QPR banished memories of Wrexham and avenged their 7-1 loss at Coventry City earlier in the season in fine style on Saturday, beating Frank Lampard’s table toppers at Loftus Road casting a promotion that looked absolutely certain at one point into further doubt.

In August, Queens Park Rangers lost to Coventry City by seven goals to one. It was a hideous afternoon on which anything that could go wrong did so. One of the five goals Cov scored before half time was set up by QPR crossing the ball into their own box – so many, you forget which one. The vast majority of the travelling fans had left before full time, and those who remained confronted and berated the players on the whistle. It left you fearful for how the club had spent its money and its summer, and for what was still to come over the winter. Even for a club that is not shy of taking its paying customers to extreme lows, this was 20,000 leagues under the sea. A dark day.

Quite the introduction to English football for new French manager Julian Stéphan. Once of Rennes and Strasbourg, he certainly wasn’t in Kansas anymore and, while he did gently point out that scoring seven times with an xG of barely one was a once-in-a-career event, he knew things had to change immediately. He put his job on the line, even at that early stage, by going on record with a promise that everything would be different by the following weekend at home to Charlton. Brave.

Sure enough, seven days later a totally different Rangers took the field. All four-four-fucking-two with strikers and wingers, bang it in behind the full back and get him turned around, back to front in the blink of an eye utilising the pace of Rumarn Burrell. Close your eyes and it could have been 2003 again, with Gareth Ainsworth one side and Martin Rowlands the other, crossing balls and crossing balls again for Paul Furlong, Kevin Gallen, Tony Thorpe et al. Hire a Frenchman and get a continental Ian Holloway, who knew?

You had to admire Stéphan for that. Whether the “game model” was his or had been handed down, it’s a courageous manager that takes everything he’s worked on through the pre-season and sets it all ablaze after the third league game. Mind you, he didn’t start the fire, it was always burning while that scoreboard kept turning.

It’s felt to me like everything that has come since then has been defined by that moment. Every improvement, every win, every move up the table a recovery from that Coventry away game and a reward to the manager for his flexibility and pragmatism. The team you thought was League One bound going to Wrexham and winning, going to Blackburn and winning, going to Swansea and winning. The boss you feared would be lucky to see out his first month masterminding a comeback win against Hull, a 4-1 humping of his predecessor, six home wins from seven played. Even a troll like Nathan Jones poked his head out from under his bridge briefly to say “fair play, quite a difficult thing to do, that.”

Sooner or later demons were going to have to be faced in person with a return fixture. To be approached with some trepidation, given what Frank Lampard’s side had meted out first time around and the number of first teamers missing from Stéphan’s arsenal, but some hope too, as the Sky Blues have stopped winning away (none in six prior to Saturday), stopped winning at all (two in eight), and seen their handsome Championship lead of ten points whittled down to a nub by Kim Hellberg’s relentless Middlesbrough. I haven’t seen a wobble like this since big Bob Taylor played up front for us. Frank has responded like good old Uncle ‘Arry would – by chucking a load of signings at it. Signings we need? Tactical picks? Weak spots addressed? Nah, just a load of wingers mate. Do we need wingers? Where shall we put them? Well, in the case of Romain Esse and former R Yang Min-Hyeok… on the bench.

Blood in the water? You bet. After recovery, and reward, this one was about redemption, and revenge.

Richard Kone, who scored the consolation to make it 7-1 with his first goal for the club, delivered a terrific lone striker performance playing ahead of Harvey Vale who’s come back from injury really strongly. Kone’s had some grief lately, and probably had his worst game in our colours at Stoke, but I think he plays well for QPR even when he doesn’t play well – occupying defenders, getting the team up the pitch, providing physicality and nuisance value. He was certainly playing well here. A terrific, line-leading performance that would have brought an opening goal in the first half but for a remarkable Carl Rushworth save from his improvised header on the back pedal (think Paddy Kenny v Yakubu) and did get the goal it so richly deserved in the second half. Nicolas Madsen, worked into space wide right for the second time in quick succession, crossed low and slightly behind the Ivorian striker. Don’t worry about it, a glorious heeled flick around his back took defender Bobby Thomas and keeper Rushworth completely out of the equation and lit up the Loft in magical electricity. A special finish. Ball retrieved and taken back to get the restart going – good sign for us, not so much for Cov.

There are few redemption arcs as steep and pronounced as Madsen’s. Even a few weeks ago, in one of my more grumpy moments, I’d said the hype was a bit much as he’d simply improved to decent and adequate and it just looked so dramatic because he’d been such complete dog shit last season. Well, he’s been making me eat those words (pleasant image) since. Madsen is frequently the best QPR player in the team, and quite often the best player on the pitch full stop. Difficult to see the club’s player of the year award going anywhere else at this stage, and if you’d said that last May you’d have been taken away to the funny farm and forced to watch his ‘efforts’ in a 4-1 home defeat to Boro on a loop. Needs to score more goals, and needs to learn how to dominate the away games in the way he is doing at home, but I couldn’t think of many people I’d rather have been on the end of Rushworth’s parry from Vale’s cross on 73 minutes. Sure enough, calm and composed, the Dane rifled that chance straight into the roof of the net to turn the game around and give the R’s a lead for the first time. Coventry rocking, the R Block likewise. Loftus Road explodes. These are the good old days.

The home side should really have got to work earlier. They played well in the first half and were denied what looked like an absolute stick on penalty for Matt Grimes’ foul on Paul Smyth – referee Josh Smith possibly regretting giving Smyth a free kick moments before for what looked like a dive and choosing to ignore this one. Smyth often initiates contact and is too quick to hit the ground which puts referees off, but you should judge each incident on its merits and this looked a penalty all Saturday and twice again Sunday.

As well as Kone’s header well saved, the former Wycombe man had a whipped effort at the near post flash into the side netting after lung busting approach work by Rhys Norrington Davies. Harvey Vale saw a shot saved by the post after Kone had beaten and bruised his opponents into giving him the ball back once more. This was a monstrous centre forward display. Rangers were aggressive, front foot, and purposeful, typified by the new idea to leave three attackers up for opposition corners – I don’t know if that was a special plan for the visit of Cov, but I like it a lot and would like to see it again. Let’s play to win. The haranguing and harassing of opponents on the high press was wonderful to see, aided and abetted by Josh Smith's hands-off refereeing approach.

Ronnie Edwards started life back at Loftus Road with three classy interceptions in the first ten minutes, then caught a ball that hadn’t gone out of play – you get away with stuff like that when you look like this, no card, boys will be boys. Rhys Norrington Davies cracked through Sakamoto and we played on. Richard Kone put the rounds of the kitchen through Jack Rudoni and was yellow carded, though the Cov man jumped straight up once the punishment had been metered out. Isaac Hayden had his best game of the season, and that combination with Madsen feels like the best we’ve got in that problem area. Karamoko Dembele left early with a worrying looking knee injury but negatives were few and far between. Rangers were here to do business.

It was good, exciting stuff to watch. Almost up there with Stéphan’s jacket – who’s shown him Quadrophenia? Of course, having not made that pay with a goal, the first thing the Londoners did after half time was concede.

A deep cross to the back post from Rudoni (of course) saw Josh Eccles ghost in unmarked for a free header so simple it happened in slow motion and felt like it had been disallowed. Luxury is defined by light and space, and Eccles had a business class seat. It was the first, and indeed only, thing a reshaped back four with Edwards at right back had got wrong all afternoon and given each of them had a man as the cross came in I’m minded to think the fault lay further forward with an untracked runner (I think it’s Bennie to be honest, but he’s young, and new, and learning so let’s not dwell). I’d like my goalkeeper coming for crosses like that as well.

At this stage we were prepping another piece about why this team can’t follow through intense first halves with the same in the second, why so many of them seem to hit the wall after an hour, why Stéphan won’t use a full compliment of subs. If my comments about Madsen were the appetiser, those were the main course. Rangers turned it round admirably, Coventry (who looked like they'd score every time they went forward last time we played) posed next to no threat at all. Had Daniel Bennie realised how much time he had with a bouncing through ball poked straight at Rushworth, or got his shot on target after brilliant approach work from Vale and a gorgeous outside-of-the-foot assist, this would have been more emphatic still. We’d have been summoning images of Adel Taarabt in this fixture had that gone in, Vale really did have a lovely afternoon in that role behind Kone.

All that remained was to find the cure for a different kind of poison altogether

A week ago Rangers had also played well (arguably better than this), at home, against a promotion chaser on which significant funds have been lavished. They led 2-1, and deserved to do so. Clock ticked down to the stoppage time board, the needle crackled on Silver Lining, and all seemed right with the footballing world. The implosion from there produced a mushroom cloud that startled the folk on the International Space Station. When Josh Smith summoned his fourth official to raise a chunk red lit seven into the air here the stomach fell out of the arse of the entire ground. Seven? Seven? Fucking Len Goodman down there or something?

And so we were back to tick following tock following tick following tock again. Barely able to look through partially parted fingers. One minute. Two Minutes. Three minutes… Two minutes. And if you think ‘oh, it couldn’t possibly happen again’ then let me tell you, it absolutely can. Coventry’s Rudoni has seven career appearances against QPR - four wins, three draws, zero defeats, four goals, four assists. If we find something that hurts, don’t think we won’t keep picking at it. He set up the first here as well. Ooooh, lovely, lovely blood. Inflict the pain just so I can feel something, just so I can feel alive, see it ooze out of me. Four minutes. Come on you R’s. More pleading than chanting, but a racket all the same. Five minutes. Call the coroner, tag my toe. Let’s get two balls on the pitch, hold proceedings up that way – bloody linesman’s kicked it back off, absolute liberty. Four minutes. Longer than a bloody Leonard Cohen song. Dragging like a seal’s ring piece. All the greats. Come onnnnnnnn. Three minutes. Moving at the speed of the church clock.

Very QPR indeed to blow two home games in stoppage time inside a week, but not quite as QPR as it is to descend into an existential crisis with a 7-1 defeat and then win the return fixture. Harvey Vale pulling strings, Richard Kone flicking tricks, Nicolas Madsen on the glide and Ronnie Edwards’ hair. Steve Cook’s dominance, Jimmy Dunne’s no nonsense, Sammy Field off the bench, Asante, not today, what else do I have to say? There was a fire burning and turning alright, just to a totally different tune.

Watch me rise up and leave all of the ashes you made out of me. Redemption, revenge, reward, retribution, and relief. Queens Park Rangers two, Coventry City one, talk to Frank, and tell him we really bloody deserved that one.

Well done my R’s.

Links >>> Photo Gallery >>> Ratings and Reports >>> Message Board Match Thread

QPR: Walsh 6; Edwards 7, Dunne 7, Cook 7, Norrington-Davies 7, Dembele 6 (Bennie 24, 6), Hayden 7 (Field 84, -), Madsen 8, Smyth 6 (Saito 71, 7); Vale 7, Kone 8

Subs not used: Adamson, Hamer, Kolli, Esquerdinha, Morgan, Smith

Goals: Kone 66 (assisted Madsen), Madsen 73 (unassisted)

Yellow Cards: Kone 25 (foul)

Coventry: Rushworth 6; van Ewijk 5, Thomas 5, Kitching 5, Dasilva 4; Eccles 6, Grimes 5; Sakamoto 5 (Min-Hyeok 80, -), Rudoni 6, Mason-Clark 5 (Esse 35, 5); Simms 5 (Wright 71, 5)

Subs not used: Allen, Bidwell, Latibeaudiere, Torp, Wilson, Woolfenden

Goals: Eccles 53 (assisted Rudoni)

Yellow Cards: Eccles 90+2 (foul), Thomas 90+5 (foul)

QPR Star Man – Richard Kone 8 Plenty of candidates this week, led by Kone and Madsen for me but with hearty mentions to both centre backs, Harvey Vale and several others. For the manner of the goal, and the improvement on recent weeks, I’ll go with Kone for a centre forward performance supreme which left the middle of the visiting team defence battered, bruised and beaten. Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching are good defenders, they got their arse handed to them here.

Referee – Josh Smith (Lincolnshire) 7 An eightish performance let down by the failure to award Paul Smyth a blatant first half penalty, in my opinion purely and simply because he’d given him a free kick a moment before and regretted it. Plenty disagree though so won’t be too harsh.

Attendance – 17,321 (1,757 Coventry) Best ground in the country when it looks and sounds like this.

If you enjoy LoftforWords, please consider supporting the site through a subscription to our Patreon or tip us via our PayPal account loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk.

Pictures - Reuters Connect

Recent Stories