Jim Magilton has said that Adel Taarabt should not have reacted to criticism from the Loftus Road crowd in the way he did against Barnsley on Saturday, but praised the players for their overall performance.

Magilton echoed LFW’s sentiments that the 5-2 thrashing of Barnsley has been coming. QPR’s performances have been good all season without ever getting adequate reward, until Saturday when they were able to turn attractive approach work into goals and swept the Tykes aside.

The boss told the club’s official website: “We're on the up. It is a work in progress and I still think there's so much room for improvement with us, but we have a fantastic bunch of lads, who we have great belief in. Performances bring you points. There's still a long way to go, but the belief is growing and confidence is too with results. Credit to Barnsley, they didn't fold, and they certainly made us step up to the mark. Some of our attacking play was outstanding in the first half though. We dropped those standards for a bit in the second half, but we upped it again and in the end we ran out comfortable winners.

"Akos is improving. He's slowly but surely getting back to where he was. He needs to maintain the standards he set today, because when he plays like that, he's a very, very good player. His second goal was top, top class.”

Magilton did however say that Adel Taarabt had been “silly” to gesture towards the QPR supporters who were abusing him for taking on an extra Barnsley man instead of passing the ball to Akos Buzsaky late in the Barnsley game. Taarabt raised his hands to the crowd in frustration and at the final whistle kicked the ball away down the field and tore his shirt off on his way to the dressing room.

Magilton told The Mirror: “He’s a wonderful footballer and at times he will infuriate everyone like he infuriates me. But he’s very much a prized asset of ours. If he’s reacted he’s been a little bit silly but that’s what you get with talented footballers. They can be a bit headstrong at times. Will I put an arm around him? No, I’ll probably throttle him for not passing."

Barnsley boss Mark Robins told his club’s official website: “It was a costly first ten minutes or so and we really shot ourselves in the foot. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and were not good enough defensively. We allowed them took much room and conceded some very poor goals. We created one or two things ourselves as well and it could have been seven six to either side. We came within a whisker of equalising but then pushed forward and forgot to defend again. Darren Moore missed the game through injury, Rob Kozluk had a groin problem and Jon Macken was struggling with a side-muscle strain. We have to be better away from home and we conceded some needless, poor goals.”

Although not publicised greatly by the club Rangers did make a lifetime achievement award to Harold Winton at the match on Saturday. Harold and his sons are life long Rangers fans who stepped in to help the club purchase Marc Bircham, Danny Shittu and Doudou during our spell in administration. Sadly Harold’s health has not been good lately but he was at Loftus Road on Saturday to take in the applause of the crowd and enjoy the game. His son Matt has posted a little about the event on the QPR Report message board.

Looking ahead to next Saturday’s game at Swansea former QPR gaffer Paulo Sousa has said he is really looking forward to the chance of putting one over his former club. Sousa said: “It's a game I really want to win. I don't have any regrets from my time at QPR. I thought I did a great job there but it did not work out for me. I've already proved what I can do at this level. I had a good relationship with the players at QPR and I care about them but my job is to see us start winning games. My aim is to build Swansea up and move forward up the league.”

Off the field the national press has again focussed heavily on QPR owner Flavio Briatore with Oliver Brown writing in the Telegraph that the Italian ordered the substitution of Liam Miller from the other side of the world in a game against Crystal Palace last season and rang Gareth Ainsworth 72 times during the cup match at Man Utd last season.

Briatore has hinted at a powerful defence of himself still to come when he spoke to La Reppublica newspaper this weekend. He said: “In the end I will win and you will see, we will have a big party. It will be well organised and we'll invite everyone who has stayed close to me in these difficult times. I've been betrayed by my own world, I will talk only at the right time, assuming they let me talk. Look at the verdict the FIA put online on Tuesday. It's not about me."

In former QPR news Clarke Carlisle has been speaking about his drinking problems while at Loftus Road to the Daily Mail. Carlisle said: “It was a Friday morning. I tried to hide on the bus, I didn't talk to anyone and I slumped myself in the corner, but it was blatantly obvious. I knew I'd get my comeuppance if Olly caught wind, which he did. I was half-expecting it, probably. It was only when it got to the point that it was virtually every day that it became noticeable,' he says. 'The more I found I could get away with, the more I allowed myself to do. The next day my eyes opened to what I was doing to myself and my career,' he says. 'It only takes a minor moment. I was having a pint and watching the results come in that Saturday afternoon and I thought, 'What are you doing, waiting to see the result of your team coming in on TV? You should be playing!' The next day I rang Olly and said, 'I don't know what's going on here, I need help'.”

The good times continue for Gary Waddock and Scott Donnelly at Aldershot. The Shots moved up to fifth with a 4-1 victory against Cheltenham on Saturday, Donnelly got the fourth from fully forty yards in stoppage time. Dean Parrett also played. The man Waddock replaced at Loftus Road Ian Holloway also had a good day, Blackpool’s 2-0 win at home to Peterborough with both goals coming in the first 11 minutes moved them into the play off positions - two places higher than QPR who are now eighth after the weekend win.

Elsewhere in the Championship this weekend the pressure continues to grow on Paul Sturrock and Roy Keane as Plymouth and Ipswich lost again. Argyle were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest live on Sky on Sunday while Ipswich crashed 4-0 at home to Newcastle on BBC on Saturday evening. Keane was abused by some of the club’s supporters after the final whistle. Newcastle top the table again going into Wednesday’s match with QPR as West Brom were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at home by Crystal Palace. Fulham defender Fredrik Stoor has joined Derby on loan – they beat Bristol City 1-0 on Saturday to end their losing run.

Photo: Action Images

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