| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 11:55 - Jan 21 with 3614 views | Antti_Heinola |
The problem is, if you're going to beat Preston, you need Dexter Blackstock up front.
1. FIRST GOAL: OK, let's start with a jerk that many won't agree with. First of all, I don't think Joe Lumley was at fault for this goal. There are a few reasons why, but principally, it was not a bad pass and Scowen was calling for the ball. Once he had it and was under pressure, he had two easy choices. One, simply get rid (and shout at Lumley if he thought it was too risky). And two, play it back to Lumley to get rid. Both simple things that he could easily have done. What he shouldn't have done is try to do a blind nutmeg of the onrushing attacker. His reaction said it all. Head in hands, several apologies to Lumley. Fine - it was a mistake, these things happen, Scowen is big enough to take it on the chin.
But the wider point is about playing out from the back. There's been a lot of talk on here about how we stopped playing short goal kicks after the first four games. We never did. We did it less for sure, and went for safety more often, but we never, ever stopped doing it and in fact for almost every goal kick the two centre backs have been splitting and looking for the ball. So where this notion that we stopped doing it has come from I don't get - I suppose, we were just smarter about when to do it and when not to. But it certainly never stopped being a part of our game - nor should it stop being part of our game.
The reason I believe that is that, particularly without Hemed or Cameron, we are a very short side. Our possibilities from goal kicks are not great - it's a wide ball to the right for Pav or Furlong, or Bidwell on the left. Now, on Saturday, with Preston pushing three attackers up to tightly mark Lynch, Leistner and Scowen, should we have gone for the longer option more often? Yes. But that goal was wholly avoidable, and we still should not be afraid to play the short goal kick when the option presents itself.
I completely do not buy the idea that 'we haven't got the players to do it'. Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Here's the point of playing short goal kicks - it's to try and keep possession. Every defender in this league is capable of receiving a ball and then passing it. If they weren't, they couldn't play at this level. Now, they're not John Stones, as Scowen proved; they're not able to sashay past a couple of attackers and play a sliderule ball through to our striker. But they are more than capable of doing what we need them to do, which is to pass to a midfielder.
The problem on Saturday was not playing short balls to defenders from goal kicks. It was that once the defenders received the ball, there was no one to pass to. The movement was non-existent. And I don't care who you are, if you are not given an angle for a pass, you cannot make a pass. And this, to me, was the issue on Saturday. Yes, we should have varied it more, but the root of the problem we had was that we didn't do enough to counteract Preston's pressing. We shouldn't stop passing to the LLs at the back, or to Scowen. But the rest of the side does need to be more aware of what happens next.
2. WHAT WENT WRONG?: Everything, in short. Probably once a season, and it's not an excuse, you get a game where the players don't turn up. It felt the same with the fans, actually. It was very quiet at kick off, especially compared to the relatively decent noise against Leeds. You can't even blame Preston for this, they brought down a sizeable crowd and made decent noise. But it felt like everyone was sat on their hands, feeling cold, expecting a bad game and hoping for a narrow win. Not blaming the fans, which is silly, but just noting that both players and fans seemed flat. And if you start a game like that it's very hard to up the tempo when you need to. Sometimes, a spark can happen, like a poor refereeing decision or a bad foul by the opposition, but on Saturday nothing shook us out of our torpor except, fleetingly, after Smith scored. Maybe had that goal come at 2-0, we might have found another gear. But overall, and we haven't been able to say this since the very early days of the season, we just didn't turn up. No one was rank awful, but no one - not one single player - had a 'good' game. It wasn't even, I don't think, lack of effort.
3. SH1THOUSERY: I wasn't at the Preston game earlier this season, but overall I didn't see any terrible sh!thousing from them in this game, barring the Barton-like Pearson, who had an excellent game, but was also an irritating pr!ck throughout, falling to phantom challenges and pathetically throwing himself to the floor after he and Freeman touched tits. Still, good player and we had no answer to him really. The only other thing was that once they were one-up, they had the trainer on six times (I did count) to our zero. Even allowing for the fact that we're chasing the game and bad challenges might be more likely to come from us in desperation, that's a bit ridiculous.
Having said all of this though, if the roles had been totally reversed we'd be saying how well we played, how clinical we were, how hard we worked and how we'd done so well to nullify the opposition. We can't just sit here and say we were crap. Fact is, Preston were all right in the first half, but by the end were much the better side, played very well and deserved the win. Although why on earth you'd play 'keep it in the corner' at 4-1 in the 93rd minute is a little beyond me. Come on lads.
4. SUBS: We did have subs on earlier this time - notably Smith at half time (which, to be fair to McClaren, was at least partly in answer to the problem of our goal kicks - giving us another genuine option). And for five minutes it did work. Smith one three or four in a row, Wells had two half chances which he was a little unlucky with, and it looked like we may turn a corner. Quickly though, Preston reorganised at the back and at least until he scored, dealt well with the giant.
After that, though, I felt other changes could and should have come sooner. I thought Pav was at least causing some problems and the change I would have made would have been Eze off for BOS, with Freeman going more central. I've said this before, but if Eze is struggling, SM can't be afraid to take him off. Freeman can play in that position very well and sometimes you do need to change it a bit.
However, like Clive, I'd also have preferred to see Oteh than Smith. He's confident, in form, fast and strong. He should have been on in this game, and we certainly in a game in which we were playing so poorly we should not have got as late as we did without using all three subs.
5. COUSINS: I really feel for Cousins. It often feels to me that when one player gives the ball away the crowd does little. When Cousins does it, the groan is much larger. Now no one would say he played well on Saturday, but he certainly wasn't worse than anyone else and he also didn't give away their first goal. Having said that, time is beginning to run out. He's shown signs this season that the player we hoped we were getting is there, but I'm not sure it's going to be enough. The only thing that may see us offering a new contract (and it's telling that it doesn't seem to have been offered yet) is our own financial situation - could we get someone better on similar money if we did let him go on a free in a few months? He's starting to feel a bit like Washington - not a bad player, but it's not happening for him here.
6. PITCH INVADER: I'd like to thank the pitch invader because I was so busy watching him lollop around like a pillock I missed the agony of their third goal. Which I've since watched, and it was awful, awful defending. Oh well. |  |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 11:58 - Jan 21 with 3595 views | smegma |
Lumley was at fault for the first goal. |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 12:14 - Jan 21 with 3534 views | toboboly |
Saw the pitch invader being robustly escorted/beaten at the back of the lower loft as i left after the third. Anyone know what happened to him? |  |
| Sexy Asian dwarves wanted. |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 12:19 - Jan 21 with 3522 views | oldmisery |
Whilst they were all poor and whilst, you are correct, he didn't have anything to do with their goal; in my opinion Cousins was considerably worse than everyone else in the first half. | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 12:28 - Jan 21 with 3487 views | simmo |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 12:14 - Jan 21 by toboboly |
Saw the pitch invader being robustly escorted/beaten at the back of the lower loft as i left after the third. Anyone know what happened to him? |
Saw the same, he was cowering in a corner with a few stewards desperately trying to stop a group from shoeing the life out of him.
Hopefully he got a slap and a ban, he wasn't even old enough to be drunk so he's probably just a bit of a twát. |  |
| ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 12:30 - Jan 21 with 3482 views | FDC |
"touched tits"
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:16 - Jan 21 with 3357 views | essextaxiboy |
At this level all restarts in play are determined on the training ground.
The decision wasnt Lumleys or Scowens IMO . It was Mclarens . He hasnt got much wrong since August but to carry on with this especially early in the game with the pressers fresh and the pitch cold and wintry was suicide IMO . Even if we dont concede the crowd are jittery with it and that boosts the oppo and our players get edgy . Risk and Reward doesnt stack up IMO .
I honestly dont think we have the midfielders to accept the pass ,under pressure facing our goal and build something without getting caught once or twice a game , certainly not Scowen a self confessed midfield rat and a good one .Henry used to be the same when asked to do it .
IMO the only player we have had recently who is comfortable receiving the ball that way was (tin hat on) ... Barton |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:40 - Jan 21 with 3291 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 11:58 - Jan 21 by smegma |
Lumley was at fault for the first goal. |
no, he wasn't. | |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 14:56 - Jan 21 with 3159 views | jonno |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:40 - Jan 21 by Antti_Heinola |
no, he wasn't. |
They were both at fault - Scowen for wanting the ball where he was and Lumley for delivering it. It's incumbent on the keeper to check for any danger before passing the ball to the edge of his box and Lumley didn't do that. But it was a mistake that was bound to happen, we had been passing the ball out from the back right from the start of the game and had almost been caught a few times before they scored. To be honest, it's far from the first time we've played badly this season, even forgetting the first few games. Starting games we've been particularly poor quite often; it seems to have started with the Reading home game where we were abysmal for the first half and we have often started poorly in games since then. Last week at Sheffield we were pretty poor the whole game and never looked like scoring a goal. |  | | |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 15:04 - Jan 21 with 3139 views | smegma |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:40 - Jan 21 by Antti_Heinola |
no, he wasn't. |
Erm, going by your spiel, yes he was. You even start by saying 'let's start with a jerk that many won't agree with'. Your words not mine.
"Now on Saturday with Preston pushing three attackers up to tightly mark Lynch, Leistner and Scowen,should we have gone for the longer option more often? Yes"
Watch the first goal again. When Lumley passes the ball there are 4 Preston players hovering around the box with less defenders in the vicinity. This is a contradiction to what you said about Preston pressing us .As for your other patronising comments I give up. [Post edited 21 Jan 2019 15:05]
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 16:41 - Jan 21 with 3017 views | Spaghetti_Hoops |
On the day I thought it was 100% Scowen's fault. Looking at the highlights I'd say two thirds Scowen. He is wanting the ball despite three PNE players lurking. He checks where No.8 is then despite knowing he turns right into him. Lumley should perhaps have ignored Scowen but getting the opposition to overcommit to pressing is all part of the game.
PNE were v.good on the day. Whatever we did they had an answer to it. It is a fact that some teams are particularly good against us, and some better teams find us difficult. It's always been my opinion that the opposition has more to do with variations in our form than us having a particularly good or bad day at the office. | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 18:21 - Jan 21 with 2894 views | essextaxiboy |
We have had some success with goal kicks going to Furlong in the air . He wins plenty and if he doesnt at least we are up the pitch | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 19:25 - Jan 21 with 2804 views | Rangersw12 |
We haven't had defenders split like they did on Saturday since the first 4 games
Don't understand why we went back to that to be honest . Two poor games on the trot now but it will all be fine if we beat Pompey | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:15 - Jan 21 with 2736 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 16:41 - Jan 21 by Spaghetti_Hoops |
On the day I thought it was 100% Scowen's fault. Looking at the highlights I'd say two thirds Scowen. He is wanting the ball despite three PNE players lurking. He checks where No.8 is then despite knowing he turns right into him. Lumley should perhaps have ignored Scowen but getting the opposition to overcommit to pressing is all part of the game.
PNE were v.good on the day. Whatever we did they had an answer to it. It is a fact that some teams are particularly good against us, and some better teams find us difficult. It's always been my opinion that the opposition has more to do with variations in our form than us having a particularly good or bad day at the office. |
spot on. | |
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:21 - Jan 21 with 2723 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 15:04 - Jan 21 by smegma |
Erm, going by your spiel, yes he was. You even start by saying 'let's start with a jerk that many won't agree with'. Your words not mine.
"Now on Saturday with Preston pushing three attackers up to tightly mark Lynch, Leistner and Scowen,should we have gone for the longer option more often? Yes"
Watch the first goal again. When Lumley passes the ball there are 4 Preston players hovering around the box with less defenders in the vicinity. This is a contradiction to what you said about Preston pressing us .As for your other patronising comments I give up. [Post edited 21 Jan 2019 15:05]
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Bit baffled by this mate, but let's not have a row about it - I said people would disagree with it and I disagree with you and the others - that's fine.
I'm not sure where the contradiction is because I said our back line was being marked - but I also said that shouldn't necessarily stop us from playing the short ball. Scowen called for it, and he had better options than the one he took. There was nothing wrong with the pass in my view. And if you watch it again, there's only one person apologising.
Not sure what my patronising comments were, but sorry if they came out that way. [Post edited 21 Jan 2019 20:41]
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:28 - Jan 21 with 2714 views | WilloW4 |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:40 - Jan 21 by Antti_Heinola |
no, he wasn't. |
I take it that you're just a Billy bunter like the rest of us... So when someone disagrees,you take offence.. And wax lyrical about your knee stuff.... It's great to see other hoops fans disagree with the boring old tat... Liven up Rangers.!! |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:48 - Jan 21 with 2684 views | daveB |
Scowen and Lumley were both to blame for the first goal, was poor from both of them but we still had plenty of time to get back into the match, We lost the game in the second half when we went 4-4-2 and looked wide open without the ball similar to the start of the season |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 21:06 - Jan 21 with 2647 views | GroveR |
"Although why on earth you'd play 'keep it in the corner' at 4-1 in the 93rd minute is a little beyond me."
I can't blame them. They obviously saw/spied on us against Newcastle and Port Vale and fear us as the comeback gods we are. |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 22:38 - Jan 21 with 2505 views | dixiedean |
There was another option for Scowen which I don't think has been suggested: he could have played the ball before it was outside the box . Until they wake up and change the laws , there's no penalty for doing that. Agree about Cousins ~ becoming the new Karl Henry or Gavin Mahon . Can you imagine the reaction if he ballsed up rather than Scowen? | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 09:48 - Jan 22 with 2236 views | PinnerPaul |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 22:38 - Jan 21 by dixiedean |
There was another option for Scowen which I don't think has been suggested: he could have played the ball before it was outside the box . Until they wake up and change the laws , there's no penalty for doing that. Agree about Cousins ~ becoming the new Karl Henry or Gavin Mahon . Can you imagine the reaction if he ballsed up rather than Scowen? |
Spot on!
They ARE going to change that law next season. Apparently teams use as (another!) time wasting tactic and also, as here, to get out of trouble.
IFAB are looking at scrapping the law that states ball must leave pen area at GKs and FKs before being touched by another player. | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 09:53 - Jan 22 with 2227 views | francisbowles |
Thanks Antti. FWIW I pretty much agree with all of it. Not only were we a short team but Preston had about nine giants so it was almost impossible to win anything in the air. Anyway it's done now and time to move on to Portsmouth.
Playing out from the back has to be an option but we have to learn to lessen the risk. Something, I think we can safely say, that Steve Mc will be working on this week. | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 10:40 - Jan 22 with 2185 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:28 - Jan 21 by WilloW4 |
I take it that you're just a Billy bunter like the rest of us... So when someone disagrees,you take offence.. And wax lyrical about your knee stuff.... It's great to see other hoops fans disagree with the boring old tat... Liven up Rangers.!! |
Imagine taking time out of your day to write this.
Reading Antti's knee jerks is not compulsory, and i'd imagine it takes him a lot of time and effort to do.
Until you contribute more than snide comments you aren't in a position to make criticisms about what others write about the Rs.
I appreciate his efforts wether i agree with his views or not. [Post edited 22 Jan 2019 10:42]
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| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 11:30 - Jan 22 with 2148 views | smegma |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 20:48 - Jan 21 by daveB |
Scowen and Lumley were both to blame for the first goal, was poor from both of them but we still had plenty of time to get back into the match, We lost the game in the second half when we went 4-4-2 and looked wide open without the ball similar to the start of the season |
Is the correct answer. | | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 13:00 - Jan 22 with 2062 views | YorkRanger |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 11:30 - Jan 22 by smegma |
Is the correct answer. |
I agree they were both to blame - probably 60:40 in Scowen's direction.
Scowen called for the ball and then made a right Horlicks of it. Lumley should have ignored his request for the ball recognizing the two attackers were too close to Scowen.
Having said that we were poor in every position from pretty much the first minute to the last.
A long and miserable day, although did have a few lovely pints of Timothy Taylor's Landlord in The Castle at Holland Park pre match |  | | |
| Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Preston 4 on 09:51 - Jan 25 with 1692 views | gazza1 |
The first goal was an error from Lumley - 100%. He has the ball, he is in charge. there should be 3, 4 ,5 players calling for the ball - Lumley has the eyes for the players calling, he can see the field of play, he decides who to pass it to. He took the wrong option and play it to Scowen. It should not have gone to Scowen but it did. Scowen could have done better but if he did not receive the ball - no problem. I actually saw Lumley hold his hands up in recognition of his error. | | | |
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