Holloway-go now

[QPR_John]

The expectation around what QPR now is i think is a large part of the problem. We are now the 8th team in London and that is a reflection not only of ability but also resources. TF usual rubbish about going in the right direction etc is simply cover for the fact that unless we discover a bunch of wonderful youngsters we are not going to be better that where we are now.
On the basis of the above who would be better than Holloway who would want the job? There are not many if any names that come immediatly to mind. I think Holloway has some good attributes but desperately needs someone with better tactical nouse. I feel Bircham is in a very similar mould to Holloway and he maybe should be changed. Yesterday it seemed to me that Forest were set up such that they appreciated everything went straight to Smith [ obvious and please can we change the kick off routine] and they played slightly in front of our back four and in front of our midfield. They pushed forward a few meters and as a result we were left wide open time after time. And what happened to the pressing game? Holloway keeps talking about it but i constantly see other sides who do it better than us.
Overall though i don't think we have any other option than stick with Holloway but still unsure that he will keep us up. This team is fully capable of losing 6 in a row. We keep hoping about our youngsters but truth is so far we don't have any who you see a Prem side coming in for. The end of the season with be interesting. Can we afford to keep such us Chief and Robinson? Will there be bids for Freeman and Smithies? Right now i feel next season is looking more challenging than this one .....and then there is FFP!

Surely the main attribute a manager can bring to a team is tactical nous. Without that then very little else matters.

[T-Block]

One game.I agree with Old Pauline and Essox-the whiners really haven't thought this through.QPR football fans are a very emotional lot.At the end of Saturdays game a bloke behind tryed to hit me for suggesting Holloway had done well over the season given the teak available to him

[stainrod's elbow]

Decent managers conceive, delineate and execute tactical plans, I agree. Without that ability, it's mostly about the rather more blustery - if not murky - area of 'motivation'. We all know about that shyster Redknapp's reputation dubiously preceding him as such, while Martin O'Neill - another great 'man-manager', supposedly - is apparently hardly seen by the Irish until just before the game. It's not as if IH has too many outstanding credits here yet, sadly (the elusive Shodipo, the depressed Caulker and the possibly irredeemable JET).

[stainrod's elbow]

I hear what people are saying about the last goals, when we effectively had two at the back. But to a certain extent we put that on ourselves by failing with our starting formation (although it could have been different if Smith's header which hit the bar and bounced down on the line had gone in).

I'm quite a fan of Ollie's 5-3-2, 3-5-2 normally but yesterday we completely gave Forest both sides with Bidwell at LWB and Wzsolek at RWB. I felt both players shortcomings were badly exposed and we needed traditional full backs with Furling and Robinson in the roles.

Its easy to be wise after the event but I definitely think Ollie needs to change things around in those positions for the next two games.

Nobody is being wise after the event. We all know we have not the players for 5 across the back.

Why not? We have full backs and centre backs, do we not? (Furlong, Lynch, Bidwell, Robinson, Perch, Hall, Baptiste, Onuoha, even Mackie at a push.) It's wing backs I thought - embarrassingly - we don't have! Though IH seems to believe otherwise.

[QPR_John]

I hear what people are saying about the last goals, when we effectively had two at the back. But to a certain extent we put that on ourselves by failing with our starting formation (although it could have been different if Smith's header which hit the bar and bounced down on the line had gone in).

I'm quite a fan of Ollie's 5-3-2, 3-5-2 normally but yesterday we completely gave Forest both sides with Bidwell at LWB and Wzsolek at RWB. I felt both players shortcomings were badly exposed and we needed traditional full backs with Furling and Robinson in the roles.

Its easy to be wise after the event but I definitely think Ollie needs to change things around in those positions for the next two games.

Nobody is being wise after the event. We all know we have not the players for 5 across the back.

Why not? We have full backs and centre backs, do we not? (Furlong, Lynch, Bidwell, Robinson, Perch, Hall, Baptiste, Onuoha, even Mackie at a push.) It's wing backs I thought - embarrassingly - we don't have! Though IH seems to believe otherwise.

I think that is what I said

[Stans left foot]

[/bring ainsworth back from wycombe to steady the ship......for now..i think we should reappoint Holloway quote]

Mate

you appear to have the same consistency as Jeremy C's European policy....

[Satch]

It's been a loooong time since I last posted.

The Rs are no longer on TV in the states and our results have just been so incredibly mediocre, it's been tough to get excited about my beloved Rangers these days.

As far as Holloway's tenure is concerned, it seems to me he is very much a 'placeholder' for the position until we get truly financially healthy and have a squad that is hard to beat.

Is this just a treading water period in our history? 'Avoid the drop and wait for next season'...and next..and next?

You can watch every game online.

[Andy_N19]

One game.I agree with Old Pauline and Essox-the whiners really haven't thought this through.QPR football fans are a very emotional lot.At the end of Saturdays game a bloke behind tryed to hit me for suggesting Holloway had done well over the season given the teak available to him

As a "whiner" I have thought it through, Holloway's a convenient political placeholder, towing the
clubs official line. I don't want him sacked right now, not many credible alternative candidates,
he's reached a glass ceiling of sorts and there has to be a serious think over the summer as to how
they (Fernandes et al) can take the team forward.

[SheepRanger]

One game.I agree with Old Pauline and Essox-the whiners really haven't thought this through.QPR football fans are a very emotional lot.At the end of Saturdays game a bloke behind tryed to hit me for suggesting Holloway had done well over the season given the teak available to him

As a "whiner" I have thought it through, Holloway's a convenient political placeholder, towing the
clubs official line. I don't want him sacked right now, not many credible alternative candidates,
he's reached a glass ceiling of sorts and there has to be a serious think over the summer as to how
they (Fernandes et al) can take the team forward.

You mean buy a striker who can score goals? If we had one in this Holloway team we'd probably be sat in 10th place right now. If you dont have the tools to win matches it makes the manager look a tool.

Washington and Smith have got 14 goals between them this season. That is the problem, not the manager.

[ZENITH R]

One game.I agree with Old Pauline and Essox-the whiners really haven't thought this through.QPR football fans are a very emotional lot.At the end of Saturdays game a bloke behind tryed to hit me for suggesting Holloway had done well over the season given the teak available to him

As a "whiner" I have thought it through, Holloway's a convenient political placeholder, towing the
clubs official line. I don't want him sacked right now, not many credible alternative candidates,
he's reached a glass ceiling of sorts and there has to be a serious think over the summer as to how
they (Fernandes et al) can take the team forward.

You mean buy a striker who can score goals? If we had one in this Holloway team we'd probably be sat in 10th place right now. If you dont have the tools to win matches it makes the manager look a tool.

Washington and Smith have got 14 goals between them this season. That is the problem, not the manager.

Looking at it from a different angle ...

Both Smith and Washington have scored decent goals during their time with us, just not enough. It could be argued that the way the team is set up using wing backs (and players used as wing backs who don't have the necessary skills, because that is not their natural game) contributes to the poor goal tally. We seem to take a lot of shots from distance, many of which either miss the target or are straight at the goalkeeper.

Personally, I think we need to improve the quality of the balls into the box, change the angle of the delivery, and definitely not play with a lone striker. The most effective cross into the penalty area is one from wide, close to the goal line curling away from the goal. It was in Stanley Matthews day, and it still is today. Crosses like that are harder to defend, and curling away from goal puts doubt into the goalie's mind (should I come or should I stay?) To deliver quality crosses you need good wingers not wing backs, or at least players who can focus on that aspect of their job. What a shame we don't have any out and out wingers at the club, or utilised tactics to make the most of what we have.

[old pauline]

But that form of football doesn't exist anymore. Look at the goals scored against us for example. How often do you see a winger getting to the by-line and crossing for a traditional number nine to head home ? 1 in 20 goals, if not fewer I'd say. As I've stated before, if you have got the top six teams in the country scoring goals from their wide men cutting into and making runs into the box (e.g. Salah, Pedro, Lingard, Sterling etc etc etc) then you sure as hell aren't going to get wingers who will regularly get to the by-line and cross it back for a number nine at Lower Championship level.

[SheepRanger]

But isnt the modern game 352 with wing backs being used? How many teams actually play 442 these days and if we did would we be in a worse position playing agsinst 352? Is it just modern football bs that 442 is no longer the way to play?

[UxbridgeR]

One game.I agree with Old Pauline and Essox-the whiners really haven't thought this through.QPR football fans are a very emotional lot.At the end of Saturdays game a bloke behind tryed to hit me for suggesting Holloway had done well over the season given the teak available to him

As a "whiner" I have thought it through, Holloway's a convenient political placeholder, towing the
clubs official line. I don't want him sacked right now, not many credible alternative candidates,
he's reached a glass ceiling of sorts and there has to be a serious think over the summer as to how
they (Fernandes et al) can take the team forward.

You mean buy a striker who can score goals? If we had one in this Holloway team we'd probably be sat in 10th place right now. If you dont have the tools to win matches it makes the manager look a tool.

Washington and Smith have got 14 goals between them this season. That is the problem, not the manager.

Considering how many games he's started on the bench, I don't think Smith's 8 goals is a bad return, and he's got a few assists to boot.

The trouble is the midfield and the defence contribute so little in terms of goals that we're heavily reliant on strikers who are highly unlikely to bang in 15-20 goals a season. Freeman has 4, Luongo 3, Scowen 1, Wsolek 1 (and that a complete fluke). Lynch 1, Onouha 0, Robinson 2 (in one game and nothing since). The likes of Brentford, Preston and Millwall share the goals around the team much more.