QPR go into Monday night’s televised home match with Newcastle ready to give debuts to six high profile new signings, including former Magpie Joey Barton.
Barclays Premier League >>> Monday September 12, 2011 >>> Kick Off 8pm >>> Loftus Road, London, W12 >>> Live on Sky Sports 1
You may not have been able to hear it over the incessant screeching of Jim White, but in the lead up to the transfer deadline the unmistakable sound of the Monday Night Football director orgasming was clearly audible around Sky’s Isleworth studios.
QPR v Newcastle was always a likely choice for Monday Night Football on a weekend when the Premiership fixture list reeks of mediocrity – a captive audience of thousands of Geordies makes it an obvious ratings and therefore advertising winner for the Premiership’s main broadcaster. Whether it was ever likely to be competitive was open to debate but that doesn’t have to matter – Sky are rather adept at turd polishing as they will no doubt prove this Sunday when five hours of action includes West Brom, Norwich, Fulham and, wait for it, Blackburn Rovers.
But now, quite by accident, they’ve ended up with the game of the weekend in the top flight with the added spice of Joey Barton’s debut against his former club.
The transformation at Loftus Road of both the team and the mood has been remarkable in both its scale and speed. There was a sense when QPR’s televised games were released that Sky and ESPN were getting our quota of matches out of the way nice and early so they wouldn’t have to pay us much attention after Christmas when the cricket scores were stacking up. Now, suddenly, not only do we have a team on paper that can compete but we’re also one of the most intriguing stories out there.
Obviously Barton is the focus on Monday. Expect all manner of montages set The Wanted’s All Time Low as Gary Neville pours over video footage of his time at Newcastle followed by some no doubt highly searching and cutting interview questions. It’s a strange quirk that Barton makes his QPR debut against the club he just left under something of a cloud and there isn’t a football fan out there who isn’t interested in how this match will play out. The Premier League has done its bit by appointing its most card happy referee to the occasion – if you can get a price on more than five cards lump on.
Both sets of fans are still unsure what sort of team they have to support this season. Newcastle have started well but have had kind fixtures for one reason or another, QPR haven’t looked great but now have half a new team to integrate. For both there’s a feeling of the season starting afresh on Monday – no bad thing considering the pessimism that suffocated our first game of the season against Bolton, culminating in a 4-0 defeat.
It’s a point I’ve made before but for the record again, our first two months of fixtures are absolutely vital. We have a nightmare end to this season and it will be no good complaining about delayed takeovers and new players needing time to settle when we get to that stage. If we don’t have a competitive points total on the board by the start of April then we’re doomed. Integrating and gelling six new players into a tight knit team is no easy task but Warnock must do so quickly and aim for three wins from the next five games as a bare minimum.
Team News: QPR could have as many as six debutants on Friday night with Luke Young, Armand Traore, Joey Barton, Jason Puncheon, Anton Ferdinand and Shaun Wright Phillips all awaiting their first outings in hoops. Jay Bothroyd and DJ Campbell have recovered fitness and may both be recalled. Fitz Hall limped off early at Wigan and will therefore be a doubt, and Patrick Agyemang wasn’t included in the 25 man Premiership squad despite starting in the last match so he will definitely not feature.
For Newcastle Hatem Ben Arfa is a long term absentee and former Watford defender Mike Williamson has a broken arm. Mehdi Abeid has a knee injury and will also not feature while Haris Vuckic broke his hand against Fulham so is also doubtful. The big debate on Tyneside seems to be whether new signing Davide Santon will make a debut – he has been away with Italy’s Under 21s since signing and Ryan Taylor has impressed in his position so far this season so Santon may have to make do with a place on the bench. Steve Harper (knee), Danny Guthrie (ankle) and Shola Ameobi (hip) all missed the win against Fulham but could return.
Elsewhere: QPR go last this weekend so we have a full league programme to sit through first before we get to our game – when the “Super Sunday” offering is Norwich v West Brom followed by Fulham v Blackburn you can probably appreciate it’s not the most high profile weekend of the season. Of the Saturday 3pm kick offs Stoke v Liverpool stands out as the game of the day – both clubs have spent big this summer to further their ambitions and will be confident of winning this game which should make for a great contest. Certainly more of a contest than Man City v Wigan and Arsenal v Swansea should turn out to be – even with all the upheaval at the Emirates it’s hard to see them doing anything than win comfortably against the Swans who are yet to score a goal in three games so far this season. Protests are planned by Everton fans at their home game with Villa while the new regime at Chelsea face a tricky trip to Sunderland, but Steve Bruce has problems of his own to worry about.
Referee: As already touched upon we have Phil Dowd in charge on Monday night and that’s only likely to mean one thing – cards. Dowd is handy with his notebook at the best of times but has started the campaign in prolific form and is currently averaging six yellows a match. QPR fans have mixed memories of this referee – he awarded a penalty to the R’s in a 4-2 home win against Crystal Palace in the John Gregory era but controversially disallowed two Martin Rowlands goals at Leicester for reasons that were never explained or justified in a 1-0 defeat when Ian Holloway was in charge. Last season he awarded Newcastle two penalties as they recovered from four down to draw 4-4 at home to Arsenal. His full case file is available here.
QPR: Rangers are sadly developing a rather unhappy knack of suffering bad results at home. Since we hammered Sheff Utd 3-0 at the beginning of April five teams have come to Loftus Road and left with positive results – Derby and Hull got draws and Leeds, Bolton and Rochdale have all won here since. Last season the R’s were only beaten three times on this ground in all competitions including the Leeds game. So far in the league this season Rangers have lost to Bolton and Wigan without scoring and conceding six in the process either side of a 1-0 away win at Everton. They have lost four of their last five games in all competitions. QPR haven’t won a home Premiership game since April 1996 when they vanquished West Ham 3-0 but were relegated anyway because of results elsewhere. QPR had a handy knack of beating Newcastle through the 1980s and 1990s but the Magpies are unbeaten in four meetings and won 1-0 here on their last visit in the final game of the 2009/10 season.
Newcastle: While QPR’s recent form has been poor, Newcastle are unbeaten in six matches including their first four this season in all competitions. That said Arsenal were in crisis when they drew with them on day one, Sunderland have started slowly and Fulham had only just arrived back from the Ukraine when they lost 2-1 at St James’ Park. They needed extra time to beat Scunthorpe in the League Cup. Newcastle have only conceded one goal in three league games so far this season. Last season Newcastle won five away matches – at Everton, West Ham, Arsenal, Wigan and Birmingham. They have already won once on the road this season at Sunderland. There has never been a 0-0 draw between these sides in 42 meetings.
Prediction: Well the storybook ending to this amazing couple of weeks at QPR sees the new signings starring in a sensational QPR victory. Certainly, despite these two sides’ contrasting starts to the season, the momentum should be with Rangers given the respective deadline days. Newcastle may have started the season well but their three opponents were in various states of disarray, QPR’s results have not been great but the team has competed for long periods and has now had a serious injection of quality. I think we’ll start strongly and take the lead, but concede later on and settle for a draw.
QPR half time, draw full time, 16/1 with SkyBet
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