A week of steady improvement continued for QPR at Watford on Saturday, where they were the better side against the division’s best home record and wasted a catalogue of chances to win the game.

When you haven’t won a game in 13 attempts across almost three months, the relief and euphoria from a victory can overwhelm all other thoughts and senses. Who cares if it was a good performance, a deserved victory, a justified scoreline? You’re just happy to be happy again. It’s only when the adrenalin subsides and the Premier Inn Peronis wear off on the train back the following morning that you start to think a little deeper, analyse, and recommence worrying.

QPR did indeed win at Cardiff on Wednesday night, and by God did it feel good to be in that away end, but they’d rode their luck in doing so, against what looked a very poor home side. Zan Celar’s first two goals for the club were exceptionally well taken, belying his form and rock-bottom confidence, but the first was entirely out of keeping with a dire first half and the second was totally against the run of play. QPR executed a low block so deep it was basically back to their own goalline, and keeper Paul Nardi turned in another excellent performance. “In the end you just beat somebody by accident” is something we’ve said a few times during this horrendous run, and through the hangover and flooding diversions of Thursday morning we did wonder whether Rangers had done just that.

Whether that win in South Wales was the first step towards Rangers salvaging their season, or just some respite for the long-suffering faithful behind the goal, would get a seriously stiff examination at Watford on Saturday lunchtime. Everywhere you looked in this fixture there were reasons to be fearful.

Firstly, logistically, this game was a nightmare for Marti Cifuentes to prepare for. Watford had been at home against Bristol City in midweek, and were home again here, while QPR had to slog over to Wales and back and then play away again. The Hornets had a day more to recover, thanks to the insistence of our Sky Overlords the midweek round be split across two nights so they can run a goals show in which Tim Sherwood is considered some sort of expert. It’s not as big a deal as managers make it out to be, particularly in the Premier League where you’ve got squads three miles thick to deal with it, but if you are going to do that (and it’s a big ‘if’) it’s really not right at our level for the team on a double away to go Wednesday-Saturday while the team on a double home plays Tuesday. Rangers’ recovery time eaten into still further by another bright idea from our host broadcaster – three games every Saturday at 12.30, watched by next to nobody. This week they moved Derby v Sheff Wed to Sunday, then showed Mainz v Hoffenheim instead of it. These people are cunts, and supporters need to be more loudly united in grounds chanting as much.

Secondly, Watford came into the game with the division’s best home record. Since Tom Cleverley took over as manager at the club he served with distinction as a player he’s sought to restore broken connection between the increasingly pissed off locals and their football club. The result has been a 14-game unbeaten run at Vicarage Road, where Watford won just six times in the whole of last season. They came into this one 7-1-0 from eight in the league at home and 9-1-0 from ten in all competitions. They’ve scored 13 times in those eight games, and conceded only four. Add in their cup games and it’s 20 scored, four conceded, and six clean sheets from ten games. Gulp. You’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Thirdly, with both those things considered, QPR’s weird aversion to game three in a three-game week loomed large. Not including the pandemic games in empty stadiums, QPR’s away average since returning to the Championship a decade ago is 1.03 points a game, 0.95 goals a game, and 1.49 goals conceded a game. Playing away in game three of a three game week, however, and it drops to 0.73 points per game (29.12% worse), 0.85 goals a game (10.29% worse) and 1.63 goals conceded (9.73% worse). That drop of almost 30% is by far and away the biggest of any other Championship team over the same period. We’re not very good when we’re fresh, when we’re tired we’re king size dog chocolate.

What transpired on the pitch, therefore, should be tremendously encouraging to those of a Hooped persuasion. I’ll be honest, I thought we’d get absolutely battered on Saturday. I’d already written it off. Instead, QPR, playing as well as they’ve done anywhere since a win at Luton in August, were the better of the two teams. Throughout.

The defence, where Jimmy Dunne had his best game for a while, looks so much better for the introduction of Liam Morrison who is now unbeaten in five QPR appearances – albeit with the ball his lack of a left foot does rather lopside the team. Kieran Morgan provided fresh legs in midfield, where Sam Field put in his performance of the season so far – marred only by a late booking which suspends him for the Norwich home game one short of the five-card amnesty. Celar looks a new man up front for his two goals, putting himself about and holding up ball like we haven’t seen so far. You don’t have to score to be an effective centre forward at this level and in this team.

It was, for me, a far, far better display than Wednesday night at Cardiff, which was a game we won. So, could Rangers turn it into a second away victory of the week? Well, no, they couldn’t, and the reason for that was obvious – they couldn’t finish their dinner.

Five gilt-edged chances, a couple of them stone-cold sitters, created, and each of them missed in turn.

The luckless Nicolas Madsen (booked after two minutes for his first tackle in six weeks) went first - hopelessly spaffing a simple side footed finish miles wide after being picked out by the always dangerous Koki Saito. Unmarked, 12 yards out, middle of the goal, perhaps it’s best he didn’t take that penalty last week after all, eh?

Liam Morrison went next. Zan Celar’s shot from an angle after a set piece dropped his way was fiercely struck and brilliantly saved by Dananananananan Bachmann in the home goal. The rebound fell to Morrison with the keeper stranded and the goal unguarded… and he panicked and hoicked it over the bar. I’d have scored it myself.

In the second half Saito was the first to be denied when he should have scored. Paul Smyth, another arguably having his best game of the season, got the cut back right for the Japanese winger to walk onto in the penalty free of a marker after 71-capped French international Moussa Sissoko had felt it bit beneath him to track the runner. Low shot, rushed, and blocked.

Can somebody just take a deep breath and compose themselves, please?

Cifuentes made good use of what few options he has on the bench to try and manage the workload after the midweek exertions. Jonathan Varane was particularly eye-catching. Tricking and flicking his way around opponents on a forward-focused mission we haven’t seen from him previously. But it was three other substitutes, who’ve all had nightmarish starts to the new season, who combined to create the next sitter. Morgan Fox crossed from the left, Lucas Andersen brilliantly improvised a chip in behind, Harrison Ashby ran off his man onside, but when the finish was required the loan Newcastle man barely made contact with the ball.

Just to really put the tin hat on the whole thing, Celar got played clear away into the right channel by Ashby with barely seconds left on the clock, did everything right, drew Bachman, beat him, connected with the shot, and the ball struck the inside of the post. The ball flew all the way through the face of the goal, came out the other side and went for a throw in. Cifuentes, exasperated, paced the touchline chuntering in Spanish. I couldn’t hear what he said, and I wouldn’t have understood it if I could, but I completely agree with him. Fuck my life. Fuck all of our lives.

Rangers should have had a penalty as well. From one of several first half set pieces they were able to cause problems from by sending the three big boys up from the back, Liam Morrison set about shielding a ball in the Watford box only for Ryan Porteous to give it a reach around (giggity) and bat the ball away with his arm. Not a difficult decision to get right for a referee staring straight at it with an unobstructed view. Or an assistant referee, for that matter, on his side of the pitch. A handball so obvious the QPR players stopped playing and appealed as one.

Rookie referee Andrew Kitchen, who gave Burnley so much on our recent visit to Turf Moor he may as well have pulled a Claret shirt on the taken the free kicks himself, once again seemed to prioritise an easy afternoon over making decisions that might upset a home crowd. Moments later, same player (Porteous), same offence (deliberate handball), immediate free kick awarded – because it was miles from goal, easy to give, and nobody would complain. What was a yellow card and wasn’t a yellow card was a cloudy issue all day, based largely around whether you were the home team or the away: Paul Smyth deliberately interrupts a counter from a QPR corner by fouling lively sub Vata, yellow card; Watford do the same from one of their corners moments later, word on the run. Not a brave referee, and not one you want refereeing your away games, but you can’t miss the chances Rangers missed and come away blaming the officials for not getting a result.

Would QPR’s profligacy cost them even the point they had? At barely 6% they have the worst shot conversion of any team in the Championship and, in theory, they couldn’t really have picked a worse side than Tom Cleverley’s outfit to run a miss of the season competition against - Watford score 13% of every shot they take (incidentally only Norwich, who we play next, do better with 15.66%). Their Tuesday night win here against Bristol City was fairly indicative. The defence, in which Mattie Pollock (son of the most influential man of the last 2,000 years) looks a particularly impressive find from Grimsby, has conceded just four times in 11 home games in all comps and has now gone past 400 minutes since last letting one in here. The midfield in front of it very much depends on whether Moussa Sissoko can be arsed or not. Here, very much not. Imran Louza basically had to play two central midfield roles at once. Their attack, on the other hand, is so quick and physical, so lightning on transition and breaks, that it doesn’t necessarily matter. QPR, Cardiff away not included, tend to have to play really well to win. Watford don’t. When you’ve got the likes of Bayo, Chekvetadze and gigantic second half sub Baah rampaging about you’ve always got a chance. They beat City 1-0 with their only shot on target.

Was there to be a heartbreaker here for the packed away end? When Louza whipped a second half free kick over the QPR wall, and down onto the goalline off the underside of the bar, it appeared so. The ball thankfully stayed just about in play, and Nardi fell onto it and smothered rather than knocking it in with his landing. The Frenchman deserved that luck. His outstanding debut season for Rangers continued with a sound save to deny Louza from range in open play and a big, bold block one-on-one with Chekvetadze after half time. The Georgian, as predicted, was the home team’s most technically accomplished attacker, but massing ranks and chucking bodies in front of stuff is something Dunne, Cook and Morrison excel at and more often than not his shots were repelled before getting close to the goal. One Steve Cook challenge/block at the near post in the first half as Bayo closed in on a low cross was exceptional.

Three game weeks are a pain for website editors as well. Three previews, three reports, all while negotiating a broken public transport system in a decaying country. Considerate, then, of QPR to take the theme from our Watford preview and run with it so we can effectively copy and paste our conclusion.

The best case is that QPR are slowly, steadily, methodically rebuilding. Coming out of the international break after the woeful performances against Leeds and Middlesbrough, I suspect most would have been happy with a five-point week that included two awkward aways back-to-back. All three games could quite easily have been won with slightly better finishing or luck. Weirdly the win came in the worse performance of the three. Having kept no clean sheets in the first 14 league and cup games of the season, Paul Nardi and QPR now have four from the last seven games and three of those have come against teams in the top six.

It feels, actually, a lot like this time last year when Cifuentes first arrived, focused on the basics of team shape, press, and tightening up at the back, and then built from there. What happened in the first week of December last year is this then built into three consecutive wins, and if QPR can do something like that next week against Norwich, particularly Oxford, and Bristol City then we’ll all go into Christmas feeling a lot better about life. Perhaps we’ve tried to run before we could walk, got too high on our own supply after the fantastic end to last season and tried to do too much, open up too wide. Now back to basics, with key players shortly to return from injury – particularly Michy Frey in attack – and possibly some reinforcements in January – particularly anybody at all in attack – and maybe we’ll start climbing away.

The worst case scenario is this was arguably QPR’s best performance of a wretched season, and it wasn’t enough to win the game. When we play well we draw at best, because we can’t score; as soon as we play slightly less well we get beaten, because we’re not very good. Cardiff was the anomaly because out striker produced two brilliant finishes, which he hasn’t done before or since. In general we don’t have that quality of forward able to elevate pretty mediocre looking teams like Norwich and Watford. We produce a good performance, and draw, missing five great chances. Drop that performance level slightly and we get beaten.

If this is, once again, all sounding a little bit 00/01 to you then I’m not about to improve your mood. The last time QPR were relegated from this division they scored 45 goals in 46 games having lost key striking pair Chris Kiwomya and Rob Steiner to injury and laboured through the rest of the campaign with a disparate collection of strikers who weren’t up to it – Kevin Lisbie, Michel Ngonge, The Artist Formerly Known as Paul Peschisolido. When they played well they drew more often than not – 19 times that season. When they played less well, they were beaten – 5-0 at Preston, 5-0 at Wimbledon, 5-2 at Sheff Wed, 4-2 at Barnsley etc. Jack Supple slid into the DMs last night with this gem – QPR’s record after 18 league games in the 2024-25 season (W2 D9 L7), QPR’s record after 18 league games in the 2000-01 season (W2 D9 L7).

This another game where there’s a very clear best-case scenario, a very clear worst case, and we’ll only find out in time and hindsight which is true.

Maintain this level of performance we’ll be absolutely fine. Not only fine, but pretty good to watch. That’s the challenge now.

Links >>> Ratings and Reports >>> Message Board Match Thread

Watford: Bachmann 7; Porteous 7, Sierralta 6 (Vata 46, 7), Pollock 7; Andrews 6 (Ngakia 65, 6), Sissoko 5 (Ince 79, 6), Louza 7, Larouci 6 (Ebosele 65, 6); Kayembe 5 (Baah 46, 6), Bayo 5, Chekvetadze 6

Subs not used: Bond, Dwomoh, Doumbia, Morris

Yellow Cards: Sierralta 34, (foul), Pollock 54 (foul)

QPR: Nardi 7; Dunne 7, Cook 7, Morrison 6, Paal 5 (Fox 71, 5); Madsen 5 (Varane 64, 7), Field 7, Morgan 6 (Andersen 72, 6); Smyth 7 (Ashby 71, 5), Celar 6, Saito 7 (Dixon-Bonner 90+2,-)

Subs Not Used: Santos, Bennie, Kolli, Walsh

Yellow Cards: Madsen 2 (foul), Smyth 57 (foul), Field 88 (foul)

QPR Star Man – Sam Field 7 Going into this game with young Kieran Morgan replacing Jonathan Varane in midfield, against a side that likes to transition quickly through that part of the pitch, was extremely scary. Sam Field gave his best performance of the season dominating that area and stemming the flow.

Referee – Andrew Kitchen (Durham) 4 Distinctly home orientated. Again.

Attendance 20,413 (2,104 QPR) The support this team is getting through ‘a difficult period’ which is now approaching the third year anniversary of its beginning is remarkable.

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Pictures - Reuters Connect

062259 added 16:23 - Dec 1 Progress
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NewYorkRanger added 16:46 - Dec 1 Nice report as always, thanks. Agree that Varane looked great when he came on. Anyone else notice the weird thing about him though? He was wearing black boots! You never see that these days. Really stood out. What a difference from 30 years agon
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tsbains64 added 18:50 - Dec 1 Best performance for a long while Wonderful away end !
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gazza1 added 18:59 - Dec 1 The 'boys' did good, they all worked proper hard, every one of them. I expected a beating even after a fair team performance at Cardiff. Tough to pick a key man, the goalie, back 4, Field, Smyth & Saiko were good on the day. Between Field & Dunne for me. Thought Celar was back to normal (poor) but had two decent efforts which could have been winners. Varane done well when he arrived on the pitch. Pleasing three games in my book.

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Sittingbournehoop added 21:05 - Dec 1 It’s the hope that kills you, finally looking much more competitive and still shocked by the Cardiff win and the quality of Celar’s goals. I didn’t attend the Cardiff game but went to the Watford game and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m easily pleased and just want a team that looks up for it, competitive, organised and giving it their all. Our finishing was woefully poor, but otherwise we played well. Nardi looks our best keeper since Smithies, Field had his best game of the season, Saito just never stops running and always a threat, and Morrison looks fairly solid and a good partnership with Cook. Just need more threat up front and hopefully Frey will be back soon with his shooting boots on.

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