Antti Heinola's six talking points from a pulsating evening at Loftus Road where league leaders Brighton were pegged back by an impressive QPR side.
You can't beat it, can you? I know that we all say these special under-the-lights atmospheres don't come around as often as they once did. But we do tend to get at least a couple a season. Last year it was that fabulous game v Man City with Charlie Austin ripping their defence several fresh anuses (anii?), and then (although it was an afternoon kick off, it finished under the lights) it was Charlie's hat-trick to pull us back from the brink against West Brom. And then last night it was Charlie... well, you know the rest and more on him in a moment.
Regardless, this was a memorable one, and one that would have been even more so had Phillips' late effort zipped past the right side of the post. Two games in and JFH now has the experience of what it can be like when players and fans are pulling in the same direction at Loftus Road. And he must've enjoyed it. I thought it was fabulous entertainment. I don't read match reports anymore (except Clive's) but I imagine any old school match report would feature the word 'pulsating' at least once after this.
Two strong, physical sides. Two teams who played pretty fearlessly. It might have been low on prettiness, but it was high on excitement and endeavour. Loved it. And the players deserved that result too - Brighton didn't merit their lead, and in the end they must've been extremely pleased to escape Loftus Road with their unbeaten record intact. Just. They'll go up, though. You can't go this many games without losing and fail to get promoted. Surely?
Oh Charlie. Oh Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. You are a centre forward. A proper centre forward of the kind I think we all wished we could be when we were growing up. Oh, okay, I guess some of us, depending on age, preferred a bit of Cruyff or Stan or Zidane or whatever, but... Charlie. Charlie is glory. Charlie is goals. Charlie is a talisman. Charlie is a goal machine in the purest sense of that over-used phrase.
OK, he's not the fastest. All right, he's no Kevin Gallen in the hold and lay game. But he is a fantastic all-round centre forward - the best we've had since Sir Les himself. And what makes him so good? Desire. Belief. Strength. A refusal to be beaten. A willingness to carry the whole team on his back if need be (not that he needed to last night in a good all-round team performance).
But above all it's the fact that he scores all kinds of goals. Last night it was a close range effort lashed in to the roof of the net and then a trademark header from a corner. But he also set himself up for a tricky volley that Stockdale did well to paw away, and had a shot from 20 yards early in the game that Stockdale brilliantly clawed round the post. That's Charlie: close range, long range, individual goals, headers, vital goals, pretty goals. Goals. All the time. Goals. When he gets the ball he's just thinking about goals. It's beautiful in it's simplicity and its effectiveness. He's like a shark - single-minded in his pursuit of his prey: goals.
For the third season running I ask: Where would we be without this man? To come back from an injury and make his first start in weeks and play like that? A mark of the man. I wish JFH all the luck in replacing him next summer.
Yes, OK, I write a lot about Faurlin. So sue me. Or skip to KJ4.
Never, after that last ACL, did I ever think he would be playing at the level we saw last night. While I don't think he'll ever get back to the standards of our promotion year, this was still a great performance. The passing was fabulous - crisp, sweet, perceptive, unexpected. He made light of the tricky conditions - used them, in fact, to his advantage as he pinged balls into the feet of the lively Phillips and Hoilett. His set pieces were constantly dangerous and while we're all, rightly, lauding Austin's impact, we shouldn't forget that while we have been struggling to score goals recently, three of our last four have come direct from Faurlin's furiously whipped corners.
But to that skill last night he added heart and desire and fearlessness. He played well for most of the game and you expected him to tire. But after Dunk's ugly challenge (that should have been a straight red) he stepped up to another level. I don't think we've ever seen Ale react with such ferocity on the football pitch before as he did to that foul, but no one blamed him. This was no petulant Barton-style strop, this was literally years of pent-up anger at his terrible luck zooming to the surface. He actually did well not to do anything worse - most of us thought he'd smacked Dunk in the face at one point.
But instead of letting it get to him, he used his anger for good - like that period when the Hulk could be the Hulk while being in control of his Hulkness. For the last 10 minutes he was heroic, finding energy and bursts of speed he maybe thought had deserted him for good. And he also found that absolutely perfect corner kick. And what a reaction to the goal, too. While 9 of the team piled on top of Austin in the corner, he was still on the right wing, screaming out his delight / frustration. God I love him. I've said for years he's a captain in all but name and last night was the performance of a genuine leader.
He said before the season started he just wants to play for a season. That's it. Fingers crossed he can, because few QPR players can inspire the fans as much as this super player.
Well, it wasn't all good last night. When I posted what team I'd pick for last night's game, I chose Smithies. One poster questioned the wisdom of dropping someone who'd only conceded 3 goals in 9 games, and of course, in practise I neither expected JFH to drop him, nor would have encouraged it. But, still, my point stands that I would rather see Smithies have a run. I'm not saying Smithies is an amazing keeper. I don't think he's a future England international. But if he's not going to get a run now you have to ask under what circumstances would he get a run?
Green's mistakes have cost us the Forest game, they set the low bar at the Fulham game, and arguably cost us a win last night. And that's not counting the various skittish errors he's made (coming out against Wood v Leeds, getting under that cross v Boro etc) that we were fortunate to see go unpunished. I wrote this the other day, but to reiterate, to me he seems to have a real issue when it comes to concentration. He switches off - and that's why his decision-making appears random and why he's so often beaten with low shots from long distance.
Brighton's second was not an easy save. But he should have saved it. He really should have. And when you see Stockdale dealing so well with Austin's thunder-blasters you can't help but be envious of Brighton's keeper. And being envious of another team's keeper seems to be a common feeling for me this season.
When Perch went down injured, good old Karl Henry was straight up on his feet, sprinting down the touchline, probably eagerly informing JFH that he could play right back as well as right mid, centre mid and, according to Ramsey, number 10. He was so fast I thought he was bound to come on in a sort-of like-for-like replacement. Instead, it was Angella with poor Ned reluctantly shifting back out to right back. Angella was last seen during the real depths of our defensive crisis, often ducking out of headers for no explicable reason. 'That's a terrible decision!' yelled one fan at JFH as poor Gaby loped into position.
But as it turned out, Angella played pretty well. Ned was his usual self at right back - winning everything in the air but a bit uncertain once he gets past the halfway line. But Angella and Hall played well against awkward opponents. His quality and calmness on the ball was good to see, and he attacked his headers properly. A bit of a relief. No one in the back four deserved to have conceded two last night in what was another solid defensive display.
Poor JFH had a real quandary last night. With Perch and Sandrose heading off early, he had to use his two most unsexy substitutions to plug the gaps. It meant that when we really needed a goal he had a very tough choice. The unpredictability but match-saving potential of JET? The skill and craft of Chery? Or Polti? Polti and his Dalglish-like arse. He would have preferred, I'm sure, to put two of them on.
In the end, he plumped for the German. And we're still not really any wiser as to whether he's any good or not, but it certainly worked. He harried, he chased, he caused a nuisance, he battled, he had an intimate dance with Stockdale, he almost scored, he stopped Angella from a certain goal by almost scoring himself and he generally caused enough mayhem for Austin to get free and score the equaliser. He did all that in about 10 minutes. The right substitution, a brave substitution. And I still like him, I don't care what anyone says.
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