Changing luck and the demon hope - knee jerks

Antti Heinola returns with his regular column, looking back on Saturday's remarkable 4-1 win at West Brom and what we take from it heading into Villa on Tuesday.

You bastards

Just when you think you're out... they pull you back in, as Michael Corleone almost once said. Look, I've expected relegation all season. In my head I gave us minor stays of execution, but after Palace I was completely resigned to it... until everyone else lost in one weekend and a win v Everton might have seen an unlikely resurrection. Of course, we lost. And that was that. I relaxed. At least it's all over, I thought. We're down, and all that's left now is to just get through the rest of this miserable season and just be thankful Harry Redknapp's gone. And then this. Hope. Agonising, paralysing hope. You bastards.

Changing luck

Having said that, any hope that has been rekindled is still more like a barely smoking ember that's cool enough to rest in the palm of your hand than an actual flame. There are several reasons for this.

First, a dreadful Sunderland side was able to get three points out of an even more dreadful Newcastle side, which was a blow. Burnley picked up a decent point against Spurs, and Leicester won too. Hull and Villa's losses were expected, even if Hull might have counted on maybe a point in Wales. So not a grand set of results for us.

Second, if you know anything at all about being a QPR fan you'll know without a shadow of a doubt that we'll lose at Villa (probably in ludicrous circumstances).

And third, even if we somehow scrape a point there, we'd still have to win three of our final six - likely, home to Newcastle and West Ham and away at Leicester on the final day. We might do one of those. Perhaps we might even do two. But three, plus a result at Villa? Come on.

And my reason for saying this is that while of course a 4-1 win is fantastic and the team got some long overdue rewards that, Palace apart, their performances have deserved, this game could easily have gone the way of Everton, Arsenal, Spurs etc. Albion created some gorgeous chances that really they should have scored - bad misses, mainly, but also at least two deflections that went straight to Green instead of in the opposite corner. And whereas in recent weeks we've been hitting posts, bars and people on the line, this week shots finally went in. That is the slim line between victory and defeat - and for once we were on the right side of it.

And yet... we still look like shipping at least two goals a game and I'm afraid that won't keep us up. I don't mean to be negative because there was tons to love about Saturday, but the same old failings are still there and I think too many teams will exploit them and ultimately send us down.

Zamora's goal

Well, having spent quite a lot of time having a go at dear old Bobby, I have to be fair and praise him for a tremendous goal. I've seen him once or twice try similarly outrageous things this season, but I mainly put it down to him not having the legs to do much else when in those wide areas. And, initially, I thought this was probably a cross. But it clearly wasn't - he looked up at Myhill and went for it. Absolute precision. How he can score that and miss those two chances v Everton is a mystery, but who cares? I watch football to see special things that make me feel privileged to see them in the flesh. And this was one of those moments.

Barton's goal

Quick word here for the captain and his second excellent performance in a row. Good finish, taken well. But watch it again and what's really impressive is that in the 95th minute of a game in which we're 3-1 up against ten men and for all intents and purposes home and dry, he sprints 40 or 50 yards - a real lung-buster - to get up there and support Charlie Austin. This from a midfielder that, these days, rarely, if ever, runs past the forwards. That showed incredible commitment. If the whole team follow that example for the last seven games... ah, that old bastard hope again...

Eddie Vargas

Having him on the left wing is not ideal - not least because he's as far as he could possibly be from his mate Isla without being sat behind Bondy, meaning their telepathy is wasted. But, he made a huge difference v Everton and for 30 minutes here he was great too. No, we haven't seen the best of him this season, yes he should have had more goals. But what a player of his quality has been doing sitting on the bench for the last few weeks is beyond me. Calm in possession, quick, clever, he can finish, he can pass, he reads the game, he works hard. It's all there. To get him in the side, Ramsey seemed to give him license to drift in, and he drifted wonderfully for the opener and that beautiful dipping shot. So, of course, he twists his knee, just as it looks like he might be a key player for the last month. In a microcosm, this was our season: flickering hope quickly extinguished by a large receptacle of water.

Fans

What incredible support. Well done to all who went - loud, proud, and delirious. We'll need that next Sunday for the stupid early kick off. But, and this is just a personal thing - these are my knee jerks, after all - I cannot stand that 'How sh*t must you be, we're winning away' chant. First few times I heard it years ago, it was pretty funny, I do admit. But now... I don't know. I love self-deprecating humour, even if I'm rubbish at it, but something about basically telling your own team you think they're sh*t (however true that sentiment might be and however factually correct the idea that sentiment is based on might be, and however much it might be sung with love) sticks in my teeth a bit. The poor lads were 3-0 up and our fans were telling them it was only because the other team were even more diabolical than them. As I said, it's nitpicky and it's a personal thing, and everyone has the right to sing what they want and it is sort of funny... but I'd be quite happy if we just went back to the old '3-0, to the Rangers' chant on those once-a-season-if-we're-lucky days when we are 3-0 up.

On a similar note, how about we avoid the inevitable choruses about Loic Remy (who will be starting thanks to Costa's injury) next week too? You know, because winding up opposition forwards has worked *so* well for us in the past.

Pictures — Action Images

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