For the second time in a week QPR were left to grasp at whatever positives they could find from an improved display but disappointing result against a beatable team.
When the ‘new manager bounce’ inspired by somebody as talented, positive and experienced in this situation as Harry Redknapp is only good enough to scrape two points up from matches against extremely limited Sunderland and Aston Villa teams I’m afraid it’s time to consider the unthinkable: it is a growing possibility that Queens Park Rangers actually aren’t going to win a league game at all this season.
The first problem Redknapp appears to have identified since taking over from Mark Hughes – who will surely go down as one of this club’s worst ever managers for the disaster he has created – is that Rangers are a bit of a soft touch. He has corrected that by bringing the uncompromising African duo of Stephane Mbia and Samba Diakite together in the heart of midfield and was unfortunate to lose both to injury in his first home game. Mbia’s neck complaint, less serious than it looked at the time apparently, caused a lengthy first half stoppage and punctured Rangers’ growing momentum. Diakite’s departure in the second half removed Redknapp’s final substitution from him which meant the R’s were left to play out a turgid final half an hour with what they had on the pitch already –which created and missed several excellent chances in the first hour and then ran out of ideas and steam.
But the change of manager hasn’t brought about any discernible improvement in the key problem of QPR’s season so far: big name players playing well within their true ability while the team is propped up by the unsung heroes. Diakite and Mbia, as on Tuesday at Sunderland, were employed in a three man central combination with Esteban Granero to provide him with protection and space to dictate the pattern of play but here the Spaniard was a peripheral figure, only occasionally having any positive influence on proceedings and justifiably removed at half time.
At the back Clint Hill and Ryan Nelsen battled gamely with Villa’s giant lone striker Christian Benteke, but to their left Armand Traore followed up his best game of the season at Sunderland on Tuesday with his worst here – three games in seven days, including the longest trek of the season on Tuesday night, looked to have taken its toll on Traore and the team in the second half but Rangers are in a position where excuses are even more futile than normal.
England international goalkeeper Robert Green, who should have been flush with confidence after a recall and reasonable cameo during the week, was once again beaten far too easily from three quarters of a mile out for the opening goal of the game, just as he had been on the opening day here against Swansea. Shaun Wright-Phillips missed when sent through one on one with the goalkeeper, but was unfortunate later to see a shot come back off the post.
Redknapp threw on first Shaun Derry for Mbia, then Ji-Sung Park for Granero, and finally Junior Hoilett for Diakite; all three were poor, Park especially so. Redknapp may consider that he has been a little hasty in casting aside Ale Faurlin and Kieron Dyer so soon into his reign. In the end the entire front end of the team was carried through the game on the shoulders of Jamie Mackie, whose herculean efforts were rightly recognised by the manager afterwards. The late Dave Sexton, remembered before kick off with a minute of applause, would have appreciated Mackie’s endeavour.
There was good reason to believe that had Mbia and Diakite remained on for the full 90, maintaining the physical presence in midfield while leaving Redknapp extra substitutions to alter things further forward when legs and minds tired, Rangers may have won. Diakite wasted no time at all in marauding forward, powering upfield in the first minute before releasing Jose Bosingwa who looked unusually sprightly and put a decent cross into the box but the ball eluded all three QPR attackers who’d made it forward. Thereafter QPR were very hesitant to commit any bodies to any attack in stark contrast to the approach you’d expect of Redknapp – lack of confidence and fear was palpable throughout the team. It’s little wonder the R’s haven’t had a penalty since January as they rarely get enough men in the box to panic the opposition.
But equally, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that Villa settled for a point and left Darren Bent on the bench throughout. Once Mbia and Diakite had left the field Villa were able to take over, stringing 20 passes together with little opposition at one stage, and had Lambert added Bent to the mix in the final third of the game I suspect he’d have been rewarded with three points.
Initially the physical presence of lone striker Christian Benteke was enough to cause issues on its own. When he cut inside Nelsen after six minutes and launched a powerful shot that was blocked away the R’s defence never managed to successfully regroup and midfielder Brett Holman fired in the opening goal from more than 20 yards when Robert Green had appeared to get across to the ball with two hands. It was a lousy piece of goalkeeping.
Mbia headed a subsequent Taarabt corner wide but Rangers were visibly deflated both on and off the field by the early set back and it was already looking like a long afternoon. Taarabt was a probing presence all day, always showing up for possession in all areas of the pitch and then working hard to redeem situations when they didn’t go his way. Nobody can question his work rate at the moment.
But if we’re talking about work rate, than step forward Jamie Mackie. His problem was highlighted in the thirteenth minute when a low cross into his feet in the penalty area found him in possession with his back to goal and eight lime green Aston Villa shirts for company. His solution to this was to muck in and make the best of a bad situation – on that occasion he held the ball until somebody did get near him to offer support and then teed up Samba Diakite who lashed over. Five minutes later Diakite returned the favour with an accurate right footed cross that Mackie was able to head perfectly beyond goalkeeper Brad Guzan and into the corner of the Loft End net despite being the only QPR player in the box and having Chris Herd’s forearm wedged into the back of his neck. A fabulous headed equaliser from the beating heart of the QPR team.
Mackie appears to be revelling in the faith shown in him by Harry Redknapp, and is doing a damn fine job of proving Mark Hughes and the section of the QPR support who were all so desperate to see him replaced at every given opportunity with “a Premier League player” so, so wrong. Redknapp said afterwards if he had 11 Jamie Mackies the club wouldn’t be in this mess, and yet Hughes never missed an opportunity to leave him out while his critics have consistently overlooked the huge raft of positives and focused on the technical areas of his game that are sometimes lacking. Excuses about tiredness, lack of confidence and fear don’t seem to be affecting him – which rather shows up the majority of his team mates. If Mackie can work this hard and remain this positive despite everything that’s occurred this season then why can’t they? I’d like to think the reason only Clint Hill and Adel Taarabt bothered to go and celebrate Mackie’s goal with him is because the rest are embarrassed by their own work rate and output compared to his, but I suspect it’s merely the latest piece of evidence to add to the prosecution file in the case of just how broken QPR is at the moment.
Villa responded positively. Benteke had the ball in the net with a firm header within 60 seconds but was flagged offside and then Hill had to cover in behind Nelsen and execute a ball-and-all tackle to deny the giant Belgian a clear run on goal – Hill was another Hughes seemed desperate to replace when he should have been considering him as a potential captain. Young centre back Nathan Baker headed the subsequent corner off target as Rangers’ struggles with the basics of set piece defence continued.
But at the other end the visitors looked vulnerable to any sort of ball played in behind their defence. A high line that caught Mackie offside several times in the first half creaked at other points and Rangers were able to get Shaun Wright-Phillips into clear space in the final third twice in quick succession. The first occasion, just before the half hour, saw him race through onto a fine Granero pass one-on-one with Guzan who made an excellent save to deny him that elusive first league goal for QPR. Three minutes later he found himself played through again, into the right channel by Mbia this time, and seemingly more through frustration than anything else he put his laces through a fantastic volley that flashed past Guzan, struck the base of the American stopper’s post and flew away to safety.
Wright-Phillips started his QPR career by having a shot cleared off the line against Newcastle, one coming back into play off the post against Wolves, and a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside against West Brom. His attitude has left a lot to be desired since then, but his confidence is more of an issue and when Stephane Mbia hit the deck for a prolonged period of time after an innocuous clash with Gabby Agbonlahor immediately after this latest slice of bad luck the little winger had several minutes to stand and shake his head at what has become of his career.
Mbia looked in a bad way, removed on a spinal board after several minutes of treatment and taken to hospital - thankfully the prognosis seems positive. Shaun Derry took to the field in Mbia’s stead.
The injury couldn’t have come at a worse moment for Rangers who seemed to be building up a head of steam at the time. When play eventually restarted some six minutes later the atmosphere on and off the pitch was flat and Villa could easily have retaken the lead five minutes before the break. Bosingwa gave the ball away sloppily in the right back slot and then foolishly chased the lost cause across the pitch leaving half an acre of space in the left channel where Villa calmly played in Agbonlahor for a shot that Green saved nervously and required assistance from his centre backs to scramble away. In seven minutes of added time at the end of the half Agbonlahor nodded down a long ball for the hard working Barry Bannan to smash over the bar.
It was no surprise to see Esteban Granero hooked at half time. Sadly though Redknapp replaced him with Ji-Sung Park, and so began the new manager’s latest lesson on not trusting the players at QPR you’ve seen play well for big clubs before. Park was even worse than Granero had been, constantly giving the ball away and showing none of the lung-busting midfield work rate that he became famous for at Old Trafford.
Much of the early action in the second half revolved around Samba Diakite who first nodded the ball through for Wright-Phillips to run onto and draw a foul from Baker who became the first player booked by referee Howard Webb. Then the Malian committed a foul of his own and from the free kick Benteke smacked a bicycle kick over the bar, although he’d already been flagged offside by the terribly keen Darren Cann on the Ellerslie Road side of the ground who was wrong on that occasion and several others. In fact Cann may as well have planted a raised flag in the ground and gone off and done something else for the afternoon given that he seemed to think any attack whatsoever should be pulled up for offside. Perhaps he had a draw on his coupon.
While QPR have gone for another short term fix with Harry Redknapp, Villa are playing a longer game with Paul Lambert. The big names are being weeded out – Bent will surely be next after another afternoon spent as an unused substitute – and in their place Lambert is mixing youth team graduates with well scouted bargains from the lower leagues and abroad. This is commendable, and it’s a model QPR should be following, but it’s a development cycle that could take years to bear fruit and in the meantime could easily cost them their place in the Premier League. Even a team as bad as Queens Park Rangers carved through them three times in five second half minutes as first Wright-Phillips saw a shot deflected behind and then Guzan had to make a fine save to deny Nelsen when the corner dropped his way; then Diakite volleyed at the goalkeeper after Bosingwa’s cross was cleared out to him on the edge of the area; and finally Taarabt sliced the visiting defence in two with a superb pass that had Ji-Sung Park running clear on goal but Guzan thrust up a strong hand and denied him.
But Rangers ran out of ideas, or energy (or perhaps both) awfully quickly. When Guzan foolishly chased a bad back pass out to his own corner flag only to be hassled out of possession by the tireless Mackie the queue of players waiting for finish into the unguarded net wouldn’t have even troubled the staff at a village post office. Having made two substitutions already, and with a third about to be forced on him, Redknapp could do little to effect one of the worst 30 minutes of football ever played out in the Premier League.
I made five notes in the next 20 minutes of action and not one of them involved a piece of attacking play from either side: there was a booking for Matthew Lowton for a wild tackle on Mackie that Webb may have judged more harshly had the QPR man not immediately leapt to his feet and shaken the Villa man’s hand; an injury to Diakite that saw him replaced by Hoilett; and the introduction of Fabian Delph for Bannan and Karim El Ahmadi for Holman. I’ve got more entertainment out of filling in tax return forms than I did from the last half an hour of this match which at one stage slowed to a virtual standstill as Villa put together 20 passes on the halfway line with QPR now lacking the legs to win the ball back after the forced withdrawals of Mbia and Diakite and Villa lacking the inclination to do anything with the possession.
Rangers forced three corners in quick succession as the clock ticked past 80 minutes for no return whatsoever. When they did get one right their luck wasn’t in and Clint Hill headed against the angle of post and bar. Traore hit a tame shot at Guzan while sub El Ahmadi had Green scrambling frantically across his goal with a bouncing-bomb of a volley that he claimed had been deflected but Webb awarded as a goal kick.
Rather cruelly the World Cup final referee added four minutes to the end of proceedings during which Traore and Park contrived to concede possession deep in their own half only to be rescued by Bosingwa who covered in behind the centre backs well from right back and executed an important tackle on Benteke as he turned into the penalty area and prepared to play out a heartbreaking final act. For Rangers though, now seven points from safety with just 23 games left to play, the point it rescued was of little use. Now in a position where a succession of wins are required just to lift them back into the realms of a fighting chance, they appear completely devoid of any idea how they’re even going to muster one.
If Mark Hughes had picked this team, and it had played in this way, and achieved this result, the faithful would have been throwing season tickets onto the pitch and vowing never to return. Sadly, the way Hughes went about his business over the last 11 months means that the problems at Rangers now run far, far deeper than simply who is picking the team and mean that even any short term benefits from bringing in Harry Redknapp look like they’re going to be futile.
There were positives, as there were at Manchester United and Sunderland earlier in the week, and I’m not sure I was ever able to say that about three consecutive games under Mark Hughes. For all the low morale, problems within the camp and steadfast refusal to commit men to the attack Rangers created a goal and two other good chances in the first half, and forced two further fine saves from Guzan in the second while also striking the bar. Creating chances in open play despite everything is a sign that things might turn which was never there in the latter weeks of Hughes’ reign.
But Redknapp admits himself that he has no magic wand, and sadly the start Rangers have made to this season has been so catastrophic that this is exactly what they need. Let’s hope Harry is as good as his word on being here for a long term re-building project, because you only have to look at Villa to see just what a long road it is.
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QPR: Green 5, Bosingwa 6, Hill 7, Nelsen 7, Traore 5, Diakite 7 (Hoilett 67, 5), Mbia 7 (Derry 40, 5), Granero 5 (Park 46, 4), Taarabt 7, Wright-Phillips 6, Mackie 8
Subs not used: Murphy, Cisse, Ferdinand, Fabio
Goals: Mackie 18 (assisted Diakite)
Bookings: Derry 61 (foul)
Villa: Guzan 8, Lowton 6, Clark 6, Baker 6, Lichaj 6, Westwood 6, Bannan 6 (Delph 67, 6), Holman 7 (El Ahmadi 70, 6), Herd 6 (Williams 65, 6), Agbonlahor 7, Benteke 7
Subs not used: Given, Ireland, Bent, Weimann
Goals: Holman 8 (unassisted)
Bookings: Baker 47 (foul), Lowton 62 (foul)
QPR Star Man – Jamie Mackie 8 Lord only knows how bad things would be for QPR without this boy on their side. Worked his fingers to the bone all afternoon and was rewarded with a really fantastic headed equaliser that he richly deserved. Having spent the last 12 months trying to replace him it seems Rangers may actually be waking up to the fact that he’s one of the few things this squad of players has going for it. Sadly I suspect a good number of Premier League managers spotted this a long time before Rangers did and it will be people like this who stay behind in the top flight if Rangers move down a division, rather than the ones they actually need to be rid of.
Referee – Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) 8 Did his usual calm, authoritative, unfussy job with only a few minor errors that are hardly worth mentioning. His most indecisive moment came when Mbia was injured when he seemed unsure whether to stop the game or not, and had Villa been so inclined to take advantage of a situation where half the players on the pitch had stopped and the referee was deep in thought they were actually in an excellent attacking situation. Other than that, excellent as always.
Attendance: 17,387 (1,600 Villa approx) Much like the team in the final half hour of the game, there was a tired and laboured feel to the home support. Early optimism punctured by the Holman goal the usual parts of the ground tried valiantly to get things going throughout the game but by the end there was little to be enthusiastic about.
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