What really disappointed me yesterday - bar the defensive calamities - was the lack of incisive movement. The first half against Luton we were electric and moved the ball quickly and accurately. For much of yesterday it was like watching a half speed training game We can play some exciting football so why aren't we? I don't expect us to storm the division but there is more potential than actual delivery in most of the players currently
Wells? Can't play up front by himself, or off Hugill, he wanders around everywhere except the box to mixed effect. Really think we should send him back to Burnley January and get in someone who at least is sharp in the opponents box. I can only remember 1 weak header from him at goal yesterday, hardly got a sniff in a game we dominated, which says it all about him I'm afraid. Hugill does at least find goal scoring opportunities and is a reasonable target man, but Wells doesnt play well off him, he seems vaccinated against running into the box when he should be.
We probably paid a fee for the loan so can’t see that happening with our paucity of options. He’s not my favourite player but he puts the effort in. Very much a confidence player- this time last year he dropped off a cliff after a decent start too so there’s a big risk of that happening again but we don’t have a lot of choice but stick with him. If we play one up I prefer it to be Hugill but still think we’ve looked best with two.
I think we must be the unluckiest team in the Football League in the past couple of months, losing game after game by the odd goal despite dominating and creating chances. BUT BUT BUT you can't... Turn in the kind of appallingly lacklustre second half we saw yesterday in front of a decent holiday crowd Have a ludicrously risk adverse culture where 90% of passes are backwards or sideways and yet still give up cheap goals in every game Carry on making seemingly random substitutions often involving hooking the most effective player on the pitch Continue experimenting with Wells as a lone striker when it is blindingly obvious he can only play in a two Put up with Amos putting in decent performances in away games but continually looking like he couldn't give a toss at home ..without expecting people to get upset. I have never booed my team but I sympathise with those who did at the end yesterday.
I can't remember him starting a game, only a few sub appearance when there were odd bits that looked promising. I read he had impressed for the U23's, and while Wells isn't scoring, the Cup game would be a chance to see if he's up to it in a 3 5 2 alongside Hugill, where also Manning could get forward and get crosses in, which he is clearly better at than staying defensive at LB. I'd like to see BOS as the other WB too.
Maybe we should return to 3-5-2. Recently, when we've tried two up top it's with a diamond which hasn't worked imo.
I am still really upset (and a bit ill too, but I am not sure I can blame the Rs for that) So... We have deserved ( by on-pitch play, not by some God-given right) to get 9 points from the last 3 games, we got 1! It is nothing to do with passing from the back, with measured passing or any of the rest of the garbage that is being shouted. It is what we do with the ball. It is down to stupid carelessness and mistakes......plus a bit of bad luck. The only goal we conceeded which was not our fault was the Reading goal from Swift...but we missed 3 sitters in that match and Hugill had real bad luck with the Goalies face and Chair hit a post and a crossbar. We do not take our chances, our forwards are running scared because so much is expected of them.. Directly we conceed a stupid goal that the forwards panic and their heads go down. An Assessment Lumley, who was beginning to make a comeback, has lost confidence again, yesterdays brainf@@@@ was the worst of the lot and you can see it percolate down to the rest of the team. I do hope Kelly is fit. However I do not think Kelly is any better than Lumley but his confidence is not as shot as Lumleys, Kelly has to play. Do we get Dieng back in January? I do not not think loaning a GK is the answer, will Smithies just slot into that team. No The defence looks best as a back 4 with a DCM in front (currently Ball is looking better than Cameron, but good to have both) When will Barbet play again? He had his faults...and will have them again as he returns to fitness, but he is our best CB. I am sure Warburton wanted to play Hall and Barbet together, and he never has had the chance. Rangel is still a better defensive RB than Kane, but I think Kane would be better in a side that had Barbet. We must not expect as much as we do from Eze, Chair and BOS. They are young and cannot sparkle all the time. BOS has a few games off on the bench, and comes back like a train, as does Chair. The three of them need to rotate...also playing all 3 makes us defensively weakened, although BOS has worked on his defensive game a lot. In this team Hugill is a much better lone striker than Wells. Wells disturbs the team structure Hugill doesn't.....but Hugill does need goals to boost his confidence. Wells is fairly ineffective in all manner of his play at the moment, at least Hugill gets chances even if most of them he puts into the stands. Warburton really must make more positive substitutions. Smith was out of his depth yesterday. Scowen would have added far more grit. Amos is beginning to get there, as is Ball. I read that Warburton said there are a couple of players that are carrying niggles and cannot play every match/minute. I wonder if this is Wells, Amos and Hugill? Mlakar has not impressed, Pugh was good at Derby (and in one of the early cup matches I remember), but not in any other match. Smith looks totally out of his depth too. What would I do in January A CB and a leader is a neccessity...do they come in the same wrapper, I do not know I cannot think of anyone. Can anyone. If Eze is sold, I for one do not really want him loaned back. Will he play out of his skin for us, no! Not when he knows he is one championship clogger away from a season long injury. Well those are my random thoughts As said I am still angry, worried and a tadge ill...so I apologise
If the board are having an itchy trigger moment then for the life of me I would not understand why they allowed a complete over hall of the first team. From what I can remember, in the summer there was a defender from Aberdeen MW wanted - maybe that is an option to revisit in Jan. Last year, didn't we have a poor December / Jan yet turn a massive in their own head Yorkshire team over twice? Some of the players brought in during the summer probably haven't played as much as they would like - maybe extended run in the team would help them blend into the way MW thinks and wants us to play? I think there is one thing we are forgetting...…..we are QPR, we don't do easy, we don't do logic, we just win where we are not expected to and lose to teams we expect to beat. And confidence does play on the minds of the young players who can be battered by key board warriors HOWEVER IF THEY DO READ THIS PLAY OUT OF YOUR SKINS FOR THE SHIRT AND STICK TWO FINGERS UP AT US - we will take that as long as you do your best
When get the time (probably never), I want to check some stats to see if we really are 'unlucky'. I have a sense that we are. Then again 'luck' is mitigated by using every gram of skill and energy you possess and staying focused until the final whistle.
For me we just need to get another keeper in January. If it wasn’t for goalkeeping mistakes we’d be doing well this season. Lumley is too much of a liability and Warburton must be getting fed up with it.
Some of the football we played was excellent to watch but that nagging feeling of an opposition attack turning into a goal has become a constant feeling nowadays. For me, lumley can go. If someone offers me 250k I would bite their hands off. Never rated him. Leistner, I've always liked but his awareness is beyond ridiculous. I didnt and dont see the necessity for 2 defensive midfielders when playing 4 at the back. Ball is our best option by a country mile. Amos is good and potentially better but hes not ours and his first thought is to always pass it backwards. I feel like forward passing is becoming a 2nd thought. Even on the box I could see BOS making runs along their back 4 only for Amos to pass it back to leistner or Hall. Warbuton has assembled a very good squad all things considering, he just needs to get his tactics and personel right. Wells should never ever start on his own up top. Have the balls to play him and hugill from the start with Bos, Eze and Chair as a 3 behind. Let Ball do what hes good at and let's ****ing hammer someone.
The annoying thing is after a massive turnover of playing staff in the summer we’re doing so much better than we could’ve expected but for wasteful finishing and defensive/goalkeeping errors we could be well in the top 6. It’s frustrating but hopefully a few tweaks in January and it’ll all come good.
Lots of interesting comments about the different players, managers and staff we have had over the years but still we seem to keep being unlucky ... and always blaming the players, staff, manager and board. Maybe the only common factor is the fans ... and from what has been said the quiet atmosphere our team has to endure. So it’s all our fault and we need to buck up, make some noise and sort ourselves out or walk away and let some fans in who want to wear the shirt with pride and make a decent noise for their team. Then all will be well and promotion will be a certainty.
As someone (Gary Player?) once said..."the more I practice the luckier I get". I do feel we are not lucky. Chair hitting the post twice ( or perhaps3x) as many times as he has scored. Hugill hitting the keepers face Cameron defensive header against Charlton looping perfectly backwards into the oath of the in rushing Charlton forward But the bottom line in all this is the lack of confidence. When it happens to Liverpool they take offence to it, and double their efforts. When it happens to us we take it as an omen of worse things to come. That is Warburton's job to instil some confidence back into the team. Starting tomorrow! In other news BOS and Manning are in contact discussion, they haven't signed yet but David Mac, from west london sport thinks they will. We are after a high scoring Scottish international from Dundee.
Warburton needs to play the best players in their best positions and stick to it. We desperately need a keeper, centre back and striker. Manning needs to improve a lot if he stays. We have had some bad luck but we are conceding so many bad goals we could be in relegation trouble by March.