I groaned when the board went up with four additional minutes of stoppage time, because I never imagined in a million years witnessing the incredible few minutes of football that was dished up in that period, handing us the most unlikely point and providing an unbelievable end to the game.

But let’s not beat around the bush here, because for 90 minutes we were pretty poor and never looked like scoring. We didn’t seem to really want the game and were second best in so many areas. It wasn’t that we were terrible, it was just a poor team performance and collectively we just didn’t get going.

The quality of our passing was poor, particularly to our forward players, so we struggled to get them on the ball and involved and that meant we couldn’t build up any rhythm or momentum because we kept giving it away cheaply. I didn’t think Derby had to work hard at all as it was our own mistakes that allowed them to capitalise.

We showed little intelligence when we had good possession and more often than not, we just went for long hopeful balls forward rather than passing and moving with intent and understanding. So in that sense, it was reminiscent of a Neil Warnock percentage style approach to the match.

But it wasn’t just that, it was how poor we were when we challenged for the ball. We made so many good interceptions and won plenty of tackles, but usually you’re able to direct some of those clearances a little better to help retain possession, or put the ball in an area where another player can get it under control and build from it. But most of these situations led to us either putting the ball out of play or giving it straight back to the opposition, because we adopted a total safety first approach to our clearances.

We didn’t do a good enough job of pressing the play either and allowed The Rams time and space to control the ball, turn on it, or generally do whatever they liked. Whenever they ran at us, they caused havoc and we seemed a lot more lightweight than normal with lots of our key men losing their individual battles. We were losing 50-50 tackles and getting shrugged off the ball with relative ease.

The full-backs yet again had very little protection and before Kris Commons opening the scoring in the 40th minute, it was obvious the amount of possession and time we were letting them have was going to cause problems. They doubled up on the full-backs at every opportunity and we always looked in a state of panic at the back as a result.

And we couldn’t complain when the goal did come, having already escaped a few other hairy moments where we made several last ditch clearances from crosses or corners. Any one of those may have landed at the feet of a Derby player and when Bradley Orr’s poor clearance allowed the hosts to double up and break free into the box, and the cross found its way to Commons at the back post, who cleverly scooped his effort over Paddy Kenny and into the net.

Commons is a good player, but even here, we allowed him so much time to get on the ball and turn and do whatever he liked with it. It was no surprise to me that he scored, but when he went off injured a few minutes later, I expected us to do much better and was optimistic about our chances in the second-half.

But we remained second best to the ball on a lot of occasions, losing second balls or many 50-50 challenges where the likes of Alejandro Faurlin and many others, were bundled or hustled off the ball. I thought we were a little bullied out there, with none of our players really rolling up their sleeves and winning their tackles or being tough.

Darren Leacock had Heidar Helguson pretty much in his pocket and dominated our strikers in the air and on the deck. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t work their defence a lot more, because they were there for the taking but we didn’t seem to have enough belief to get at them and do damage.

And then they doubled their lead. Jamie Mackie was trying to get through on goal, and complaining that Leacock had obstructed him and spent far too long down the wrong end of the pitch as Derby went forward and won a free-kick. Mackie eventually got back as it was taken but didn’t mark his man, and again, a two-on-one situation materialised and Orr was left isolated as The Rams worked the ball across the box to James Bailey who finished superbly from the edge of the area.

There was still 30 minutes to play and we pretty much went through the motions, trying to muster something but getting very little reward. Patrick Agyemang, Leon Clarke and Akos Buzsaky were all introduced for Adel Taarabt, Heidar Helguson and Shaun Derry. But nothing really went right for them until we hit stoppage time.

The disappointing thing about the match was Derby weren’t that good either. They held possession well and tried to play from the back, but we allowed them too much of the ball when we didn’t need to and their passing a lot of the times, was just as bad as ours.

But then everything changed. For all those who criticise Patrick Agyemang – he showed what we lacked for most of the game, because as soon as he got the ball he had one thing on his mind and that was to take on his man and go directly towards goal. It was this intent and belief that he might get something that led to his goal and it was an excellent solo effort.

He got the ball from Leon Clarke, assessed quickly that he was in a one-on-one situation with Shaun Barker and while he still had plenty to do, he shifted the ball and played it forward, bursting past Barker and opening his angle to give him a chance of a shot on goal. It was a super finish, even if it did bobble into the corner of the net, but he had Bywater beaten the moment it left his foot.

Had we had any of this earlier in the game, we would have had success, because the Derby defence were there for the taking and I personally don’t rate Stephen Bywater, so I was disappointed we didn’t test him more. The two proper strikes we had on target beat him and were goals.

Suddenly there was renewed optimism, even though we all expected it was Agyemang’s strike was just a consolation goal. But there was a feeling we would get another chance and Derby made a substitution to add another 30 seconds or so to proceedings.

Then we won a corner and you sensed that a big chance would come out of it, but it wasn’t going to be for us. Akos Buzsaky swung the ball in but it was cleared and suddenly Derby broke, with three or four players bursting forward and only Alejandro Faurlin scrambling back. It looked a nailed on certainty that they’d finish the game off and a through ball saw Bailey put through one-on-one with Paddy Kenny.

As this unfolded, the fans were not moaning. There was more of a collective feeling of “oh well, we had to throw everybody forward to try” but Kenny did what good goalkeepers are supposed to do. He stood and stood and stood up for as long as possible and made himself as big as target as he could and saved Bailey’s strike. It was somewhat unconventional as it pretty much just hit him, but nonetheless, it was a brilliant save.

And for some reason, I just knew at that point, we were going to grab an equaliser. It was almost as if we decided that we’d been let off the hook, so we’d make the most of that and send the last kick of the game down the pitch to score. And we did.

Actually Derby had the ball and pathetically kicked it off for a throw as they attempted to see the game out. The ball was retrieved and played back to Kenny who launched one final punt down the pitch. It landed just outside the edge of the box, where Leacock bundled all over Agyemang and fouled him.

I was up off my seat screaming for a free-kick that would have been ideal for Buzsaky and the referee put the whistle to his mouth, but the ball dropped to Jamie Mackie and he waited to see what would happen next…

And wow…you know, I thought Mackie didn’t give Orr anywhere near enough protection throughout the match, but you have to admire how he just keeps at it. I suppose he was a little bit fortunate when he twisted and turned his way past two players under pressure, but it was the composure he showed in front of goal that was most impressive. The way he shaped his body and remained cool gave me the feeling he was going to score before he shot and it was a fine, fine finish and sent everybody in the away end into raptures.

I don’t recall going as wild as that for many, many years. I was completely delirious and jumping up and down, screaming and throwing my arms around, high-fiving and hugging every random Ranger around me who were doing equally the same. It was just absolutely fantastic and such an adrenaline shot that had everybody on the biggest high you could imagine. Just how did we do it and where did that come from?

It was a very special moment and one those small set of events that make football so, so beautiful. In the space of three minutes, I went from groaning at another four minutes of added time, to thinking to myself that I wouldn’t be bothering with Ipswich or Leicester away if this is what we’d get for all the cost of tickets, trains and time to wanting to book as soon as the match was over.

And while it’s clear that based on this performance, we still need additions to the side and more gelling time between the existing players, it didn’t matter. While we looked short of striking options and lacked width and shape at times, sometimes through indiscipline in terms of holding positions, honestly, who cares?

Football’s a funny old game. I’m still on a high now and something tells me that ending is not going to be topped for a very long time. Brilliant.

The opening game to the league campaign was marred by a bad injury to youngster Sophie Fogarty five minutes from time, which led to the match having to be abandoned early.

Sophie suffered a knee injury and needs further scans to understand the full extend of the damage, but it’s clear she will be out of action for some time. It’s a huge loss for the side and a massive shame for Sophie, after breaking onto the scene so emphatically last season.

As for the match, this was never a four-nil, despite Keynsham Town being the better side on the day on the whole. We started brightly, played some decent football and almost had our noses in front when Beth Curtis hit a spectacular volley from outside the penalty box towards the right that came back into play off the inside of the post.

Then we had a clear penalty shout when Sophie was bundled over as she broke into the box by the Keynsham captain. I thought it was a nailed on penalty myself, considering the defender never went for the ball, but the referee waved play on.

Keynsham then responded themselves and where our luck wasn’t in, theirs was. We conceded a soft free-kick in the middle of the park and didn’t react fast enough as the possession quickly changed over and a through ball played into the path of their striker, just inside and wide right of the box saw us in trouble.

The striker still had plenty of work to do, but finished with real aplomb and her low drive struck the inside of the far post, but rather than come back out like ours, the ball nestled into the back of the next and we were 1-0 down.

I still thought it was anybody’s game at this point and we pushed forward for an equaliser with plenty of decent attacks, which included another penalty claim when Beth Liles was bundled over in the penalty area. I really felt Kenysham couldn’t have argued if either were given and we came away bitterly disappointed to get neither.

Sophie also turned a half-chance into a good effort when she flashed a strike just wide of the post, which the majority of us all thought was heading in. But while the momentum was growing for us, a moment of madness and later fortune, saw the visitors double their lead.

A ball into the box was punched clear by Claire Farrow, but a deft chip from one of the Keynsham players had her beaten and Melanie Bidewell scrambled back in an attempt to clear the ball, but clearly handled it before it crossed the line and went in.

Despite the referee’s assistant flagging for a clear handball on the line, the referee decided to overrule and awarded the goal. As a consequence, Melanie could consider herself extremely lucky to have get away with just a yellow card and we went into the break two goals down.

We still felt we had a chance to get back into the game, but we needed to score the next goal. In the second-half, we wanted to get at them again and apply pressure, but we conceded two sloppy goals and the game was over, despite creating plenty of dangerous moments that we failed to capitalise on.

We also looked a little bit tired as the game wore on, which was a shame, but some of the players are still short of minutes on the pitch and it showed as we went through the motions for periods during the second-half.

Kenysham could have added to their lead when we were leg wary, but that would have been unfair in the context of the match. We still had Claire to thank for one or two excellent saves in near point blank or one-on-one situations though.

Then, with five minutes from time, Sophie picked up a serious knee injury when attempting to clear a ball completely unchallenged, which was the result of the blades from her boot’s standing leg getting caught in the turf. Both sets of players rushed to her aid in visible distress and after 20-30 minutes of treatment and ambulance attention, the referee decided to call a halt to proceedings with the result standing. Kenysham themselves were no strangers to injury and had two players retire from the match with their arms in slings.

Reflecting on the match, I was pleased with many elements of our first-half performance, but what we lacked was a little bit of fitness and time on the pitch together as well as the composure needed in the final third to make the right decision to unlock the opposition’s defence and give us the best chance of scoring.

Had we got at least one of those penalty decisions, it may have been a very different outcome or inspired us to really go after getting a result or something from the game. In the end we lost to a good side, who have plenty of decent players including some international players and we never looked out of place at all. Their finishing was also superior on the day and the strikers deserve credit for the way they took their chances when they came.

We also need to do some work on our defensive positioning, because we made life a little more difficult for ourselves than we needed to at times. It just boiled down to not picking the best positions to start from and to make the opposition play in the direction you want them to, but these are all issues that can be solved and ironed out.

So we were not far away here, despite the score and the players need to dust themselves down and get on with it. On this evidence, they can only grow stronger and player better and we still had several players out of action, due to injuries and who are not quite ready to return to the first-team yet. When they do, we’ll be in a much healthier state in terms of strength in depth.

I’m really gutted for Sophie, but she’s young enough to make a full recovery and we have our fingers and toes crossed for her for when she has her scans. It’s important that she has the support of her friends and family as well as her teammates and that she remains disciplined for any rehabilitation work she needs to carry out before returning. She’s a sensational player and this won’t stop her from reaching the dizzy heights she’s capable of achieving.

As for the rest of the players, I was pleased to see Elly Maggs continuing her comeback from a serious knee injury last season and I was impressed with Beth Liles’ tactical awareness on the pitch too. Then we have the likes of Vanessa Nicholson and Hayley Blake who were both playing Third team football last season and have been thrown in at the deep end to cover for some of our other absences. The experience they’re gaining from this will only help develop them further as players, so there’s still a lot to be pleased and positive about.

Team: Claire Farrow, Sarah Walters, Hayley Blake, Melanie Bidewell, Tammy Scrivens, Vanessa Nicholson (Natalie), Beth Liles, Simone Dwyer, Elly Maggs, Beth Curtis & Sophie Fogarty

Subs: Becky (GK) and Natalie

While there were plenty of things that we obviously still need to work on and improve, there were just as many signs that genuine progress has been made since last season and that left me feeling positive as I came away from the game.

But, let’s start with identifying the problems. I spoke recently about how the pre-season campaign could potentially be problematic and I saw the first signs that here against Barnsley.

In the opening 20 minutes, there was several times where the fullbacks were exposed, particularly down our left side, where Clint Hill was left in some really dangerous one-on-one or two-on-one situations.

The issue was that there was clear confusion between Hogan Ephraim and Alejandro Faurlin and occasionally Shaun Derry too. All three seemed a little unsure about who should be offering cover and between them all there was hesitation about who ought to take responsibility.

For me, this is a clear issue that stems from pre-season. When you play this system and roll over the oppositions or play sides who are inferior so that you always have the ball and are on the attack, it doesn’t prepare you for when things break down and you need to react to counters or shifts of possession.

As this scenario probably wasn’t as common in the friendly matches, these guys haven’t had to defend or deal with these situations as much, so hopefully it’s just a teething issue that can be sorted out but we need to get on the ball quickly because better teams will hurt us if we’re as generous in the future.

Similarly Kaspars Gorkss had another head injury and required stitches and the poor sod has had plenty of head knocks since he joined us, but at the same time, it didn’t surprise me. He got caught underneath the ball a couple of times and kept misjudging the flight of the ball and was beaten in the air constantly.

In that sense, it was a bit of a shaky start, but he’s been like that before and usually sorts himself out after a run of games where he can build his rhythm, form and consistency. So I’m not too worried about that at this stage, but my feeling is he needs to get into the swing of things before he’s flying.

I was also slightly concerned by the state of the pitch as well. It cut up a lot just from the warm up over on the Ellerslie Road side. It was a bit difficult to spot, but we need the pitch to hold up over the course of the season and I hope it’s not going to cause us any real problems.

But let’s get onto the good stuff, because there were plenty of positives with the real highlight for me being the performance of Jamie Mackie and he looks the sort of player that will be a fans favourite.

I liked how he came off the right flank and into central positions in the first-half and while he plays a little too high tempo all the time, his work ethic and desire was just fantastic throughout the match. The club needs these characters who just want to play football and are willing to die for the shirt and he looks like he can fit that role. I was thrilled he got a goal and the fact that he still ran in when most people turned away thinking the keeper had picked it up is a testament to his personality.

I thought we also did quite well with our starting positions from dead ball situations. We had better shape and depth from free-kicks, corners, throw-ins and goal-kicks. These can seem minor on the surface, but we just had a better chance to react to situations and either defend or attack properly.

I think a lot of it was to do with Shaun Derry’s performance actually as I think for a defensive midfielder, he actually supported the defence and attack really well and was always on hand to help out and be involved in anything potentially dangerous to our goal. I’m still not sure if he will play well all the time, but in certain games, he will definitely be a bonus for us because of the way he plays.

And while we may be concerned about a lack of pace at the back, I think the two new fullbacks in Bradley Orr and Clint Hill have given us far better balance and shape. I’m really excited by the Mackie and Orr combination and hope that flourishes over the coming months.

We also shouldn’t rule out the importance of four different players getting on the scoresheet so early in the season. It helps breed confidence, including goals for players who were out of favour last season and that’s important.

I was also pleased with Adel Taarabt’s body language, which looked far more positive to his teammates and the fans and he seemed to mix up playing and passing with individuality quite well and he, along with Ephraim, put some lovely deliveries in for the forwards.

Overall and on this evidence, we’re still got work to do. Barnsley were a little unlucky not to score and should have had a penalty, but by the same token we can only react to what’s happened and deal with what’s in front of us at the time and we did that well.

When I look at the team, I still don’t see a promotion winning side there just yet, but I do see a team that can be a real nuisance and surely players like Akos Buzsaky and Matthew Connolly can only improve that first-eleven. Throw in another striker of quality and then we’re going to be more than just a nuisance for anybody.

It’s intrigued me and got me thinking about what really is the best preparation in terms of friendly matches?

For a start, we’ve had a lot of friendly games to play this summer, more than I can remember in a while. But, they’ve all been against inferior opposition too.

I like how he says he wants us to have the ball, rather than play against sides who will keep it a lot better than we can. But, does there need to be a bit of balance? How will we cope with sides in the Championship who do keep hold of the ball? Is it important to play teams that are better to challenge the players properly and sharpen them up? Or is it better to ensure we breed a winning mentality, however easy the results are?

I’m not really sure what the answer is and I will be really interested with how we cope with the next couple of weeks, particularly the away fixtures and whether we’re really ready to deal with the home side having the onus and impetus to go out and win the game.

I’ve friends who support both Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, who have felt that Warnock’s teams are never as strong as they should be away from home and I wonder whether this could be related to the type of preparation and mentality set from pre-season?

Nevertheless, in an unusual interpretation, even if we are strong at home and weak away, while that might be irritating it is still probably going to be more consistent than what we’ve seen in previous seasons.

It’s a great achievement and is a great reward for all the hard work that goes into the programme’s produced on match day. At the level the Ladies compete at, the home team must produce a programme and despite such limited resources and funding, a lot of voluntary effort and personal cost from those involved has gone in to creating something really worthwhile and of interest for the games.

I’ve generally provided all the photography for the programme, which is why I get a little mention too.

It’s nice to see the club recognising the achievement here too:
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2073927,00.html

Whatever anybody thinks about his level of ability, he really does deserve the chance to manage in the Premiership given the hard work he’s put in at many struggling clubs over the years.

He’s always believed and this really makes you realise that you can still achieve beyond your dreams and that it’s not impossible, even in the modern game.

And it’s moments like these that give you that tingle down your spine and reminds you how good football can be too.

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.

Okay we have a threadbare squad at the moment and had to call up players not only from the Reserves, but from the Third team too. But we still expected a better performance and a positive result – we ended up with neither.

We were sloppy and poor all over the park and a lot of the players didn’t have their usual zip about them. I talk a lot about desire and enthusiasm and the really top players have this in abundance and maintain their hunger for the game from the first kick of the season until the last.

For players like Simone Dwyer, it doesn’t matter what happens in between, or whether we’re going for titles or cups, or fighting against relegation or playing a meaningless mid-table game or even a friendly. She always gives 100% no matter what and some of her team-mates could have taken a leaf out of her book here.

The reality of the situation is since we’ve secured our Premiership status and won the FA Senior Middlesex County Cup, a lot of players have disappointingly taken their foot off the gas and let their standards drop.

Both teams did actually create enough chances to add to the scoreline, but our finishing wasn’t good enough and we really should have come away with a point at the very least, even if our general play may have given us what we deserved. Palace though could and should have added to their solitary goal too.

I was surprised at how poorly we passed the ball. There was a lot of kick and rush and just aimlessly punting the ball in a general direction and hoping something would come of it, yet we’ve got the players and the ability to keep the ball on the deck and move it around.

We are much better than resorting to percentage play, but that’s what we ended up doing and it was our downfall. It wasn’t good enough for us to unlock the door and we struggled to deal with the same style of play defensively.

You just wonder sometimes why on some occasions, we don’t recognise what’s going on ourselves within the game and what to do to change it. It can be hard to get the message across or make the players see what looks so obviously wrong when they’re pent up with frustration at how things are panning out.

It was a really bad day at the office and next season we’ve got to work hard on our pattern play and understand that when we’re playing teams that we’ve got to pry open and do all the intricate creative work, we need to show a lot more discipline, patience and nous than we have done this season.

We’ve lost too many times against teams we shouldn’t have and in this match and in recent weeks, we’ve looked a little short of gas in the tank too. All these things have remedies and it’s up to the players to put in the graft to ensure their levels are more consistent and that will allow them to flourish for longer.

Having said all of that, the players have done well this season under trying circumstances and have still come away with silverware. So that shows that there is a deep resolve and character within the squad, but the same core players can’t keep carrying the team every week because if they are not up to scratch or missing for whatever reason – then the cracks can start to show.

It’s important we look to end the season on a high and that we go all out to play to the level and ability that we know we’re capable of with the remaining two games. Sometimes some players need to believe in themselves a little bit more, because there’s an awful lot of good talent and enthusiasm here and we can certainly play when we really want to.

The challenge now is to put the recent defeats to Charlton and Crystal Palace to one side and see if we can be the party poopers against Barnet Ladies on Thursday – a team looking to clinch promotion if they can get a result, yet one we beat convincingly to deny them a six successive cup on the win.

If we can do it against a side of that quality – we can do it to anybody in the division.

There’s not a lot you can say here really. Neither team passed the ball well at all and often resorted to just total percentage play and hoofing the ball in any random direction and hoping for the best. It was a poor advert for Championship football.

I really couldn’t understand the logic of some of the decision making by many of our players, because Watford were awful, but we were no better and they actually made the better chances in the match and probably should have scored and maybe even have won the game.

When you play football in such a manner and simply hoof it at will and into areas, you’re always going to leave it to chance. There was no thought in the approach play by either side and it boiled down to who would make a mistake under the constant pressure of having to win that header or second ball that might lead to something more.

But both teams lacked quality and cutting edge, so anything that did or could have materalised was let down by wasteful play, a lack of genuine quality or poor decision making to capitalise.

It was obvious as well when someone would lose possession of the ball. I lost count of the amount of times that I could tell when a player’s pass was not going to get where they intended by the way they shaped their body or just their body language. Mikele Leigertwood in particular was a culprit, giving the ball away or just getting his passing angles all wrong – but having said that, he did make a superb last ditch tackle to deny the Hornets an equaliser.

I’m still a bit puzzled as to why we’re still continuing to play so many players out of position. To me, it makes sense to start with someone like Lee Cook and put him out wide on the left and let him do what he does best – deliver.

But we still have the likes of him on the bench, and then playing central or somewhere else when he’s on and Rowan Vine is still operating on the wings and is still looking a long way from the player he once was.

I feel a bit sorry for Vine. He is trying to do things that he’s not capable of at the moment and attempting to bumble his way past players. Whenever I see players struggling for fitness or form, or from a confidence crisis, I tell them to play it simple. No matter what, you just get the ball under control and lay it off to someone else. Keep possession and use that as a building block. But often in these situations, they go through the motions and through the same cycle repeatedly and that’s what’s happening to him at the moment. Surely all it takes is someone to tell him?

At the moment though, Vine is not doing that at all and continuously losing the ball or giving it away, which is not going to help him or anybody else and will just cause fans to get frustrated and on his back. Sometimes I wonder if anybody sees things this way either, because to me it’s really obvious but I guess that’s why football is so beautiful and with so many different views and opinions.

We’ve also got to solve the problem with the defence, who really have struggled to pass well for the majority of the season. A lot of our basic problems come because of the lack of quality with the pass or the decision making on the ball.

There were signs under Jim Magilton that these problems could be improved with certain types of footballing philosophies, but if that really isn’t going to work, then sadly we do have to find some better alternatives. I hope the coaching team really work on this over pre-season because we need to get it right.

I’m pleased there’s not long to go before the season is over and Neil Warnock and his staff can really sit down and plan what changes are required to take the club and the team forward in the future.

Unfortunately this season has really been one to forget and has turned into one of the campaign’s I’ve least enjoyed in my whole life, but I am genuinely looking forward to what changes Neil Warnock will introduce in the summer.

I expect a whole lot better Rangers next season.