Rangers got their season off to a losing start for the first time in eight seasons as Burnley's Steve Jones struck twice at Turf Moor.
Well if you're looking for positives how about this. If anybody in the squad, the management team or on the board thought that after a steady first 60 minutes yesterday that perhaps we could get away with just banking the money we get for Shittu and playing on with what we have - they can think again. If the last third of the match had continued in the same vein as the first two there may have been a temptation to just leave the squad as it is now. After all the defence had dealt with Gray and Jones which is no easy task, Lomas had totally nullified the threat of Alan Mahon in the midfield and Nick Ward had tested Burnley keeper Brian Jensen with a couple of long range shots. All in all it looked to be heading towards a creditable 0-0 draw and then the implosion happened. In typical fashion Rangers found their first line up of the season heavily affected by injuries. Strikers Nygaard, Gallen and Furlong were all out of the squad which left poor Adam Czerkas to make his first ever appearance at this level, indeed in this country, up front, by himself, against a notoriously mean defence. With a striker shortage on his hands Waddock packed the midfield with Ainsworth, Ward, Lomas, Rowlands and Cook. At least three of those were charged with getting up to help Czerkas when possible but in truth it looked like a hiding to nothing right from the start. At the back Matthew Rose took Danny Shittu's place alongside Damion Stewart with Milanese and Bignot the full backs in front of Jones in goal. Burnley gave a debut to their new look attack - Steve Jones signed from Crewe and Andy Gray from Sunderland. Alan Mahon had picked the R's apart last season and was again at the heart of the midfield with Frank Sinclair switched from centre half to right back charged with the task of kicking Lee Cook as often as possible. Rangers started the game pretty well without ever really threatening a goal. With five talented midfielders across the middle the R's enjoyed more of the possession in the first half but a lack of a cutting edge up front hindered any chance of turning that into an advantage on the scoreboard. Adam Czerkas showed his fondness for a long range shot, as seen time and again with varying success on the Italian tour, with a thirty yard effort wide of the post in the fourth minute. Two minutes later the Pole thought he was through on goal when Marcus Bignot laid a ball in to him and Frank Sinclair allowed it to run through but giant Burnley keeper Jensen was on the scene quickly to mop up the danger. Other than Czerkas, Matthew Rose had a half chance when he headed an inswinging Lee Cook free kick over the bar but all in all it was tame stuff up top for the R's and early on the game looked to have 0-0 written all over it. At the far end of the ground Burnley struggled to create very much at all for the first twenty minutes but then came into the game with a succession of corners and free kicks which kept the pressure on Rangers for a solid five minutes. Kyle Lafferty beat Damion Stewart to the ball and met a cross from Jones but could only head over the bar and onto the roof of the net and then sent a wild effort over the top after the ball came loose on the edge of the penalty area thanks to some ragged defending. In between these two chances Alan Mahon sent a low shot straight at Jones. The best chance of the half fell to QPR though, and to Ward who met Rowlands' outswinging corner firmly from eight yards but sent the ball straight into the arms of Jensen. Either side of the keeper and it was in, despite the men on the line. Ward took his frustration out on the ball two minutes later with a stinging twenty five yard effort that screamed towards the bottom corner until Jensen diverted it wide. The Australian midfielder was QPR's main driving force and he drew two Burnley bookings in the final fifteen minutes of the half. Jon Harley and Michael Duff were both carded for upending Ward around the edge of the penalty area. Czerkas was working hard up front and Ward did everything he could from midfield but without that second striker so much of the hard work came to nothing and QPR will come away from road matches frequently disappointed this season if they persist with 4-5-1. As half time approached the sides exchanged tame long range shots. Rowlands sent a low effort into Jensen's hands via a deflection while Jones had to watch a bouncing effort from O'Connor carefully at the other end. The final chance of the half fell to the home side, they created an opening down the left after a good period of pressure and Chris McCann sent a low drive towards the near post but Paul Jones was equal to it. After half time the home side stepped things up a gear. The home fans in the side stand started to back their players with increasing volume and gusto and right from the kick off they looked more up for it and fitter than QPR. O'Connor flew into Ainsworth right from the restart and was booked and then after another decision against his team manager Steve Cotterill launched a ball into the away end in frustration. He was ticked off by the referee but these two incidents raised the tempo in Burnley's play. Meanwhile Rangers still just had Czerkas battling gamely by himself up front and however hard he tried nobody was getting up to support him and the ball just kept coming back at QPR. Mahon and O'Connor spent the first fifteen minutes of the half sending lethal crosses in front of Paul Jones' goal to no effect, the best of these was diverted wide of the near post by Damion Stewart. Rangers had to ride out the spell of pressure and it looked like they'd done that as the hour mark approached but no, a moment of madness cost them the point they were looking increasingly likely to win. After an hour of doing the sensible thing, playing the way they were facing, putting the ball out when it needed to go out, taking no risks - Rangers decided to complicate matters. Marcus Bignot tried to control a header from Damion Stewart and turn, giving possession away, Rose and Milanese allowed a ball from Mahon to run through to Paul Jones when both could have dealt with it and after a brief melee Steve Jones scored. Professional footballers can be irritating sometimes. The QPR defence spent an hour yesterday calmly putting the ball out of play when it needed it or playing their way out of trouble and then suddenly they decide that's working too well and to take a few risks and be a bit too clever. Off went Lomas for Ray Jones as Waddock looked to bolster the attack and suddenly Mahon was everywhere, freed of his shackles. Burnley threatened twice in quick succession after the first goal and were then gifted a second in the sixty ninth minute when Mauro Milanese gave the ball away in his own half and Steve Jones rifled in a thunderous shot from the edge of the area. Czerkas was out on his feet by now and replaced by Bircham. This meant that Rangers went back to the negative 4-5-1 set up despite being two goals down and despite changing to 4-4-2 just five minutes before hand. QPR's heads were down and they were a spent force by this point anyway so the changes were irrelevant. Only a flying save from Paul Jones prevented Alan Mahon making it three in the closing stages and to make matters worse Martin Rowlands pulled up with what looked like a recurrence of the cramps he suffered in Italy and must now be a doubt for the Leeds game. Micah Hyde smacked a low shot wide but Burnley declared at two. So an opening day defeat and the pressure is now on the team going into successive home games this week. There were positives, Rangers kept the ball and played nice football for the first hour, Damion Stewart looked decent in defence and the midfield three of Ward, Rowlands and Lomas was better than anything we put out in that area last season. Cook and Ainsworth were kept very quiet for most of the game, both producing just one or two glimpses of the flying form of last season. Up front Czerkas looked like he could be useful alongside a strike partner but we can't expect the lad to play up top by himself with any frequency this season, it just won't work. Of course there were negatives too. The defending for both goals was deplorable - conceding possession and making stupid choices in bad areas of the field. All four defenders and the keeper were culpable in at least one of the two Burnley goals. Bignot, after such a terrific pre-season, was back to the poor form of last year and Milanese looked off the pace too. Stewart and Rose is not a centre back partnership good enough for the Championship - it's just not. Hopefully somebody new will be brought in with the Shittu money this week. We need a striker as well, even with Gallen and Nygaard fit it's hard to see it being much different to yesterday. Gary Waddock needs to be given some of the money to spend or we're in trouble. Burnley, well they look to have improved again and I'm sure they'll push on into the top half of the table and if they avoid injuries possibly the play offs. Teams will no doubt look at the job Lomas did on Mahon as the key to stopping them, for an hour yesterday they had no idea and then when Lomas went off they were all over Rangers. On to a tough game with Leeds now then. Another defeat wouldn't be a total disaster but if we then went on to lose to Southend as well next Saturday alarm bells would be ringing. Lets hope some new signings are imminent and the supporters stay with the players through this transitional period. Burnley: Jensen 7, Thomas 7, Harley 7, Sinclair 6, Duff 7, J O'Connor 7 (Elliott 62, 6), Mahon 7 (G O'Connor 90, -), Jones 8, Gray 7, McCann 6, Lafferty 6 (Hyde 62). QPR: P Jones 6, Bignot 5, Stewart 6, Rose 5, Milanese 5, Ainsworth 6, Rowlands 7 (Donnelly 78, 6), Lomas 7 (R Jones 65, 5), Ward 7, Cook 6, Czerkas 7 (Bircham 71, 6). QPR Star Man - Nick Ward 7 - Pretty hard to pick a man of the match from a fairly lacklustre display but for being our chief attacking threat and never giving up I reckon the new boy deserves it more than most. Referee: M Clattenburg 8 - Excellent start to the season refereeing wise. Played a good advantage, only used the cards when necessary although I remember thinking one of Burnley's was a bit harsh, and allowed some physical contact which was a blessed relief after the World Cup. Good job all in all.
Subs: McGreal, Foster.
Goals: Jones 58, 69
Bookings: Duff 33, Harley 45, O'Connor 46
Subs: Cole, Kanyuka.