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QPR 1:2 Wolves

By on February 5, 2012 in blog (everything), match notes

After a moment of naivety and madness from Djibril Cissé, the same old mistakes reared their heads and cost us dear again.

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Shaping the squad for the future

By on February 3, 2012 in blog (everything)

Mark Hughes needs results here and now to keep QPR in the Premier League, so I can understand why he’s signed players who can do a job from the get go. But Bobby Zamora is 31 and Djibril Cisse is 30, so they’re no spring chickens.

One of the things we need to do better with is the average age of the squad. There are so few players who are capable of stepping in who are under the age of 21, that it really leaves us limited in terms of options for that twenty five man squad.

If you look around at other clubs, they have youngsters that play in their first team or make the match day squad, but do not count towards their twenty five because of their age. We need to address this going forward and have a nice gradual transition and influx of youngsters that progress into players that we want to register by the time they’re 22.

Right now, Federico Macheda is the only one who qualifies, and he’s not even ours. I don’t expect to see Angelo Balanta, Bruno Andrade, Troy Hewitt or Max Ehmer feature unless we have a serious injury crisis, and even then if they did, they’d be far from ready for this level.

If you compare us to other clubs, you can see what I mean. Arsenal have Tomasz Szczesney, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxade-Chamberlain, Emmanuel Frimpong and Jack Wilshere in their Under 21 section, while Manchester United can call upon David de Gea, Rafael, Fabio, Phil Jones, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda (stop laughing at the back) and Paul Pogba in theirs.

Hughes has always been a here and now kind of guy and focused on getting results today, but at some point, as a club, we’ve got to move away from that philosophy and focus on our future. I hope that a new training ground will be the stepping stone and platform to achieve this.

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Rob Hulse makes the grade

By on February 2, 2012 in blog (everything)

I’m really pleased for Rob Hulse. There are those out there who are taking the mickey out of him, but he’s always been a solid and steady kind of player and having made the 25 man squad, he’ll relish the opportunity to try and make a mark for us between now and the end of the season.

When he was last playing in the Premier League, he broke his leg for Sheffield United long before the season was over and still ended up their top scorer with eight in twenty nine games – not too bad. And his goals to games ratio and performance level has always been pretty decent elsewhere.

He’s never been fully fit with us, and that didn’t help him when you’ve a crowd like ours who bay for your blood if you can’t get going from the outset. I wish we were more patient and forgiving sometimes, but he’ll pleasantly surprise when called upon and under Mark Hughes, who likes to play 4-4-2, he’s got a much better chance of playing to his strengths than not.

I think he’s done well in his last couple of outings and I hope if he continues to get playing time that he can grab a goal just for his own good, and I’m actually convinced he can score goals if he gets service in the box. Sure, he’s still probably more a Championship style striker over a Premiership one, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still do a job when called upon.

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Aston Villa 2:2 QPR

By on February 2, 2012 in blog (everything), match notes

I was encouraged by an excellent twenty minute passage we had in the first half, because we used the ball well, looked dangerous going forward and that individual quality we lacked was there in abundance through Dijbril Cissé.

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Some thoughts

By on February 1, 2012 in blog (everything)

Okay here’s where I’m at.

There’s a lot to like, but there’s a lot to be concerned about too, and, there’s a lot of work to do!

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Bradley Orr departs

By on January 31, 2012 in blog (everything), match notes

Once upon a time, you’d have been absolutely delighted to get a player like Bradley Orr in at your club. A dependable player who just gets on with it, and he’s been one of the best right-backs in the Championship for many years. He had an excellent season with us last season, even if Kyle Walker did steal his thunder somewhat, but Orr still played a massive part in our bid to win promotion back to the Premier League.

He has been a little bit out of his depth at this level, but not enough for the alarm bells to start ringing. It’s a case of needing time to adjust, but unfortunately he was never really going to get that time in the struggling situation we find ourselves in.

I’m sad to see him go, but I’m also really pleased for him that he’s managed to nab himself another Premier League club, even if that may only be for the rest of the season. If Blackburn go down, they’ve got a great right-back on their hands and one of the best at that level.

Thanks Bradley and all the best.

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Martin Rowlands departs

By on January 31, 2012 in blog (everything)

I always liked Martin Rowlands as a player long before he joined us, and was really surprised no one else took a gamble on him after he broke his leg. I was delighted that we managed to get him in on a free transfer and that turned out to be an excellent bit of business in the end.

He’s been an excellent servant down the years and should look back on his time here fondly, especially as he went on to captain the club and became an international player, although sadly it was an injury on international duty that effectively ended his career at the club.

He will always point to the centre of midfield being his preferred position, but I always found he was most effective for us when playing on the left flank. He always cut inside so well and made better use of the ball, but he was so handy that he could play in the centre, on the right or even at right back when needed.

The past few years have been a bit sour obviously, but hopefully he will still leave with fond memories, and he served QPR at a time when we really needed players like him. I think he could have left and gone elsewhere during his peak years with us, and I’m glad he didn’t, as he’s helped get us to where we are today. It’s a shame his body is no longer at the level where he could have had a chance to get involved at this level, but hopefully he can still find another club and continue his career in the game.

Good luck, thanks and all the best.

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