QPR found themselves well beaten by another of the Championship’s top six at Derby County on Monday having once again started slowly and required a raft of changes to the team at half time.

It was billed as Steve McClaren v Harry Redknapp. Two men of questionable hairlines responsible for the considerable rebuilding job that went on at Queens Park Rangers during the summer, now in opposite dugouts with Redknapp leading QPR alone while McClaren brings Derby County charging up behind them in the league.

Rangers kept eight consecutive clean sheets in the league and went unbeaten for the first 11 matches of the season when McClaren was doing the coaching — Redknapp sidelined by a summer knee operation — and the R's haven't been able to put a run like that together since he up and left for Pride Park. Derby promptly went on their own eight match winning run when the former England manager arrived and have ripped through the Championship, travelling from fourteenth to fourth, since they sacked Nigel Clough at the end of September.

The Wally with the Brolly, famed more for his faux Dutch accent more than his football achievements, is no more, it seems. McClaren is coming of age in Derbyshire and there are plenty who will say he had rather more to do with QPR's fine start to the season than the London club would care to admit themselves.

Monday night, live on Sky, Redknapp had a chance to reassert his authority, reclaim the credit for this remarkable turnaround in Rangers' fortunes after a nightmare 2012/13. Sadly for the not-so-Super Hoops, a 1-0 defeat that was much more comfortable for the hosts than the scoreline suggests merely raises more questions about the importance of McClaren to Rangers' prospects this season, and just how damaging his departure may prove to be in the long run.

McClaren is a modern-day technical coach, working on shapes and formations, studying tapes and Pro Zone charts. His meticulous preparation for games knocks Mark Hughes' oft-mentioned version into a cocked hat. Redknapp is old school, openly admitting to picking players on their form and confidence rather than with a particular formation or the forthcoming opponent in mind.

The problem with the latter approach, and this was seen regularly during Redknapp's time at Tottenham, is that it's frequently giving the impression that QPR are totally stunned by what their opponents are bringing to the table. Derby started quickly on Monday night, with a high-tempo, overly physical approach that repressed QPR and smothered them. With a tight, three man midfield led by the exceptional Will Hughes the Rams ran rings around an ageing QPR side that lined up in a staid 4-4-2 shape and offered few answers to the questions the hosts posed.

Jamie Ward gave debutant right back Aaron Hughes a torrid time for half an hour but had to go off injured — but there was to be no respite as Johnny Russell came on before half time and picked up where Ward had left off. QPR looked like they'd never seen Ward or Russell before in their lives, even on a video.

Those crying out for Rangers to line up in the more traditional shape earlier in the season were given a graphic demonstration of just how unsuitable it can be in the modern game — Rangers were outnumbered and outplayed in all areas of the pitch, stuck in straight lines as Derby’s superior set up pulled them apart. And, as it turns out, having two strikers up front doesn’t automatically make you a more attacking side.

There was a stench of injustice around the goal that decided the game. Clint Hill would have been given a free kick for heavy contact by Chris Martin in the penalty area nine times out of ten but when referee Michael Naylor awarded a corner instead John Eustace climbed highest and sent a looping header into the far corner of the net, past Gary O'Neil who also seemed to be impeded on the goal line by Martin who spent his whole evening bullying QPR’s vastly experienced back four. Naylor was having none of the protests and the goal stood — his actions will take the heat off goalkeeper Robert Green who flapped at the inswinging set piece in amateurish fashion.

So QPR could point to individual errors and questionable refereeing decisions if they wanted to — write it off as a bad job and get on the M1 back to the smoke.

And it seemed for some time as if that's exactly what they were going to do. Benoit Assoiu-Ekotto was rightly booked for leaving a boot in on Bamford — cynical, nasty, born of frustration. Joey Barton was kicked from pillar to post, and at one stage wrestled to the ground by the ever-physical Martin - who was described at a recent Derby fans’ forum as a “fat Berbatov” and led the line superbly for his team — as a corner was delivered. Each time referee Naylor showed no interest, and each time Barton's temperature rose a notch or two further.

It's hard to sympathise with Joey Barton given his persistently irritating and lousy behaviour throughout his career but he was harshly treated by the officials here — things he would have been whistled and carded for immediately didn't even bring the award of a free kick from Naylor while Niko Kranjcar was yellow carded immediately after half time for a foul he didn't even seem to commit. Steve McClaren and his side knew exactly what they were doing. Injustice doesn't inspire Joey Barton, it enrages him to the point where he can no longer function as reasonable human being never mind a professional footballer, and the Rams did a number on him here. The three red cards in his chequered QPR career have all come as a result of his temper snapping in the face of unfairness and on Monday, rather than grasp the game by the throat and drive Rangers on as he did so superbly against Burnley the previous week, he became mired in his own vendettas and grievances, running around and kicking the Derby players back as if to make a point to the referee who, predictably, showed him his tenth yellow card of the season midway through the second half. Just before that he’d cut in and shot from ludicrous range — head clearly not where it should be.

But, in truth, Derby should have been much further in front by half time irrespective of the officiating or anything else. Green had already made a fantastic one-handed save to keep the ball out when it flew towards the roof of the net off Jake Buxton's sizeable backside after a twelfth minute goal mouth scramble. Before that young Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford had run through on goal with the game barely a minute old but he dallied too long and Hughes got back with a tackle to redeem himself for playing the baby-faced winger onside in the first place. Ward shot straight at Green and Buxton was close to converting a Hughes corner that whistled right through the goal mouth.

By contrast QPR's efforts on goal were few and far between. Kevin Doyle, so impressive on his debut against Burnley last week, was isolated and anonymous here. Andy Johnson was a game runner alongside him, but had only a seventh minute effort straight at Lee Grant and a half chance deflected wide on the half hour to show for his efforts, and in the second half he was replaced by Mobido Maiga who contributed so little he probably should have been charged for admission.

Aaron Hughes headed a fine Gary O'Neil cross towards goal two minutes before the break but Lee Grant, who specialises in excellent performances against QPR, was more than equal to that.

And so once again emergency surgery had to be performed on the QPR team at half time. Two substitutions this time — Gary O'Neil and Andy Johnson off, Junior Hoilett and Maiga on. This is becoming a weekly occurrence. QPR sling a team out there, have a poor first half, and then have to make a load of corrections at half time. They frequently look completely surprised and bemused by the opponents they're facing. Gary O'Neil is a regular fall guy — removed at half time on three of his last five starts and after 54 minutes in the game before that and subbed early again here. What's that old line about the definition of insanity being repetition of the same action while expecting different results?

Redknapp's approach actually smacks rather of arrogance. Sling eleven players out believing they're good enough to win the game regardless only to be caught out and have to make sweeping changes mid match. Whoever is scouting future opponents for Rangers at the moment either isn't doing a very good job, or isn't being listened to. Derby did nothing here that they haven't been doing for weeks under McClaren, and it looked like a fucking revelation to the QPR players. Similarly, the idea that Little Tom Carroll playing in the middle of a four man midfield — which has never worked before — with only Niko Kranjcar and O'Neil offering support on the wings — not exactly a pair of flying flankers — was ill-advised also seemed to come as a surprise. They offered nothing going forward and left Assou-Ekotto exposed against the tidy Bamford and Hughes struggling with Ward and Russell on the other side. Even punchbag Barton, on a one man sending off mission during the second half, was more effective than the other three.

QPR were better for the changes — Hoilett was poor once again but did at least offer the notion of a threat from the wing that had been entirely absent in the first act — but Derby were still thoroughly good value for the win. Buxton headed a free kick wide five minutes after the break, Hughes sent a left footed cross right through the penalty area with nobody able to apply a touch, Green's nervous half-attempt at dealing with a through ball created a panic in which Barton was booked and Keogh headed the resulting free kick wide when he perhaps should have scored.

Only when Barton's 40 yard free kick rebounded back to him off the wall to allow him the chance to produce a much more sensible chipped cross did Rangers threaten — Maiga headed wide via a deflection and then Kranjcar flicked the resulting corner a foot over the bar. Hoilett shot into the side netting late on, and Redknapp sent on Jermaine Jenas for Carroll for reasons known only to himself — to no positive effect on the team whatsoever. Naylor booked Dunne for a fine tackle, and Grant for timewasting, although that seemed a belt and braces approach from the goalkeeper who probably wouldn't have conceded a goal if the game was still taking place now.

All the better players on the day wore Derby colours: Bamford offered more threat in wide positions than anything QPR had at their disposal with Matt Phillips out injured; Chris Martin made the most of leniency from the referee to produce a bustling, ruthlessly effective lone striker performance; Ward and then Russell were excellent down the left side; Hughes was a joy to watch in the middle.

QPR by contrast looked as cumbersome as you would expect of a team where, Carroll apart, everybody was aged 29 or older. They started slowly, were quickly penned into their own half by Derby's approach, and struggled to rectify either the pace in their game or their position in the field for the rest of the match.

In a league of 46 games, when you sit third in the table two thirds of the way through, a 1-0 defeat at Derby on a Monday night in February means little — and there's been the usual over reaction across the internet in the wake of it. But QPR have won only once against a top six side this season — the 2-1 win against the Rams at Loftus Road in October — and Derby have improved immeasurably since then and looked a better side than QPR on this evidence. It's now one win, two draws and four defeats against the present top six for Rangers, which doesn't bode awfully well with Leicester's seemingly unstoppable charge to the title leaving only one promotion place free for the rest with the dreaded play offs awaiting otherwise.

QPR still have Forest, Leicester and Reading to play this term. It might be a start if they could at least give the impression they've ever watched them play before when those fixtures come around.

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Derby: Grant 6; Wisdom 7, Buxton 7, Keogh 6, Forsyth 6; Eustace 7, Bryson 7, Hughes 8 (Hendrick 68, 6); Ward 7 (Russell 42, 7), Bamford 7 (Sammon 81, -), Martin 8

Subs not used: Bennett, Legzdins, Whitbread, Thorne

Goals: Eustace 19 (assisted Hughes)

Booked: Forsyth 59 (foul), Grant 87 (time wasting)

QPR: Green 5; Hughes 6, Dunne 6, Hill 6, Assou-Ekotto 6; O'Neil 5 (Hoilett 45, 5), Barton 6, Carroll 5 (Jenas 79, 5), Kranjcar 5; Johnson 5 (Maiga 45, 4), Doyle 5

Subs not used: Traore, Onuoha, Henry, Murphy

Booked: Assou Ekotto 22 (foul), Kranjcar 50 (foul), Barton 64 (repetitive fouling), Dunne 76 (foul)

QPR Star Man — N/A

Referee — Michael Naylor ( South Yorkshire ) 4 Inconsistent and unfair. Allowed Derby to get away with a very physical approach, and while that's fine to an extent, some of the things that went on were clearly fouls — and I think the goal would have been disallowed by almost every other referee in the league.

Attendance — 23,495 (500 QPR approx)

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Pictures — Action Images

Photo: Action Images

Marshy added 23:53 - Feb 11 Despite all the possession and the tenacious display in the second half, we never really looked like getting the breakthrough to equalise. The search for goals continues to be a massive problem. Johnson, Doyle and Maiga were all fairly ineffective, although they never really got the right service, as we failed to get enough crosses or passes into the areas that matter. I guess we will just have to work with what we've got, which is quite a depressing prospect. Charlie Austin's unfortunate absence could ultimately cost us our chance of promotion. It was difficult to find any positives, but Joey Barton put himself about all over the pitch, with an incredibly hard working performance, and he got my man of the match. However, there really were no other candidates. There needs to be a massive improvement against Reading on Sunday which will be another very tough test. A win will be absolutely essential to keep us in the mix, but on this showing we will be lucky to even get a point.

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HastingsRanger added 00:16 - Feb 12 Maybe a few beers impaired my view of the game but I didn't think we played that badly, it is as good as we can get and the opposition (read Derby or Burnley) is just better. My concern is regarding your point about an aging team. With the ever increasing 'out for the rest of the season' injury list restricting our selection and playing against well drilled hard running opponents our squad is getting found out. Our last two games have shown that our experienced players can get us there abouts but realistically it is a top 6 (probably 6) place that they can achieve. The balance of youth and experience is and has been wrong for a while, especially in midfield where we get overrun by too many teams. Must admit that I only realised LTC was playing when he was substituted! At least the Wolves experience has been averted but there needs to be some serious consideration about recruitment over the summer, this time the right-aged players. I am not writing the season off but just taking a reality check!

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Kaos_Agent added 01:05 - Feb 12 The "poor setup" issue is depressing because it has been around for a while. Hughes used to get regularly criticized for it in this column; don't know about Warnock as he was before my time as an R's follower. One would think a little up-front research would be an absolute necessity in any pro sport so I'm amazed that apparently in W12 it's not. At least there was some sustained pressure in the second half. Good to see Hoilett passing the ball following his runs in, even if it did not amount to much. And had he thumped it across the face of the goal instead of into the side netting, it might have yielded something. Not out of my bad books yet but hopefully he's trending in the right direction. We need some players to step up.

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qprmick added 01:28 - Feb 12 My impression of the first half: If Henry had been selected he might have out muscled the Derby midfield who were doing what they liked. Traore should have come on for either the Frenchman or Krankjar. Might have made a difference.
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062259 added 05:56 - Feb 12 The writing is on the wall and has been for some time. After beginning the season with 8 wins and 2 draws (all against teams in the lower half of the table at the time they were played) for 26 points, the subsequent 19 points have yielded 30 points (8 wins, 6 draws, 5 defeats). This is the reality, and over the course of a full season this form would not even yield a play-off spot. I thought the performance was abject. No creativity, no pace, poor crossing (as usual), no forward threat whatever. Redknapp is a dinosaur. He has no plan B. It's an embarrassment that this team with so much Premier League experience can look so poor so often. This team would be eviscerated in the Premier League. Be careful what you wish for......

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Tomo_5 added 06:24 - Feb 12 I'm not convinced we have the right team to go up this year, the team is experienced but doesn't inspire me and now that Charlie is sidelined I'm writing us off I'm afraid. History says the teams that go up have usually two 20 goal scorers over a season, we have none. Boring oppositions to death wont work at the business end of the season and I suspect our only game that we shall reflect back on come the end of the season will be Ipswich away. Harry and Kevin are not drafting the right strategies against what would be on paper at least lesser teams. I suspect Clive has got it wrong for once, I bet Harry and Kevin do study the opposition but sadly they don't have enough between them to muster a master plan to deal with the opposition. I'm not inspired and if Tony Fernandez was really behind this team and building for the future I think he should have bought Jordan Rhodes, not loaned in cast offs..........sorry!

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timcocking added 07:02 - Feb 12 Such a negative assessment. Unfortunately, i agree with pretty much all of it. Up until that match, i was still confident of finishing in the top two, now i'm doubtful. I was always a big Harry Redknapp fan, but, as with Mark Hughes before him, i don't understand why he is doing lots of what he's doing. And i tell you another thing; given our history in cup competitions, i wouldn't be betting on us if we finish in the playoff positions.

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DesertBoot added 07:03 - Feb 12 What an almighty come down after the highs of Burnley. A ludicrous starting XI that was always going to struggle against a vibrant and well coached Derby side. Sure we've lost key players but seven loan signings later and we haven't improved one jot. Please Harry play Onuoha, Traore, Hoilett and Keane on Sunday.
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ngbqpr added 07:26 - Feb 12 Disagree with only one thing - Hughes apart I didn't think Derby were all that. First half they were average while we were abject. Second half we were both average (and that's average Championship standard, ie not much cop). Unfortunately that was enough for Derby to win. The constant changing of personnel is costing us. It reminds me of the hundreds of kids games I've managed where you constantly rotate players to give everyone a fair go. In the last promotion season we had a system and stuck rigidly to it. Every injury or suspension was covered by a like for like replacement. That's what Leicester & Burnley are doing this time round.

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connell10 added 08:21 - Feb 12 i love your match reports clive, its the reason i joined this site , but i think you are over egging derby, i thought they were bang average and rangers were just piss poor! God if either of these teams get to the prem they would be in for some whippings!
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probbo added 08:50 - Feb 12 Thanks for the report as always. I'm starting to think that Redknapp has lost the plot as a manager. Traore did more than enough in the Burnley game to warrant a start here, yet he's left out presumably to accommodate Carroll, who barely kicked the ball in the second half before he was taken off. Its hard to criticise the forwards, because they were starved of any decent service from the midfield. Krancjar has been a big disappointment so far and Hoilett is a poor shadow of his former self - a slightly 'less bad' SWP these days. Miaga's only played two matches but is he better than Tom Hitchcock? And I keep reading that Redknapp now wants to bring Ravel Morrison to the Club loan - a player whose reported petulance makes Taarabt look like a choir boy and who could wreck team spirit at a crucial time in the season. I know it was an age ago but Redknapp built his reputation as a manager for being a nurturer of young home grown talent. Today, like most other 'modern managers' he's just a good spender of other people's money. At this point I just hope we make the playoffs but I agree with connell10 about our prospects beyond that in the prem.

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QPRski added 09:02 - Feb 12 Totally agree with the report and hope that lessons are learned for next Sundays march. The goal was rough justice but Derby deserved to win. The only positive is that Barton did not get carded. I scored him a 7 and our man.of the match.
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SomersetHoops added 09:10 - Feb 12 What we are learning is that Harry's style and type of management is no longer good enough when he comes up against up to date technical management skills. Harry still has something to offer, but not as head coach. Now is the time to get a competent well qualified coach to work alongside Harry, before its too late. It needs to be someone with credibility and enthusiasm who can assert himself and ensure we send our team out properly prepared to face their opponents. If at the end of the season we are unsuccessful in our attempt for promotion, which is looking likely the way things are going, then Harry's time at QPR will have been a failure. If his shortcomings are dealt with now he could still finish the season as a success and look forward to a couple of years as DOF.

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stevec added 09:11 - Feb 12 I suspect if Derby had Martin, Hughes, Ward and Buxton out injured for the rest of the season whatever is Derby's equivalent of LFW would be writing exactly the same thing. We seem to take it as read that as soon as one £4m player gets injured we can just buy up another £4m replacement. Sure HR's midfield 'tactics' do leave a lot to be desired but we have the kind of crippling injury list that would finish any clubs promotion ambitions. Hopefully we can coax another 19 points out of the remaining 17 games and keep our fingers crossed that our luck will change by time the play offs come round.

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RonisRs added 09:37 - Feb 12 I am not sure about the well beaten comment in the beginning. If we had started with the second half team sheet, things may well have been different. I thought Aaron Hughes was good on his debut, but as for the midfield set up, Tom Carroll and why we did not play Traore & and Onouha to start alongside either Dunne or Hill, as opposed to 2 elderly backs, is beyond me. I thought we would be well and truly up there, clear at number 1 or 2, but it seems like the constant experimenting is killing us, along with the injuries. all I can say, is lets keep the faith, and pray for miracles.

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westsurreyR added 10:41 - Feb 12 No mention of it here or on the club website, but I thought 10 bookings triggered a suspension. So won't Joey Barton miss the Reading game as a result?
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Northernr added 10:51 - Feb 12 Two of the bookings were in the same game - Leicester red card - so I think he's only on eight in the totting up procedure.
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QPunkR added 11:50 - Feb 12 Somerset - you're kidding, right? Redknapp isn't 'head coach', he's the manager. In his eyes that means he doesn't have to have anything to do with the day-to-day training, just turn up on Saturday and pick 11 triffic players. It should come as a surprise to nobody, he's always been this way and it's the reason he was never going to get the Engerland job in a million years.

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tsbains64 added 12:29 - Feb 12 Wasnot much between these two teams-both poor but Derby had the edge. Dissapointed that we could not raise our game.Impressed with Hughes-he looks like a solid additon. Think that Barton gets wound up too easily but he did get some rough treatment. We need to raise our game for the next game-otherwise it play offs for us
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RonisRs added 12:51 - Feb 12 I saw Dunne got his 5th yellow, so perhaps he is suspended, which would give Onouha the break he needs.
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BeauRanger added 13:05 - Feb 12 "Mobido Maiga who contributed so little he probably should have been charged for admission". I also didn't realise LTC was actually playing (HastingsRanger) until he was substituted & he could have been charged admission as well....junior prices.
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stainrodnee added 13:13 - Feb 12 I thought McClaren was harshly treated at the end of his England reign. He provides exactly what we need, a coach who can set up his team and work with them through the week to improve them. I've no idea what HR's huge back room staff do, it's certainly nothing to do with coaching and I can't think of any of our players who they've improved. Forget about signing players TF, it's the coaching you need to focus on.

1

Monahoop added 13:15 - Feb 12 I was looking forward to this game as past encounters have been quite exciting, but Monday night didn't match up to my expectations from both sides at all. QPR looked fearful, disenchanted and rudderless, Derby though not great on the eye, were rugged and well drilled and seemed more up for it. Nobody in the QPR team that night seemed to have a decent game, Barton covered lots of ground was targetted by a couple of Derby go getters thus setting him up for his annoyingly petulant attitude throughout to the point where I thought a red card shown to him wouldn't go amiss. Dunne was like a rampaging elephant, Hill was frustrated, Krancjar simply awful, Doyle anonymous, Maiga, I've seen better at Ryman League standard and Green was displaying some of his past notoriety with dodgy punch outs and a near confidence crushing miss kick. Hughes on his debut looked OK, but maybe his team mates around him were making him look better than he really was. I don't know, but what a terrible performance. Had we played like that against a team who were playing in top gear, we would have been in for a pounding and rightly so. While I'm still hopeful of a positive outcome at the seasons conclusion, I couldn't help feel there was a look of despondency about the team on Monday, in that all is not well in the air. We are falling back into our familiar sulky selves, an attitude that blighted our last two campaigns. Christ, I hope we improve on Sunday.

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CroydonCaptJack added 13:22 - Feb 12 I love reading these reports but I have to agree with some of the other comments here. Derby were not as good as you suggest. Their only goal should have been disallowed. We controlled the game from the 30th minute but frustratingly didn't create anywhere near enough chances.
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dixiedean added 14:06 - Feb 12 Firstly I can't believe after the Burnley game that we played 2 strikers. Nothing against AJ but we needed Doyle on his own with Niko off him and 4 midfielders , kind of 4-4-1-1. And everyone (bar HR & his merry men) can see that LTC is drowned out in a 4-4-2. Also by removing Hoilett, Traore and Onuoha from the Burnley team we were instantly reduced to pedestrian pace thanks to HR's obsession with his over-30s club. Those 3 might not be everyone's cup of tea but they do at least have pace. I wasn't as impressed with Hughes as others seem to be, as I don't ever recall him getting within touching distance of his man so they always had space to run at him. And as for Barton, it's a miracle he didn't see red and that the ref waited so long to book him. He did 4 bookable things in that game and the ref was very lenient. Bellamy got banned for exactly the same thing , flinging his arms around. Yes of course he was provoked, but he only gets provoked because opponents know it puts him off his game and he goes into Victim mode. That's what clever players do and the dumb ones fall for it (even if they read books by Sartre & Nietzche) Having said that, Martin is a complete arse and very irritating - a poor man's Grant Holt; not a great footballer , fat, a cheat and tried to ref the game on his own. We all knew how reliant we were on Austin, so we should have had a contingency plan in place before his injury, not rely on pulling last-minute rabbits ( or donkeys) out of the hat on deadline-day. That's not being wise after the event, I'm sure most of us were thinking the same thing prior to his injury, hence the anguish when it happened. If we didn't already have Zamora we'd probably be taking him on loan !!

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