The second part of the annual LFW end of season report on each individual player looks at the midfielders who served QPR with mixed results during 2013/14.
Ahh poor, wee Little Tom Carroll. In another life, where he wasn’t born with footballing ability, an extra in Grange Hill, hired by Crimewatch for a reconstruction about an 11 year old getting into the friendly neighbourhood paedophile’s car never to be seen again. Of course plenty of QPR fans would tell you he’d be better suited to that child acting role, having not been born with said footballing ability at all. The grief Carroll has taken this season, particularly in the away game at Charlton where the atmosphere was caustic and the Tottenham loanee took the brunt of the ire, has been constant and, on plenty of occasions, nasty.
What we knew about Carroll before he arrived is that he’d looked very decent playing for Spurs in the Europa League, and that Harry Redknapp had enough faith in him to lean through his car window in vintage style at the end of transfer deadline day and declare "we’ll play through Tom”. Derby fans, however, sounded a note of caution, saying he’d looked lightweight during a previous loan spell for them and was completely ill-equipped to play in the middle of a four man midfield at Championship level. Typically, Redknapp immediately selected him in the middle of a four man midfield at Championship level, and it didn’t go well.
Carroll is lightweight, you only have to look at him to know that. And he gives the ball away a lot, though not — I would contest — as much as public hero Joey Barton. But he often does so having shown for possession in the first place (take not Jermaine Jenas) and then while trying to complete an incisive pass forwards rather than a lazy one sideways. For his unfailing desire to be in possession of the ball, even when all around him was going to cock, even when the crowd were in the mood for a lynching, I admired him and liked him a lot. We saw at Ipswich, when an injury to Joey Barton meant Carroll had to become the main ball player, with the security of Karl Henry behind him and Niko Kranjcar always offering an option ahead of him, how good he can be. Against Nottingham Forest at Loftus Road he had a hand in three of the five goals. Look at the static, defensive nature of this QPR team and ask yourself whether you’d like to be the one trying to pick a killer pass from the base of the midfield. But there were times when he was poor, and he failed to score a single goal in 26 appearances which isn’t good enough.
If Tottenham were up for a sale I’d take him, at a low price and on the condition that he lodges at the Shittu residence for the next six months, eating in Danny’s kitchen and gyming in Danny’s gym. Potentially an excellent, and very QPR, player in my opinion, but I know I’m in a tiny minority on that one.
Stats:
Appearances: 23 starts and 3 sub appearances. 1 start and 1 sub appearance for Spurs.
Scoresheet: 0 goals scored, 5 assists (Wigan H, Bournemouth A, Forest H x3), W14 D5 L7
Discipline: 2 yellows (foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 6, 5, 6, 7, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 8, 5, 6, 5, 5, -, -, -, 6, 7, 6, 7, 5, 7, 6, 6 = 5.95
Fans’ Average Rating: 5.54
Man of the Match Awards: 1 (Ipswich A)
To be honest, I’m loathe to give Jenas a D, because Assou-Ekotto got the same mark and didn’t give a single toss about playing for QPR whereas Jenas can’t, in my opinion, be faulted for his desire, attitude or commitment to the club. He also seemed to be hitting form at just the right time through March with good performances against Leeds and Brighton before he suffered the curse of QPR — the ruptured cruciate ligament injury — which ended his season just as he looked like he might be a valuable player for the run in. I like the way he speaks and what he says, and occasionally I like the way he plays as well — a two goal salvo against Derby at Loftus Road particularly noteworthy — but honest to God most of the time when I’m watching Jermaine Jenas I want to rip my own arm out of the shoulder socket and beat myself to death with the soggy end of it just so I don’t have to watch any more.
This is a player with 21 senior England caps to his name, in excess of 100 appearances at the highest level for Newcastle who paid £5m for him, and more than 150 for Spurs who paid £7m. At 31 he’s a very decent age for a central midfield player and doesn’t seem to have suffered any loss of pace or decrease in stamina as his career has gone on. I said at the start of the season that he could potentially be a massive player for QPR this season if he could grab Championship games by the scruff of the neck, demand possession of the ball, drive forward from midfield, arrive late into penalty boxes on the end of crosses. He has all of that in his repertoire, he can do it, and in very brief flashes we saw it this season. He could and should have been QPR’s Player of the Year at this level. Rangers should have been fending off January transfer interest from Premier League clubs. We should now all be on the edge of our seats waiting for news of whether he’ll stay faithful to us and sign that contract, or head off to a West Ham or Everton-type club in the Premier League.
Instead, as he’s been guilty of throughout his career, he’s mostly done his Jenas The Friendly Ghost impression. Tom Carroll, as I’ve already said, took plenty of grief from the Loftus Road crowd for giving the ball away too frequently, but he did at least have a go. Carroll always showed for a pass, always tried to move it on quickly, often looked for a positive forward pass. Jenas, and this got so chronic through January and February that I actually started spending 10 minutes at a time during games watching only him to try and figure out exactly what was going on, has a unique ability to always be ten yards away from anything that’s happening. A tackle is being made, a pass is being completed, a shot on goal is happening — whatever it is, Jenas is never anywhere near it. It’s actually amazing to watch after a while. He’s just always there, in the background, in a pristine clean kit.
Not for the first time in this end of season round up I’m forced to conclude, that his season was a real missed opportunity, and a waste of a talent from QPR’s point of view.
Stats:
Appearances: 17 starts and 11 sub appearances
Scoresheet: 3 goals scored (Derby H x2, Leeds H), 3 assists (Exeter A, Doncaster A, Birmingham A), W14 D6 L8
Discipline: 2 yellows (foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 3, -, 6, -, 6, -, -, -, 4, 5, -, 5, 6, 7, 5, 5, 4, 6, 6, 4, 5, 3, 6, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6 = 5.41
Fans’ Average Rating: 4.97
Man of the Match Awards: 0
I’ve been inside Loftus Road when the home crowd has been booing Trevor Sinclair for daring to put in a transfer request because he wanted to go and play in the Premier League after five seasons of steadfast service to the cause, during which he stayed with Rangers after they were relegated from the top flight. I’ve seen Andy Sinton and David Seaman, both superb players for Rangers who made the club a massive profit when they were sold, harangued on their return. I’ve heard Michael Meaker, a youth team graduate (albeit a poor one), booed by his own fans. I was at a home match with Ipswich Town a few years ago where Gavin Mahon, am honest if somewhat limited professional who did a steady job for our club, was set upon by the home faithful.
Which all made the hero worship of Joey Barton from the moment he walked back out onto the pitch in QPR colours for the first game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday rather odd to me. Here was a player who openly admitted that he’d made a mistake coming to QPR and had only signed because the club offered so much money. He publicly reveled in the sacking of Neil Warnock — the manager who’d won the club a promotion back to the top flight for the first time in 15 years — and took it upon himself to criticise Adel Taarabt — who’d scored 19 goals and set up 23 others in that promotion campaign — on national radio. He played abysmally in his first season at Rangers, got himself stupidly sent off in a six pointer at home to Norwich which was subsequently lost, and then when his form did pick up towards the end of the season he let the club down in a match of huge importance at Manchester City on the final day of the season. He subsequently went on loan to Marseille and repeatedly said that he wanted to stay there and would under no circumstances be playing in the Championship with QPR. Then when it turned out Marseille didn’t want him, stories magically appeared in the press from only Poirot knows where that he would love to sign for his boyhood club Everton. Staying with QPR was his absolute last resort.
And yet his return to our field was met with a reception akin to a king returning from a battle victorious: France conquered, now fear not, Joey is here to save us all. I found the whole thing embarrassing. QPR, and QPR fans, have got to be prouder about themselves than to allow players to treat our club in that way with no consequences.
Those who chant his name will say it encouraged a player who turned out to be key to the first team this season to stay and play for Rangers, and perhaps they’re right. Barton owed the club big time, and he delivered a very decent season during which QPR were a better team with him in it than without with the one exception of Ipswich away where his withdrawal through injury suited our tactics on that day and led to a 3-1 win. He scored an important goal at Reading and celebrated with Ale Faurlin’s shirt a week after the Argentinean had ruptured his knee ligaments again. He knuckled down, worked hard, kept out of trouble, and seemed to grow into an important and well liked member of the group. In the play-offs he owed QPR a big performance in a big game and he delivered that in spades — absolutely superb in both semi-finals and the final.
He finally seems to have bought into what the club and its supporters are about and started treating it and them with some more respect. He still gives the ball away far too often — far more often than Carroll who is harangued by the supporters — and his disciplinary record on the field remains poor. Against Leicester, in an important game at the top of the table, he talked himself into a red card and then came very close to doing likewise with the same referee at Sheffield Wednesday. That’s not good enough for somebody who seems to be setting himself up as a leader of this team. I was amazed to see him pick up the LSA Player of the Year award when for me Charlie Austin, Danny Simpson, Robert Green and even possibly Nedum Onuoha and Richard Dunne were all well ahead of him in the running.
Overall, I think he’s wiped his slate clean at QPR, and in that respect he can be pleased with his efforts this season.
Stats:
Appearances: 38 starts and 1 sub appearance
Scoresheet: 3 goals scored (Boro H, Reading A, Watford H), 3 assists (Sheff Wed H, Leeds A, Millwall A), W21 D9 L9
Discipline: 1 red (Leciester H, 2 yellows), 13 yellows (foul, unsporting conduct, foul, repetitive fouling, foul, repetitive fouling, dissent, foul, foul, repetitive fouling, repetitive fouling, foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 7, 6, 7, 8, 6, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 8, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 6, 6, 7, 6, 7, 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 7 = 6.23
Fans’ Average Rating: 6.88
Man of the Match Awards: 4 (Huddersfield A, Ipswich H, Derby H, Reading A)
Few players have frustrated at QPR as much as Niko Kranjcar this season. When the Croatian international arrived on loan from Dynamo Kiev at the very end of the August transfer window it looked like a significant coup, the kind only QPR could make at Championship level, and a key blow in the promotion race. Against Middlesbrough in September Krajcar was majestic, gliding around the field at the fulcrum of a display brimming with attacking intent and purposeful possession. At Millwall a couple of weeks later he struck the cross bar with an absolute barnburner from 3 yards and knocked in another one equally as good as if he was tapping the ball home from a yard out. He was a pleasure to watch, and in an interview with The Independent spoke about how happy he was at the club and how the ball "feels differently” when you’re satisfied with your lot. Sensual.
Kranjcar looked all set to be to QPR in 2013/14 what Adel Taarabt had been in the promotion-winning season of 2010/11 — a player far too good for the division, capable of winning games for Rangers when the rest of the team wasn’t playing well. So what went wrong? Ultimately Kranjcar started less than half QPR’s league games and only scored one further goal, in a 3-1 win at Ipswich. He was still capable of excellent performances, and won four Man of the Match awards on LFW, but overall he struggled to hit the heights of his first few games with the club and ultimately wasn’t even guaranteed a spot in the starting 11.
He was accused of being fat, and while that’s patently not true it is unquestionable that he was bigger, heftier, at the end of the season than he was when he first arrived. In the away match at Leicester, and then again at home to Wigan in the play-offs, although his overall performance was excellent he really should have been sent off in both matches for a series of late, lunging tackles caused purely by a rapid decline in his pace and match fitness. At the end of September if I’d had to guess I’d have backed him for a dozen goals — he finished with two and five assists. That is a pathetic return for a player of that ability at that level of the game.
Overall he made a valuable contribution, particularly against Wigan in the semi-final when he gamely battled on with a hamstring injury that ultimately cost him his place at the World Cup. Redknapp clearly rated him highly, selecting him for the final despite that known complaint — a gamble that subsequently didn’t pay off. But I think he could have been so much more for QPR. Potentially a decent permanent signing for the Premier League, but only if his fitness improves significantly.
Stats:
Appearances: 23 starts and 10 sub appearances, 2 Croatian caps
Scoresheet: 2 goals scored (Millwall A, Ipswich A), 5 assists (Millwall A, Burnley H, Burnley H, Yeovil H, Boro A), W16 D8 L9
Discipline: 5 yellows (foul, foul, foul, foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 8, 6, 8, 6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 6, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 7, 6, 7, 5, 5, 7, 5, 6, 5, 6, 7, 5, 6, 6, 8, 5 = 6.06
Fans’ Average Rating: 6.18
Man of the Match Awards: 4 (Boro H, Millwall A, Leicester H, Forest H)
When a club that has just been relegated to League One is desperate to get rid of a player, and the supporters have turned against a player who was previously considered one of their own, alarm bells should surely be ringing all around the potential purchaser, especially as QPR were apparently willing to spend a fee to bring Wolves fan Karl Henry to Loftus Road from Molineux.
Henry had always seemed destined to end up at Loftus Road — chased initially by Gianni Paladini and Gary Waddock when he was at Stoke — and although his signing wasn’t particularly sexy or spectacular, he was brought in at a time when many were anticipating a free fall as a steady, experienced, solid presence for the midfield.
In the end he did ok. Sometimes he performed well — at Ipswich, when introduced as a sub for the injured Joey Barton, he freed Tom Carroll into his best performance for the club and then scored spectacularly at home to Bolton. Occasionally he was absolutely dreadful — abject performances followed one another at Forest and Everton over Christmas. Mostly he was steady, filling in, doing a job.
Unspectacular.
Stats:
Appearances: 18 starts and 11 sub appearances.
Scoresheet: 1 goal scored (Bolton H) and 0 assists.
Discipline: 2 yellows (foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 6, 5, 6, 8, 6, 7, 6, -, 6, 5, 6, 6, -, 3, 3, 7, 6, 7, -, 6, 4, 6, 5, 7, 6, -, 7, 7 = 5.87
Fans’ Average Rating: 6.05
Man of the Match Awards: 0
A really odd one. To begin with, his signing almost seemed like the final straw for me with QPR. Yet another signing, layered on top of all the others, when we already had Niko Kranjcar to play his exact position. Never do QPR work with or coach a player they already own, always do they look for yet another signing. Benayoun was old, with Chelsea connections, having achieved everything he was ever likely to achieve in the game, and a much publicised enormous bank balance — check, check, check and check. It was like Rangers had looked at the very worst signings they’ve made in recent years and decided to follow a step by step guide in making the same mistakes all over again. The board seemed to sense it too, delaying and delaying on the signing while Redknapp used his weekly press conferences to state a case for pushing it through.
Benayoun, with no recent first team football in his legs whatsoever, endeared himself still further to the home crowd by being shrugged off a ball in the centre circle and appealing to the referee for a free kick he simply didn’t deserve while mighty Doncaster Rovers broke downfield and opened the scoring. He disappeared from the first team picture altogether for a couple of months after that.
Then, something changed. Possibly, he got fit. A goal at Middlesbrough started things off and was quickly followed by another, and a fantastic performance despite a red card, in a home win against Wigan. He scored again against Nottingham Forest at Loftus Road and showed prodigious work rate in the QPR midfield, hassling ad haranguing opponents from the first whistle to the last. Suddenly, from holding him up as an example of everything that’s wrong with the club, many fans had him in their respective starting elevens for the play-off games against Wigan.
And then, just as quickly as he’d appeared, he vanished again. Possibly injured, but certainly not selected for the end of season knock out that he’d seemed so crucial for. Bizarre all round.
Has already left and signed for Maccabi Haifa in his homeland. So thanks for your efforts Yossi and good luck. I think.
Stats:
Appearances: 10 starts and 7 sub appearances
Scoresheet: 3 goals scored (Boro A, Wigan H, Forest H), 1 assist (Forest H), W6 D3 L8
Discipline: 1 red (Wigan H, 2 yellows) 2 yellows (foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 6, 5, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, -, -, 5, 7, 6, 5, 8, 6, 6, 6 = 5.8
Fans’ Average Rating: 5.14
Man of the Match Awards: 0
Gary O’Neil will always be remembered for one thing, which is a shame really because prior to his red card at Wembley which kept the score deadlocked and ultimately meant QPR could go on to win the play-off final against Derby he’d been playing excellently at the heart of the midfield. He was superb on his debut as well, a 36 minute substitute appearance against Ipswich at Loftus Road in August when he helped turn the match in Rangers’ favour. In hindsight, I should have given him Man of the Match that day despite him only being on the field just over half an hour.
What went in between, however, was often best forgotten. O’Neil’s work rate could never be questioned, and much like Karl Henry he was a steadying, experienced influence brought in at a tough time for the club to help stop the ship from listing. Redknapp had worked with him before, knew what he was getting, and will no doubt reflect on a free transfer well picked. O’Neil has won promotion from this division three times now, including twice in the last three seasons, so he’s no mug.
But for a midfielder with Premier League experience, I found his fascination with giving the ball away every time he was given it alarming. Even simple passes seemed beyond him at times. In the semi-final against Wigan at Loftus Road he had three goes at getting the ball back to Robert Green under little pressure, each attempt worse than the last, and ultimately it was only the fact that a twat like James McClean raced in on goal as a result, and decided to dive for a penalty rather than score, that spared his blushes. It became chronic — giving the ball to Gary O’Neil was as good as giving the thing away.
A shame really because he seems like a likeable lad, and the kind of player who you look at playing elsewhere and think they’re probably going to end up at QPR one day.
Job now done, I’d almost certainly be waving him on his way now.
Stats:
Appearances: 27 starts and 6 sub appearances.
Scoresheet: 1 goal scored (Ipswich A), 0 assists, W19 D7, L7
Discipline: 1 red (Play-off final, professional foul), 6 yellows (foul, foul, foul, foul, foul, foul)
LFW Ratings: 8, 7, 5, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 4, 7, 5, 5, 6, 2, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7 = 5.87
Fans’ Average Rating: 6.07
Man of the Match Awards: 0
Ordinarily I’d have included Ale Faurlin in the ‘others’ section because, tragically, just as he really seemed to be recovering from the cruciate knee ligament rupture in his left leg and getting back to his best form with fine showings at Wigan and against Derby at Loftus Road, he ruptured the cruciate knee ligament on his right side and was ruled out for the season. Tragic. The image of him beating the Loftus Road turf in frustration, being consoled by Joey Barton, will live long in the memory and it’s worth noting at this point that although Derby, by and large, behaved like a load of arrogant dicks who felt they had a God-given right to win the play-off final, they were brilliant back in October when that happened and sent their best wishes in droves. The Derby County media team even put out an official statement wishing Ale the best of luck, which was a really classy touch and one I’d like to think our club would replicate in similar circumstances.
However, there’s a bit more to say about the Argentinean so I’ve bumped him up into the main section. Because for me what happens next with Ale Faurlin is absolutely critical to the ongoing improvement of QPR as a football club. Tony Fernandes and Philip Beard openly admit that they made big mistakes the last time QPR were in the Premier League and while that’s very big and good of them, it’s not saying anything that isn’t patently bloody obvious already. QPR won four matches out of 38 the last time they were in the Premier League despite spending more money than two thirds of the other teams in the division — of course they made mistakes, I don’t need them to tell me that, I spent a hefty five figures following that lousy team around all season.
What I remain to be convinced about is whether they understand exactly what those mistakes were, and what they’re going to do differently moving forwards. QPR’s problem in the Premier League last time, in my opinion at least, was that they wanted to swing punches with the likes of Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle and so on. They went in for players like Stephane Mbia, Esteban Granero, Loic Remy, Djibril Cisse, Julio Cesar and others who you could easily see moving to clubs of that ilk. Now, why would players like that come to QPR, with their tiny Shepherd’s Bush ground, and training ground rented from a college? Money. No other reason. There are no trophies on offer here, no league title tilts, no magnificent facilities, no great and glorious history, it’s simply money. And, in addition, QPR were willing to overlook things like advancing age, declining fitness, poor form and long standing medical complaints to get them here.
Joey Barton said at the recent launch of QPR’s simply hideous kits for 2014/15 that this club can no longer be a "place where good players come to die” and never has a truer word been spoken. Joey Barton, who himself admitted coming here purely for the money, knows exactly why people like Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora, Jose Bosingwa and others have been washing up at Rangers during the past few years — because it’s easy money to top up a retirement that no other club in their right minds would pay them. And before you shake your head and lament the state of the modern sport too much, let’s not forget that having brought in Robert Green to be the number one keeper at QPR in summer 2012, QPR immediately dumped him and told him to look for another club when Cesar became available. Where is the incentive for players to come here and give a toss about anything other than money when they know if a supposedly better player becomes available they’ll be dropped in a heartbeat?
QPR need to pursue younger players, with beter fitness records, to avoid situations like the one they currently have in attack where they’re solely reliant on Charlie Austin because so much of the budget is tied up in Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson who are no longer fit to play the sport at this level. They need to bring in players with points to prove, who see QPR as a big opportunity rather than an easy shag, from abroad and the lower divisions — be the club that gives them their platform and chance to shine, sell them for a massive profit and start again. QPR needs to be proud of itself, and not let people like Joey Barton come in here and slag the place off while coining it in and clamouring for a move elsewhere. But QPR also needs to show players that if they come into the club, and show loyalty to it, and play well, and work hard, and commit, then the club will look after them in return.
Wigan Athletic know this. Why would a football player of any ability sign for Wigan Athletic, a club that played in the bottom division in a Rugby League town for decades and now plays Championship football in front of banks of empty seats solely because Dave Whelan finances the operation, other than for money? The first thing Wigan did when Ben Watson broke his leg was extend his contract. It shows him, and the other players they already have, and players who might be considering moving there, that the club values its players and treats them well if they are loyal and committed in return.
Ale Faurlin has been through the mill since he arrived at Loftus Road and he has never been anything other than committed, hard working, impressive on the field and popular in the dressing room. I personally think it’s disgraceful that his contract wasn’t renewed as soon as his injury happened and sincerely hope it happens very soon. Even if he fails to recover sufficiently to compete at the level QPR now play at, and even if he doesn’t want to stay on and coach as he should certainly be given the opportunity to do, it’s about the message such an offer would send out to him, the other players at the club, and players who may want to come here in the future. QPR is a club that responds to and rewards loyalty, hard work and commitment.
Or at least it should be.
Stats:
Appearances: 7 starts and 2 sub appearances
Scoresheet: 0 goals scored, 1 assist (Derby H) W6 D2 L1
Discipline: 1 yellow (foul)
LFW Ratings: 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, 7, 8 = 6.22
Fans’ Average Rating: 6.68
Man of the Match Awards: 0
Frankie Sutherland was hugely impressive in an interview with LFW before Christmas and got a move to high flying League One side Leyton Orient on loan shortly afterwards only to blow his knee on his debut. I really hope it works out for a genuinely nice lad, committed, intelligent and talented.
Shaun Derry featured briefly at Exeter in the cup, and spent time at Millwall, before letting his heart rule his head and accepting the managerial job at his boyhood club, and the Football League’s hottest hot seat Notts County. He kept the Magpies clear of relegation against all the odds. Congratulations and well done Shaun, and thank you for a sterling three years of service at Loftus Road. A cup draw with County would give QPR fans the chance to say a goodbye that circumstances have denied them so far.
Samba Diakite. What to say? Clearly written off by Harry Redknapp, he was sent to Watford on loan where he mixed dreadful performances with the customary dreadful discipline. His tackle for a red card in a home match against Middlesbrough early in his Hornets career had to be seen to be believed and ultimately they only picked him when nobody else was available. Sadly, it’s getting towards the time when we’re just going to have to write that one off as a bad job.
Mike Petrasso impressed in League One on loan at Oldham and should have been given far more first team minutes than a token last 20 in the dead rubber at Barnsley on the final day.
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