| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 15:00 - Dec 15 with 2356 views | Antti_Heinola |
Another game, another defeat, another nil to add to the growing collection. But some green shoots. Small ones. But it is winter.
1. PREDICTABLE: It's established fact that any striker that needs a goal (Amokachi), and any team that needs a win (Swindon) only need to face the Superhoops, no matter what form we might be in, to overturn their inglorious run. We've seen that in action in recent weeks. three times, in fact. But it's also established fact that any team on a decent run can also guarantee that their run will be not be hindered by a match-up with the Most Giving Team the world has Ever Seen (I think that's what Birch sings while leaning on the subs bench).
And so it was drearily predictable that Derby, whose payback for the play-off final will not be settled until they've had at least 14 more games like this, coming into this game winning and not conceding, would beat us, a team losing and not scoring.
Yet it wasn't quite that simple. Rangers controlled the game for long periods, never looked in trouble at the back, and, while never creating a really good chance, did test the Derby keeper on several occasions with decent efforts. But all of that only prolonged the agony. For the entire game, you just knew a scarcely deserved late winner was coming for McClaren's men. The only surprise was that it didn't come even closer to the final whistle.
2. COUSINS: Word is it's a hamstring. Again. Painful as it is, this needs to be sorted properly because, finally, last night we saw the player I thought we had signed. All action, full of dynamism, willing to run forward, willing to chase back, passing well, dribbling when he needed to. Easily his best performance of the season and a comfortable man of the match. so of course he'll be out for a month now. That's how it works.
But until he went off, depriving us of the game's dominant player, he was a pleasure to watch. I don't think anyone could really tell me what position he was playing - sometimes it looked to be wide right, but most of the time he was everywhere, popping up at right back and left wing and everywhere in between. Plugging holes, perpetual motion. A big plus from the game.
3. HALL: No one had a bad game last night, but Hall looked the most awkward. Just because a defender is comfortable in possession, does not make him a midfielder. I'd have him there ahead of Sandro, just, but I'm not really sure what he was actually doing. He did break up play sometimes and he did win some important balls in the air. And maybe, if he'd been taken off and replaced with a winger we'd have suddenly seen a massive gap in our midfield and suddenly the previously impotent Derby would have ruthlessly exploited it to the max. I don't know. But a lot of the time he just seemed to be in the way, standing in the same place as other players, and often looking to the bench asking for advice.
I felt he was a waste of a player to be honest - take him off, shift Cousins infield and get Shodipo on the wing for God's sake. Give us some width! I lost count of the number of times players looked for an outlet wide, particularly on the left, and saw either Bidwell double-marked or nothing at all.
4. WASHINGTON: You can't not like Connor. He works his arse off every game. He's a willing runner. He's a decent footballer. But he really, really, really can't play that number nine role. He barely touched it last night, and the only balls fed to him were usually two feet above his head. Had no real influence, was no real threat. If Polti is half fit and Sylla is injured and not just being criminally ignored I accept that he is the only choice, but it doesn't work. I'm sort of against signing another forward because i think Sylla and Polter can do the job between them, but on the other hand we are chronically lacking goals and something has to change.
5. GLADWIN: I'll never boo him, I want him to do well. But all I can say he is he must be excellent in training because I can't for the life of me see why else he'd be getting on the pitch before Pawel or Shodipo. Genuinely, I don't think he made a single meaningful contribution when he came on...
6. SHODIPO: In stark contrast to this lad. I'm not one of the people singing his praises and who thinks he's the key to all our woes (if such a person even exists). I though JFH managed him very intelligently - involved in almost every game, not always starting, but learning, and usually on as a sub if he was on the bench. But he's being criminally underused at the moment and last night only highlighted that. He only had 15-odd minutes, but he should have been on much earlier. Suddenly we had a player who was willing to run at them, to cause some doubt, who actually looked confident. He added a dimension we didn't have before and I don't care how well or badly he tracks back at the moment - he can learn that and the fact is we need him more involved in the team - now. Preferably with Pawel on the other wing too.
Ollie was brought in with a brief to play more attacking football and score more goals. So far we may have a marginally - marginally - more attacking outlook, but we're scoring even less goals. And the two players who really could provide danger, and did so when they were fit and playing, are barely getting a look in. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:12 - Dec 15 with 2145 views | daveB |
Ben Gladwin is living proof that QPR fans who say they will always back players if they try are talking bollocks. Fella's face hasn't fitted since day one and was being booed and slated before he even touched the ball last night. All that talk when Redknapp was manager about wanting to develop players and give youth a chance, all codswallop fans don't have patience for it. If they are not great from day one we quickly hound them out.
On Hall I thought he was excellent last night, if we had taken him off I think they'd have found it a lot easier to get at our back four |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:20 - Dec 15 with 2131 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:12 - Dec 15 by daveB |
Ben Gladwin is living proof that QPR fans who say they will always back players if they try are talking bollocks. Fella's face hasn't fitted since day one and was being booed and slated before he even touched the ball last night. All that talk when Redknapp was manager about wanting to develop players and give youth a chance, all codswallop fans don't have patience for it. If they are not great from day one we quickly hound them out.
On Hall I thought he was excellent last night, if we had taken him off I think they'd have found it a lot easier to get at our back four |
Agree on both points - wouldn't say Hall was excellent but he did a good job - but 0-0 at home with a team never threatening at 60 mins, he needed to be hooked imo.
totally agree on the first point. Shodipo won't be spared if he gets a run and has a few bad games. | |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:55 - Dec 15 with 2062 views | Stanisgod |
I really think that if Shidipo had come on instead of Gladwin we would have won. They were rocking at that time and he would been the catalyst to actually score while they looked vulnerable for the first time in the match, but bringing Ben on killed it stone dead and actually EASED the pressure on Derby. Then obviously Cousins injury meant too many changes in a short space of time which I think resulted in them scoring. Wierd substitution but everyone put a shift in and I felt really sorry for them at the end, didnt deserve that one bit. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 18:09 - Dec 15 with 2034 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:55 - Dec 15 by Stanisgod |
I really think that if Shidipo had come on instead of Gladwin we would have won. They were rocking at that time and he would been the catalyst to actually score while they looked vulnerable for the first time in the match, but bringing Ben on killed it stone dead and actually EASED the pressure on Derby. Then obviously Cousins injury meant too many changes in a short space of time which I think resulted in them scoring. Wierd substitution but everyone put a shift in and I felt really sorry for them at the end, didnt deserve that one bit. |
Agree - meant to say I really felt for Luongo at the end. The ref blew up and he just sank to his haunches, absolutely gutted. stayed there for ages. | |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 00:27 - Dec 16 with 1760 views | RANGERS4EVER |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 17:12 - Dec 15 by daveB |
Ben Gladwin is living proof that QPR fans who say they will always back players if they try are talking bollocks. Fella's face hasn't fitted since day one and was being booed and slated before he even touched the ball last night. All that talk when Redknapp was manager about wanting to develop players and give youth a chance, all codswallop fans don't have patience for it. If they are not great from day one we quickly hound them out.
On Hall I thought he was excellent last night, if we had taken him off I think they'd have found it a lot easier to get at our back four |
I may have been in an area of the ground that couldn't hear that, but I heard no booing of Gladwin. Also in terms of slating, all I heard was groans, when he once again did a sloppy pass, or couldn't get a tackle right. Gladwin has had not one good game for me, and I actually think he has been given a bit more leniency from some fans than other players. But come on, has he actually done anything decent when playing? He came on yesterday and his lack of effort is quite poor. League One player for me |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 02:11 - Dec 16 with 1728 views | Boston |
I enjoy reading your reports Antti, well informed and rational. Sadly, at the moment,I picture you in a Captains uniform, distinguished, enjoying a scotch with the band playing behind you. You're explaining all the workmanship, the technical details, the potential, other officers are gathered around nodding their heads in agreement as the deck slowly tilts and the Titanic gradually slips beneath the waves. Where's the fcking life boats? [Post edited 16 Dec 2016 2:14]
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 10:03 - Dec 16 with 1592 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 02:11 - Dec 16 by Boston |
I enjoy reading your reports Antti, well informed and rational. Sadly, at the moment,I picture you in a Captains uniform, distinguished, enjoying a scotch with the band playing behind you. You're explaining all the workmanship, the technical details, the potential, other officers are gathered around nodding their heads in agreement as the deck slowly tilts and the Titanic gradually slips beneath the waves. Where's the fcking life boats? [Post edited 16 Dec 2016 2:14]
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ha ha! I can't do everything mate ;) | |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 10:44 - Dec 16 with 1550 views | qprissimo |
I think Hall contributed to making us a lot more solid, and Derby barely had a sniff other than the goal. So on that account he was a positive. But I also agree that he 'got in the way a bit' - he was frequently too close to other players, not really offering an outlet, etc. If he is to develop into that role, he could do worse than learn a bit from how Johnson played for Derby, controlling the game from the base (admittedly he didn't have the best game either).
I also felt that with Hall out the back four we lost our best forward passer from defence. Our other centre backs are weaker at distribution, which made it harder for us to break through Derby's lines to find Chery and the other attacking players in space. And made harder still because we couldn't go direct to Washington - it might have worked better with Polter/Sylla.
Overall though there were signs of improvement. Cousins was excellent. The potential for a partnership with Luongo is clear. Hall could improve into the role with more experience, though I suspect we'll be looking to recruit another defensive midfielder who holds but can also pass. The lack of width was frustrating throughout, and a clear weakness of the system. But on the plus side it keeps us solid and allowed us to control the game. We did have several chances and on another day might have found a bit more luck. | | | |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 10:45 - Dec 16 with 1543 views | qprissimo |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 10:44 - Dec 16 by qprissimo |
I think Hall contributed to making us a lot more solid, and Derby barely had a sniff other than the goal. So on that account he was a positive. But I also agree that he 'got in the way a bit' - he was frequently too close to other players, not really offering an outlet, etc. If he is to develop into that role, he could do worse than learn a bit from how Johnson played for Derby, controlling the game from the base (admittedly he didn't have the best game either).
I also felt that with Hall out the back four we lost our best forward passer from defence. Our other centre backs are weaker at distribution, which made it harder for us to break through Derby's lines to find Chery and the other attacking players in space. And made harder still because we couldn't go direct to Washington - it might have worked better with Polter/Sylla.
Overall though there were signs of improvement. Cousins was excellent. The potential for a partnership with Luongo is clear. Hall could improve into the role with more experience, though I suspect we'll be looking to recruit another defensive midfielder who holds but can also pass. The lack of width was frustrating throughout, and a clear weakness of the system. But on the plus side it keeps us solid and allowed us to control the game. We did have several chances and on another day might have found a bit more luck. |
Also, annoyingly, I think Tozser would fit really well in this system... | | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 11:31 - Dec 16 with 1494 views | TacticalR |
2. COUSINS. Glad to hear he had a good game. I can't remember seeing him play well for us and away at Ipswich a few weeks ago he looked a complete clodhopper. [Post edited 16 Dec 2016 11:32]
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 0 Derby 1 on 14:26 - Dec 16 with 1405 views | 1MoreBrightonR |
there were a few boos in south africa road...not loads, but a few. followed by a lot of "dont fcking boo him" comments at least. | | | |
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