I’ll post some thoughts later as I’m busy and out tonight, but in the meantime I’ve uploaded some photos from the game… enjoy!

Photos
QPR 1:3 Chievo Verona

UPDATE: Match thoughts now included…

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Isn’t it amazing at how just one man can capture the spirit and optimism of so many who follow this football club? I think it’s fair to say that before Lee Cook’s return, there were doubts in the minds of many at how we would fair this season.

There were questions in my mind about our strength in depth, but the big worry for me was more to do with the balance. Was the balance of the squad right? Before Lee Cook arrived I would have said probably no.

Up until now I felt we were hard to judge. The squad was more than capable of challenging at the top end of the table, particualrly if we had a fit and in form Rowan Vine and Akos Buzsaky. Equally however, you could easily see it going wrong and us struggling in the middle of the table, or at worse, slightly lower.

The issue was really to do with the trend we’ve had over the years of playing players out of position. We have too many square pegs in round holes and the capture of Lee Cook solves so many of those issues because here we have a man who is an all out left-winger and one who loves playing there!

Let’s not forget that Hogan Ephraim is naturally a striker as is Vine. Cook’s arrival will also benefit different types of playing style. Dexter Blackstock will definitely score more goals as a result of Cook’s deliveries and the way Samuel Di Carmine plays, this should be good news for him too! One would expect Vine to just play up front now as well, which I personally think is great. He’s a much better striker (and indeed winger) when he plays up front and is allowed to roam.

Hogan could possibly now fill in on the right side too, where we’ve looked quite thin with just Gareth Ainsworth seemingly being available (with Martin Rowlands seemingly cementing his place in the centre of midfield, which has always been his preferred position). Suddenly we’re not relying on our kids anymore… I still think it’s slightly too early for Romone Rose and Matteo Alberti…

There are some who are unsure about Lee Cook’s fitness but I’m unconcerned. He featured several times for Charlton at the back end of last season and now he’s had a full pre-season under his belt. I expect him to be fine and while he may need a little fine tuning in terms of form, I’m not worried about anything else. In terms of his ability, he’s always been someone who is good on the ball and therefore, the problem isn’t necessarily if he can run or not, it’s whether we can find him in the right positions and I’m convinced that we will.

This season will be an interesting one for my blog. As you’ve probably noticed, I recently created a Ladies section and have been doing some match reports from their pre-season games.

A few weeks ago I joined the coaching staff in a voluntary capacity for the QPR Ladies Department and have taken on the role as Assistant Manager of the newly formed Ladies Reserve team for the coming season.

I’m working underneath an experienced team which includes Martino Chevennes, Tony Milstaed, Anthony Smith and Adrian West, which is very exciting for me and something I will benefit from as I gear towards my Level 2 Certificate in Football Coaching.

I hope this will help further my knowledge and understanding of the game and allow me to dissect matches in greater detail. I will also continue providing accounts of my experience with the Ladies team along the way as I think that will be interesting too.

QPR Ladies continued their encouraging pre-season campaign with a thumping victory over Staines on Sunday.

Despite taking a while for the Hoops to get going in baking weather conditions, it easily could have been double figures as the visitors were guilty of missing numerous opportunities to score. Once Chez Albert opened the scoring though there was only ever going to be one winner and generally the Rs played some excellent football throughout.

Staines struggled to gain any control over the midfield which Malin Engman and Tanya bossed from the outset and Chez’s trickery and smart dribbling gave them all sorts of trouble. Up front Viki Blackburn worked her socks off and deserved a goal for her performance, but was unlucky not to get the rub of the green on more than one occasion.

Malin added a second followed by a glorious hat-trick from Donya Wilson put the game way beyond doubt before Tanya and Malin (who grabbed her second) finished the job. Staines did manage to pull back a late consolation goal but by then the game was long over.

Team: Shereen (GK), Ceryl Guard, Ellie Sullivan, Nicole Cho-Yee, Mel Bidewell (Capt), Donya Wilson, Steph Lupano, Tanya, Malin Engman, Chez Albert and Viki Blackburn.

Subs: Elsa, Mel Randall and Allana Ashmeil

I managed to grab a photo of the big screen while I was down at Loftus Road this weekend, so those of you who were wondering what it looks like, here you go:

Am I the only one who gets really frustrated by the way clubs use Squad Numbers these days?

It has really irritated me over the last few seasons because why on Earth have we moved away from the traditional positions and numbers? I know there is a need for bigger squads these days, but at the start of the season it’s a chance to sort it out and organise the players properly. Or maybe it’s another one of those things where a team is worried they’re giving too much away?

It annoys me seeing Damien Delaney wearing 2 when traditionally a left-back would wear 3. We’ve got Damion Stewart wearing 3 when traditionally a centre-back would wear either 4, 5 or 6. We’ve got Patrick Agyemang wearing 11 when traditionally strikers would wear 9 or 10. You could make a lot of arguments and cases for others players as well as why they’ve got the numbers or not, but it’s still annoying all the same when the basic ones are muddled up.

It makes it harder when you watch clubs you’re not too familiar with and they’re also not sticking to any form of tradition because it means it takes longer to work out who plays where. You don’t have to stick to anything rigidly but a little consistency here just makes following the game all the more beautiful.

Oh well. They’re just numbers after all…

QPR Ladies continued their winning start to pre-season with a resounding victory over Denham United who were promoted into the division below our Ladies for the coming season after storming to the title and promotion.

The Rs started with a 4-5-1 formation but switched between that and 4-4-2 throughout the game. The match started fairly slowly with both teams feeling each other out but after a good 15 minutes or so we began to dominate and take control.

The height of Carla Williams and Malin Engman was a cause of concern and the superb deliveries from wide areas from Suzanne eventually paid off as Tanya was on hand to put us 1-0 up. Suzanne was the provider again shortly before half-time with another great cross which Mel Bidewell headed home at the back post.

Despite the 2-0 advantage we were a little congested throughout the opening 45 minutes and the players heeded advice from the coaching staff to spread the play. Simone Dwyer was the catalyst for much of the good work that proceeded and in the next 45 minutes we created a host of chances.

Carla Williams struck for 3-0 and finished a lovely passing move and then Tanya got her second for 4-0 with a header from another Suzanne cross. Mel Bidewell struck from the edge of the area after a good run at goal for her second to make it 5-0 and Malin wrapped up the win with a thumping turn and shot from almost 30 yards to seal an impressive 6-0 win.

Line Up: Jess, Mel Bidewell, Nicole Cho-Yee, Ceryl Guard, Susanne, Hannah Curnow, Jayd Bowley, Malin Engman, Tanya, Carla Williams and Chez Albert

Subs: Fiona Webb, Donya Wilson, Vicki Blackburn and Simone Dwyer