QPR make a triumphant return to Loftus Road this Saturday after two fine wins on the road in the last two matches. Doncaster Rovers are the opposition.
Npower Championship >>> Saturday, September 25 >>> Kick Off 3pm >>> Loftus Road, London, W12
Did the birds always sing this much? Was the sun always this warm on my face? God doesn’t life feel so much better when QPR are playing like this?
I found myself thinking on the train home from Leicester last week about a Tuesday night game at Preston back in 2007. The reason I bring this up now will become clear shortly, the reason this particular 0-0 draw from three years ago came to mind at that point can only be attributed to the strange way my brain works after too much beer.
That game came shortly after the takeover by Flavio Briatore at a time of great optimism for the club. John Gregory had been dismissed and Mick Harford had successfully turned our alarming early season form around. There was a universal feeling among the Rangers’ supporters that we were simply marking time and trying to stay in touch with the teams above us at the bottom of the league until January when the cheque book would come out.
At this moment (as Paulo Sousa would say) the main point of interest was which manager we would choose to lead us into the brave new world. I remember writing for LFW around the time that it seemed absolutely nailed on that former Palermo manager Francesc Guidolin was going to get the job and he was expected to be at Deepdale to see the game that night. There was an Italian manager in attendance – but it turned out to be Luigi De Canio. He proved to be a popular appointment at QPR – although, as ever, time dulls the memory somewhat and I remember at the time complaints about the players’ fitness, conceding goals late in games and his lack of English skills being a problem. Still, he did a fine job and we played some great football before he left and the Briatore led farce really took hold.
The reason I thought of all this on Saturday night was because that night in the pub opposite the railway station a good friend of mine at QPR Mick Harman and I had a discussion over a pie and a pint about the managerial situation. He said that night he felt somebody like Neil Warnock would be absolutely ideal for the role and I’ve remembered it ever since because it was such a strange idea at a time when we were being promised the earth by our new owners.
De Canio, and subsequently Paulo Sousa, were much more the sort of appointments QPR fans anticipated in the Briatore era but as things stand it’s Warnock, finally given the job after Briatore moved aside, that has done it best. On Saturday at Leicester Sousa’s latest team were very stylish and easy on the eye – they kept the ball and moved it well and played in a fluid formation. QPR were actually pretty poor last weekend but found a way to get the job done – that ability to find a way to win a game is one that has sadly eluded Sousa at QPR, Swansea and now Leicester. Lots of talk about being the better team and suffering bad luck, still no points to show for it.
There is room for the swanky foreign coach at this level of the game, as Jean Tigana showed at Fulham, but what Mick recognised (possibly by accident) and what QPR seem to be coming round to knowing is there is no experience for an experienced manager who knows the league and is given free rein to manage the side.
At the moment QPR are finding a way to win every game they play – either by sticking at it against Middlesbrough, completely annihilating their opponents at Ipswich, or grinding out a result from a poor show at Leicester. Only a supreme optimist would expect this to continue for the entire season, and an article in the Guardian this week claiming the Championship is already as good as over was as inaccurate as it was unhelpful. The latest test at Loftus Road this Saturday against Doncaster could examine how we cope with expectations as much as it does how we can play football.
QPR fans turning up in increasing numbers will expect us to roll all over “little old Doncaster” this Saturday and that will bring it own challenges for our players who have revelled in a newly understanding and supportive atmosphere that has been prevalent at home games so far.
Recent History: It wasn’t that long ago that the Doncaster chairman was trying, very badly, to burn down the ground and claim the insurance money. In 1997/98 I thought my occasional trips to stand on the Popular Side at Belle Vue were over.
The club had been falling apart for sometime under the questionable guidance of majority shareholder Ken Richardson – a man who made his money switching horses in down the card race meetings and other such wholesome activities. In 1995 he hired a couple of chums to burn down the wooden main stand at Belle Vue. The fact that they failed to do so despite it being made of matchwood tells you all you need to know about the enterprise - but the pair left mobile phones next to the empty petrol cans just to make doubly sure they were caught and remembered as the worst arsonists ever in the history of pyromania. Richardson’s defence in court was dismissed by prosecutors as “the worst concoction of waffle, piffle and flannel" they had ever heard and he was jailed for four years.
In the meantime Richardson appointed Mark Weaver, once the Stockport County club shop manager, to take charge of a team that boasted just nine professionals and trained part time at the local council park for the 1997/98 season. They lost all but four of their matches that year and were relegated to the Conference having conceded 112 goals.
Step up John Ryan. The lifelong Rovers fan built up a vast cosmetic surgery business called Make Yourself Amazing that carried out more than 100,000 procedures, including a couple on the front of Melinda Messenger. Ryan has steadily rebuilt Doncaster into the fine football club we see before us this Saturday – even fulfilling a boyhood dream by turning out as a sub for them back in 2003. Now in the Championship, in a brand new stadium, playing splendid football, Ryan has every right to be satisfied with the work he’s done.
Doncaster don’t splash a lot of cash around – Billy Sharp’s £1.3m arrival in the summer has been as extravagant as it has got – and they have had to sell their better players like Matt Mills and Richie Wellens in recent seasons. But they keep hold of managers and allow them to build their teams over time. Dave Penney brought them from the Conference into League One over the course of five years and Sean O’Driscoll has since promoted Rovers and secured them at this level since taking over in 2006. In the same period of time QPR have worked their way through ten bosses.
They arrived in this division via the play offs in 2008, beating much fancied Leeds United in the Wembley final. They lost star performer Paul Green that summer, and have been losing their better players ever since, but wily boss O’Driscoll kept them up against the bookies’ odds in the first season and then pushed them on into the top half last term. It’s O’Driscoll, and the style of football he employs at the Keepmoat, that is drawing the plaudits and LFW had them down as an outside bet for the top six this season when we previewed the season back in August.
The Manager: It looked very much like Doncaster would be losing their influential manager Sean O’Driscoll last Christmas when Premiership side Burnley came sniffing in the wake of Owen Coyle’s departure. In the end Burnley wouldn’t stump up the required compensation, and went for the cheap option Brian Laws instead - just about the worst decision they could have made in my opinion and one that cemented their position in the Premiership relegation zone last season. O’Driscoll is a managerial appointment waiting to happen for a “bigger” club that wants to lay foundations and be rewarded for patience.
O’Driscoll was a player with Fulham and then for 11 years with Bournemouth and comes across as the quiet man of the Championship. Despite his impressive work at Dean Court and the Keepmoat Stadium he is rarely linked with other vacancies, Burnley was the first I can remember. At Bournemouth he built an attractive, passing side with the likes of Wade Elliott to the fore, and won promotion into what is now League One in 2003.
He has carried that on at Doncaster, picking up the baton from Dave Penney and moving Rovers to the next level via a 2008 play off final victory against Leeds and a season of comfortable consolidation last term. Having sold his two outstanding performers from last season during the summer a season of struggle seemed to be in order in 2009/10 but by picking up impressive players on a shoe string budget and allowing Billy Sharp to excel in a more attractive passing style he did so much more than that. Far from consolidating in their second season at this level Rovers pushed on into the top half of the table last season and finished 12th.
People thought Doncaster owner John Ryan was mad for parting company with Dave Penney who had brought such success to the club, but this appointment of O’Driscoll was a well researched master stroke. He is Doncaster’s biggest footballing asset and the main reason I expect them to push for the play offs this season.
Three to Watch: Having sat and watched Doncaster play Leeds last Friday night a couple of things struck me. Firstly, they clearly like to start games very quickly and strongly so Rangers will have to be right on their game right from the kick off. Doncaster have scored in the first quarter of an hour in all three of their victories so far this season and flew out of the traps against Leeds before rather running out of ideas having not scored by the midway point of the first half. QPR like to start quickly as well so it could be a real humdinger of a first half at Loftus Road this weekend.
The second thing was the rather fluid nature of the Doncaster set up and the way they spread the play very wide, very early and look to play low crosses into the area before the defence is set. They play with one striker very much at the top – and Billy Sharp will play right on the shoulder of the last defender wherever possible. Sharp is Doncaster’s record transfer having turned his loan deal permanent in the summer for a fee of around £1.3m. The boyhood Sheffield United fan has had two failed spells at Bramall Lane – firstly leaving their junior set up to join Scunthorpe after a loan spell at Rushden. He excelled and forged his reputation at Glanford Park with 56 goals in 94 appearances as the Iron rose from the bottom division into the Championship under first Brian Laws and then Nigel Adkins.
That earned Sharp a £2.4m move back to Bramall Lane however he started his time there with the worst football manager in the world (Bryan Robson) in charge and ended it with the second worst (Kevin Blackwell). Originally I thought, and said on here, that having poached so many goals in the penalty area during his time with Scunthorpe that perhaps he was simply finding it tough in the Championship because the defenders are better and those mistakes and loose balls in the area don’t happen as often. It has turned out that Sharp, at just five feet seven inches tall, simply wasn’t suited to fielding balls hoofed at his head all afternoon as Kevin Blackwell makes his teams do without remorse. Since Sharp arrived at Doncaster, a much easier team on the eye, he’s scored for fun with 15 in 33 games last season and two in seven so far this.
The support for Sharp comes in the form of a five man midfield that all floods forward when Rovers attack. Primarily the attack from deep is led by James Coppinger who once had a loan spell at QPR from Newcastle without ever playing and then finally made his name in the Conference with Exeter. Doncaster picked him up when they were at that level in 2004 and have carried him up through the leagues with him. A fine hat trick against Norwich last Tuesday as the R’s we winning at Ipswich shows he’s a real threat at this level.
Doncaster were in sumptuous form against Rangers at the Keepmoat just under a year ago and one of the most impressive performers, and goal scorers, that day was Dean Shiels. He hit the post against Leeds and impresses me whenever I see him. A young player schooled in the Arsenal academy and now excelling under a manager who has been feted as some sort of Championship Arsene Wenger such is the style with which his team plays.
Essentially from what I have seen Doncaster will play the ball out from the back to begin with – this could cost them against a QPR side that has shown a willingness this season to hunt in packs high up the field and hassle teams out of possession early on. From there it is worked into Shiels, Martin Wood or Brian Stock and then spread wide to the likes of Coppinger who will look to get a low cross in behind the opposition defence early, before it is set, so that Sharp can go to work in the box.
Links >>> Official Website >>> Rovers Message Board
Recent Meetings: QPR were inspired by Antonio German on his full debut against Doncaster at Loftus Road in February. Sinking down the league under the management of Mick Harford and without a win in nine attempts the R’s managed a maximum haul thanks to a late winner from Jay Simpson. German scored in the first half but it looked like the same old story when Hayter scored from close range after poor defending and fine work by Billy Sharp. But Simpson scored 14 minutes from time after a wonderful through ball from Akos Buzsaky to secure a much needed win.
QPR: Ikeme 6, Ramage 5 (Taarabt 77, 5), Stewart 6, Gorkss 7, Hill 6, Buzsaky 7, Faurlin 7, Connolly 7 (Borrowdale 85, -), Cook 7, Simpson 7, German 8 (Vine 90, -)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Quashie, Balanta, Oastler
Goals: German 25 (assisted Buzsaky), Simpson 76 (assisted Buzsaky)
Doncaster: Sullivan 7, O'Connor 6, Hird 5, Ward 5, Chambers 6, Oster 6, Wilson 5 (Roberts 83, -), Stock 7 (Mutch 86, -), Coppinger 6 (Shiels 83, -),Hayter 7, Sharp 6
Subs Not Used: Smith, Guy, Spicer, Dumbuya
Goals: Hayter 51 (assisted Sharp)
Attendance: 11,178 (500 Doncaster approx)
In stark contrast to the form going into the Loftus Road match last season QPR travelled to the Keepmoat Stadium before Christmas fourth in the table following a 2-1 away victory at Sheffield Wednesday. During a two week international break Jim Magilton had added (or been presented with) Tommy Williams and Steven Reid on loan and despite the team’s good form and fine performances chose to put both players straight into his starting line up instead of Gavin Mahon who was injured and Gary Borrowdale who was dropped. Adel Taarabt was left out after missing the team coach to South Yorkshire the night before. QPR were hopeless, losing very comfortably 2-0, with Billy Sharp making the most of dire marking from a corner to open the scoring just after half time and Shiels profiting from poor play by Gorkss and Williams in possession to fire home a second ten minutes later. Jay Simpson’s dragged shot wide of the post straight after half time was as good as it ever got for the visitors.
Doncaster: Sullivan 6, Chambers 6, Hird 6, O'Connor 6, Roberts 7, Oster 6 (Spicer 87, -), Fortune 7 (Shackell 72, 6), Gillett 6, Shiels 8 (Mark Wilson 85, -), Coppinger 6, Sharp 7
Subs Not Used: Smith, Hayter, Guy, Heffernan
Goals: Sharp 53 (assisted Shiels), Shiels 65 (unassisted)
QPR: Cerny 7, Leigertwood 6, Connolly 6, Gorkss 5, Williams 5, Routledge 6, Reid 5, Watson 5, Faurlin 7 (Taarabt 46, 6) Buzsaky 5 (Agyemang 63, 5), Simpson 6 (Pellicori 63, 4)
Subs Not Used: McWeeney, Stewart, Ramage, Ephraim
Booked: Leigertwood (foul)
Head to Head: QPR wins 5 >>> Draws 1 >>> Doncaster wins 7
Previous Results:
2009/10 QPR 2 Doncaster 1 (German, Simpson)
2009/10 Doncaster 2 QPR 0
2008/09 Doncaster 2 QPR 0
2008/09 QPR 2 Doncaster 0 (Blackstock, Ledesma)
1984/85 Doncaster 1 QPR 0 (FA Cup)
1966/67 Doncaster 1 QPR 1
1966/67 QPR 6 Doncaster 0
1958/59 QPR 3 Doncaster 1
1958/59 Doncaster 2 QPR 0
1951/52 QPR 0 Doncaster 2
1951/52 Doncaster 4 QPR 0
1950/51 Doncaster 0 QPR 2
1950/51 QPR 1 Doncaster 2
Played for Both: Gareth Taylor
QPR 2000 (Loan)
Doncaster 2008-2009
Not only is Gareth a classic example of a journeyman, but in the mould of Chris Sutton and Paul Warhurst he is one of those players who can play as a defender and a striker. Despite starting his career at Southampton, Gareth left the Dell without ever making an appearance and made his professional debut for Bristol Rovers. In three seasons with Rovers, he scored 18 goals partnering Marcus Stewart before a big money move to Crystal Palace. Things never really worked out for Gareth at Selhurst Park and after just a season he was once again on the move this time to Sheffield United. A much more impressive spell in two seasons at United saw him score 24 goals before securing arguably the biggest move of his career when he signed for Manchester City for £400,000 in 1998. Unfortunately once again he struggled and was found himself out on loan at QPR.
Gerry Francis had come in at Loftus Road for a second time and was looking for a more aerial threat in front of goal so looked to Taylor on a short-term basis. In six appearances for the R’s Taylor scored one goal in a televised defeat at Charlton but didn’t impress enough to earn a further loan or secure a permanent transfer. It was at his next loan stint where he would impress more and go on to sign for Burnley on a permanent basis in what is to date the best time of his career. He became a fan favourite in his time at Turf Moor before going on to appear for Nottingham Forest, Crewe and Tranmere. Taylor signed for Donny in January 2008 to see them over the line in a League One promotion push but left 18 months later after 32 appearances, one goal against Huddersfield and a promotion. He is now playing in the Conference for Wrexham after a spell with Carlisle United. - AR.
Links >>> QPR 2 Doncaster 1 Match Report >>> Doncaster 2 QPR 0 Match Report >>> Connections and Memories
Team News: QPR had Martin Rowlands back on the bench at Leicester last weekend, although he is unlikely to be any more than a sub again this week as he continues his comeback from a cruciate knee ligament injury. Lee Cook, the other long term absentee, is still several weeks away from his return. Tommy Smith awaits a full debut from the start after three sub appearances in three games. Bradley Orr and Alejandro Faurlin are out with knocks picked up in the last three games so Kyle Walker will make a home debut and Akos Buzsaky gets another start. Rob Hulse is yet to recover from an Achilles injury for his debut. Clint Hill will play with pain killing injections in his ankle.
James Chambers and Wayne Thomas remain long term absentees for Rovers with nasty knee injuries. But Sean O’Driscoll is set to welcome back James Hayter (hamstring tear), Byron Webster (foot) and Steve Brooker (virus).
Elsewhere: The Championship gets underway on Friday evening when Leicester face a second trip to Portsmouth in four days for the live Sky match. The Foxes won 2-1 there in the League Cup on Tuesday. The first game on Saturday is a noon kick off between Cardiff and Millwall – bring a tin hat. The pick of the 3pm kick offs apart from our own game is probably the Yorkshire derby between Leeds and Sheffield United with Gary Speed returning to Elland Road for the first time as a manager. Bristol City at Burnley also looks like a half decent game.
Referee: Wiltshire official Roger East takes charge of this game – his first ever Doncaster appointment. East was the linesman at QPR’s play off final defeat against Cardiff in 2003 and has since refereed us twice with little incident. He did however upset Neil Warnock during his time at Crystal Palace after a penalty incident in a game with Leicester. Click here for more information.
QPR: Rangers’ amazing start to the season is currently matching two other campaigns in the club’s history. In 1987/88 Jim Smith’s side topped the First Division at this stage after winning six and drawing one of the first seven games – by coincidence the draw in that run also came against Derby. The R’s scored 12 in that run, compared to 19 this year, and conceded just two as they have done this season. The defeat came in the eighth league game of the year at Oxford 2-0. The R’s went onto finish fifth in the league that season, behind Liverpool, Man Utd, Forest and Everton. In 1947 we won six and drew one of the first seven again, scoring 18 and conceding three. That run continued beyond the eighth game though – Rangers beat Notts County 4-1 at Loftus Road at this stage and went on to chalk up a further four wins and a draw before finally losing at home to Swindon in the 13th game of the season. At two points for a win QPR finished top of the Third Division South with seven defeats and 61 points. So far at Loftus Road this season it’s played three league games, won three league games, scored nine and conceded none.
Doncaster: Rovers have won three times this season and on all three occasions they have scored within the first 15 minutes – 14 against Norwich, two against Hull, and 12 away at Preston on the opening day of the season. They have had seven different goal scorers in the league this season – the joint highest in the league along with QPR. It has been a really mixed bag for Doncaster away from home this season with a 2-0 win at Preston, 4-0 defeat at Cardiff and 2-2 draw with Watford to show for their efforts. Last season they won six of their away games but after losing at QPR in February they went on to lose only one of their last seven on the road. The last time they won here Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister.
Prediction: I don’t think we can possibly keep winning – firstly because nobody ever does and secondly because we’re starting to struggle a little with injuries. I expect a win, a draw and a defeat from the three games this week and I think this is more than likely to be the win. Simply because the way Doncaster always play it out from the goalkeeper may well suit the way Ephraim, Mackie and Helguson work out of possession. We will have to be right on our guard against Sharp attacking low crosses at the near post if we are to maintain the run of clean sheets and victories.
QPR 2-1, 15/2 with Sky Bet