| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford 09:39 - Jan 20 with 54302 views | E17hoop |
Someone had to start it.
I just reread Clive's match report for the home game and asked myself why I'm going to this again tonight.
Bare bones, DS players filling the bench, Handsome Ronnie back? He's bound to score in the 1-0 win. |  |
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:59 - Jan 21 with 1686 views | EuroRanger |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 08:35 - Jan 21 by nix |
I agree it wasn’t good. I agree there were things lacking. I agree that we are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated.
However I’m a bit surprised at how angry most people seem to be. The last three seasons have been dire pretty much most of the time with the odd highlight in the sense that we spent much of them worrying about relegation. We also lost so many matches at LR that I actually got fitter because when we lose I trudge that much faster and walk a bit further rather than get the bus etc.
This season at least on here and less at matches we seem to have lost any ability to be philosophical, see any positives and pull together. Is it just the Martí factor? He’s a charismatic character, pulled us out of a slump, but not the manager for the ages. I’m not sure he would have found the answer last night either. He’s struggling at Leicester really given the talent at his disposal; far higher quality in terms of experienced talent than we have.
There have always been a few posters on here who love to come on when we lose and love to point out when they were right about how we were going to lose and how we’re all going to hell in a hand cart. But I did used to feel there was a number of very balanced posters and a few happy clappers like me. These days it feels such an angry and negative place and I’m not quite sure why unless it’s just because people liked Martí.
It’s a shame because while not pulling up trees we’re in a better position than we’ve been for a long time. We’re still only three points from the play offs. We’ve got some good young players in. We haven’t been fighting relegation for most of the season.
Is it the Martí factor? Is it because the world is going pretty crazy and QPR is a way of channelling people’s fears and frustrations with the world? Is it because we’ve worn out our resilience over the last few seasons and we’ve got no patience left? Is it because everyone hates Christian Nourry so much it’s tainted everything about the club? Is it because everyone is getting older and age tends towards the negative. I’m not sure.
Because really we’ve on the whole got a decent manager who though limited seems to have the players on board and has got us playing some good football at times, with the odd quirk and the occasional mad decision. We’ve on the whole got a lot of players who work hard and are clesrly doing their best. Dunne, Cook, Madsen, Smyth, Burrell, Norrington Davies, Walsh, Kone all trying hard and sometimes working their bollocks off. Not all equal ability but all putting the effort in. We’ve got players wanting to come here when other options are available, like Burrell, Ronnie, Poku and Kone.
And yet I can’t remember ever seeing this place so angry and disillusioned. It’s a bit odd. [Post edited 21 Jan 9:06]
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Great post. I feel this as well. I guess my feelings about yesterday are somewhere in the middle, as we battled hard and got a point where I feel we would've given away a cheap 1-0 (which I like), but looked so poor doing it, especially going forward with 0 creativity (which I don't).
But I find myself posting increasingly infrequently on here because certain posters especially (we all know who I'm talking about) make it a really negative place. In the past I feel like we had more positive posters to even this out but it just feels like at the minute that's not happening.
I hope on Saturday we manage to find a win and a bit of positivity with it. |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:00 - Jan 21 with 1671 views | qprninja |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 08:35 - Jan 21 by nix |
I agree it wasn’t good. I agree there were things lacking. I agree that we are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated.
However I’m a bit surprised at how angry most people seem to be. The last three seasons have been dire pretty much most of the time with the odd highlight in the sense that we spent much of them worrying about relegation. We also lost so many matches at LR that I actually got fitter because when we lose I trudge that much faster and walk a bit further rather than get the bus etc.
This season at least on here and less at matches we seem to have lost any ability to be philosophical, see any positives and pull together. Is it just the Martí factor? He’s a charismatic character, pulled us out of a slump, but not the manager for the ages. I’m not sure he would have found the answer last night either. He’s struggling at Leicester really given the talent at his disposal; far higher quality in terms of experienced talent than we have.
There have always been a few posters on here who love to come on when we lose and love to point out when they were right about how we were going to lose and how we’re all going to hell in a hand cart. But I did used to feel there was a number of very balanced posters and a few happy clappers like me. These days it feels such an angry and negative place and I’m not quite sure why unless it’s just because people liked Martí.
It’s a shame because while not pulling up trees we’re in a better position than we’ve been for a long time. We’re still only three points from the play offs. We’ve got some good young players in. We haven’t been fighting relegation for most of the season.
Is it the Martí factor? Is it because the world is going pretty crazy and QPR is a way of channelling people’s fears and frustrations with the world? Is it because we’ve worn out our resilience over the last few seasons and we’ve got no patience left? Is it because everyone hates Christian Nourry so much it’s tainted everything about the club? Is it because everyone is getting older and age tends towards the negative. I’m not sure.
Because really we’ve on the whole got a decent manager who though limited seems to have the players on board and has got us playing some good football at times, with the odd quirk and the occasional mad decision. We’ve on the whole got a lot of players who work hard and are clesrly doing their best. Dunne, Cook, Madsen, Smyth, Burrell, Norrington Davies, Walsh, Kone all trying hard and sometimes working their bollocks off. Not all equal ability but all putting the effort in. We’ve got players wanting to come here when other options are available, like Burrell, Ronnie, Poku and Kone.
And yet I can’t remember ever seeing this place so angry and disillusioned. It’s a bit odd. [Post edited 21 Jan 9:06]
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I'm pretty much off Twitter / X these days as it is a haven for hate, but had a little look at QPR stuff after full time last night. Predictably it was mostly really OTT and vitriolic as we didn't win. I guess it's just the times we live in, the reactions are extreme when we lose and also when we win. Weird. |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:01 - Jan 21 with 1659 views | QPRSam |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 08:35 - Jan 21 by nix |
I agree it wasn’t good. I agree there were things lacking. I agree that we are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated.
However I’m a bit surprised at how angry most people seem to be. The last three seasons have been dire pretty much most of the time with the odd highlight in the sense that we spent much of them worrying about relegation. We also lost so many matches at LR that I actually got fitter because when we lose I trudge that much faster and walk a bit further rather than get the bus etc.
This season at least on here and less at matches we seem to have lost any ability to be philosophical, see any positives and pull together. Is it just the Martí factor? He’s a charismatic character, pulled us out of a slump, but not the manager for the ages. I’m not sure he would have found the answer last night either. He’s struggling at Leicester really given the talent at his disposal; far higher quality in terms of experienced talent than we have.
There have always been a few posters on here who love to come on when we lose and love to point out when they were right about how we were going to lose and how we’re all going to hell in a hand cart. But I did used to feel there was a number of very balanced posters and a few happy clappers like me. These days it feels such an angry and negative place and I’m not quite sure why unless it’s just because people liked Martí.
It’s a shame because while not pulling up trees we’re in a better position than we’ve been for a long time. We’re still only three points from the play offs. We’ve got some good young players in. We haven’t been fighting relegation for most of the season.
Is it the Martí factor? Is it because the world is going pretty crazy and QPR is a way of channelling people’s fears and frustrations with the world? Is it because we’ve worn out our resilience over the last few seasons and we’ve got no patience left? Is it because everyone hates Christian Nourry so much it’s tainted everything about the club? Is it because everyone is getting older and age tends towards the negative. I’m not sure.
Because really we’ve on the whole got a decent manager who though limited seems to have the players on board and has got us playing some good football at times, with the odd quirk and the occasional mad decision. We’ve on the whole got a lot of players who work hard and are clesrly doing their best. Dunne, Cook, Madsen, Smyth, Burrell, Norrington Davies, Walsh, Kone all trying hard and sometimes working their bollocks off. Not all equal ability but all putting the effort in. We’ve got players wanting to come here when other options are available, like Burrell, Ronnie, Poku and Kone.
And yet I can’t remember ever seeing this place so angry and disillusioned. It’s a bit odd. [Post edited 21 Jan 9:06]
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Being realistic and reasonable is a lost art, great post Nix. I recall most fans asking for a year of stability, for once not being involved in the gauntlet that is the bottom of the Championship and here we are, 12th, still 3 points off playoffs.
As another poster said, I was also very surprised at the vitriol of some of the support last night, some just lambasting the entire squad of being c*nts. I didn't see any lack of trying in this game, a lack of quality sure, but it's such a young team and I don't see how any of this reaction helps.
Reasons to try remain optimistic, that's 3 clean sheets in a row in the league now, Walsh looks reformed and Dunne / Cook have been class. That's a really solid foundation and I don't think it's possible without players giving it their all. Leicester haven't had a clean sheet in 22 games for comparison. The attack whilst disjointed, we have to remember was missing Saito, Poku, Chair, Burrell and now Obikwu. That's an entire Championship attack and a bench option. We have to ride out these next few weeks and give the likes of Bennie our full support, he should be on a League 1 loan and it isn't his fault he is now being called upon. Onto the next, and finally some home games. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:21 - Jan 21 with 1504 views | Beckenhamhoop |
Great post Nix.
Not to get too philosophical but it’s possible that this forum, in a microscopic way, reflects the state of wider society, the economy, politics etc; more divided, angrier, frustrated, unhappy with their lot. I think it’s also why some people make a good living out of rage baiting - the market is there as people are more than keen to vent their bile. It contributes to the levels of anger and unhappiness. Of course, rather than responding to rage baiting they should just ignore it. It’s not rocket science.
The poxy weather doesn’t help either. [Post edited 21 Jan 11:31]
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:23 - Jan 21 with 1482 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 09:38 - Jan 21 by nix |
Yes but when have we had such a manager? I don’t think Martí was particularly transformational. He tended to stick to his preferred style, players and system. And even if we exclude him how many other managers have we had that are brilliant at changing things up and being proactive? Even Warbs who most people liked was terrible at that - no plan B etc etc.And he had an expensively put together squad and wss in a good position in the league but fell away drastically. That’s why I don’t get the rage now. |
It's a fair point. Beale?  Probably wan't here long enough.
I suppose I just find us a very predictable side. I don't understand why he hasn't played an extra man in the midfield with the injury crisis. Kone was lost last night but he is playing far too deep - he looks far better on his own in the box. Can we not at least try that?
I also think draws are over-rated. Okay, good not to lose and keep a clean sheet but three draws gets you the same points as a win and two defeats. Draws take you nowhere fast. A draw away to Coventry this season is an excellent result. Two goalless draws against that team we played last night are really not good enough, however many injuries we've got. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:29 - Jan 21 with 1452 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:01 - Jan 21 by QPRSam |
Being realistic and reasonable is a lost art, great post Nix. I recall most fans asking for a year of stability, for once not being involved in the gauntlet that is the bottom of the Championship and here we are, 12th, still 3 points off playoffs.
As another poster said, I was also very surprised at the vitriol of some of the support last night, some just lambasting the entire squad of being c*nts. I didn't see any lack of trying in this game, a lack of quality sure, but it's such a young team and I don't see how any of this reaction helps.
Reasons to try remain optimistic, that's 3 clean sheets in a row in the league now, Walsh looks reformed and Dunne / Cook have been class. That's a really solid foundation and I don't think it's possible without players giving it their all. Leicester haven't had a clean sheet in 22 games for comparison. The attack whilst disjointed, we have to remember was missing Saito, Poku, Chair, Burrell and now Obikwu. That's an entire Championship attack and a bench option. We have to ride out these next few weeks and give the likes of Bennie our full support, he should be on a League 1 loan and it isn't his fault he is now being called upon. Onto the next, and finally some home games. |
Good post by you and Nix.
Can’t remember many posters saying we should be in the playoffs by January at the start of the season: most would’ve been happy with mid table and a few points away from the top six.
Definitely a sense of entitlement by some just because for once we have spent a bit of money (and would make an educated guess that we are probably just about top 10 in terms of net spend).
Allowances also need to be made for Stéphan with the amount of injuries he’s had to deal with the last few months. |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:32 - Jan 21 with 1434 views | BrizR |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:48 - Jan 21 by Hunterhoop |
Good post.
For me, my frustration is that we have spent £25m on this squad over the last 18 months, amortising that (so making some if it tomorrow’s problem), which is far more than any previous head coach/regime had and yet we don’t seem to have made that material step change. It felt like we could this season. Performances like Leicester show what the team/squad is capable of but since then performances against: Portsmouth, Norwich, Stoke, and Oxford (even in the win against Wednesday) have been very disappointing.
I could forgive previous managers and set up when we were just cutting our cloth year after year.
I could forgive the odd poor result under Warburton because the football was undeniably good.
I could forgive the struggles prior to Marti because the squad was so poor and we had no money to fix it due to FFP.
I could forgive poor performances under Marti, because a) he performed a miracle to keep us up after Ainsworth, and b) the results came and the trend was undeniably up from Ainsworth and Critchley.
At present, we’ve spent a lot of money (for us) and it doesn’t feel like we’re any better than the 2nd half of the 23/24 season when Cifuentes’ ppg Oct-May was 9th.
It’s not that Marti was some genius and manager for the ages, just frustration and patience wearing thin at the lack of progress in spite of all the money we’ve spent. Millwall, Preston, Stoke…all seem to have gone past us (similar boat 2 years ago).
I’m sure others have their own views and am sure many won’t see it or feel like me, but that’s where my frustration is from.
This squad *should* be doing better one we had two years ago. We should be progressing. Perhaps we still will this season. But at present, with the current performances and injuries, there is as much chance we slip to 16th. What then? We’ve spent the Eze money…and who are the next big sales. It feels to me that this is our chance. I’m pretty sure the club’s target was top half this season, play offs next. I really hope that happens. I’m just not sure it will at the minute. And if we revert to type. What then? |
My counterpoint would be - yes we had a decent run in the back half of 2023/24, but we still finished that season 18th and on 56pts. We're already on 40 with 18 games left to play. If we finish the season in the top half (even if that's 11th or 12th) and somewhere around 65pts (which would be a pretty middle of the road, win one, lose one, draw one type run of form), is that not progress/development? The last three seasons we've spent most of our time looking down the table, and in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 were in real danger of going down. If we end this season having had a couple of flirts with the play-off places, with not a single worry about getting relegated, a bunch of development prospects bedded in with a full season's experience, our best overall finish since 2021/22 - I think I'd take that. No, we can't settle for that forever, but it's concrete, material progress. There's holes in our squad still (left back where we're borrowing a lad who in his supposed athletic prime can't play 3 games a week, centre mid where our entire plan is for Nico Madsen to play every minute of every game because nobody else can play a decent pass, and that plan only looks remotely adequate now because Madsen is an entirely different player than he was six months ago), but in most positions we have vastly more depth than we have for ages.
Some of this stuff is only going to end up being proved in hindsight. Remember when Sunderland came up, loads of exciting kids, not enough steel, had a pretty mediocre season then followed it up on the next go around by winning the playoffs? This could be our version of their 2023/24, getting the squad in place, getting them a year of being kicked about by Championship defenders so they toughen up for next time, going on to better things. Or it could be another false start like 2024/25. Plenty of those in the Championship, not just for us - look at Bristol City, who constantly threaten to make a real stride forwards and don't, or Blackburn just barely missing the playoffs last year and now in severe danger of exiting the other way. If we're here in 12 months raving about our playoff push this season will look like a brilliant foundational step; if we're hanging around the lower half of the table again because we've sold our best players for The Model and replaced them with more kids, we'll talk about it as a missed opportunity. In the meantime, if we're not winning then at least we're not losing, which we absolutely would have been in recent seasons. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:45 - Jan 21 with 1371 views | Burnleyhoop |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:48 - Jan 21 by Hunterhoop |
Good post.
For me, my frustration is that we have spent £25m on this squad over the last 18 months, amortising that (so making some if it tomorrow’s problem), which is far more than any previous head coach/regime had and yet we don’t seem to have made that material step change. It felt like we could this season. Performances like Leicester show what the team/squad is capable of but since then performances against: Portsmouth, Norwich, Stoke, and Oxford (even in the win against Wednesday) have been very disappointing.
I could forgive previous managers and set up when we were just cutting our cloth year after year.
I could forgive the odd poor result under Warburton because the football was undeniably good.
I could forgive the struggles prior to Marti because the squad was so poor and we had no money to fix it due to FFP.
I could forgive poor performances under Marti, because a) he performed a miracle to keep us up after Ainsworth, and b) the results came and the trend was undeniably up from Ainsworth and Critchley.
At present, we’ve spent a lot of money (for us) and it doesn’t feel like we’re any better than the 2nd half of the 23/24 season when Cifuentes’ ppg Oct-May was 9th.
It’s not that Marti was some genius and manager for the ages, just frustration and patience wearing thin at the lack of progress in spite of all the money we’ve spent. Millwall, Preston, Stoke…all seem to have gone past us (similar boat 2 years ago).
I’m sure others have their own views and am sure many won’t see it or feel like me, but that’s where my frustration is from.
This squad *should* be doing better one we had two years ago. We should be progressing. Perhaps we still will this season. But at present, with the current performances and injuries, there is as much chance we slip to 16th. What then? We’ve spent the Eze money…and who are the next big sales. It feels to me that this is our chance. I’m pretty sure the club’s target was top half this season, play offs next. I really hope that happens. I’m just not sure it will at the minute. And if we revert to type. What then? |
Ostensibly, most of our best players are crocked. With Chair, Poku, JCS (as if) Burrell, Edwards and perhaps the new striker (one that has pace and can hopefully control a ball) back in the team, we will be a different proposition. I don’t count Varane in that, because I personally don’t rate him either. The two in midfield have a thankless task at the moment because none of those in front can hold the ball and retain possession, so they spend most of the game in ball recovery mode.
We have no other choice than to blag our way through the next few weeks with what is available. It hasn’t been pretty and it won’t be pretty on Saturday.
Our problem is not a lack of progress despite having spent significant money, it’s the continued disappearance of players through injury. Until we solve that, we are making zero progress. | | | |
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:48 - Jan 21 with 1359 views | QPROslo |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:01 - Jan 21 by QPRSam |
Being realistic and reasonable is a lost art, great post Nix. I recall most fans asking for a year of stability, for once not being involved in the gauntlet that is the bottom of the Championship and here we are, 12th, still 3 points off playoffs.
As another poster said, I was also very surprised at the vitriol of some of the support last night, some just lambasting the entire squad of being c*nts. I didn't see any lack of trying in this game, a lack of quality sure, but it's such a young team and I don't see how any of this reaction helps.
Reasons to try remain optimistic, that's 3 clean sheets in a row in the league now, Walsh looks reformed and Dunne / Cook have been class. That's a really solid foundation and I don't think it's possible without players giving it their all. Leicester haven't had a clean sheet in 22 games for comparison. The attack whilst disjointed, we have to remember was missing Saito, Poku, Chair, Burrell and now Obikwu. That's an entire Championship attack and a bench option. We have to ride out these next few weeks and give the likes of Bennie our full support, he should be on a League 1 loan and it isn't his fault he is now being called upon. Onto the next, and finally some home games. |
Agree with this and I should add that the wind was so bad it blew a still ball away at set pieces and balls kicked with the wind were often blown much further than intended. Tyler and Andy were only half joking about potential damage to their cars parked behind the goal. Any better skill sets our players had were reduced by this.. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:53 - Jan 21 with 1341 views | losethedrum |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 08:35 - Jan 21 by nix |
I agree it wasn’t good. I agree there were things lacking. I agree that we are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated.
However I’m a bit surprised at how angry most people seem to be. The last three seasons have been dire pretty much most of the time with the odd highlight in the sense that we spent much of them worrying about relegation. We also lost so many matches at LR that I actually got fitter because when we lose I trudge that much faster and walk a bit further rather than get the bus etc.
This season at least on here and less at matches we seem to have lost any ability to be philosophical, see any positives and pull together. Is it just the Martí factor? He’s a charismatic character, pulled us out of a slump, but not the manager for the ages. I’m not sure he would have found the answer last night either. He’s struggling at Leicester really given the talent at his disposal; far higher quality in terms of experienced talent than we have.
There have always been a few posters on here who love to come on when we lose and love to point out when they were right about how we were going to lose and how we’re all going to hell in a hand cart. But I did used to feel there was a number of very balanced posters and a few happy clappers like me. These days it feels such an angry and negative place and I’m not quite sure why unless it’s just because people liked Martí.
It’s a shame because while not pulling up trees we’re in a better position than we’ve been for a long time. We’re still only three points from the play offs. We’ve got some good young players in. We haven’t been fighting relegation for most of the season.
Is it the Martí factor? Is it because the world is going pretty crazy and QPR is a way of channelling people’s fears and frustrations with the world? Is it because we’ve worn out our resilience over the last few seasons and we’ve got no patience left? Is it because everyone hates Christian Nourry so much it’s tainted everything about the club? Is it because everyone is getting older and age tends towards the negative. I’m not sure.
Because really we’ve on the whole got a decent manager who though limited seems to have the players on board and has got us playing some good football at times, with the odd quirk and the occasional mad decision. We’ve on the whole got a lot of players who work hard and are clesrly doing their best. Dunne, Cook, Madsen, Smyth, Burrell, Norrington Davies, Walsh, Kone all trying hard and sometimes working their bollocks off. Not all equal ability but all putting the effort in. We’ve got players wanting to come here when other options are available, like Burrell, Ronnie, Poku and Kone.
And yet I can’t remember ever seeing this place so angry and disillusioned. It’s a bit odd. [Post edited 21 Jan 9:06]
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Thankfully the Loftus road crowd remains positive & yet again it looks like another sell out crowd on saturday .
This is the only benchmark i take notice of , yes there is a place for messageboards but the extreme negativity is similar to that on twitter so on the whole it is best not to take any notice of it & instead pay attention to the people who actually go to the games .
Not saying that the last 2 games were entertaining but joint 11th place is pretty decent considering our sports science "experts" have killed half our team & top scorer . [Post edited 21 Jan 15:09]
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:01 - Jan 21 with 1309 views | stowmarketrange |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:48 - Jan 21 by QPROslo |
Agree with this and I should add that the wind was so bad it blew a still ball away at set pieces and balls kicked with the wind were often blown much further than intended. Tyler and Andy were only half joking about potential damage to their cars parked behind the goal. Any better skill sets our players had were reduced by this.. |
There was one shot from Oxford that bounced off a few cars in the car park,which led to a chorus of “you hit my car,and mine,and mine too.”
Also football in a car park was quite funny. |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:04 - Jan 21 with 1294 views | nix |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:48 - Jan 21 by Hunterhoop |
Good post.
For me, my frustration is that we have spent £25m on this squad over the last 18 months, amortising that (so making some if it tomorrow’s problem), which is far more than any previous head coach/regime had and yet we don’t seem to have made that material step change. It felt like we could this season. Performances like Leicester show what the team/squad is capable of but since then performances against: Portsmouth, Norwich, Stoke, and Oxford (even in the win against Wednesday) have been very disappointing.
I could forgive previous managers and set up when we were just cutting our cloth year after year.
I could forgive the odd poor result under Warburton because the football was undeniably good.
I could forgive the struggles prior to Marti because the squad was so poor and we had no money to fix it due to FFP.
I could forgive poor performances under Marti, because a) he performed a miracle to keep us up after Ainsworth, and b) the results came and the trend was undeniably up from Ainsworth and Critchley.
At present, we’ve spent a lot of money (for us) and it doesn’t feel like we’re any better than the 2nd half of the 23/24 season when Cifuentes’ ppg Oct-May was 9th.
It’s not that Marti was some genius and manager for the ages, just frustration and patience wearing thin at the lack of progress in spite of all the money we’ve spent. Millwall, Preston, Stoke…all seem to have gone past us (similar boat 2 years ago).
I’m sure others have their own views and am sure many won’t see it or feel like me, but that’s where my frustration is from.
This squad *should* be doing better one we had two years ago. We should be progressing. Perhaps we still will this season. But at present, with the current performances and injuries, there is as much chance we slip to 16th. What then? We’ve spent the Eze money…and who are the next big sales. It feels to me that this is our chance. I’m pretty sure the club’s target was top half this season, play offs next. I really hope that happens. I’m just not sure it will at the minute. And if we revert to type. What then? |
Yes that’s largely fair Hunter although I would say our team last night and Stoke was not the same as the Leicester match. We’re missing key players like Saito, Burrell, JCS and Varane from that team and Burrell got two assists. We also are struggling a bit still from the Christmas period. Some players like Kone and Madsen look a bit weary as they’ve hardly had a break. But I’ll give you Portsmouth and Norwich!
I also agree we’ve spent a lot. However we need some context: so have many other teams. Wrexham over £40 million in the last three years; Coventry over £60 million; Leicester over £80 million. Those are just three I looked up but I’m guessing other teams like Middlesbrough and Hull are similar and Ipswich would be much more. So it’s tough to keep up.
I don’t think Martí though should be given more of a free pass than Stephan because he followed someone crap. Although it’s fair Julien has a better squad but then we’re higher in the table so it’s swings and roundabouts.
There is a worry if we don’t make any sales but it does take a couple of years for players to come to fruition.
The injuries are also a big frustration. And I wonder if the club does need to do something there.
Anyway I get frustrations and I think they’re fair. It’s just the anger and lack of nuance some time on here that seems a bit excessive. And that’s not aimed at you Hunter it’s just a general point that the vitriol across the board can seem overwhelming! |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:10 - Jan 21 with 1245 views | nadera78 |
The cause of the 'anger' (if that's the word we're going with) seems pretty clear to me. QPR fans have been remarkably patient and understanding over the past five years - most of which has been unrelenting dog doodoo on the pitch. We understand the finances, we know we blew the budget under Warburton, we know we had to re-align after that, we understand we're signing a different profile of player now, we've put up with the ridiculous streaks. But there will always a limit to that patience, it's just human nature.
Add to that the up and down nature of our performances, the fact we were playing an Oxford team that is L1 standard, and that for the first time in years we've been in and around the play offs - albeit largely because the Championship this season is the lowest standard I can remember - and I think it's all coming to a head.
There was a home game earlier this season, I can't remember who against, that came on the back of some terrible performances. We started poorly and the crowd was beginning to turn. Luckily, the team turned it around and we won. I actually think the team (and coach) needs a performance this weekend against Wrexham to prevent things spiralling. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:11 - Jan 21 with 1241 views | nix |
Some great points on here responding to mine. I can’t reply to them all as I’ve got to get on with my day but I appreciate them whether they’re agreeing with me or not.
I particularly appreciate posts offering alternative ways owe could/should be playing especially for specific players. Love to hear more of that! | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:14 - Jan 21 with 1227 views | BeauRanger |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:57 - Jan 21 by wombat |
people i was with gave him MOM guess we know nothing , he worked hard great shot in the first half defensive tackles plenty , typical smyth perfomance
im amazed dembele got more than 1 for being there last night |
Dembele should’ve got 1 for the 1st half cross field pass to Smyth… that’s about it really 🤔 |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:37 - Jan 21 with 1118 views | Hunterhoop |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:32 - Jan 21 by BrizR |
My counterpoint would be - yes we had a decent run in the back half of 2023/24, but we still finished that season 18th and on 56pts. We're already on 40 with 18 games left to play. If we finish the season in the top half (even if that's 11th or 12th) and somewhere around 65pts (which would be a pretty middle of the road, win one, lose one, draw one type run of form), is that not progress/development? The last three seasons we've spent most of our time looking down the table, and in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 were in real danger of going down. If we end this season having had a couple of flirts with the play-off places, with not a single worry about getting relegated, a bunch of development prospects bedded in with a full season's experience, our best overall finish since 2021/22 - I think I'd take that. No, we can't settle for that forever, but it's concrete, material progress. There's holes in our squad still (left back where we're borrowing a lad who in his supposed athletic prime can't play 3 games a week, centre mid where our entire plan is for Nico Madsen to play every minute of every game because nobody else can play a decent pass, and that plan only looks remotely adequate now because Madsen is an entirely different player than he was six months ago), but in most positions we have vastly more depth than we have for ages.
Some of this stuff is only going to end up being proved in hindsight. Remember when Sunderland came up, loads of exciting kids, not enough steel, had a pretty mediocre season then followed it up on the next go around by winning the playoffs? This could be our version of their 2023/24, getting the squad in place, getting them a year of being kicked about by Championship defenders so they toughen up for next time, going on to better things. Or it could be another false start like 2024/25. Plenty of those in the Championship, not just for us - look at Bristol City, who constantly threaten to make a real stride forwards and don't, or Blackburn just barely missing the playoffs last year and now in severe danger of exiting the other way. If we're here in 12 months raving about our playoff push this season will look like a brilliant foundational step; if we're hanging around the lower half of the table again because we've sold our best players for The Model and replaced them with more kids, we'll talk about it as a missed opportunity. In the meantime, if we're not winning then at least we're not losing, which we absolutely would have been in recent seasons. |
If we finish with 65 points and 10-12th, yes, completely agree, that would be progress. I have said as much before. Then we try to push onto the play offs next season.
If we finish on or under 60 points, say 55-60 points, is that progress? Given all the money spent, I would say not, and us now having a new training ground, I would say not.
I’m just worried that recent performances coupled with the amount of injuries we have point more to the latter than the former. Hope I’m wrong.
I’m also worried about who we’re selling to bring in transfer fees to make this player trading amortisation model work. If we don’t sell, we will have problems in the seasons to come. Hopefully I turn out wrong to be worried.
I think both are valid concerns though. [Post edited 21 Jan 13:28]
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:39 - Jan 21 with 1101 views | sdm1508 |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 22:34 - Jan 20 by stainrods_elbow |
When I pursue that line, I'm a nostalgic idiot, apparently. |
No that isn't fair. Not a nostalgic idiot. Just an idiot. Don't do yourself an injustice | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:42 - Jan 21 with 1093 views | Burnleyhoop |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:10 - Jan 21 by nadera78 |
The cause of the 'anger' (if that's the word we're going with) seems pretty clear to me. QPR fans have been remarkably patient and understanding over the past five years - most of which has been unrelenting dog doodoo on the pitch. We understand the finances, we know we blew the budget under Warburton, we know we had to re-align after that, we understand we're signing a different profile of player now, we've put up with the ridiculous streaks. But there will always a limit to that patience, it's just human nature.
Add to that the up and down nature of our performances, the fact we were playing an Oxford team that is L1 standard, and that for the first time in years we've been in and around the play offs - albeit largely because the Championship this season is the lowest standard I can remember - and I think it's all coming to a head.
There was a home game earlier this season, I can't remember who against, that came on the back of some terrible performances. We started poorly and the crowd was beginning to turn. Luckily, the team turned it around and we won. I actually think the team (and coach) needs a performance this weekend against Wrexham to prevent things spiralling. |
The team we are currently fielding is close to league one standard, with only a few exceptions.
Don’t expect much better on Saturday. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:56 - Jan 21 with 1046 views | mart_Goblin |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:11 - Jan 21 by nix |
Some great points on here responding to mine. I can’t reply to them all as I’ve got to get on with my day but I appreciate them whether they’re agreeing with me or not.
I particularly appreciate posts offering alternative ways owe could/should be playing especially for specific players. Love to hear more of that! |
I completely agree Nix.
Some great posts on here .
I didn’t look at this thread at full time, no point in looking back now as I don’t have the time or the willpower so I haven’t seen a lot of the anger that’s being talked about .
I’ve deliberately started leaving it a while after a match before I post on here .
I think I learned my lesson after Coventry where I, and many others came on here fuming .
Understandable I think , but maybe not the best idea .
But as well as leaving it a while to post after a match , I do feel a little disillusioned with how we are playing rather than the results and I’m a bit lost for what to say as I said on this thread previously . The matches are dire to watch and if folk are happy to see a scrap for a point week after week then of course that’s all good. Better than getting beat for sure and I part agree with that .
I just wouldn’t mind seeing us put 2 or 3 progressive passes together once in a while .
I’m not asking for Xavi/Iniesta stuff , just something that resembles the sport I love .
Maybe why I perhaps overly quick to defend Madsen at times because at least he’s trying to ‘play’.
The rest look like passing a football is completely alien to them . Maybe that’s harsh but that’s why I feel a little frustrated.
I don’t want to see us lose , of course. But I want to be entertained once in a while.
I don’t know , maybe just an old git.
But I can’t put my finger on it , but it’s all a bit ‘shrug the shoulders’ at the moment .
Just as a side point to what Nix mentioned earlier , I don’t think Marti has anything to do with anything at the moment . Only talking for myself but apart from the obvious Leicester home game , I have barely given Marti a second thought since Julien came in and I am a ) a huge MC fan for what he achieved here and b) know a little about how he was treated by the club rather than what the spin doctors at the club have us all believe. Not all one way traffic but pretty bad .
But football moves on and as I say only personally , he’s long gone and isn’t even in my thought process .
Nadera made the very valid point about how patient the fan base has been not just for 5 years , but 10 years and perhaps many more .
So there is some fatigue involved .
I couldn’t wait for the last 2 seasons to end . It was exhausting.
I don’t want to feel like that and I don’t want to feel like that this season and I don’t think
I will . But if we don’t start improving as a ‘football’ team , which is what we are after all then I fear I’ll feel the same again and that’s not right . And of course injuries have killed us a bit but was the excuse at Derby, Norwich x2 , Portsmouth, West Brom? They were before the Sheff Wednesday injury crisis .
I’ll be there Saturday of course .
I just hope we can get the ball down and play a bit …win lose or draw.
Don’t expect a huge improvement on the pitch by the way .
By all accounts it’s no better than it was 3 weeks ago . |  | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:06 - Jan 21 with 1020 views | TheChef |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 09:50 - Jan 21 by Jimboqpr |
I watched it on Sky last night and what I did find funny and depressing in equal measure was the producer for the game was clearly keen to show a lot replays of the action, but as there was so little to show they just ended up showing replays of all the awful play that was happening like we needed to see it again just to really show bad it was! There was one of the Oxford GK in the first half just kicking the ball out of play with the Scottish co-comm just saying 'At least he had the right idea' over it. Then in the 2nd half I think they showed Madsen f*cking up a 10 yard pass by playing out of play for a throw to Oxford right in front of our fans. Scottish co-comm 'He needed to take a little bit more care there'. What a bleak match. |
Anyone know who the Scottish co comms guy was last night? I think I heard the main comms guy call him Andy?
He called the game as he saw it and didn't try and sugarcoat what was a total dog of a game. His buzz words were "care and attention" 
Definitely a lot better than a lot of the ex pros Sky usually employ. |  |
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:45 - Jan 21 with 914 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:06 - Jan 21 by TheChef |
Anyone know who the Scottish co comms guy was last night? I think I heard the main comms guy call him Andy?
He called the game as he saw it and didn't try and sugarcoat what was a total dog of a game. His buzz words were "care and attention"
Definitely a lot better than a lot of the ex pros Sky usually employ. |
Agree with this: you could tell he was exasperated by what he was seeing and wasn’t afraid to say so. Miles better than Hinchcliffe and Goodman. Commentator was ok as well.
I doubt either will get to the top of the tree as they don’t have the histrionics that Sky and BBC love. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:49 - Jan 21 with 898 views | 7374Ranger |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 11:29 - Jan 21 by Ned_Kennedys |
Good post by you and Nix.
Can’t remember many posters saying we should be in the playoffs by January at the start of the season: most would’ve been happy with mid table and a few points away from the top six.
Definitely a sense of entitlement by some just because for once we have spent a bit of money (and would make an educated guess that we are probably just about top 10 in terms of net spend).
Allowances also need to be made for Stéphan with the amount of injuries he’s had to deal with the last few months. |
You have a good point about we’re QPR are now and that is not necessarily what most fans would have expected in August. Many were thinking 16th. Although that position is not too many points away. However this is an open league and how many fans would have thought Preston Hull and Millwall would be where they are?
I agree conditions were terrible yesterday and the squad is depleted through injuries, but 2 goalless draws and just 3 shots on target in those matches is dreadful.
It doesn’t help that the wingers are played on the wrong wings for their feet! I would understand why Smyth was on the left last night if it was to help Esqerdinha , but I doubt that is what Stephan was thinking.
The Oxford are in the bottom 2 for a reason and QPR have drawn 0-0 home and away to this lot. And that’s on top of losing both games to Norwich when they were in the bottom 3.
I can understand the fans’ frustration given how much Stephan has been able to spend on the squad.
Unfortunately I suspect QPR will have to endure 2 more disappointing performances and results at home to Wrexham and Coventry before things improve. | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:56 - Jan 21 with 885 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 10:01 - Jan 21 by Watford_Ranger |
Highlight of the match was spending a considerable amount of time showing a corner flag blowing in the wind. |
Yeah, but what a corner flag and what a wind, too! |  |
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| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 14:11 - Jan 21 with 851 views | BrizR |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 12:37 - Jan 21 by Hunterhoop |
If we finish with 65 points and 10-12th, yes, completely agree, that would be progress. I have said as much before. Then we try to push onto the play offs next season.
If we finish on or under 60 points, say 55-60 points, is that progress? Given all the money spent, I would say not, and us now having a new training ground, I would say not.
I’m just worried that recent performances coupled with the amount of injuries we have point more to the latter than the former. Hope I’m wrong.
I’m also worried about who we’re selling to bring in transfer fees to make this player trading amortisation model work. If we don’t sell, we will have problems in the seasons to come. Hopefully I turn out wrong to be worried.
I think both are valid concerns though. [Post edited 21 Jan 13:28]
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Yeah I think that's fair. My pushback is that some of the narrative right now is a little too doom and gloom - I agree we've had a rough Christmas and some poor performances, but across 18 games remaining we'd have to be in relegation form to finish at or below last season, and for the first time in years we seem to be avoiding those doom spirals. Not saying it won't happen, but I feel more confident than I have for a long time that we'll turn a corner, pick up some results, and maintain about where we are or a little better. Win 4, lose 4, draw the rest - a pretty dismal run of form, a sub-25% win rate, we'd still end up on 62. You'd want better, but on the raw numbers it's still forward progress.
The selling thing I think is a bigger issue. We've got lots of exciting prospects who are probably 1-2 seasons away from attracting real money, we've got some solid pros who form the spine you build those prospects around, but in the middle of that you ought to have the players who are ready to sell now for money to go back into the side, and the only one of those that is in any way likely now is Madsen. Celar and JCS we'll get no meaningful return for, Varane has had a pretty poor season, everyone else is on the wrong side of the "development" equation in one way or another. It pretty much has to be Nico, but how much will we really get for him, and how do we replace him? Otherwise maybe Mbengue, or Kolli, but will either of those attract meaningful bids? | | | |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 14:21 - Jan 21 with 824 views | Watford_Ranger |
| The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford on 13:56 - Jan 21 by PlanetHonneywood |
Yeah, but what a corner flag and what a wind, too! |
The compliment and criticism I receive most mornings. | | | |
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