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Reply | Madsen
at 19:04 21 Jan 2026
Part of the reason they’re so deep is because our CDs haven’t got any pace. We tried it with Mbengue but he hasn’t got the defensive solidly and noise to play there yet and we also need him at RB to provide some pace. But you could see the difference when JCS played in a little cameo. Our whole team could move up at least ten metres.
The thing is you can’t leave massive gaps between your lines because teams will exploit them both across and lengthwise you need to keep them compact to a degree. That’s why I think we were so keen on signing Ronnie. His ability to carry the ball at least that significant ten metres will allow Madsen plus an other to be passing from the halfway line rather than just outside our penalty area. I think it will help with our possession figures for that reason. It’s a bit like when you’re taking a throw in from by your own penalty area compared to further up the pitch, you tend to get penned in.
They only move up when the rest of the opposition are already in their half as the danger is less and our defence can move up. |
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Reply | Player Sales
at 16:08 21 Jan 2026
No I said both could see a pass but Madsen could see it quickly. But maybe that wasn’t clearly expressed. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 15:49 21 Jan 2026
Yes agree with all of this.
I do understand also people being upset cos we’ve spent a lot but the problem is so has nearly everyone else. Pretty much with the exception of Preston I think in the top half of the table. But quite a few in the bottom half too.
Wonder how Preston are managing it. They’re certainly over achieving for their spends. Pretty everyone else has spent as much although some have been able to fund it by selling other players. But it still means their squad is worth the same or more than ours and in many cases considerably more. |
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Reply | VAR in the EFL
at 15:35 21 Jan 2026
Absolutely effing no.
I naively thought it would at least cut out biases in the favour of bigger clubs. If anything it’s made it worse. Cos of course they don’t care if they get it wrong There’s no come back. They still get to faff around next week.
And it just ruins the game.
NO NO NO? |
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Reply | Player Sales
at 15:29 21 Jan 2026
I agree on Varane £5 million would be fine.
Still wouldn’t sell Madsen for that though. If we can’t get £7 million then we build the team around him for a few years like we did with Chair.
Also hope we can get a few hundred thousand here or there for players that are on the fringes like Murphy Cooper, Morrison. Maybe that’s too optimistic but then again never thought we’d get that much for Kelman, Armstrong and Dykes, |
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Reply | Dembélé new boo boy?
at 15:22 21 Jan 2026
Yeah I think you’re right they wouldn’t wear that now, or at least their agents wouldn’t.
Most of the players we’ve brought in seem like the right sort in terms of effort and not being a total arse or having ishoos on the Caulker level. Maybe that’s why we’ve gone for players who had it tough like Burrell and in particular Kone and Mbengue. They’ve got some appreciation for having naff all.
I was shocked by the Matt Smith wages too. I thought he was plucky but very limited. The kind of player you want in your side who’ll cause havoc, play for the shirt but costs peanuts. Wondering what they were thinking paying him that much when there was no potential resale or development upside.
I work in a job where you help to develop people and the thing is you could be the top coach/therapist/motivator/teacher in the world but if someone won’t listen, put things into practice, reflect on what you’ve said, how that has worked in practice and integrate that into their own way of behaving/working it’s a waste of time.
The starting point is you have to think you can be better and want to better. If you can’t be bothered or you think you’ve already made it then you’ll never improve.
That’s why I have so much respect for Madsen. You can see from his interviews and the changes on the pitch that he knew he wasn’t performing well enough. So he buckled down, listened and worked on his game. His defensive work is exponentially better and he’s also learnt to play the ball better and position himself better for the English game. That takes cojones.
I fear that Dembele hasn’t got that hunger. You look at his expressions on the pitch and he looks like someone who thinks he’s doing a good job. |
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Reply | Player Sales
at 15:01 21 Jan 2026
He really is. The only player who really sees a pass (Chair aside) and can execute it quickly.
Also does a deceptive amount of defensive work these days too. |
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Reply | Player Sales
at 13:49 21 Jan 2026
Definitely not Madsen for £5 million.
I always start with how much would it cost us to replace him. And unless we’re very lucky it would probably cost not much less and then you’ve got them settling in etc. Wouldn’t sell him for less than £7 million.
Varane at £5 million would be good business.
Burrell would need to have a very good offer to let go. Wouldn’t be a disaster to sell Dembele for what we paid for him but I’m not sure we’d get it back.
Morrison hopefully just needs a run of matches. For whatever reason he’s not quite got the consistency and confidence of last season. Having him at least partially off the wage bill and getting matches is a good thing.
Agree with Field and Smyth. |
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Reply | Injuries
at 13:41 21 Jan 2026
Yes I agree. Would you have rested him last night? And Madsen? Again in hindsight it would’ve been better to rest them for an away game midweek and bring them back for the home match after a rest. But then JS might have seen this as an opportunity to get a win away which would’ve given us a real boost.
It’s hard being a manager. |
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Reply | FA Youth Cup v Brighton
at 12:50 21 Jan 2026
Anyone else Bosh you rate at the moment who might be good enough for the fringes of the first team squad? |
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Reply | Injuries
at 12:41 21 Jan 2026
With the benefit of hindsight we could have rested him last night and had him for the home game. It really would be a disaster to lose him. Thing is he does a lot of defensive work too so it’s not just giving up his passing.
Although I don’t think Chair can play that role he at least provides some creativity which we sorely lack without both of them in the team. Wish we knew when he is due back. Really hard to do without so many of our more technical players at once.
Hope the new striker can start soon to give Kone a rest and Ronnie can come in to just provide some flair and energy. Surprised he hasn’t had the odd ten minutes at the end of games. |
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Reply | Just back
at 12:32 21 Jan 2026
As PP said, please don’t give up, just ignore. |
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Reply | Dembélé new boo boy?
at 12:14 21 Jan 2026
What do you think SrAlex would do with him? Would he get the hairdryer treatment? Or just sell him to Spurs…. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 12:11 21 Jan 2026
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! |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 12:04 21 Jan 2026
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! |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 09:38 21 Jan 2026
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. |
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Reply | Sam field
at 09:30 21 Jan 2026
I think you’re right. He’s surely our only alternative LB now.
Gutted for Esquerdinha. Hope it isn’t the worst case scenario. Losing two LBs to ACls would be hugely unlucky for the players as well as the club and the fans. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 09:23 21 Jan 2026
As i say I get the frustration and the disappointment the next day etc. I’m not saying people shouldn’t feel like that and don’t have to be balanced and rational 24/7.
It just seems more than that and it’s rage rather than normal disappointment and it’s not just after matches it seems to last longer and be more vitriolic.
But yes I get that we expect more because we’ve got a better squad but most of our best players didn’t start yesterday: Burrell, Poku, Saito, Chair, Varane, JCS (I know, I know), Ronnie all missing. Obviously that’s another question but it doesn’t explain why people are furious with the players that did play or the manager that’s missing the heart of his team. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 09:01 21 Jan 2026
Yeah I get that and I agree with all your points. There are issues with maybe scouting (although surely not particularly more so than the past, we’ve always had crocks and disappointing signings) and definitely conditioning. There’s a real dearth of quality in the league apart from maybe the top three teams this season so I get that too.
So I get disappointed and concerned. It’s just the furious and consistently negative I don’t really get.it doesn’t seem any worse than most times I can remember overall and better than many seasons. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 08:35 21 Jan 2026
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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