Hull downed on Gregory's big return - History Thursday, 7th Dec 2023 10:45 by Clive Whittingham Ahead of Hull City's visit to W12 on Saturday we look back to a QPR win against the Tigers from 2006 in John Gregory's first game in charge as manager. Memorable MatchQPR 2 Hull City 0, Saturday September 23, 2006, Championship The summer of 2006/07 will surely go down as one of the most bizarre, and darkest, in the history of Queens Park Rangers. Promoted from the third tier in 2004 under the guidance of inspirational manager Ian Holloway, who had rebuilt the squad from a base of seven professional players and taken it back into the Championship in double quick time, things had been getting steadily worse ever since. Despite consolidating the club's Championship status in 2004/05, going on an extraordinary seven match winning run at one stage that threatened a second consecutive promotion, Holloway's position had been steadily undermined by his new short-tempered Italian chairman. Gianni Paladini, who claimed to be a former football agent who'd worked on deals to bring Ravanelli and Juninho to Middlesbrough back in the day, had invested £600,000 into QPR in the division below. He later brought Italian agent Antonio Caliendo and legendary former Brazil captain Dunga on board as investors, only to then use their votes to oust popular chairman Bill Power from his seat. Later Paladini claimed he'd been forced to resign from the club at gun point by a gang of hired heavies during a home game with Sheffield United — all were found not guilty as Paladini's eccentric witness box performance failed to impress a jury. QPR steadily lost money and the negative publicity kept on coming. Stories about being locked out of the training ground were frequent and Paladini said he walked around in a stab proof vest because of threats from supporters. He fed information and freebies to a chosen select few QPR fans in exchange for their support on forums and the pubs of Shepherds Bush. Those who questioned and criticised were targeted and ostracised from their club. Ian Holloway was finally dismissed midway through the 2005/06 season, allegedly for going to speak to Leicester about their vacant managerial position. Paladini said you don't go off with another woman if you're happy with your wife, Holloway said Paladini had given him permission to speak with them. Holloway was replaced by Gary Waddock, a popular former player who'd worked with the youth set up at Loftus Road prior to his promotion. Despite being hired by, and working alongside, Holloway, Waddock came out and publicly criticised the style of play of the first team under his predecessor and promised an immediate return to the traditions of the great QPR teams of old. Problem was, apart from Lee Cook, Rangers didn't really have any players capable of putting it into action. With the legendary Alan McDonald as his assistant, Waddock secured early wins against Millwall at Loftus Road and Sheffield United at Bramall Lane but failed to win any of the last 11 matches of the season.
That summer was a farce. Waddock and Paladini ostracised senior players from the squad — Marc Bircham, Steve Lomas, Ian Evatt and others were left back in the UK to play for the youth team in pre-season while the firsts travelled to Sorrento where their hotel was absolutely glorious and the training facilities completely abysmal. Rangers travelled more than an hour by coach every day to find a suitable training pitch, and when they did it was in the middle of a rough Naples estate with ankle length grass and gun shots in the back ground. Their first friendly against the local Sorrento side saw McDonald come out of retirement to play at centre half, and goalkeeper coach Tony Roberts picked up front in a 5-1 defeat — Waddock unwilling to risk his better players on a dodgy artificial pitch. Paladini promised international players but delivered a madcap selection of unknown foreigners. Egutu Oliseh, brother of Sunday, and Polish striker Adam Czerkas arrived along with Fulham's accident prone Pakistan international Zesh Rehman and untried Australian youth midfielder Nick Ward. The club spent good money, nearly £500,000, on Southampton striker Dexter Blackstock but he was a shining light in a murky world. The decision to bring in Armel Tchakounte, a Cameroon midfielder who'd failed to make the bench at Carshalton the year before and whose only experience apart from that was in the Hong Kong league, about summed the situation up. Waddock did unearth promising striker Ray Jones from the youth set up and give him his first team bow, but the R's were clearly a dreadful team that season and they won just one of their first eight league games. A 2-0 home defeat by Birmingham, 2-1 set back at Colchester, and League Cup exit at lower-league Port Vale saw him sacked on September 20. Paladini moved quickly to secure the services of his old friend John Gregory, a former player during Terry Venables time at QPR who'd previously managed Wycombe and Villa to notable success and Derby to a disastrous failure. His first match in charge was against Hull City at Loftus Road. Gregory said he knew more about the opposition than his own squad but QPR scrapped out a win thanks to two second half goals. First, on the hour, Ray Jones bundled the ball over the line after Blackstock had nodded down a cross from Martin Rowlands. Then ten minutes from time the trademark combination of Cook crossing for Blackstock to score with his head put Rangers out of sight.
Gregory strengthened the side using the loan market, bringing in Chelsea youngsters Michael Mancienne and Jimmy Smith to good effect. Returning the likes of Lomas and Bircham to the fold gave the worst QPR team in living memory much needed impetus and impressive, memorable wins followed at Southampton, Luton, Cardiff in the last minute and at home to Crystal Palace. In January Gregory's transfer business bordered on a masterstroke — Lee Camp, Danny Cullip and Adam Bolder were brought in right down the middle of the team, providing a much needed spine to the side. A run of defeats that included a televised 5-0 debacle at Southend threatened to relegate the R's anyway but another loan signing, Inigo Idiakez, sparked a 3-1 win at Leicester and Rangers won five and drew one of the last eight to survive with plenty to spare. Flavio Briatore and his multi-millionaire consortium bought the club that summer, rescuing it from bankruptcy. Would they have done so had Gregory not kept the R's up that season? Unfortunately the takeover happened too late for significant team strengthening that summer and QPR struggled badly at the start of the following season. No wins in the first nine games, with the tragic death of teenage striker Jones to contend with, saw Gregory sacked after a 5-1 loss at West Brom. His replacement, Luigi De Canio, also started life at Loftus Road with a 2-0 victory at home to… Hull City. QPR: Paul Jones 7, Bignot 7, Rehman 6, Stewart 6, Rose 6 (Kanyuka 45, 7), Rowlands 6, Bircham 6 (Ward 64, 6), Bailey 6 (Lomas 64, 6), Cook 7, Ray Jones 7, Blackstock 7 Subs Not Used: Royce, Baidoo Booked: Ray Jones, Rehman, Paul Jones Goals: Ray Jones 60, Blackstock 80 Hull: Myhill, Mills, Turner, Collins, Dawson, Fagan, Livermore (Marney 75), Ashbee, France (Yeates 67), Parkin, Bridges (Forster 67). Subs Not Used: Duke, Thelwell Booked: Collins, Mills, Livermore. Attendance: 11,381 Classic EncountersLFW regular and AKUTR’s columnist Dave Barton has set up a QPR Memories YouTube channel, with a mixture of clips, classic games, and old highlights packages. His three recent meetings with Hull are embedded below, give him a subscribe on YouTube or follow @QPR_Memories on Twitter. Recent MeetingsHull City 3 QPR 0, Saturday January 28, 2023, Championship From a very long list of disasters in 2022/23, the capitulation away at Hull in January is right down there among the worst. Hull goals flowed with almost identical regularity to pathetic cry-offs with non-descript muscle injuries amidst the shamefully half-arsed visiting team. Aaron Connolly had already gone close, after Jimmy Dunne fell over, when he gave the Tigers the lead after ten minutes. A shambolic Rob Dickie own goal doubled the lead after half time and then an offside trap for the ages let Connolly through for a third immediately. Tim Iroegbunam and Albert Adomah were both hooked at half time and had been lucky to make it that far. Kenneth Paal and Tyler Roberts both sat down and refused to continue – this game, January 28,m would be Roberts last input of an abysmal loan spell. A shameful afternoon all round. Hull: Ingram 6; Christie 7 (Simons 89, -), Jones 6, McLoughlin 6, Elder 6; Tufan 7 (Woods 75, 6), Docherty 6, Seri 8 (Longman 75, 6), Slater 6; Connolly 8 (Coyle 84, -), Estupinan 6 (Smith 89, -) Subs not used: Figueiredo, Lo-Tutala Goals: Connolly 10 (assisted Christie), 64 (assisted Seri), Dickie og 62 QPR: Dieng 4; Kakay 2, Dickie 2, Dunne 3, Paal 1 (Clarke-Salter 45+3, 3); Field 3 (Johansen 75, 4), Iroegbunam 1 (Dozzell 45, 4); Roberts 1 (Willock 79, 2), Chair 3, Adomah 1 (Armstrong 46, 5); Lowe 3 Subs not used: Archer, Trävelmän Bookings: Lowe 20 (dissent), Iroegbunam 40 (foul), Armstrong 67 (foul), Dunne 90+1 (foul) QPR 3 Hull City 1, Tuesday August 25, 2022, Championship After a surprise weekend win at Watford, QPR continued to hit top form in the midweek home game against Hull. Man of the match Ilias Chair got things going early with a goal of the season contender from range, and before the visitors could catch their breath Ethan Laird got on the end of a cross to make it two nil. There was a scare when Oscar Estupinan shot over when he should have scored, but the game was put to bed before half time when Chris Willock bent one in from the edge of the box. A hint of offside about Hull’s late consolation, but a terrific performance from QPR and at that point there was tremendous optimism for the season ahead. QPR: Dieng 7; Laird 8, Dickie 6, Dunne 6, Paal 7; Johansen 8 (Adomah 71, 6), Field 6, Dozzell 8; Chair 9 (Armstrong 81, -), Dykes 6 (Kakay 70, 6), Willock 8 (Roberts 53, 5) Subs not used: Archer, Masterson, Balogun Goals: Chair 10 (assisted Johansen), Laird 15 (assisted Paal), Willock 40 (assisted Johansen) Bookings: Roberts 90+4 (foul) Hull: Ingram 5; Christie 5 (Williams 57, 6), Figueiredo 4, Greaves 4, Elder 5; Jones 4, Slater 5; Longman 6 (Woods 46, 7), Cannon 5 (Smith 75, 6), Tetteh 6; Estupinan 6 Subs not used: Baxter, McLoughlin, Jones, Jacob Goals: Smith 85 (assisted Slater) QPR 1 Hull City 1, Saturday February 19, 2022, Championship The start of QPR’s disintegration last season included a home draw with Hull where they were singularly unfortunate not to win. Marcus Forss gave Hull a first half lead, the only goal of his loan spell there typically, but should have been sent off on half time for belting Jimmy Dunne off the ball, right in front of the fourth official. They escaped a wild offside decision after half time when Keane Lewis Potter was waved play on having picked up the ball yards beyond the last man, and got their equaliser through Ilias Chair from close range. There was an injury time winner from Albert Adomah too, this one flagged offside incorrectly. As poor a display from a collection of match officials as you’ll see. QPR: Dieng 6; Adomah 6, Sanderson 5, Dunne 6, Barbet 5, Willock 6; Hendrick 7, Amos 5 (Odubajo 69, 7) Field 6; Austin 4 (Gray 90+5, -), Chair 6 Subs not used: Johansen, Ball, Thomas, Dozzell, Marshall Goals: Chair 75 (assisted Odubajo) Bookings: Chair 34 (foul), Austin 90 (foul) Hull: Ingram 6 (Cartwright 67, 6); Bernard 8, McLoughlin 6, Greaves 6, Elder 6; Smallwood 6, Jones 6; Longman 7 (Docherty 82, -), Honeyman 7 (Slater 90+8, -), Lewis-Potter 7; Forss 6 (Smith 81, -) Subs not used: Moncur, Fleming, Walsh Goals: Forss 26 (assisted McLoughlin) Bookings: Forss 45+3 (booting somebody off the ball, this is a booking now apparently) Hull City 0 QPR 3, Saturday August 14, 2021, Championship QPR, and Rob Dickie, continued their strong starts to 2021/22 with a 3-0 win in East Yorkshire back in August. Chris Willock’s first half shot shouldn’t really have beaten Matt Ingram in the first half, but the former QPR goalkeeper couldn’t do much about Lyndon Dykes’ second half strike from a cleverly crafted corner. An absolute barrage from the home team in between yielded nothing, largely thanks to Dickie’s remarkable goal line clearance, and the centre back then went down the other end and added a third of his own. Hull: Ingram 5; Coyle 7 (Emmanuel 75, 6), Jones 6, Greaves 6, Elder 6; Smallwood 6 (Williams 73, 6), Docherty 6; Longman 6 (Smith 35, 6), Moncur 5, Lewis-Potter 7; Magennis 6 Subs not used: Eaves, Baxter, Cannon, Bernard Red Cards: Moncur 71 (serious foul play) QPR: Dieng 8; Odubajo 7, Dickie 9, De Wijs 8, Barbet 7, Wallace 7; Johansen 8 (Thomas 86, -), Ball 7, Chair 7 (Dozzell 59, 6); Willock 7, Dykes 6 (Kelman 85, -) Subs not used: Kakay, Archer, Dunne, Adomah Goals: Willock 16 (assisted Chair), Dykes 68 (assisted Johansen), Dickie 74 (assisted Wallace) QPR 1 Hull City 2, Sunday December 29, 2019, Championship For a while, in that awkward fixture between Christmas and New Year, everything was coming up Milhouse for QPR. Ilias Chair was allowed to cut in from the left and feel out that 20 yarder into the bottom corner he loves so much, and as it transpired Hull City might have been just as well leaving Rangers to it. They came back to win, goals from George Honeyman and Jackson Irvine in the last minute, another disasterclass from Joe Lumley, part of an autumn sequence of ten league victories and six defeats which carried them into the top half of the table. It was this that convinced the club’s malignant, malevolent Allam ownership that Championship safety had been secured on the cheap once more and both Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki could be jettisoned for profit without replacement. Hull waited 15 games for another win, and were victorious in just one of their final 21 games, losing 17, to be relegated with the division’s worst defensive record, cemented by an 8-0 thrashing ay Wigan three games out from the end. They didn’t score in ten of those games, including the last four. QPR: Lumley 3; Rangel 7, Hall 6, Leistner 6, Manning 6; Amos 6 (Smith 66, 5), Ball 6; Osayi-Samuel 7, Chair 7 (Hugill 79, 4), Eze 6; Wells 5 Subs not used: Kane, Wallace, Pugh, Kelly Goals: Chair 20 (assisted Manning) Hull: Long 6; Lichaj 6, Burke 6, De Wijs 7, Kingsley 4 (Pennington 37, 6); Honeyman 6 (Batty 77, 6), Lopes 6; Bowler 6, Irvine 6, Grosicki 6 (Eaves 66, 7); Bowen 5 Subs not used: Tafazolli, Ingram, Bonds, Berry Goals: Honeyman 32 (assisted Bowler), Irvine 89 (assisted Bowen) Bookings: De Wijs 64 (foul), Honeyman 75 (foul) Hull City 2 QPR 3, Saturday November 19, 2019, Championship QPR picked up a thrilling 3-2 away win at Hull City when these sides met for the first time that season back in November. Jarrod Bowen lobbed in his fifth goal against QPR in five appearances before the break but that was swiftly equalised by a cute finish by Ryan Manning and the second half was the Ebere Eze show. Twice the mercurial youngster set off on long distance, unstoppable, mazy runs at the Hull defence. Twice they chopped him down in the area. Twice he coolly converted from the spot in trademark style. There had to be a further defensive horror show just to keep things interesting — Josh Magennis scored at the near post with seconds remaining — but QPR were good value for the win and Eze was an absolute joy to watch. Hull: Long 7; Lichaj 3, Burke 5, Tafazolli 6, Elder 5; Stewart 5, Honeyman 4 (Toral 77, 6), Irvine 5; Grosicki 4 (Bowler 84, -), Eaves 5 (Magennis 62, 5), Bowen 7 Subs not used: Batty, Ingram, Pennington, Da Silva Lopes Goals: Bowen 29 (assisted Eaves, pre-assist Long), Magennis 90+6 (assisted Toral) Bookings: Bowler 90+10 (foul) QPR: Kelly 6; Rangel 8, Leistner 7, Barbet 6, Manning 8; Scowen 7, Cameron 8; Chair 7 (Amos 83, -), Eze 9, Osayi-Samuel 7 (Pugh 62, 6); Wells 6 (Hugill 62, 6) Subs not used: Lumley, Kane, Ball, Mlakar Goals: Manning 44 (unassisted), Eze 75 (penalty, won Eze), 88 (penalty, won Eze) Hull City 2 QPR 2, Saturday March 16, 2019, Championship QPR were in the midst of a horrendous run of one league win in 14 attempts when they travelled to Hull City in March 2019, and when they fell 2-0 behind before half time to two Jarrod Bowen goals of equal defensive ineptitude things didn’t look like improving any time soon. But Rangers briefly coughed into life, with some rare proactive, effective substitutions by Steve McClaren turning the game back in their favour. Josh Scowen came on after an hour and was the man of the match, scoring a flukey first and driving the team forward for a second from fellow sub Tomer Hemed, bundled in from close range after The Rat had retrieved a lost cause from the byline. Ebere Eze was denied a blatant penalty in stoppage time which would have been a chance to win the game. The R’s followed up this improvement with a 2-1 home defeat to lowly Bolton which cost McClaren his job. Hull: Marshall 5; McKenzie 5, Burke 6, Ridgewell 4, Kingsley 6; Stewart 6, Irvine 6; Bowen 8, Pugh 7, Grosicki 7; Campbell 6 (Martin 77, 5) Subs not used: Lichaj, Evandro, Dicko, Milinkovic, Long, Kane Goals: Bowen 7 (assisted Grosicki), 44 (assisted Grosicki) Bookings: Ridgwell 28 (foul), Stewart 90 (foul) QPR: Lumley 6; Furlong 5, Leistner 5, Lynch 5, Bidwell 6; Cameron 6 (Scowen 56, 8), Luongo 5; Wszolek 6, Eze 7, Freeman 6 (Osayi-Samuel 46, 7); Wells 5 (Hemed 79, 7) Subs not used: Ingram, Hall, Cousins, Manning Goals: Scowen 62 (unassisted), Hemed 84 (assisted Scowen) Bookings: Lynch 26 (foul), Cameron 52 (foul), Wszolek 72 (dissent) QPR 2 Hull City 3, Saturday December 1, 2018, Championship Jarrod Bowen inspired Hull to a 3-2 win at Loftus Road at the start of December 2018. The talented winger scored from long range after five minutes and then crossed for Henriksen to head in a second after 20. QPR hadn’t got going, but after Pawel Wszolek halved the arrears before half time there was a period of pressure in which Nahki Wells twice went close, Angel Rangel hit the post from 30 yards, and Joel Lynch struck the same upright with a header from a corner. Bowen made it 3-1 after half time, though there were two offsides not spotted in the build up, and would have had a hat trick but for a remarkable save from Joe Lumley. Luke Freeman bundled a late goal in to get Rangers back within one but was a foot wide with an injury time free kick that would have been the equaliser. QPR: Lumley 5; Rangel 5 (Smith 73, 5), Leistner 5, Lynch 4, Bidwell 5; Cameron 5 (Hemed 63, 5), Luongo 5; Wszolek 5 (Osayi-Samuel 86, -), Eze 5, Freeman 5; Wells 5 Subs not used: Ingram, Furlong, Cousins, Scowen Goals: Wszolek 24 (assisted Rangel), Freeman 90+1 (assisted Smith) Bookings: Bidwell 78 (foul), Lynch 87 (nearly Christmas) Hull: Marshall 7; Kane 6, Elphick 7, Burke 6 (de Wijs 46, 6), Lichaj 6 (McKenzie 46, 6); Henriksen 7, Batty 6; Bowen 9, Irvine 8, Grosicki 8 (Mazuch 74, 6); Campbell 7 Subs not used: Stewart, Long, Keane, Martin Goals: Bowen 5 (unassisted), 69 (assisted Grosicki), Henriksen 20 (assisted Bowen) Bookings: Batty 73 (time wasting) Hull City 4 QPR 0, Saturday April 7, 2018, Championship QPR had Nedum Onuoha sent off as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat against struggling Hull in the 2017/18 away meeting. Two goals just before half time changed the course of the game decisively, the first struck in off the far post by Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson, the second rebounding back into the net off Alex Smithies after Abel Hernandez had struck the bar. But Hull had been banging on the door long before that and added two more after half time through Grosicki and Hernandez from close range. Onuoha let the frustration get the better of him by charging an opponent in the aftermath of a horrible foul by Josh Scowen which saw him sent off. QPR: Smithies 5; Furlong 5, Lynch 6 (Robinson 15, 5), Onuoha 5, Bidwell 5; Scowen 5, Freeman 6, Luongo 5; Wsolek 3 (Osayi-Samuel 67, 5), Manning 4 (Sylla 45, 5); Eze 5. Subs not used: Ingram, Cousins, Baptiste, Smyth Red Card: Onuoha 90+1 (violent conduct) Bookings: Bidwell 30 (unsporting), Scowen 90+1 (foul) Hull: McGregor, Aina, Dawson, Hector, Clark, Henriksen, Larrson, Bowen (Grosicki 52), Toral (Irvine 59), Wilson, Hernandez (Campbell 71) Subs not used: Meyler, Marshall, Tomori, McDonald Goals: Wilson 42 (assisted Hernandez), Smithies own goal 45 (assisted Hernandez), Grosicki 62 (assisted Wilson), Hernandez 69 (assisted Henriksen) Bookings: Bowen 30 (unsporting), Irvine 81 (foul), Henriksen 90+1 (unsporting) QPR 2 Hull City 1, Saturday August 19, 2017, Championship Rangers scored in the last minute to win the game when these two sides met right back at the start of that season in August. An even first half had gone just the way of the visitors thanks to Jared Bowen’s cute finish from a tight angle after Luke Freeman had side-footed a sitter wide at the other end. But QPR equalised with a quarter of an hour left when Matt Smith headed in Freeman’s left wing cross after earlier sending a similar effort straight at Hull keeper McGregor. It looked like finishing level until Conor Washington broke free in injury time, chipped the keeper, then seemed to execute a pretty blatant push on his man trying to retrieve the situation but was allowed to play on and Idrissa Sylla slammed in a trademark two yarder. Still time for the obligatory injury time panic in the QPR six yard box during which Hull should have scored on at least three occasions, but that’s how we roll. QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 7, Onuoha 6, Baptiste 5 (Wszolek 63, 6); Lua Lua 4 (Smith 57, 6), Bidwell 6; Scowen 7, Luongo 7, Freeman 6; Mackie 6 (Sylla 72, 7), Washington 6 Subs not used: Furlong, Ingram, Manning, Borysiuk Goals: Smith 74 (assisted Freeman), Sylla 90+1 (assisted Washington) Bookings: Perch 82 (foul), Sylla 90+1 (over celebrating), Smith 90+7 (foul) Hull: McGregor 5; Aina 5, Dawson 7, Hector 6; Clark 6, Meyler 6, Stewart — (Diomande 10, 6), Bowen 7, Larsson 6; Grosicki 6, Campbell 5 (Mazuch 45, 5) Subs not used: Mannion, Weir, Batty, Olley, Lenihan Goals: Bowen 35 (assisted Meyler) Bookings: Meyler 56 (foul), Larsson 60 (foul), McGregor 87 (time wasting) QPR 1 Hull City 2, Friday January 1, 2016, Championship The umpteenth and, thankfully, final calamity of Rob Green’s QPR career cost the R’s a point when these sides met at Loftus Road on New Year’s Day 2016. The televised encounter seemed to be heading for a draw when Seb Polter powered in Matt Phillips’ brilliant left wing cross four minutes from time. Abel Hernandez had given Hull a first half lead after Mo Diame’s powerful midfield work. But Green undid the equaliser almost straight from the kick off, coming for a Sam Clucas cross that was never his and punching it onto Diomande and back into his own net in farcical fashion. Remarkable to consider that until this point Green had been picked ahead of Alex Smithies for the best part of six months. QPR: Green 2; Onuoha 5, Hall 6, Angella 6, Konchesky 6; Faurlin 6, Henry 5 (Fer 71, 4); Phillips 6, Chery 6 (Luongo 85, -), Hoilett 6 (Mackie 78, 6); Polter 6 Subs not used: Smithies, Tozser, Diakite, Petrasso Goals: Polter 86 (assisted Phillips) Yellow Cards: Hoilett 73 (foul), Angella 90+1 (foul) Hull City: McGregor 6; Odubajo 6, Davies 6, Maguire 6, Robertson 7; Elmohamady 5 (Snodgrass 65, 6), Livermore 6, Diame 6 (Diomande 86, -), Clucas 7; Hernandez 6 (Huddlestone 81, -), Meyler 6 Subs not used: Taylor, Maloney, Jukupovic, Aluko Goals: Hernandez 61 (assisted Diame), Diomande 90 (assisted Green) Yellow Cards: Maguire 34 (foul) Hull City 1 QPR 1, Saturday September 19, 2015, Championship QPR turned in one of their more accomplished performances of the 2015/16 season when these sides met at the KC Stadium in September. There was, naturally, a defensively shambolic goal gifted to the home team after 38 minuttes when Michael Dawson was allowed a free run to power in a header from a Tom Huddlestone free kick. But Rangers were already in front by then, with Charlie Austin’s header coming down off the underside of the bar over the line after half an hour, and they could easily have won had Tjaronn Chery not missed an absolute sitter from a yard out in the second half. Hull: McGregor 6; Bruce 6 (Akprom 65, 6), Davies 6, Dawson 7; Robertson 8, Huddlestone 7, Clucas 6, Diame 6 (Elmohamady 76, 6), Odubajo 6; Hernandez 5 Aluko 4 (Maloney 69, 6) Subs not used: Jakupovic, Taylor, Meyler, Hayden Goals: Dawson 38 (assisted Huddlestone) QPR: Green 6; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Angella 7, Konchesky 5; Faurlin 8, Henry 6; Phillips 6, Luongo 6 (Doughty 87, -), Chery 5 (Mackie 76, 6); Austin 8 Subs not used: Hall, Gladwin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Smithies, Tozser Goals: Austin 26 (assisted Chery)
Previous ResultsHead to Head >>> QPR wins 19 >>> Draws 18 >>> Hull wins 20 2022/23 Hull 3 QPR 0 2022/23 QPR 3 Hull 1 (Chair, Laird, Willock) 2021/22 Hull 0 QPR 3 (Willock, Dykes, Dickie) 2019/20 QPR 1 Hull 2 (Chair) 2019/20 Hull 2 QPR 3 (Eze 2, Manning) 2018/19 Hull 2 QPR 2 (Scowen, Hemed) 2018/19 QPR 2 Hull City 3 (Wszolek, Freeman) 2017/18 Hull 4 QPR 0 2017/18 QPR 2 Hull City 1 (Smith, Sylla) 2015/16 QPR 1 Hull City 2 (Polter) 2015/16 Hull City 1 QPR 1 (Austin) 2014/15 Hull City 2 QPR 1 (Austin) 2014/15 QPR 0 Hull 1 2010/11 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Routledge) 2010/11 Hull 0 QPR 0 2007/08 Hull 1 QPR 1 (Blackstock) 2007/08 QPR 2 Hull 0 (Ephraim, Leigertwood) 2006/07 Hull 2 QPR 1 (Blackstock) 2006/07 QPR 2 Hull 0 (Blackstock, Jones) 2005/06 QPR 2 Hull 2 (Ainsworth 2) 2005/06 Hull 0 QPR 0 1991/92 QPR 5 Hull 1* (Thompson 2, Bailey 2, Bardsley) 1991/92 Hull 0 QPR 3* (Barker 2, Thompson) 1985/86 Hull 1 QPR 5* (Kerslake 2, Rosenior 2, Fillery) 1985/86 QPR 3 Hull 0* (Kerslake, Dawes, Bannister) 1972/73 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Bowles) 1972/73 Hull 4 QPR 1 (Givens) 1971/72 Hull 1 QPR 1 (O’Rourke) 1971/72 QPR 2 Hull 1 (O’Rourke, I Morgan) 1970/71 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Marsh) 1970/71 Hull 1 QPR 1 (Leach) 1969/70 Hull 1 QPR 2 (Marsh, Clarke) 1969/70 QPR 3 Hull 0 (Clark, Clarke, Leach) 1967/68 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Marsh) 1967/68 QPR 2 Hull 1* (Leach, Keen) 1967/68 Hull 2 QPR 0 1965/66 QPR 3 Hull 3 (Collins 3) 1965/66 Hull 1 QPR 3 (Allen 2, R Morgan) 1964/65 Hull 3 QPR 1 (McAdams) 1964/65 QPR 2 Hull 1 (Keen McAdams) 1963/64 Hull 3 QPR 0 1963/64 QPR 0 Hull 2 1962/63 Hull 4 QPR 1 (Leary) 1962/63 QPR 4 Hull 1 (Bedford 3, Lazarus) 1961/62 Hull 3 QPR 1 (Bedford) 1961/62 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Francis) 1960/61 QPR 2 Hull 1 (Bedford, Keen) 1960/61 Hull 3 QPR 1 (Bedford) 1958/59 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Whitelaw) 1958/59 Hull 1 QPR 0 1951/52 Hull 4 QPR 1 (Smith) 1951/52 QPR 1 Hull 1 (Smith) 1950/51 QPR 3 Hull 1 (Farrow 2, Smith) 1950/51 Hull 5 QPR 1 (Hatton) 1949/50 Hull 1 QPR 1 (Mills) 1949/50 QPR 1 Hull 4 (Duggan) * - League Cup
ConnectionsMark Hateley >>> QPR 1995-1997 >>> Hull City 1997-1998 Well, let's get the mitigation out of the way nice and early shall we? Replacing Les Ferdinand at QPR was always going to be an impossible job. Roberto Baggio may have made a decent fist of it, had there been any shred of truth in the London Evening Standard's most infamous backpage transfer splash, but otherwise Ray Wilkins' task of replacing the talismanic centre forward who'd scored 91 goals in 171 starts for our little, unfashionable West London club was a daunting one. However, you could probably have hazarded a decent guess that Mark Hateley, aged 34 when he moved to Loftus Road from the Rangers north of the border, would struggle to fit the bill. The Ferdinand departure left QPR 25 goals short and until Hateley pitched up they had only youth team graduates Kevin Gallen and Danny Dichio as striking options. In the end, Wilkins pushed winger Trevor Sinclair into action as a centre forward to try and salvage the situation. Hateley, who'd played with Wilkins for England, Milan and Rangers, may well have been a decent fit for QPR earlier in his career. A big, bustling, awkward centre forward, he'd scored regularly throughout Europe — 17 goals in 66 starts for Milan when Serie A was a fearsome division, 22 in 59 at Monaco, 111 in 214 Rangers outings before the SPL became a standing joke. Fanzine A Kick Up The R's carried an alternative version of Oasis' Wonderwall: "Mark Hateley, are you gonna be the one who saves me? Cos afterall, Les was wonderful." But by the time he got to Loftus Road , for £1.4m which, back in 1995, was a serious wedge for a club like QPR, he was physically shot. In fact, having signed in September, he was introduced to the home crowd on the field at half time of a Monday Night Football encounter with Tottenham, appearing on the hallowed turf propped up by a pair or crutches. Another thorough Rangers medical that one. Wilkins' men led 2-0 that night with half an hour to go but Spurs, bossed by Wilkins' predecessor Gerry Francis and aided by a scandalous penalty award by David Ellery for Teddy Sheringham diving over the back of Karl Ready as the defender turned away to play the ball, roared back to win 3-2. Rangers had only won two of their first seven games prior to that and although a Danny Dichio header a week later gave them a third success at newly promoted Bolton they were clearly in big trouble. Hateley finally made his debut in 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough at the start of December, winning a penalty which Simon Barker promptly skied over the bar. He would go on to make just 15 appearances that season as the R's were relegated for the first time in a generation, and he scored just two goals at Wimbledon and in a 3-1 home win against Everton. By the end of the campaign the crowd was firmly set against the former England front man. Painfully slow, apparently overweight, terminally injury prone, and almost completely useless on the football field, he looked and played like one of those bedraggled ponies you sometimes find tethered on dodgy estates and was seen as an expensive liability, who was often found wanting for effort. Despite all of this, he seemed supremely arrogant. Hateley started the first game of the First Division season at home to Oxford United but it was only when he was removed and replaced by Dichio that Rangers were able to come back from a goal down to win 2-1. Thereafter he miraculously managed to get himself a loan move back into the Premier League at Leeds United where he was fit to play just six times in the first three months of the season — needless to say, without scoring a goal. By the time he came back to W12, Wilkins had left the club in acrimonious circumstances. The new chairman Chris Wright had thrown money at the likes of John Spencer and Gavin Peacock to bolster the attack, and recruited Arsenal coach Stewart Houston as his first manager. Hateley was used sparingly (mercifully) but did notch a fine late equaliser in an FA Cup Third Round tie against Huddersfield at Loftus Road. He responded to this by racing across to the South Africa Road side of the ground cupping his ear at the supporters who'd previously been heckling him, as if one goal against Huddersfield made up for the previous 12 months. He subsequently scored in a league game at Swindon and then - the pinnacle of his time with the club - banged in a flying header in the fifth round of the cup at Wimbledon when 12,000 QPR fans had taken over Selhurst Park for the day. On both occasions, he goaded the QPR supporters with his ear cupping celebration. Such brash arrogance of a man who was paid handsomely by QPR despite being physically incapable of doing his job properly hardly endeared him to the Shepherd's Bush public any further and there were street parties and dancing on tables aplenty when QPR managed to not only get him a permanent deal back at Glasgow Rangers, but also got £300,000 miraculously slung into the bargain. On his second debut for Rangers, against bitter rivals Celtic, he was sent off for headbutting Stewart Kerr.
The second spell at Ibrox ended that summer, after four appearances and one goal. He moved back south of the border to join Hull City, then in the Third Division, as a player manager. Hull, playing at a crumbling Boothferry Park stadium, had been in the doldrums for some time. Destitute and on the brink of bankruptcy off the field, and drearily managed by Terry Dolan on it, the Tigers were circling the drain and had been for some time. When former tennis pro David Lloyd, who'd made an apparent fortune with his leisure clubs since retiring, bought the club and neighbouring rugby league outfit Hull FC in 1997 he promised a bright new era for both, playing in a shiny new shared stadium in the city. He spent big appointing Hateley and Billy Kirkwood as the best paid managerial team in the bottom two divisions. Given the size of the rebuilding job required at City, fans seemed happy enough to give the pair a free ride in 1997/98, Hateley's first full season as a manager. Just as well really, because Hull were every bit as bad as they'd been under Dolan and arguably worse. They finished third bottom, saved from relegation out of the Football League by the collapse of Doncaster Rovers who finished dead last with 20 points and a goal difference of -83. Doncaster lost 8-0 to Forest, 5-0 to Peterborough , 5-1 to Darlington, 4-0 at Scarborough, 8-0 to Leyton Orient and 7-1 to Cardiff . They won just four games all season, only one of them away — the final victory of those four was a 1-0 success against Hateley's Hull at Belle Vue snapping a run of eight straight defeats in which they'd conceded 25 goals. Hateley played 14 times that season scoring none. Anyway, 1998/99 was Hateley's second stab at the job and big things were expected. They stated with a home defeat by Rotherham and a loss at home to Darlington before drawing 2-2 at Chester . Their first win of the season, and Hateley's only goal for the club at Boothferry Park (he only managed only three in total), came against Peterborough at the end of August. The goal came from the penalty spot, and the victory owed more to the fine form of goalkeeper Steve Wilson. A more detailed recollection, and some dodgy highlights, available at the excellent Amber Nectar blog. When the plans for the ground were not backed by the council — wary of handing money for a significant asset straight to Lloyd — and things did not go right on the field for ether club, Lloyd was hounded out by both sets of supporters, locking them out of their grounds as he went. Not a man who should drop into the Silver Cod for a swift half any time soon. A consortium led by Tom Belton bought the club from Lloyd in October by which time Hateley's side had won three and lost 11 of their first 19 matches. Following a home defeat by Leyton Orient in November, Belton's first act as chairman was to sack Hateley and appoint experienced midfielder Warren Joyce in his stead. Hull finished fourth bottom in 1998/99, four points ahead of relegated Scarborough. Still he tried to plough on. A spell with mighty Ross County at the start of 1999/00 in the Scottish second division brought two appearances, no goals and an early release. Still sporting ridiculous hair, even more ludicrous earrings, and a strong sense of self worth and importance, Hateley can now be found in television studios mouthing off about how other people in football should be doing their jobs. Others >>> Matt Smith, Hull (loan) 2021, QPR (loan) 2019 >>> Matt Ingram, Hull 2019-present, QPR 2016-2019 >>> Josh Bowler, Hull (loan) 2019-2020, QPR 2017-2018 >>> Todd Kane, QPR 2019-2021, Hull (loan) 2018-2019 >>> Marc Pugh, QPR 2019-2020, Hull (loan) 2019 >>> Jay Simpson, QPR (loan) 2009-2010, Hull 2010-2013 >>> Damien Delaney, Hull 2002-2008, QPR 2008-2009 >>> Rowan Vine, QPR 2007-2012, Hull (loan) 2010 >>> Simon Walton, QPR 2007-2008, Hull (loan) 2008 >>> Jason Jarrett, Hull (Loan) 2006, QPR (loan) 2007 >>> Adam Bolder, Hull 1998-2000, QPR 2007-2009 >>> Dean Marney, QPR (loan) 2004, Hull City 2006-2010 >>> Nick Culkin, Hull (loan) 1999-2000, QPR 2002-2005 >>> Wayne Brown, QPR (loan) 2001, Hull 2007-2009 >>> Ernest Shepherd, Hull 1948-1950, QPR 1950-1956 >>> Terry Peacock, Hull 1952-1956, QPR 1956-1958 >>> John Collier, Hull 1920-1925, QPR 1926-1927 The Twitter @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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