Manager Mark Hughes said he was “astounded” by how bad QPR were in the first half at Blackburn on Saturday and vowed to put his team through a gruelling week of training in Portugal this week.
Rangers are without a game this weekend because of their early FA Cup exit, a break that has given Hughes a chance to take the team away for some warm weather training during which the issues from Saturday’s first half capitulation at Ewood Park will hopefully be physically beaten out of the team.
Hughes told the Daily Mail: “I’m still astounded by the first half, to be honest. We won’t labour the point because they were told in no uncertain terms about that. It’s probably the first time they’ve seen that side of me but they’ll see it again if we have the same problem. We understood straightaway that that wasn’t acceptable and I don’t anticipate that we’ll see that level of performance again. We’re going to Portugal to get some work done because we’re struggling at our training ground at the moment. It’s frozen so we’ve been training at the stadium and we need to give that a break.
“It will give us the opportunity to have a couple of sessions a day and have a real understanding of what type of personalities they are and how they react to certain situations. I’ve learned a lot about the group, both in the performance in the first half and in the second half as well. We conceded two goals from two shots and they were really poor from our point of view. Given the circumstances we’re in, the confidence ebbed away somewhat and we can’t afford to have that. We’re in a position where, even if things go against us, we’ve still got to dig in and do the right things. In the first half we felt too sorry for ourselves.”
Hughes did have more positive words for Jamie Mackie who rose from the bench to haul QPR back into the match single handedly with two well taken goals. Hughes told the official website: “It was important for Jamie. Last year was a bad time for him but he's come through it and been great. He's been unlucky not to be in the side and has started a number of games for me. I thought that when he came on, we needed his energy and willingness to try and affect the game and get around people and that's what he did. He scored a great goal and has done his prospects, in my eyes, no harm whatsoever."
Mackie himself told the Fulham Chronicle: “I was really happy I took the goals, but I was as gutted as anyone else about the result. We really need to start picking up points, and personal thoughts go out of the window. I'm gutted I couldn't change the scoreline, you can only do the best you can, but another 10 minutes and I think we would have won. I was delighted to be up front too as I haven't been playing there much. I will play wherever I'm told to, but I feel my best position is up front, and that is where I can benefit the team most.”
The players depart with the words of chairman Tony Fernandes ringing in their ears. The Air Asia boss was about as impressed as the rest of the QPR fans with the “efforts” of his expensively assembled team in Lancashire on Saturday.
Fernandes pulled few punches after the match, telling his Twitter followers: “Talent is one thing. Being able to cope with the pressures of talent is key. Everyone needs a spine to take the pressures of life. We need a spine in QPR. We need fighters not just talent."
Later he gave an interview to the Press Association, his first since the sacking of manager Neil Warnock. Fernandes said: "I always said from day one we would be in a relegation battle and our aim was to avoid relegation. Am I coping with the pressure? I'm not loving the pressure, but I'm loving the whole experience. I'm doing the best I can, and it's now up to the boys on the pitch and the manager to do what they can. We certainly have the players and ability to avoid relegation, but the Premier League is very tough, and only time will tell.
"I liked Neil, and I thought like with any of my employees it would be a long, long, long relationship. Sadly I ended up doing the one thing I said I wouldn't do, which is why it was tough. I'd rather not go into the reasons why I got rid of him. It was a decision that was made, and we've moved on from it."
The results may not have changed much following Warnock’s departure, but the party line on Adel Taarabt certainly has. Warnock seemed certain the Moroccan would be on his way out of the club this January and found little use for him following an abysmal first half performance and subsequent half time withdrawal at Spurs earlier this season. Hughes though sees promise.
He told West London Sport: “I’m enjoying working with him. He’s a very bright kid, he’s good around the place, and I’ve been really, really impressed with him. I think there’s more to come. With the right work and the right direction he could be more effective than he has been in the past. It’s his first season in the Premier League and we want to make sure he improves year on year. I think with my and my staff’s help he’ll be a better player.
“I was pleased because he took on responsibility [against Wolves] and that’s what you want from players. He understood the situation and that he had to really drive the game for us and that’s what he did. I like players who are able to understand what’s going on and are able to take responsibility in a game. Some shy away from it but he certainly didn’t.”
As ever, following a poor performance and defeat, the QPR players have been quick with words about just how much better things will be next time. In their defence journalists ask questions that have to be answered but they must understand that their actions on the field are currently speaking louder than any words in the press.
Akos Buzsaky, abysmal at Blackburn on Saturday, told Sky Sports: “I think QPR deserve to be here and this is a club that does not want to go up and down, go up again and go down.We have done the hard bit and now we want to stay up and be an established Premier League side like Everton or Stoke.We definitely have a strong enough team to stay up, but you never know in football. Everyone knows we need to do our best because things can change. Even without the new signings, we shouldn't be fighting against relegation but we are because that is something we did not do properly. Everybody needs to look in the mirror and just give 100% from now on. I am sure under this new regime, we will be fine."
No Algarve training camp, or action for the next six weeks, for luckless striker DJ Campbell though – he’s torn his hamstring again. He told London24: “"It's a grade two tear so I'm looking at four to six weeks. It has been one thing after another but I just have to try to get on with it. Hopefully if I can do my rehab a bit better this time then it will be okay. It's frustrating but it happens, it's been like that all season. I was on the last day of my rehab and it went again. I've had a few injections on it, so were hoping that might get me back a bit sooner."
Mali international Samba Diakite will join his new team mates in training for the first time from tomorrow.
Assistant manager Mark Bowen told the club’s official website: “The first impression since we've arrived is that this is an excellent training camp. The facilities are fantastic and we've had a look at the pitches and they look very good as well. It's a great time to come away for two reasons. Firstly it gives us the opportunity to play on good services at a time when the Harlington pitches are frozen, and it also allows us the chance to go through a lot of tactical bits and pieces with the players. There are things that we want to address coming on the back of last weekend's result against Blackburn. The manager said afterwards, and rightly so, that the first 45 minutes was a shock to all of us with how poorly we played. We didn't expect that because we thought we had prepared the lads well in terms of what we expected of them. But we finished the game very well and the stats from the second half showed that. Over the course of this week we will learn more about the players and the players will learn more about us. And with the new lads coming in, it means they can get used to their team-mates more and get involved in the group more.”
QPR now desperately need points from successive home matches against Fulham and Everton, and the Merseysiders will only have 1,700 fans in attendance after the Toffees elected to take the smaller allocation offered to visiting teams at Loftus Road. In their defence they haven’t been to Rangers for more than 15 years now, but their official website suggestion that they were disappointed not to be offered an option between 1,700 and 3,000 shows a chronic lack of knowledge of Loftus Road’s away end design. QPR will now get the lower tier of the School End for that game.
Finally congratulations to youth teamers Gareth Deane and Frankie Sutherland on their recent international call ups. Deane was outstanding in the Under 18s’ FA Youth Cup run this season, taking LFW man of the match honours in the narrow defeat at Newcastle last week, while Sutherland was playing excellently against Everton in the previous round before being sent off.
Deane will play for Northern Ireland Under 21s against Macedonia in a European Championship qualifier on March 1 while Sutherland is in the Republic squad for their friendly with Turkey the day before.
Neil Warnock was deemed to have taken QPR as far as he could in January, but if reports are to be believed other clubs are clamouring for his services. A 2-1 defeat at lowly Coventry tonight is likely to cost caretaker manager Neil Redfearn any chance of becoming the permanent Leeds manager and Warnock has been heavily linked to Elland Road. But it’s the position at Wolves that is causing greatest interest. Alan Curbishley has stated his interest and is the early favourite to replace Mick McCarthy, who was sacked yesterday following Sunday’s 5-1 derby defeat to West Brom, but Warnock is said to be on a three man shortlist along with Curbishley and former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce. Wolves are currently below QPR in the table on goal difference and the possibility of them staying up at our expense with Warnock at the helm is not one that would sit comfortably with anybody around W12, least of all those who decided to fire him.
Goalkeeper Nick Culkin has been nominated for the Fans’ Player of the Year award in the Northern Premier League for his performances at Radcliffe Borough, just under two years after being dragged out of retirement to keep goal for them. He has made the final shortlist of five.
Jimmy Smith scored a late winner for Leyton Orient tonight as they won 2-1 at big spending Bournemouth in League One. Terrell Forbes and Kevin Lisbie also played for the visitors.
- Carlos Tevez will enter his own mini-pre-season training regime after returning to Man City today. Tevez said manager Roberto Mancini had treated him “like a dog” but was willing to bury the hatchet and retake the field for the title chasers after an unauthorised three month leave of absence.
- Two bits of good news for Arsenal who have lost the comedy stylings of Per Mertersacker for a month with an ankle injury and are hoping to welcome midfielder Jack Wilshere back from his season long injury nightmare within a similar time scale. A stress fracture in his foot had looked set to rule Wilshere out for the rest of the campaign but after positive scan results manager Arsene Wenger said: “Jack can be back within a month if all goes well.”
- Lille midfielder Eden Hazard, a long term transfer target of Chelsea, could join Spurs this summer. The Belgian midfielder described Spurs as a “great club” on television at the weekend. It remains to be seen whether an anticipated departure of manager Harry Redknapp to the England position has any bearing on this.
- There could be another managerial change in the air at Chelsea as well. They slipped out of the Champions League places with a 2-0 loss at Everton at the weekend and owner Roman Abramovic is now making daily visits to the training ground where the club’s famed senior player clique is said to be undermining Andre Villas Boas at every turn sparking angry confrontations in front of the club’s owner. Fabio Capello waits in the wings.
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