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I have popped on to this board for the last two games against you and, in the main had a good friendly discussion, so here goes.
How are you feeling about your start to the season and you newish manager (he wasn’t in charge last time we played you).
Ainsworth and Sunderland have always had a bit of a love hate relationship, loved how he got results on a shoestring and his kind words about Sunderland, but hated his style of play and the thuggery he used At Wycombe.
For us the transfer window is being judged as a success, leaving us with an even younger team that last year, the average age of the starting eleven is about 22 years and one month. A lot of kids with massive talent and the home grown Chris Rigg only 16 and two goals already.
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Sunderland at home on 21:55 - Sep 11 with 3275 views
D'you know, I should've anticipated that ! It's true though. They have a Ladies now - a little brick outhouse, but maybe only about 20 years ago it was Gents only. I went up for a pint of Adnams and the bloke sitting at the bar said “ Aaah, tourist are yer ? “ Still love Suffolk though.
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Sunderland at home on 08:25 - Sep 12 with 3072 views
I’m feeling great. He’s turned round the most disinterested squad QPR have had in years, and added one of your own, Jack Colback to the mix. No one says the squad don’t give a shit any more.
In regards to thuggery, if we have Dykes and Armstrong up front, your CBs will feel like they’ve been through a cycle in a tumble dryer.
By the way, I think all the Sunderland fans hate him because he turned down a new contract and went to Newcastle instead.
Glad you have dropped in, I enjoy the perspective of respectful fans from outside the Rangers bubble.
Ainsworth inherited a team above the drop zone but with a poor spirit and morale, in terrible form and sliding inexorably towards disaster.
Realising that we were struggling in midfield and terrible defensively, he deliberately prioritised bypassing the midfield - where we were likely to quickly give it back to the opposition - and getting the ball into advanced areas where we might actually score and garner the points needed for survival.
It was ugly stuff but it worked.
This season started with an unmitigated disaster against Watford, after which there were heated words between Ainsworth and the players.
I'm not sure we *know* that the players demanded a different style of play so I don't want to give them all the credit for the change to a much more defensively solid and offensively potent 3-4-3.
I think both the players and the coaches contributed but the main thing was Ainsworth was willing and able to change and amazingly, it has worked, so far. We have been competitive in all the subsequent games, won twice, and played with a solid, hard working and swift counterattacking style, getting the ball wide and not relying on long balls.
The backdrop to this season is an FFP situation which has severely limited our spending, but the six (?) we have been able to bring in have made a difference. Begovic in goal is arguably at least as good as the departed Dieng and Cook and Fox in defence have brought experience and solidity to the defence. Colback has done the same in central midfield, where we were previously very poor. Larkeche is a young, promising full back and Smyth, returning to Rangers after a previous spell here, has added pace and guile down the wing. We are still light in most areas but home grown young players are filling in and getting serious minutes.
The team spirit appears to have improved and there is more evidence of professionalism and the team actually caring. It is early days and with QPR, you are only ever one rising of the sun away from a crisis, but suddenly, there is some hope.
It will still be an achievement to stay up given our lack of quality and depth, but the squad is more likeable, the football is more attractive and exciting, we seem able to compete better now and, perhaps the biggest positive for me, the coaching staff are turning Smyth, Dozzell and Armstrong into genuine Championship standard players. The youngsters are also making strong contributions.
Early days, please let me not have jinxed us! 🙏
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
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Sunderland at home on 09:55 - Sep 12 with 2938 views
The big thing for me this week is how well our new and improved shape and style of play works in home matches. I've got half a concern it's well suited to away games but might come a cropper at Loftus Road, where less we forget it's now one win in 16 games.
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Sunderland at home on 10:05 - Sep 12 with 2906 views
The big thing for me this week is how well our new and improved shape and style of play works in home matches. I've got half a concern it's well suited to away games but might come a cropper at Loftus Road, where less we forget it's now one win in 16 games.
Sunderland at home on 11:00 - Sep 12 by Monkey_Roots
Can you expand on that please Clive - how come?
Well because home teams try to dominate the ball and come onto you, and at Cardiff, Southampton and Boro we were quite happy to let them do that, stay on our shape particularly centrally and in front of our box, pick the passes and through balls off as they came and then spring counters using the pace of Armstrong and Smyth. It's been quite a counter attacking formation and style. Does that work as well when you're at home and you're expected to go on and seize the initiative?
I guess we looked ok against Ipswich. V unlucky to lose that game.
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Sunderland at home on 11:14 - Sep 12 with 2791 views
Well because home teams try to dominate the ball and come onto you, and at Cardiff, Southampton and Boro we were quite happy to let them do that, stay on our shape particularly centrally and in front of our box, pick the passes and through balls off as they came and then spring counters using the pace of Armstrong and Smyth. It's been quite a counter attacking formation and style. Does that work as well when you're at home and you're expected to go on and seize the initiative?
I guess we looked ok against Ipswich. V unlucky to lose that game.
Yep, I get that completely. Our 541 formation can easily convert into a 343 which should, in theory, make us more forward thrust. Ball retention and converting goal scoring chances however are big issues to solve.
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Sunderland at home on 12:25 - Sep 12 with 2701 views
Well because home teams try to dominate the ball and come onto you, and at Cardiff, Southampton and Boro we were quite happy to let them do that, stay on our shape particularly centrally and in front of our box, pick the passes and through balls off as they came and then spring counters using the pace of Armstrong and Smyth. It's been quite a counter attacking formation and style. Does that work as well when you're at home and you're expected to go on and seize the initiative?
I guess we looked ok against Ipswich. V unlucky to lose that game.
We still don’t create enough chances to win home games and haven’t done so for a while. The 2nd half of home games used to be exciting attacking the loft end.Although it didn’t always come off,at least we tried. Now we seem to have 1 or 2 chances at our end,which resulted in 5 goals at the loft end in 23 games last season. Maybe we should attack this end in the first half as it might change our luck a bit?
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Sunderland at home on 12:38 - Sep 12 with 2677 views
We still don’t create enough chances to win home games and haven’t done so for a while. The 2nd half of home games used to be exciting attacking the loft end.Although it didn’t always come off,at least we tried. Now we seem to have 1 or 2 chances at our end,which resulted in 5 goals at the loft end in 23 games last season. Maybe we should attack this end in the first half as it might change our luck a bit?
I remember you used to hear groans when the opposition team won the toss and made us attack the loft end first half. It’s been dire recently.
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Sunderland at home on 12:48 - Sep 12 with 2648 views
I feel pretty good about the start to the season (except for Watford which was, frankly, harrowing).
I like the growing feeling that this might be one of 'those' seasons. A bit like the time in Div 2 under Ollie, when everything we did, either fans, management or players seemed to count double compared to other years. Mind you, if Gaz decides to do a 'let's have coffee' speech, I expect at least a guitar solo halfway through.
'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!'
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Sunderland at home on 11:49 - Sep 13 with 2391 views
So to summarise, it would appear that you are happier than you thought you were going to be before the season started and Ainsworth has changed his tactics to suit the players you have.
This place certainly seems to be a happier place than my last visit for our game last season.
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Sunderland at home on 12:08 - Sep 13 with 2329 views
Sunderland at home on 11:49 - Sep 13 by safcinpeace
So to summarise, it would appear that you are happier than you thought you were going to be before the season started and Ainsworth has changed his tactics to suit the players you have.
This place certainly seems to be a happier place than my last visit for our game last season.
Give it five minutes mate 😆
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Sunderland at home on 17:44 - Sep 13 with 2150 views
A pint of Double Maxim was a thing of delight back in the day. Sadly I see they went the way of Fuller's - sold out to a plc!
As for the football: if a sheer desire to Make Rangers Great Again could be embodied in any one person, then Gareth Ainsworth is that man.
He's effectively been working with one hand tied behind his back and a shorter Cuban heel on one of his boots since arriving, and despite the atrociousness of his initial time in charge, we cannot knock the bloke for his passion, it's been in short supply round these here parts for some while.
Suspect when: suspensions, injuries, and form drops start to kick-in, his job will become considerably harder and then we'll see whether he really is the Messiah, or a man in need of a haircut and sensible brogues...but I'm back in love with him and want him to succeed as much for himself as I do for QPR.
You can still get Double Maxim. The head brewer set up a new company called The Maxim Brewy and took the recipe for Double Maxim with him when Vaux closed.
About two years the Vaux name was also bought by a couple of locals and they now do a very good range of beers and have a tap room opposite the new Tesco supermarket on the way from the Stadium of Light metro station to the ground. But be careful a lot of the beers are 6% or more.
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Sunderland at home on 17:45 - Sep 13 with 2148 views
We should have Lyndon Dykes available. All other players away with their countries seem to have come back unscathed. No news about Cook, but JCS might be fit (for how long?) and Dunne may well be back.
So pretty much full strength.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky
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Sunderland at home on 19:20 - Sep 13 with 2055 views
Sunderland at home on 11:49 - Sep 13 by safcinpeace
So to summarise, it would appear that you are happier than you thought you were going to be before the season started and Ainsworth has changed his tactics to suit the players you have.
This place certainly seems to be a happier place than my last visit for our game last season.
I chuckled at your opening comment about the Transfer window being a success
You hardly have to worry about FFP
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Sunderland at home on 19:59 - Sep 13 with 1984 views
Think Saturday's game against your boys and Tuesday against Swansea are the tests to how we are progressing. We have had a tough start 4 away games and only 1 home game due to new pitch laying. Our home form has been pretty bad for last year and a half so in my positive frame of mind the Sunderland game is where we look to change it. Think Sinclair Armstrong will tear it up the signs have been there for last few games and reckon it's time for his first home goal.
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Sunderland at home on 07:49 - Sep 14 with 1755 views
Saw a few Sunderland fan vlogs and previews that had them down for 4-0 and 5-0 away wins.
I think the worst prediction I saw was them winning 3-1.
Hope we can shut a few of them up.
Well yes after a 5-0 win against Southampton any fan base in the country would be very confident, some over confident. If you look at other thread you will see that there are just as many saying that it will be a very tough game and they will be happy to get a point. That is the beauty of fans we all have opinions.
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Sunderland at home on 08:49 - Sep 14 with 1686 views
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