McClaren's superior prep leaves Redknapp facing questions — report Tuesday, 11th Feb 2014 23:04 by Clive Whittingham QPR found themselves well beaten by another of the Championship’s top six at Derby County on Monday having once again started slowly and required a raft of changes to the team at half time. It was billed as Steve McClaren v Harry Redknapp. Two men of questionable hairlines responsible for the considerable rebuilding job that went on at Queens Park Rangers during the summer, now in opposite dugouts with Redknapp leading QPR alone while McClaren brings Derby County charging up behind them in the league. Rangers kept eight consecutive clean sheets in the league and went unbeaten for the first 11 matches of the season when McClaren was doing the coaching — Redknapp sidelined by a summer knee operation — and the R's haven't been able to put a run like that together since he up and left for Pride Park. Derby promptly went on their own eight match winning run when the former England manager arrived and have ripped through the Championship, travelling from fourteenth to fourth, since they sacked Nigel Clough at the end of September.
The Wally with the Brolly, famed more for his faux Dutch accent more than his football achievements, is no more, it seems. McClaren is coming of age in Derbyshire and there are plenty who will say he had rather more to do with QPR's fine start to the season than the London club would care to admit themselves. Monday night, live on Sky, Redknapp had a chance to reassert his authority, reclaim the credit for this remarkable turnaround in Rangers' fortunes after a nightmare 2012/13. Sadly for the not-so-Super Hoops, a 1-0 defeat that was much more comfortable for the hosts than the scoreline suggests merely raises more questions about the importance of McClaren to Rangers' prospects this season, and just how damaging his departure may prove to be in the long run. McClaren is a modern-day technical coach, working on shapes and formations, studying tapes and Pro Zone charts. His meticulous preparation for games knocks Mark Hughes' oft-mentioned version into a cocked hat. Redknapp is old school, openly admitting to picking players on their form and confidence rather than with a particular formation or the forthcoming opponent in mind. The problem with the latter approach, and this was seen regularly during Redknapp's time at Tottenham, is that it's frequently giving the impression that QPR are totally stunned by what their opponents are bringing to the table. Derby started quickly on Monday night, with a high-tempo, overly physical approach that repressed QPR and smothered them. With a tight, three man midfield led by the exceptional Will Hughes the Rams ran rings around an ageing QPR side that lined up in a staid 4-4-2 shape and offered few answers to the questions the hosts posed. Jamie Ward gave debutant right back Aaron Hughes a torrid time for half an hour but had to go off injured — but there was to be no respite as Johnny Russell came on before half time and picked up where Ward had left off. QPR looked like they'd never seen Ward or Russell before in their lives, even on a video. Those crying out for Rangers to line up in the more traditional shape earlier in the season were given a graphic demonstration of just how unsuitable it can be in the modern game — Rangers were outnumbered and outplayed in all areas of the pitch, stuck in straight lines as Derby’s superior set up pulled them apart. And, as it turns out, having two strikers up front doesn’t automatically make you a more attacking side. There was a stench of injustice around the goal that decided the game. Clint Hill would have been given a free kick for heavy contact by Chris Martin in the penalty area nine times out of ten but when referee Michael Naylor awarded a corner instead John Eustace climbed highest and sent a looping header into the far corner of the net, past Gary O'Neil who also seemed to be impeded on the goal line by Martin who spent his whole evening bullying QPR’s vastly experienced back four. Naylor was having none of the protests and the goal stood — his actions will take the heat off goalkeeper Robert Green who flapped at the inswinging set piece in amateurish fashion.
So QPR could point to individual errors and questionable refereeing decisions if they wanted to — write it off as a bad job and get on the M1 back to the smoke. And it seemed for some time as if that's exactly what they were going to do. Benoit Assoiu-Ekotto was rightly booked for leaving a boot in on Bamford — cynical, nasty, born of frustration. Joey Barton was kicked from pillar to post, and at one stage wrestled to the ground by the ever-physical Martin - who was described at a recent Derby fans’ forum as a “fat Berbatov” and led the line superbly for his team — as a corner was delivered. Each time referee Naylor showed no interest, and each time Barton's temperature rose a notch or two further. It's hard to sympathise with Joey Barton given his persistently irritating and lousy behaviour throughout his career but he was harshly treated by the officials here — things he would have been whistled and carded for immediately didn't even bring the award of a free kick from Naylor while Niko Kranjcar was yellow carded immediately after half time for a foul he didn't even seem to commit. Steve McClaren and his side knew exactly what they were doing. Injustice doesn't inspire Joey Barton, it enrages him to the point where he can no longer function as reasonable human being never mind a professional footballer, and the Rams did a number on him here. The three red cards in his chequered QPR career have all come as a result of his temper snapping in the face of unfairness and on Monday, rather than grasp the game by the throat and drive Rangers on as he did so superbly against Burnley the previous week, he became mired in his own vendettas and grievances, running around and kicking the Derby players back as if to make a point to the referee who, predictably, showed him his tenth yellow card of the season midway through the second half. Just before that he’d cut in and shot from ludicrous range — head clearly not where it should be.
But, in truth, Derby should have been much further in front by half time irrespective of the officiating or anything else. Green had already made a fantastic one-handed save to keep the ball out when it flew towards the roof of the net off Jake Buxton's sizeable backside after a twelfth minute goal mouth scramble. Before that young Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford had run through on goal with the game barely a minute old but he dallied too long and Hughes got back with a tackle to redeem himself for playing the baby-faced winger onside in the first place. Ward shot straight at Green and Buxton was close to converting a Hughes corner that whistled right through the goal mouth. By contrast QPR's efforts on goal were few and far between. Kevin Doyle, so impressive on his debut against Burnley last week, was isolated and anonymous here. Andy Johnson was a game runner alongside him, but had only a seventh minute effort straight at Lee Grant and a half chance deflected wide on the half hour to show for his efforts, and in the second half he was replaced by Mobido Maiga who contributed so little he probably should have been charged for admission. Aaron Hughes headed a fine Gary O'Neil cross towards goal two minutes before the break but Lee Grant, who specialises in excellent performances against QPR, was more than equal to that. And so once again emergency surgery had to be performed on the QPR team at half time. Two substitutions this time — Gary O'Neil and Andy Johnson off, Junior Hoilett and Maiga on. This is becoming a weekly occurrence. QPR sling a team out there, have a poor first half, and then have to make a load of corrections at half time. They frequently look completely surprised and bemused by the opponents they're facing. Gary O'Neil is a regular fall guy — removed at half time on three of his last five starts and after 54 minutes in the game before that and subbed early again here. What's that old line about the definition of insanity being repetition of the same action while expecting different results?
Redknapp's approach actually smacks rather of arrogance. Sling eleven players out believing they're good enough to win the game regardless only to be caught out and have to make sweeping changes mid match. Whoever is scouting future opponents for Rangers at the moment either isn't doing a very good job, or isn't being listened to. Derby did nothing here that they haven't been doing for weeks under McClaren, and it looked like a fucking revelation to the QPR players. Similarly, the idea that Little Tom Carroll playing in the middle of a four man midfield — which has never worked before — with only Niko Kranjcar and O'Neil offering support on the wings — not exactly a pair of flying flankers — was ill-advised also seemed to come as a surprise. They offered nothing going forward and left Assou-Ekotto exposed against the tidy Bamford and Hughes struggling with Ward and Russell on the other side. Even punchbag Barton, on a one man sending off mission during the second half, was more effective than the other three. QPR were better for the changes — Hoilett was poor once again but did at least offer the notion of a threat from the wing that had been entirely absent in the first act — but Derby were still thoroughly good value for the win. Buxton headed a free kick wide five minutes after the break, Hughes sent a left footed cross right through the penalty area with nobody able to apply a touch, Green's nervous half-attempt at dealing with a through ball created a panic in which Barton was booked and Keogh headed the resulting free kick wide when he perhaps should have scored. Only when Barton's 40 yard free kick rebounded back to him off the wall to allow him the chance to produce a much more sensible chipped cross did Rangers threaten — Maiga headed wide via a deflection and then Kranjcar flicked the resulting corner a foot over the bar. Hoilett shot into the side netting late on, and Redknapp sent on Jermaine Jenas for Carroll for reasons known only to himself — to no positive effect on the team whatsoever. Naylor booked Dunne for a fine tackle, and Grant for timewasting, although that seemed a belt and braces approach from the goalkeeper who probably wouldn't have conceded a goal if the game was still taking place now. All the better players on the day wore Derby colours: Bamford offered more threat in wide positions than anything QPR had at their disposal with Matt Phillips out injured; Chris Martin made the most of leniency from the referee to produce a bustling, ruthlessly effective lone striker performance; Ward and then Russell were excellent down the left side; Hughes was a joy to watch in the middle. QPR by contrast looked as cumbersome as you would expect of a team where, Carroll apart, everybody was aged 29 or older. They started slowly, were quickly penned into their own half by Derby's approach, and struggled to rectify either the pace in their game or their position in the field for the rest of the match. In a league of 46 games, when you sit third in the table two thirds of the way through, a 1-0 defeat at Derby on a Monday night in February means little — and there's been the usual over reaction across the internet in the wake of it. But QPR have won only once against a top six side this season — the 2-1 win against the Rams at Loftus Road in October — and Derby have improved immeasurably since then and looked a better side than QPR on this evidence. It's now one win, two draws and four defeats against the present top six for Rangers, which doesn't bode awfully well with Leicester's seemingly unstoppable charge to the title leaving only one promotion place free for the rest with the dreaded play offs awaiting otherwise. QPR still have Forest, Leicester and Reading to play this term. It might be a start if they could at least give the impression they've ever watched them play before when those fixtures come around. Links >>> Photo Gallery >>> Interactive Player Ratings >>> Have Your Say >>> Message Board Match Thread Derby: Grant 6; Wisdom 7, Buxton 7, Keogh 6, Forsyth 6; Eustace 7, Bryson 7, Hughes 8 (Hendrick 68, 6); Ward 7 (Russell 42, 7), Bamford 7 (Sammon 81, -), Martin 8 Subs not used: Bennett, Legzdins, Whitbread, Thorne Goals: Eustace 19 (assisted Hughes) Booked: Forsyth 59 (foul), Grant 87 (time wasting) QPR: Green 5; Hughes 6, Dunne 6, Hill 6, Assou-Ekotto 6; O'Neil 5 (Hoilett 45, 5), Barton 6, Carroll 5 (Jenas 79, 5), Kranjcar 5; Johnson 5 (Maiga 45, 4), Doyle 5 Subs not used: Traore, Onuoha, Henry, Murphy Booked: Assou Ekotto 22 (foul), Kranjcar 50 (foul), Barton 64 (repetitive fouling), Dunne 76 (foul) QPR Star Man — N/A Referee — Michael Naylor ( South Yorkshire ) 4 Inconsistent and unfair. Allowed Derby to get away with a very physical approach, and while that's fine to an extent, some of the things that went on were clearly fouls — and I think the goal would have been disallowed by almost every other referee in the league. Attendance — 23,495 (500 QPR approx) Tweet @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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