A visit of Birmingham City to Loftus Road has brought back memories of one of the great games of the modern Rangers era — not a Premier League game either, it should be said.
Championship >>> Saturday September 14, 2013 >>> Kick off 15.00 >>> Loftus Road, London, W12
It was a source of considerable mirth to the footballing enthusiasts at Sheffield University that when drunken student discussions stretched to "greatest sporting moments witnessed” mine was always QPR’s 1-0 Second Division playoff semi-final victory at home to Oldham.
I’ve been to some sporting events in my time. I was in the Olympic Stadium on the night the media have decreed shall always be referred to as ‘Super Saturday’ when three great Great British athletes won gold medals within an hour of each other. The electricity in the place that night, as first Ennis and then Farrah went around that final bend for the final time right underneath my seat, was beyond words. An entire nation rising to acclaim the hard work, commitment, dedication and training of three individuals and the glory they’d brought to the country. I cried. At an athletics meeting.
I think that Oldham game still just about shaves it though.
The other suggestions were all pretty typical. Manchester United winning the Champions League on what Clive Tyldesley likes to call "that night in Barcelona”, which you can actually imagine him whispering in his wife’s ear at crucial moments, such is the sexual arousal he seems to afflict upon himself at the mere mention of the game. "Oh really, where did you witness that?” I’d ask. "I think we watched it in The Fox didn’t we? Or was it the Rose and Crown?”
You can probably tell, given that this is the three hundred and eighty sixth time I’ve prattled on about it, that I’ve become rather fascinated/obsessed by this idea of what it is we actually go to the football, or sport in general, for. If you’re reading this (my sympathies) we can probably establish that it’s not the regular glory of victory, and the chance to go into work on Monday and brag about trophies, because QPR don’t win very often, and their actual major trophy count stands at one in more than 130 years.
And as far as QPR is concerned it’s not for entertainment value either. That’s not a slight on the team, although it’s been little more than workmanlike so far this season, but personally it feels very different being at a QPR match as opposed to, say, being offered a ticket to Arsenal’s next match by a friend and popping along to Ashburton Grove after work. I can sit there in the comfy seats amidst the near total silence and watch the football and applaud and notice things and laugh at the refereeing, but I never feel compelled to rush down onto the pitch and pick out an official or opponent, rip his arm out of its socket and beat him to death with the soggy end of it — as I could happily do half a dozen times in even the most mediocre QPR game.
So presumably it’s about a sense of belonging and a desperate will to see QPR be the absolute best they can be. Which brings us back to the last time Birmingham City played in W12.
That night, back in October 2008, was preceded and proceeded by a shameful shambles at QPR. With Flavio Briatore’s ego taking up four seats in the director’s box by itself, Rangers were being crippled by infighting and mixed messages. It’s fair to assume Briatore hadn’t heard much about Iain Dowie when he was appointed manager that summer, and right from the word go there was a sticking point in the opening press conference when Dowie insisted he was the manager while Briatore briefed the new man was merely a head coach. Dowie wanted Clinton Morrison and Mark Hudson, Briatore gave him Emmanuel Ledesma and Sam Di Carmine. Dan Parejo arrived from Real Madrid and partnered Mikele Leigertwood and Gavin Mahon in midfield. It was a shemozzle. A bizarre collection of players added by different managers, the sporting director Gianni Paladini, and Briatore himself for different, and not always legitimate, reasons. Dowie was sacked after 15 matches, of which he’d won eight.
That left Gareth Ainsworth in caretaker charge for a midweek visit from league leaders Birmingham, who’d beaten the R’s already that year in one of Dowie’s final matches, and possessed one of the division’s outstanding playing squads. Within the first three minutes they could easily have scored twice — Radek Cerny spectacularly denied first Cameron Jerome and then Kevin Phillips. Cerny, you’ll recall, had been picked from the start that season at the behest of Briatore when Dowie had wanted to select Lee Camp instead. The QPR fans chanted Camp’s name when Cerny made a nervous debut against Barnsley. This was by no means a pleasant club to be around at this point. It was a thoroughly dislikeable example of all that’s wrong with modern football — traditional, historic clubs turned into little more than play things for rich people.
When Mikele Leigertwood was sent off on the stroke of half time the writing seemed to be well and truly on the wall. The referee that night was Stuart Attwell, his first appointment since he’d awarded Reading a goal at Watford despite the ball actually not going anywhere near the goal, and in typically arrogant and pig headed fashion he’d attempted to show how unaffected he was by the whole controversy by making a strong, drastic decision that betrayed just how affected he was by the whole controversy.
Then it started to snow, heavily, in October, and the idea of what exactly we go to the football for seemed as elusive as ever.
But Ainsworth kept faith with a two striker system, which confused Birmingham for just long enough for Sam Di Carmine to rifle in the opening goal of the game. Of course it confused Birmingham. They were managed at that time by Alex McLeish, a man who still to this day blames City’s relegation from the top flight two seasons later on a failure to secure a last day of the season draw at Tottenham. They’d played for that draw throughout the game, showing no attacking intent whatsoever for an entire 90 minutes of a crucial game, and eventually lost 2-1. What McLeish never mentions is that even if they had got the draw he’d desperately played for, they’d have gone down anyway because prior to it they’d lost seven and drawn three of their final 12 games.
The idea of keeping two strikers on the field after having a man sent off is so alien and unsettling to Alex McLeish you’d probably have to get finger puppets out to try and explain it to him.
The whole thing was made even more ludicrous by Di Carmine getting the goal. Here was a boy of no great height or pace, with no discernable footballing ability whatsoever, who could neither win headers nor run past people, hold the ball up nor do tricks with it, score prolifically nor create space and chances for other. He was just a lump of flesh and bone topped with too much hair gel. He’d done nothing before arriving at QPR, nothing in his spell with QPR to this point, and after that spectacular goal he did next to nothing for the rest of the season and has achieved nothing in the game since. Whack, 25 yards, straight in the net. Nearly tore the net off the back of the posts in fact. Glorious.
And then there was the backs to the wall effort. Damiano Tommasi, an ageing Italian international long past the point of retirement, brought in at the behest of Briatore, was like a hairy gladiator in the middle of the park. Damion Stewart appeared possessed. Fitz Hall played reasonably well. This was miraculous stuff.
Even the inevitable Birmingham equaliser, with the last kick of the game, was ruled out for offside. Kevin Phillips’ School End goal, and the flag that chalked it off, barely visible to the faithful in the Loft as the snow came down in sheets. Somebody spotted the assistant referee and passed the news around. The celebrations had to be seen to be believed. This was a league game, in October, in a season when QPR finished slap bang in the middle of the league.
If that’s what we go to QPR for, and it surely is, then what exactly is it? QPR and Birmingham were both, at that stage, vying to get into the Premier League. Both eventually succeeded, one now lies bankrupt and seemingly League One bound, the other endured a miserable two years in the top flight during which the whole soul and spirit of the club ebbed away as festering arsewipes like Jose Bosingwa and Ji-Sung Park flounced around the place.
Not for the first time, and (sigh, groan) probably not for the last, I can’t help but consider whether everything I want from sport, and from QPR, can almost certainly be found at Loftus Road, outside the Premier League.
Links >>> History >>> http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/32811>Betting >>> Opposition Focus >>> Referee
Team News: QPR could give debuts to three deadline day signings this weekend, but Harry Redknapp intimated in his press conference on Friday that neither Benoit Assou Ekotto nor Niko Kranjcar will be fit to start. In that circumstance expect Clint Hill to continue at left back after his fine start to the season with Richard Dunne and Nedum Onuoha together in the heart of the defence. Tom Carroll almost certainly will start in the midfield but Andy Johnson, fresh from his deadline day move to Palace falling through, is rated as doubtful. Matt Phillips is yet to start following his move from Blackpool owing to an ongoing elbow injury but may get a run here.
Birmingham must decide whether their deadline day signing Paul Caddis is fit to start following his move from Swindon. Hayden Mullins picked up a calf injury in a behind closed doors friendly game and is out.
Elsewhere: Two televised games in the second tier this weekend — the derby match between Burnley and Blackburn is the Saturday lunchtime game so expect plenty of spilled hot pot and kicked whippets in that corner of Lancashire, and Reading v Brighton face off on Sunday in the battle of two of the Championship’s under-achievers so far.
Everything else starts at 15.00 on Saturday with struggling Bolton (LFW’s tip for promotion) hosting Leeds in arguably the game of the day. Brian McDermott’s assertion that his team was worth a draw against QPR — despite his own admission that they didn’t keep the ball well enough or have enough shots, and QPR having a second perfectly good goal disallowed — marks him out as an early contender for the 2013/14 funny man. Dougie Freedman may start to feel the pinch if he doesn’t get a win on the board soon.
LFW also tipped Blackpool for a season of relegation struggle and they’re joint top at the moment. They travel to Bournemouth this weekend. We look like we’ve called Nottingham Forest right though, and they can strengthen their promotion push with a positive result over struggling Barnsley at the City Ground this weekend. Likewise Watford at home to Charlton who look a poor side to me. Leicester v Wigan another game between two promotion hopefuls — though the latter will surely struggle to cope with a gruelling fixture list this year.
Sheff Wed v Yeovil has the look of a relegation six pointer even at this early stage and Millwall will be desperate to get their first win on the board when Derby visit The Den this weekend.
Ipswich v Middlesbrough and Huddersfield v Doncaster make up the weekend list.
Referee: Premier League referee Mike Jones steps down to the Championship for the second time already this season to take charge of QPR’s home game with Birmingham. He refereed Rangers twice in the top flight last season, including one of just four league wins at home to Sunderland. He hasn’t refereed Birmingham since they were last in the top flight in 2010/11 but when he did it didn’t go well — defeats at Chelsea and Man Utd and at home to West Brom as well as a creditable draw at Man City. To read his full (and it’s bloody long this week) case history with QPR please click here.
QPR: The R’s are one of only two teams still unbeaten in the Championship and remain on course to beat their club record start of 19 without defeat in 2010/11 when they won the division. So far they’ve won four, drawn one and conceded only twice in the league this season. They haven’t conceded at all in the last three league games and won all of them 1-0. Rangers are yet to concede a goal with Richard Dunne on the field this season — four matches and counting.
Birmingham: City are facing up to their worst start to a league season in 25 years if they lose at Loftus Road. Their opening week 1-0 win at Yeovil remains their only league success so far and they’ve lost two and drawn one of three since then in the Championship.
Betting: Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding says…
"Rangers return to action after an enforced lay off that saw England creep nearer qualification to World Cup with another stagnant display, and Jim White edge closer to the inevitable coronary when getting vastly over-excited about Andy Johnson’s failed move to Palace.
"Johnson remained in W12 and is joined by Tom Carroll, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Niko Kranjcar. There is no doubting it, the squad looks strong in most areas and definitely one of, if not the strongest, in the division. Harry has QPR playing organised, sensible football with a decent defensive line, an excellent midfield work ethic, and Johnson and Austin up front - Austin especially has been incredibly unlucky not to get his first league goal this season, it will happen soon.
"If QPR are on the up, their opponents are definitely going the other way. If Birmingham are still in the Championship come May, it will be a successful season for them. No money, a poor squad, dwindling attendances - it really is a miserable time to be a Blue Nose. Looking at their team, it’s not hard to see why they are struggling. With journeymen Paul Caddis and Paul Robinson in defence, Johnathan Spector in midfield and Lovenkrands and Novak upfront, it’s not a side that strikes fear into opponents. They've done well to hold onto Chris Burke, and he provides their main threat.
"I anticipate this game will follow a similar pattern to that of the Ipswich home match. Hopefully it won’t take as long to score this time. The question on every Rangers fans lips will be who starts? Will Henry be dropped for Carroll? Will Clint be dropped for Ekotto? Only Harry can answer these questions but whichever 11 he sends out, for the first time in a long time, he will have decent options from the bench if it isn't working.
"There should be a cracking atmosphere at Loftus Road on Saturday and I can certainly see a QPR win, quite comfortably in fact. That said, it could take a bit of patience. Brum have conceded four of their six goals this season in the second half. QPR on the flip side have certainly looked better in games this year the longer they have gone on. As such, my bet for this match is QPR to score over 1.5 Goals in the second half at 12/5 with Corals.”
Prediction: Mase has suffered the Match Preview curse — win the Prediction League one year, then fail to call anything correctly once we actually ask you to write a bit about it. Will his luck change this week?
"So dismal has my start to the Prediction League been that, over a recent lunch with my season-ticket holiding cousin, he only half-jokingly said to the others present that "whatever he writes, is the opposite of what will happen". If that meant that I could guarantee a Rangers victory by predicting a defeat every time I would gladly do so. Clive however has asked me to write this column to offer some insight and I intend to do so with sincerity.
"My cousin, who sees much more of the team than I (note the excuses starting to creep in) has confidently suggested a home win for this game and I find it hard to disagree. Ostensibly we are a team on the up, they are one rebuilding. We have been strengthening in the window, they have said goodbye to Marlon King. Nevertheless, they do possess good players like Burke and Lovenkrands, who should offer some attacking impetus. A few question marks sit over members of our squad - how will the new midfield work (and who will be its constituent parts), and what effect will the dramatic twists on transfer deadline day have on Andy Johnson and his teammates? Personally I think he will redouble his efforts and seek to win back the crowd and can see him scoring against his former club. I have yet to get a result correct this season, so hand the responsibility for a prediction to my cousin. He said it's hard to see beyond another three points secured by another narrow margin.
"Surely, it's about time I got one right?”
Mase’s Prediction: QPR 2 - 1 Birmingham City. First scorer: Johnson
LFW’s Prediction: QPR 2 — 0 Birmingham City. First scorer: Hoilett
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