Match Thread: Queens Park Rangers FC v Bristol City

[IJM]

Whilst acknowledging that the overall performance was better today, especially in the second half, this squad by and large are not good enough for the Championship and Marti certainly has his work cut out to get a tune out of this lot - and I'm sure he is already aware of our shortcomings.
If he manages to keep us up, then he would have done a good job this season, and I'm sure that he will slowly build his own squad given time.
I won't embarrass our players by naming names as I'm sure any true QPR fan can identify which players don't make the grade, the few that do, and the few who are past their sell-by date and are only here picking up a final wage packet.
Hopefully we can look forward to next season already, which will hopefully be in the Championship under Marti and see where we truly are then.

[222gers]

Whilst acknowledging that the overall performance was better today, especially in the second half, this squad by and large are not good enough for the Championship and Marti certainly has his work cut out to get a tune out of this lot - and I'm sure he is already aware of our shortcomings.
If he manages to keep us up, then he would have done a good job this season, and I'm sure that he will slowly build his own squad given time.
I won't embarrass our players by naming names as I'm sure any true QPR fan can identify which players don't make the grade, the few that do, and the few who are past their sell-by date and are only here picking up a final wage packet.
Hopefully we can look forward to next season already, which will hopefully be in the Championship under Marti and see where we truly are then.

Very gentlemany of you not wanting to embarrass players but they have been embarrassing us for a long time and getting paid handsomely for gracing us with their presence.
The worst of the wasters have gone of course.
Most of today's team however seem to have responded well to MC.
The much maligned Ossie Kakay could teach some of them a thing or two about team spirit and responsibility.

[Andy_N19]

It shows just how far we have declined the past years that we are happy and relieved these days when we draw with one of worst teams in the league last week and again with an average, mid-table team at home this week.

This - yes, if we had a decent side, would any of this lot get onto the bench?
We have the right manager but he's inherited a poor squad.

No shots on target... again but then again we haven't got a competent striker at the club,
surely the priority come January are goalscorers.

[Montag]

Much better today. Didn't look flimsy and likely to concede every time BC came forward. Some good performances in there today. Ossie for one and Paul Smyth. Of the starting line up, I think everyone played pretty well. Dykes won a lot in the air and was a real handful for them. Unfortunately, when a pass was called for to Willock in open space ready to score - he (Dykes) suddenly got Chair syndrome and tried to take the whole team on like Maradona promptly losing the ball. Turned potentially the best moment of the match to the worst. Never mind. Onwards and upwards - literally.

[Rtastic 2]

A work in progress, early signs that we are changing our style, lots of patient possession, which looked composed, albeit every now, and again we give the ball away unnecessarily.
I think the new manager has a very different style to Gareth , I felt our patience and composure playing out from the back, was effective, but without the pace and position in the midfield , in other words, not incisive enough

Noticed that the midfield stayed compact without pressurising, too much, the Bristol City defence.
Instead of pressing which leaves gaps for them to exploit.
A good ball distributing player in the centre of defence and a couple of decent strikers would make a huge difference .

Lots of huff and puff from our front 2 without much
Guile or craftiness, they look very predictable .
But overall positive signs for the future !!!

[Nw6ranger]

It shows just how far we have declined the past years that we are happy and relieved these days when we draw with one of worst teams in the league last week and again with an average, mid-table team at home this week.

We need to go all in for a striker . Unfortunately Armstrong isn't ready and Dykes is Dykes. We have no chance if we are relying on our LB to be top scorer
This - yes, if we had a decent side, would any of this lot get onto the bench?
We have the right manager but he's inherited a poor squad.

No shots on target... again but then again we haven't got a competent striker at the club,
surely the priority come January are goalscorers.

[jimjams]

It shows just how far we have declined the past years that we are happy and relieved these days when we draw with one of worst teams in the league last week and again with an average, mid-table team at home this week.
Zero shots on target again today.
We look slightly more compact and difficult to beat which is a good thing.
Our lack of quality players showing again in set pieces, passing and shooting.
A few positives but if it's enough?

Well, yeah, because we were in a death spiral. In the 45 games before he took over, we got 28 points. Over the course of a season that is worse form than any team since Rotherham in 2016-17. It's substantially worse than Derby did when they stopped paying their players properly and then got 21 points deducted. Frankly, our level of attendance has been a miracle when you consider this.

And that's with more or less the same bunch of players that were in playoff contention for significant parts of the last two seasons (!)

Our first level, at least, is perfectly good enough to stay in the Championship. It all reminds me of when the England team of the 2000s started saying "oh we weren't as good as everyone said we were." They were good enough to achieve something big, they just f-ed it up. When people start talking asking how many of this team would make the bench of a decent team, it's a headscratcher for me. Dickie, here for most of that terrible run, was Bristol's best player. Dieng, also here for most of it, is first pick in a top 10 team. How many of the current England team would make the team of the 2000s? Maybe right back and left midfield, tops. And yet they made a final and two semifinals.

So maybe, and I know this is a bit of a rant, but *maybe* the solution is not better players, but that the players we have stop playing like useless tw@s.

Our passing yesterday was way better than under GA, and our lack of shots on goal was more to do with crosses not finding their mark than poor finishing. Obviously, that is not good, but at least they were actually putting crosses in.

[ZENITH R]

A work in progress, early signs that we are changing our style, lots of patient possession, which looked composed, albeit every now, and again we give the ball away unnecessarily.
I think the new manager has a very different style to Gareth , I felt our patience and composure playing out from the back, was effective, but without the pace and position in the midfield , in other words, not incisive enough

Noticed that the midfield stayed compact without pressurising, too much, the Bristol City defence.
Instead of pressing which leaves gaps for them to exploit.
A good ball distributing player in the centre of defence and a couple of decent strikers would make a huge difference .

Lots of huff and puff from our front 2 without much
Guile or craftiness, they look very predictable .
But overall positive signs for the future !!!

A work in progress indeed. This will take time, and lets not forget Marti has been in post less than 2 weeks.

In that time ...

We haven't lost a game.
We kept our first clean sheet of the season at home yesterday.
The quality of football has improved.
The mood, attitude and spirit among the players seems to have improved.

Our first win is just around the corner, and that will give everyone a boost.

Glass very definitely half full.

[222gers]

I have to say, blinking in the Sunday morning sunshine, that I feel better about our prospects than for quite a long while.
The second half display was gutsy - not a thing I thought I'd ever say again.
Definitely need a striker in Jan if the sponsorship deals give us some cash.
I still think we should have given Chris Martin one more deal until such time that hopefully, Armstrong and Kolli improve.

[redinjun]

I was massively encouraged, and agree our style, structure, confidence and willingness look worlds away from the creative black hole we seem to have emerged from.

I too subscribe to the fact that most of these players were top of the league a year ago, all they need is a decent manager, and I am convinced we now have him.

There was a moment late on when , I think Richards, was driving forward and there were 5 or 6 runners getting into the box. Not sure I’ve seen that for a decade or so.

Also, how on earth was did the ref not give a pen for that foul on Armstrong?

[Satch]

How did Richards look?

[Andy_N19]

It shows just how far we have declined the past years that we are happy and relieved these days when we draw with one of worst teams in the league last week and again with an average, mid-table team at home this week.

We need to go all in for a striker . Unfortunately Armstrong isn't ready and Dykes is Dykes. We have no chance if we are relying on our LB to be top scorer
This - yes, if we had a decent side, would any of this lot get onto the bench?
We have the right manager but he's inherited a poor squad.

No shots on target... again but then again we haven't got a competent striker at the club,
surely the priority come January are goalscorers.

With Dykes, it's like us only playing with 10 men

How did Richards look?

He was patchy, made no impression, other supporters aren't impressed with him at all
I'll give him time but he only has half a dozen more games to keep his Rangers career on track.

[ZENITH R]

We need to go all in for a striker . Unfortunately Armstrong isn't ready and Dykes is Dykes. We have no chance if we are relying on our LB to be top scorer
This - yes, if we had a decent side, would any of this lot get onto the bench?
We have the right manager but he's inherited a poor squad.

No shots on target... again but then again we haven't got a competent striker at the club,
surely the priority come January are goalscorers.

With Dykes, it's like us only playing with 10 men

How did Richards look?

He was patchy, made no impression, other supporters aren't impressed with him at all
I'll give him time but he only has half a dozen more games to keep his Rangers career on track.

Footballers need to play, and start games. Since he joined in July 2022 he has started 2 games and been a sub 18 times (in all competitions). Often those substitute appearances have been very late in the game. This season he played the full game against Norwich in the league cup, and been a sub 3 times - coming on in the 88th, 63rd and 82nd minutes.Hardly time to establish himself.

[UxbridgeR]

Footballers need to play, and start games. Since he joined in July 2022 he has started 2 games and been a sub 18 times (in all competitions). Often those substitute appearances have been very late in the game. This season he played the full game against Norwich in the league cup, and been a sub 3 times - coming on in the 88th, 63rd and 82nd minutes.Hardly time to establish himself.

They have to earn the right to play and start games. He doesn’t look interested enough to even break into a sprint.

Cifuentes is the fourth manager he’s played under in his time at the club. If it’s not happening for him by now, he needs to look at himself.

[222gers]

Footballers need to play, and start games. Since he joined in July 2022 he has started 2 games and been a sub 18 times (in all competitions). Often those substitute appearances have been very late in the game. This season he played the full game against Norwich in the league cup, and been a sub 3 times - coming on in the 88th, 63rd and 82nd minutes.Hardly time to establish himself.

They have to earn the right to play and start games. He doesn’t look interested enough to even break into a sprint.

Cifuentes is the fourth manager he’s played under in his time at the club. If it’s not happening for him by now, he needs to look at himself.

He does hold the world record as the only footballer in history to get injured in his club medical.