QPR face a London derby in their penultimate home game of the season with Lee Cook and his Charlton side in W12 on Saturday

Queens Park Rangers (14th) v Charlton Athletic (9th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday April 19 2008
Loftus Road, Kick Off 3pm

Following our 1-1 draw up at Hull last Saturday there’s no let up for us this week in regard to playing sides currently in the top half of the division because on Saturday we face play off chasing Charlton Athletic at Loftus Road. I say play off chasing because, despite what would have been a disappointing draw for them at the Valley last week against Southampton, if results go for them involving clubs in that little pack chasing play off places then they still have a chance of claiming that sixth spot. With the game a near sell out (the Addicks sold out their allocation for this one a while back) it promises to be an interesting encounter and I’m really looking forward to this one.

Charlton Athletic. What’s the low-down on them?
When I wrote the preview for this fixture that was played at the Valley back in October, I recall writing a pretty comprehensive guide to Charlton and their recent chequered past. For those that may want to refresh themselves a little on this, you can view that particular preview on the archive news page on this site (ok, I’m being lazy if truth be told, but time waits for no-one and I’m writing this particular preview in a bit of a hurry!). What I will say this time around is that things have not quite worked out for the club in the way I would imagine the board envisaged when the season kicked off as I am guessing they would have been expecting an instant return to the Premier League. Unfortunately for them this has not worked out and instead of challenging for one of the automatic top two spots, they find themselves struggling to make the play offs at first time of asking.

They’ve brought some recent reinforcements on loan to help their surge but they are still struggling (especially at home) and should they fail to reach the play offs then I am guessing the board will view this season as a failure and I expect manager Alan Pardew might well be a very nervous man over the course of the last three games of this season.

When we played them at the Valley in October they had started to wobble and our win that day meant they had suffered the indignity of three straight consecutive defeats, and to make things worse from their perspective, our defeat of them was played out live in front of the Sky TV cameras. At the time of that game, the Addicks were one point from a play off spot, whilst we were in danger of becoming marooned down the bottom, being in 23rd spot and on just 11 points. Shows how far we have come since then eh?

The Manager
I think we all know a fair about Alan Pardew, and though we know all about him swapping roles with Curbs at West Ham for Charlton, did you know that when he was a player, he was actually signed by Curbs and Gritt in that 1991 season? The following season he went on to become their top goalscorer.

Before signing for the Addicks, he’d been at Crystal Palace who had signed him from Yeovil Town where he’d been a semi-professional player. He ended his playing days at Barnet (yes I do remember him there) and then broke into the coaching profession at Reading where just before the turn of the new Millennium he was offered the job of full time manager there. He did a great job in securing them promotion from the Second Division the year after and following his taking Reading to the first division play offs, it wasn’t long before another club poached him. This was West Ham United and in his first season there they also reached the play offs but were undone by one of Pardew’s former playing clubs Crystal Palace. The following season though the Hammers did go up but then with the new Icelandic owners taking over the Upton Park club, the writing was on the wall, and by Christmas last year he had upped sticks a few miles down the road to join Charlton Athletic.

He’s certainly found that life in the Championship with a newly relegated team is no bed of roses. I have no idea how Charlton fans view him and it will be interesting to watch the tactical battle going on between himself and Gigi on Saturday afternoon.

Who to watch out for
Assuming Sam Sodje will be missing then I assume that Pardew will be sticking with the same back four that started against the Saints last week. Ben Thatcher can play in either central defence or at left back and is a bit of a hardman, renowned for not being one to pull out of tough tackles. Algerian international, Maljiid Bougherra, joined the Addicks a year ago from Sheffield Wednesday and is a centre back who whilst not setting the league alight, appears to have enough experience under his belt to suggest he’s capable of doing an ok job. To be honest though if we put them under enough pressure there’s no reason as to why we won’t make their defence crack. It’s the midfield and forward areas that concern me more.

In the middle will be Zeng Zhi, the Chinese international player who was one of their brighter players’ when we played this fixture at the Valley in October. He can play anywhere in the midfield area and is capable of putting some good balls in from dead ball situations. He’s been a regular for them this season and has seven goals under his belt so far.

Joining him in the middle I expect will be Matt Holland. Matt is an experienced pro whose career has included playing at the likes of West Ham and Manchester City, and has Republic of Ireland international caps under his belt too. He’s been with the Addicks for around five seasons now and is an instrumental part of their central midfield and it will be interesting to see the battle between himself and Rowlands in that area.

Up front for them expect to see Chris Iwelumo being the main man expected to hold their line. Chris of course was partner to Jamie Cureton at Colchester when they scored a combination of 41 goals between them and it was a real little and large partnership. Pardew swooped to take him to the Valley at the start of last season after he left Colchester on a free, and so far this season has responded by scoring ten goals in 31 appearances. He’s one of those big, gangly type forwards (some say useless, others say nuisance) and I reckon Fitz Hall might be more equipped to deal with him rather than Stewart (assuming Stewart starts). Joining the gangly Iwelumo will be Leroy Lita, who is on loan at the Valley until the end of the season from Reading. Lita is fast and pacy, with a keen eye for goal and after joining Reading from Bristol City (where he started off) scored 14 goals for his new team, who themselves at that time were new boys in the premier league.

He’s played at England under 21 level on a number of occasions but this season has been a bit out of favour with Steve Coppell at Reading, and last month joined the Addicks on loan for the rest of this season. He’s played 7 games for them and has already scored 3 goals, and whilst he may be a tad rusty regarding first team football he will seriously be a danger to our defence.

The Addicks also have another striking option in Andy Gray though I would imagine he will start on the bench as he did last week, despite coming on to score the all important goal for them. Gray joined them from Burnley in January and whilst he’s had 8 league starts, has had problems in finding the net for his new club. Let’s hope last week hasn’t picked his confidence up too much as we go into our game! They also of course have Luke Varney as another option up front. Varney scored oodles of goals for Crewe Alexandra and it was Pardew who persuaded the youngster to join Charlton and to make the step up to Championship football last summer. He’s made 21 starts for them and has scored 7 goals for them which might be an indication that he just needs a bit more time to adapt to the step up.

*Tracy’s star man
You all know who I am going to give this honour to so I doubt I even need to write his name, but here goes anyway. Lee Cook. I certainly don’t need to mention his history and past with us, nor his transfer to Fulham, and all that occurred afterwards. What I will say though is that after watching his curling free kick into the area, thus setting up Gray for his goal last week, Rangers beware! It will be good though to see him back to playing football, albeit for an opposition side, as I was concerned at one point that his career was fast going down the pan.

Past Meetings
Earlier this season QPR secured a surprise 1-0 win at The Valley in Mick Hardford’s final game as caretaker manager. The R’s played Charlton off the park for long periods but missed a catalogue of chances and looked like they’d have to settle for a goalless draw when Martin Rowlands cracked a penalty against the base of the Charlton post. In the end though the goal we richly deserved came when Nicky Weaver fumbled under heavy pressure from Marc Nygaard and Adam Bolder volleyed home the loose ball.

Charlton: Weaver 6; Mills 6, Basey 7, Sodje 7, Fortune 6; Sam 7 (Racon 85, -), Semedo 6 (J Thomas 46, 5), Zheng 7, Reid 7; Varney 6, Iwelumo 6 (McLeod 69, 5)
Subs not used: Randolph, Bougherra
Booked: Sam 81 (foul), Reid 87 (dissent)

QPR: Camp 7; Mancienne 7, Barker 7, Stewart 8, Cranie 8; Rowlands 7, Bolder 7, Leigertwood 8, Ephraim 7, Nygaard 8, Vine 8
Subs not used: Cole, Bignot, Ainsworth, Sahar, Moore.
Goals: Bolder 72 (assisted Nygaard)

Match Report

The last time we played Charlton in the league at home was in the 1999/00 season when they went up as champions and this particular game ended up being a 0-0 draw.

QPR: Harper, Darlington,Breacker, Plummer, Darren Ward, Bruce, Wardley, Langley (Kulcsar) Murray, Steiner, Kiwomya (sent off 76) Subs not used: Miklosko, Scully, Dowie, Koejoe

Charlton: Kiely, Shields, Rufus, Youds, Powell, Newton (Pringle) Parker, Jones, Salako (Robinson) Hunt, Mendonca Subs not used: Ilic, Barness, Barbe

Head to Head:
QPR wins – 19
Draws – 20
Charlton wins – 22

Previous QPR v Charlton Results:
2007/08 Charlton 0 QPR 1 (Bolder)
1999/00 Charlton 2 QPR 1 (Taylor)
1999/00 Charlton 1 QPR 0 (FA Cup)
1999/00 QPR 0 Charlton 0
1998/99 Charlton 1 QPR 0
1998/99 QPR 0 Charlton 2
1997/98 Charlton 1 QPR 1 (Peacock)
1997/98 QPR 2 Charlton 4 (Sheron 2)
1996/97 Charlton 2 QPR 1 (Dichio)
1996/97 QPR 1 Charlton 2 (Sinclair)

QPR’s 5-1 home win against Charlton in 1983 is this week’s featured game in our ‘Memories and Connections’ section. QPR went on to win promotion that season. For a match report, fans’ memories and details of players who’ve played for both teams click here.

Team News
For the Addicks Sam Sodje has a dislocated toe so don’t expect him to play any part in proceedings on Saturday. Winger, Lloyd Sam might be considered fit enough to make a return to first team action after he came through unscathed for their reserves in the week (getting on the scoresheet at the same time). He’s not played any first team football for over a month due to a hamstring injury. Nicky Weaver should be back in goal for them after having served his recent suspension.

For us we will of course be missing Rowan Vine, who is out for the rest of this season. We await news on Dexter Blackstock, who had to go off early in the second half at Hull; and also await to hear the latest fitness news regarding Akos Buzsaky, he’s had two days of full training this week so may only be fit enough to make the bench. The Paddington Mercury reported on Thursday that with Blackstock and Agyemang both struggling with injuries we could see a start up front for Angelo Balanta.
Injury List

Referee
The ref for this one is Mr Kettle from Berkshire, and he has an ever growing history with QPR up to and including the goalless draw at Preston earlier this season.
Details

What’s going on elsewhere?
Well, with Scunthorpe and Colchester already having been confirmed as relegated, it’s going to be a very twitchy weekend for those clubs at the bottom desperately fighting for the championship survival. There are two six pointer games taking place; Barnsley v Leicester makes you look at it and go ‘oh dear’ so imagine how the fans of those clubs are feeling? Should Barnsley win then it will secure their championship survival. The other ‘oh dear’ game taking place is Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday. Blackpool have surprisingly been pulled back down into the scrap at the bottom which I am surprised about because I liked the look of them when they played at LR a few weeks ago.

Another game at the bottom end of great interest is Colchester v Coventry as whilst Colchester may themselves be relegated, I can’t see them being generous to Chris Coleman’s Coventry side. At the top there is one hell of a tasty game taking place at the Britannia Stadium between Stoke and Bristol City, whilst there’s some interesting battles going on elsewhere for those teams that are chasing the play off places. I love the Championship, you don’t get this kind of excitement in the Premier League.
Details

Form
The Addicks’ April form has seen them so far drawn one and lost one. Go back further to include March and you will see why there is concern that they have blown their play off chances in recent weeks. Two wins in nine games is just not good enough, especially when those nine games have included four defeats. One thing to have in mind though is that their last away game brought them a 2-1 win over Plymouth so whilst recent form indicates they’ve been rubbish, I’d urge caution.

Our April form has brought us two consecutive draws so far, in fact our last four games have ended up being draws. Go back to March and our form shows us just one defeat (Sheffield Wednesday) in nine games. In fact, we’re now unbeaten in six. Not bad eh?
Form Table

Prediction
Very tough one to predict this one because it all depends on who we have fit and playing for us. If we start with Buz and Blackstock then there’s no reason as to why we can’t get a result. If however we start with a weakened side then I can see the away side putting a stop to our recent unbeaten run. Therefore I’m going to play it safe and go for a firth draw on the bounce for us and predict a 2-2 draw.
Prediction League

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