It’s like Jekyll and Hyde with us, isn’t it? I turned up expecting a drab match and another hit and miss type of performance, but I thought we put in a very pleasing display to end what has been a really turbulent campaign nicely.
In the main though, it’s the same old story for us in terms of where things go wrong. There were so many times when players made the wrong decision when in possession of the ball. Whether it’s picking the wrong pass, not seeing the run or getting the weight of the delivery or the angle wrong…we’ve just got too many players who are not producing well enough on match day, even if we know they’ve got the technical ability.
Hogan Ephraim and Jay Simpson were the main culprits, but that doesn’t mean they were the only ones. I thought Ephraim had a pretty poor game in terms of choosing the right option, but you can’t take away that he does work hard and plays with the correct attitude.
But, having said that, we played much better here than we have done in a long time at home and whether it’s because the pressure was off, or because the way Newcastle played also allowed us more time on the ball so we could play a bit more, who knows?
You just have to look at it though and say on this evidence, we really should be doing better and be much further up the league. Sometimes we look a million miles away and sometimes we look a real match for anybody in the division. The players are capable, but they’ve got to have that winning desire and hunger to compete and produce, week in, week out, year in, year out. Consistency is such a key attribute and if we can work on that, we won’t be far away.
Jay Simpson should have ended this season with a lot more goals and assists than he’s got, but today he didn’t pass when he should have and when he had the opportunity to score, he couldn’t take it. He should have laid in Tamas Priskin far earlier than he did for the goal that was ruled out for offside, but he dallied for too long and then the opportunity was lost and it’s these key moments and experience that we’re lacking and not getting right.
There was one moment in the game that really drove home the points I’ve made about bad decision making on the ball, poor passing and not being clinical enough and that was when Simpson got to the edge of the penalty box and tried muscling his way past two Newcastle defenders. He had two men square of him who were screaming to be played in for a free shot on goal, but Simpson ignored them and tried going for glory. He got robbed of the ball and they went right up the other end and scored on the counter. In a flash, the story of our season was told and it’s a lesson we still need to learn.
You can also point to Peter Ramage’s sending off as another of those things we just can’t get right and haven’t done for years. We’re never as focused as we should be from the restart and we’re either conceding goals, gilt edge chances or getting caught napping when we shouldn’t be.
Ramage’s red card was unfortunate, but you kind of know it might happen to him, because he’s so predictably unpredictable in these kind of situations. I like him much more at centre-back than at right-back though and he looks a lot more comfortable in there overall.
Despite my gripes, there were lots of positives. I thought Dusko Tosic was excellent at left-back and was impressed with his performance, both defensively and offensively. It looked like Akos was taking responsibility out there too and I liked that. Once we were down to 10 men, he was demanding the ball in the centre and playing the 10 versus 11 game very well. But it can’t be for one match, he still needs to find consistency next season but it’s always positive when he’s in the mood to get involved and play.
He and Alejandro Faurlin had good games in the middle and complimented each other really well and as a pair, it was the best display I’ve seen from a central midfield pairing for us for some time.
And it was nice to see some of the kids out there. Josh Parker did okay in probably an unfamiliar role at right-back and Romone Rose got a little run around too. It was good to see Neil Warnock putting trust in these young men, despite being a man down.
We were unfortunate to come away with nothing and I thought we deserved at least a point from the match. In the end the Champions gave us a cruel lesson in taking your chance when it arrives and not for the first time this season, we just couldn’t do that.
As for what next, I feel a little worn out by QPR after this season, which is an unusual thing for me to say and the idea of having to fork out for the EarlyBird within the next 15 days really doesn’t appeal to me right now.
It’s hard to know whether we will see any change in that short period of time, but I really hope we have more to look forward to and be excited about at Rangers for next season, because it’s been a very difficult campaign and one of the rare ones that I’ve not enjoyed.
I find it astonishing that we’ve finished the season 13th. The players do deserve some credit here and we often criticise them for their performances, but they’ve frankly had to put up with a lot of shit this season. To have had five different managers and various coaching teams is just mind boggling.
The running of the club has been littered by the most basic and elementary mistakes imaginable and we’ve seen some real schoolboy and comical decisions made that have caused embarrassment and tarnished the image and reputation of the club.
Now that we’ve got the men we want in charge, it’s time to let them do their jobs over the summer and to support them and the playing squad. If we can achieve some of these standard basics that any football club needs, we’ll be moving in the right direction again.
However successful some of the owners have been in business elsewhere, the reality is their lack of experience and understanding of football has cost us the very thing we all want, which is progress.
For me, this summer will define how QPR’s future is shaped and we will find out one way or another whether the new regime can repair some of the damage that past mistakes have made.
Comments are closed.