QPR, picking up injuries to key first teamers at a rate of knots, face Yeovil on Saturday, who know all about stretched resources and coping strategies.
Championship >>> Saturday September 21, 2013 >>> Kick off 15.00 >>> Huish Park, Yeovil, somewhere rural
QPR have only ever been to Yeovil twice before for a competitive fixture. On both occasions the R’s were several leagues above their hosts and cast as giants ready to be slain by a plucky non-league side. In 1988 Jim Smith’s Rangers survived early scares to win 3-0 in the FA Cup, in 2001 Ian Holloway’s rag-tag bunch of misfits slipped out of the Football League Trophy by the same margin.
That the two teams share the same division these days is nothing short of a footballing miracle, and a chastening experience for QPR who just over 12 months ago were calling Central London press conferences to laud the signing of Ji Sung Park over everybody else and declare themselves a global brand.
A trip to Huish Park might do Rangers good in that regard. Rarely has a club needed to be taken down quite such a dramatic peg in quite such a drastic style as the QPR of 12 months ago: Mark Hughes and Kia Joorabchian stopping only from bloating the club with countless expensive new recruits to give quotes to the media about how Fulham hadn’t matched their ambition and QPR were much better set to utilise their incredible talents. Remembering who you are and where you came from can help on occasions.
On paper this match should only go one way. QPR are top of the Championship, yet to lose, and are so stingy in defence fans are starting to wonder if they’ll ever concede again. When you look at the players at the club’s disposal — Joey Barton, Charlie Austin, Andy Johnson, Rob Green, Nedum Onuoha — the idea that they’d lose to Yeovil in a league game is laughable. The Glovers are well drilled, with Ed Upson an exceptional central midfield player, and manager Gary Johnson knows a thing or two about plotting an upset, but on paper QPR should win this game 99 times out of 100.
But Rangers fans have been here before. Since winning promotion to this league for the first time in the club’s history back in May, Yeovil have lost all three of their home league games without scoring a goal. But then Lloyd Doyley has only scored twice in 436 appearances for Watford and one of them was against QPR; Swindon Town only won five games in the Premier League in 93/94 and two of them were against QPR; and John Jensen only scored once in 139 Arsenal appearances and that was against QPR. Rangers are ripe for such occasions, and could easily fall foul again on Saturday.
If they do, the R’s will probably point to a growing injury list as an excuse. Nedum Onuoha being ruled out for a prolonged period of time with a hamstring injury is the worst case scenario for a team whose only other options at centre back are old and slow, which is bound to result in the team sinking deeper into their own half and unable to get clear at times of pressure. At the other end Bobby Zamora’s terminal uselessness — which they’re now operating on - and Andy Johnson’s persistent problems with numerous parts of his body leave sonly Charlie Austin as a fit, regular, senior striker.
The natural reaction for the modern day QPR club in such a situation is to immediately take to the transfer or loan market and add another player or three. A problem at QPR, however minor, can apparently never be covered by a player the R’s already own and pay a wage to and almost always requires the addition of some more blood that’s not discernibly better or worse than the club could have selected anyway.
The team news for this match is telling. QPR are without Nedum ONuoha, Junior Hoilett, Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora and others. The wages for just one of them would be so far beyond what Yeovil could afford they couldn’t even entertain the idea of signing any of them. Yeovil meanwhile are probably going to be without Paddy Madden, who scored 24 goals for them in League One last season but was initially plucked from Carlisle United’s reserve side.
For QPR the solution is to sign another player, go out into the loan market and try and find some more blood. For Yeovil the solution is hard work, shape, coaching and hoping for the best. They couldn’t go out and spend stupid money on a player even if they wanted to and so they muddle through. QPR start with a strike force of Zamora, Austin and Johnson — which most sides in this league would kill to have at their disposal — and then start talking about another signing when a couple of them get injured.
A shock defeat at Yeovil would have everybody of a QPR persuasion clamouring for further additions at the heart of the defence and attack, but to Yeovil the idea of paying Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson and Charlie Austin in attacking positions and then deciding that another striker is necessary as well is hilarious. It might do Rangers some good to go to Somerset ad learn the art of coping in tricky situations. For too long Rangers have been focused on the short term and sought to cure every mishap or problem with another player. For most clubs at this level it’s simply not possible, and even if it were then QPR’s ageing, injury-prone squad is proof that it’s not the best way of going about things.
Even if it does go wrong this weekend — which I don’t think it will - it could have its positives. Defeat would send a clear signal to QPR about the danger of buying ageing, injury prone names for short term gain rather than assembling a team and a squad capable of coping with mishaps and playing together for many years to come.
Win, win then? See you on the 09.20 from Waterloo.
Links >>> Oppositin Profile >>> History >>> Betting >>> Referee
Team News: QPR are losing players to injury faster than they're getting them back at the moment which is never ideal. Andy Johnson is out for a month, Bobby Zamora for considerably longer than that after knee surgery designed to further delay what now seems an inevitable trip to the glue factory at the end of the season. That leaves only Charlie Austin and Tom Hitchock to select from as the lone striker. 'Arry would very much like to play Niko Kranjcar in the hole behind Austin but he needs to taper slightly and be able to run about a bit first. Junior Hoilett's chewing gum hamstring has stretched again, and Nedum Onuoha's has snapped altogether, so expect neither of QPR's two most influential players so far this season to be seen again any time soon.
Football does seem to have this nasty habit of injuring the players you least want to get hurt. People like Stefan Moore and John Curtis play quite happily for years at a time without so much as an ingrowing toe nail to disrupt the torrent of quality while QPR bid temporary but prolonged farewells to Andy Johnson, Nedum Onuoha and Junior Hoilett within a fortnight of each other. The same has happened to Yeovil who are missing eccentric goalkeeper Marek Stech with a hand injury (Wayne Hennessey has come in on loan from Wolves) and last season's top scorer Paddy Madden who has knee trouble. Byron Webster's sending off at Sheff Wed last week sees him banned and replaced by Gary Johnson's former Bristol City stalwart Liam Fontaine.
Elsewhere: So we start this three hundred and sixty eighth round of Championship action already this season with a right old ding dong cockney knees up between Charlton and Millwall which is Sky Sports' Super Saturday Brunch Spectacular this week. Roll out the old Joanna and we'll awl go dahn to The Den (or the Valley) for a right proper sort out. Bring a mate and your dinner cos you're gonna need it — etc etc. High quality stuff almost certainly assured between two of the division's finest exponents of the sport.
Wigan have their fifty second fixture of the season already on Sunday with Ipswich parading around in front of the empty seats at the DW Stadium.
Everything else is sandwiched in between at 15.00 on Saturday. Blackpool v Leicester looks like the pick of this, or in fact any other coupon in the history of the game, pitting second v third in a titanic struggle to the death with QPR hoping to put distance between them and whoever is slain in that fixture. The rest of the top six are all away — Burnley at Leeds, Forest at Doncaster and Watford at Barnsley . Be still my beating heart.
Calm your palpitations momentarily and consider a chasing pack forming behind the play off picture. Look at this myriad of outstanding teams clustered together with 12 and 11 point hauls: newly promoted Bournemouth going to the land of £2 Grolsch swing tops and Sunday roasts served from a van (Middlesbrough); newly relegated Reading at hot to trot Derby County who are looking good six years into Nigel Clough's 24 year plan to achieve a top eight finish; and Huddersfield at Blackburn, all bitterness and protest chickens.
And, as Jim White would say, there's more besides. Teams get relegated in this league as well, three of them, and Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday are currently showing interest in fulfilling the role. Brum are beset by financial issues and problems with translation between manager and players, Wednesday are being weighed down by Dave Jones' personality and treble chin. I'd say something has to give, but it wouldn't be true, there are another eight months of this crap still to come.
Bolton, LFW's tip for the title, continue to bide their time waiting to pounce. They've lulled the division into a false sense of security by failing to win any of their first seven — their worst start to a league season for 25 years — and could well extend that sequence against tippy-tappy, happy-clappy, stop pisballing about back there and actually have a shot on the bloody goal would you please Brighton and Hove Albion. Keep lulling Trotters, keep lulling.
Referee: The appointment of Gavin Ward to QPR's fixture this weekend is a concern for a couple of reasons. First of all, his past record with the R's reads like the black box recording from a 747 disaster. At Reading in early 2010 he allowed the Royals' three man refereeing committee to officiate the game for him, eventually deciding that Damion Stewart should be sent off and then, when Reading still couldn't score, a late penalty should be awarded. The following season at Portsmouth he presided over a high farce of two penalties — one that should never have been awarded, the other retaken for a spurious claim of early movement against Paddy Kenny — and two red cards. But secondly, the authorities are making exactly the same mistake here as they did with those two appointments a couple of years ago. On both occasions Ward was stepped up to a QPR away game with a big travelling support after several weeks in the lower divisions following a previous error. Again here, this is Ward's first Championship appointment of the season after he made a pig's ear of Millwall v Blackburn at the end of last season. Nothing like learning from your mistakes. A full case file and states are available by clicking here.
Yeovil: The Glovers won their first two matches of the season in league and cup but have since lost five and drawn two of seven in all competitions. In the Championship their 1-0 opening day win at fellow strugglers Millwall remains their only win so far. They've lost three out of three at home in the league to Birmingham, Reading and Derby and are yet to score in the league on their own patch. They're the only team in the division yet to score a goal at home. I think we've all seen this one before?
QPR: Rangers have the best defensive record in the Football League with just two goals conceded in seven matches so far in the Championship. They're top, with five wins, two draws and no defeats so far — still on course to break the club record 19-match unbeaten start to the 2010/11 season which ended with them winning the division. Richard Dunne's clean sheet record continues to grow — the R's haven't shipped a goal in the six matches he's played for the club so far. Goals at the other end are a problem though — Harry Redknapp's side haven't scored more than once in a league game since the opening day of the season and have had the ball in the net just five times in the last eight games.
Betting: Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding says…
"After taking their place at the summit of the Championship table on Wednesday night, QPR travel to Yeovil in a real top v bottom clash. The two teams couldn’t be in more contrasting scenarios: QPR are unbeaten in the league all season, conceding just twice in their seven games; Yeovil won their first game against a poor Millwall side, but have since gone on to take only one point out of a possible eighteen available, scoring just twice in the process.
"It was always going to be a struggle for Yeovil to survive this year, and they may well go on to prove many a pundit wrong but for a team making a big leap up a division, their business over the summer suggests they will be returning back to League One immediately. Free transfers and a few loans here and there are the sum of their off-season trading and a definite lack of quality exists amongst the ranks. Ed Upson provides some flair in an otherwise workmanlike side.
"If QPR are serious about winning promotion, these are the kind of matches they need to be picking points up at. QPR team news is up in the air at moment but at time of writing, Hoilett, Onuoha and Johnson look to be absent. There is back up in all departments though and I still expect QPR to win here.
"The odds on price generally available of 4/5 though is one that doesn't appear to offer any value so it’s into the goal scorer market I am looking to invest. The way QPR are set up at the moment means I would be very interested in Matt Phillips to score at Skybet's 3/1, but with Kranjcar a possible entry into the equation, Phillips may play even wider, meaning I am going to place my faith in Dunne and my stakes are going on the big Irishman to open his account. After going close against Brighton on more than one occasion, and Barton's delivery looking ever more dangerous with every passing week, my bets for the game are to back Richard Dunne to score anytime (12/1 generally) and a little saver on Hill to score anytime at 16/1 (Corals)."
Prediction: Mase, reigning champion in our Prediction League , tells us...
"In this league, no sooner is one game finished then you find yourself writing another couple of paragraphs for the preview column. The outcome of the Brighton game, and means by which it was achieved, was of little surprise to me and we travel to Somerset with little to change what I wrote for Wednesday night.
"That said, Yeovil are a team I expect will struggle all season. They are still showing good spirit so I think they could pull away from danger but certainly at the moment seem a bit down on their luck - throwing away promising positions (Ipswich), having Webster sent off his risible display of petulance against Sheffield Wednesday (still currently suspended), and, according to Gary Johnson, encountering referees not overly acquainted with the rules of the game. At least we have Gavin Ward for our match, then.
"This one should be a bit easier than Brighton but a compact ground and passionate home following won't make it easy for us. I can see it being another tight game without reinforcements arriving, but I still fancy our little extra quality will be enough (just about) to keep us top of the league come 17.00. Five 1-0's in six games?"
Mase's Prediction: Yeovil 0-1 QPR. Scorer: Austin
LFW's Prediction: Yeovil 0-1 QPR. Scorer: Austin
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