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Ramsey feels the heat as QPR lose at Birmingham - report Sunday, 18th Oct 2015 17:59 by Clive Whittingham
The return of Neil Warnock, an away-end in open revolt by full time, and two more poor goals conceded increased the pressure on QPR head coach Chris Ramsey at Birmingham on Saturday.
It’s hard to think of anything else QPR could have done to undermine the position of their head coach Chris Ramsey prior to Saturday’s trip to Birmingham City.
On Wednesday, a public message from the chairman that results are all that matters and promotion means “the world” to him — contrary to all the “consolidation” and “building a platform” chat during the summer which Ramsey was supposed to be working to. On Thursday, on the club’s own in-house YouTube show, director of football Les Ferdinand saying Ramsey had to “up his game”. Then, two hours before kick-off, news issued by Rangers that a much-loved, highly-experienced former manager was returning in an “advisory” role.
Who needs enemies, or journalists, with friends like this?
The party line is that Neil Warnock’s return has been Ramsey’s choice. Warnock’s line is that he has no interest in returning to full time management, and has long advocated the need for experienced football men like himself to operate between the manager or coach and the board. Critics of Ramsey’s inexperience have wondered why he hasn’t done as Dougie Freedman has with Lennie Lawrence and call on an experienced right-hand man — Gerry Francis has been a popular choice — and potentially now he has. Could be wonderful news, if timed in the right way and handled sensitively.
But Warnock is a wily old fox and he knows full well how this looks. I’d love to have heard his own thoughts, were he the QPR manager at the moment, on the appointment of another big-name manager as his “adviser”, the timing of the announcement two hours before a big game, the comments from Ferdinand and the post from Fernandes. Sweetness and light it would not have been.
His arrival, and the omnipresence around the place of Shaun Derry, will inevitably set tongues wagging. The timing of the release meant that things wouldn’t need to go too badly wrong at Birmingham City before the travelling fans, already on the turn, started chanting Warnock’s name. So it proved.
Whatever the intention, the whole thing did Ramsey no favours on Saturday.
But then, Ramsey could do himself a few favours as well. It’s hard to undermine a man doing a fantastic job and winning matches, and he left himself wide open to criticism with a number of decisions made at St Andrew’s.
QPR had taken the lead after a quarter of an hour. A decent knock from Nedum Onuoha, playing out from the back, was eventually finished, via a deflection, by Matt Phillips. Having survived an early scare when Clayton Donaldson got the better of Onuoha and Demarai Gray followed in with a crisp shot that Robert Green did well to save and hold, Rangers had grown into the match and led. Sandro was dominant in the centre of midfield, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas likewise as the lone striker, and with Phillips right and Tjaronn Chery left the set up looked promising.
But there were few positives to report after that. QPR had shipped an average of two goals a game prior to kick off, the worst record in the division, and kept up that rate here with two more basic, basic concessions. The first, sadly, came just six minutes after Phillips’ goal, killing the momentum and cancelling out the lead, and was the product of two persistent problems which Ramsey is either oblivious to or doesn’t know how to fix.
The first is the persistently poor form of full back James Perch. Wigan’s Player of the Season for the last two years looks absolutely bereft of confidence. Permanently flat-footed, always second to the ball, often looking like he’s thinking about something else entirely only to suddenly realise where he is and leap into a desperate challenge without thinking. His tackle on Jacques Maghoma after 22 minutes here was laughable, the most obvious yellow card of referee Carl Boyeson’s entire career and a free kick conceded in an area Rangers have struggled to defend all season. Sure enough as the ball was floated across, Green stayed on his line and Paul Robinson, who’d been free and unmarked at the back post long before the kick was taken and throughout the move, was able to head home unchallenged.
QPR have two right backs, Michael Harriman and Darnell Furlong, both playing very well out on loan. Perch’s yellow, which could easily have turned into a red as he spent the rest of the game fouling his man at regular intervals, means he’ll be banned on Tuesday night against Sheff Wed but it will almost certainly be Nedum Onuoha moved out of position to cover at right back, and Perch will be straight back in this time next week. Didn’t Ramsey come in on a ticket of giving younger players a chance? No more of this square pegs in round holes just so we can pick a senior player business? Shouldn’t a brilliant coach be able to organise a defence a good deal better than this?
The full back on the other side is every bit as bad. Paul Konchesky, another senior pro being picked remorselessly ahead of younger options despite poor form, appeared to be the one who lost Robinson for the goal. He spent most of the second half giving away stupid fouls in dangerous areas, often through concentrating too much on a physical confrontation with his man rather than the ball despite it being within easy playing distance. When he did stand-off Maghoma and allow a cross to come in, Donaldson went down in a heap next to Onuoha and Boyeson awarded a penalty. A little soft, and Rangers were keen to make a big deal of the decision when Paul Caddis’ successful spot kick proved to be the winning goal, but Leroy Fer gave the ball away in the first place, attempting some flouncy flick and trick in a lethal part of the pitch, and Konchesky allowed the cross to come in — you can’t point fingers at refereeing decisions when you making such crass mistakes yourself.
Fer is one of a clutch of big-name players Rangers expected to sell during the summer but ended up keeping, raising the expectations which Ramsey is now being judged by. It’s not the head coach’s fault that the Dutch international decided to piss about with the ball deep in his own half, nor that he later spurned a great chance for an equaliser by shooting wide after turning into an inviting position on the edge of the box. You also can’t blame Ramsey for another of the players we’re jolly excited about still having here, Matt Phillips, wasting one two v two counter attack by dallying on the ball, failing to pass to Chery in space or beat the man in front of him, then later selfishly shooting at home keeper Tomasz Kuszczak from an impossible angle with two team mates awaiting a tap in six yards out in the centre. Some will try all the same — in an increasingly nasty and hostile atmosphere among the support base there seems to be a prevailing feeling that everything that goes right is down to the players and everything that goes wrong is because of Ramsey. Y
You can’t legislate for your best players making such basic messes once they cross the white line. Nor can you deny that all these apparently wonderful talents we've retained that mean expectations have risen were all here last year when we finished dead last in the Premier League. Are we over-estimating how good they actually are, and hanging Ramsey unfairly because of that?
What is Ramsey’s fault, however, is his weird fascination with playing left-footed Tjaronn Chery on the right, and right-footed Matt Phillips on the left. Inverse wingers are fashionable, and as both players have fearsome shots on them there is potential for them to cut in and threaten the goal. But by and large, it’s not working. Having started in their correct positions and taken the lead, they were then swapped and never went back.
Birmingham were the perfect example of a well-executed, basic approach to Championship football. Fit, hardworking, well drilled, in a very set shape, with every player knowing their role. They have a decent centre forward in Clayton Donaldson, a well-organised defence led by Michael Morrison, and a bit of pace and skill on either wing with Maghoma and Gray. That’s it, they just do that, and it’s enough at this level — this win takes them fourth, at a time when they’re hacking into their costs and playing budget. QPR are over-complicating it.
City could have won by more, had they not wasted a succession of wide set pieces throughout the game. Gray turned into space that really shouldn’t exist between QPR’s midfield given the presence of two-deep lying players ahead of the back four and shot wide before half time. Later Caddis’ low cross took a deflection and was inches out of Donaldson’s reach in the six yard box. Onuoha scrambled another low cross from that side behind after Donaldson had turned a ball round the corner for Maghoma to sprint in behind Konchesky and deliver.
QPR lacked intensity in the second half, and rarely looked like they would come back into it. Not enough pace, not enough thrust. It was a game crying out for Jamie Mackie’s involvement and it’s not Chris Ramsey’s fault that he’s out for three months with a bad hamstring injury. But it is Chris Ramsey’s fault that Massimo Luongo, for me the best player in the first two months of the season, is currently out of the team. When he came off the bench he immediately injected that purpose and drive, carrying the ball past two Birmingham players all the way down the left wing and winning a corner.
The travelling fans, increasingly restless, disagreed with the withdrawal of Fer for Luongo, and Sandro — who’d played reasonably well — for Daniel Tozser. Fer hadn’t done a great deal, and was at fault for the second goal. Sandro’s fitness levels perhaps aren’t up to 90 minutes, so that criticism may be harsh. But it was difficult to make a case for staying ridigdly in a one-striker system, with two one-paced deep central midfielders, even into the dying moments while chasing the game. Birmingham had stopped trying to add to their score by this point so more men could have been committed forward. Even if they hadn’t, 3-1 and 2-1 is the same result anyway so throw a bit of caution to the wind.
Karl Henry remained on the field, despite another poor performance — falling flat on his back after being hopelessly nutmegged during a second half counter attack something of a low point — when he could easily have been sacrificed for a more attacking player. The fact remains, the only time Rangers have kept a clean sheet in the Championship this season was the game he wasn’t picked for — Michael Doughty remains criminally underused, again contrary to what we were told Ramsey would bring to the job.
To then remove Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who’d done a very decent job of leading the line and looked the best hope of an equaliser, for Seb Polter in a straight swap was impossible to justify.
It was at this point that the away end really turned, with loud chants of Warnock’s name and “you don’t know what you’re doing” aimed at Ramsey down on the touchline. Sadly, in the back left corner of the away end, there was also some really nasty stuff aimed Polter’s way. “Fucking useless German,” “fucking useless Kraut,” “shit fucking German” and so on — all started from a small minority before he’d actually touched the ball at all.
He did little to win friends in the final five minutes — failing to win, or even compete, for any of the long balls knocked his way. But the level of hatred and vitriol seemed odd for a player who’s time on the field in the league this season doesn’t even add up to a half yet. It was also entirely counterproductive.
Four minutes of injury time drifted by without incident, set against the hostility behind the goal. A poor performance, another two goals conceded, another nail in the coach’s coffin.
The answer to “how many managers do QPR need to sack and not improve before QPR realise it’s not the manager that’s the problem?” still seems to be “at least one more.” The hunger for another for another change is seemingly becoming ravenous.
Another typical week in the modern day history of QPR. One wonders and fears what on earth they’re going to do next.
Subs not used: Legzdins, Toral, Spector, Lowry, Brock-Madsen
Goals: Robinson 24 (assisted Gray), Caddis 63 (penalty, won Donaldson)
Bookings: Caddis 67 (kicking ball away)
QPR: Green 6; Perch 4, Onuoha 5, Hall 7, Konchesky 4; Henry 5, Sandro 6 (Tozser 72, 5); Phillips 5, Fer 6 (Luongo 71, 7), Chery 6; Emmanuel-Thomas 7 (Polter 84, -)
Subs not used: Doughty, Faurlin, Smithies, Angella
Goals: Phillips 16 (assisted Onuoha)
Bookings: Perch 24 (foul), Onuoha 63 (dissent)
Referee — Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire) 5 The penalty was, perhaps, a soft award although having given the ball away and allowed a cross to come in QPR have only themselves to blame. It was, however, in keeping with a fussy display overall, with far too much whistle. One in the first half awarded against Phillips when Gray obviously dived right in front of the linesman was fairly typical.
QPR Star Man — Grant Hall 7 Overall, defensively, QPR were a shambles again, but Hall had a very decent game personally, covering for the failings of the other three members of the back four., He looks good in the air, rarely losing a header, and his positional sense which often sees him sweeping in behind Onuoha or the full backs to clear up, is far ahead of his team mates.
Attendance — 19,161 (1,500 QPR approx) QPR travelled in decent numbers and noise, and the frustration towards the end was understanding. The nasty abuse of Polter less so, firstly because I’m not sure he’s ever been on the pitch long enough to do anything to warrant it, and secondly because actively trying to destroy one of your own players seems an odd way to go about supporting a club.
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Thanks Clive, a nice balanced view stating plus and minus points for Ramsey.
I fear those shouting the negatives and ignoring the shortcomings of the players are going to win the day and we'll be back to another "overhaul" of the squad in Jan.
At some stage the club and a large proportion of the fan base must surely realise that this isn't going to work - again!
Thanks for the report Clive. Ramsay does seem to be building a rod for his own back with substitutions and the lack of them sometimes. There will surely be no justifying Henry starting Tuesday night with Ale, Luongo, Toszer and Doughty all getting splinters. Still don't feel the start of the season has been as bad as most are making out. Let's build this club back up slowly and successfully
The three goals are all that I've seen from the game, having had no desire to watch any of it & refusing to read any reports apart from yourself & antti
Pre season it looked as though we would be playing the K man at left back, but apart from league cup games we are yet to see him. Why?
Again IMO, our best central midfield partnership has been Faurlin & Doughty. As our " combative defensive" midfield players don't seem able to defend, should we not be looking to play a central two who can combine defending with passing?
I can't be too upset that we lost at Birmingham, having expected a season in mid table, but I would prefer us to achieve this playing some football & building for the future.
I think the supporters would be more forgiving if we were playing Smithies, Harriman (or Furlong), the K man, Hall & Doughty. I just can't see how we are building a platform for the future with Green, Perch, Phillips, Henry, Fer & the loanees in the side.
I would also include Sandro in that list, but it may be that he is with us until his contract expires.
The only football we have played at The Bush thiss eason was against Rotherham. I'm not expecting that to change too much this week, or the personnel, but I'm hoping!
Like the look of Hall could be a big player for us for years to come,Would have been good to go 2 up front with Jet and Polter at the end. I can forgive ability but not application Polters cameo appearance was criminal . Came away completely underwhelmed .
"Birmingham were the perfect example of a well-executed, basic approach to Championship football." - Exactly. Nothing special but still too good for the best squad in the league. I'm not surprised we lost just hugely disappointed at how flat the performance was. I don't think the subs were completely wrong but 2-1 down fail to understand the persistence with Henry who contributed nothing positive all game.
I’m so disappointed by what I experienced in the away end yesterday.
In all my years following the club, I’ve never really seen an away end as nasty, childish or as vindictive as that. Or people racially abusing their own players before.
This is not us, not who we are, or what we’re about as a football club or a community.
I was so ashamed and embarrassed by it, and upset to the point that apart from Brentford away where I already have my ticket, I don’t think I’m going to another one for a while. It breaks my heart to see this, and if it continues, it’s pretty much the end of us as we know it.
Some supporters need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror, because that type of behaviour is unacceptable and does not represent me, or anybody else here. If the malaise seeps through to us, then we’ve failed as fans.
It's clear to see Ramsey is a Coach, not a manager. I think tactically he is poor and team selections always leave me scratching my head. Karl Henry is having a retched season and shouldn't be on the pitch - sorry but he's just not up to it this season and he's never too far away from a poor position or missed tackle.
We have so many talented midfielders that there must be something really interesting going on behind the scenes that we don't see for him to get selected. Ramsey seems on the surface a nice guy but should one of the most expensive squads in the division be trusted to a first time manager? I also believe that a coach doing a managers job means that we suffer twice, firstly we lose a focused and unpressured coach and secondly we gain an inexperienced manager who is in the frying pan sizzling away nicely.
Had we truly been in line for a few years of consolidation with no more expectations than staying up then yes I would give Ramsey a go - as long as he played and developed our youngsters that is! But this clearly isn't the case, the clubs expectations are top 6 and that does not bode well for inexperience and naivety.
The most worrying of all is his substitutions and the timings. Seems like he is rolling dice and going with whatever number pops up......
Yes, very accurate, the atmosphere at the end did deteriorate, I was gob-smacked when he took Emmanuel Thomas off, he again had a fine game, worked hard, and has good feet. I assumed he was being taken off because of injury? but no-one has said he had a knock. Very odd.
We have a real full back problem, as mentioned Perch's confidence is shot to pieces, and every opposition coach has worked out you just stick a pacey winger against Konchelsky, skin him on the outside, and he will bounce/foul you every time, take your pick, penalty or free kick.
I watched the free kick float into the back of the goal, from my seat, and thought , just once, once!!!! come off your line attack the ball, and catch it, I don't know, watch a video of Phil Parkes, ask a mate who plays in goal on a Sunday morning, for Christa sake you've played for England!!! Parkes couldn't get in the team because of Shilton and Clemence you've played for England god knows how many times!!!
(I haven't bothered mentioning it was Konchelsky's man/ball because we were effectively playing with 10 men by then).
Clive, I take your point about the abuse of Poulter, but I watched him two weeks ago, being marked out of the game by a 17 year old Brentford academy player.
Most amazing thing on Saturday was I got a pint of London Pride in the town centre for £ 1.85!!
It doesn't matter if Poulter is the worst footballer in the world, abusing one of your own players is criminal, racially abusing him is disgusting. Those who engaged in that should hang their heads in shame. I'm with Neil Sl 100% on this. We are a small club, well respected in the community. I know this from all the reports I have read about the club's community involvement. Attempts have been made by various chairmen/managers to make us bigger than we are, that is still on-going which is why Ramsey is under so much pressure. I have mentioned several times before that I have no desire for a swift return to the prem when we are clearly unprepared for it. I would happily never return to the prem at the expense of our family/community club status - or is it already too late for that?
Excellent read Clive - not good to hear from Neil above of the behaviour in the away end - something of a concern. Leaving all that aside and focusing on the NW appointment it made me think of TF and co having a from of Brittas Empire about them,l forever trying to do the right thing - "I have a dream" and deapie all the good intentions it all ends in disaster - as for CR I think he'll be gone by bonfire night.
I didn't hear any barracking of Poulter -- just incredulation at the change made
Anyway, the most important question is in reference to the first picture in the article with Benny and Rowett..... Who is the sort in the glasses?!?! Whatever her job just get her on our bench and it'll inspire the boys to 4th spot easy!
This whole change of emphasis from"consolidation " to promotion "meaning the world" to Fernandes comes at a time when it was announced that instead of the FFP fine being the rather reasonable 10 million it will now only be resolved in the summer. Perhaps the original numbers mentioned still loom large and thus the increased desperation. Thoughts? Either way, QPR are not the club people like Ron Phillips and Daphne Biggs made so easy to love back in the day.
There was a total overreaction to the performance.
It was simply two sides, both a little bit toothless or unwilling to go for it at the top end, and with three soft goals mixed in. We just didn't play with enough intensity or speed throughout the match, which is understandable when you consider we've shipped early goals in a lot of games.
I thought we controlled the play quite well at times, but then didn't have the guile or creativity in the final third to make anything count. I liked how well we played in JET on several occasions, it looked like we've worked on that on the training pitch, but from there, the likes of Phillips and Chery just didn't have an end product on the day.
Had we made some better decisions or had a bit more quality with our final ball, we might have created some opportunities. But if you're key creative players aren't firing it's going to leave you needing a player from somewhere to produce something – a player like Austin – who can make and score goals out of little service and half chances.
The lack of intensity is what was frustrating. We had a couple of patches in the second-half where we suddenly kicked into gear and looked really threatening – but we were unable to sustain it, and it was by no means a horror show and the substitutions were all justified, no matter who childish the response was from the crowd.
Sandro and Fer have barely completed 90 minutes consistently for a very long time – JET was taking plenty of flack before his brace the other week and now he's suddenly the main man. We've got four games in the space of 11 days, so we need to rotate and use the squad. Sure, we could have perhaps thrown caution to the wind a little bit towards the end, that much is fair to debate, but given how the crowd responded to everything throughout, to be honest, I'm surprised the team just didn't give up. They were being heckled, and in some cases heckled before certain players even touched the ball after coming on.
That aside. Perch isn't playing well. He's short of confidence and form and looks somewhat hesitant and unsure of himself. It's affecting things like his first-touch and decision making and unfortunately it's costing us. He gave away a poor free-kick that led to Birmingham's equaliser. Had he not made such a rash challenge, we'd have not given them the opportunity to get back into the game. That he's suspended for tomorrow is probably a fortunate coincidence in terms of timing – he needs a little time out.
The second goal was down to Fer's stupidity and trying to be too fancy on the ball in a dangerous area on the pitch. I didn't think he played well here, and contrary to what others said about his performance against Bolton, I didn't think he played well there either. He has this tendency to be very rubbery legged and not in control of himself at times, and that's what I've seen in the past two games and which can lead to costly moments like this. I don't think he closes down intelligently at the moment and he simply didn't get involved in the game here, even if he does have obvious ability. There was a marked difference in purpose, involvement and aggression when Luongo came on. He got himself involved and on the ball in a way that Fer didn't.
Defensively we were okay in open play. The wide players are still not doing enough for the team in those areas though, so that's why we can be vulnerable when being countered. Once or twice, I saw three or four of our attacking players just walking back when we were being hit on the counter, and that's a problem (same under Hughes and Redknapp for your info). The team has to defend and attack together for it to work. We certainly dealt with long direct balls down the pipe a lot better here though. Hall was particularly involved and did better than at Bolton, which is a positive, and he also covered Onouha intelligently on occasions in a way that Onouha didn't do often enough for him.
Despite those observations and the score, I'll give the players the benefit of the doubt this time, because they were always going to have some bumpy patches throughout this transitional period, and they've got to try and tough it out. It's not been made any easier for them by a crowd that doesn't seem to want to support its own at the moment and is in a wholly self destructive mood, so if anybody isn't performing well enough, it's actually us, the supporters.
Thank you Neil. Despite not wanting to post on here now, sensible posts like your's, Clive's and some others are why I will still read this board. The support this season has, at times, been what potentially ruins a good day out. Still beyond me where we lost the ability to get behind a new manager and chant "xyz's Blue and White army". Wont let that prevent me attending games in an intriguing season and the hope, although vain, that the club has turned a corner and moving in the right direction
Cant make head or tail of the NW appointment. I hope it is a move by the board to show that they will stick by CR come what may, but I fear not
Thanks for an excellent report Clive. Can't make many aways, so no knee jerks this week. Profoundly depressing and while I feel for Ramsey, like you too many decisions in terms of subs have been unfathomable for too many games now. I think Derry will be in very soon. Makes sense, with Warnock as his advisor. I think it'll happen if we lose tomorrow.
Was sat towards the front so didn't hear the Polter stuff but heard a fair bit away at Newport in the pre-season. Bunch of pissed up knuckle draggers who seemed to find it funny then, and I presume, now.
that group of 'rangers fans(?) at the back are a total embarrassment to the club, so much so I could feel the Blues fans laughing at us in total bewilderment.
The whole ground would have been in stitches had they seen and heard one youff of around 18 -2o years on this planet being ejected by the police calling for his daddy, who is response sprinted up from the front to confront the police, then accept the action being taken.
It may well have been a case of mistaken identity but if the foul and abusive vitriol was coming from him and his peers then I think the police were given no option.
Yes a lot of us swear in football grounds but the rubbish this lot come out with is totally pathetic.
Cant make Brentford and to be honest I wont miss it and qpr is in my blood.
Perfect report, you don't miss a thing Clive. CR, lighting doesn't strike twice and JET will never score a last minute goal again in his career. Its becoming too hard trying to support CR,
like Enfield & Neil above, I'm getting very disenchanted with many of our away following ( I won't say fans) . It started at Charlton and is the same every time we don't win. The ' we're F+++ing shit ' chant at Fulham was sickening. It's just not pleasant being among these morons. As has been said, Ramsey does himself no favours with odd selections and subs , although individual nonsense can't be his fault. How Perch & Henry get in the team is beyond me, as I think 1% of us would pick those 2, esp as there are other options- and plenty of them ! I was amazed when we extended the loan of Furlong. If CR thought he was good enough to play v Arsenal etc, how come he isn't now ? Next problem is everyone S Weds & Franchise Dons will just roll over , but I doubt it will be that simple, so expect plenty of booing if they score first ( and when the inevitable 2nd goal is conceded at some point)
Essex, Luongo played the Friday of the previous week. He would have been fine.
I don't mind criticising a manager, but I reckon this Ramsey stuff is premature and ott. Let's see how he's going late next month. And much as I have respect for Warnock (a fair bit, but not enough to make me argue against his sacking), that appointment is rank bullsh*t!
How they can ever hope to sell the club to enough new fans - especially 21st Century West Londoners - to fill even a 25k seat new stadium in light of some of the 5hit I've heard at away matches is beyond me.
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