On a day of highly charged emotions at Loftus Road QPR were comprehensively outplayed, outclassed and out scored by Southampton.

It was difficult to know where to look at Loftus Road on Saturday. To my right as I purchased my tickets for some more savage amusement at Leicester next week hundreds of fans laid flowers and shed tears at a memorial to our brightest young talent in years. To my left a short time later as I did the same an Italian man in a bomber jacket swept past, the future of our club now secure and a new era about to dawn.

In front of me when I made it out of the bar and into my seat at quarter to three all the staff and players at the club paying their respects to a lost friend and then the Jones family and close friends came onto the field to receive dignified applause and respect. I don't cry often, but I cried at that.

By three o'clock the Italian man was to my right in the director's box, surveying his new purchase, and straight ahead the flight path into Heathrow was suitably close enough for us to pass the time picking out the airlines from the tail fins.

I'll warn you now I'm three paragraphs in and I'm very tempted to just continue on like this, telling you everything that was going on around me yesterday afternoon. At quarter to three the members bar sold out of draft and bottled beer. At half past four to my immediate left a gentleman was muttering about how he knew he should never have renewed his season ticket and that it was my fault he had.

It's a good job there was plenty going on round about because the last place you wanted to be looking on Saturday was down at the pitch. QPR, still with half the midfield made up of players out of position, and with a young boy up front who looked about as fit to play as my Grandmother, were completely, totally and utterly outclassed by Southampton and beaten 3-0. Three for nought declared.

Now I'm happy to right this one off. I know how awful I've felt since last Saturday and I only had the chance to meet Ray Jones once, very briefly, more than a year ago in Italy. Goodness knows what it must be like for those players, particularly his close friends in the squad - people like Dexter Blackstock, asked to cope with the shock and grief while focussing on a game against a surprisingly good Saints team.

It was unfair really to expect anything else from the players on Saturday in my opinion. We pick up and go again in a fortnight at Leicester.

The team selected by John Gregory for this one did have a more balanced look about it than the one that played against Cardiff. Rehman was absent from the defence with Curtis moving to right back and Barker making a long awaited debut at left back. Stewart and Mancienne were the centre halves in front of Camp. Mikele Leigertwood made his debut in midfield with Bolder, Ephraim and Rowlands played left and right. Up front Ben Sahar made a surprise early come back after his appendix op next to Blackstock.

Southampton had a couple of new boys in their squad, Stern John and Jason Euell both signed during the week and both made the bench. George Burley kept faith with Rasiak and Wright-Phillips up front after they beat Stoke last week, big summer signing Marek Saganowski also took his place in the dug out.

Southampton, impeccably behaved on the pitch and in the away end during the tributes, quickly slipped into gear. Viafara and Surman in midfield looked a classy pairing and were far too much for Bolder and Leigertwood who found themselves run ragged from first to last.

Polish striker Rasiak fired a warning shot across the bows in the opening sixty seconds and there was more of that to come as Stewart and Mancienne struggled and ultimately failed to cope with the former Derby man and Wright Phillips.

Safri sent one shot low and wide, and another straight at Lee Camp as well as floating a dangerous free kick and the game's first corner into the area.

Nathan Dyer, a product of the Saints youth academy, was running new Rangers left back Chris Barker ragged whenever he got the chance but it was a corner from the little winger that caused hassle in the 17th minute. Wayne Thomas, a summer signing from Burnley, came up from the back to fire a powerful shot towards goal that Lee Camp did very well to turn over the bar one handed.

That meant a corner from the other side and this time, with Safri sending over a wicked inswinger, there was no escape for the home side as Rasiak rose highest, unchallenged and unmarked at the back post to power home the first goal. A great leap and header but another poor goal defensively and what's more worrying is after each of these poor defensive goals there's no inquest, no bollockings dished out, nobody talking to each other. The absence of Bignot and Cullip continues to be keenly felt in the organisation stakes at least.

Rangers came back into the game a little after going behind. Sahar had a shot and Rowlands a free kick saved comfortably by Davis, the keeper so comprehensively humiliated by the late Ray Jones last season. Ten minutes after the goal Martin Rowlands skipped into the area behind full back Jermaine Wright and then hit the deck with the former Ipswich man apparently helping himself to copious amounts of the material from Rowlands' back. It looked a very, very good shout for a penalty to me but referee Mick Thorpe waved the appeals away.

That was pretty much the last threat QPR posed in the match. Dexter Blackstock looked out of sorts, understandably given the circumstance, but even without the grief and pain he must be feeling he's not going to do any good this season if we keep insisting on knocking crap long balls at his head. It's ridiculous that he is now being used as some kind of target man when that just isn't his game. I've now seen enough aimless hoofs and long balls into the channel to last me for the whole season.

Play soon reverted to the Loft End and when Damion Stewart sold a back pass to Camp massively short he needed the keeper to get him out of jail with a fine one on one save against Rasiak. Seconds later the ball worked its way out to Dyer and his torturing of Barker recommenced for a moment before the cross came in to Rasiak. He controlled the ball then lost his footing and fell over but such was the lackadaisical attitude of the Rangers defence he was still able to regain his feet and get a shot away.

It was only a matter of time before Southampton scored again, the only surprise was Rangers got far enough forward for the visitors to be able to counter attack and get it. Right on half time a very poor Martin Rowlands corner was easily headed out by the first man at the near post and suddenly Southampton were away.

Viafara majestically strode out of his own half and received the ball as the breakaway gathered pace and with no QPR player able to get close to him he nudged the ball past Camp on the edge of the box and crashed to earth as the keeper upended him. Referee Thorpe remained calm and allowed the play to develop for Rasiak to slam in a second goal. Camp was booked for the foul that would have resulted in a red card had the goal not been scored - sensible refereeing.

Despite the clock saying 45 when the goal was scored there was still time for the R's to nearly concede a third first half goal. Surman it was this time who waltzed through the centre of the QPR team completely unchallenged, Camp was fortunate that the young midfielder's goal-bound lob hit him square in the chest outside the area, an inch left or right and the handball would have resulted in a sending off. He re-gathered his footing quickly to deny Wright Phillips on the rebound as well. Without Camp the game would have been out of sight by half time.

As it was he only delayed the inevitable. For Rangers there was to be no second wind, no flying out of the traps, no game of two halves, Southampton simply came back out after the break and recommenced the annihilation.

Nathan Dyer humiliated Barker once more within four minutes of the restart, wriggling between him and Rowlands before cutting the ball back from the byline to Bradley Wright Phillips who headed home unmarked from all of five yards out. Game over.

Dyer nearly had the goal his all round play richly deserved when his 20 yard volley was watched round the post by Camp. Rasiak was denied a hat trick when his calm finish was ruled out by a flag from the linesman and then Damion Stewart repeated his horror pass back trick of the first half by heading straight to the Pole who lobbed the ball over Camp but saw the ball cleared spectacularly from under the cross bar by Stewart.

The Jamaican got a round of applause for the recovery but I didn't clap when Tony Roberts used to make a blinding save after coming out for a simple corner and dropping it straight to the nearest striker and I didn't clap Stewart either. Unless you like the excitement and danger of a gravity defying goal line clearance, deal with the ball properly in the first place.

Gregory then decided, with 25 minutes to play, to make a change swapping Blackstock and Sahar for Nygaard and Nardiello. Nygaard was, once again, booed onto the pitch by a section of the QPR support and within ten minutes, after the previously fast asleep linesman had suddenly woken up and drawn the referee's attention to an off the ball incident involving the Dane, QPR fans were sarcastically chanting for him to be sent off.

If you are one of the brainless morons doing this I ask you now why? What does it achieve? Is Nygaard suddenly going to become a better player because you do that? Is it going to benefit the team in some way? Does it make you look like a big funny guy in front of your mates? Did the fact that Nygaard came on and actually played better than any of the other three strikers on the day, linking up play well and at least trying to get the ball down on the floor and spread it to the flanks, escape you? Absolutely pathetic. A scandalous way to treat a QPR player. This really has to stop.

Rasiak was denied by Camp who tipped his header over the bar as the game wound down - Rangers fans grateful to their keeper for keeping the score down on the day. Rasiak was replaced by Stern John who succeeded in beating Camp with his first touch but Damion Stewart got back and denied him a goal with a slide tackle. From the corner John headed wide when he should have scored.

Viafara, Surman, Wright Phillips and another sub Jason Euell all had efforts on goal fly just wide or straight at Camp in the closing ten minutes with little opposition to speak of holding them up. By that stage Flavio Briatore, introduced to the crowd at half time, had left his seat shaking his head. Hopefully he spent the evening putting together a plan to improve things and resisted the temptation to go through the contracts and see if there was a get out clause.

So a very poor end to a horrible week. Football teams are like families and the loss of Ray Jones will have affected our boys in ways we can only imagine. There is grief coursing through our team and playing that game will be the last thing they would have wanted to do. For that reason I've already forgotten this one, it was nothing more than we should have expected and I think there has been a big overreaction on the message boards to it.

However, we played very similarly to this against Cardiff last time out and we've suddenly this season started playing horrible long ball football with one long punt after another aimed at the head of Dexter Blackstock. It's a real worry. Hopefully we can have this two week break and then basically start the season over again at Leicester in a fortnight.

I think changes are going to have to be made. Barker I can just about forgive this aberration because it was his first game of the season and he was playing against somebody at least three times as quick as him. Curtis on the other hand worries me, and he really is slow, so I'd like to see Bignot back in there as soon as possible. Stewart should either play with Cullip or not at all. Without Cullip next to him organising him and keeping him awake and switched on he's a liability at the moment and the partnership between him and Mancienne is all over the place - nobody is leading, nobody is organising back there.

In midfield Leigertwood was one of our better players but to be honest I'd prefer to see him at centre half instead of Stewart just at the moment - Gregory seems to have bought him to play in midfield though which is a shame because at home him and Bolder will create next to nothing. Hopefully Southampton left Idiakez behind yesterday!

Anyway a tough day, a result we probably should have expected, season starts at Leicester.

QPR: Camp 7, Curtis 4, Stewart 3, Mancienne 6 (Cullip 84, -), Barker 3, Rowlands 4, Leigertwood 5, Bolder 4, Ephraim 4, Blackstock 4 (Nygaard 69, 6), Sahar 4 (Nardiello 69, 5).
Subs Not Used: Cole, Bignot.
Booked: Camp (foul), Cullip (foul).

Southampton: Davis N/A, Wright 7, Thomas 7, Makin 8, Vignal 7, Dyer 9, Viafara 8, Safri 7, Surman 7 (Euell 64, 7), Wright-Phillips 8 (Saganowski 73, 7), Rasiak 8 (John 83, -)
Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Ostlund.
Goals: Rasiak 18, 45, Wright-Phillips 49.

QPR Star Man - Lee Camp 7 - Maybe hesitated a little for the second goal but overall kept the score down with five or six good saves. Must be wandering if he's made a massive mistake in moving here permanently.

Ref: Mike Thorpe (Suffolk) 7 - Thought it was a penalty on Rowlands in the first half but sensible refereeing apart from that with cards in pocket more often than not and Camp allowed to stay on after a superb advantage was played.

Attendance: 15,560

Photo: Action Images

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