QPR and Brentford meet again on Friday evening, two clubs who’ve rarely met in competitive action for decades but increasingly find themselves fighting the same battles in modern day football.
Mercantile Credit Trophy >>> Friday October 28, 2016 >>> Kick Off 19.45 >>> Weather — Fog, might not be able to see at all, might be a bonus >>> Loftus Road, London, W12
On a weekend where Blackburn v Wolves has been deemed worthy of being placed in front of a national television audience for their consideration I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to see our West London showdown between two sides just five miles apart, and with history, bumped for the cameras.
Still, I’m intrigued to know exactly how much appeal Queens Park Rangers v Brentford actually has outside the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and a bit of Middlesex. QPR, who could only muster 12,500 people who care for their last home game with Bristol City, against Brentford, who can only fit 12,763 people into their ground even if they could find that many who give a toss. Perhaps the rest of the country will enjoy seeing us tear strips off each other in the same bemused, amused way the Americans view the Eurovision Song Contest. Da fuck they doing over there?
This is a fixture big on headline grabbing statistics that actually mean nothing at all when examined. Until this time last year Brentford hadn’t beaten QPR in 50 years, and that’s now been morphed into ‘haven’t won at Loftus Road in 50 years’ following that 1-0 victory at Griffin Park towards the end of Chris Ramsey’s time as manager. Trouble with all this is, these sides hadn’t played each other competitively since 1965 bar a brief flurry of six matches during the Ian Holloway/Second Division years of 2001-2004. You can’t beat a team you never play can you?
The intervening years were mostly spent with QPR playing the role of the bully at the end of the street - occasionally we’d catch Brentford on the way to school and nick their Andy Sinton or Martin Rowlands. At one point we openly suggested they merge with us and just give it up altogether. Sometimes we’d pop over for a pre-season friendly — Griffin Park the scene of former Juventus midfielder Massimo Mauro’s lone outing in a QPR shirt in the mid 1990s — but that was it. QPR the Premier League, and occasionally second tier, team; Brentford in the bottom two divisions since 1994, and often on the verge of some sort of financial collapse or other.
Little wonder serious resentment built up out West — you’re more likely to hear Madonna sing Don’t’ Cry for Me Argentina at Loftus Road than an anti-Brentford song on a non-Brentford matchday but hatred of QPR is a theme of the Ealing Road terrace at most Bees games and Rangers would do well to respect and be wary of that in meetings between the two sides lest we get caught out like Chelsea did in W12 in the recent past.
But in recent times the clubs have come to have more in common than either would probably care to admit and they currently sit just two places apart in the league table, with an identical win 5-4-5 and 19 point record. These are two clubs completely hamstrung by their home stadiums which have limited capacity, zero room for expansion and offer absolutely no income whatsoever other than between 14.00 and 17.00 on a Saturday — or whenever our Sky overlords have deemed it acceptable for us to play our home game this week. Both are based in the west of the city where the land is scarcest and most expensive. Both are staring up at those above them in this division and the 20 upstairs, at clubs with bigger, more modern stadiums which bring in greater ticket revenue and extra-curricular income. Clubs with bigger television income, richer chairmen, more fans, better facilities, sounder infrastructure, more spending space under the FFP regulations and so it goes on.
Increasingly, Brentford and QPR are two clubs of League One standing, stepping up a weight division. Nevertheless, expectations are that they can and should go further still.
That could well become a reality for the Bees when they move to a new stadium at Lionel Road shortly, while Rangers are still casting come-to-bed eyes at Old Oak Common. But in the meantime the two clubs have adopted remarkably similar transfer strategies to try and make their way in a world where Dwight Gayle costs £12m.
That’s never better symbolised than by Brentford’s excellent, and surely Premier League-bound (probably one-day England bound) goalkeeper Daniel Bentley. QPR tried to sign Bentley from Southend a summer ago but the price went too high and they ‘settled’ for Alex Smithies instead, who is a fantastic goalkeeper and has the potential to become one of QPR’s best ever. Bentley, contract running down, subsequently became affordable and it’s typical of the way Matthew Benham has brilliantly run his Brentford club in recent years that they were front of the queue to pick him up when that happened. Likewise, Walsall left back Rico Henry, who was terrific on the half dozen occasions I saw them last season (it’s a lonely existence), and was well worth picking up despite nursing a serious shoulder injury. Likewise, again, Gillingham’s centre back John Egan who’d I’d have loved at Loftus Road. Brentford frequently sign players I’ve seen and thought would do well at Rangers.
But QPR aren’t passing them over in favour of cancerous leaches like Joey Barton and Jose Bosingwa any more. No, Rangers have done just as well with the likes of Massimo Luongo, Grant Hall, Smithies and hopefully the likes of Ariel Borysiuk, Idrissa Sylla and Pawel Wszolek as well. Brentford’s foray into Europe, both with a coach appointment and signings, was less than successful at the start of last season and they look a better bet with Dean Smith and his League One knowledge. Rangers, at first look, seem to have played the foreign card quite well, though obviously only time will tell.
In an odd reversal of stereotype, it’s Brentford that chose to shut down much of its youth academy last season (imagine the Twitter reaction if QPR did the same) while Rangers currently have two juniors playing first team football, including Mide Shodipo who looks like a genuine prospect. When a club as well run as Brentford, so focused on player development and eking every last drop out of every last penny, deems a youth academy an expensive luxury you’ve got to ask what sort of sport you’re running.
The evil, big-club-orientated EPPP plan, forced through by the Premier League under pain of losing what meagre scraps currently fall from the table into the Football League, means that any category A academy (Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Spurs, those twats) could walk onto Brentford’s training ground and take who they liked. Brentford’s reward for finding, rehabilitating, training and developing one-time Barcelona toddler Ian Carlo Poveda was to have Man City waltz in, pick him up for a bag of ready salted peanuts, and whack him in their vast academy set up, chock full of players who never play any first team football — because the first team at Man City, like everywhere else in the Premier League, is entirely assembled through acquisitions, for which they pay way over the odds, because of the television deal. You can forgive Benham for wondering what the point is.
QPR continue to paddle up that stream, and have graduated two players to their first team this season with a third waiting on the bench having impressed against Sunderland in the cup. Sad, really, that all people want to discuss about the youth team is why it loses every week, rather than what it’s up against and how it’s managed to give the first team Shodipo for free while surrounded by sharks who are not only legally allowed, but actively encouraged, to come and nab kids like that and stockpile them just in case they turn out alright.
To the QPR fans who nevertheless look at the youth team losing heavily most weeks and wring their hands about it, the idea that we now find ourselves on a level footing with Brentford is testament to how far and fast the club is regressing. The rich owners are still here, the parachute payments are still there, the Premier League was only 18 months ago, what are we pissing about at? The idea that QPR can spend loads, but are choosing not to, because Les Ferdinand has some grand plan to do things differently, prevails.
It’s not true. I don’t think anybody would like to buy a £12m centre forward more than Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Les Ferdinand right now. The rules of the sport, the restrictions our club operates under, prevents it, and so we’re now forced to do it this way (having completely ignored those rules before) and hope that it stands us in better stead long term. It can hardly stand us in any worse stead than how we were doing things before — spending £200m in transfer fees and wages for Harry Redknapp to get us promoted and immediately relegated, with nothing by way of players or infrastructure to show for the outlay.
QPR CEO Lee Hoos recently stated at a fans forum that before a single player wage is paid by QPR each season the club costs between £8m and £9m to run. It rents two separate training facilities and has to pay London prices for policing, road closures, stewarding, drainage and everything else besides in a corner of increasingly affluent Shepherd’s Bush that isn’t designed, nor suitable, for hosting large sporting events. After the parachute payments, which end in 18 months’ time, QPR’s biggest income is season tickets which currently fetch in between £5m and £6m with attendances declining rapidly. Before a ball is kicked, and a wage is paid, QPR are £3m down as of 2018/19.
Now you could say this makes promotion to the Premier League more urgent and pressing, but the Watford freak show apart nobody ever achieved that by repeatedly sacking the manager and signing loads of players. Les Ferdinand’s latest call for patience this week is a wise one indeed.
Links >>> Mark Lazarus — History >>> Inconsistent Bees — Interview >>> Adcock in charge — Referee >>> Big Friendly Polter — Podcast
aTeam News: QPR have doubts over Grant Hall (fringe) and Jordan Cousins (teeth) and will take a check on both before kick off. Joel Lynch is likely to miss out while Jamie Mackie and Jake Bidwell, against his former club, along with jack Robinson are the long term absentees. Should both Robinson and Lynch be out again, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink must decide once more whether to trust rookie Nico Hamalainen at left back, or shift James Perch across from the right.
Brentford also have the left back disease with summer signing Rico Henry still recovering from the shoulder knack he arrived with and Callum Elder out with gout. Lasse Vibe is back in training after getting the heebie jeebies from a scary Facebook video.
Alan McCormack sits out game two of five for being a big tough man and shouting abuse at a female assistant referee for being female. A shame really, on many levels, but in the context of this game because he was QPR's best player in the fixture between these sides at Loftus Road last year and it would have been nice to have him out there again. Still, worth reminding ourselves at this juncture that Big Racist John only got a four game ban for calling an opponent a "fucking black cunt" so there's consistency for you.
Elsewhere: QPR get to go first in this latest gobful of Championship action, which will start as a dribble from the side of the mouth on Friday night, develop into a full blown snot fest by 15.00 on Saturday and still be oozing puss by Sunday lunch time when Brum meet the Aston Villa Train Wreck in the game of the weekend at St Andrew's.
The Mad Indian Chicken Farmers will be the subject of more fan protests during their meeting with managerless Wolves on Saturday night — great pick by Sky this one, they'll be beating the bloody doors down. The long-suffering locals plan to turn up after 18 minutes and leave after 75 to make their point this week. To be fair to them, once you've thrown a live rooster in a Blackburn kit onto the pitch during the match any other protest is going to pale in comparison.
At the top of the table the pick of the Saturday games sees high flying Brighton and Norwich clash on the South Coast. Borussia Huddersfield have slipped of late but will fancy their chances at Tarquin and Rupert's latest soiree. The Derby Sheep welcome the Sheffield Owls as the Second coming of Ssshteve continues to gather pace and momentum — Derby now up to the dizzying heights of twenty first.
Wigan Warriors sacked manager Gary Caldwell this week despite him winning promotion with them just five months ago. Don't expect any immediate bounce from them though with a visit to the Seventh Annual Neil Warnock Farewell Tour this weekend — he's, typically, started with two wins and a draw from three games.
The Champions of Europe are at home to Burton, Waitrose host beleaguered Nottingham Trees and Ipswich v Rotherham is also a football match taking place this weekend.
Preston v Champions Newcastle will be preceded by two minutes of silence in memory of Simon Grayson's dog, which sadly passed away in 1999.
Barnsley v Bristol City is this weekend's exciting game between two teams beginning with B.
Referee: James Adcock refereed QPR away from home twice last season, and the R's took four points. We should have him stuffed. Not before he's refereed this Friday's big West London derby though. Here's some more details if you can stand it.
QPR: The defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend snapped a run of five games without defeat for QPR, and they're now back to just two wins from the last nine such is the way with football statistics and form guides. A 1-0 win against Bristol City last time out at Loftus Road was only the R's second home win of the season, and the first since the opening day 3-0 victory against Leeds. Rangers have scored one goal or fewer in ten of their last 11 games, have only scored twice in a match on five occasions in all competitions, and haven't scored more than two since that Leeds match. The 16 goals they have scored is the same as third-placed Huddersfield and fifth-placed Sheff Wed mind — although Barnsley directly above us in twelfth have 25 to their name. Having failed to win any of 17 London derbies prior to last season's 3-0 win against Brentford in this fixture, the R's have now won their last three in a row against fellow Capital sides with a 2-1 win against Charlton last term, and the last gasp win at Fulham this. QPR have conceded eight goals from headers this season — at least two more than any other side.
QPR-Bees on Friday — JFH and Smith appointed at their respective clubs a week apart.
JFH W12-D17-L12 (1.29ppg)
Smith W17-D8-L17 (1.40ppg)– Mark O'Haire (@MarkOHaire) October 26, 2016
Most chances created in the Championship this season:
Tjaronn Chery - 40
Tom Cairney - 39
Peter Whittingham - 35#QPR– Jack Supple (@JTSupple) October 21, 2016
Brentford: The Bees climbed into play-off contention with an impressive run of results through September which included a 2-1 win at Brighton, 5-0 hammering of Preston at Griffin Park and a 4-1 home win against Reading. They've slipped slightly since though, with no wins in the last four (two draws, two defeats) and only one goal scored in those games. Away from home Dean Smith's side has only won once this season, at Brighton, drawing two (Villa 1-1, Derby 0-0) and losing four (Huddersfield 2-1, Rotherham 1-0, Wolves 3-1 and Newcastle 3-1) in the other six. They haven't won at Loftus Road in five attempts, though given the lack of competitive games between the sides that dates all the way back to 1964. All 19 of Brentford's goals this season have been scored from inside the area.
Prediction: No word from Prediction League champion Dylan Pressman as yet but, in his absence, it should be noted that 11 of QPR’s last 12 games have been settled by a single goal in either direction (or drawn) and these two teams have absolutely identical won, drawn and lost records this season. That strikes me as a tight fixture, and with neither team wanting to lose a derby, and both struggling to score goals recently, a low-scoring draw seems likely.
LFW’s Prediction: QPR 1-1 Brentford. Scorer — Nedum Onuoha
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