 Tuesday, 17th May 2011 22:30 by Clive Whittingham In previous years you could count the number of ‘pupils’ getting an A-grade in this feature on the fingers of one hand. As we start by looking at the QPR defence, that may be about to change. Goalkeepers1 Paddy Kenny - A Paddy Kenny was a summer signing I was pleased we made at the time, and as we go through this title winning squad of ours it will become apparent that this was a rarity. While the likes of Clint Hill, Shaun Derry and Jamie Mackie were met with a lukewarm reception at best, Kenny was a genuinely good and proven Championship player in a position we needed to strengthen at a good price. He made something of an inauspicious start; striding from his goal line in the opening stages of the first game of the year against Barnsley, missing a high through ball altogether and then laying in his six yard box injured/embarrassed while his defenders managed to scramble the ball away from the open goal. But having ridden his luck there the rest of his campaign was something of a goalkeeping master class. There were saves that few other goalkeepers could have made – Bristol City at home, Derby home, Leicester home – and a club record 24 clean sheets which formed a solid platform for the rest of the team to build on. At Cardiff in one of the most crucial games of the season Kenny made four or five superb saves to preserve a precious point, and he won us countless others besides. It’s hard to really think of a serious mistake that cost us a goal this year, and that’s quite remarkable for a goalkeeper who played in all but two of the fixtures. The Player’s Player of the Year award is always a telling one in my eyes, and Kenny was a runaway winner of it which tells you everything you need to know about what his team mates think of the way he has played this year. Stats >>> 44 league starts, two cup starts >>> 24 clean sheets breaking league and club record >>> seven LFW man of the match awards >>> average interactive rating 7.51 >>> average LFW rating 7.11 >>> one assist! Quieter class members… Kenny’s fine form and ever present record meant that Radek Cerny barely saw the light of day this season, except for the final two games when Kenny was injured and the Czech, looking rather nervous, was pressed into action. I’ve never really been a big fan of Cerny, partly because we ousted Lee Camp in his favour which I thought was a stupid decision and partly because he never really inspires that much confidence in me or it seems the defenders in front of him, but few clubs at this level can afford the luxury of having such an experienced and accomplished goalkeeper as a backup for the entire season. The value of Kenny, and the reason I said a moment ago that we needed to strengthen the goalkeeping position last summer despite having Cerny signed up, was shown in the final two games of the season. The Leeds game may have counted for nothing but Cerny erred badly in allowing Max Gradel to nip in and equalise. So while it’s hard to pick out a single goal costing error from Paddy Kenny across 46 league and cup games, Cerny made a glaring one in just two appearances. Harsh? Rustiness? Possibly, but for me Cerny’s late cameo merely served to highlight why we needed Paddy Kenny and the difference he has made. Defenders2 Bradley Orr - B Right full back Orr was the other summer signing I was reasonably pleased with. Again it was a position we needed to strengthen because we’d spent far too long shoehorning Matthew Connolly, Peter Ramage and other centre halves into it and again Warnock went for a proven, steady Championship performer who could slip seamlessly into the team. After our 3-0 win at the Riverside Stadium Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray highlighted the lack of ambition from our full backs, saying neither Orr nor Clint Hill ever crossed the halfway line, and although the dynamic of the team changed dramatically when Kyle Walker was part of it when Orr and Hill played right and left that was certainly the case. I’ve been disappointed with Orr’s input into the attack – I thought he was a better crosser of a ball than he has turned out to be highlighted by his assist total which is woeful for a club where David Bardsley used to ply his trade and we went through a frustrating period in January where for four or five games on the bounce perfect crosses to the back post kept landing on his head and subsequently chances were spurned – but his defensive play has been excellent for the majority of the campaign and he’s been yet another member of the squad who could always be relied upon to give a solid performance when picked. Also deserves credit for maintaining a positive attitude when he returned from injury but had to wait for his chance behind the on loan Walker. Stats >>> 29 league starts, one sub appearance >>> two cup starts >>> one goal v Scunthorpe at home>>> no assists >>> average interactive rating 6.3 >>> average LFW rating 6.45 3 Clint Hill - A I think anybody who claims they were thrilled with the signing of Clint Hill, on a free transfer from lowly Crystal Palace, last summer is being economical with the truth. Much like Shaun Derry, Hill had appeared well past his best in a Palace team that only narrowly escaped relegation in 2009/10. When QPR won 2-0 at Selhurst Park at the back end of the previous season Hill, Derry and several others looked miles off the pace, and unable to cope with the meagre weaponry QPR had at their disposal that day. On top of that Hill’s ankle is like a cement mixer, and it has since transpired that the club doctors said he wouldn’t last more than ten games without needing an operation. It appeared, on the face of it, to be a signing that confirmed all the bad things we’d heard about Neil Warnock and screamed ‘mid table mediocrity’ when it was made. But by the end of the season, with the title sealed at Watford, Warnock described Hill as a “hero” in his post match team talk and he’s been exactly that. Like Orr, you don’t often find Hill going across the halfway line, but defensively he has adapted his game superbly so that his lack of pace isn’t exposed by the likes of Nathan Dyer and Max Gradel at Championship level. Another key facet of his game is his heading ability – it’s easy to miss, but the sheer amount of times that he has a headed away a corner or a dangerous cross to the back post is astonishing. The only surprise really is he hasn’t scored more himself from our corners – one powerful header against Portsmouth and another against Ipswich all he has to show for a season of trundling up the field for our set pieces. Whether he’ll be able to play regularly (or at all) in the top flight is highly doubtful, but for a free transfer signing that nobody really wanted he has been extraordinarily good this season and was unfortunate not to be recognised at the end of season awards evening. Stats >>> 44 league starts, one cup start >>> two goals scored >>> one assist >>> one LFW man of the match award >>> 6.85 average interactive rating >>> 6.5 average LFW rating 5 Fitz Hall - C A rare negative, and only spared a D or lower because on the rare occasions he did actually make it onto the field Hall played reasonably well. But that’s the problem with him; he never does actually make it onto the field. While there were mumblings of discontent about some of Neil Warnock’s pre-season signings the biggest groan of all came when he announced prior to the pre-season friendly at home to Plymouth that Hall was to be his captain for the season. It seemed at that point as if a repeat of all the mistakes made by Jim Magilton was on the cards. Hall has a hamstring made of porcelain, and is consequently unable to string more than three consecutive appearances together before collapsing in a heap and sodding off for another six weeks of not doing anything while picking up his enormous pay packet. By making Hall the first choice Magilton merely created a situation where his back four, where consistency of selection is vital, had to be changed at least once every three games – first of all to take the injured Hall out, and then to put him back in again when he’d recovered. One of the big plusses of Magilton’s demise was that this farce would end and yet last August it seemed as if Warnock was about to stray into the same territory. For a player who allows the ball to bounce too much and often gets far too tight to his man allowing himself to be turned and conceding numerous free kicks and penalties as a result this seemed to be a silly sacrifice to be making. Thankfully when the inevitable first injury came, Warnock didn’t make the Magilton mistake of throwing him straight back in when he returned to fitness and stuck with Gorkss and Connolly. When those two lost form Hall was called upon again – playing well at Middlesbrough and Doncaster – but the same old story was told again at Watford where having already lost Clint Hill the day before and Paddy Kenny in the warm up we then had to make another change at the back after 20 minutes because Hall was injured yet a-bloody-gain. Whether it’s a genuine medical issue, or a touch of the Nygaards whereby Hall insists on going off whenever he feels he might be about to get injured, he was, is and will remain a liability to us and needs to be moved on as soon as possible. Stats >>> 12 starts, seven sub appearances in the league >>> one start in FA Cup >>> one goal scored against Barnsley >>> two LFW man of the match awards >>> average interactive mark 6.12 >>> 6.625 average LFW mark 13 Kaspars Gorkss - B Now I sense if there is to be any conjecture over the marks in this year’s report (commenting available below) the majority of the debate will surround the centre half positions. QPR have, let’s not forget, kept 25 clean sheets in 46 games this season, a club and league record, and conceded just 32 goals in total, a league best record – Swansea conceded 31 in their away games alone just for reference. However for me the centre half partnership was a worry throughout the second half of the season, and the defensive solidity owes much to the way we use our full backs (only ever for defending, rarely for attacking), the presence of two excellent protective midfielders in front of the defence and the league’s best goalkeeper behind them. Warnock started the season with Fitz Hall, spent most of it with Gorkss and Connolly and then ended it with a mixture of all three and Danny Shittu. For me Gorkss had a reasonable season that was interspersed with occasional bad errors (for Cardiff’s goal at Loftus Road say) and excellent performances. Both he and Matthew Connolly seemed at times to suffer bad losses of confidence after Christmas, and given their struggles with Grant Holt both times we played Norwich and against any other striker with a bit of muscle about him I’d be surprised if we don’t see at least one top quality centre half coming through the doors this summer. Stats >>> 44 starts in league and cup >>> three goals >>> three LFW man of the match awards >>> 7.12 average interactive mark >>> 6.64 average LFW mark 15 Kyle Walker - A If Carlsberg did loan players… Neil Warnock was very steadfast in his belief that QPR would be better off with a squad of players that belonged to them this season, having taken over a QPR squad with six temporary members – none of whom were very good at all. However he was forced to row back from this policy a little in September when the cruel finger of fate pointed at our right back spot and in scenes not dissimilar to the infamous Fulham home match of 2001 where Richard Langley and Clarke Carlisle both ruptured cruciate ligaments within ten minutes of each other both Bradley Orr and his understudy Peter Ramage suffered bad injuries in the same second half against Middlesbrough. For Ramage the season was over, for Orr the prognosis was a two month lay off. Step forward Kyle Walker, arguably the best loan signing Queens Park Rangers have ever made. Walker was originally the lesser part of a £10m deal that took him and Kyle Naughton to Spurs from Sheffield United. At the time Naughton was the one getting the rave reviews and the England Under 21 caps but since the move it is Walker who has progressed. He slipped straight into the team for a 3-0 away win at Ipswich and he transformed the way we attacked. Prior to his arrival, and after his departure, as mentioned in Bradley Orr’s summary the QPR full backs rarely crossed the halfway line, focusing solely on defending and keeping the sheets clean. With Walker though we suddenly had a whole new attacking string to our bow with his deceptive pace, immaculate first touch and dazzling tricks tormenting a host of Championship full backs during his time with us. At Bristol City and Coventry live on Sky he was simply unplayable and it got to a stage at one point where our best attacking outlet was actually our right back. This prompted suggestions that he could play further forward, but an experiment with him in midfield for the away game at Leeds was a rare failure in his time with us. Sadly at the end of his three month spell Walker went back to Spurs who wanted him to get some Premiership game time under his belt. That he did, and by the end of the season he was named in the full England squad. My views on the tactics of Spurs and Chelsea, hovering up any teenager who looks like he might be half decent and then bunging them all in an over inflated academy and reserve set up often never to be seen or heard of again (John Bostock, Dean Parrett) except when loaned back out to the lesser clubs have been well documented on LFW. Walker may be a rare escapee –he’s already better than Alan Hutton and Assou Ekoto at White Hart Lane in my opinion and I expect him to either be first choice right back there, or elsewhere in the top flight, from August and an England regular for years to come. A superb player. Stats >>> 20 league starts >>> two assists, no goals >>> five LFW man of the match awards >>> 7.70 average interactive mark >>> 7.20 average LFW mark 16 Matthew Connolly B/C Possibly over harsh criticism of record breaking defenders part two - Matt Connolly is a bit of a concern for me. When he arrived from Arsenal I thought he looked very promising indeed, and was certainly the best of our initial influx of post takeover signings in my eyes along with Akos Buzsaky. Early on this season he looked every inch the classy but firm ball playing centre half. He was the LFW Man of the Match at Leicester in September with a performance I described as “near perfect” but by the end of the season the same worries about confidence, physical weakness and indecisiveness were re-surfacing. Has he progressed? Is he any better now than he was when he arrived? I’m not convinced. His first problem is his physical build; he just seems too slight to be a centre half for me and he always struggles when up against any sort of physical forward. His second is his confidence levels, which are easily knocked and hard to build up again. In the second half of the season he clearly looked nervous on the field and this led to basic mistakes – the Leicester home game where he had a brain explosion in the second half and almost cost us two goals is the one that immediately springs to mind but far too often he caused problems for himself by allowing the ball to bounce in his own half. He’s been tried in a defensive midfield position with little success, and at full back where he is steady enough but little else. I’m being very harsh here because I expected big things of him but he just doesn’t seem to be progressing at the moment. I’d be interested to know other people’s thoughts. Stats >>> 34 league and cup starts, three substitute appearances >>> two assists no goals >>> three LFW man of the match awards >>> 6.69 average interactive mark >>> 6.46 average LFW mark 41 – Danny Shittu B/C With all that uncertainty around the centre half spots, the signing of Danny Shittu in January seemed like an ideal one. We all know Shittu’s strengths, and they are almost exactly point for point the same as Gorkss’ and Connolly’s weaknesses. He’d impressed with Millwall in the first half of the season and his presence gave the whole crowd and club a lift. Against Ipswich at home on his second debut for the club, and at Watford in the penultimate game of the season, he was superb. But in between he played in fits and starts: at Middlesbrough he was good, at Millwall and Scunthorpe he was woeful. His late cameo as an auxiliary striker in the final match against Leeds is best forgotten. For me he’s not a Premiership defender by any stretch of the imagination, and for that reason is unlikely to be kept on unless Warnock feels there is a dearth of centre halves on the market this summer and is worried about starting the new season with too few options back there. I know we all laugh and joke and admire the sheer size of the man but I actually think it’s getting to be a bit of a problem for him. When Shittu was here for the first time in his career he was enormous, but he was athletic with it. There was no finer sight at Loftus Road than a striker breaking free behind the QPR back four only for Shittu to run him down with four or five giant strides and clean him out with a massive sliding tackle. Now he almost looks too big for his own good to me. Those thighs that used to pump like steam engine pistons now seem to weigh him down and he looks cumbersome and slow on the turn. He could perhaps do with losing some of the bulk that has been his strength over the years. Nevertheless, will make somebody in the Championship a very handy summer signing. His conduct at the Player of the Year dinner where he stood an posed for pictures and signed autographs and spoke to fans for the best part of three hours is also worthy of mention. A genuine good guy. Stats >>> Five starts, two sub appearances >>> one LFW man of the match award at Watford >>> 7.09 average interactive mark >>> 6.57 average LFW mark Quieter class members… Peter Ramage finished last season impressing at centre half after 18 months as a mediocre right back and although he started this year out of the team given our various swaps and changes at the heart of the defence he may have been very useful to us at times. Sadly a knee ligament tear against Middlesbrough in September (which he played on through for ten heroic minutes) ruled him out for all but the final two games. Now out of contract he will probably be looking elsewhere for his football next season. As, you would think, will be Gary Borrowdale who made a substitute appearance in the cup defeat at Blackburn where he looked twice as big as the last time we’d seen him and subsequently had a loan spell with Carlisle cut short after a foolish red card at Southampton. Pascal Chimbonda, signed in January from Blackburn, had two run outs against Forest and Scunthorpe but on both occasions played down the left when obviously right footed, a role he didn’t take to at all. Warnock’s decision to release him early brought an angry Twitter response from the player who accused the manager of “wasting six months of my life.” Defensive Midfield4 Shaun Derry - A If Matt Connolly and Kaspars Gorkss happen to be reading this and thinking I’m a clueless nobody who doesn’t know what he’s talking about – well lads, you’re right. When Shaun Derry was signed from Crystal Palace on a free transfer last summer LoftforWords described him as the “anti-footballer” and said this… Shaun Derry is the ultimate fans’ enemy. First of all he’s slow - really, really slow. He cannot pass particularly well, he doesn’t score a lot of goals, he spends most of his time berating referees and at 32 he’s been in decline for several years. On a quiet day by his standards Adel Taarabthumiliated Derry with simple tricks on three occasions at Selhurst Park last season. He looked a tired man, a player who has lost his legs. Yet here we are, giving him a two year contract that eclipsed rival offers from Ipswich, Crystal Palace and Greece. In my defence Warnock himself admitted that he thought Derry’s legs had gone two years ago when he re-signed him at Crystal Palace, initially to do a job until the end of that season and then be replaced. Warnock also intended to start with Akos Buzsaky at the base of his midfield set up this season before the Hungarian was injured on the eve of the first game against Barnsley opening the way for Derry who went on to make 45 league appearances, missing only one game through suspension. He has been superb, playing the best football of his career by far. Primarily his job has been to sweep up Taarabt’s mistakes and possession concession, break up opposition attacks and protect the back four. That he has done with aplomb, and any assertion made in the summer that his passing game is not up to scratch was shown up to be complete nonsense time after time after time. I noticed on a Cardiff City message board after one of our televised games (possibly one of the Coventry wins) one poster there said: “That’s the difference between our sides lads, they’ve got a midfield that actually protects its defence.” Cardiff have, at considerable expense, recruited Seyi Olofinjana to do that job and he is now being linked as a possible target for Rangers as we look for some fresher legs than Derry’s to do that job for us next season. But the Nigerian, and every other holding midfield player in the Championship, has got a long way to go before they can match the performance levels of Derry this season. Very unfortunate not to be named the club’s player of the year, although I was surprised to find his LFW average mark below seven. Stats >>> 45 league starts >>> two cup starts >>> no substitute appearances >>> no goals scored, one assist >>> six LFW man of the match awards >>> 7.28 average interactive mark >>> 6.96 average LFW mark 6 Mikele Leigertwood - D Leigertwood’s mark is based on his QPR performances, rather than his time at Reading where he is viewed as some sort of demi-God and may yet celebrate his own promotion to the Premiership. Despite being signed by Neil Warnock at Sheffield United Leigertwood was never first choice this season, and only got on the field on odd occasions as a substitute. When pressed into action against Norwich at home with Faurlin injured and Buzsaky forced off in the first half he turned in a dire performance that got worse every time he touched the ball, which in turn increased the volume of criticism coming his way from the stands. Despite that, Warnock’s assertion after he’d loaned him to Reading that stick from the fans had wrecked the player’s chances of success at Loftus Road was one of the few things our manager said all season that I felt was clearly wrong. Leigertwood has been given more lee-way than most by the QPR fans considering his wildly inconsistent performances and touch of a baby elephant. At Reading, where he remained unbeaten in his first 20 league appearances, he has fitted in superbly and helped to galvanise the team, but watching him against Cardiff in the play offs merely served to highlight that he is little more than a steady Championship player, and not in the same league as Shaun Derry. Stats >>> Nine substitute appearances with no starts >>> 26 league and cup starts and one sub appearance for Reading >>> no QPR goals, one assist, one Reading goal >>> 4.89 average interactive rating >>> 5.85 average LFW mark 11 Alejandro Faurlin - A I can scarcely recall a QPR player attracting so many column inches in a season since ‘Les Ferdinand to Arsenal’ was the staple go-to-splash of The Sun back in the early and mid-1990s. Sadly, and unjustly, much of what has been written about Faurlin this season has regarded his dodgy transfer from Instituto Cordoba which cost us anywhere between nothing and £3.5m. Despite the ridiculously timed FA hearing into it all we’re still not sure, apart from the £850,000 fine we attracted for the way Gianni Paladini and the club structured the deal, what we paid for him. Even if it turns out to be £6m we’ve done a good deal because while the papers were salivating over the off field issues surrounding him, on the field Faurlin has been an absolute joy. An early injury (suspiciously timed to keep him out of our side for four weeks in October when we were sorting out the details of his transfer with the league and the FA, although we didn’t know that at the time) hindered him slightly and it is only since December that he has been back to his best but for the second half of the season he has been glorious to watch. Fears that a South American footballer with hair like a Toni and Guy stylist wouldn’t be able to cut it in the thrust of the Championship have long since been dispelled – Faurlin’s ability to win the ball in the air is formidable, and his percentages of second balls won in the middle third of the field must be off the chart. That is allied to a magnificent passing game, and ability to arrive on the edge of the box at the perfect time to pick up loose balls and hammer them goalwards – that was always an element missing from his game but a goal against Sheff Utd and near misses against Watford (twice), Leeds and Hull suggest it is an area of his game he is working on. He was better this year than last when he won the club’s Player of the Year award, and he will not look out of place at all in the Premiership next season. Again, I’m surprised to find his LFW average mark so low. Stats >>> 41 league and cup starts, no substitute appearances >>> three goals, five assists >>> six LFW man of the match awards >>> 7.35 average interactive mark >>> 6.80 average LFW mark Quieter class members… Martin Rowlands featured only three times as a substitute after recovering from his latest cruciate knee ligament decimation, and barely got a look in during a one month loan with Millwall either. He cut a forlorn figure along with Lee Cook as they stood off to the side watching the trophy presentation after the final game of the season. Warnock initially seemed keen to include Rowlands, stating in a post match press conference in October that it would be like having a ‘new signing’, but something happened thereafter that put the manager right off the crowd favourite. Rowlands’ stock fell to such a level that Warnock picked Matt Connolly and Kyle Walker in defensive midfield roles at Leeds in December ahead of him – that struck me as rather cutting off his nose to spite his face but for whatever reason the QPR boss clearly doesn’t fancy Rowlands and his remaining time at the club seems to be running out. Supporters are quick to abuse players who sign for other clubs for more money or better prospects, and so they shouldn’t be so quick to write off, spread rumours or dismiss either Rowlands or Cook who stuck with QPR through some tough times but now, for whatever reason, seem to be coming to the end of their time with us. Gavin Mahon was released last summer but returned on a one month deal, that was then extended on six different occasions through to March when he then joined Crystal Palace. He never played, for either Rangers or Palace, so one can only assume he makes bloody good tea or gives good massages. Petter Vaagan Moen signed in December from Brann in Norway and impressed on his full debut at Blackburn in the cup, going close with a long range free kick. He’s hardly been used since and has been linked with a departure this summer although he told LFW at the player of the year dinner that he is contracted for next season, is definitely staying and is looking forward to playing in the Premiership which he believes will better suit his style of play. Time will tell. Notes - Interactive ratings are taken from the post match ‘have your say’ feature. The LFW average ratings and individual breakdown are taken from this site’s full match reports over the season. The assists are also taken from our match report and vary from official figures. The general rule on LFW has been to count the last pass in the move as an assist, although on occasions we have credited no player with an assist for an individual goal, and two players with an assist for a single goal for example Tommy Smith for the corner and Matt Connolly for the header prior to Pat Agyemang’s equaliser at Bristol City. 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