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As we have no crowds at games AKUTRS has moved online until crowds are back, the July issue has been on sale for a few weeks but Dave Thomas has made this issue free to read until Saturday to give you a taste of what to expect. Just click on the link below and enjoy the optimism of pre lockdown https://tinyurl.com/y2qjyfnq
The August issue will be out from Saturday, you can subscribe through this website and it's well worth it.
Apologies in advance for the self indulgent post but been planning on doing this for years but kept putting it off and with the lockdown and all that is happening in the world I thought life’s too short let’s just do it.
It feels like a lifetime ago but I used to run a website on QPR for over a decade doing match reports, a hall of fame, stats, video highlights etc. before life got in the way of doing it justice anymore so I gave it up but one of the things I always wanted to do was put together video packages of old games, favorite moments etc but never really had the time or the technology to do so. As a student back in the 90’s I had access to video tape editing at College then Uni and rather than produce films that would help me pass my course I used to put together goal compilations set to music, my dissertation at University was on QPR and I made a 90 minute movie on the rise and fall of QPR which was the only reason I passed that degree.
I’ve always wanted to do more of that so thought sod it lets do it so have started a you tube channel looking back at the best of QPR from the last 50 odd years or as far back as my DVD collection allows me to go.
So far it’s mainly goals and highlights of games from the 70’s and 80’s as well as a feature on our promotion in 2010 than Bircham did for the BBC plus a tribute to Stan Bowles. Over the weeks and months planning to add a lot more so if you are bored link is below, have a look, subscribe if you have an account and hopefully enjoy. If there are any specific games you want added let me know and will see if I can get them. The 86 Cup games against Liverpool and Chelsea plus loads of 75/76 games should be added in the next few days for starters.
Link to the Stan Bowles Tribute below but loads more on there.
Fascinating/Annoying interview with Joey Barton on his time at QPR.
I mean he still has a real lack of self awareness about his part in it all and it's still everyone elses fault but is a good listen.
Redknapp didn't come out of it well, Joey Barton praises him a lot but he basically just confirmed that he had given up.All the players apart from Joey Barton hated him and he saved him from the sack the year we went up. He slates Hughes and Warnock as expected.
I went to Bristol 2 seasons ago when Holloway was manager, result was the same a 2-0 defeat but this performance was so much more encouraging.
There are a few negatives as you'd expect from a defeat. Our set piece delivery is quite poor and Barbet needs to give up the notion he can take them as again he took control in a promising position and didn't get the ball off the floor.
We also look terrified to have a shot on goal, i know they are trying to work into a good position but some times having a shot or just putting the ball in the box could force a mistake. Chair seemed the only one who was brave enough to have a shot and he was unlucky not to score with one that went through the keepers legs but he somehow got a hand to it and kept it out,
We kept playing though and the style off football is very pleasing on the eye and one they all look comfortable with. Eze was really good first half but faded in the second. Bright was really good until it came to the final ball where he couldn't pick anyone out.
I liked the look of Smith as well but he also faded after half time.
We had a chance just before the second goal when Hugil should have scored from close range but the keeper made a good save.
The second goal was farcical, poor throw from Rangel, i'm not sure if it was Hall or Barbet who made a mess pf a header to Lumley who then sliced his clearance. It was comical and killed the game for us. We still played some decent football after that and if we had got one goal back I'd have backed us for the draw but in truth the goal never looked like coming.
One slight moan about tickets, i got mine for me and my son and we were put right at the back so with everyone stood up he couldn't see a bloody thing and he had a few morons having a go at him and others for not standing or being proper fans. I was quite proud of him when he told them to shut up and he ended up standing on his chair so he could watch. That was a very small minority though and even their mates told them to shut up. There must be a way to pick which seats you want so that if you want to stand and sing at the back you can and if you want to sit down you can.
Despite that little moan I thought the support was pretty good yesterday, really good numbers and stuck behind the team throughout
Two home games this week though so if we can get at least 4 points it will be a decent start for us.
More i see of it less i like it, that penalty decision tonight was an absolute joke and i say that as someone who wanted to see United win, it's supposed to help the game not decide it
Looks like we get a new card next year which will can act as a contactless card linked to your bak account so you pay for food, drink in the stadium with your season ticket, can also be used for any purchase and you earn QPR cash with it, sounds like a good idea
Hilarious that after screaming for VAR he lost due to VAR going against him. His complaint is when you slow it down handballs are more obvious to spot which is sort of the point of VAR
Don’t usually plug programmes from work but ITV4 have a 2 part documentary next week (Tueday & Wednesday) called Out of Their Skin I got to watch an advance copy of it today and it’s well worth a watch.
It’s presented by Ian Wright and looks at the treatment of Black footballers from the 70’s up to today and the perception of them. Chelsea don’t come out of it very well but any of us who were around in the 80’s won’t be shocked by that. Ferdinand and his role at QPR is featured in Wednesdays one
I know this has been mentioned a few times but just a reminder of Don Shanks running the New York Marathon raising money for Stan Bowles, he's a long way off his target at the moment so if anyone is able to sponsor him then please do so on the links below
I usually enjoy this show on BT, this weeks one has a few minutes of Redknapps time at QPR, think it's safe to say a few heads will explode when they watch this and could inspire a few articles from Clive
So yesterday I took my 9 year old son to his first away game, he predicted a 4-1 defeat and despite those low expectations it was still far worse than he could have imagined. We left after the fifth, were on the train with many other QPR fans when the seventh went in. Only other away game I’ve ever left early from was Fulham when Ramsey was manager, I’ve sat through some tripe in my time but yesterday was a new low.
Apologies to Antti for nicking his format for this but was the only way I could make my rant even slightly coherent so here are 5 points/rants/gibberish thoughts from yesterday
1 - McClaren and Stability
The whole point of McClaren coming in was supposed to be that Holloway was too erratic which wasn’t good for the kids and would bring stability.
So far this season 3 games in we’ve seen Bright Samuel start one game and hooked at half time, off the bench in the next game and played during 45 minutes as left winger, right winger, left winger again and a right back. Ryan Manning has played as a left winger, centre midfielder then loaned out for the season.
Paul Smyth 45 minutes then not seen again. Eze the jewel in the crown started the Preston game as a number 10, was left wing against Sheff Utd and started right wing yesterday. In each game he’s also moved into several other positions.
Can anyone tell me how this is better than what Holloway was sacked for? I don’t see how any of this is helping their development which is what he was hired for and for all the talk of a young team etc only 2 kids played yesterday and at a stretch 3 if you include Ingram, the rest of the team was a very experienced one in terms of first team appearances so all this young team need more experience line is complete bullshit
2 - Playing out from the Back
Now i don’t want to go all Sam Allardyce here and think there is a balance between going route one and being Barcelona but bloody hell what are we thinking with this.
Ingram quite clearly can’t kick the ball so if he is our number one don’t base our game around him and his feet. The poor sod has been hung out to dry this season, he looked bereft of any confidence yesterday, a player ruined within 3 matches. Good Work Steve
We simply don’t have the players to play this way, was exactly the same when Gary Waddock tried this after Holloway left the first time and we had Zesh rehmann playing out from the back. It works if you have players good on the ball, we don’t.
Yesterday in the first half we were caught in our own half losing the ball on 5 occasions. They scored from one of them and should have scored from the other 4 so to go in at half time 1-1 should have been a warning to us and a chance to improve. Yet McClaren states after the game we were really good first half (we weren’t) and he has no idea what went wrong. Well second half we conceded 4 more goals losing the ball in our own half and have no idea what to do when we lost it. It’s not bloody rocket science this. In the first half yesterday West brom played out and got caught by Eze and we almost scored, the next 4 or 5 goal kicks they went long and played in our half. We don’t seem to learn at all and just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
We don’t have to become a long ball team but some sort of plan of what to do when we lose the ball might be useful, we are dreadful both in and out of possession.
3 - Width
Much was made about the 3-5-2 last season and the need for more width which the change of system should bring us, well it might help us if we play a winger in the current set up. So far this season the wide positions have been filled by Freeman, Bright Samuel, Eze, Smyth, Cousins, Wszolek and Washington. Three of those are actual wingers and none of hem have played a full league game. Thats meant a complete lack of protection for the full backs and normally a congested midfield with very few optins to spread the play other than to the full backs.
That needs to change and quickly.
4 - Ingram
I feel for him, he’s waited a long time for his chance but when given it has been asked to change his game dramatically. He’s not a keeper who can play out from the back, he’s a basic functional championship goalkepeer, decent shot stopper, OK on crosses terrible with his feet so why on earth have we built the team around him playing from the back. It’s been an absolute disaster and genuinely destroyed a promising keeper. Well done all involved in achieving this.
5 - Attitude
Finally the attitude of the players when going 3-1 down yesterday was nothing short of a disgrace. In particular Cousins just gave up and was stood watching several of the goals from the edge of the box. Leinster was diabolical all game, wrong side of Gayle all match and his throwing in of the towel was disgusting from someone who had impressed in the first few games. Lynch deciding to throw himself on the floor and just walk off at 4-1 down, not the first time he’s done that either. Freeman probably the only one who looked like he cared. That is another thing that badly needs to improve.
On the plus side our set pieces were good.
I could go on, genuinely so much wrong on the pitch I could be here all day.
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