QPR 0 Wolves 0
A decent game, although a 0-0 is always going to be lacking the ebb and flow that can make football great, but both sides passed it and tried to be constructive. Wolves controlled the midfield for the first 20 minutes and made 2 or 3 chances, all of which they directed straight at Paul Jones. Rangers reasserted themselves and it was fairly even until halftime, just before which Kenny Miller missed the best chance to date, Jones saving with his feet [1].
Rangers were then much the better side in the second half but, frustratingly, were unable to press Stefan Postma into making a save. One day (probably just one day in his career) Danny Shittu is going to lash one in from 30 yards ... but not today as his blunderbuss shot flew wide. With 5 minutes to go Rangers over-committed and Wolves had a golden chance to win the match on the break, however Jones pulled off a fantastic double save. Carl Cort really should have scored the rebound. A draw seemed fair enough although Wolves did have the better chances.
Rangers tried to play again, with Lee Cook looking particularly sharp. He left Paul Ince hacking at thin air more than once, although the ever-popular "Guvnor" did manage to clatter him horrendously when he finally got close enough, earning a well deserved booking. Unfortunately Furlong, Gallen and Youssouf offered too little end product in attack.
Wolves I thought were a bit too far up themselves tactically. They were playing a 4-3-3 with the front three of Miller, Cort and (the totally ineffective) Jeremie Aliadiere swapping at regular intervals. Meanwhile Darren Anderton was playing the "quarterback" role and Ince was trying to break forward. It worked well for 20 minutes, albeit against a Rangers centre pair of Langley who's not the best defensively and Bailey, an 18 year old making his second career start. Once Rangers got to grips with it though a couple of players (Cort in particular) looked lost and unsure as to what they should be doing. Joleon Lescott was very good though and he and Shittu were the best performers on the day.
Finally there was an amusing interlude before the game. I was having a quick pre-match J2O with the Camel in the Walkabout, where the West Brom - Chelsea game was on TV. As we were talking there was a massive cheer and we both assumed that the Baggies had pegged back the evil empire. But no, there was Joe Cole wheeling away after yet another deflected goal. How do they do it ? Witchcraft and magnetism probably. We were both perplexed by this Chelsea support in a pub virtually in the shadow of Loftus Road until it became apparent that these were Wolves fans indulging in a bit of schadenfreude at the expense of their Black Country rivals. Phew. Everyone did hate Chelsea and all was right with the world again.
[1] This was not cleared off the line by Marcus Bignot as reports state. I was there, I have to wonder whether the reporter was !
Rangers were then much the better side in the second half but, frustratingly, were unable to press Stefan Postma into making a save. One day (probably just one day in his career) Danny Shittu is going to lash one in from 30 yards ... but not today as his blunderbuss shot flew wide. With 5 minutes to go Rangers over-committed and Wolves had a golden chance to win the match on the break, however Jones pulled off a fantastic double save. Carl Cort really should have scored the rebound. A draw seemed fair enough although Wolves did have the better chances.
Rangers tried to play again, with Lee Cook looking particularly sharp. He left Paul Ince hacking at thin air more than once, although the ever-popular "Guvnor" did manage to clatter him horrendously when he finally got close enough, earning a well deserved booking. Unfortunately Furlong, Gallen and Youssouf offered too little end product in attack.
Wolves I thought were a bit too far up themselves tactically. They were playing a 4-3-3 with the front three of Miller, Cort and (the totally ineffective) Jeremie Aliadiere swapping at regular intervals. Meanwhile Darren Anderton was playing the "quarterback" role and Ince was trying to break forward. It worked well for 20 minutes, albeit against a Rangers centre pair of Langley who's not the best defensively and Bailey, an 18 year old making his second career start. Once Rangers got to grips with it though a couple of players (Cort in particular) looked lost and unsure as to what they should be doing. Joleon Lescott was very good though and he and Shittu were the best performers on the day.
Finally there was an amusing interlude before the game. I was having a quick pre-match J2O with the Camel in the Walkabout, where the West Brom - Chelsea game was on TV. As we were talking there was a massive cheer and we both assumed that the Baggies had pegged back the evil empire. But no, there was Joe Cole wheeling away after yet another deflected goal. How do they do it ? Witchcraft and magnetism probably. We were both perplexed by this Chelsea support in a pub virtually in the shadow of Loftus Road until it became apparent that these were Wolves fans indulging in a bit of schadenfreude at the expense of their Black Country rivals. Phew. Everyone did hate Chelsea and all was right with the world again.
[1] This was not cleared off the line by Marcus Bignot as reports state. I was there, I have to wonder whether the reporter was !
posted by Andy_Ward @ 8:50 AM
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