Despite His White Boots

Football, football, football and, if the mood takes me, more football.

Monday, April 18, 2011

QPR 0 Derby 0

10 days ago it was looking like this could be the night QPR could seal the deal. After an unexpected defeat at Scunthorpe and wins for the chasing pack at the weekend though, it wasn't to be even with a win. As it was, Rangers looked tired and couldn't break down a determined Derby County.

Again, if you were interested, you probably saw it. If you gave up before the end, good call, and you didn't miss anything. Derby executed a game plan very well and Rangers created not much in the first half and nothing at all in the second. Helguson seemed to duck under Routledge's cross-shot early on, and Taarabt's sublime long-ranger with the outside of the boot was well tipped over by Jones. Robinson wasted a good opening for the visitors just before the break, and Pearson was denied by a stunning Paddy Kenny save, by far the highlight of the evening.

Apart from that, Savage did what he does best and Taarabt got suckered into a personal battle with him instead of doing a job for the team. This time few of his team mates stepped in to take up the slack, the sole exception being Smith who did his level best without much support.

It still looks like Rangers are just about there, barring the nightmare scenario of a points deduction. If and when they do step up next season, they can be sure that no one is going to park the bus at Loftus Road, but they will have other problems to solve that's for sure! I'd just like to see them over the line and I'll be stepping back at that point. I am, in the words of Danny Glover, getting too old for this shit anyway :). As if to underline that point, I met someone who used to write for In The Loft which I used to contribute to as well. Was nice to have a chat but man oh man that was so long ago! ZOMG!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

QPR 3 Sheff Utd 0

Once again, if you were that interested in the game you probably saw it on TV ; I don't have too much to add. There's a definite feeling around the ground that the job has pretty much been done. Of course it hasn't, quite, but Warnock has been here often enough and in any case the players are responding by playing with more freedom.

Although Adel Taarabt was fairly quiet, the other attacking players all had good games, switching positions and linking up well, albeit against a very porous defence. Wayne Routledge's goal gave Rangers a deserved half time lead, although United did have a couple of chances, but when Bogdanovic missed their best opportunity just after the break, Alejandro Faurlin's excellent strike ended the game as a contest.

Thanks to some careless finishing, good goalkeeping from Simonsen and some utter comedy from sub Patrick Agyemang, Rangers only added one more, Routledge grabbing a second to earn him the TV Man of the Match prize. Personally I thought Faurlin was the class act, he just gets better and better and will be a key player next season, if the club can hold on to him. If I was a manager with £8 million to spend in the Loftus Road summer sales I'd definitely be looking at Faurlin rather than Taarabt (for all his qualities) and keeping the change. But we'll see.

In the meantime this season isn't quite over yet ; I has a ticket for the Derby game in two weeks and with a following wind that could be when Rangers finish the job, it would be nice. As for Sheffield United, I felt a bit sorry for them, their supporters started off boisterously enough but the first goal and a well-timed chorus of "We're going to Liverpool, you're going to Hartlepool" seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. The team, who you traditionally associate with hard bastards like Chris Morgan, were lightweight, sloppy in defence and generally looked like a team who know they're going down.