarke says he will speak to his players if he suspects them of diving, and has already done so with Liam Ridgwell this season, after being conned out of a penalty against Arsenal on Saturday when Santi Carzorla flung himself to the floor under no contact from Steven Reid. Clarke said: “I don't speak about players from other clubs but if one of my players goes down with something similar to Cazorla, then we'll talk about it."
- Man City manager Roberto Mancini has again criticised striker Mario Balotelli, who he substituted early in the second half of Sunday’s 3-2 derby defeat at home to Man Utd that leaves his side six points behind in the title race. Mancini said: “I love Mario as a guy and a player but it is important for him to start to think about his job. He has everything to play well but he can't continue to play like today. We want more from Mario because he has everything. He has top quality. When you have a player of this quality you can't understand that he could continue to throw this out of the window. This is incredible.”
- Reading chairman John Madejski says manager Brian McDermott will not be sacked by new owner Anton Zingarevich despite winning just one of the first 15 matches this season. Madejski said: “It is totally absurd that the manager will not be with us this time next week. In my humble opinion it's not going to happen. We have to remember the amazing achievement, on a limited budget, to get us into the Premier League."
Amazingly there are no tube or train closures this Saturday as QPR play host to Fulham at Loftus Road.
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