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QPR get stark reminder of dark past with Saints visit - full match preview
QPR get stark reminder of dark past with Saints visit - full match preview
Friday, 31st Jul 2009 09:16

QPR welcome newly relegated Southampton to Loftus Road for the final pre-season friendly of 2009 on Saturday - a club in an almost identical position to ourselves nine years ago.

Queens Park Rangers v Southampton
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday August 1, Kick Off 3pm
Loftus Road, London, W12


When Flavio Briatore opens his mouth, ticket prices go up again, players are bought and sold behind the manager’s back or the team loses there are QPR fans who say that they preferred it back in the bad old days at the start of this decade. Some say it was more fun, others point out that the players at least seemed to give a toss, and the atmosphere around Loftus Road on a match day was better. On Saturday in W12 we are visited by a team that this summer found itself in an almost identical situation to the one we endured back in 2000/01, and I bet you plenty of Southampton fans would happily change places with us given the chance.

Nine summers ago QPR had seven professionals signed on, were in administration, had creditors queueing round the block and the Grim Reaper just finishing up his meal at the Roti Hut on Uxbridge Road before making his way down to the ground to pay us a visit as well. Things were dire, desperate, and yes although Ian Holloway managed to build a team from a rag tag bunch of rejects, misfits, foreigners and other people’s reserves that won promotion back to the Championship inside three years and we all had a lot of fun going to places like Hartlepool for the first time since the 1950s do we really miss those times? Do we really miss meeting at Hammersmith Town Hall trying to think of ways to save our club? Or including in the team news for a Tuesday night match that the participation of a couple of players is in doubt because the club can only afford to keep one of them? Do we really miss rattling buckets for QPR rather than Cancer Research before home matches?

Yes we all miss the atmosphere of a full Loftus Road watching a QPR side that won more often than not, but there must be easier ways to re-engage the QPR fans without the club going to the wall and dropping a division again surely?

Southampton have traded on their name, and the lack of a Panama based company jangling the keys to their ground in front of any potential investors, to get out of their financial catastrophe a damn site quicker than we managed it. The few talented players that remained in their squad by the time it was relegated with a points deduction at the end of last season have been sold relatively cheaply and although a takeover is now complete and Alan Pardew is safely ensconced in the hot seat hoping to rebuild his own reputation after a tumultuous couple of years at West Ham and Charlton a further punishment from the league, ten points again, renders them unlikely to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.

At Loftus Road these days the pressure is on new manager, and former Southampton player, Jim Magilton to get Rangers in and around the play off positions this season and keep the board’s four year plan on track. It’s a tough task for the former Ipswich man but as Southampton have shown us this summer, Livingston have shown Southampton, and Gretna have shown Livingston - in football, there is always somebody worse off than you.

Five minutes on Southampton
Recent History: The questions that come to my mind repeatedly when I read the latest news coming out of St Mary’s are how and why? Not only were Southampton comfortably stationed in the middle of the Premiership and looking forward to an FA Cup final with Arsenal as recently as 2003 but even after relegation they sold an array of talent for massive money. How can a Championship club bringing in parachute payments, £5m and rising for Theo Walcott, £5m and rising for Gareth Bale, £6m and rising for Kenwyne Jones and so on possibly find itself in any form of financial difficulty? Especially when their excellent academy set up was able to produce first team players to the quality of Walcott, Bale and Andrew Surman negating the need to pay big transfer fees?

In truth it is an all too familiar story. As the gap between the incomes of clubs in the Premiership and Championship continues to widen, and clubs in the top flight start commit more and more money to wages in an attempt to get hold of players good enough to keep them there, the consequences of relegation when it does happen become ever more disastrous. Southampton certainly are not the first club to come out of the Premiership, throw their parachute money at players to try and get them back, and quickly dig themselves into a very deep hole as the money starts to dry up - and they won’t be the last either. From the moment you come out of the top flight you either have to cut, or rather slash, your cloth accordingly or take that gamble to try and get back immediately. If you do the latter and it doesn’t work, well, Charlton, Norwich and the Saints can fill in the gaps for you.

Southampton did get close in fairness. They lost in the semi final of the 2007 play offs to a Derby side that I thought was vastly inferior, both through the season and on the night of the second leg. It has all been downhill since then though with manager at the time George Burley admitting sales were necessary to stave off administration and a succession of boardroom farces that saw first Rupert Lowe replaced by Michael Wilde, then Leon Crouch replace Wilde, and then Lowe return to the club at the start of last season with a plan so half baked it looked like something invented on a Portsmouth message board.

Despite saving Southampton from relegation at the end of the 2007/08 season Nigel Pearson, the promising young manager who has just stormed League One with Leicester City, was fired by Lowe and replaced by former Dutch international Jan Poortvliet. Lowe’s idea, allegedly conceived some time ago when he tried to foist Clive Woodward and Simon Clifford onto Harry Redknapp, was to effectively merge the first team with the academy and have a team made almost entirely of the club’s own, home grown teenagers. Now in principal this sounds ideal, especially with such a productive academy as there is at St Mary’s. However even the very best academy’s struggle to produce more than three players good enough for the first team on a season by season basis and although Poortvliet was brought in for his reputation of making such a system work both manager and players were hopelessly out of their depth for large parts of last season.

Some of the football they played was very nice, they were certainly one of the more attractive opponents to visit Loftus Road last term, but the fact that a QPR side that struggled for goals all season notched four that day highlights the sheer naivety of both the concept and the players involved with it. Southampton were LFW’s tip for the drop this time last year and they did not disappoint although by the time it came Lowe had been forced out, administrators were wiping their feet at the front door, the league was taking points from them and crowds had dwindled to less than half what they were a few short years before. Chronic mismanagement over five or six seasons sees the club start next year in League One, minus ten points, but with renewed hope under a new board - 10,000 season tickets have been sold already. It all sounds all too familiar.

The Manager: Jan Poortvliet resigned two thirds of the way through last season leaving Simon Jordan’s rival as national Tango drinking champion 2009 Mark Wotte to pick up the pieces and see the doomed club through to the end of the campaign. Wotte had been Poortvliet’s assistant at St Mary’s and seemed set to stay on for this season, even going so far as to welcome the takeover by Swiss businessman Markus Liebherr and saying how much he was looking forward to getting on with the job of rebuilding. A day later he was gone, and Alan Pardew was back in football.

Pardew became hot property in football when he led Reading out of League One in 2002 and then took them straight into the First Division play offs the following season. He resigned after the start of the 2003/04 season to take over at West Ham and although he lost the play off final to Crystal Palace in his first season he secured promotion a year later at the Millennium Stadium by beating Preston - although West Ham were below par for much of the season and Pardew was under considerable pressure from supporters for much of it. He consolidated West Ham’s position in the middle of the Premiership, and took them to an FA Cup final, in 2006 uncovering hidden gems like Yossi Benayoun and making stars of previously mediocre players like Nigel Reo Coker and Marlon Harewood. Sadly for him those players became known as the baby-Bentley brigade the following season - accused of believing their own hype and publicity and lacking the necessary effort and commitment in 2006/07, a season where the Hammers went on their worst run of results for 70 years, went out of the League Cup to Chesterfield and lost 4-0 at Bolton culminating in Pardew’s dismissal by the new Icelandic owners of the club.

He was quickly, within two weeks, back in management at the highest level with Charlton. Despite taking over at Christmas and having half a season and a transfer window to save them Pardew’s task was made almost impossible by the mismanagement of the Charlton board who had allowed Iain Dowie to spend £12m and then sacked him inside two months, and appointed untried and apparently completely useless Les Reed as his replacement. Charlton have since trodden an almost identical path to Southampton with a pre-season tag of Championship promotion favourites quickly washed away by a sea of mediocrity, then the money started to run out, then things got worse and eventually Pardew was sacked midway through last season, after a 5-2 defeat to Sheffield United. Charlton finished dead last in the Championship, easily the worst team in it by some distance.

So Pardew is now damaged goods. The promotions at West Ham and Reading long forgotten and his arrogant demeanour, frequent clashes with players, media and other managers and failure at Charlton fresh in the minds. He is now back in League One hoping to rebuild both Southampton, and his own reputation.

Three to Watch: One man who has not always enjoyed playing against QPR is Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis but last season, despite the 4-1 defeat, he was the top man in the game between the two sides at Loftus Road. A powerfully built keeper who came up through the ranks at Luton and played in the Premiership for Wimbledon, Davis looked set for a return to the big time this summer after agreeing a deal to join West Ham United as cover for Rob Green. Green has a history of injury problems and the transfer could have opened up plenty of opportunities that Davis, at 32, probably thought were behind him. However the motivation behind the sale was purely financial from Southampton’s point of view and when a takeover of the club was completed midway through negotiations Davis, admirably, decided he wanted to stay and having signed a new three year deal will lead from the back as Alan Pardew’s side look to claw back their early ten point deficit. QPR fans probably best remember Davis for his tendency to let Paul Furlong score from just about anywhere during his Ipswich days – two long range thunderbolts at Loftus Road in 2004/05 were followed later in the season by a bizarre goal when Davis’ mishit a clearance against the back of the retreating Furlong and allowed the striker a clear run and inevitable opening goal.

When the move to Upton Park collapsed Davis said: “The decision for me was between the opportunity of first-team football at Southampton or the chance to play Premier League football and I have made my choice to stay at Southampton. I got the call yesterday and the new people at Southampton were quick to offer me a new contract and were very clear in what they want to achieve for the football club. I always said from the end of last season that League One football does not scare me and I obviously feel as responsible as anyone for the club's position.” A refreshing change in an era when players in relegated sides request transfers before even changing out of their kit after the last match of the season - Jermaine Defoe.

One of the first signings made by Pardew, and a man who will be keen to impress at Loftus Road on Saturday, is left full back Dan Harding. He was ostracised at Ipswich by our current boss Jim Magilton with rumours of arguments between the two culminating in a poor display in defeat at Charlton last season which earned Harding the chop, and a long term loan deal at Reading until his contract expired this summer. Harding had a glowing reputation when he first moved to Portman Road having gained England Under 21 honours while playing for lowly Brighton but his form dipped after a promising start and he was not popular with the fans or management in Suffolk by the time his spell with the club came to an end. He should certainly be a stand out performer at League One level and could yet make it in the Championship if Pardew can restore his self confidence. Will obviously be keen to show Magilton he made a big mistake this weekend.

While the highly rated Andrew Surman left for Wolves and David McGoldrick went to Forest at the height of the financial crisis on the south coast, Southampton kept hold of the highly rated and often scouted Adam Lallana long enough for a takeover to be completed. While the point deduction renders Southampton’s chances of an immediate return to the Championship almost non-existent nobody in League One will relish facing their forward line which still consists of Grzegorz Rasiak and Marek Saganowski supported by Lallana who was on the scoresheet against Hearts in pre-season last week and says he wants to reach double figures this season. The three of them could be seriously prolific if they remain for the forthcoming season, Rasiak has spent the last 18 months out on loan at Watford, and QPR fans need no reminder of Lallana’s talents after his superb solo goal at Loftus Road last season.

Links >>> Southampton Official Website >>> Southampton Message Board

History
Recent Meetings:
A sparse crowd at St Mary’s in March was treated to one of QPR’s 11 forgettable 0-0 draws when these teams met last season. With Southampton slipping closer to the drop by the game and QPR bereft of ideas and confidence this truly was a dire game during which only the sunshine, and a late cameo by Adel Tarrabt who had signed from Spurs on loan during the week, brightened the day. Taarabt came as close as anybody to winning the game in stoppage time, but I’d long since left in a fit of complete boredom and I was not alone either.

Southampton: Davis 6, James 6, Saeijs 6, Perry 6, Skacel 7, Lallana 6 (Thomson 74, 6), Gillett 6, McGoldrick 7, Surman 6, Euell 5, Saganowski 5 (Wright-Phillips 77, 6)
Subs Not Used: Forecast, Wotton, Liptak
Booked: James (foul), McGoldrick (foul)

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 7, Stewart 6, Gorkss 7, Connolly 6, Ephraim 6 (Taarabt 78, 7), Miller 5 (German 71, 6), Lopez 6 (Mahon 87, -), Leigertwood 6, Routledge 5, Blackstock 5
Subs Not Used: Hall, Alberti
Booked: Gorkss (kicking ball away), Stewart (obstructing goalkeeper)

Although a 4-1 scoreline may suggest a rout, Southampton’s performance with only ten men on the field at Loftus Road in September last year deserved plenty of credit. In a live Sky fixture Dexter Blackstock opened the scoring in the first minute when he lashed home a long throw from Hall from all of a yard out. Southampton then had debutant Lancashire sent off for a poor tackle on Ephraim but Saints battled back and scored a wonderful equalising goal through Lallana on the our mark. An obviously offside goal from Damion Stewart turned the tide back QPR’s way and late strikes from Blackstock again and Agyemang added a gloss to the scoreline. Southampton were well in the game for a long time but ultimately relied on goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to keep the score down.

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 5, Stewart 7, Connolly 7, Delaney 7, Mahon 5, Leigertwood 7, Ephraim 6 (Rowlands 8), Parejo 6 (Agyemang 8), Cook 6, Blackstock 8
Subs Not Used: Camp, Gorkss, Balanta
Booked: Leigertwood (foul), Delaney (foul)
Goals: Blackstock 1 (assisted Mahon), Stewart 63 (assisted Rowlands), Blackstock 77 (assisted Agyemang), Agyemang 90 (assisted Cook)

Southampton: Davis 9, Wotton 6, Lancashire 4, Cork 5, Gillett 6, James 6, Surman 6, Holmes 6 (Dyer 23, 7), Schneiderlin 6 (Pekhart 69, 6), Lallana 7, McGoldrick 6
Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Perry, John
Sent Off: Lancashire (30) (two footed tackle)
Booked: Schneiderlin (foul), Dyer (foul)
Goals: Lallana 53 (unassisted)

Head to Head:
QPR wins: 26
Draws: 21
Southampton wins: 26

Previous results:
2008/09 Southampton 0 QPR 0
2008/09 QPR 4 Southampton 1 (Blackstock 2, Agyemang, Stewart)
2007/08 Southampton 2 QPR 3 (Agyemang 2, Rowlands)
2007/08 QPR 0 Southampton 3
2006/07 QPR 0 Southampton 2
2006/07 Southampton 1 QPR 2 (Blackstock, Jones)
2005/06 QPR 1 Southampton 0 (Langley, pen)
2005/06 Southampton 1 QPR 1 (Shittu)
1995/96 QPR 3 Southampton 0 (Brevett, Dichio, Gallen)
1995/96 Southampton 2 QPR 0
1994/95 Southampton 2 QPR 1 (Ferdinand)
1994/95 QPR 2 Southampton 2 (Barker, Gallen)
1993/94 Southampton 0 QPR 1 (Ferdinand)
1993/94 QPR 2 Southampton 1 (Penrice, Wilson)
1992/93 Southampton 1 QPR 2 (Sinton, Channing)
1992/93 QPR 3 Southampton 1 (Ferdinand 2, Bardsley)

Played for both clubs: Dave Webb Big Dave Webb is one of the few players to enjoy success at both sides of West London after starring for both Chelsea and QPR during the 60’s and 70’s. However he started his career at another London club Leyton Orient making his debut in the 1964-65 season. Two years later Webb moved down to the South Coast and joined Southampton where the robust centre-back made an immediate impact by scoring on his debut with promotion rivals Wolves. Webb spent three seasons at Southampton before getting a move to the big-time with Chelsea, and it is here where Webb really made his name. winning the 1970 FA Cup beating Leeds and the Cup Winners Cup a year later at the expense of Real Madrid. He crossed West London four years later and formed a formidable partnership with Frank McLintock at the heart of the QPR defence. He was part of what is arguably Rangers greatest ever team, that went a whisker of winning the league in 1976 and won over the Loftus Road faithful. He left to join Leicester a year later followed by spells at Derby, Bournemouth and Torquay before his career as a manager for clubs including Southend, Chelsea and Brentford. Now can be found as a occasional after dinner speaker and radio pundit.

Links >>> QPR 4 Southampton 1 Match Report >>> Southampton 0 QPR 0 Match Report >>> Match Report Archive >>> Connections and Memories

This Saturday
Team News: Rangers are again without injured trio Akos Buzsaky, Alejandro Faurlin and Mikele Leigertwood. All three are suffering with thigh problems, with Faurlin the most seriously injured of the trio. Radek Cerny will not feature after coming down with illness (dear God not the dreaded pig flu I hope) so Andy Marshall will get a final chance to impress Jim Magilton before a decision is taken on whether he gets a contract or not. One player definitely not featuring tomorrow, or again in Rangers colours, is French left back Gregory Vignal who has not been retained at the end of his trial period.

Elsewhere: For the majority of clubs in the Championship this weekend represents the final chance to warm up in an 11 aside game before a week of training and the first competitive game of the season next weekend. With that in mind it is interesting to see the array of challenges clubs in our league have set themselves in preparation for the big kick off. Barnsley and Derby have gone down the conventional route of playing a Premiership side – Man City and Stoke doing the honours respectively. Sheff Wed are playing Blackburn and Reading have Chelsea. Bristol City and Scunthorpe have taken our route, possibly hoping for a confidence boosting win, by taking on a League One side at home – Wycombe and Brighton in their cases. Meanwhile Blackpool and Middlesbrough seem quite happy to nurse broken legs into the first game of the season arranging games, as you do, at Oldham and Millwall. The stand out fixture of the weekend, involving the opposition we were rumoured to have turned down for this Saturday, is Watford at home to Parma

Links >>> Dean Sturridge Memorial Injury List

Form
QPR: Rangers picked up two midweek wins at Wycombe and Kettering to enhance their pre-season record with only this game still to play. The R's have now won three, at Wycombe, Kettering and Aldershot, lost at NK Karlovac and drawn at Celje and Oxford. There have been two notable changes from last season - firstly the previously water tight defence has been leaking goals at an alarming rate, eight in six games so far, and the logic of separating the imperious Stewart and Gorkss partnership so the accident prone Fitz Hall can play has to be questioned on that basis. Secondly at the other end QPR, who failed to score in 23 matches last season, have looked more threatening with 13 goals scored so far this summer. With the recent additions of Taarabt and Pellicori surely helping, it is important that this is maintained if the QPR fans are to be won back over after a dull and boring 2008/09.

Southampton: Although with all the upheaval at St Mary's this summer it was probably to be expected, results wise their summer has been a bit of a disaster so far. Just one win from six friendlies up to now, and apart from the 4-1 defeat at home to Dutch giants Ajax, the opposition was not up to much in any of the matches. The sainst have three draws under their belts at Eastleigh (1-1) Totton (2-2) and Cheltenham (0-0) as well as a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth. The victory came at home to Scottish side Hearts, and if the European results from Thursday night are anything to go by everybody should play a Scottish side if they get the chance, 3-0 last Saturday.

Prediction: My predictions are notoriously bad at the best of times but having only seen QPR once this summer, and not having seen Southampton at all, I don’t have a lot to go on with this one. From what I have seen, live and via the internet, heard from people who have been at games and read on various websites it sounds like QPR are trying desperately to play good football on the floor but haven’t quite clicked yet. It sounds like we look a bit better going forward with Vine, Agyemang and Pellicori all coming into the mix and a lot worse at the back with Fitz Hall coming in to break up a centre half set up involving Gorkss, Stewart and Connolly that really didn’t need to be touched. With that in mind, and it might be complete bollocks of course, I’ll go for a Desmond here.
QPR 2 Southampton 2

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Photo: Action Images



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