A lacklustre performance against a lower division team in the cup like so many before it looked like getting QPR through against Charlton on Tuesday night regardless thanks to debutant Tyler Roberts, until an all-too-typical late calamity tested the patience of manager and fans.
Disappointed? Sure. Annoyed, irritated, exasperated… angry even? Of course. But not surprised. Never surprised. If you’re surprised, you’re either new here, or haven’t been paying attention.
If you watch football more generally — the other, less accident-prone teams — you’d probably think it quite difficult for a professional outfit to manufacture a cup exit from the position Queens Park Rangers had belatedly worked themselves into at south of the river on Tuesday night. Fool.
After a, frankly, rather pathetic first half in which a League One opponent boasting eight changes to their own line-up and led from the front by 18-year-old Miles Leaburn (son of QPR legend Carl) on his first ever start in senior football were much the better of the two teams, Rangers had got something like their act together thanks to Michael Beale’s proactive changes from the bench.
We’ll come onto a litany of negatives later, and the very senior and established front three that was hooked collectively on the hour was certainly high on that list, but the three lads who replaced them were particular positives and seemed to have turned the tide in the visitors' favour. Backed throughout by a ridiculous following in excess of 2,500 that made up half the crowd on a lonely night at a deserted Valley, Mide Shodipo and particularly Sinclair Armstrong and debutant Tyler Roberts decided to eschew cute technicalities, prolonged build up and pisballing about in favour of getting the fucking ball and attacking the fucking Charlton goal. After the first hour this sort of thinking was revelatory, and it terrorised and terrified the home defence. You want to "move through the thirds”? Muscly teenager with the acceleration of an electric train can do that for you much more purposefully than Andre Dozzell posing no-look passes for his SnapChat.
Armstrong looked far, far keener to impress and make an impact than half a dozen others who’d started before him supposedly pitching for places in Beale’s first team. He made things happen to people, rather than waiting for things to happen to him - not a bad lesson for half our squad at the moment. He roughed defenders up, closed them down, powered towards goal, took risks, had shots. It’s not difficult. It’s brilliantly effective. It was a world away from what had gone before his arrival. He stuck his shoulder into Sam Levelle’s life within 60 seconds of rising from the bench, robbing him of the ball and dignity, and won a corner from the subsequent attack. Four minutes later there was a lovely combination between him and Roberts that promised much for the future, working Osman Kakay into a crossing space from where he also won a corner. And then with ten to play he was involved in another effective high press that won possession back for Roberts to open a nice shooting angle and he guided the ball expertly on the perfect arc around keeper Jo Wollacott. For a man who averaged a goal only every ten games at Leeds, this was not a bad start at all. He looked a class apart from anything else on the pitch, and between them him and young Sinclair allayed some fears about our threat up front this year. Right, good, let’s get out of here.
I guess I can’t go all gooey over Albert Adomah’s expert murder of the latter stages of Saturday’s tight win at Middlesbrough and then go all critical of us for trying to do the same here, but you know what I paid my money and I stood there last night so I’m going to take that as license to do so anyway. This is a League One team that finished thirteenth last season, it’s a different opposition and different situation entirely to Saturday. We were pissing about after the goal and into four minutes of stoppage time, when we had the players and the momentum to go for a second. For all of the improvements post substitutions, it was nowhere near enough to be arrogantly trying to flick and trick the time away like we were in some poxy academy game.
The punishment was brutal. QPR had a warning as the normal time ran out, Leaburn in behind Kakay, Dieng out with an improvised save at the near post, but didn’t heed for the resulting corner. Having conceded 12 goals from set pieces in the final 20 matches of last season, the worst record in the Championship over that period, Rangers have now conceded from three corners in their first three games of the new campaign. I’m not sure hyping the routine hire of a coach with "he’s here too do the set pieces lads” is going to do him any favours if this continues, and the strategy of bringing absolutely everybody back into our own penalty box for them has now been shown up as folly twice in as many away games. QPR cannot get out quickly enough when they do clear the initial ball, the opposition are able to load too many players into and around the box, there are too many options within shooting range to attack a second ball, and we cannot close them down quickly enough when it falls to them. You couldn’t knock the performance of Aaron Henry, another 18-year-old with only one senior Charlton start in his whole life, after he was introduced, and the goal he scored was technically magnificent — hooked first time, at high velocity, back across the crowded box and into the far top corner with Seny Dieng rooted to the spot. But QPR’s set up for these is, somehow, even worse than it was last season.
The shock of going from showboating in the corner to being plunged into a penalty shoot out was all too much for the poor loves. Rangers, typically, lost the toss for the ends they would be taken, and the coin for who would go first, so Charlton were already 1-0 up when Stefan Johansen’s all-too-casual, careless kick was saved by Wollacott with his shins. I said immediately I thought everybody would score from that point on and that would be it, and that’s exactly what happened. Roberts, Shodipo and Dozzell scored theirs for Rangers, and after making an enormous jumping, shouting, gurning song and dance about the whole thing on his line, Seny Dieng flopped over early and limply for Charlie Kirk, Albie Morgan and Aaron Henry.
I know we were spoiled with Alex Smithies but, fuck me, our goalkeepers are bad at these things now. Joe Lumley, and now Dieng, all too bothered with the performance and bravado of trying to distract the taker, rather than any kind of fucking homework and knowledge about where the bloke might be thinking about putting the thing. We’ve been in a weirdly large amount of shoot outs of late — last night was our fifth in three and a bit seasons, as many as we’d had in the previous quarter of a century — and across those, 26 of the 31 we’ve faced have been scored with four saves and a miss. Two of those saves were Jordan Archer and one of them Liam Kelly. Seny Dieng has saved just one of the 13 he’s faced in shoot outs, and the only one he’s ever saved for QPR was converted immediately on the rebound by Cardiff at the end of 2020. The last time we saved a penalty in normal play and it stayed saved was Liam Kelly from Patrick Bamford three seasons ago. Dieng went the right way for the crucial, deciding, kick, which was poorly struck and straight at him by Eoghan O’Connell, but he contrived to dive over the top of the fucking thing and let it in anyway and that was the end of that.
Exasperating, like I say, but, like I say, not surprising at all.
QPR have now been punted out of cup competitions by League One opposition in each of the last six seasons, five times in the League Cup. Since Neil Warnock’s title winning season of 2010/11, when we also lost in this comp to League Two Port Vale, we have lost to teams from League One ten times in 13 seasons, and lost to teams in lower leagues than ourselves on 13 occasions. This steadfast protection against the perceived threats cup progress poses to our precious league position has helped us preserve final finishes of eleventh, ninth, thirteenth, nineteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, twelfth, dead last, fourth, dead last and seventeenth. The culture within the club when it comes to cup competitions, the attitude of the whole place, successive managers, different playing squads, absolutely stinks, and is a world away from how the majority of fans feel about it — north of 2,500 of them turned out here to back the team again. A club that pleads poverty and FFP restrictions, with very good reason, passes up the opportunity of pay days in the cup competitions time after time after time after time, year after year after year after year. Sapping mood and morale, taking the piss out of supporters, angering people all the way through.
For the first hour of this game, at least, it was just so much more of the same. You could say that this was a reasonably professional 1-0 away win on a night when all nine Championship teams who played lower league opponents lost, but for a last second wonder goal off a set piece. Fine. But for me there was more to it, and there’s a lot more going on with this team.
Given the chance to push for first team spots in the precious league games, George Thomas and Andre Dozzell were wholly anonymous in midfield, Travelman was a forlorn liability at left back, and Macauley Bonne’s stint up front (straight after he’d raised hopes with a positive impact against Boro on Saturday) was best summed up by the difference it made when he was replaced by somebody else. They weren’t alone, Ilias Chair’s writing the theme tune and singing the theme tune attempts reached really quite stupid levels here, like that selfish kid on the playground refusing to pass to the other boys. It looks really obvious to me, particularly watching from a low vantage point by the corner flag here, that Chair checks back and tries to do a bit more himself rather than play passes that are on to players he doesn’t trust — Dykes falls victim to this a bit, and Kakay and Niko certainly did here. But the result is him holding on too long, slowing the momentum of the attack, getting us crowded out. He had to do better here, against League One opposition. A daft attempt at a shot from ridiculous range in the second half sailed so farcically high and wide that I wondered if he'd sportingly kicked the thing out for the Charlton lad feigning injury in back play. Likewise Adomah - little bit less cheerleading a little more action please.
Clayden crossed low for the hosts after six mins and Gilbey toed wide of the target. Masked man Clare, League Two written through him like a stick of rock, chipped an eleventh minute ball back for Gilbey and Leaburn to attack together and rather get in each other’s way. Rob Dickie went on more rescue missions than the fucking lifeboat, and frequently fumed at the lack of passing options and players showing in front of him. Dozzell’s underhit, slapdash, casual pass halfway back to him on eleven minutes was a disgrace requiring a crunching tackle to escape from. Travelman could probably point to a poor ball out to him on the touchline on 26 minutes but the decision to plant it straight back towards the QPR box with a firm header was insane and set up an enormous scramble which Dickie was able to block away at full stretch. Next it was Dunne chucking his body on the line as Jaiyesimi cut in from the flank and drove towards goal. Field had been decent, but there was no need for his pull back and weekly yellow card. Likewise Niko crashing through the back of Jaiyesimi tight to the touchline, back to goal, heading away from the danger, time ticking down to half time. It capped a sadly shambolic half for the young left back, and at the risk of sticking the boot into a kid I’ll just leave it there. Nowhere in the QPR midfield or attack was there a player with the touch, vision, purpose and threat of Jack Payne.
Marginal improvements at the start of the second half, and Hamalainen’s low cross brought a panicked parry from Wollacott in what was probably our best attack to that point. Prior to it Albert Adomah had checked back onto his left foot in a great crossing position only to boot the ball high and wide into the stand on the far side. Got his name sung regardless. Dozzell then did the same thing, trying some ridiculously elaborate laces and outside of the boot attempt at a routine delivery from wide, that went bouncing off across the car park towards the railway station. That got a less favourable response from behind the goal, and he’s starting to grind my gears a little bit at the moment. The crowd, though, by and large, stuck with their team throughout. It was the best atmosphere there’s been at a Rangers away game for sometime. And it deserved better.
Look, the team do this to us every year, I trot out all this tired old shit about it every year, nothing changes, and increasingly fewer of you agree with me — we’re not going to win the cup so what’s the point, we’ve got a thing enough squad and a stacked enough fixture list as it is. For the last three years the manager sided with that view, but now it seems he sides with me. I’m old fashioned too Mick. Come and sit over here with me we’ll talk about the war. His post-match interview conveyed the sort of frustration and anger I feel when you’ve got senior players pissing about, and stand ins waving away their opportunity push for a first team place like this.
It does matter. We’ve been in the Championship eight years now, we’re not leaving it any time soon, and yet the only excitement and release we get from the endless trips to Preston we do this with it. So much of the good mood and momentum built up on Saturday, allowed to drain away like so many Thames Water leaks. Wholly counterproductive, and actually quite refreshing to hear a manager say as much. There were also some rather barbed and pointed comments about this squad’s fragility when it comes to injury — Chris Willock, Luke Amos and Kenneth Paal all missing here, and apparently not travelling Saturday either. A trip to Sunderland during a heatwave and a rail strike to watch this team, and these players, go against a newly promoted team, unbeaten in 18 games, in front of 40,000 people, doth not greatly appeal at this point three days out. They’ve found polio in the sewers of eight London boroughs apparently so I might lift a manhole cover and go hang around down there for a bit, sounds like a better use of my time.
We’ll explore more of Beale’s decision to put the boot in like that after the match in Friday’s preview (they don't write themselves you know). Much as the comments struck a chord, they were very big and early three games into his first managerial job. Clearly Beale’s standards are high and his personal career ambitions are through the roof. He speaks like a man who is increasingly aware of what he’s let himself in for here, and isn’t impressed with the prospect of this lot dragging his reputation through the mud. But if you don’t take the players with you, it’s an even tougher gig.
Fascinating to see how it plays out from here — certainly a good deal more fascinating than this match, which went like oh so many debacles before it.
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Charlton: Wollacott 6; Clare 5 (Ness 62, 5), Lavelle 6, O’Connell 6, Clayden 6; Dobson 6 (Henry 62, 7); Jaiyesimi 7 (Stockley 75, 6), Gilbey 7, Forster-Caskey 6 (Morgan 75, 6), Payne 8 (Kirk 74, 6); Leaburn 7
Subs not used: MacGillivray, Kanu, Chin
Goals: Henry 90 (unassisted)
Bookings: Clare 16 (foul)
QPR: Dieng 5; Kakay 6 (Crewe 75, 6), Dickie 7, Dunne 6, Travelman 4; Thomas 5, Field 6 (Johansen 70, 5), Dozzell 5; Chair 5 (Roberts 61, 7), Bonne 5 (Armstrong 61, 7), Adomah 5 (Shodipo 61, 6)
Subs not used: Dykes, Masterson, Walsh, Gubbins
Goals: Roberts 80 (unassisted)
Bookings: Field 35 (foul)
QPR Star Man — Tyler Roberts 7 Changed the game along with Sinclair Armstrong, adding purpose and life to what had been an all-too-carefree attack and team before their introduction. Nudges ahead in the star man stakes with a fine goal, but I would like to have seen them both carry on that assault rather than trying to mess about clock running thereafter.
Referee — Stuart Attwell (Warwick) 7 A referee we’ve got tricky history with, but he could have done this one in his civvies.
Attendance — 5,629 (2,587 QPR) Ridiculous really. Whether an earlier Charlton goal might have turned them or not, the fans really backed the team right through to the end as well. None of the agg there’s been on recent away trips with a big followings, and our previous trips to this ground.
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