QPR 5-2 Barnsley

By: Oli | September 27th, 2009

Dollar Sign
Defense? What is this strange idea? We don’t do defending, or at least, these new players don’t seem to. And before you ask, yep, it was that bad. The only consolation for the disgraceful ticket pricing is that we did at least get our goals worth.

We came out with exactly the same attack as on Tuesday night, and with the same attacking intention. Unfortunately, Fixture congestion + Injury Crisis = Squad Rotation, and for that reason Robins had no choice but to replaced injured or tired defenders with some of the legion of new faces we have been bringing in, to try and eradicate every hint of the defensive leakiness that is part of Simon Davey’s legacy. But it didn’t work out that way, and leakiness turned into more of a gushing torrent.

I’ve got to talk about the ‘defending’, so we might as well get it done. No cohesion, no understanding, no movement, no organisation and very little pace. First goal, everyone backs off like Mikele Leighterwood was 20 foot tall and snarling, until he storms up to 25 yards, then lets it go. Second goal, Steven Foster and Nathan Doyle, who was playing at right back, seem to attempt some sort of diagonal offside trap, which results in Akos Buzsaky’s run opening us wide open, and he curls in past Preece from an angle. Third goal, and up pops that Hungarian Midfield-Man again, this time 30 yards out, as he receives the ball, does a few keep ups and receives his next pay-check, before controlling the ball and curling it over the top of the static defenders past the comical David Preece.
I know we’re in trouble when describing the opposition’s goals takes me into a second paragraph. I haven’t really put any emphasis yet on the fact that I might as well have been playing in goal as David Preece. No-one apart from him can take the blame for the forth mistake, as he lets the ball dribble between his incapable hands. By number five, everyone had given up, and dealing with a corner was like trying to stop a speeding train for our ‘defenders’.

THAT’S ENOUGH. No more raving at the defense, for now anyway. Let’s go all clichéd for a minute, and start ‘taking the positives’. And there are positive. The attack was bright through out, and there was a lot of inspiration and class. One of Hume’s brilliant set-pieces finally came to something as Foster started our attempted come-back with a header. Our second goal came when ‘Rangers’ made the mistake of only leaving two men on the juggernaught-like Adam Hammill, and as he stormed past them Damion Stewart brought him down. This gave Andy Gray the opportunity to miss the penalty that Hume wanted to take, which he promptly did, only to convert the rebound. It didn’t end there, and we really seemed in a chance of points, as the next five minutes delivered another series of brilliant moves from Hammill, and also the returning Bogdanovic, who was mere inches away from sliding Gray through on Cerny in the QPR goal. The attack was really producing push, and there was a lot of direction and placement in the players, both as a unit and as individuals. They know how to win games, and if it wasn’t for Preece’s comedy ‘keeping, then I really believe they could have fulfilled the prophesy of ‘We’re gunna win 4-3!’

There’s a lot of anger floating around today, and I’m just going to add to that level, by having at go at QPR. I’d have thought that being the 2nd richest club in world would lead to reasonable pricing of everything from a bottle of Coke to a Season Ticket. Instead, it’s possible to go to the FA Cup final cheaper than sitting in an away end with about 2 foot space between rows, a poor view, the big screen out of view and toilets that are, for want of a better word, crap. It’s a complete disgrace, and the Football League or the FA should bring sanctions against them to stop this. I also would back Barnsley to charge every single away fan at the Oakwell leg the same extortionate money, although we would bring a significantly higher standard of accommodation. Rant over.

BBC match report here, Barnsley one here.

Surely the only thing left now is to highlight the glaring inadequacies of some individuals.

Preece: 3 – And yes, you did just read that right.
Nathan Doyle: 4 – Poor passing, poor distribution and no sense of organisation.
Steve Foster: 6 – Could have been worse, and would have been better if he’d had a right back he really understood.
Ryan Shotton: 5 – Looked like he had some kind of ability and none of the goals really came from his area of the pitch.
Carl ‘mare-of-a-debut’ Dickinson: 4 – Highly recommended, you say? Maybe we’ve mixed him up with someone else.
Jacob Butterfield: 6 – Not his most inspiring game, but he spends every single match looking solid, talented and above all, committed. Really deserves his place.
Adam Hammill; 9 – I know that high’s for a player in a team that was ‘thrashed’, but he is incredible, if at times inconsistent.
Daniel Bogdanovic: N/A – Robins seems to be good at inspiring substitutes to really try, and ‘Boggy’ kept this trend up with a committed and creative performance off the bench. Good to see him back.

Applying the tag of ‘5-2’ to this post seems pointless, let’s face it; there won’t exactly be many of them floating round. But then, under Robins, who can be sure? The least you can say for the ex-Man United man is that he brings goals.

There, I said it. I’ve resisted saying those two words that represent one of the best teams in the world all post long, but it just came bursting out. The Carling Cup draw was held at 12:15 today, and BFC fans around the world cheered when the news filtered through that we would be playing the Red Devils at home in the next round. I’d say mark Tuesday 27th of October in your diary, but clearly there is a very good chance of it being televised.

On Tuesday night West Brom travel up the M1 to South Yorkshire. I’m not scared; every game convinces me yet more that we’re good enough for any team in this league, especially our attack. The return of people like Julian Gray should bring a safer defense, and we may even be able to field, dare I say it, Emil Hallfredsson. Between now and the visit of Sir Ferguson’s reserve team, we have a number of key games, and can’t afford to lose any form of concentration. That, above all, is important, and hopefully we will be able to get some sort of form going.