QPR overcame their TV hoodoo and stretched their lead at the top of the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 victory against a dire Coventry side on Tuesday.
Coventry manager Aidy Boothroyd praised the work of his ground staff prior to the start of this game for ensuring Coventry are the only side in the division yet to suffer a postponement in this recent cold snap.
They needn’t have bothered. This game could have been played on grass, mud, snow, sand, concrete – any sort of surface you like – because Coventry never use it. Not since Wimbledon climbed through the leagues to take their seat at the top table through the 1970s and 1980s has a team taken to the air quite as often as this City side, and even then at least the Dons did it with a purpose and threat.
QPR don’t really pass the ball enough themselves to call this a victory for football but when the R’s did get the ball down and spray it around a bit it perplexed the home players who clearly aren’t familiar with the concept. Rangers stood strong against the primitive, bully boy tactics in the first half thanks to strong performances from Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly and a couple of very decent saves from Paddy Kenny. Then in the second half they picked off the home side with ease as the depressingly predictable hoof down the middle tactic from Boothroyd’s men failed time and time again with no plan B to speak of.
Rangers have buckled under such physical assault in the past, so it was hugely satisfying to see the team that played the better football, have the better players and the better manager come out on top here. Had Coventry been rewarded for their disgusting brand of “football” live on television it would have been a horrendous advert for the Championship – it’s bad enough that this clueless gang of thugs led by the footballing anti-Christ have climbed to sixth as it is.
Despite his promise to ring the changes and keep his team fresh during the hectic Christmas period Neil Warnock kept faith with the same tem that annihilated Swansea on Boxing Day. That was, for the unfortunate few that missed it, Paddy Kenny in goal with Kyle Walker at right back, Gorkss and Connolly in the middle and Clint Hill cleared to play at left back as he awaited the result of an appeal against his Boxing Day red card. Shaun Derry and Ali Faurlin anchored the midfield, Tommy Smith, Adel Taarabt and Jamie Mackie played further forward and Heidar Helguson kept his place ahead of Rob Hulse in attack.
Coventry came into the match on a run of three games without a win and lost to Cardiff City in South Wales on Boxing Day. Consequently Aidy Boothroyd made two changes to his side bringing former Luton man David Bell into the midfield with long throw expert Aron Gunnarsson serving a two match ban. Clive Platt was recalled to the attack to form an ugly - in every sense of the word - partnership with renowned scumbag Marlon King.
Coventry had the honour of kicking off and the two passes they played from that were the only two they completed in the entire first half. The ball was then immediately booted high into the sky and that’s where it stayed for the first three minutes until Kyle Walker was able to bring it down and run at Richard Wood, beat him for pace and win a corner. Taarabt took that, but the ball flew right the way through the penalty area with nobody able to get a touch on it. Walker would go on to be a key figure in the game, backing up his fine showing against Swansea with another eye catching performance here.
The pattern, if you can call it that, of the game was made very plain thereafter. Kaspars Gorkss stood strong as City peppered the QPR area with a series of crosses, then after seven minutes an enormous clearance down the field from goalkeeper Keiren Westwood was well held by Marlon King who then won the first Coventry corner of the game which was taken by McSheffrey but headed out for a goal kick by Lee Carsley, still chugging away and moaning at referees at the heart of a City midfield.
Suddenly, nine minutes in, football - actual football being played on the ground. Adel Taarabt started the move with a nice flick back to Derry and he then laid a lovely pass wide to the left but Faurlin found himself crowded out on the edge of the area. Pumping the ball high into the air hadn’t really worked to this point so Coventry tried giving it to Gary McSheffrey for a change and the former Birmingham man set off down the middle of the field with a lung busting run that carried him right to the heart of the danger area and ended with a pass through to Marlon King whose low shot was easily saved by Paddy Kenny.
QPR had the ball on the deck in a threatening position again within a minute as a cute through ball from Tommy Smith had Adel Taarabt in behind the defence and running clear in the area but his shot was blocked behind by giant centre half Nathan Cameron with Heidar Helguson and Jamie Mackie well placed for a cut back that never came.
There then followed a ball acheingly dull ten minutes of play where a series of QPR free kicks and crosses were caught cleanly by Keiren Westwood who immediately launched the ball high down the field towards Marlon King to no effect whatsoever. I wouldn’t wish a season ticket at the Ricoh Arena on my worst enemy.
Fortunately, while very direct at times, QPR do have the ability to mix their tactics up a little and in the eighteenth minute Neil Warnock’s men strung ten passes together through the midfield, moving from right to left and back again until space appeared for Kyle Walker who once again used his pace and skill to skin Richard Wood and then stood a beautiful chipped cross up to the back post, taking Westwood out of the game completely. Not for the first time in these Christmas fixtures there was no QPR man sniffing round the six yard box ready to convert and Coventry were able to scramble the ball away.
Heidar Helguson may have been one man you could have reasonably expected to be on the end of Walker’s service but he injected himself into the game more forcefully two minutes later when he clashed with McPake under an aerial ball, leaving the Coventry man flat out on the turf and the City players surrounding referee Neil Swarbrick imploring him to produce a red card for the use of an elbow. Having seen Jermaine Defoe sent off for something very similar already this Christmas my heart was in my mouth somewhat as the referee reached for his card – fortunately it was only yellow and Helguson was allowed to continue.
Pierluigi Collina, widely recognised as one of the greatest referees there has ever been, has said the way to tell if the use of an elbow is done deliberately to hurt an opponent, or simply by accident in the course of jumping for the ball, is to look at the player’s hand. If the palm is open, it’s an accident, if the fist is clenched, it’s deliberate and a red card offence. Helguson’s palm was open so the decision was a fair one.
Coventry threatened briefly midway through the first half when Gary McSheffrey swung a decent cross through the penalty area but could only find Clint Hill in the right place from a QPR point of view and he headed the ball behind for a corner that McSheffrey wasted. Four or five years ago the best winger in the division was a straight fight between our own Lee Cook and Coventry’s Gary McSheffrey. Both went on to get big money moves, but neither Cook’s time with Fulham nor McSheffrey’s spell with Birmingham, worked out well for either player and they now find themselves back where they started again. Cook is permanently crocked, McSheffrey though still looks a threat when he has the ball at his feet and why Coventry don’t focus more on getting him on the ball in the final third rather than simply lumping balls up towards the less than talented Clive Platt is beyond me.
Going the other way McSheffrey isn’t quite so handy – more decent football from QPR played Walker in behind him and he picked up the second yellow card of the game for hauling down the loaned Tottenham man. That’s a fifth booking of the season for McSheffrey, he misses their next match against Ipswich. The resulting free kick from Taarabt was too low and headed clear at the near post, Walker returned it with interest but the chances of him scoring from fully 40 yards out were always limited and Westwood barely gave the shot a passing glance as it sailed wide of his goal.
Coventry exerted some real pressure on the QPR goal for the first time in the twenty fifth minute. King, to his credit, controlled a ball tight to the touchline with his back to goal and then managed to turn and fashion a dangerous cross into the box. Clive Platt met the ball well with a header that was destined for the bottom corner until Paddy Kenny dived across and palmed it wide with both hands. QPR looked nervous under the corner for the first time in the game – Faurlin headed a clearance against his own man in the six yard box and then Helguson just booted the ball out for a throw that then resulted in another corner and this time it was Clint Hill with a fine header in the box to deny Richard Wood a clear sight of goal. McSheffrey fired over from Platt’s lay off as Rangers struggled to clear their lines.
On the half hour Alejandro Faurlin and Lee Carsley exchanged fouls. The Coventry man went first, but the resulting free kick went straight to Westwood who once again boomed a huge kick downfield straight into the arms of Paddy Kenny. Classy stuff.
Then Faurlin tripped Carsley and was very harshly booked by the referee, despite it being a nothing foul in the middle of the field and Faurlin’s first offence of the game. The Coventry fans had reacted angrily to McSheffrey’s yellow card ten minutes previously and I felt this was a real evener from the referee, who had Carsley chipping away at him all afternoon. Warnock was understandably and typically furious on the touchline while the card was being handed out. Carsley himself volleyed high over the bar after the resulting free kick had been cleared to the edge of the box.
Rangers came under more pressure in the next few minutes. Yet another long ball in behind the QPR defence ended up going for a Coventry corner as Matt Connolly, nervous of King’s presence, headed too wide for Kenny to reach. Rangers cleared the first set piece comfortably enough but the second was played short and then crossed plum onto the head of Richard Wood whose downward header bounced high off the turf and required a good save from Kenny to keep it out. Five minutes later another corner was again met by Wood, this time Rangers had stationed Alejandro Faurlin on the post and the Argentinean was able to kick the ball clear but this was Coventry’s best spell of the game and Rangers were being asked some serious questions.
I felt we looked a little weak and under committed against both Leeds and Watford recently – how wonderful to see Connolly and Gorkss back to something like their best in the face of this physical challenge. When Lee Carsley’s low drive deflected into the no man’s land between Kenny and his defence I felt sure Platt would use his sizeable frame to reach the loose ball first. Not so – Matt Connolly stubbornly stuck to his task and actually outmuscled the Coventry man to win the ball back, and then classily played the ball out from defence rather than hacking it aimlessly down the field.
This excellent piece of defending visibly lifted the QPR players and the visitors finished the half the stronger with three very decent efforts on goal in the final five minutes, plus two added on for stoppages.
First Taarabt fed Mackie in the area and although he managed to get turned into a position to shoot Cameron produced a brave block and then headed the resulting corner away himself. Then another Kyle Walker run carried him into the heart of the penalty area and had Mackie shot first time when he had the chance the deadlock could have been broken but he took a touch and McPake was able to get in and block. When I think of Jamie Mackie’s worst misses this season, and there have been a few, the majority have come when he has taken an extra unnecessary touch – he really needs to trust his own ability to shoot, displayed brilliantly against Swansea, and get the effort in first time more often than not.
In stoppage time he had another chance, this time he was a little more instinctive as he received a free kick on the edge of the area, moved it out of his feet and then fired a cross shot that beat Westwood but also dribbled just wide of the post.
There was a renewed purpose about QPR at the start of the second half – starting halves strongly is becoming a feature of our play. Within a minute of the restart Taarabt found himself running towards the Coventry goal with only Cameron in his way but he took the shot on early and Westwood saved quite easily. I could see what Taarabt was trying, that inside of the right foot curling effort into the top corner that had brought him notable success against Preston and Swansea, but he should still have carried on running in this instance.
That was all forgotten two minutes later though when Rangers took the lead – the source of the goal was of no surprise. Coventry had singularly failed to deal with the threat posed by Kyle Walker, picking centre back Richard Wood out of position at left back was a ridiculous move and left them badly exposed. Three minutes after half time Walker completely skinned McSheffrey who tumbled to the ground and having reached the byline Walker sent in a powerful cross that seemed to slip through Westwood’s hands, strike him square in the face, and fly up into the roof of the net. There was a moment of disbelief before the celebrations began. Walker has never scored a professional goal, not that uncommon for a right back but a bloody miracle when you consider how often and well he gets forward, and I’m afraid that remains the case as this was clearly an own goal by the keeper. From hero to villain, Westwood is one of the division’s best keepers and was in inspired form at Cardiff at the weekend by all accounts but he was badly at fault here.
Coventry have the worst record for gaining points from losing positions of any team in the league, and QPR still have the best Championship defence, so that goal seemed like a crucial blow although City did respond well to the set back initially with Platt dragging a shot over the bar after being set up by Lee Carsley.
But there was always the feeling that players of such limited ability as the ones Coventry possess would struggle to live with the smattering of talent in the QPR ranks and so it proved. Whenever Taarabt interjected himself into the game he looked effective and the City players intimidated, whenever Walker got hold of the ball they looked positively petrified. It was astonishing that Boothroyd kept faith with Wood out of position at left back with occasional help from McSheffrey as the only line of defence against QPR’s right back but stick with it he did.
Just before the hour another Walker run was ended with a foul, although the replays strongly suggested he had made a lot of meagre contact, and although Taarabt’s delivery from that set piece flew right through the area without intervention his next cross into the box was absolutely spot on.
Collecting the ball in the right channel Taarabt came inside onto his left foot and then came up with an assist fit to grace any game at any level – a beautiful dinked cross into the area with the outside of his right foot. It was an impossible ball for Coventry to deal with and Tommy Smith profited from Taarabt’s vision by simply flicking the ball on with the very top of his head and guiding it smoothly into the bottom corner for his fourth goal of the season so far.
Back came Coventry. Within two minutes McSheffrey made the most of Walker misjudging a cross to the back post and drilled a half volley deep into the six yard box only to find Hill covering round the back and in the right place to clear. Then Richard Wood marauded forward from left back into the area but turned down the chance to hit the deck when had he done so a penalty would have surely been forthcoming and ultimately his tame shot was saved by Kenny. Another excellent clearance from Hill, this time with his head, denied King a clear run at a McSheffrey cross.
I’ve said for a few weeks now that my first choice defence would have Walker at left back and Orr on the right but having sat and watched this game a couple of times over on the television I can now see one real attribute that I think is often overlooked when it comes to Clint Hill. Clearly the ageing defender is vulnerable to a winger with pace, and we were fortunate that the sending off in the Boxing Day game meant Swansea had to remove Nathan Dyer from his position down the right wing, but the amount of times Hill came up with a really important clearing header in the box on Monday was something to behold. That added aerial presence, in what is a reasonably small QPR team, was invaluable against Coventry’s brute force.
Hill was rather less assured in the sixty eighth minute when a low cross from McSheffrey was missed by Platt at the near post and then shuffled back to Paddy Kenny by Hill who appeared to touch the ball in the six yard box but no back pass decision was forthcoming from referee Neil Swarbrick, who really needed some help from his assistant on that side of the field to give the decision.
The Coventry fans briefly roused themselves for the first time in the game to howl their disapproval at the decision, but they were well beaten by this stage and Rangers had enjoyed two decent chances to get a third goal just before the incident. First Gorkss was inches away from converting a Taarabt corner that was floated over Westwood to perfection, then Helguson dragged a half volley across the face of goal from 15 yards out as the R’s assumed full control of the game.
It was hard to believe that Coventry could actually find two worse players in their squad than the one dimensional rabble they had on the field to begin with but 20 minutes from time, and with Fredy Eastwood still an option to bring on and help chase the game, Aidy Boothroyd introduced Stephen O’Halloran and Callum Wilson for Richard Wood and David Bell. This weakened them still further with the hapless Wilson lacking the ability to control even the most simple of ball during his 20 minute cameo.
Charitably, Neil Warnock sent on Leon Clarke for Tommy Smith to even it up a bit.
Adel Taarabt further cemented his position as the league’s most substituted player with an early departure seven minutes from time, not before his outlandish tricks had won a free kick wide on the right that Gorkss was again inches away from converting at the back post with Westwood grateful to clutch the ball to his chest.
Coventry forced a couple of free kicks of their own. One stupidly conceded by Clarke but headed away yet again by Hill, the next similarly foolish from Mackie but again wasted as King tried a ridiculous effort from fully 35 yards and barely got the ball beyond the edge of the penalty area. Boothroyd finally, finally added Eastwood to his arsenal, but there were only four minutes remaining at that stage and Warnock responded by adding Bradley Orr to his defence for added security – Heidar Helguson the man replaced.
In the closing minutes of normal time and four added on for stoppages it was actually QPR pouring forward looking for a third goal. It was no surpise to see Walker at the heart of it all – first storming into the area but seeing his cut back forced behind for a corner, then embarking on another barnstorming run that ended with him feeding Clarke who was denied one on one by Westwood with Walker himself up in support for what would have been a certain goal had he received the ball.
This was a highly professional, extremely efficient, and instantly forgettable win for QPR. In a month’s time if somebody asks you to name our five away wins this season this game will be the one you fail to mention. QPR deserve huge credit – they played for an hour with ten men less than two days prior to this game and were the away team against a physical Coventry side that looked to take advantage of any tiredness but physically battering away at the R’s for a good 20 minutes in the first half.
How rewarding, having seen Rangers surrender meekly in a similarly pressured situation at Leeds last week, to see the R’s stand strong and firm against a much more powerful team, and then find the space at the other end to make the increased ability tell and pick City off at will. The first goal was absolutely crucial, had it gone to Coventry I don’t think we’d have taken more than a point from the game, but the man who got that crucial first was pivotal to the whole performance.
Kyle Walker has just two games left of his loan spell from Spurs, and his performances on television against Coventry and Bristol City will have attracted attention from teams at the lower end of the Premiership for sure. If we can be cheeky enough for another Christmas wish after six points, six goals and two clean sheets from the two festive games then retention of our talented young full back would surely be it.
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Coventry: Westwood 5, Keogh 5, McPake 6 (Eastwood 87, -), Cameron 7, Wood 5 (O'Halloran 70, 5), Bell 5 (Wilson 71, 4), Carsley 6, Doyle 6, McSheffrey 7, King 6, Platt 4
Subs Not Used: Ireland, Jutkiewicz, Cranie, Baker
Booked: McSheffrey (foul)
QPR: Kenny 8, Walker 8, Connolly 7, Gorkss 7, Hill 7, Derry 7, Faurlin 7, Mackie 6, Taarabt 7 (Rowlands 84, -), Smith 7 (Clarke 80, 6),Helguson 6 (Orr 89, -)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Agyemang, Hulse, Tofas
Booked: Helguson (foul), Faurlin (foul)
Goals: Westwood 49 og (assisted Walker), Smith 61 (assisted Taarabt)
QPR Star Man – Kyle Walker 8 So deserved the first goal to be given to him but the run that set it up typified an all action performance that Coventry never looked capable of living with. Credit to Paddy Kenny also for important saves with the game at 0-0.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire) 8 Kept a lid on a potentially very difficult match impressively. Faurlin’s booking I disagreed with, and Kenny was lucky to get away with picking up a clear back pass in the second half, but otherwise I cannot recall a decision that was wrong or worth disagreeing with.
Attendance: 17,678 (1,500 QPR approx)