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Enough words, Wigan game is a time for action — full match preview
Enough words, Wigan game is a time for action — full match preview
Friday, 20th Jan 2012 19:10 by Clive Whittingham

Another week where there has been a lot of talking coming out of Loftus Road needs to end with a victory on the field for QPR against Wigan on Saturday.

QPR (18th) v Wigan (20th)

Barclays Premier League >>> Saturday January 21, 2012 >>> Kick Off 3pm >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

If they gave out points for talking a good game QPR could look forward to Champions League football in 2012. Phil Beard, Tony Fernandes, Neil Warnock, Joey Barton - I've heard these people talk more than my girlfriend this week. Barton's Friday afternoon Twitter assault on Neil Warnock came after his former manager had taken to the airwaves on Thursday to bemoan the affect of the social networking site on his career. The simple fact is had Warnock guided QPR to a midtable position no amount of Tweets to Tony Fernandes or agents talking about their clients doing a better job would have got him the sack.

I'm starting to view Barton's forays onto Twitter in the same way I view the clip of Fenton the Dog in Richmond Park. Barton racing off ahead as all right thinking QPR fans trail in his wake shouting "Barton, Barton, no Barton, BARTON, oh Jesus Christ" as he duly herds another ream of easy copy across the road and into the offices of the gutter press. Barton would be much better served by quietly upping his game and inspiring three or four quick fire wins for our team in the next few weeks than airing our club's dirty laundry in public. It's kids in the playground stuff this, do these people not realise that actions speak louder than words?

The same can be said of our new board, who talk a really good game and genuinely seem to be trying their best. But you can talk and talk all you like, it's results that speak loudest. The theme of the past fortnight has been ambition. If you're not ambitious you have to be happy with what you already have, and if you're neither then you're depressed and/or a Coventry City supporter.

Ambition is the first step on the road to achievement. Alex Ferguson was ambitious when he arrived at Manchester United and despite a slow start he has gone on to become the most successful manager in the history of the English game, turning round a drifting hulk of a club and wiping the floor with everything in sight for more than 20 years. I remember when I lived in Scunthorpe (bad times) a leaflet dropped through my door one day urging me to buy a season ticket at the local club which had just, by the skin of its teeth, escaped relegation to the Conference. Its ambition, said the promotional gumph, was to be a Championship club within five years. I laughed and threw it away. Five years later I found myself there with QPR, humiliated as we laboured to a two two draw against a side I'd previously considered something of a second team.

QPR talk a lot about ambition at the moment. Tony Fernandes is ambitious, Phillip Beard is ambitious, Mark Hughes is ambitious, the players are ambitious – everybody is very, very ambitious. They have to keep restating their ambition in order for Mark Hughes to look a little less foolish for turning up here seven months after he left established Premiership club Fulham citing their lack of ambition. Don't worry Mark, we're ambitious, honest.

Hughes seemed to depart the Craven Cottage scene on the understanding or belief that he was about to walk straight into the vacant managerial positions at Aston Villa or Chelsea – clubs he felt could match his ambition. The problem he found is that ambition doesn't actually exist as a physical thing. Ambition is just like a thought or a fantasy, a worry or a concern – it's entirely a mental state. I won't go into my Kelly Brook fantasy for a third week running but just because you think something doesn't make it so, even if you then verbalise that. The people at QPR can say they're ambitious until they're blue in the face but it won't change the fact that the training facilities are inadequate, the stadium is inadequate, the team is inadequate and they're spending colossal amounts more than they're bringing in.

It also won't persuade players to come to the club. It will help, as it helped Mark Hughes make up his mind, but players like money, and so does Mark Hughes if talk of his salary and bonus for staying up is anything to go by. QPR must offer ludicrous wages they cannot afford to sign the sort of players they want to sign and here is where ambition becomes a dangerous thing.

Ambition is also the first step on the road to disappointment. A cursory glance down the league tables reveals far more examples of clubs that ha d ambition, overreached themselves trying to achieve it, and continue to pay the price today than it does repeats of Alex Ferguson's success.

Leeds United had ambition and from their 40,000 Elland Road Stadium set off on a mission to topple the global super-power that is Manchester United. They wanted the Premier League, they wanted the Champions League, and they wanted everything else besides and they weren't afraid to spend money they didn't actually have to get it. The came admirably close, and then collapsed into league fixtures against Hartlepool . They're yet to fully recover.

Darlington were a club that for many years had an application for re-election to the Football League saved on file ready to mail out at the same time every year. They attracted an average 3,800 fans to their Feethams home in 1978 and 20 years later that figure hadn't moved at all in either direction. Nevertheless George Reynolds decided to build them a 25,000 seater out of town stadium, and try to sign Tino Asprilla amid promises of an ascent into the Premiership. Now barely 1,500 turn up to ride his great white elephant and watch Conference football and this week they needed a donation of £50,000 just to continue for the next three matches. Elsewhere in the Conference Kettering have had a three point deduction suspended until the end of February when the league hope the Poppies' own eccentric chairman Imraan Ladak may start paying his players and the other clubs they owe money to. Kettering 's ground in the middle of the town stands empty while the team plays to tiny crowds eight miles down the road at a ground that used to belong to Rushden and Diamonds – another club that reached for the stars, fell hard and went bust this summer. Kettering and Darlington will shortly both go the same way.

And then there's Portsmouth . The situation there is one that the footballing community as a whole agrees should never ever be allowed to happen again, and yet QPR seem to be gleefully following the Pompey model to the absolute letter. Portsmouth , playing in an outdated ground that was far too small to sustain top flight football, spent big money on big name players to secure Premiership status and an FA Cup win. Now they have a new owner each week, mounting debts, and are grateful for league games with Barnsley .

For years now QPR's solution to every problem that has come along has been to sign three more players and then if that doesn't work sack the manager immediately. It's a technique being embraced again this January apparently in the name of ambition. Meanwhile ninth placed Norwich, who were promoted alongside Rangers in the summer, quietly complete the signing of Leeds' Johnny Howson for a paltry £2m – young, talented, creative player in a key position that QPR need to strengthen. Chances are if Rangers had signed him instead some of the window lickers that seem to have invaded our home support of late, or suddenly piped up after years of blissful silence, would have said the signing wasn't ambitious enough.

All this ambition will count for little if we lose this crucial game to Wigan on Saturday. I don't believe there is such a thing as a must win game in January, but if there is then this is certainly it. I don't fancy our chances much if we lose here.

Links >>> Opposition Focus >>> History >>> Referee

This Saturday

Team News: QPR are still without Armand Traore and Adel Taarabt who are away at the African Nations Cup and they haven't been able to complete the protracted signings of Henrique, Taiwo, Nedum Onouha or Alex in time for this fixture. They do however have Joey Barton back from suspension. Danny Gabbidon faces a late fitness check on a hip injury picked up in the midweek cup win against MK Dons where he scored his first goal for seven years.

Wigan have problems in midfield where their star man so far this season Mohamed Diame is away in Africa with Senegal and former Wigan man David Jones has a calf strain that forced him out of their midweek defeat by Man City. Former Villa and Celtic man Shaun Maloney is a long term absentee.

Elsewhere: This weekend’s fixtures are dominated by two huge games at the top end of the table on Sunday. First up Man City host Spurs at Eastlands. City will be aiming to return to their scintillating pre-Christmas form after a slight New Year wobble and pull clear at the top of the table while third placed Spurs, who won here two season ago to claim a Champions League spot at City’s expense, will hope to further their own title ambitions with a win. Then it’s Arsenal v Man Utd with the Gunners hoping to avenge their 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford earlier this season.

On Saturday the early TV game is Norwich v Chelsea, and the late match is Bolton v Liverpool. Of the 3pm kick offs ours stands out as the real crunch game while the teams just ahead of us, Wolves and West Brom, face Villa at home and Stoke away respectively. Blackburn take their mini revival to Everton while in form Swansea and Sunderland clash at the Stadium of Light. Fulham v Newcastle completes the weekend list before a ten day break from league action for all teams for the FA Cup.

Referee: Jon Moss was promoted into the Premiership with QPR last summer having refereed our 1-0 New Year’s Day Championship match at Norwich last term. He sent off Matt Connolly that day for fouling, wouldn’t you just guess it, Grant Holt and has seemingly done little else other than send people off since reaching the big time. This headmaster credited with turning round one of the Leeds’ most troubled schools has dismissed nine players in just 20 appointments this season, including Wigan defender Steve Gohouri in their 2-1 home defeat by Spurs back in September. For his full case file please click here.

Form

QPR: The victory against MK Dons on Tuesday night was QPR's first in the FA Cup for 11 years, but more urgently it was only their second home win of the entire season. Four of the next six league games are at Loftus Road and with Wigan , Wolves, Everton and Fulham in town it's clear that it will be a crucial period if Mark Hughes is to rescue the side from relegation. Their last ten games are nightmarish, and they slipped into the bottom three for the first time since August with defeat at Newcastle last week, a tenth match without a win at the time. Rangers have managed just 19 goals this season and haven't scored more than one in a game since the last game before Christmas, which they still lost 3-2 to Sunderland . They have scored one goal or fewer in their last six matches. They haven't won in the league in nine attempts, and have lost seven of those. Wigan: The bottom three has become familiar ground for the Latics but you'd be foolish to write them off just yet – last season, quite out of the blue, they won three and drew two of their final six games to stage an unlikely dash to safety at the expense of West Ham and Birmingham. This year scoring goals has been the problem – they have managed just 18, one less than the next least prolific side QPR, and just eight of those have come in away matches. Five times in ten away games they've failed to score at all and on just three occasions have they scored more than one. That said they have picked up two away wins at West Brom and Sunderland . They've earned more credit for their recent performances and have taken points from West Brom, Chelsea , Liverpool and Stoke over Christmas but they have won only one of their last nine and have lost their last three games against Man City , Swindon and Sunderland . Wigan have won only twice in 18 matches since beaten QPR in August, a result that remains their only home win of the season, and they have the worst goals scored total in the entire Football League.

Betting: Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding says…

QPR enter this game after being outplayed for long periods by a League One side in midweek. I won’t go into the excuses for this as there certainly are some, but the truth of the matter is the side that played on Tuesday can only be marginally improved upon as it stands. Barton will come straight into side but barring any new signings that will be it. It seems clubs are holding us to ransom at present knowing the dire need we are in and I expect most of our transfer business to be done in the very closing stages of the window. But needs must now and we have no doubt our most important game to date in the Premiership this Saturday.

Wigan are the only side in the league to have scored less than us this year, and looking at their line-up, you can see why. Moses has undoubted pace and talent but makes the wrong decision far too often. Rodallega has gone off the boil massively- placing much pressure on the likes of Gomez and McCarthy in midfield. Wigan's problem is their midfield spend more time running towards their own goal than the opposition's. As the squads stand, this is very much a close encounter. I will be interested in where Mark Hughes chooses to play SWP. Let’s get this straight once and for all - SWP is a right winger. He is NOT a left winger. He is NOT a centre midfielder. He is NOT a striker. There is no doubt in my mind he is playing left wing for one reason only. This is to accommodate Jamie Mackie.

Warnock did it for a long time and it now seems Mark Hughes has followed suit. I put this down to the lack of alternatives but I can’t see this persisting much longer. I have also read reports on this site that Ferdinand and Gabbidon played really well in midweek. I am afraid in my opinion, watching this from a tactical point of view, that wasn't quite the case. MK strikers McDonald and Ibere were moving them around far to easy getting them into positions they shouldn't be in as experienced Premiership defenders. An Alex or a Samba is much needed in my opinion. That all said, Wigan are poor too. There is no denying it. I think in a few months the two squads will look very different, but as it stands, there is very little difference in quality and I see this ending in a result neither team wants - the draw. Recommended Bet - Draw 5/2 Bet Victor.

Elsewhere my bet of the weekend comes from London Road. Brighton were made to work very hard for their replay win in the FA Cup at Wrexham and combining extra time, the long travelling etc, I believe their recent revival could come to an abrupt end at the hands of the Posh.

Bet Of Weekend - Peterborough to beat Brighton 11/10 (general)

Prediction: To be honest I expect a re-run of Tuesday's match. A tense, drab encounter devoid of quality settled in QPR's favour by a single goal. It's not going to be pretty, but I think we'll get the job done. Just.

QPR win 1-0, best price 7/1 with Ladbrokes Tweet @loftforwords

Photo: Action Images



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GloryHunter added 19:33 - Jan 20
Excellent Clive. Can somebody please do a "Barton, BARTON, oh Jesus Christ" spoof video clip or cartoon?
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Spiritof67 added 20:06 - Jan 20
Another great article and some excellent points made. Hey Joey, look in the mirror - now let your boots start the talking!
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e1337prodigy added 20:10 - Jan 20
I completely agree. Have been reading your articles/blogs for quite some time. Keep it up, you speak to truth (or have the same thoughts that I do regarding the hoops). If we lose or draw this game I can honestly see our season going down the pan. I know its the one game and there are still a few more winnable games coming up, but player confidence is everything. Unless Mr Hughes is as good as manager as they say he is and can raise player confidence every week even when we are losing 1-0,2-0 every week to other teams in the relegation battle; if not then we better get ready for away games to Burnley on Tuesday evenings (etc).

It still baffles me as to how Norwich and Swansea are doing so much better than we are.

I was pleased with the way they played against Newcastle for the first 20mins but after that I was furious. There was just no movement from players off the ball, hence the player with the ball had no options, got closed down and we lost possession again. They can't counter-attack to save their lives, as soon as they won the ball in their own box only the player with the ball and 1 or 2 others gradually jogged up. As if they thought it was 1-1 and were playing for a draw. Strikers and two wingers at least should have been sprinting up the field to catch Newcastle on the break and out of position.

I just have these feeling they will lose tomorrow to something unlucky (ie bad ref decision or deflection). It will only take Wigan 1 goal to win the match because the way the R's are playing at the moment I can't even see us scoring a goal. We must have the worst shooting accuracy in all the divisions let alone the Premiership.

Enough of my rant. Fingers crossed.
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jimmya added 20:53 - Jan 20
Clive, you always speak so much sense and your articles are written exactly how I feel also.

Agree ref the "Mackie blind spot" that managers are having. I love Mackie and all that he is, but he is a striker not winger, simple as.

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BeauRanger added 20:55 - Jan 20
Well they can talk the talk & Tweet the Tweets.. but can they walk the walk?? A home game against the team who are bottom of the league, anything other than a win will be a major set back. First goal will be crucial once again & I'm sorry I can't agree with anyone who thought Gabbidon & Ferdinand played well as a pair on Tues'.

Fingers crossed then...
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MelakaRanger added 21:25 - Jan 20
This game will be the begining of the end

If we win, its the begining of the end of our worries

If we lose (or draw) its the begining of the end of our Premiership status

I believe we will win and by 2 goals!
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JB007007 added 21:45 - Jan 20
Great stuff Clive.
Like most, I'm fed up with Barton tweeting or whatever. I just dont get how people say he's intelligent and articulate. If he is then I'm a bloody genius. Anyway, he owes us some decent leader like performances and must start tomorrow. We'll have Heidar back up front too, so I think we'll sneak it - just.
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jo_qpr63 added 21:57 - Jan 20
I feel for Warnock about loosing his job , but i feel he is getting suckered into a war of words between the qpr board and Barton by the media. This is what the media and the other clubs want to happen because its negative press. Barton needs to stay out of it because it reflects on our club.Mark hughes needs to stay well out of it which i think he will, but if Barton doesnt perform against Wigan Hughes has to kerb his Twittering when it comes to QPR.
Ambition is good, you got to have it in football if you want to win and so far i think the board are walking the walk but the players are not for whatever reason.
Prodigy-Norwich and Swansea have carried their momenton from championship to now and slowly built.(plus an open roof bus party!) QPR have had a badly timed takeover, big name players come in, which seems to have unsettled the team and now 2 managers.While Norwich and Swansea where swanning around their respective towns basking in their glory of promotion, QPR where in rainy Cornwall fishing out some old third kit from the back of a tranit van(stangely my mates got photos!). Its just a theory why they are doing better then us at mo but it could be they just have really good managers.
I'm now going for a 3-2 win against Wigan. C'mon u super hoops!
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thehat added 21:59 - Jan 20

Cheers Clive great write up again.

Why is it always us as the bloody soap opera - Why can't we be a boring middle of the table side but I guess it just wouldn't be QPR would it.

Right Joey go and get get the bloody winner tomorrow.
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extratimeR added 22:18 - Jan 20
Thanks Clive, good report.

Yes, SWP is vital. he is the only player in our side tomorrow who can run straight at Wigans back four, (Jamie sadly showed again on Tuesday that his first touch is non-existent, its either over his head, or he will run it out.

Its a waste of a good player watching SWP tracking back on both sides of pitch covering in front of back four, (whole game at Liverpool).

He must be kept up front, yes most definitely on the right so he can hit line, and release early.
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RBLOCKPAT added 22:21 - Jan 20
Barton is just a never ending circle of hypocrisy, he clearly is immature and trying to be grown up through twitter but making himself look an absolute and overwhelming fool, I thought that when his son was born something might actually click in his thick skull, but no, disrespecting Neil Warnock was to easy for his hoody mentality and just as cowardly as Warnock claimed he was sacked. There is a lack of dignity from both parties, Neil Warnock should have accepted the fact that he had become a legend to the fans for what he did for us which we will never forget. Barton should have been grateful to Warnock for bringing him to the club and making him captain and that in turn was a decision that ultimately cost our beloved his job. I think Hughes wont tolerate Bartons futile rant and he is probably hell bent on trying to bring Samba in as captain and Barton will dig his own grave. Clive your cynasism towards the board angers me, what do you expect, a Frazer adage from Dads Army ' were doomed ' they are obviously trying to bring in quality that is required at this level and I think that Mark Hughes has enough respect as a player and coach to bring those players in, so give them all a chance before you jump to conclusions. We should win tomorrow but then the team is the same and we will have a clue tomorrow whether they can be lifted enough to play well and the fans have a big part to play in helping them achieve three points. If I was managing the team tomorrow I would play Mackie alongside Helguson and see what happens, Io think he can score goals up front his workrate and courage is undeniable and I think Hughes acknowledges that, Bothroyd tends to drop too deep anyway so if Barton can get in the hole it might work.
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QPRski added 22:30 - Jan 20
As you correctly say "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS".

As of this game the management and especially the players need to "Walk the Talk". The place to do do it is on the football pitch and the measure is to simply score more goals than you let in after 90 minutes.

I sincerely hope they do it as time is quickly running out.
A draw with this match will be correctly regarded as a a failure.
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R_in_Sweden added 22:33 - Jan 20
Excellent article Clive, putting things well into perspective. The Portsmouth comparison is frightening.

We've read Barton's opinion on just about everything this season apart from his own mediocre form. And now he's publicly slating the man who gave him a Premier League lifeline and chance to negotiate a record club wage by all accounts. Time to shut up and play, then he can tweet as much as he wants.

Let's see if our present team can grind out a win tomorrow, it would be a massive boost of confidence. I cannot see 2 or 3 potential mercernaries from the transfer window doing that. But I can see Taarabt and Traore stepping back into a side with self belief making a difference.
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actonman added 22:40 - Jan 20
benton anology (i might have made that word up) genius !!
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R_in_Sweden added 22:43 - Jan 20
There's only one Joey Benton
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R_in_Sweden added 22:45 - Jan 20
Forget the last comment, too much red wine. The dog's called Fenton, your fault actonman.
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jo_qpr63 added 00:22 - Jan 21
Open TOP bus party i should of said,not roof. The roof ,the roof is on fire!!... Too much wine, its for the nerves about 2moro. C'mon u R's
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jo_qpr63 added 00:27 - Jan 21
i mean beer..to much beer. C'mon u R's
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MelakaRanger added 04:19 - Jan 21
We are going to win! HH to score two goals. Bothroyd to miss 3 open goals! And an unexpected scorer for our third!
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ozexile added 08:02 - Jan 21
Joey Barton intelligent? Surely that depends on your definition of intelligence?
Anyone can read a book(well most). My definition of intelligence doesn't extend to reacting to every situation with critiscism or agression. Neil warnock has every right to believe what he believes. Everyone sees a situation the way they want to see it. That's why you should just leave them to it. Their definition is neither right or wrong.........it just is.
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dixiedean added 10:13 - Jan 21
If Barton had any intelligence he wouldn't publicly slag off someone who has become a QPR legend in a short space of time because he ACHIEVED something. I've said for weeks that he needs to deliver on the pitch or shut up, otherwise he's on a 1 way road to disaster. The man is a nasty ,disruptive influence which might be tolerated if he performed,but won't be while he isn't, and attacking a popular figure is not the way to get liked. People cheer him like they cheered Vinnie Jones when he joined - both morons with reputations way beyond their mediocre footballing ability, both fleeced the club financially and (to date) neither contributed much on the field. In hindsight Jones' signing was shameful - at least we didn't stoop as low as Marlon King. If we signed lowlife such as him I'd tear up my season ticket ( ok you can't tear them nowadays ,so maybe I'd melt it ) It's been said many times by many fans,but Barton really has to deliver now or he'll get slaughtered by the fans and it could derail any recovery we might hope for - unless MH bombs him out altogether ,but I can't see that happening in the short term.
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MelakaRanger added 01:48 - Jan 22
I believe Barton will be gone in the summer - come what may. Cant see him going beforehand.

He is not right for the club and never will be. Nasty, cocky, yet rich (in £s not skill)

His performances have been woeful but if he was just 25% as good as he thinks he is, he would do wonders!

Still with his thick skin and his money I suspect he cares not one iota what the QPR supporters think of him

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