Green catastrophe headlines poor overall display - knee jerks

Antti Heinola tells us Green's mistake, and subsequent stupid foul and red card, were only the start of the problems for QPR against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Predictably typical Rangers

Really, we all should have called this one. Everything was going too well: three wins in a row; Austin and Phillips staying; two apparently good new signings. Add in the fact we were playing Forest (something of a bogey side, even if that's more away than at home) and it was on TV and what else could it have been except for defeat? The fact that we managed to snatch that loss from such a comfortable position (without ever playing well) was actually quite impressive. The essence of supporting QPR summed up in two games: ludicrous, totally unexpected away win v Wolves; incredible capacity to lose a home game from a strong position v Forest. Bravo, Rangers. Predictable in your stupid unpredictability.

'King Green

Quite simply, the least reliable decent goalkeeper the world has ever seen. His faults are well known: claims a cross about once every ten games; too easily beaten by daisy cutters from distance; kicking. Generally speaking, he's a very good keeper who's been a good servant to the club, but I've never seen a keeper more susceptible to stupid mistakes than him. He's miles better than Chris Day ever was, for example, but Chris Day made as many 'stupid' mistakes in a career than Green manages every season. There's a theory that Green almost finds keeping too easy, so he makes these silly errors. I don't know. But he's nailed on to do this every few months in the same way Barton is nailed on to get sent off for something stupid every few months.

Yesterday was one of the worst. It wasn't a great back pass, but that's not really an excuse. He wasn't on his line, he was under pressure, but not massively so. He could have sliced it for a corner or a throw. Instead he tried to control it with his knee, that most reliable and unknobbly of body parts. Now I can accept that: mistakes happen. What made me angry was what he did next. It was boneheaded in the extreme and cost us the game. You could argue it was instinctive, but instinctively he should have known that a goal at that stage of the game was unfortunate but not catastrophic. You know, it wasn't 0-0 in the 70th minute of a play-off final. We were 1-0 up and looking comfortable - while Forest played some pretty stuff they barely threatened. So it would have been 1-1, 15 or so minutes left, and 11 v 11. A draw was probably all we really deserved anyway and it wouldn't have been a terrible result against a side that seemed to keep six men back at all times. But no, he brought him down. Meaning we were punished three times - a red card, a goal, and then a winner. Thanks Rob. Really dreadful play - I'm sure he knows that.

Ten men

It wasn't all Green's fault. For a team that reacted so well to being two down at Wolves, the moment the pen was given we looked a beaten side here. Unforgivable, really, for a team that had, in its back six outfield players, a wealth of experience. Ramsey must take some share of the blame for the utter failure to reorganise effectively, but he's also entitled to expect a bit more leadership from the likes of Henry, Perch, Onuoha, Konchesky and even new boy Toszer. And you can coach as much as you like, but when Phillips and Henry stand near the middle of the pitch watching the ball bounce and expecting the other one to take some responsibility, that's not down to lack of practice: that's just poor football that wouldn't be acceptable at youth level.

You could also quibble with the removal of Luongo - he'd been our most effective player going forward, showing strength and skill, while Chery had an uncharacteristically poor game - but it's worth bearing in mind that Luongo just played two games, one in Australia, one in Tajikstan. So while Chery seemed the obvious one to take off for Smithies, in mitigation, Luongo had had no rest and had been travelling all over the world and we have three games in eight days. Understandable, much as I would have probably kept Luongo on myself.

Henry and Tozser

I was surprised to see Henry still making the team. I know Ale was injured, but Ramsey said it gave a chance to Tozser, so it sounds as if the original plan was having Ale and Henry together. I don't get it, I really don't. And after his performance yesterday, it makes even less sense.

He looked miles off the pace, constantly chasing people as they ran off his shoulder and, as usual, his passing was average at best and his lack of ability when put under any pressure at all was frustrating. Maybe he was so happy about Corbyn becoming Labour leader he couldn't concentrate on the game. Or maybe he hadn't been getting much sleep due to his new addition. Whatever, he and Toszer did not work - they had too little mobility and the gap between them and the four attackers was way too big in the first half. We really missed the energy of Doughty in there.

Hopefully this will only be a temporary problem because we have Ale and Fer to come back, but yesterday it was not good. Tozser was marginally better, with his Dietmar Hamann looks and stature, but he too looked stiff and slow. Credit to Ramsey and the team for improving this at the break - it did get better in the second half. Had Green not gone mad then I'm sure Tozser would have been replaced by Doughty and we would probably have picked Forest off on the break as they were forced to commit more men forward. It'll be interesting to see what team Ramsey picks on Wednesday. At the moment, Doughty should be there and the sooner Henry becomes a back-up player, the better for the team.

Late goals

Since February, one quarter of all goals we have conceded have come in the last 15 minutes. In eight games out of the last 23 a goal or goals conceded in the last 15 minutes has cost us points or knocked us out the cup. That's an incredibly bad record. To be fair, yesterday was a little different, but it's still part of a trend that needs to be strangled. In some of those games, the goal looked like it was coming; yesterday, there was no real indication that, for all their endeavour, Forest might score. Hall in particular, I thought, did very well to come into the game in the thick of the action. But yet again we showed weakness. Let's hope we learn from it.

Dorus De Vries. Oh Dorus

How we've missed you! Always super-reliable at waving one in from distance at the Loft End! Great to see you back. You owe Greeno a pint, at least. You cannot have thought, after 74 minutes, that everyone would be talking about a terrible keeping error without even mentioning your name. Come back soon.

Pictures — Action Images

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