| Squad of missing men 11:59 - Dec 5 with 10443 views | WestbourneR |
What's happened to Ryan Manning? He's probably injured and I missed it but he wasn't really in the team when fit this season either.
Got to say I think that's a shame and another reason why we need to tweak our formation to make room for people like him.
For me, last season, Manning coming into the team turned us around. His bite but most importantly his guile and vision and use of the ball really made us tick as an attacking force. Good set piece too. His assist with the outside of his boot vs Reading away was a highlight moment. True class.
We've got so many players in the squad and yet it seems totally unclear how they fit the formation or who our strongest selection is. Where do Shodipo, Manning, Osayi-Samuel, Cousins, Ngbakoto, Ariel, Wheeler all fit in our team? I feel there is a bunch of talent there with no plan to make room for them on the pitch. Are Jamie Mackie and Conor Washington really our best players? Isn't it time some of the new blood got a decent run? Otherwise why did we buy them?
The squad is very big, very messy and I don't believe Holloway has any idea how to get it organised. He seems to keep buying players and then have no idea how to use them. He told Northern in his interview that he'd bought wingers to supply our aerially strong forwards - and yet this season we've not played a system or formation that has done that once. Tbh JFH was the same.
It's getting on my nerves. Just play with some wingers and some width!! Is it that hard???
Sorry, ranting. Rant over. |  |
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| Squad of missing men on 12:22 - Dec 5 with 5579 views | bob566 |
i think that's a good and fair post. I don't know the answers but Holloway must see something in training that he doesn't like. Chair did get a game last week in fairness.
Jamie Mackie is nearly our joint top scorer in fairness on 4. Only Smith has more and that's only one.
Lluongo and scowen need to chip in more. 1 goal from 37 combined starts.
Pavel has had 19 games 12 of them starting and has no goals. Can't he cut in and get a shot off more often?
Manning has 3 starts only this season. He's playing great stuff for the irish youth team so it can't be a lack of confidence. Maybe with a lack of defenders olly is setting the team up more defensively and he doesn't see Ryan as part of that.
anyway heres the player stats. Make of them what you will.
https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/queens-park-rangers-team-stats |  | | |
| Squad of missing men on 12:55 - Dec 5 with 5507 views | stevec |
When you've got, as Gallen said, a selection of Plan B forwards and zero Plan A forwards it probably doesn't matter what formation you play behind them.
Anyone who went to a few games last season could see Washington is not going to cut it, Mackie is past it, you can just about get a first 45 minutes out of Sylla (on the occasional good day) and a final 45 out of Matt Smith. That does not maketh a competent football team.
And then someone, either the Board, Les or Ollie thought, actually let's go with it anyway.
Sick to death of the no-money-get-out-of-jail card, do some wheeling and dealing, that's what other teams do. There's a long lengthy list if you can stay awake long enough to read through the squad, many of them are taking a wage and doing little else. Of course, down here they're almost all signed on some maniacal 3 year contract, despite the fact most of them would have probably bitten TF's arm off for a one year contract. |  | | |
| Squad of missing men on 13:21 - Dec 5 with 5425 views | R_from_afar |
Trouble is, our best outfield players are Luongo, Freeman and Scowen. If they start and we want wingers, as opposed to wingbacks, we end up with a five man midfield. That gives us issues because it is risky to play three at the back at the best of times given the quality of our squad, all the more so when so many first choice defenders are unavailable.
Compensate for that by playing four at the back and you end up with the dreaded, riot inducing 4-5-1, or, you have to play the wingers as wingbacks, which is what has happened.
RFA |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Squad of missing men on 13:23 - Dec 5 with 5417 views | daveB |
| Squad of missing men on 12:55 - Dec 5 by stevec |
When you've got, as Gallen said, a selection of Plan B forwards and zero Plan A forwards it probably doesn't matter what formation you play behind them.
Anyone who went to a few games last season could see Washington is not going to cut it, Mackie is past it, you can just about get a first 45 minutes out of Sylla (on the occasional good day) and a final 45 out of Matt Smith. That does not maketh a competent football team.
And then someone, either the Board, Les or Ollie thought, actually let's go with it anyway.
Sick to death of the no-money-get-out-of-jail card, do some wheeling and dealing, that's what other teams do. There's a long lengthy list if you can stay awake long enough to read through the squad, many of them are taking a wage and doing little else. Of course, down here they're almost all signed on some maniacal 3 year contract, despite the fact most of them would have probably bitten TF's arm off for a one year contract. |
Not a chance they said let's got with it anyway, they tried to sign plenty of forwards but were either priced out or the player went elsewhere. Any half decent forward in this league is going for around £7million, the good ones for double that and thats out of our price range. |  | | |
| Squad of missing men on 13:25 - Dec 5 with 5403 views | WestbourneR |
Fair points Bob and Stevec.
I also agree that we can't say there is no money and then spend whatever money we have on a range of wingers don't need and don't use.
Now Northern's point is that you need upwards of £5million to get a striker that can reliably score goals and lead the line in the Champ. For a proven level I'd agree BUT we were clearly light up front and a punt needed to be take, albeit at a lower price, on a striker.
Example. Omar Bogle. £700k. 3 goals in 6 games.
We needed to attempt to address the problem. We didn't. | |
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| Squad of missing men on 13:27 - Dec 5 with 5397 views | daveB |
Manning hasn't looked that good when played this season and the midfield 3 have been so good been hard to find a place for him.
Don't think it's as easy as saying just play wingers. The team needs a balance and by playing a 4-4-2 that leaves us weaker in midfield and the back 4 less protected. if we play 4-2-3-1 as we did under JFH we don't really have a striker suited to playing the lone striker role and would struggle to get players in the box around a target man.
Looking at our squad playing the 3-5-2 so 5 at the back without the ball and 3 when we have it with full backs pushed forward still seems our best option
No easy answer really, think it ls harsh to say Holloway has no idea how to get the squad organised, the team have looked pretty organised in most games this season bar the odd exception | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 13:34 - Dec 5 with 5370 views | stevec |
| Squad of missing men on 13:25 - Dec 5 by WestbourneR |
Fair points Bob and Stevec.
I also agree that we can't say there is no money and then spend whatever money we have on a range of wingers don't need and don't use.
Now Northern's point is that you need upwards of £5million to get a striker that can reliably score goals and lead the line in the Champ. For a proven level I'd agree BUT we were clearly light up front and a punt needed to be take, albeit at a lower price, on a striker.
Example. Omar Bogle. £700k. 3 goals in 6 games.
We needed to attempt to address the problem. We didn't. |
Yep, that bottom line just about covers it.
Not enough gets said about the random handing out of 3 year contracts, that as much as anything ties our hands when we find we've a duff player on the books. | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 13:35 - Dec 5 with 5365 views | danehoop |
| Squad of missing men on 12:55 - Dec 5 by stevec |
When you've got, as Gallen said, a selection of Plan B forwards and zero Plan A forwards it probably doesn't matter what formation you play behind them.
Anyone who went to a few games last season could see Washington is not going to cut it, Mackie is past it, you can just about get a first 45 minutes out of Sylla (on the occasional good day) and a final 45 out of Matt Smith. That does not maketh a competent football team.
And then someone, either the Board, Les or Ollie thought, actually let's go with it anyway.
Sick to death of the no-money-get-out-of-jail card, do some wheeling and dealing, that's what other teams do. There's a long lengthy list if you can stay awake long enough to read through the squad, many of them are taking a wage and doing little else. Of course, down here they're almost all signed on some maniacal 3 year contract, despite the fact most of them would have probably bitten TF's arm off for a one year contract. |
OK, I'll bite.
Not sure whether you have read any of Northern's far more articulate articles than I could ever hope to write. Perhaps I can summarise it for you, we have just been hit with the biggest FFP fine in history and we have no money! This isn't just "the no-money-get-out-of-jail card" its fact.
The squad we have is huge by Championship standards and making changes to the squad is neither quick or cheap to do. Unfortunately much of the squad is either injured, not worked out or just proved to absolute resource drains. Those issues alone would even hinder Mourinho or Alex Fergusson to resolve,.so anybody expecting resolution of 5 years of poor decision making being righted in a season would be I'd suggest an idiot.
As for the wheeling and dealing, the signings that have been done on the budget available (e.g. Scowen, Baptiste etc.) have genuinely been far more encouraging additions than previous purchases for many years (take a bow Hoos and Ferdinand). We are also building up and bringing through players through the U23s for the first time in years and when they have played are starting to look like adding some real value. But when we buy players, many will be very much the unfinished product and need further development before they become the assets we need.
That our frontline isn't strong enough isn't something we didn't know. But the idea that we can just wheel and deal someone in upfront who is going to bang in 30 goals a season from scratch is nonsense. The price of championship strikers this year was stupid money with a whole lot of very moderate players commanding stupid high fees. Equally loaning in any quality player from the Premiership isn't an option because of the loan fee required along with the % of wages cost being requested. So genuinely a money issue, which means we will only be able to get in players who are cheap, don't want high salaries and for which there is only low/no transfer fees. They don't seem to be cropping up a lot recently.
So basically, like or lump it. We have what have got upfront with limited options to offer as alternatives. It is going to be a tough and long season, get used to it as we are not buying our way out of it. |  |
| Never knowingly understood |
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| Squad of missing men on 13:41 - Dec 5 with 5351 views | Gloucs_R |
Yeni is supposed to be a forward
Eze was supposed to be a forward
Smyth was supposed to be a forward
Going to be interesting as 10 players OOC in the summer and another 15 the year after (with most of our key players within that). So we start signing them on longer contracts or its going to be a summer of change. (AGAIN!) |  |
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| Squad of missing men on 13:50 - Dec 5 with 5331 views | stevec |
| Squad of missing men on 13:35 - Dec 5 by danehoop |
OK, I'll bite.
Not sure whether you have read any of Northern's far more articulate articles than I could ever hope to write. Perhaps I can summarise it for you, we have just been hit with the biggest FFP fine in history and we have no money! This isn't just "the no-money-get-out-of-jail card" its fact.
The squad we have is huge by Championship standards and making changes to the squad is neither quick or cheap to do. Unfortunately much of the squad is either injured, not worked out or just proved to absolute resource drains. Those issues alone would even hinder Mourinho or Alex Fergusson to resolve,.so anybody expecting resolution of 5 years of poor decision making being righted in a season would be I'd suggest an idiot.
As for the wheeling and dealing, the signings that have been done on the budget available (e.g. Scowen, Baptiste etc.) have genuinely been far more encouraging additions than previous purchases for many years (take a bow Hoos and Ferdinand). We are also building up and bringing through players through the U23s for the first time in years and when they have played are starting to look like adding some real value. But when we buy players, many will be very much the unfinished product and need further development before they become the assets we need.
That our frontline isn't strong enough isn't something we didn't know. But the idea that we can just wheel and deal someone in upfront who is going to bang in 30 goals a season from scratch is nonsense. The price of championship strikers this year was stupid money with a whole lot of very moderate players commanding stupid high fees. Equally loaning in any quality player from the Premiership isn't an option because of the loan fee required along with the % of wages cost being requested. So genuinely a money issue, which means we will only be able to get in players who are cheap, don't want high salaries and for which there is only low/no transfer fees. They don't seem to be cropping up a lot recently.
So basically, like or lump it. We have what have got upfront with limited options to offer as alternatives. It is going to be a tough and long season, get used to it as we are not buying our way out of it. |
Do you think that handing out 3 and 4 year contracts to all and sundry might, just possibly, have something to do with us being lumbered with such a huge squad and no money to spend? | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 13:52 - Dec 5 with 5324 views | daveB |
| Squad of missing men on 13:25 - Dec 5 by WestbourneR |
Fair points Bob and Stevec.
I also agree that we can't say there is no money and then spend whatever money we have on a range of wingers don't need and don't use.
Now Northern's point is that you need upwards of £5million to get a striker that can reliably score goals and lead the line in the Champ. For a proven level I'd agree BUT we were clearly light up front and a punt needed to be take, albeit at a lower price, on a striker.
Example. Omar Bogle. £700k. 3 goals in 6 games.
We needed to attempt to address the problem. We didn't. |
We were in for Bogle but club had reports that his attitude was poor and he chose Cardiff over us anyway | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 14:16 - Dec 5 with 5260 views | Dorse |
| Squad of missing men on 13:52 - Dec 5 by daveB |
We were in for Bogle but club had reports that his attitude was poor and he chose Cardiff over us anyway |
'QPR IN NOT-BUYING-PLAYER-WITH-BAD-ATTITUDE SHOCK!'
Daily Star, made up news desk.
'I am flabbergasted', said Ray Jinghorn, 38. 'I've been following this club for 40 years and we always made space for the players with bad attitudes before'.
'It's not good enough', fumed Roger McRevice, 19.'I wear my Armand Traore shirt and Christmas jumper ensemble with pride!'
'I am sick, sick I tell you, of all these loved-up nancy boys playing for the shirt and giving 100%', dribbled 101 year-old Boer veteran and utter liar Fanny Akimbo. 'Where are the Bartons, the Sandros, the JETs, eh? Where? I'll tell you where, not here, but that's neither here nor there. I blame Brexit, the Muslims - even that nice Mr Patel who brings me my lunch, Teresa May, Scarlett Moffatt and that Mary bleedin' Berry' she added before being wheeled away my men in white coats.
Ian Holloway was not available for comment but we think he might have said: 'Awright? Look, we need you. In our cave. Because we're having coffee. And I'm sorry but I'm here to fight.' |  |
| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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| Squad of missing men on 14:25 - Dec 5 with 5242 views | Northernr |
Ignoring the usual "we knew the strikers were sht, why didn't we sign a striker" bullsht because frankly if you think Ferdinand, Holloway, Penrice or whoever looked at our strikers pre-season and thought "yeh we could easily buy another one, or trade and get another one, but you know what I don't think we need to these guys are great" then you're beyond help.
The idea that QPR can afford Championship-level strikers and choose not to buy them is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
On the original post, I think it's a shame Manning doesn't play more and when he did play last season it coincided with an upturn in fortunes. I also think it's a shame we don't play with width and wingers, because it's good to watch when teams do that, at least two of our strikers thrive on that sort of service and we have seven wingers in the squad. Allowing for his injury, I think the way Holloway has blown Shodipo out, basically after one game against Norwich where he didn't defend properly, is poor. The signing of LuaLua, who was gash last season, obstructing the path for Shodipo, Samuel, Wheeler and others further, also a dire decision - not even with hindsight that, nobody could understand why he was brought back.
A lot of it comes back to this idea that the three man midfield are our best players and pick themselves. I think they are and they do, but once you've done that it starts to restrict you, particularly when you want to play two up front. There are only very finite formations available to you once you've nailed down that you want to pick three central midfielders and two forwards. It feels like everything else is sort of fitted around that and it means Wszolek, Wheeler, Samuel, manning and others are all sparingly used, and having to fit into weird and wonderful roles to fit the system.
What did disappoint me was on Saturday, without Freeman, we did have a chance to go to a four, play some wingers, sling over some crosses, and we pick Mackie and Washington up front and leave Smith and Sylla out - Smith who is playing well at the moment. Maddening. |  | | |
| Squad of missing men on 14:27 - Dec 5 with 5235 views | enfieldargh |
post match pne interviewOly states he wants to clear the top step of players to allow younger, hungrier players more opportunity naming EzeChair as one(two).
Yes some OOC in the summer but Yenni, Ariel need to be off loaded as they are def surplus with what we have already in the squad and prob Grego-cox & Petrasso although not been given any opportunity have been bypassed by Scowen Mannnig fit again Cousins plus more promising younger players..
Shame we cant bin off Caulker, or maybe he did that in a VAT of Pinot noir |  |
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| Squad of missing men on 14:33 - Dec 5 with 5226 views | Northernr |
| Squad of missing men on 14:27 - Dec 5 by enfieldargh |
post match pne interviewOly states he wants to clear the top step of players to allow younger, hungrier players more opportunity naming EzeChair as one(two).
Yes some OOC in the summer but Yenni, Ariel need to be off loaded as they are def surplus with what we have already in the squad and prob Grego-cox & Petrasso although not been given any opportunity have been bypassed by Scowen Mannnig fit again Cousins plus more promising younger players..
Shame we cant bin off Caulker, or maybe he did that in a VAT of Pinot noir |
Caulker's out of contract this summer along with Onuoha, Robinson and JET. That's three of our top earners and 20 stone of dead meat and I'd bet a fair sized wage gone. There's another six or seven too the only one of which I'd be really gutted if he went was Lumley as I think we've got a good one there and should potentially be looking to sell Ingram. Onuoha and Robinson if they would take vastly reduced money maybe, but Robinson already has interest from elsewhere. I suspect they'll get some French money for Yeni this January, and Ariel will join somebody else on a free, I think he;ll shift Sylla back to Europe at the end of the season. All in all I reckon we'll get rid of about a dozen to 15 players including big earners.
That does leave the wiggle room they haven't had yet and another half dozen signings like Freeman and Scowen would transform us. I'm quite excited to see them given that chance but the way things are going they won't be allowed to get there.
Instead we'll go for the mid-season change option again and start the whole cycle of
- Not my players, got to judge what I've got, got to get the lads fitter
- We'll need one or two in January
- Buys six or seven in January, further bloating the squad
- Little run of form through Feb and March
- Collapse in April and May
- Talk of a 'ruthless pre-season'
- Players run into the ground
- Start next season well when we're fitter than everybody else
- Fade quickly when they become as fit as we are
- Slate the manager through October
- Sack the manager again
This is getting us nowhere, and yet the hunger for it to happen again, every season, grows and grows. | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 14:46 - Dec 5 with 5181 views | stevec |
| Squad of missing men on 14:25 - Dec 5 by Northernr |
Ignoring the usual "we knew the strikers were sht, why didn't we sign a striker" bullsht because frankly if you think Ferdinand, Holloway, Penrice or whoever looked at our strikers pre-season and thought "yeh we could easily buy another one, or trade and get another one, but you know what I don't think we need to these guys are great" then you're beyond help.
The idea that QPR can afford Championship-level strikers and choose not to buy them is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
On the original post, I think it's a shame Manning doesn't play more and when he did play last season it coincided with an upturn in fortunes. I also think it's a shame we don't play with width and wingers, because it's good to watch when teams do that, at least two of our strikers thrive on that sort of service and we have seven wingers in the squad. Allowing for his injury, I think the way Holloway has blown Shodipo out, basically after one game against Norwich where he didn't defend properly, is poor. The signing of LuaLua, who was gash last season, obstructing the path for Shodipo, Samuel, Wheeler and others further, also a dire decision - not even with hindsight that, nobody could understand why he was brought back.
A lot of it comes back to this idea that the three man midfield are our best players and pick themselves. I think they are and they do, but once you've done that it starts to restrict you, particularly when you want to play two up front. There are only very finite formations available to you once you've nailed down that you want to pick three central midfielders and two forwards. It feels like everything else is sort of fitted around that and it means Wszolek, Wheeler, Samuel, manning and others are all sparingly used, and having to fit into weird and wonderful roles to fit the system.
What did disappoint me was on Saturday, without Freeman, we did have a chance to go to a four, play some wingers, sling over some crosses, and we pick Mackie and Washington up front and leave Smith and Sylla out - Smith who is playing well at the moment. Maddening. |
I may be beyond help but four misfiring forwards from 16/17, same misfiring forwards 17/18. You can deconstruct it however you like, that's what happened.
Still, seems like we dodged a bullet with that Bogle geezer..
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| Squad of missing men on 14:48 - Dec 5 with 5175 views | Northernr |
| Squad of missing men on 14:46 - Dec 5 by stevec |
I may be beyond help but four misfiring forwards from 16/17, same misfiring forwards 17/18. You can deconstruct it however you like, that's what happened.
Still, seems like we dodged a bullet with that Bogle geezer..
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But the idea it happened through choice is moronic.
When you're getting quoted £8m for Sam fckin Winnall, what can you do? | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 14:59 - Dec 5 with 5157 views | stevec |
| Squad of missing men on 14:48 - Dec 5 by Northernr |
But the idea it happened through choice is moronic.
When you're getting quoted £8m for Sam fckin Winnall, what can you do? |
Taken a chance on Bogle for £750k I suppose.
Six point gap and an away game at Birmingham before Christmas there's every chance our hand will be forced in January anyway. And that's the time of the year when you get properly ripped off. | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 15:01 - Dec 5 with 5153 views | Northernr |
| Squad of missing men on 14:59 - Dec 5 by stevec |
Taken a chance on Bogle for £750k I suppose.
Six point gap and an away game at Birmingham before Christmas there's every chance our hand will be forced in January anyway. And that's the time of the year when you get properly ripped off. |
Force it as much as you like, the money isn't there.
Bogle has scored fewer than Smith, Sylla and Washington since he moved to the Championship in January.
This post has been edited by an administrator | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 15:02 - Dec 5 with 5147 views | Antti_Heinola |
The problem is, it's very easy to see what should be done from the outside, without knowing the full facts, but very hard to actually make the changes. You can do so, but it takes a lot of time. It takes time for contracts to run down and with the wages we paid pre-Ferdinand and Hoos, players don't want to leave because the money is too good here (see Sandro, see Caulker).
I always thought Manning was running on adrenaline a bit last season - he's a good player, but probably doesn't merit a start at the moment.
In terms of strikers, they were desperately trying to get one in, as has been well-documented, so it's a misrepresentation to suggest otherwise. They thought they had landed one, possibly Winnall, for about £1m, until suddenly his price shot up to £7m.
It's easy to say 'wheel and deal' but in the summer we had one saleable asset in Smithies. No one wanted him to go. So now take a look at the parameters for a striker:
1. Must be available for under £1m.
2. Or unattached.
3. Ideally not too young, but not too old, so, say 22-32 at the far end.
4. Then what are we looking for? A Nakhi Wells-like small, fast scorer? A Helguson-like warrior? An Austin all-rounder? We can probably only add one. So you need to be sure, and whatever you choose, down comes the number of possibles again.
5. Wages at a decent level.
6. Good scoring record, ideally.
And in the end, what you're describing, is a player every team in this league wants. Yet you could argue that twice in a year we've found relative bargains in Sylla and Smith, who between them have got, what, 25 goals in about 16 months (With Smith not at the club in 5 of those months). It's easy to say 'go and wheel and deal' but that's meaningless, particularly when we all know, or should know, that our scouting system was virtually dead just 2 years ago. These things simply do not happen overnight.
And here's an example: after Les it took us years to find a striker that prolific - Gallen and Furlong would get I think 17 at best in a season - until we finally got Charlie. Even Helguson got 12 in his best season with us (I think). And then there's Adel with his 19, but he was a special case. So maybe a loan is an option? But Ferdinand said even those options were too much for us with the fees being demanded by big clubs stockpiling players.
For what it's worth, Penrice and Johnson felt Wheeler would be a dangerous player for pretty much immediate use. Bright is very much one they believed had a chance - Ollie didn't know loads about him but they pushed for him because they feel he could develop into something special, so he was never really meant for this season (that's my understanding) and there's nothing wrong with that.
This summer there'll be more room to manoeuvre, particularly with Caulker's contract coming up - he's taking up the wages of at least 5 first teamers at the moment. Not all of that can be ploughed back in, but will allow some wiggle room. We'll also be in a position to potentially generate funds by selling our successes - Smithies, Freeman, Luongo, and sadly I'd expect at least one, if not potentially all three, to go then. I hope not, because that makes a hard rebuilding job even harder.
As for three-year deals, again, it's easy to criticise. But three years generally seems about right (although clearly a mistake with JET. Four years for Caulker seems crazy now, but at the time, he looked like a tremendous signing. Everyone thought so. Four years was sensible, but has backfired spectacularly). If you sign a player on a one year deal and they do well, you're over a barrel. They could pre-sign elsewhere after 6 months, even. If you believe in a signing, that's madness, so let's ignore that. Two years is more realistic, but there's lots at play. Does another club want him? Has he got a longer deal at his ow club? What if he does really well and again after just one season, you're back at the negotiating table again and in danger of losing him for pittance.
None of these things are as easy or as simple as some like to portray and mistakes will inevitably be made. It's important to remember this isn't Football Manager. |  |
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| Squad of missing men on 15:04 - Dec 5 with 5134 views | TheChef |
| Squad of missing men on 14:25 - Dec 5 by Northernr |
Ignoring the usual "we knew the strikers were sht, why didn't we sign a striker" bullsht because frankly if you think Ferdinand, Holloway, Penrice or whoever looked at our strikers pre-season and thought "yeh we could easily buy another one, or trade and get another one, but you know what I don't think we need to these guys are great" then you're beyond help.
The idea that QPR can afford Championship-level strikers and choose not to buy them is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
On the original post, I think it's a shame Manning doesn't play more and when he did play last season it coincided with an upturn in fortunes. I also think it's a shame we don't play with width and wingers, because it's good to watch when teams do that, at least two of our strikers thrive on that sort of service and we have seven wingers in the squad. Allowing for his injury, I think the way Holloway has blown Shodipo out, basically after one game against Norwich where he didn't defend properly, is poor. The signing of LuaLua, who was gash last season, obstructing the path for Shodipo, Samuel, Wheeler and others further, also a dire decision - not even with hindsight that, nobody could understand why he was brought back.
A lot of it comes back to this idea that the three man midfield are our best players and pick themselves. I think they are and they do, but once you've done that it starts to restrict you, particularly when you want to play two up front. There are only very finite formations available to you once you've nailed down that you want to pick three central midfielders and two forwards. It feels like everything else is sort of fitted around that and it means Wszolek, Wheeler, Samuel, manning and others are all sparingly used, and having to fit into weird and wonderful roles to fit the system.
What did disappoint me was on Saturday, without Freeman, we did have a chance to go to a four, play some wingers, sling over some crosses, and we pick Mackie and Washington up front and leave Smith and Sylla out - Smith who is playing well at the moment. Maddening. |
"What did disappoint me was on Saturday, without Freeman, we did have a chance to go to a four, play some wingers, sling over some crosses, and we pick Mackie and Washington up front and leave Smith and Sylla out - Smith who is playing well at the moment. Maddening."
Exactly - classic Holloway tictacs that one, which is why he can be so frustrating as a manager.
Added to the cricket and Root putting the Aussies into bat, it was a day for sporting decision fark ups. |  |
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| Squad of missing men on 15:21 - Dec 5 with 5106 views | qprd |
| Squad of missing men on 14:25 - Dec 5 by Northernr |
Ignoring the usual "we knew the strikers were sht, why didn't we sign a striker" bullsht because frankly if you think Ferdinand, Holloway, Penrice or whoever looked at our strikers pre-season and thought "yeh we could easily buy another one, or trade and get another one, but you know what I don't think we need to these guys are great" then you're beyond help.
The idea that QPR can afford Championship-level strikers and choose not to buy them is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
On the original post, I think it's a shame Manning doesn't play more and when he did play last season it coincided with an upturn in fortunes. I also think it's a shame we don't play with width and wingers, because it's good to watch when teams do that, at least two of our strikers thrive on that sort of service and we have seven wingers in the squad. Allowing for his injury, I think the way Holloway has blown Shodipo out, basically after one game against Norwich where he didn't defend properly, is poor. The signing of LuaLua, who was gash last season, obstructing the path for Shodipo, Samuel, Wheeler and others further, also a dire decision - not even with hindsight that, nobody could understand why he was brought back.
A lot of it comes back to this idea that the three man midfield are our best players and pick themselves. I think they are and they do, but once you've done that it starts to restrict you, particularly when you want to play two up front. There are only very finite formations available to you once you've nailed down that you want to pick three central midfielders and two forwards. It feels like everything else is sort of fitted around that and it means Wszolek, Wheeler, Samuel, manning and others are all sparingly used, and having to fit into weird and wonderful roles to fit the system.
What did disappoint me was on Saturday, without Freeman, we did have a chance to go to a four, play some wingers, sling over some crosses, and we pick Mackie and Washington up front and leave Smith and Sylla out - Smith who is playing well at the moment. Maddening. |
Precisely
Our midfield three is the best part of our squad, and deserves to play every week. Unfortunately, we're also very bloated in central midfield with Manning, Cousins, Ariel and Goss all waiting in the wings.
Ollie has put Cousins at right wingback presumably in an attempt to get him some minutes
I wouldn't mind seeing Ollie do the same with Manning at left wingback every once in a while. Defensively, he's a downgrade from Bidwell. But he was pretty steady there last season and can do a job.
On the offensive side, his crossing is infinitely superior to Bidwell's and he can play a pretty good weighted ball down the left channel... worth a shout
We cant be letting the young kids rot on the bench | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 15:29 - Dec 5 with 5084 views | RBlock |
| Squad of missing men on 12:55 - Dec 5 by stevec |
When you've got, as Gallen said, a selection of Plan B forwards and zero Plan A forwards it probably doesn't matter what formation you play behind them.
Anyone who went to a few games last season could see Washington is not going to cut it, Mackie is past it, you can just about get a first 45 minutes out of Sylla (on the occasional good day) and a final 45 out of Matt Smith. That does not maketh a competent football team.
And then someone, either the Board, Les or Ollie thought, actually let's go with it anyway.
Sick to death of the no-money-get-out-of-jail card, do some wheeling and dealing, that's what other teams do. There's a long lengthy list if you can stay awake long enough to read through the squad, many of them are taking a wage and doing little else. Of course, down here they're almost all signed on some maniacal 3 year contract, despite the fact most of them would have probably bitten TF's arm off for a one year contract. |
Thought I'd stick it out there, didn't mean to upvote you. Think you're talking out your arse. It isn't a get out of jail free card, it is a reality. Who is really desperate to snap up an Ariel or a Yeni right about now? |  | | |
| Squad of missing men on 15:34 - Dec 5 with 5076 views | parker64 |
I think Manning lost some brownie points in the Brentford cup game. After the game Holloway commented on how when he was bundled off the ball for one of their goals he stood and moaned at the ref and said last season he wasn't doing that, he was getting the ball back. He also unsuccessfully did a bit of a fancy dan trick which indirectly led to another of their goals.
But obviously Holloway sees them every day in training. I sometimes feel that if you blot your copybook with Holloway you've got to work doubly hard to get back in favour. | | | |
| Squad of missing men on 15:36 - Dec 5 with 5067 views | Northernr |
| Squad of missing men on 15:34 - Dec 5 by parker64 |
I think Manning lost some brownie points in the Brentford cup game. After the game Holloway commented on how when he was bundled off the ball for one of their goals he stood and moaned at the ref and said last season he wasn't doing that, he was getting the ball back. He also unsuccessfully did a bit of a fancy dan trick which indirectly led to another of their goals.
But obviously Holloway sees them every day in training. I sometimes feel that if you blot your copybook with Holloway you've got to work doubly hard to get back in favour. |
Yeh agree, he set against Shodipo and Sylla for minor stuff every early on.
But like you say he gets them every day in training. | | | |
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