Antti Heinola provides his usual talking points from Loftus Road on Saturday where QPR continued to find goals hard to come by against Burnley.
This was the mantra from Oldfield and Jimmy ever since they joined and was obviously they keystone of their success at Burton. Hard work. Hard work. Hard work. And more hard work. Not just for yourself, but for the team and for the squad and for the club.
The effect was undoubtedly immediate. What we saw, particularly in the first half, was an extremely hungry team clearly out to impress the new boss. And for 45-minutes, we did to Burnley what Burnley usually do to other teams. We out-Burnleyed Burnley. In the maelstrom of bad-rashing, as Olly once called it, even George Boyd, who runs an extra few kilometres to the rest of his team-mates each game, didn't stand out as particularly industrious. It started at the front with Phillips and Fer (!) chasing down defenders and forcing them backwards, and went right back throughout the team. It wasn't a pretty half, but it was still great to watch. And there were good chances crated too. With a striker on the pitch we would probably have had the lead at half time.
Second half was always going to be tougher. Dyche demands respect and hard work as a minimum. I always fancied that getting a goal before half time would be key, because Burnley were unlikely to be overwhelmed like that for the whole 90 minutes. And so it proved. As we tired a little - probably partly through not pacing ourselves well enough as much as it being a pure lack of fitness - Burnley grew more and more into the game. Yet, a couple of brief worries aside, we never looked in great trouble and were still dangerous on the break - the chance of the half fell to us, in fact - it was just unfortunate that the chance fell to Karl Henry - as timid in front of goal as a 12 year old at his first disco.
So, overall, as many have said, 0-0 was a completely fair result. We had the first half, they had the second. But there was plenty there to be optimistic about and it was a big sign of what the new management team will expect from the squad. This was a solid performance against a strong team, and yet another clean sheet.
There must be a good name for these two but I can't think what it is. Chief Hall? Ned Hall? Anyway, the point is, it's starting to look like we may have an extremely settled, strong centre back pairing at last. Hall has been effective all season, of course, but pleasingly he's starting to become more confident and more dominant with each game. Ned, meanwhile, seems to have put his dip in form behind him and is now playing like we know he can. The jibes about his lack of leadership have gone quiet, mainly because he really is leading by example. Neither of them quite have the size of a Distin, say, or Leicester's Morgan, but together they are strong, quick and also calm. Burnley played very well in the second half on Saturday, but these two - and the full backs, who have been steadily improving too - rarely look flustered. Let's hope this pair stay fit, because keeping Vokes and Gray as quiet as they did is worthy of praise.
Both are also becoming more dangerous from our own set pieces. Ned could have had two goals last week, while Hall, not for the first time this season, had a header cleared off the line in the dying seconds. He deserves to be on the score sheet soon.
I didn't expect to be writing this a few weeks ago, and it seems churlish after a clean sheet (probably because it is), but the weak link at the back, at the moment, is the goalkeeper. It's not that he did much wrong on Saturday, because he didn't, but in a game where the defence worked so hard, the few scares we did have were because of Green's failings. His poor kicks in the first half I put down to the wind, only to see Heaton launching balls comfortably over the halfway line after the break. Clearly, the problem is technique and it's obvious even Green has little confidence in his own kicking ability. He takes a touch when there isn't time and doesn't take a touch when there is. He kicks under the ball, so it's always lofted, with too much height and not enough distance, making it easier for the opposition to attack.
While he did come for a lot more crosses on Saturday than I think I've ever seen him come for, we still had moments that should have been calm, but weren't, because he's slow to come off his line. The main one was a fairly aimless ball played by Burnley that Hall challenged for and then Onuoha shepherded back - but his shepherding went on for an age because Green was on his heels. It reminded me of the Reading game where the free kick hit the bar and Green didn't move. Sometimes I just wonder if he loses concentration too easily - and maybe that's why he makes more silly mistakes than he should do for a keeper of his quality. Still, he did make one great, brave save at, I think, Gray's feet. He's a good keeper - but frustrating.
Currently, this is the most pressing concern with our team. We have a newly confident and miserly defence. We have steel and guile in the centre of the park. We have threats on the flanks. But our lack of striker is becoming a real issue and could become exponentially worse if Austin does end up moving in January.
The problem on Saturday, as it was against Leeds to some extent, was that when we were on top, Charlie was on the bench. As a proper striker who clearly lives for goals, it must be really annoying to watch chances come and go, knowing he could be making hay. I think Phillips has been pretty game in his little run up front and he was unlucky not to score just before the break on Saturday, but the fact is he's not scoring and we don't have that presence up front we need. I feel sorry for JET, who did little wrong when he led the line - and he scored goals too. Sadly, by the time he and Austin did get on, our attacking danger had waned as Burnley had fought back into the game.
Charlie should be starting again soon, whether that's against Brighton or Bristol, but we need a better contingency than Phillips, who looks so much happier out wide it's untrue. And if he goes in January who we sign as his replacement is going to be absolutely critical, and not just for this season either.
Following on from a good display at right back the other week and then a solid display at Boro, Henry put in another good shift here in an unfamiliar right wing role. In the first half, he even tricked his way round one player and put in at least two very decent crosses.
But still, when we were on top in the first half, and we could really have done with a more attack-minded player in his position. When we needed it, we didn't quite have that extra knife in the drawer. The most glaring moment came in the second half, actually, when the chance of the game fell to Henry. It was a brilliant run and break from Phillips (showing his threat when running from deep rather than with his back to goal) a perfect lay-off by Charlie and then Henry took too many touches and his shot was a little weak. You can't blame him too much, but that was the sort of chance you're desperate to see fall to Chery, or Phillips himself.
JFH said after the game he'd included Henry at Petrasso's expense for his experience. A kind thing for Petrasso to hear perhaps, but it seemed odd, at best, to make that comment when the rest of the team, barring perhaps Hall, was so vastly experienced. Experience was one thing that first XI had in abundance. It was what it was - a conservative choice - an understandable one, perhaps, but a little too defensive in my opinion.
Much has been written about whether we miss Joey Barton. I don't. He needed to go and he's gone. Good. But does our team? Some said we missed his drive and his engine, but I think we saw on Saturday that he's far from the box-to-box player he once was. His role now is at the base of the midfield, where we already have two or three players who can play there - and Faurlin is clearly superior in terms of passing, while Sandro beats him (until his next injury) in speed and energy.
Overall, this was the kind of Barton performance we saw many times for us. When he kept it simple he was fine, but almost every ambitious ball he played went out of touch, barring one nice cross that Vokes should have done better with. First half I thought he was marginalised and had very little effect on the game at all. He spent most of his time fouling Fer and stopping the game because the ball hit him in the head. Second half he got better as Burnley got better, because our attacks petered out and he became freer to rove forward and put added pressure on our midfield. While Ale had been the dominant midfielder before the break, he ended the game very much on the front foot. But would I have him in our team? No, not now.
Our fans did the right thing with a kind welcome, and then ignored him for the most part of the game. In turn, he behaved himself and was respectful to the crowd. It was a nice touch at the end when Burnley fans acknowledged Austin and we acknowledged Barton - reflective of the great spirit the game was played in that only the pernickety and irritating Atwell did his best to disrupt.
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