QPR's recovery, or not as the case may turn out to be, from Saturday's Middlesbrough massacre starts tonight, 48 hours after the event, at Watford live on Sky Sports.

Watford (12th) v Queens Park Rangers (9th)
Coca Cola Championship
Monday December 7, Kick Off 7.45pm
Vicarage Road, Watford

You’re never more than two defeats away from a crisis in modern day football, and after Saturday’s 5-1 mauling by Middlesbrough panic buttons are being hit all around the QPR support base this Monday morning. Sack this person or that person, drop this person or that person, can we get another loan signing in? Panic, panic, panic. Just about the only thing Magilton did get right on Saturday was his assertion afterwards that we shouldn’t have got carried away with the big wins we enjoyed earlier in the season and we shouldn’t fall to pieces now we’ve had a few stuck through us.

That said I don’t think an attitude of relaxing and waiting for our fortunes to turn back round again is going to help much. My step dad is a mad keen baseball fan and says one of the best things about it is a big defeat can quickly be rectified because you play a match just about every day - we get an immediate chance to put right the wrongs of Saturday tonight at Watford live on Sky TV but I’m not sure I share his love of the quick turn around after a defeat. How Magilton and his players will have spent their Sunday I’m not sure, but I’d hope at some point fairly soon the gaffer gets out the videos of our best performances this season and tries to work out what has changed.

I was surprised, for instance, when it was pointed out on the message board that the right back for our four goal hauls against derby, Reading and Preston was Peter Ramage and not Mikele Leigertwood, although Legs did play in the excellent wins against Cardiff and Barnsley. The centre half partnership was Stewart and Gorkss, the midfield had Gavin Mahon sitting between the back four and more forward thinking players. One of the biggest criticisms of Magilton’s management at Ipswich was his preference for one or two favourites and his constant team changing and having, I maintain, stumbled across a winning formula by accident earlier in the season he’s chopped and changed his way out of it probably without even noticing.

A big thing for me on Saturday, particularly evident on the extended BBC highlights, was the gap between the midfield and the back four. Without the pace of Stewart at centre half the defence regularly retreats to the sanctuary of its own 18 yard line and is scared stiff by anybody with a bit of speed about them. Similarly without Mahon or Rowlands holding things together the midfield is further up the field and that leaves this gap of 15 yards or more between them when just a month or so ago it was barely half that. In Yeates and Arca Boro had two players who needed no second invitation to go and play in that space and destroy us and I cannot imagine it was lost on Malky Mackay when he watched the video over the weekend.

What I’d like to see now is Magilton to go back, as close as injuries will allow, to the team that did so well in October and if it doesn’t work immediately stick with it. The players look nervous and low on confidence which is ridiculous for a team as high in the league as us that was sweeping all before them just a couple of weeks ago. Pick a team, preferably with Stewart instead of Hall which I believe would solve many of our problems, and say to them that they have a month now where we’re playing a lot of games to go out and impress. Settle them down, forgive their mistakes and see where we are come January.

Constant changing, loan signings, upheaval and uncertainty is not good and it has turned us from one of the division’s most vibrant sides into a complete shambles inside a month.

Five minutes on Watford
Recent History: Excuse me while he needle jumps on this broken record again – recently relegated from Premiership, now in financial difficulties. With the Championship and even League One increasingly resembling a graveyard for clubs that overstretched themselves in pursuit of the top flight dream I really am getting tired of writing about clubs who went there, came back, couldn’t cope with the reduction in income and are now being told it’s their round in the last chance saloon.

West Brom seem to have perfected the art of yo-yoing between the leagues without ever causing themselves serious problems but all the others seem to be making the same mistake. They go up, they sign players on big contracts and extend the deals of their existing players, they come back and waste their parachute money trying to return, and then they’re in trouble when it doesn’t happen.

For Watford it is especially unforgiveable. Nobody expected to get there in the first place, they did very little squad strengthening on arrival, and yet despite all that television money and everything else that comes into Premiership clubs they are now apparently destitute and requiring a bridging loan from their chairman to meet their financial commitments this month.

It was Aidy Boothroyd who took them into the top flight in his first ever managerial role. A virtual unknown when Watford plucked him from the Leeds academy set up to replace Ray Lewington he survived a rocky start to life at Vicarage Road to build an effective, if not particularly attractive, side that delighted the nation by beating Leeds United 3-0 in the 2006. Staying in the Premiership was always going to be a tough ask, and when top scorer from the previous season Marlon King was injured and out for the whole campaign in August after scoring a stunning goal in a rare win against West Ham the task was rendered almost impossible.

Initially they looked like fulfilling the West Brom model by losing just one of their first twelve games back in the Championship but inexplicably Boothroyd responded to a bit of an autumn dip in form by dropping Gavin Mahon and Danny Shittu from the spine of the side. A home defeat by promotion rivals West Brom in November started a run of abysmal home form – no wins from nine league games, including a 4-2 defeat against QPR. In the end they needed to rely on their early season form just to keep them in the play off spots through to the end of the season and having won none of their last five games it was no surprise to see an in form Hull City team that come on strong late in the season absolutely thrash them in the semi finals.

With parachute payments running out Watford chairman Graham Simpson strongly denied claims in the local press that the club was struggling for cash at the end of the season but still oversaw a fire sale of players including Darius Henderson, Danny Shittu, Steve Kabba, Nathan Ellington, Marlon King and Hameur Bouazza. They looked a poor side on paper at the start of the season and sure enough a relegation scrap ensued almost from the first whistle. Plymouth, Reading, Cardiff, Wolves, Blackpool, Doncaster and Bristol City have all left Vicarage Road with points and Boothroyd, who had promised a departure from the long ball style of his previous seasons in charge before the campaign, left after a 4-3 home set back against Blackpool.

Popular former player Malky Mackay was appointed as caretaker manager and did very well, thrashing QPR at Vicarage Road and winning at high flying Swansea in the League Cup but was harshly overlooked by the board who went for Brendan Rogers instead. Rogers, like Boothroyd, was known by few fans when he got the Watford job after making waves as a youth and reserve coach at Reading and Chelsea. The board had obviously taken good advice and Rogers transferred his great record in the ranks at Reading and Chelsea into the Championship and oversaw a transformation in the second half of the season that saw Watford climb comfortably away from danger with one of the Championship’s top marksmen Tamas Priskin to the fore.

With money tight Rogers was tempted back to his former club Reading in the summer to take on the challenge of their rebuilding, a job he has found somewhat more difficult than his role at Watford it would seem. That meant a second chance for Mackay and he has so far shown that he could well have been given the job first time around by leading one of the pre season tips for relegation into the top half of the table with some eye catching performances and intelligent signings.

Sadly more dire news recently about the state of Watford’s finances means that he is unlikely to be allowed to keep hold of his loan signings for much longer and the Hornets may be asset stripped by more secure clubs in January. Mackay’s hard work could only just be about to begin.

The Manager: Malky Mackay was an uncompromising centre half best known for his 200+ game spell in this country with Norwich City after a playing a bit part role at Celtic during the 1990s, Mackay was brought in to replace Brandan Rodgers this summer when he defected to Reading. Towards the tail end of his career Mackay found a niche for himself in captaining sides to promotion to the Premiership and then immediately moving on – doing so with Norwich, Watford and West Ham. He sensibly recognised, or perhaps had it recognised for him, that he was never going to be quick enough to play the likes of Thierry Henry but for experience and leadership in the Championship he was ideal. He looks set to be succeeded in this role by Wayne Brown who was promoted with Hull City 12 months ago, hardly played in the Premiership and is now at Leicester.

Mackay was unfortunate not to be appointed as Watford manager 12 months ago when they went for Rodgers instead. He won two and drew two of five matches in charge and seemed to galvanise the Watford side. It was no real surprise, despite his lack of experience, when they turned to him this summer and he now has a chance to show what he can do on a permanent basis. Watford have had the look of a club in decline, and struggling for money, for some time so this will be a tough baptism for him but his side have exceeded expectations so far and he has shown a canny ability to pick up good signings both temporary and permanent. The real challenge this season may be yet to come with money extremely tight and many of his impressive loan deals due to expire in January.

Three to Watch: One of the Watford players likely to attract interest in January if money really is that tight at Vicarage Road is England Under 21 goalkeeper Scott Loach. To be honest whenever I’ve seen Loach, a product of Ipswich’s academy who also spent time with Lincoln City, has always looked a little suspect but he is apparently attracting attention from elsewhere and being lined up for a transfer this January. Strangely the first goal eh ever conceded for the Hornets was the infamous Stuart Attwell ‘ghost goal’ against Reading , but he has since progressed to Stuart Pearce’s England U21 side and been linked with a move to Spurs with the Daily Mail recently reporting that Carlo Cudicini’s injury could trigger a £3m swoop by Harry Redknapp – frankly Watford should snap their hands off if that money is on offer. Over rated from what I’ve seen.

A player I have been more impressed with is their young striker Danny Graham. He came through the ranks at Middlesbrough but built his reputation at Carlisle United with 39 goals in 113 appearances. More of a target man than an out and out goal scorer, Graham has quickly settled into the Championship where he has played on loan before with Derby and Leeds on loan, and has seven goals to his name already this season – his most recent coming in a 3-0 home win against Scunthorpe when our own Heidar Helguson scored twice. I’m presuming Helguson cannot play against us on Monday, if he can somebody needs hanging.

It is the temporary signings made for the first half of this season that have really caught the eye so far. Mackay has picked up two from Man Utd and one from Arsenal to boost his numbers. Henri Lansbury cut his teeth with Scunthorpe last season and has been excellent, likewise Tom Cleverley from Man Utd, but it’s Craig Cathcart who is really building a solid reputation for himself in this division. Last year he caught the eye on loan at Plymouth and has been linked with Newcastle with his loan at Watford due to end next month. Another very promising young centre half in the Johnny Evans mould from Alex Ferguson’s stable.

Links >>> Watford Official Website >>> Watford Message Board >>> Travel Guide

History
Recent Meetings:
The last meeting between these sides was at Loftus Road at Christmas last year and was one of 11 0-0 draws fought out by QPR last season. The R’s had been beaten 3-0 at Vicarage Road so avoiding defeat was a bonus but Rangers dropped two points here and at Charlton on Boxing Day as a result of too many team changes following an impressive 3-2 home win against Preston.

QPR: Cerny 7, Delaney 6, Ramage 5, Hall 7, Stewart 6, Cook 6 (Blackstock 46, 6), Rowlands 6, Mahon 5 (Leigertwood 84, -), Ephraim 6, Agyemang 6, Helguson 5
Subs Not Used: Connolly, Ledesma, Alberti
Booked: Ramage (foul), Rowlands (foul), Helguson (foul)

Watford: Loach 6, Doyley 7 , De Merit 6, Mariappa 8, Harley 6, Bridcutt 6 (Bromby 89, -), Williamson 7, Jenkins 6, Smith 6, McAnuff 5, Priskin 6 (Rasiak 62, 5)
Subs Not Used: Lee, Hoskins, O'Toole
Booked: Mariappa (dissent), Rasiak (off the ball incident), DeMerit (deliberate handball), Harley (foul)

Rangers faced Watford at Vicarage Road at the end of November in what was technically Paulo Sousa’s first match as manager. In reality Gareth Ainsworth picked and directed the side while the new man watched on from the stands and with yet another change of manager afoot and the travelling QPR fans making known their feelings about both the performance and constantly being referred to as ‘a project’ this turned into a real day to forget. Watford were three up by half time with referee Mr Penn awarding a very harsh penalty against Mikele Leigertwood to allow Tommy Smith to score, a goal that was added to by Ward after a scramble and Williamson with the aid of a deflection. Watford did not add to their total in the second half but QPR were reduced to ten men when a lunge from Hall brought a straight red card from the match official.

Watford: Loach 7, Mariappa 6, Ward 7, DeMerit 7, Doyley 6, McAnuff 8 (Hoskins 78, -), Williamson 8 (O'Toole 82, -), Harley 7, Jenkins 6, Priskin 7, Smith 8
Subs Not Used: Lee, Bromby, Robinson
Booked: Harley (foul)
Goals: Smith 26 (penalty), Ward 34 (assisted Harley), Williamson 45 (assisted Smith)

QPR: Cerny 5, Delaney 1, Stewart 3, Hall 3, Ramage 2, Mahon 3 (Tommasi 46, 3), Leigertwood 3, Ledesma 3 (Parejo 53, 3), Ephraim 4, Blackstock 3 (Di Carmine 61, 4), Agyemang 5
Subs Not Used: Cole, Gorkss
Sent Off: Hall (81) (foul)
Booked: Mahon (foul), Ledesma (foul/play acting), Stewart (foul)

Head to Head:
QPR wins – 46
Draws – 29
Watford wins – 30

Previous Results:
2008/09 QPR 0 Watford 0
2008/09 Watford 3 QPR 0
2007/08 Watford 2 QPR 4 (Rowlands 2, Stewart, Buzsaky)
2007/08 QPR 1 Watford 1 (Moore)
2005/06 QPR 1 Watford 2 (Nygaard)
2005/06 Watford 3 QPR 1 (Shittu)
2004/05 QPR 3 Watford 1 (Gallen 2, Furlong)
2004/05 Watford 3 QPR 0
2000/01 QPR 1 Watford 1 (Ngonge)
2000/01 Watford 3 QPR 1 (Connolly)
1998/99 QPR 1 Watford 2 (Peacock)
1998/99 Watford 2 QPR 1 (Slade)

Played for both clubs:
Steve Palmer
Watford – 1995 to 2001
QPR – 2001 to 2004
The term ‘unsung hero’ was invented for people like Steve Palmer. Ian Holloway once memorably pointed out that at a concert you cannot have everybody playing the piano, you have to have somebody to carry the instrument onto the stage in the first place and in the nicest possible way Palmer was that piano carrier for QPR.

Palmer started his career at Ipswich Town in the late 1980s after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in software engineering. He played mostly as a steady holding midfield player, getting and giving, winning and passing – an intelligent man on and off the pitch and very useful to Ipswich as they attempted to keep pace with the ever changing face of football around the dawn of the Premiership.

Watford, a team he had once scored an own goal against for Ipswich, paid £135,000 for him in 1995 when Glenn Roeder was the manager. The Hornets were struggling in the third tier at this stage but Palmer earned plenty of plaudits for his central midfield performances. In 1997 when Graham Taylor returned for one of his 137 spells in charge of Watford he found himself out of the team with Richard Johnson and Micah Hyde occupying the midfield roles but he acted as cover in a variety of positions and, when he started the final game of the season in goal, he set a unique record of starting in every shirt from 1 to 14 during the campaign. Palmer later went close to playing in goal for QPR in a game at Hartlepool before the last second signing of Lee Camp got us out of jail.

When promoted into the First Division for the 1997/98 season palmer moved to centre half alongside Robert page and formed a solid base for the Hornets. Palmer was voted the club’s player of the year and got a play off winners medal to go along with that after their Wembley success against Bolton took them into the Premiership. Palmer was ever present in the top flight but Watford were comfortably relegated and when Gianluca Vialli took over 12 months later, bringing the likes of Ramon Vega with him, Palmer was first sidelined and then transfer listed.

QPR meanwhile had seen their squad decimated by administration to such an extent that new manager Ian Holloway had just seven professionals signed up to start pre-season ahead of the 2001/02 season, and two of those players Richard Langley and Clarke Carlisle were out for many months to come with ruptured knee ligaments. Holloway embarked on a recruitment mission the likes of which has rarely been seen and, aided and abetted by assistant manager Kenny Jackett, Watford became something of a local convenience store for the R’s. Chris Day and Alex Bonnot joined Palmer in making free transfer moves to W12 and the veteran proved to be exactly what QPR needed. A mercilessly consistent performer and wonderful captain for a team that often had to be introduced to each other in the dressing room before matches.

He was superb in his first season – ever present and captain at centre half - but over the coming two campaigns his age and chronic lack of pace increasingly caught him out. At centre half there were few better performers in the Second Division however he was definitely a ‘manager’s player’ in that Ian Holloway would select him whenever he was fit enough to get out of bed when often supporters would have preferred to see somebody like Aziz Ben Askar given a run in the side. Holloway’s infuriating insistence that a 36 year old Palmer could still play in the centre of midfield in his last season with the club when all facts said otherwise meant that many QPR fans do not remember Palmer as fondly as they should. He was a terrific signing at just the right time at QPR and did a wonderful job with us in a difficult period.

He was offered a coaching role at the end of the 2003/04 promotion season but he turned it down to continue playing at MK Dons for a further 12 months before finally retiring. An incredibly likeable fellow and terrific pro he is now working in Tottenham’s academy set up and plays for the QPR Masters Team.

Links >>> Watford 3 QPR 0 Match Report >>> QPR 0 Watford 0 Match Report >>> Match Report Archive >>> Connections and Memories

This Monday
Team News: To follow.

Elsewhere: The pick of the games in a full round of fixtures this midweek seems to be the promotion clash between West Brom and Cardiff at The Hawthorns and a South Yorkshire derby between improving Doncaster and Sheffield Wednesday who are nose-diving through the league at an alarming rate. Newcastle must wait until Wednesday to defend their four point lead at the top of the table when they meet Coventry at St James Park – as with Sheff Wed the Sky Blues are rapidly heading in the wrong direction.

Referee: West Midlands official Andy Penn is the man in the middle on Monday night, just as he was for this fixture last season when QPR were beaten 3-0 and Watford were awarded a questionable penalty kick in the first half. Fitz Hall was also sent off. Penn was awarded a mark of just two by LFW and finished bottom of the referee league last season. Click the link below for more details.

Links >>> Dean Sturridge Memorial Injury List >>> Arthur Gnohere Discipline Counter >>> Penn in charge again >>> Referee League

Form
Watford: The Hornets are on a bit of a strange run at the moment where they are either comprehensively beaten or comfortably win but nothing in between. Their last five fixtures have all been won by the home side without the away team scoring, they have beaten Scunthorpe and Preston 3-0 and 2-0 but lost three away games 2-0, 3-0 and 5-0. At Vicarage Road this season only Coventry (2-3) and Cardiff (0-4) have won.

QPR: The 5-1 defeat against Middlesbrough on Saturday made it one win from six for QPR since winning three on the spin and scoring 12 in the process in October. Away from home our form has been good – four wins so far is more than we managed in the whole of last season and by and large our style of play seems to be suiting away games more than home but the defeat at Doncaster last time out was comprehensive and worrying.

Prediction: QPR are massively unpredictable at the moment but after both teams lost at the weekend I’d suggest that they will now look to limit the damage and avoid defeat rather than try to win. Watford are good at home, QPR are sound away, I’d back a draw here if I was betting – but the best tip I can give you is don’t bet on QPR at the moment, you may as well play the lottery.
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