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Grim performance somehow wins point
Grim performance somehow wins point
Saturday, 11th Mar 2006 01:07

Below par Rangers grabbed a point from snow bound Hillsborough thanks to a goal from Bircham and more miracles from Jones.

I get the impression that Gary Waddock is learning more and more with every passing match. Take the game at Crystal Palace for instance, a 4-1-4-1 formation (or whatever the hell it was) worked so badly that Rangers were two down inside twenty minutes and changes had to be made.

You just know Waddock had been sitting in the stands at past away games cursing the team's poor performance and wondering why Holloway wouldn't try something a little bit more inventive, such as using Matthew Rose as a holding midfield player. First chance he got he gave it a go and he found out. We don't have the players to do things like that. They're not good enough.

Lesson two came on Saturday - play the conditions. In this city a fortnight ago Rangers passed Sheffield United off the pitch, scored three and could have had six, made the division's best player (yeah right) Phil Jagielka look like a bloody idiot and won a deserved three points. However, the pitch at Bramall Lane has a surface marginally better than your average pool table and the conditions were ideal for football.

Rangers arrived at Hillsborough on Saturday to find their hosts had kindly allowed several hundred bison to graze on the pitch in the week leading up to the match. Not only that but by half time the snow was bucketing down and an icy wind whistled round the stadium all afternoon.

Rangers started out knocking the ball around a bit but soon resorted to big booming clearances down the field and were indebted to Paul Jones for preserving a point in the end.

Jones kept his place ahead of the fit again Simon Royce after his heroics in the Wolves game last week. It was the same back four that had kept Glenn Hoddle's men out as well, Bignot and Milanese the full backs, Rose and Shittu the centre halves. Ian Evatt returned to fitness, but only made the bench.

In midfield Marc Bircham and Steve Lomas both returned at the expense of Langley and Bailey who were on the bench. Lee Cook and Gareth Ainsworth were the wingers. Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong started up front.

Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock had warned his misfiring strikers before the match that they must start producing the goods and he sent Deon Burton and Marcus Tudgay out there to try and win them a valuable three points.

Sturrock also handed debuts to Liverpool keeper Scott Carson and Man City defender Mikkel Bischoff who signed on loan the day before the match.

The game started brightly with chances at either end. Marc Bircham hit a wild effort off target and Paul Furlong narrowly failed to connect with a Lee Cook cross inside the opening three minutes. Gareth Ainsworth hit a trademark volley from the edge of the area which Carson plucked out of the top corner just as it seemed destined to rip through the net - a good save made to look comfortable thanks to some quick footwork from the keeper.

Wednesday's first attack saw Burton O'Brien swing over the perfect cross for Burton whose bullet header flew goalwards but was palmed over the bar by Paul Jones. It was a superb save but without wishing to take anything away from Jones if Burton had the ability to direct the ball into either corner rather than straight down the middle then it would have been 1-0.

Still, the move seemed to give Wednesday some much needed belief and on ten minutes a superb move almost gave them the lead. Yoann Folly flew into a magnificent crunching challenge on Steve Lomas on halfway and then took off down field with the ball at his feet. Once he reached the edge of the penalty area he played a one two with Tudgay and only a superb last ditch tackle from Rose prevented Folly from bursting the net with the goal of the season.

This was a warning to Rangers, but not one that they heeded. In the twelfth minute Wednesday took the lead. In the opening stages the QPR defence had been very lethargic and that cost them when Shittu and Rose both allowed Glenn Whelen's pass to go through to Jones only for Burton to nip in first and stab the ball home. Jones was furious and rightly so. QPR were standing off their men at every throw in and set piece, allowing crosses to come into the box with ease.

Rangers came into the game a little more after the goal, but still needed Danny Shittu to be on his toes when Chris Brunt threatened to break through on goal.

Most of the good things Rangers put together at Bramall Lane were the result of Lee Cook running at the heart of the United defence but it took twenty minutes for him to do that for the first time against Wednesday and when he did the result was a tame shot that flew well off target. Rangers had slightly more joy down the left two minutes later when Milanese broke into the penalty area and produced a superb low cross which just missed Furlong at the near post.

On twenty four minutes the game exploded back into life with a scrap in the centre circle. Bischoff slid in on Furlong who hit the deck and all hell broke loose as referee Andy D'Urso showed the Wednesday man a yellow card. Furlong left the field for treatment but soon returned and was booed by the home crowd as a result.

This is the kind of challenge that people who have never played the game have outlawed. Bischoff clearly took the ball with his thumping challenge but because of excessive force or using two feet or some other pedantic small print it was deemed a foul. Personally I like nothing better than to see a defender putting in a superbly timed, hard, fair tackle that wins the ball, that's what football's about. Once upon a time this was a contact sport.

Half an hour in Gareth Ainsworth hit a ridiculous thirty five yard volley that bounced harmlessly into the hands of Carson as the game descended into a dire encounter of little quality.

Wednesday were clearly the better team on the day and yet they let themselves down with some League One style discipline. When QPR were promoted last season it took a while for them to come to terms with the added gamesmanship and intelligence of the Championship but after twelve games or so it happened and now players like Furlong and Bircham are experts at winning free kicks and sweet talking officials.

Wednesday, despite being three quarters of the way through the season, are still determined to kick everything that moves, contest every decision, stay on their feet in every challenge. It's admirable, but it's naïve and there's little wonder they're staring a return to League One square in the face. There doesn't look to be much between the two teams on Saturday's evidence and yet QPR will play Championship football again next season while Wednesday may not. It's the common sense element that teams in League One are often missing and Wednesday haven't become as street wise as we did in the same period of time last season.

QPR's equaliser right on half time was a prime example. Steve Lomas was stuck in the corner with his back to goal, going nowhere. All Glenn Whelen had to do was stand there, make sure he didn't get turned and make Lomas decide what to do. Instead the Wednesday man let impatience get the better of him and he hacked into the back of Lomas conceding a free kick. Suddenly from a position of no hope, Rangers had the chance to send set piece specialist Lee Cook over to the right flank and his devilish inswinging free kick was powered into the top corner by Bircham.

Wednesday flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half. After just ninety seconds Marcus Tudgay turned Rose and seemed certain to give the home side the lead only for Jones to bravely deny him at point blank range. The ball rolled out towards the edge of the box where Deon Burton met it on the half volley. Somehow Jones had regained his feet in time to complete the now weekly occurrence of a magnificent double save.

Seconds later the ball flashed across the six yard box at the Kop end again, Tudgay thought he'd scored but Jones managed to deny him miraculously once again and after a second block from the keeper in the ensuing scramble he got the bit of luck he deserved when Folly sent a third effort looping onto the cross bar.

Paul Jones is welcome for a slap up dinner at QPR Rivals Towers any time he likes - it's unbearable up here when we lose to Wednesday.

Waddock swapped Ainsworth and Cook over in an effort to stem the tide of Wednesday attacks but it had little effect. Cook was ineffective down the right and Ainsworth and Milanese turned out to be a match made in hell with numerous passes going astray and some embarrassing break downs in communication resulting in Wednesday throw ins.

Around the hour mark a cross from O'Brien was met firmly by Burton but his header sailed into the home crowd.

For all the pressure they'd been under Rangers almost snatched the lead in the sixty seventh minute. Another naïve foul, this time by Coughlan on Gallen, presented Cook with a dangerous free kick position on the flank. Cook sent a low effort into the penalty area which evaded everybody, bounced up at the back post and Carson had to turn it behind for a corner as Ainsworth closed in for the kill.

This turned out to be Cook's last involvement in the match as he was replaced by Richard Langley. Apart from the cross for Bircham's goal (Cook is now the fourth best in the division for assists) and the near miss just before he went off Cook hadn't been involved nearly as much as he against Sheff Utd or Wolves and that was to the detriment of the team. At times he drifted back into the disinterested, uninvolved, cold looking Lee Cook we suffered for long periods before Waddock took over.

Richard Langley replaced him and twice in quick succession he cut in from the right flank only to make a bad decision with the final ball. Firstly Langers ran across the face of the penalty area before firing a wild shot way off target towards the corner flag, then he managed to beat Gilbert and reach the byline but when he should have pulled the ball back he tried another fancy trick and the chance was lost.

Wednesday chucked on Steve MacLean in an effort to win but the game, which had been devoid of quality throughout, quickly petered out into a draw. Rangers spent the final fifteen minutes conceding throw ins and receiving treatment for injuries. Matthew Rose unsurprisingly limped off towards the end to be replaced by Ian Evatt. Rose left the field having not won a header all day and twice towards the end he conceded possession in lethal areas of the pitch. In truth he couldn't cope with either Burton or Tudgay. We may be witnessing the end of his QPR career as the season draws to a close.

Paul Furlong also left the field injured before full time with Shabazz Baidoo coming on to replace him.

The final action of any note saw Richard Langley and Marcus Bignot farcically messing about with the ball in the corner, apparently wasting time. The travelling Rangers support booed this tactic, a point against a team as poor as Wednesday is not a good result, which led to Bignot turning and gesturing to the travelling support. As one they pointed into the penalty area and told him to put the ball in the box in no uncertain terms. Ultimately the cross led to nothing but a bit of ambition never hurt anybody did it!

After five minutes of injury time the game was mercifully brought to a close. I pity the neutral spectator that braved the cold to watch this dross. Two teams lacking quality, one playing out time the other scared of an increasingly inevitable relegation, kicking each other to death in the mud. You'd see more football played at a cock fighting convention and quite frankly it was embarrassing to admit to having any allegiance to either team.

Ultimately Paul Jones saved a point for Rangers and they did well to come from a goal behind but otherwise there were few positives. I'm right behind Gary Waddock and I want him to get the job but the fact is that if an Ian Holloway team had played like that the message board would have been crawling with morons calling for his head from about 1655 onwards.

As for Wednesday well, with Millwall's improved form and Sturrock running out of ideas and options it looks increasingly likely that we won't be returning to this part of Sheffield again for quite some time.

Teams
Sheffield Wednesday:
Carson 7, Bullen 6, Folly 8, Coughlan 6, Whelan 7, O'Brien 6, Brunt 6 (Best 83, -), Burton 7, Bischoff 7 (Simek 83, -), Gilbert 6, Tudgay 7 (MacLean 76, 6).

Subs not used: Adamson, Hills.
Goals: Burton 12
Bookings: Bischoff 23

QPR: Jones 9, Bignot 5, Shittu 6, Rose 5, Milanaese 5, Ainsworth 6, Bircham 6, Lomas 5, Cook 6 (Langley 69, 5), Gallen 5, Furlong 5 (Baidoo 86, -).
Subs: Royce, Evatt, Bailey.
Goals: Bircham 42

Attendance: 22, 788

QPR Star Man - Paul Jones 9 - Rescued a point with some magnificent saves, particularly 4 miraculous stops right at the start of the second half. What a signing he's turning out to be.

Referee: A D'Urso - 7 - It's difficult to judge this because he seemed to be giving everything to QPR and I'm biased! At the end of the day I can see why the Wednesday fans were moaning but they were masters of their own downfall a lot of the time, stupid fouls, daft tackles, all round incompetence and idiocy on show from some of their players. Lots of them seemed to think they were still in League One and if they continue to show naivety on Saturday's scale they'll soon be back there. QPR's goal was a prime example, Lomas was going nowhere half time was fast approaching, just stand up and keep him there - but no Glenn Whelen has to go sliding in. I mean how thick is he? What's D'Urso meant to do, make allowances for lack of a brain and play on?

Photo: Action Images



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