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QPR's 'cup finals' start with visit of Coventry - full match preview
QPR's 'cup finals' start with visit of Coventry - full match preview
Friday, 9th Jan 2009 10:15

QPR return to league action on Saturday with the visit of recent bogey side Coventry City to Loftus Road.

Queens Park Rangers (9th) v Coventry (14th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday January 10, Kick Off 3pm
Loftus Road, London

“It’s all down hill after Christmas” is a phrase well worn by Northern the Elder. Once that FA Cup third round weekend is out of the way the season is over before you know it and suddenly you’re walking around Lakeside in a pair of cut off shorts wondering just what happened to the 2008/09 campaign.

If this was a marathon we are now getting towards the point where those from the pack that fancy their chances break away to the front. Obviously Wolves have gone for the sprint start method and will hope to hang on over the remaining 20 games - Birmingham have added Lee Bowyer, Hameur Bouazza and could soon seal a deal for Kris Boyd in their quest to catch them.

QPR are one of about a dozen sides that have a chance of playing Premiership football next season and the permanent acquisition of Lee Cook means that the R’s have thrown more money than anybody else through the transfer window in the first nine days. The squad still has deficiencies, at full back and in attack especially, but we are now stronger and can push on for the top six if we sort out away form out. The players are making all the right noises - Gorkss speaks of 20 cup finals, Dexter promises the goals will come despite 200 minutes without one. It has been cliche central at Loftus Road over the past couple of weeks.

Personally I do not think we will make it. Last season was about survival, this season is about building a competitive side and next year we start pushing for real - that’s how I see it anyway. The signing of Wayne Routledge will certainly help with that, he is proven to be a quality player in this league and I am looking forward to seeing him make his debut tomorrow. With Cook and Routledge now on board a system with two wingers would seem to be the ideal way to go but if, as seems more likely, Sousa keeps faith with his diamond set up it will be interesting to see where those two fit into it and how they perform.

Knowing our luck our away form will pick up just as the home form takes a dive. The goalless draws against Watford and Burnley were drab affairs in which we rarely looked like scoring and on Saturday we face a steady but limited Coventry side that have taken points from us in six of the last seven meetings. If the team is to prove me wrong and make the six then we not only need to improve away but we need to keep winning games like this.

Five minutes on Coventry
Sometimes I can sit here and the ‘five minutes’ on feature will just roll of my finger tips in an instant. Last week with Burnley for instance was very easy after their eventful season, although even my powers of waffle will be tested by a third piece about them for Tuesday night and a fourth for the awya league game later in the campaign. Writing about Coventry though, like Preston before them, is a bit like drawing teeth. Like the shiny new, but permanently half empty and soulles, Ricoh Arena in which they play their home games the Sky Blues are not very exciting and not a great deal different from a whole load of teams.

If I said to you former Premiership team with no money playing in front of 10,000 empty seats in a vacuous soulless bowl in the middle of nowhere you may take a few guesses to even know who I am talking about. Is it Southampton ? Leicester ? Derby ? No this time it is Coventry - a regular opponent and source of points in the Premiership but now uninspiring and usually fruitless team for Rangers to face in the Championship. Coventry have now played us eight times without defeat since we rather foolishly celebrated beating them in the tin pot Ibiza Cup as if we had lifted the Champions League trophy.

The Sky Blues were, this time last year, managed by Iain Dowie. He had taken over from Mickey Adams and started very well, leading them on a terrific League Cup run that included a win at Old Trafford. However a poor run of league form over the winter could not be disguised by a thumping FA Cup success at Blackburn and transfer window acquisitions of the excellent Daniel Fox and Scott Dann from Walsall and Dowie was given the push in February.

Coventry finished closer to the relegation zone both in positions and points than they were when Dowie left and he has always defended his record there pointing to a 41% win average and good signings made. Dowie claims he still gets texts from his Coventry players praising his work and wishing him the best of luck in the future but a run of just two wins from 13 matches during the winter, including 4-0 hammerings by West Brom and Blackpool , meant many Sky Blues fans were glad to see the back of him.

By this time Coventry had been taken over, saved at the eleventh hour apparently, by former Man City player Ray Ranson who had long courted Premiership clubs but ultimately settled on Coventry after an unsuccessful attempt to buy Southampton . Coventry are a club that does not own their ground, indeed they pay rent to play in the vile Ricoh Arena and struggle to turn over a match day profit with their attendances. They were on the cusp of administration when Ranson came in and it seemed a strange choice for him - by the time he had cleared the debts there was little money for the new man, Fulham’s Chris Coleman, to strengthen his team.

Coleman was another manager who could feel hard done by in his previous job with some justification. The Fulham fans I know slated his tactics at the Cottage towards the end of his reign there and pointed to a lack of discipline and fitness among his squad. The fact remains though that Coleman took over a Premiership side with no managerial experience whatsoever and kept them in the top flight despite one of the lowest average crowds and while his best players like Van Der Sar and Malbranque were sold from his squad by a board realising it had over reached itself. The pig’s ear Lawrie Sanchez made of things when he replaced Coleman, a mess only now being cleared up by one of Europe ’s leading coaches in Roy Hodgson, points to the sound work Coleman did there. A failed spell at Real Sociedad preceded his appointment in the Midlands.

Coventry survived by the skin of their teeth last season, Leicester finished just a point behind, nine goals better off, and would have stayed up instead had they converted any one of numerous chances they had to snatch at draw at Stoke on the final day of the campaign. Coventry finished with just one win from their last six games and they were beaten 4-1 at Charlton on the final day and left to wait anxiously for the final score from the Britannia Stadium. City were lucky, no question about that.

In the summer Coleman was allowed to strengthen and immediately turned his attention to the team’s ailing strike force. He added Palace’s Clinton Morrison on a free transfer and lashed out the majority of his summer budget on Freddy Eastwood who bagged 14 goals in this league for Southend in 2006/07 but flopped after a big money move to Wolves. Aron Gunnarsson, he of long throw fame, and Stephen Wright, he of Premiership’s ugliest 11 of all time fame, were added as well and Coventry have certainly improved on last season’s performances so far.

They won their first three matches of the season and come into this game unbeaten in four and without a goal against their name in three. There have been some bad moments - they lost at home to Crystal Palace and Burnley conceding five goals in the process - but generally they stay in games and rarely get hammered even when they do lose. Dowie’s final buys Dann and Fox continue to impress visiting scouts in defence and while Freddy Eastwood has again stuttered with just three goals Clinton Morrison has ten.

Their current position of fourteenth is about fair, they possibly have the potential to finish three or four places higher but not much more than that this or any other season without some serious squad strengthening. They have almost identical home and away record with four wins at the Ricoh and on the road. Like so many teams in the middle of this league at the moment they are quickly racking up years of second tier service, eight and counting, and don’t look likely to escape from either end any time soon.

Players to Watch
The man most QPR fans will be keeping a close eye on, and hopefully our defenders will be doing the same, is former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison who has five goals in his last six appearances against Rangers and seven in his career in total. Morrison looked at one stage during the summer like he would actually be signing for QPR with Iain Dowie apparently keen to take him and Crystal Palace unable to agree a new contract with him however with uncertainty around just how much say Dowie had in the comings and goings at Loftus Road he was left to decamp to Coventry instead. Morrison has been a reasonably successful signing for Coleman this season, bagging ten goals in all competitions and moving out on his own at the head of the goal scoring charts in that part of the world. We all know what we’re going to be facing on Saturday – smiling, thoroughly irritating, penalty box sniffer with a penchant for goals at Loftus Road.

Finding a partner for Morrison has been somewhat more difficult. Coventry spent £1.2m on Fredy Eastwood in the summer but he has scored just three times in 22 appearances. He can succeed at this level, 14 goals in a pretty retched Southend side two seasons ago showed that, but his move to Wolves did not work out at all and he quickly fell out with Mick McCarthy and now he is struggling to find the net regularly for Coventry – just one goal in his last 19 appearances. Consequently he has found himself back where he was at Wolves, living away from his preferred home of the south east and playing his football mostly off the substitutes bench.

Preferred alongside Morrison for the last league game against Sheff Wed was Leon Best. He is a former QPR loanee of course and I always thought he got a bit of a rough deal from the Loftus Road crowd during his time here – people were very quick to write him off as another Callum Willock when really he looked pretty useful at times. Best only signed for Coventry from Southampton 18 months ago but his time at the club has been fraught with speculation first over whether Coventry could actually pay his transfer fee and then almost straight away about whether they were going to sell him on to Nottingham Forest. Former Norwich and Peterborough man Leon McKenzie, another player QPR were linked with quite heavily when he was at London Road , makes up the striking options with big lump Kevin Kyle out on loan.

Further back keep your eye on former Brentford man Jay Tabb who has been in excellent form for Coventry this season. He has three goals to his name so far, two against Southampton in a 4-1 drumming, and won the match deciding penalty when these two teams met at the Ricoh in September. QPR have been linked with a move for Tabb who came through the ranks at Griffin Park this January. Alongside him Aron Gunnarsson is one of those players you may be forgiven for thinking only gets into the team on the strength of his long throw. Probably a little harsh but Ramage’s mishit balls into touch could be more costly than usual this Saturday if he does it in close proximity to the QPR penalty area.

Maltese attacker Michael Mifsud took the division by storm at the start of last season scoring 13 goals before Christmas including a brace at Old Trafford and one at Loftus Road. However he only managed two in the second half of the campaign, possibly suffering from the departure of Dele Adebola whose flick ons he used to feed on, and when summer moves to Crystal Palace and Bristol City collapsed his temperament and attitude was called into question. Gary Johnson tells a story of how Mifsud turned up at Ashton Gate with lawyers while Nicky Maynard, who he eventually signed, came with his Mum. Mifsud has just one goal to his name this year and is used wide more often than not.

Some of Coventry ’s best players are at the back which makes their record of 31 goals conceded a little hard to fathom – Rangers have conceded 26 for comparison. Elliott Ward is a strapping, no nonsense centre half although often suffers for his lack of pace. Ward also takes the penalties for Coventry despite a couple of misses earlier in the campaign – he has four goals this season including a successful conversion against QPR. Scott Dann and Dan Fox were two shrewd buys from Walsall by Iain Dowie and they have attracted the attention of England Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce already.

Goalkeeper Keiran Westwood, a product of Blackburn ’s youth set up, got his move to Coventry after impressing for Carlisle against Leeds in the League One play off semi final last season.

Previous Meetings
QPR came away from the Ricoh in September wondering just how they had contrived to lose the game. The home team too the lead after a quarter of an hour when Jay Tabb beat Mikele Leigertwood to a Fredy Eastwood through ball in the penalty area and then hit the deck under a heavy challenge. It was a blatant penalty but Radek Cerny almost came to Leigertwood’s rescue – in the end Ward’s spot kick carried just too much power for the Czech keeper to save it. After half time though it was all Rangers with Blackstock and Ledesma both missing several chances. Rangers were very good value for three points but ended up with nothing.

Coventry: Westwood 7, Osbourne 7, Ward 8, Dann 8, Fox 8, Tabb 7 (Beuzelin 85, -), Gunnarsson 5, Doyle 5, Morrison 6, Eastwood 6 (Best 76, 5), McKenzie 5 (Mifsud 80, -)
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Hall
Booked: Tabb (foul), Doyle (handball), Ward (foul), Osbourne (foul)
Goals: Ward 15 pen (assisted Tabb)

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 5 (Parejo 56, 6), Gorkss 7, Stewart 7, Delaney 6, Mahon 5, Leigertwood 6, Ledesma 6 (Buzsaky 53, 7), Rowlands 8, Cook 7, Blackstock 5 (Agyemang 77, 6)
Subs Not Used: Camp, Hall
Booked: Mahon (foul)

Match Report

At Loftus Road last season Rangers lost the whole spine of their side to injury in the first half when Martin Cranie broke his leg and was followed down the tunnel by Mikele Leigertwood and Marc Nygaard. We looked to have overcome that set back when Akos Buzsaky gave us the lead with a thumping long range shot at the Loft End however Coventry came storming back to equalise through Mifsud and then won the game in injury time with a header from Kevin Kyle.

QPR: Camp 6, Mancienne 5, Stewart 7, Cranie 6 (Timoska 20, 6), Barker 6, Rowlands 5, Leigertwood 6 (Bolder 39, 6), Buzsaky 6, Sinclair 5, Vine 5, Nygaard 5 (Nardiello 44, 5)
Subs Not Used: Cole, Ainsworth
Goals: Buzsaky 50 (unassisted)

Coventry: Konstantopoulos 6, McNamee 6 (Stephen Hughes 90, -),De Zeeuw 7, Turner 7, Hall 7, Osbourne 7, Doyle 7, Tabb 7, Mifsud 8, Adebola 8,Best 7 (Kyle 75, 7)
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Ward, Cairo
Goals: Mifsud 61 (unassisted), Kyle 90 (assisted Hall)

Match Report

Head to Head:
Coventry wins – 43
Draws – 26
QPR wins – 34

Previous Coventry v QPR results:
2008/09 Coventry 1 QPR 0
2007/08 Coventry 0 QPR 0
2007/08 QPR 1 Coventry 2 (Buzsaky)
2006/07 Coventry 0 QPR 1 (Smith)
2006/07 QPR 0 Coventry 1
2005/06 QPR 0 Coventry 1
2005/06 Coventry 3 QPR 0
2004/05 Coventry 1 QPR 2 (Cureton, Santos)
2004/05 QPR 4 Coventry 1 (Cureton 3, Furlong)
1995/96 Coventry 1 QPR 0
1995/96 QPR 1 Coventry 1 (Barker)
1994/95 Coventry 0 QPR 1 (Sinclair)
1994/95 QPR 2 Coventry 2 (Penrice)
1993/94 Coventry 0 QPR 1 (White)
1993/94 QPR 5 Coventry 1 (Allen 2, Barker, Ferdinand, Impey)
1992/93 QPR 2 Coventry 0 (Peacock, Pearce og)
1992/93 Coventry 0 QPR 1 (Impey) 

Team News
QPR should give a debut to Wayne Routledge and Lee Cook and Heidar Helguson are also set to play some part after making their loan moves permanent during the week. Fitz Hall had a small op on a broken nose prior to the Burnley cup match but should now be available again. Patrick Agyemang will have minor surgery on a thigh strain on Saturday and joins long term absentees Rowan Vine and Akos Buzsaky on the touchline.

For Coventry, and if you are squeamish I would skip this bit, full back Marcus Hall is out after Leon Best got his studs caught in his team mate’s nose in training earlier this week pulling most of the septum out as he went.
Injury List

Referee
Premiership official Keith Stroud returns to Loftus Road this Saturday as the R's face Coventry City . QPR beat Charlton this season with Stroud in charge and have never lost a game that he has refereed.
Details

Elsewhere
We have a live Friday fixture this week for a change as Watford and Reading meet at the Madejski with issues at opposite ends of the table on their minds. The big game at the top of the league is title chasing Wolves at home to play off hunting Preston , down at the bottom it is hard to ignore Charlton v Forest with both sides struggling against relegation and appointing new managers in the lead up to the fixture.
Tony’s Championship Preview

Form
The performances and team selections have fluctuated wildly but QPR have still only lost once in ten matches under new manager Paulo Sousa. He is yet to be beaten at Loftus Road although the performances in the Watford (0-0) and Burnley (0-0) games were in stark contrast to the ones against Preston (3-2) and Wolves (1-0). Nevertheless with nine wins and two draws from 13 league matches at home QPR’s record on their own patch is bettered only by Reading , Wolves and Preston this season. QPR come into this game unbeaten in five games in all competition but also without a win in their last three after draws against Charlton, Watford and Burnley . It is the best part of 200 minutes since the R’s scored last – Dexter Blackstock at Charlton on Boxing Day.

Coventry are in pretty decent touch themselves with no defeats in their last four games and no goals conceded in their last three. Sheff Wed and Kidderminster were both beaten 2-0 at the Ricoh over Christmas while the Sky Blues also played their part in the remarkable run of draws that Swansea City are on with a goalless stalemate at the Liberty Stadium. Their last away defeat came at Watford on December 13 although they did win at Charlton four days before that and have four maximum point hauls on the road this season, more than five teams above them in the league including us of course. They have beaten Barnsley , Birmingham , Sheff Wed and Charlton on their travels so far and haven’t lost to QPR in eight attempts.
Form Guide

Prediction
A rare success last wee in outcome if not score – that Burnley game was the most inevitable draw I have ever previewed. Just to really put the tin hat on it all the bookie paid me out with a £50 note, really bloody useful that, had to wait until the banks opened again to get it changed. Anyway I’ll probably be back to my usual clueless self this week when it comes to the tip but with Routledge and Helguson coming into the team I think we may have enough about us to win this game, even allowing for Morrison’s obligatory goal against us.
QPR 2 Coventry 1

 

Photo: Action Images



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