Ian Holloway's nightmare start to his second stint as QPR boss continued at Loftus Road on Sunday as Aston Villa won 1-0.
Queens Park Rangers, who sacked their previous manager while in midtable despite him fulfilling his remit because they were a bit bored, look like they're going to get more excitement than they bargained for in 2017. Nothing quickens the pulse quite like a relegation zone approaching at speed.
This fifth straight defeat - four of them to nil, the last three by the same 1-0 scoreline - leaves the R's three points outside the bottom three with little indication that a relieving win, or even a goal, is coming any time soon. Rangers lost to the league's lowest placed club last week; one of its most in-form teams on Wednesday; and then again to midtable Aston Villa during breakfast on Sunday. At the moment, QPR find a way to lose to everybody.
The showing against Steve Bruce's Villa was better than the display against Steve McClaren's Derby in the week, which in turn was better than the shambles at Rotherham. The wide split new manager Ian Holloway wants to see from goal kicks was in evidence, the desire to see his players try to pass their way through the pitch and be brave on the ball is starting to see some results, there were some positives again.
Holloway was full of praise for his beaten side at full time. It could have been different had the recalled Pawel Wzsolek connected to a good through ball from Grant Hall, again pressed higher up the field into midfield, early in the first half. Later Wzsolek's cross that seemed destined to be headed in by Conor Washington in the six yard box was diverted away from him at the last minute. Washington had a penalty appeal given as a corner instead, referee Geoff Eltringham deeming the Villa man had won the ball.
In the second half Holloway was positive with his changes, introducing Idrissa Sylla at half time and then Mide Shodipo on the hour for Washington and Wzsolek respectively. Shodipo, coming in from the right, nearly scored with his first touch as a snap shot in the area struck a defender and bounced wide when it seemed goal bound. Jamie Mackie made his long awaited return from injury late in the game and set James Perch up for a volley wide, then had an appeal for a penalty of his own dismissed by Eltringham when he seemed to be pushed in the back chasing a long ball.
There were bits and pieces here against a Villa side that, on paper and balance sheet, should have completely overawed what QPR had at their disposal.
But that's really all they were: bits and pieces, and straws to clutch at. Villa may have an expensive strike force, and Jonathan Kodija showed why the new Villa Park board were so keen to pay big money to Bristol City for his services in the summer with a powerful centre forward display brimming with constant menace. They may also be one of the division's form teams since they brought Steve Bruce in as manager — five wins from their previous nine matches. But this is not an infallible side and really, Rangers didn't lay a glove on them in the whole fight.
Holloway talks a lot about his work at Blackpool, where his free flowing fooball side won a shock promotion to the Premier League and accumulated 39 points at that higher level as well. But he took over a successful, settled team there. I wonder if, by trying to get Rangers playing like that straight away, he's trying to run before his team can really walk.
Once more, it was only the desperate efforts of Alex Smithies between the sticks that kept QPR in the game for as long as they were.
After quiet beginnings the visitors burst into the game on the half hour when Wzsolek got the wrong side of Kodija in the area and attempted to recover with a clumsy tackle that led to what looked at the time like an obvious penalty. Spot kick duly awarded but no need for panic as Smithies has saved 18 PKs (c Bob Bradley) in his career so far, including five for QPR while a sixth hit the post. Bananaman made light work of Kodija's needlessly poncey run up, diving left to save with relative ease. Perhaps with the former Huddersfield man keeping goal one defensive technique might be to start deliberately giving penalties away.
Villa turned the screw at the start of the second half and QPR did well to ride out the first 15 minutes of constant pressure without shipping a goal. Again, that was largely down to their keeper. Smithies dived full stretch right in the fifty sixth minute to deny Kodija as the Ivorian bent a ball round him and seemingly into the bottom corner until the gloves miraculously appeared at the last minute. Within 60 seconds Villa had carved Rangers open again and QPR fan Albert Adomah tried his luck with the same shot from the same position with the same result. Much later Villa sub Rudy Gestede ran clear on goal into the area but Smithies denied him one on one.
A theme of this QPR side is not learning from mistakes.
James Perch was extremely fortunate not to be sent off at Ipswich when, on a booking, he lunged in on Tom Lawrence when the Town player was going nowhere. Next match, same position, same situation, on a booking again, he chopped into Wolves' Matt Doherty and was dismissed.
Despite it never once working since the player arrived at the club, despite it not working for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, despite Ian Holloway himself saying he doesn't think it will work, we're now back to playing Conor Washington as a lone striker. Washington may well not be good enough for this level, but at 5ft 10ins I'd defy anybody to play alone up front against two big centre backs with very little support and next to no service at all. Holloway knows this doesn't work, he's said as much himself, he's said he needs to play off the shoulder of another striker, we saw against Norwich how that could work, and yet here we are again, persisting with this bullshit.
Washington went off at half time, ineffective in the centre and often forced to go looking for the ball in wide areas from where he could look up at an unpopulated penalty area and be forgiven for wondering why he'd bothered. Sylla replaced him, and was a lot better, as he is a genuine target man, but again having brought the ball down there was little by way of support for him. This isn't working through lack of effort on Washington's part, it's not working because it doesn't fucking work.
I'm going to cry the next time we start Washington in this role. Actually cry. For him, and for us.
And then there was Joel Lynch. Wholehearted, strong in the air, all effort and action, and actually pretty decent — except for one absolutely crucial flaw which he got away with on three separate occasions before the only goal of the game but, like Perch against Wolves and QPR with Washington, learnt nothing from.
The old basic of centre half play of staying goal side and inside of the centre forward was abandoned once too often. Lynch's desire to be on the front foot, to get in front of his man and deny him possession before it even arrived, was laudable. But Kodija rolled him once, rolled him twice, rolled him three times and then, critically, rolled him for the fourth and final time in the game with 15 minutes left for play. Now with a clear run on goal, he smacked a powerful low shot to the near post where Smithies, in the sort of form he's in, should probably have saved it. Having hauled his defence out of three disasters of their own making already, the keeper couldn't perform a fourth rescue act. 1-0.
Another running theme, QPR basically gave up once the goal had gone in. Balls were just punted high and long down the field towards Sylla after Kodija had scored. Mackie's effort was industrious, and quite effective, almost forcing that late penalty, but there wasn't a hint of an equaliser.
The final ten minutes were dominated by visiting goalkeeper Mark Bunn reaching new levels of cuntishness — allowing balls returned to him to roll past so he had to go and fetch them again, changing the side of every goal kick, pretending to be injured and basically engaging in clock running the likes of which I haven't seen since Paul Gerrard was keeping goal.
There's an obvious rule change that could help here — goal kicks must be taken from the side the ball goes out, same as corners, so keepers can't do this irritating walk to the opposite side of the six yard box. The rules as they are written should have seen Eltringham take action far, far sooner than a token yellow card for Bunn in injury time. But the most effective solution to this ball ache would have been a shot or two for Bunn to save. Equalise, and he'd have no advantage to protect.
Bunn behaved like an absolute prick, but he didn't have a save to make in the whole game. The easiest clean sheet of his career. In fact, it's getting hard to remember the last serious save made by a visiting keeper at Loftus Road. Eltringham added five minutes to the end of the game, Bunn's antics mean there should have been more, but QPR hadn't had a shot on target in the previous 95 minutes while Villa had tested Smithies seven times so it's a bit rich of them to be arguing the toss over not getting another 60 or 120 seconds.
Still, those of a Hooped persuasion will cling to any bit of wreckage floating past at the moment. Brighton, flying high in the Championship, unbeaten in 14, with eight wins from their last ten games, and only one defeat at home all season, are up next the day after Boxing Day.
Hold me.
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QPR: Smithies 8; Perch 6, Onuoha 5, Lynch 5, Bidwell 5; Hall 6, Luongo 5, Chery 5 (Mackie 78, 6); Wzsolek 5 (Shodipo 62, 6), Washington 5 (Sylla 46, 6), Ngbakoto 5
Subs not used: Sandro, Borysiuk, Ingram, Polter
Bookings: Luongo 81 (foul)
Villa: Bunn 5; Hutton 6, Chester 6, Baker 6, Amavi 7; Adoma 6, Jedinak 7, Gardner 6 (Westwood 89, -), Bacuna 6; McCormack 5 (Agbonlahor 71, 5), Kodija 8 (Gestede 82, -)
Subs not used: Gollini, Elphick, Ayew, Grealish
Goals: Kodija 75 (assisted Hutton)
Bookings: Jedinak 43 (foul), Chester 63 (foul), Bunn 90+3 (time wasting)
The Alex Smithies QPR Star Man Award — Alex Smithies 8 Could probably have done better with the goal, but as is the norm these days the only reason we were still in the game at that point anyway was his performance.
Referee — Geoff Eltringham (Co Durham) 7 Odd one this, I came away thinking he'd got most of the stuff right. Villa's penalty was a penalty at first viewing, Washington's didn't look like one to me albeit from the other end of the ground. Should have clamped down on Bunn's antics a lot sooner, and Mackie did seem to be pushed in the back in that late incident, but that was about it. Lots, including those watching on TV, have said he was terrible and QPR should have had at least one pen.
Attendance — 16,285 (3,100 Villa approx) Nice to see the old place full after the last few games, and credit to Villa for bringing a full house at such an anti-social kick off time. There was an incident at the end of the game where Nedum Onuoha confronted/spoke to a supporter who has been giving him pelters for weeks/merely spoke out through frustration depending on who you believe. The old footballers are only human/footballers are paid professionals and supporters should support/supporters pay their money and can say what they like argument will never reach a conclusion. But I do wonder exactly what somebody abusing/criticising/yelling at our own players during the match, from a distance they can clearly hear what's being said, hopes to achieve? What's the end goal here?
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