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Reply | Liam Morrison Injury
at 22:22 26 Sep 2024
Marti mentioned it on the offish. Morrison was 'in and out of knee pain. So had 'minor but successful surgery' Expected to be out for ' a few weeks' |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread
at 21:58 25 Sep 2024
The latter more of an issue than the former I think. Thought he had it sussed at Hull. Terrible waste of a talent. Himself and Ferguson could've been a very potent forward line for us - maybe it'll happen yet. |
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Reply | Kelman
at 10:21 25 Sep 2024
Just coming 23 is still young. At that age Les Ferdinand was .... Seriously if he gets himself well into double figures, he would certainly be worth a look at next pre-season (if he still on our books) |
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Reply | 6 games in
at 22:58 23 Sep 2024
Getting Chair back on the pitch and keeping Frey and JCS fit will have a huge bearing on where we end up. |
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Reply | Frey and Nardi drag QPR through clunky Millwall show - Report
at 20:06 23 Sep 2024
Cheers Clive, frustrating for sure and made your 'Front Foot' preview title bitterly ironic. We only seem to rouse ourselves when we fall behind (with the exception of Plymouth, whom we mistakenly thought were there to be hammered). Our two most impressive halves (and results) were Sheffield United and Luton away. We have nothing to fear about going one - or even two - down, being level or actually ahead is proving much more problematic. It's like 'oh we're losing, better sort this out then' and when they do, they revert back to QPR shirted mannequins.
I am also concerned that we are being incredibly lucky at the moment. 99 times out of a hundred the ref gives a free out last week and how Milwall missed that sitter at the end , only he knows. Sooner or later we will run out of luck, so we better start making our own before that.
Finally, just on the patience thing. Being patient for me is about tolerating mistakes when players take risks as the majority are young or inexperienced at Championship level, and learning their trade. Patience for me is not about sitting through huge chunks of dross, because nobody has the balls or desire to get stuck in and try to make something happen. There is a world of difference between making mistakes and being afraid to make one. As Samuel Beckett, said 'Try again. Fail Again. Fail Better.' |
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Reply | Frey
at 12:09 22 Sep 2024
He certainly is in top form at the minute. That was a difficult goal to score yesterday. Even though Dembele did brilliantly and his pass was perfectly weighted, there was still a lot for Frey to do. He had to take it on the run and then shoot from a difficult angle at full speed (well almost full speed I think he ran faster after he scored - reminded me of Austin against Brentford!)
Confidence as we know is critical for a striker and at the moment everything he hits seems to go in. - To re-open last week's debate, did that goal justify resting him v Palace or would he have caused the Palace defence more problems than Celar? He didn't get much change out of Sheffield Wednesdays CB's |
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Reply | Utterly Sick of It
at 23:31 17 Sep 2024
I get your frustration, Brian, and we have certainly sacked off cup games in the past, only to lose the next league game anyway. But to be fair, I don't think Marti is guilty of that tonight. Certainly didn't start with his strongest 11, given that Nardi, Dembele, and Frey were benched and Colback not involved at all . But given the injuries to Clark Slater and Chair and what we went through last season, I feel there is some justification for his team selection. It's not like he played a Development Team. I think giving game time to Walsh, Varane (who was good tonight I felt) and Celar (who wasn't) is really important to add depth to the squad, which is still wafer thin when you remove a couple of established starters.
Also, to be honest, once the Man City's, Liverpool's and Arsenal's eventually decide to grace us with their presence, we are not going to win the cup. The romance of '67 will never be repeated in my lifetime. It has been mentioned many times before, but if the Premier League clubs who are involved in Europe were debarred from the tournament completely, it would make for a much more even and interesting contest and would be well worth really 'going' for. |
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Reply | QPR only discussion - English fans vs American fans
at 22:14 9 Sep 2024
A very interesting discussion. If I could broaden it out to include all non attending fans rather than just American. I have supporting QPR since 1975 and I have seen them THREE times competitively and TWO friendlies (both against Athlone) in the intervening years. The first time was at home to Oldham in 2004(?) in the third tier. A one all draw, pretty bereft of atmosphere, quite toxic actually, considering we were in the family enclosure.
Second occasion is my favourite of the three, away to Bristol City, also a 1-1 draw. Dowie in charge, Ledesma got sent off. But the atmosphere second half was pretty special as we chanted not stop, to get them over the line.
Third time was at Anfield during our most recent relegation year. Lost 3-1, Gerrard missed a penalty. Atmosphere was unsurprisingly muted, considering how shite we were. Gallows humour chant 'We're going down we don't give a fook, we're QPR we'll come back up'.
In the beginning I listened for the results on 5Live on a Saturday afternoon at half-time and full time (James Alexander Gordon). Then the highlights on MotD or the Big Match. In those days (12/13 years old) my mood was dominated by results. I remember being beat 5-1 by Everton early '76/'77 and nobody could talk to me. FA Cup final replay watched in a pub in Sligo town, I was disconsolate (and very drunk) at the end. Nearly got thrown out several times, except my attractive girlfriend was able to plamas the barman. Fast forward to 1986, League Cup S/F another pub, Galway this time, surrounded by Liverpool fans, screaming triumphantly (wouldn't get out alive nowadays) at the TV. Kicked out (no attractive g/f).
Then I worked abroad and fell in love (no necessarily in that order) and had kids and for several years QPR took a back seat, was aware of results, but far too busy with life to be anything like as invested as I had been.
Nowadays,( as recently as last Friday night v Luton )I scream and roar in equal part disgust /delight at our performances. My family have long since stopped worrying about the strange noises emanating from the room, but the next generations boy/girfriends can become quite concerned - they'll learn if they stick around long enough.
But you only have to read any of Clive's reports (the Luton one is a classic) to know my QPR experience is nothing like his. I would argue that few of the even most regular atendees to LR or away games are as invested as he is. But for everyone living in the vicinity their experience is different than mine. And often it is not just QPR related. I don't hate Chelsea for instance - why should I, they are over 500 miles away (I hate Mayo, but that's a different matter) I don't hate Luton or Reading, My only association with Luton is the airport which I have used twice to visit my aunt in Windsor.
So, while I am as passionate and as informed as any fan, there is no comparison to my QPR experience and that of anyone attending regularly or living locally. And I am in awe of anyone travelling to Sunderland (or any long distance match) mid-week. As we saw during Covid (by their absence), fans attending matches are the lifeblood of the club, The rest of us continue to scream manically from the armchair. |
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Reply | Twice in a week – Report
at 11:46 4 Sep 2024
Clive has explained the rationale behind his ratings on more than one occasion. If I remember it correctly, it is as much to do with the collective team effort as about individuals. So grades are given in the context of how the overall team performs over 90 minutes. But really the fixation with grades is unnecessarily. At the end of the day, it is one man's (albeit experienced) opinion and takes up a tiny fragment of his 2 ,3 (5?) thousand word report |
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Reply | First film you ever see at the cinema/pictures.
at 09:50 4 Sep 2024
Great story Pat. We had two cars bringing up to 30 lads to matches - seatbelts what seatbelts!
Back on topic, we had a traveling cinema come to our village in the 60's and early 70's so must have gone to that, but don't recall. Was brought to see 'King Lear' in Tubbercurry for my Inter Cert in '79, but first proper 'filum' that I saw was 'Grease in '78 in Ballina (Mayo version) |
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Reply | Jimmy Dunne - undroppable
at 20:02 3 Sep 2024
We are a fickle enough bunch though and football is very fluid. If he had been sold last January, the reaction would have been similar to Armstrong/Dykes |
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Reply | Jimmy Dunne - undroppable
at 23:00 1 Sep 2024
I think another factor why Dunne may be replaced at RB after the international break, is that he is no longer required as an 'outball' for Begovic to chip it to. Marti is clearly determined to play out from the back (luckily he still remains pragmatic enough to abandon it when we went one down on Friday night and Luton were pushing right up on us) on the deck and clearly the Newcastle loanee is the man he wants to assist with that.
I think that Marti intended Santos to fulfill that role from the start, but doesn't deem him ready yet. A lot depends on who plays on the right wing. I know Smyth frustrates a lot of people on here attacking wise, but defensively he was immense on Friday night and stopped Doughty in his tracks on several occasions |
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Thread | Final squad
at 14:53 31 Aug 2024
Whatever the debate on players in the final year of their contracts, this is a pretty strong squad until New Year anyway. Top half should be achievable |
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Reply | Paal
at 20:37 28 Aug 2024
Of much more of a concern than his form is the fact that his (and Dunne's) contract will expire next summer and both could leave for free. This is not sustainable and not in keeping with our alleged model. After Armstrong's sale, Marti said it was important that the club was in charge of outgoing transfers and not the players. We can't afford to cherry pick who we move on in the final year of their contract and who we don't. Just because a player is a regular starter and popular doesn't mean he should be treated differently than a player who is deemed 'dispensable'
I think we have made a bit of a botch of both full-back positions. Paal was supposed to be moved on and replaced by (a) the Italian lad and (B) Beck. We missed out on both and sent our reserve out on loan for the season - I wonder can he be called back at any time?
Likewise, at RB, we don't seem to have done due diligence on Cannon and Santos (while improved) seems more comfortable at Wing Back which is not the formation we usually use. So it seems we are 'stuck' with 2 full backs who are in the final year of their respective contracts. Both are solid full-backs in the short term, but as I have already said we are supposed to be moving on players in the final year of their contract rather losing them for free. |
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Reply | Dykes sold apparently
at 20:20 28 Aug 2024
No we don't . We are (at best) a mid-table 2nd tier club. We cannot justify having 3 strikers when we only use 1 up front. We have more pressing concerns in defence, where both our regular full-backs are out of contract next summer. We cannot afford to let players run down their contracts and leave for free. |
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Reply | The Sad Hatters League Cup thread sponsored by Numptydumpty
at 22:14 27 Aug 2024
Brilliant to get through and some much improved individual performances. The more often they play and train together the better they will get. At less one more game for Walsh too which is important for his development. Avoid defeat on Friday night, settled squad after window closes and then two weeks with Marti on the training ground. Hopefully September we'll really start to get a few wins |
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