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My German team, Fortuna Düsseldorf (used to work in Düsseldorf for a short time) are one game away from being promoted to the Bundesliga. They are in the relegation play off where the 3rd bottom team from the Bundesliga plays two games, home and away, against the 3rd placed team in Bundesliga 2 which this season is Düsseldorf.
Fortuna Düsseldorf, on a 14 game unbeaten run in Bundesliga 2, went to VFL Bochum and beat them 3-0 at their place. The second leg is at home for F95 on Monday and Fortuna Düsseldorf just need to not lose by more than 2 to get promoted.
Not too sure if this sort of play off would work in England where the 3rd worse team in the Premiership plays the 3rd best team in the Championship - that would have been Luton vs Leeds this season. I like our format better and it's great when it works for us like 10 years ago....
Fortuna Düsseldorf are like QPR in many ways in that they spend most of their time in the second tier and have the odd skirmish in the top tier. Perennial underdogs where I expect them to do the unexpected. Normally the Bundesliga team wins the relegation playoff but F95 might just buck that trend.....
Anyway, hope Düsseldorf does it on Monday as I plan to be in Munich for an American Football game in November (New York Giants v Carolina Panthers) so hope to catch Düsseldorf the same weekend for a Bundesliga game. It's on my bucket list to see Fortuna Düsseldorf play live so that'll be a great opportunity. Hope QPR aren't playing at home that weekend...
442 magazine has predicted is to finish 7th next season. That would annoy me as we would be just missing out on the play offs. 10th or 6th for me. Not 7th.
To me over the last few years (and 1967) the 3-2 scoreline conjures up some memorable games for me.
1967 The League Cup final Sep 2004 - Leicester at our place. 2-0 down and then we go on to win 3-2 - all our goals from headers Nov 2011 - Man City at our place. We lost but it was a great game Nov 2011 - Beating Stoke at their place. Because it's Stoke Mar 2012 - Liverpool at our place. 2-0 down with 13 minutes to go. You know the rest May 2012 - Man City at their place. They win the title and we stay up.
There are quite a few 3-2 games that I like to forget but those 6 I list here are remarkable each for different reasons.
There have been one or two memorable 1-0 wins in recent years too...
From Adrian Durham in the Daily Mail. Almost as shocked as when Bobby scored on Saturday....
It’s about time we all started giving Harry Redknapp the credit he truly deserves. His reputation remains well and truly intact as one of the best managers England has never had. Let’s not underestimate the job he has done at Queens Park Rangers.
A bunch of high-earning, under-performing players - a squad rotten to the core - has been shaken up and transformed into Wembley winners in a short space of time.
It reminds me of the incredible job Redknapp did at Spurs — taking them from the relegation zone to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in a flash.
When he took over, Ryan Nelsen - a senior player Redknapp considered the best at the club - came to him saying he was leaving, and telling the boss he had ‘no chance’ with the QPR squad because it was ‘the worst dressing room’ he had ever witnessed.
Eighteen months ago QPR had a player who chose to pay a fine of two weeks wages - £130,000 — rather than sit on the bench for a Premier League game.
In January 2012 Redknapp’s chairman signed a player for a huge transfer fee, put him on £100,000 a week, only for the manager to then find out he wasn’t fit and was ‘mentally fragile’.
Just over a year ago Redknapp had reason to believe an agent fed a ‘story’ to a newspaper to whip up more trouble in the QPR camp.
At the start of this season Joey Barton told his Twitter followers he would not be playing for QPR in the Championship. Somehow Redknapp turned this belligerent hate figure into a dedicated professional and a crucial part of their promotion picture.
The critics tried to pin the blame for the huge Rangers wage bill on Redknapp, when clearly most of the players had been signed under different management.
The Harry-haters laughed as Rangers flopped, and seized on their golden nuggets like: ‘QPR’s wage bill is bigger than Atletico Madrid’s.’
Redknapp didn’t sanction the wages — almost all the high-earners arrived before he did. And those on big money were awful flops who refused to perform and refused to move away from Loftus Road.
That criticism of Harry smacks of desperation, and yet I can’t quite work out why people seem to be so anxious for Redknapp to fail. His teams try to play decent football, and at Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Spurs he achieved unprecedented success in the modern era.
After a succession of players and agents were allowed to strip QPR of its money and its dignity, Harry Redknapp has restored pride in this terrific football club.
Redknapp arrived to find a dressing room full of bad players with bad attitudes on big money. That situation requires strong and clever management.
The fact that QPR now find themselves back in the Premier League tells you Harry not only got the stinking, sinking ship cleaned out and floating in calmer waters again, he’s also steered it in the right direction.
If you’re not prepared to give Harry Redknapp credit for that then your dislike of him is personal, and a little bit strange.
On way home. Northern sullen all game. SWP scores. Delirium. Tears are shed. Tasty blonde dragged off at half time. Voice is lost. £58.50 spent and it was the best £58.50 I have ever spent. This is all.
So how is HR going to fix the factions within out squad? It is obvious that there are three:-
1) Overpaid, money grabbing bastards,lazy, fit for nothing MH recruits (SWP, Boswinga - take a bow) 2) Paid a lot with obvious moments of brilliance and am trying and could do better (Esteban, Julio Cesar - take a bow) 3) Championship originals bust a gut, paid a lot less, give a shit diehards (Adel, Mackie, Faurlin, Hill, Derry - take a bow) 4) The ousted on the sidelines, never given a chance under MH (Green, Hogan, DJ - take a bow)
Whatever HR does there will be grumbles in the squad about the differences in wages and those not earning their keep. Unless there is a clear out of under-performing, overpaid toss pots in January and/or a leveling of wages.
I hope TF gives HR carte blanche as MH was too arrogant to see what a broken squad he had created. And MB is still living in cloud cuckooo land by stating that there is no split in the squad. He can fark off as well..
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