Blackburn Rovers 3:2 QPR

I can’t say that I’m surprised by what’s happened here, but the first half was desperately poor from Rangers and along the same lines as the match earlier this season against Fulham – we were dreadful.

The match actually started well for both teams and resembled a cup game. It was open and purposeful and both teams had patches of possession with intent. It looked like it would serve up a much better game than when we drew 1-1 back in October.

But once Blackburn got their noses in front, we totally caved in and collapsed and there was a serious lack of commitment, effort, urgency and desire from the players. They never got out of first gear and were rightly punished for such a poor showing.

I could only smile at the ease Rovers scored their goals, because it was just a shambles at the back from basic route one balls that we never dealt with. We didn’t win any key headers all game or close players down fast enough, or in some cases, at all.

You have to say that the entire back line had mares, and were woeful both in defence and attack. The midfield weren’t too far behind either though and Akos Buzsaky had an atrocious game in the centre. He was way, way, way off the pace and even in the first half, I kept thinking that Mark Hughes should have taken him off. He didn’t look fit or at the races.

By the time he went off for Jamie Mackie the damage had already been done. We showed better spirit in the second half, but it was too late and we only got the possession we had because when you’re 3-0 up as Rovers were, you naturally revert into a defensive counter attacking shell. They did what they had to really and had enough to hang on where we didn’t have enough to get back in it.

I liked Jason Lowe for them and thought he looked like an interesting player. They didn’t do an awful lot themselves but they can only go up against what’s on front of them and there wasn’t much by way of our performance.

Steven N’Zonzi and Junior Hoilett had decent games too, even if they didn’t have to do a great deal, and Mauro Formica got in between the our defence and attack relatively well throughout. They perhaps should have left Formica on to help them retain possession, but sometimes you do need to change things up when you know the other team are going to throw players forward.

We can take heart that Yakubu hit the bar and didn’t make it 4-0, because it could have really got embarrassing at that point though and we’d probably have gone on to repeat the Fulham score or thereabouts.

To our credit we kept going and pulled a couple back from Jamie Mackie, but it would have been a travesty had we nicked a point because we really didn’t deserve anything at all. Mackie’s introduction came far too late, and while some will be encouraged by our second half showing, it only changed for the better once the substitution was made.

From the small positives we can take away, Adel Taarabt always tried, and linked up fairly well at times with Bobby Zamora. Shaun Wright-Phillips, despite another very average performance kept going (though let’s give Martin Olsson some credit too as he snuffed him out well) and Mackie proved one again that it’s last seasons players who are the ones stepping up to the plate and delivering the goods when needed.

I’m starting to see our best performers as the guys who got us here in the first place – Alejandro Faurlin, Heidar Helguson and Jamie Mackie. But it’s about time some of the other new guys showed their faces and what they’re about too. If we have to wait too much longer though, it’ll be too late.

The problem we have is Mark Hughes is very clearly still working out the strengths and weaknesses of his squad, but he’s going over old ground in terms what we already know about our team. And Hughes doesn’t have the time, which was always the problem in the first place and suddenly a lot of expectation and pressure is going to sit on Samba Diakité’s shoulders as a result as he’s the only unknown quantity that Hughes can pull out of the hat.

Blackburn aren’t anywhere near as bad as their fans make out, not by a long way. But they are a side that lost 7-1 last week, who have consistently struggled to see games out, who turn on their manager’s back at every possible opportunity, who barely put out a recognisable defence and even nearly let us steal a point here. But we just weren’t good enough to capitalise on any of those things.

When I evaluate the performance, I saw none of the organisation and discipline that’s supposedly been brought into the side, and let’s not forget that we still haven’t stopped conceding goals since those changes have been made, and I saw no plan in terms of an attacking or defensive perspective overall.

Is this because of the straight lined style of play or is it because Hughes needs more time? Is it because we’ve signed too many players yet again and they’ve got to adjust and learn each others games? Is it because some players don’t seem to want to play for others? I saw very little leadership out there on the pitch or anybody wanting to take responsibility other than Mackie when he came on and he was the only one who showed any sort of passion or pride.

It’s still early days for Hughes, but he’s been in charge for seven matches so far, six of them Premier League games, and we have one win in those. That slow start he makes at most of the clubs he’s managed is repeating itself here, and you really wonder whether we can afford it.

The straight lined football and style relies on individual quality and brilliance to see us through, but I’m not sure it suits the players we have, and even if it did, it’s asking too much from those who are low on confidence and horrible out of form.

But we don’t have enough strength in depth or quality in the squad to change things about. When your high profile names are not performing, there’s not a lot else you can do about it and the next two weeks are going to prove crucial because we need to come out of this mini break firing on all cylinders, not just for the next game, but for every one between now and the end of the season.

I’ve only seen thirty minutes of good proper football since the new management team have come in, which was against Aston Villa. That’s the level we need to find and we need to find it and maintain it, fast.