QPR stun league leaders with early statement of intent - Report Wednesday, 5th Oct 2022 21:07 by Clive Whittingham Now three away wins in a row and four from five road trips for Mick Beale's ever improving QPR team, and Tuesday night's victory at Sheff Utd who had been unbeaten in ten themselves prior to kick off was a real sit up and take notice moment. And so, with just enough time permitted to shake hands with the Bristol City players and quickly shower off and change, out of the gloom loomed the seven hills of Sheffield — same as Rome, though the comparisons tend to end there. It is not, it’s fair to say, the fixture one would have chosen. Logistically, coming so soon after a trip to west at the weekend, so close to our next match at home to Reading which has been vandalised by our Sky overlords, and another several hours of motorway travel to the opposite end of the country during the latest rail strike, it’s the sort of midweek fixture the EFL works in purely to infuriate managers, injure players and ensure that only the better off and most committed of customers can travel and attend. Football wise, in a stodgy division of mediocre slop, Sheffield United qualify as “quite good”. There’s a chap here who cost £22m, only fella who ever came close to catching General Sherman. Went by the name of Sander. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell. We’ve been here before, many times, and also quite recently. In through the early undulations of the Peak District, dodging the students and trams, to the league’s best stadium, 26,000 people all hoping QPR lose, and what is now almost certainly the best team in this division when everybody is fit. Mercifully, tonight, they’re not. Cheat sheet Anel Ahmedhodzic sits out. A rare moment of benevolence from an unrelentingly vengeful God, constantly seeking his revenge for all those times I ogled Sarah Barnard’s tits in A-level English — an act I concealed so masterfully she made mention of it in my leavers’ book. Smooth bastard. United's injuries are mounting actually, and George Baldock doesn't make it far past half time, but t’s a difficult trip on a quick turnaround, it’s another parachute-payment laden battle of haves and have nots, it’s a long way to go on a Tuesday night, and can I just shock you there… it’s pissing down with rain when we arrive in the middle of the afternoon, and for the duration of the stay. It's also a really interesting opportunity to gauge exactly where QPR under Mick Beale — now, farcically, the Championship’s twelfth longest serving boss after three quarters of an hour in the job — sit in the food chain. Twice, as recently as April, we played Paul Heckingbottom’s powerful Blades team. They were a long, long way shy of their best for our last visit to Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, and that was still enough to beat us 1-0 with plenty of slack still to let out. You could still afford your mortgage in this country when that game kicked off, and if it were still going on now you can’t, and Sheff Utd had removed four of their players, and QPR had been allowed a couple of extras, and Mark Warburton had been refereeing, and Tony Roberts had been keeping goal for them, we still wouldn’t have come close to scoring a goal. Little more than a fortnight later, at Loftus Road, Rangers did actually take the lead, but everything thereafter was that horrible moment we’ve all had as kids where ever so slightly bigger, older, taller boys turn up while you’re playing three-and-in, nick the ball, bully you a bit, and ask what, exactly, you’re going to do about it. QPR did what I used to do — that is get incredibly mad and frustrated at myself for being so piss weak, go home and put an old season video on. It’s come off the crossbar from Impey, somehow Middlesbrough have scrambled it away, now Sinton’s gone tumbling… PENALTY. If you like drama, this is the place to be. How far, exactly, have we come since then? That was a pretty obvious framing for this one, and thank God the narrative was that clear because at 11am on Tuesday there was no match preview, and at 1pm several people were expecting me in East Finchley to pick them up. We would, it seemed, have to go some. Sheff Utd were four remarkable Brice Samba saves away from making last year’s play-off final anyway, in what was considered a fairly mediocre season, in which the multi-million pound strikers we thought might fire them to the top spot managed a bare five goals between them — Tartan McPartick’s recent flurry of five in six came after none in his prior 24 and one in his previous 47 going back two seasons. They’ve got considerably better since then, with Ahmedhodzic the bargain buy of the summer anywhere in Europe leading a pack of impressive summer recruitment — him, James McAtee, Tommy Doyle, Reda Khadra (not you Ciaran Clark) would all have been the signings of the summer for any other club in this league, and they all wound up here in the same place. Morgan Gibbs Who? QPR’s improvement from their last visit would, if they were to have any hope at all of even hanging onto coat tails here this time, have to be a similar magnitude to yours if you wanted to marry Beyonce. Well, eyes down look in. We might have a fucking team on our hands here kids. The beginning was as the beginning always was going to be. Saturday’s home draw with Birmingham broke up a start to 2022/23 life in S2 of four wins from four games, 11 goals scored, one conceded, and three clean sheets. Millwall and Reading, in particular, had their arses handed to them here (would you like it… gift wrapped sir?) and that fairly terrifying build up manifested itself in an equally bracing start. Corners upon corners, possession wrapped in more possession, xG coming out of the wazoo. Thankfully, the shooting accuracy was wayward. One straight at Seny Dieng the best the hosts mustered for total, early domination. I’m reading A Year in Provence at the moment, it’s fucking glorious. I wish I’d brought it with me. Could have read this rather than watch my dad get beat up by one of the other parents at the school gates. Long old night in store. QPR in desperate need of chilling out, and passing the ball to each other a couple of times. Calm Down Lynn. Calm Down Lynn. It could have been 1-0 when Jayden Bogle went the whole way round the Sheffield Inner Ring Road only to tread on the ball at the crucial moment when the shot was all there and ready to go. It should have been 1-0 when Iliman Ndiaye, five already to his credit this year, collected a rare misstep from Leon Balogun and beat the whole QPR team by himself until there was only Seny Dieng left and then inexplicably side footed the thing wide. Agghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-and indeed-agggghhhhhhhh. I’d have scored that meself.
But, like Saturday at Ashton Gate, QPR grew in belief and game presence after surviving the early scares. Now only us and Birmingham in the whole league who haven’t conceded a goal in the first 15 minutes of a game and once we achieve that and realise it is only the Championship and we’re not half bad ourselves things start to happen. League One Wes had to be on guard when Luke Amos - an intelligent addition to Saturday’s midfield, along with Andre Dozzell, for the fresh legs and work rate — crossed for Ilias Chair to attack the near post and come close to an opening goal. Dozzell, I thought, played particularly well, and I’m loving his new found aggression and desire to affect the play under this manager rather than let the whole thing pass him by until the chance for a no-look pass for his SnapChat comes along as per last season — nevertheless, he got his pass selection hopelessly wrong soon after this when a better, quicker release to the right would have released Chair in a counterattack heavily overloaded in our favour. Still, it was better, and there were good signs at the other end. Ethan Laird switched off for half a second on 33, Balogun swooped in with a powerful rescue act. The former Rangers man, along with Jimmy Dunne - back in while Clarke-Salter’s fitness is managed - took ownership of our penalty box to such an extent that United were quickly reduced to long range shots and three or four of the worst, most pathetic and personally shameful penalty appeals you’ll ever see from Roddy McScotsman. Each one followed by a prolonged spell of testiculating at the match officials - the sort of bitchy, whiny moaning about nothing of any consequence at all that would make him an ideal guest for Loose Women. Referee James Linington treated it all with the contempt it deserved, and booked him for dissent after the final whistle which even at this early stage of the year makes five and a one match ban, but after the third or fourth theatrical collapse you’ve got to wonder whether a card might be in order for that too. Stand up and play the game you fucking penis. Grandad didn’t fight a war so you can pisball about like this.
QPR played the final five minutes of the half as if it were half time already, and they’d accomplished the first part of the mission. It was careless and slack, and only Sam Field, taking a break from making every mum in the Greater London area regret that their daughter didn’t bring him home instead, producing a solid block on The Jolly Green Giant kept the deadlock through to the break. Don’t worry about it, let’s get on with the quiz. The threat was there after half time, when a lovely move ended up with Amos — an understated performance here absolutely king of the Tuesday night away day necessity genre — teeing up Willock for a shot over. Sighter sighted, soon a multi-pass move from left to right involving seven different players ended up with the Championship’s best right back Ethan Laird. His intricate dealings with Willock coincided precisely with Doyle clocking off for a moment and that was all the invitation Willock needed to receive the ball, advance into space, and drill a low opener into the net. Foderingham will be disappointed with his part in it, but Paolo Di Canio did try to warn you guys.
One should really, really have been two. My man Amos again, pressing high, winning the ball back in the Sheff Utd penalty box, put one on a plate for Lyndon Dykes off the bench, he shot straight at the keeper, and Tyler Roberts somehow contrived not to score the rebound. Fuck me sideways. But, do you know what, after coming through the 2-1 trauma at Ashton Gate, I was pretty sanguine about the whole thing. Heckingbottom tried McAtee, Brewster and Sharp. You will be snu-snu'd by the most beautiful women of Amazonia, then the large women, then the petite women, then the large women again. It didn’t make a dent. Not a dent. Balogun and Dunne’s centre back partnership was on for a third clean sheet from three starts together, and Field the Shield’s shielding of the field was even more imperious than it had been on Saturday. The shots, that did come, were all from outside the box. When Oli Norwood’s around that’s not necessarily a good thing, but when he bent a 20 yarder around an assembled group of well-wishers Dieng somehow read it and got across to produce his best save of the season right in the corner. In all the way, a remarkable stop.
Sheff Utd’s big bad wolf routine melted away into the coughing remains of the Marlboro Man. No huff, no puff. They switched and switched and switched again, desperately trying to pull QPR out of their defensive shape, to no avail. Every time they admitted defeat and tried to sling one into the box, Dunne and Balogun gave it the big don’t argue. Dare I say it, we look a well coached team, that knows what it’s doing. Heckingbottom became the latest Championship manager to look at Kenneth Paal and go “herrrr herrr he’s little innit let’s go over there” to fairly tragic and humbling results — that lad looks very special indeed.
Five minutes added to the end. Taxi Joe called them out from the back of the stand. TWO MINUTES TO GO. Get the crystal, get the crystal. We even had Richard O’Brien running one of the lines, maverick guesswork mixed with harmonica riffs. A MINUTE AND THIRTY. Automatic lock in this one, but QPR were well wise to the concept by now. A MINUTE TO GO. Ilias Chair, his first game as captain, no VAT on child’s armbands, watching his team see it through from the side. A ground he left in tears last season, now skippering a team to victory. See it through they did, see it through they were always going to do from long before full time. Nobody was coming through that centre back and central midfield pairing last night. The home fans, more so than the home players, campaigned long and hard for a late penalty when Andre Dozzell went for an early shirt swap with Berge — daft of him to give the referee a decision to make, but the replays speak for themselves and they’ve both got hold of each other. Never quite sure whey the man in possession does that. Relatively, just five more seconds of time in the Dome; mentally though, far more than that to this team and where it’s come from.
How good are QPR this season? How far have we come? What sort of team do we want to be? How much progress from the dire defeat here in April? Well, just look at that. I got it from Amsterdam, it’s one of a set, the other’s in the van do you want to see it? Kids love reptiles. The next test was meant to be game three in a three-game week, at home to Reading on Friday. Sadly, though, a brilliant evening was tainted by first Chris Willock sitting down after an hour and appearing to say to Ilias Chair “it’s gone again”, ending the evening with his hamstring strapped up to the nines. Meanwhile, at the other end, Seny Dieng wasn’t taking the goal kicks by the end, apparently suffering his own thigh problems. Their injuries last season were a huge part of the team’s dramatic downfall, and even with a potentially now very handily placed World Cup break there’s enormous concern there about both. We came wondering how we’d pass one comparative test from 2021/22, and left worrying about how we’ll tackle another. That’s cricket Harry. Links >>> Photo Gallery >>> Ratings and Reports >>> Message Board Match Thread Sheff Utd: Foderingham 5; Basham 5, Egan 5, Norrington-Davies 5; Baldock 5 (Khadra 47, 6), Berge 6, Norwood 6, Doyle 5 (Brewster 64, 5), Bogle 5 (McAtee 77, 5); Ndiaye 6, McBurnie 4 (Sharp 64, 5) Subs not used: Davies, Arblaster, Gordon Bookings: Egan 22 (foul), McBurnie 90+6 (dissent) QPR: Dieng 7; Laird 7, Balogun 8, Dunne 8, Paal 8; Dozzell 7, Field 8, Amos 7 (Iroegbunam 77, 6); Chair 7 (Adomah 77, 6), Willock 7 (Dykes 56, 6), Roberts 6 (Clarke-Salter 66, 7) Subs not used: Dickie, Johansen, Archer Goals: Willock 51 (assisted Laird) Bookings: Balogun 75 (foul), Dunne 82 (time wasting) QPR Star Man — Jimmy Dunne 8 Like Saturday it’s another lovely day with lots of candidates — Balogun, Paal and Field chief amongst them. I’ve gone with Jimmy Dunne though because he’s been in rough form for a while, he’s lost his place in the team, he’s no doubt aware like all of us that the manager much prefers Jake Clarke-Salter, and despite it all he returned to form here with a really dominant display and now has three clean sheets in his three recent appearances alongside Balogun. That most of Sheff Utd’s threats came from shots outside the box tells you how locked down he and Balogun had that 18 yard box. Referee — James Linington (Isle of Wight) 7 Ok, which basically puts him top of the referees we’ve had so far this season. Sheffield United will talk about the late penalty appeal, and my heart was indeed in my mouth at the time, but you can see on the stills and the video that they’ve both got hold of each other and Berge didn’t appeal — daft of Dozzell, on an otherwise good night for him personally, to give the referee that decision to make mind, which I think was the crux of Clarke-Salter’s conversation with him afterwards. Some of Neeps McHaggis' theatrics in the penalty box wouldn’t have looked out of place at Tom Daley’s birthday party and though they were rightly ignored, one of them was so embarrassing I thought it crossed the threshold for a card. Attendance 26,636 (655 QPR) A week of very long, hard yards amidst train strikes, all worthwhile in the end for the faithful. If you enjoy LoftforWords, please consider supporting the site through a subscription to our Patreon or tip us via our PayPal account loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk. Pictures — Action Images The Twitter @loftforwords Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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