Goals from Bradley Orr and Heidar Helguson gave QPR an embarrassingly comfortable 2-0 victory against Scunthorpe United at Loftus Road on Saturday.
This latest victory, QPR’s third in a row, made it the best start to a league season since 1947 and rarely in all those years have the R’s won a league game so easily.
Helguson scored one fine goal, missed two other sitters and was denied once by Scunthorpe keeper Joe Murphy. Murphy also denied Gorkss a headed goal from a corner after Bradley Orr had scored in similar fashion, made a fine save from Akos Buzsaky in the second half and Adel Taarabt should have had a penalty just before half time.
Scunthorpe are a club punching above their weight and working to a tight budget. They lost four good Championship players in the summer and have not exactly pushed the boat out in replacing Gary Hooper, Paul Hayes, Grant McCann or Marcus Williams. They take punts on lower league players and hope to uncover rough diamonds that they can polish up and sell on for a profit. In the past they have been successful, this season on this evidence they’ll do well not to finish rock bottom. Had this finished four, five or even six nil Scunthorpe could have had few complaints. It was as one sided a game as you’ll ever see between two teams from the same league. Their latest gambles gambles from the lower divisions and other people’s reserve teams looked hopelessly out of their depth here.
QPR have no strength in depth. Take three or four players out of this starting eleven and the R’s are a shadow of the team that has immediately set the pace at the top of the table – as we saw against Port Vale in the League Cup. But at the moment the side, while yet to be tested at all by any of our three league opponents so far, has a nice balance and style about it – combining creativity and attractive play from Faurlin and Taarabt with the hard work and industry of Helguson, Mackie and Ephraim, backed up by some tough, no nonsense characters at the back. Not only have Ranger won all three league games so far, they haven’t even conceded a goal.
Neil Warnock was forced into a change prior to the kick off. As per usual Fitz Hall lasted two and a half games before picking up his monthly hamstring injury at Sheffield United so a change was necessary at centre half. Peter Ramage came on for Hall at Bramall Lane, but Matt Connolly got the nod on Saturday alongside Gorkss and between Hill and Orr. Paddy Kenny kept goal and Shaun Derry shielded the back four, charged with breaking up the Scunthorpe play and feeding Alejandro Faurlin in the same way Ian Holloway used to do Ray Wilkins’ leg work all those years ago. Further forward Helguson led the line with Mackie, Ephraim and Taarabt behind him.
In mitigation Scunthorpe were without three first team regulars, including both first choice centre halves. Garry Thompson, who scored a late winner at Loftus Road for the Iron last season, missed out with a groin injury and David Mirfin also sat out with a leg knock. That was bad enough for miracle working boss Nigel Adkins but when Mirfin’s regular partner at the back Rob Jones, a scorer in their day one win at Reading, chundered on the bus to the stadium and was therefore ruled out as well he probably sensed it wasn’t going to be Scunthorpe’s day. Jones’ late replacement Niall Canavan played Helguson onside for the second QPR goal.
There were two noteworthy items as the teams emerged from the tunnel. Firstly the sheer volume of empty seats inside Loftus Road despite the fine start to the season was very disappointing. Secondly Adel Taarabt was leading Rangers out as the captain in Fitz Hall’s absence – the strangest captaincy appointment since they put that bloke with a taste for vodka in charge of the Exxon Valdez. Still, in Warnock we trust.
Taarabt seemed to revel in the extra responsibility – playing with the usual skill and ability that we have come to expect, but also discipline and awareness that have not always been apparent. He teased Scunthorpe for the first time in the fourth minute before setting up Ali Faurlin who dragged his shot wide. Ticket prices at Loftus Road are expensive, but watching a QPR team with those two players in it is worth every penny at the moment. There can be few better players at this level.
It took QPR about eight minutes to register a serious effort on goal. Heidar Helguson was fouled 30 yards away from goal by Canavan as they competed for a high ball and that set up an inviting free kick. Taarabt, right footed, and Faurlin, lining up with his left, stood over the ball to give Murphy a couple of options to worry about. In the end it was Taarabt who struck it, beating the wall easily, but Murphy flung himself to his left and saved down in the bottom corner. It was a good looking save, but the original positioning of the wall left a lot to be desired, with that corner of the goal clearly unguarded. The resulting corner caused panic in the Scunthorpe area but was ultimately scrambled away.
QPR were able to pepper the Scunthorpe goal with set pieces again in the twentieth minute. First a fairly generous decision by referee Graham Sailsbury, awarding a free kick for a meagre foul on Taarabt, allowed the Moroccan to cross for Kaspars Gorkss to head powerfully toward goal and somehow Murphy denied him with a save. The pressure remained on Scunthorpe though – the Iron failed to clear their lines and really impressive hard work from Helguson won another Rangers corner. This time Taarabt swung it over, Bradley Orr came across his marker from the back post and flicked a header into the corner of the net via a deflection for his first goal in QPR colours. It’s great to see QPR finally taking threatening corners after years of dross in that department, and Helguson deserves massive credit for chasing a lost cause and winning the set piece in the first place.
Scunthorpe forced a corner on 25 minutes after a good block by Clint Hill and although the ball did drop in the area, a brief scramble ended in a swift counter attack by QPR during which Taarabt produced a wonderful piece of skill to out fox three Scunthorpe players with one move on the edge of the School End penalty area. Sadly the overall move came to nothing.
Scunthorpe’s only real clear cut chance of the half came ten minutes before the break. Faurlin, for once, dwelt on the ball in midfield and lost out allowing Dagnall to release the speedy Jonathan Forte in behind an unprepared QPR defence with the linesman’s flag remaining down. Forte approached the penalty area with no confidence at all though and ultimately his spooned finish, which looked like he was trying to put his foot under the ball and execute a lob over Kenny, sailed harmlessly off into the Loft.
Rangers doubled their lead five minutes before half time. Adel Taarabt collected the ball on halfway, looked up and lofted the perfect ball in behind Niall Canavan who had dropped deeper than the other Scunthorpe defenders and consequently played Heidar Helguson onside. The Icelandic forward took one touch to control the ball and draw Murphy out from his line, then dinked a lovely finish over the keeper and into the unguarded net. Helguson would go on to miss two gilt edge chances in the game, this was by far the hardest of them all and there lies the enigma of a striker who, whatever anybody says, is playing very well at the moment and brings a lot to our team.
QPR could, and probably should, have doubled the lead from two to four in the final three minutes of the half. First Adel Taarabt skipped into the penalty area, turned inside his man and then hit the deck under heavy contact from Raynes. It looked an absolutely nailed on penalty and indeed referee Graham Salisbury first of all appeared to point straight to the spot. Something very strange then happened. Salisbury seemed to change his mind, called Taarabt over and booked him for diving instead.
This is the same referee who carded Wayne Routledge at Glanford Park last season for simulation when he was clearly fouled in the area and earlier in the half Taarabt had been very fortunate to escape a booking when he clearly did dive in the area looking for a penalty. On that occasion the referee played on and settled for a quiet word with Taarabt when the ball went out of play. One theory put forward in F Block was that on this occasion the referee had realised it was Taarabt after blowing his whistle, and having warned him earlier for diving in the area decided to book him rather than award the spot kick. Either way I hope Taarabt isn’t going to gain a reputation with referees for going down too easily – as far as I’m concerned he doesn’t, he just gets fouled a lot because he’s too quick and skilful for the clogging centre halves he’s playing against at this level.
Before the whistle there was still time for Hogan Ephraim to clip a lovely cross in the from the right and Helguson to ghost between two men at the front post and power a header goalwards that Joe Murphy did well to keep out, pushing the ball over with one strong hand above his head. Helguson couldn’t have done much else with that chance, either side of the keeper and it was in.
Last week at Sheffield United QPR had the game won by half time, going in three nil up. To all intents and purposes that was the situation again on Saturday with Scunthorpe not looking capable of coming from two goals down and Rangers certainly looking likely to score a few more. At Bramall Lane Rangers calmly kept the ball, killed the game and cruised to victory in the second half after really battering the Blades in the first half, and to some extent they did the same here. The second half was played almost at the pace of a pre-season friendly, punctuated by some bizarre refereeing decisions and only really catching the eye when QPR decided to inject some pace and purpose into their play - they looked like scoring every time they did so.
Referee Graham Salisbury set his stall out for the second period nice and early. A minute in Jonathan Forte clearly handled a ball played up to him midway inside the QPR half. Despite Forte, a six foot tall man in a Scunthorpe shirt, clearly bringing the ball down with a black arm while being marked by Gorkss, a six foot four inch tall white Latvian in Hoops, the referee penalised QPR and awarded Scunthorpe a free kick. A neatly worked move from the free kick saw O’Connor spin and smack the lay off goalwards past the QPR wall but Kenny got down smartly and turned the ball around the post.
In QPR’s first attack of the half after 50 minutes Taarabt was the victim of a crude challenge from Sam Togwell tight to the South Africa Road touchline that really should have drawn a booking. Assistant manager Mick Jones spoke last week of his fears for Taarabt as limited Championship players aim to stop him by kicking him, as happened at Sheff Utd in the second game of the season, and Togwell was certainly lucky to avoid a card for his challenge. Taarabt dusted himself down and took the free kick himself, hanging it high to the back post where Gorkss attempted to head it back across goal but ended up beating Murphy all ends up and sending the ball agonisingly onto the top of the cross bar and out with Helguson ready to pounce if it had dropped back into play.
The referee’s bad start to the half continued before the hour when a ball in behind the Scunthorpe defence saw Raynes and Murphy racing towards each other with Helguson waiting for the inevitable disaster. Murphy launched into a kamikaze dive that took out his own player and left the ball at the feet of the QPR man who was then, farcically, penalised for a foul. The incident was entirely of Murphy’s making and the only contact he suffered was from his own man. Helguson, and the Loftus Road faithful, were utterly bemused by this ridiculous decision.
Ten minutes later Helguson was again penalised, this time for a non-existent foul on Canavan. Neil Warnock was apoplectic on the touchline by this stage and Helguson voiced his dismay which the referee responded to by running away down the field, turning around and doing a huge exaggerated shrug at the QPR man with a big smile on his face. It was certainly reassuring to know that he found his own incompetence a laughing matter.
There was a nervous moment for goalkeeper Paddy Kenny just after the hour. A hopeful long range shot from O’Connor, taken on more through lack of other options than any belief he would actually score, skipped up in front of the keeper and he fumbled it off his left arm and shoulder and fractionally wide of the post when it could so easily have gone straight into the net.
There was a touch of Tony Roberts at Ipswich back in 1993 about the whole incident and not for the first time this season Kenny was fortunate not to be punished for a poor piece of keeping. Still, he did nothing else wrong on the day and redeemed himself with a fine save from Forte who, in Scunthorpe’s next attack, made the most of Kaspars Gorkss diving full length to head a ball and missing it completely to run through one on one with Kenny and shoot across the face of goal – Kenny made a fine save, and then gathered the rebound at the feet of an onrushing crowd of players.
Helguson’s mixed afternoon in front of goal continued with two dire misses within four minutes around the 70 minute mark. First Hogan Ephraim, again showing a new found end product in his game, dinked a delightful cross to the back post where Helguson had intelligently peeled away from his marker to take up the ideal position – he could only direct a diving header well wide of the goal from six yards out though.
Then Taarabt, who seemed to tire and flit in and out of the game more in the second half, dinked a perfect ball in behind Nolan for Ephraim to run on to and when he cut the perfect ball back from the byline only Helguson will know how he managed to screw his shot over an open goal from six yards out.
Now I’m a little bit biased when it comes to Helguson. I thought he was an ideal signing when we got him, and I’ve always stuck up for him on LFW when people have been giving him grief for his injuries and unfortunate ability to miss absolute sitters on a weekly basis. I think we have to make allowances for both those big negatives, for the huge amount of positives he brings to our team when selected. He’s terrific in the air for his size, he works like a dog every minute he’s on the pitch, he will score one game in three despite the misses and the form of people like Jamie Mackie, Adel Taarabt and Hogan Ephraim has, in my opinion, much to do with playing behind a man who leads the line so well. Yes the two second half misses were bad, but watch them again and note the movement he puts in to get into those unmarked positions in the first place. Scunthorpe had two centre backs to mark just him on Saturday and he was consistently able to lose them and find space. He’s a very good player at this level when fit, and is playing well for us at the moment.
That through ball turned out to be Taarabt’ last action of the game, he was taken off to be replaced by Akos Buzsaky on his return from injury. Helguson was also replaced late on by Antonio German and Shaun Derry, who I thought had a terrific game at the heart of the midfield, went off for Mikele Leigertwood. Scunthorpe were forced to replace left back Jim McNulty with Cliff Byrne due to injury.
Buzsaky’s first action was to seize on a typical piece of hard work by Mackie to keep the ball alive in the area, and launch a fine shot across Murphy’s goal that the keeper did very well to fingertip wide.
Two minutes from time we very nearly got the moment of the match, and one of the QPR goals of all time, from Alejandro Faurlin. A long kick down field from Kenny should have been allowed to bounce through to Murphy by Raynes but instead he executed a poor defensive header that arrived at the feet of Faurlin 35 yards out from goal. He controlled it before it hit the ground on his left foot, then lobbed it over a would be tackler with his second touch. Faurlin then caught it on the other side of his man on his right thigh, flicked it up again with his left foot to set up a sizzling half volley that flew about a foot over Murphy’s bar with all inside Loftus Road absolutely aghast at what they’d just witnessed. Genuine class.
Five minutes of injury time passed with little to note other than perplexed looks from the fans as to why that much time was added on and Rangers were left to celebrate a comfortable victory that took them clear at the top of the fledgling league table.
Notes of caution first of all. We’ve played nothing yet - Barnsley were poor on day one, Sheffield United abysmal last week and Scunthorpe completely out of their depth on Saturday. We’ve also been a little lucky – against Scunthorpe we could have scored five or six but against Barnsley we survived three woodwork strikes and a penalty appeal, and Sheff Utd could have had two spot kicks of their own last week while we have had three in three matches so far. We lack strength in depth – Helguson is playing well but is 33 today and injury prone, we only have Leon Clarke and, heaven forbid, Patrick Agyemang as back up to him. When we took Taarabt, Helguson and Gorkss out of the team and introduced people like Clarke and Leigertwood we lost to Port Vale. So it’s feet firmly on the ground and work still to be done.
But let’s, in a rare departure from LFW protocol, focus on the positives. We have a right back at right back, a right back who can pass and cross and defend and attack. We haven’t had that for more than ten years. At centre half Gorkss, second half mistake notwithstanding, is playing well and Connolly slotted in for Hall beautifully showing composure and an excellent read of the game. We have a Wilkins and Holloway combination for the modern era in Derry and Faurlin – one winning possession, protecting the defence and fetching and carrying for the other whose passing game, awareness and ability allows him to guide the team around the park effortlessly. We then have three forward players in Mackie, Helguson and Ephraim who are marrying up unfeasible amounts of hard work and graft with plenty of end product which keeps defences occupied and gives the division’s outstanding talent the time and space he needs to pick teams apart.
Scratch below the surface and there is literally nothing there, an injury to Taarabt or Helguson would kill us overnight, but when our starting eleven is on the pitch I’ve seen nothing better in this league so far this season than us. Onwards to Derby, who played at Coventry on Saturday with four defenders and six midfielders, and Pride Park where QPR have never lost. Could it possibly be four from four?
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QPR: Kenny 6, Orr 7, Gorkss 7, Connolly 7, Hill 7, Faurlin 8, Derry 8 (Leigertwood 87, -), Mackie 7, Taarabt 8 (Buzsaky 73, 6), Ephraim 8, Helguson 8 (German 90, -)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Clarke, Ramage, Parker
Booked: Taarabt (diving)
Goals: Orr 17 (assisted Taarabt), Helguson 41 (assisted Taarabt)
Scunthorpe: Murphy 9, Nolan 6, Raynes 5, Canavan 4, McNulty 6 (Byrne 82, -) Togwell 5, Woolford 6 (Grant 76, 5), Wright 6, O'Connor 6, Forte 5,Dagnall 4
Subs Not Used: Slocombe, Andrew Wright, Collins, McClenahan
QPR Star Man – Shaun Derry 8 When the call went up in F Block, as it usually does towards the end of the game, for a man of the match I thought I’d be on my own when I said Shaun Derry. I wasn’t. There were several candidates for this on Saturday with Orr’s classy play from right full back, Faurlin’s persistently excellent passing game, everything about Adel Taarabt in the first half, Hogan Ephraim’s new found end product, Jamie Mackie’s work rate and Heidar Helguon’s forward play all giving them a shout of the honour. But for me Derry had his best game in a hooped shirt so far, rarely giving the ball away, feeding Faurlin possession in good areas, breaking the play up to our advantage and just constantly winning the ball, giving it simply, and getting us on our way again.
Referee: Graham Salisbury (Lancashire) 4 “Hopefully better than last season” I wrote before the match about Mr Salisbury, who took on this fixture for the second August running. In the end he was just as bad as he had been at Glanford Park a year ago. The Taarabt booking should have been a penalty, and the bizarre way he seemed to point at the spot and then change his mind confused the whole ground. When Taarabt did actually dive in the area he let him off. The Murphy free kick when he ran into his own player was incompetent, as was the Forte handball that brought Scunthorpe a free kick. The big, exaggerated shrug of the shoulders in the second half said it all really – he had no idea what he was doing.
Attendance: 12,046 (400 Scunthorpe approx) A source of some conjecture on the message board with many expressing disappointment that our fine start to the season didn’t spark a bigger gate for this game. We live in tough times, people are watching what they spend much more and football continues to live in a fantasy land with ticket prices still high and rising. Only the railways are cruel enough to continue raising prices when unemployment is rising, wages are falling and the country is in recession in the same way football clubs do – and the people need to use the railways, they don’t need to come to football.
At £20-£30 for a ticket at Loftus Road and £500-£600 for a season ticket people are going to pick and choose, and when you’re picking and choosing Scunthorpe at home isn’t a game you’d pick. For those who are looking to do maybe nine or ten home games this season they probably did Barnsley as it was the first game of the season, and they will do Middlesbrough in three weeks time, and miss this one and Port Vale. Add in August being a big family holiday month and Scunthorpe barely bringing a man and his dog and the low crowd was inevitable. Those that did come created a decent, supportive atmosphere for the second home game running – 12 months ago Helguson would have been ripped apart for his misses, this season he gets applauded for trying which is how it should be.
The one irritant for me is the glory hunting element of the absentees. Some people have genuine reasons for not coming, and in fairness you don’t need a reason at all, but you just know that if we win at Derby next week three or four thousand people will suddenly find that the reasons keeping them away from Loftus Road on Saturday weren’t that important after all and will all suddenly turn up. Just as we took 180 people to Burnley for a league game the other year, when just six weeks earlier we’d drawn Blackburn away in the FA Cup and 6,000 people had turned up. Just as at Palace last season I had a spare ticket that I literally couldn’t give away, and yet when we played at Chelsea in the cup I had people I hadn’t heard from in months ringing me and asking if I could get them guest tickets on my loyalty points – for several it would have been their first game of the season. QPR is for life, not just when we’ve won a few games.