Spuds at Home

[thebish]

Do you think we were set up in the best possible way to get a result from Spurs? Yes or No????

we were set up pretty much how most people on here suggested we should be with the players at our disposal.

Coyle isn't perfect - he makes mistakes. Hughes isn't perfect he makes mistakes. I don't think the table really proves conclusively that QPR are better managed than we are.

[BWFC_Insane]

Do you think we were set up in the best possible way to get a result from Spurs? Yes or No????

we were set up pretty much how most people on here suggested we should be with the players at our disposal.
Coyle isn't perfect - he makes mistakes. Hughes isn't perfect he makes mistakes. I don't think the table really proves conclusively that QPR are better managed than we are.

There is a bit more to it than naming a team and a system.

Our high defensive line and midfield that all pushed on together against a counter attacking side full of pace like Spurs? Was that really a good plan?

We've lost far too many points this season through tactical naivety. A team with our resources can't afford to do that and still be a premiership team. Thats the bottom line.

[thebish]

We've lost far too many points this season through tactical naivety. A team with our resources can't afford to do that and still be a premiership team. Thats the bottom line.

if we have lost far too many points through tactical naivity - what is Hughes' excuse? I'm interested to know...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Quite a few good points being put, but on this election day I think Bobo gets my vote for this:

Our threadbare squad was shown to be wanting by what is a very good team. Fantastically fast, especially on the counter attack. We gave it a serious go in that 15m period, but that, in the end, just allowed Spurs to rip us a new one.

I am convinced that Davies can't put in 2 matches a week & would be better from the bench. I appreciate that N'Gog works hard, but what else does he do ? Petrov is trying so damn hard, but with no-one able to beneifit from it. Eagles, typically, can be great one game & offer little the next.

NRC, great effort, nice goal, but keeping him on for 10m after he felt him hammy go will probably mean we'll not see him again this season. Vela, I thought, looked good ... Well, certainly looked like he felt he deserved to be on that pitch. No lack of self belief.

As said before, if we go down it won't be because of losing to Spurs.

I'm not sure exactly what people would have done at 1-1. We chased the game and left ourselves open, but is that really a surprise? The killer second goal came from exposing the hole behind Boyata - who thereto had shown commendable maturity on the ball, except when he blazed that late first-half chance over. It could easily have come down the other wing, where Lennon understandably had the beating of Ricketts.

Playing a high line against pace is always risky, but playing a deep line gives dangerous characters like Van der Vaart and Modric (not to mention the wide boys) more room to dominate the game. That quandary is why the 4-2-3-1 system works - playing between the lines - and it's something that Coyle appears to have realised, but now can't play due to loss of personnel (and the promise of a return to something like form from the club captain). Those who understandably criticise Mark Davies should remember that he's not a Premier League central midfielder, certainly not in a 4-4-2. To play that role you need wide shoulders indeed, and at the moment he's a little boy lost in a big man's shirt.

What to do next? I don't know. I suspect the naturally safety-first Roy Hodgson will set out to not lose rather than to win, and I fear 4-4-2 may surrender midfield. I also doubt Davo has the legs to start on Sunday, so I wonder if a return to the 4-2-3-1 may be in order - although I suppose it depends if we have the midfield personnel. If NRC is fit I'd be tempted to partner him with Vela, who looked commendably impressive, and although this will provoke howls of derision I'd push Mark Davies further forward to do his real job of linking and creating.

However we line up, we need to show the belief and chutzpah we showed early in that second half. We need to show fight. We need four points from the two games, especially as I have a sneaking suspicion that Blackburn might just beat Wigan and spring a surprise against a Chelsea team who'll be thinking of Europe...

[Mar]

I'm not sure exactly what people would have done at 1-1. We chased the game and left ourselves open, but is that really a surprise? The killer second goal came from exposing the hole behind Boyata - who thereto had shown commendable maturity on the ball, except when he blazed that late first-half chance over. It could easily have come down the other wing, where Lennon understandably had the beating of Ricketts.

We should've held onto possession a bit better. We were a bit gung-ho when a point would've been a good result. Taken the confidence out of the Spurs side by making them run about a bit for the ball while we were in the ascendancy. Instead wave after wave of Bolton attacks just leaves us wide open for counter attack (something we've not been good at dealing with all season).

Its not all about winning! Sometimes its about crawling over the finish line with a few draws here or there.

[thebish]

I'm not sure exactly what people would have done at 1-1. We chased the game and left ourselves open, but is that really a surprise? The killer second goal came from exposing the hole behind Boyata - who thereto had shown commendable maturity on the ball, except when he blazed that late first-half chance over. It could easily have come down the other wing, where Lennon understandably had the beating of Ricketts.

We should've held onto possession a bit better. We were a bit gung-ho when a point would've been a good result. Taken the confidence out of the Spurs side by making them run about a bit for the ball while we were in the ascendancy. Instead wave after wave of Bolton attacks just leaves us wide open for counter attack (something we've not been good at dealing with all season).

Its not all about winning! Sometimes its about crawling over the finish line with a few draws here or there.

hmmm... but have we the personnel to do that?

[coffeymagic]

There's part of me that feels that we were never going to beat Spurs. They're a much better side with better players.

There's another part of me that's fecking fuming.

That's being a Bolton fan in a nut-shell I think.

[Mar]

hmmm... but have we the personnel to do that?

Probably not. But I would say that we were really in much danger of losing possession in our own half. Spurs weren't trying overly hard to close down. The only problems that really got caused arose when we turned over possession and then they ran at us.

[thebish]

hmmm... but have we the personnel to do that?

Probably not. But I would say that we were really in much danger of losing possession in our own half. Spurs weren't trying overly hard to close down. The only problems that really got caused arose when we turned over possession and then they ran at us.

aye... one of our many weakness is that we are far too easily turned over in possession...

[officer_dibble]

I would go with that team all day long DSB. I'm as far awsy from a fan from Mavies as you can get at the moment but im not idiotic enough to not accept he would be better in the hole.

It wont happen though, captain tactics will play 442 and we will suffer another drubbing.

[newboy]

There's part of me that feels that we were never going to beat Spurs. They're a much better side with better players.

There's another part of me that's fecking fuming.

That's being a Bolton fan in a nut-shell I think.

Putting things into perspective if this game had been played when it should have the result wouldn't have been a surprise. I think most of us had a delusional approach to this game, I know I did and my reaction to the defeat coupled with far too many beers supported this.

We are where we are because all season we've been the worst defensively and midfield wise for as long as I can recall . I don't think we will beat the drop this year because I don't think we will suddenly become better midfield or defensively wise over the next two games

Out of the bottom six only one team has shown the ability to change and in doing so increase their chance of surviving and deservingly so and that's Wigan The rest will blame injuries, suspensions, fixture lists , fan unrest, owners ,managers, players, all the way down to the Championship

[ohjimmyjimmy]

We'll be reet.
Pissed off with our home form though.

[flatfoot]

However, can you explain why in that case that was their first away win in 2012, and why furthermore, only a few weeks ago our relegation rivals QPR managed to beat them?

hmmmmm......

QPR beat Spurs at home
Bolton lost to Spurs at home
QPR were hammered by Bolton at home

Beginning of the season game. We had a completely different side, an owner who was trying to get rid of us, and a best player (Taraabt) who had not trained in pre-season...


Bolton beat Blackburn at home
QPR drew with Blackburn at home

Again, early season, and we had them on the run all game - they got a very good headed goal...their only effort on target. Naive


Bolton beat Wolves at home
QPR lost to Wolves at home

1-0 up and looking to stuff them, we lost our new striker (Cisse) to stupidity (on his part) in the first quarter of the match. And they made their numerical advantage count..

how do you "explain" any of that???

Hope this helps.

[thebish]

Hope this helps.

welcome!! indeed it does! it illustrates my point that comparing any two isolated results is a poor way of concluding that a manager is tactically inept whilst at the same time claiming that the manager whose team has the same number of points after the same number of games is somehow tactically much better.

what's the general mood-vibe with QPR fans after our thumping last night??

[flatfoot]

Hope this helps.

welcome!! indeed it does! it illustrates my point that comparing any two isolated results is a poor way of concluding that a manager is tactically inept whilst at the same time claiming that the manager whose team has the same number of points after the same number of games is somehow tactically much better.

what's the general mood-vibe with QPR fans after our thumping last night??

Well it's helped, a little. The last six weeks and pretty much swung from "going to stay up" to "we're doomed" coinciding pretty much with whether we were playing at home or away. There was a wave of optimism after the win against Spurs - and Chelsea's victory in midweek against Barcelona perversely led people to believe that we could get something at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately we lost our best two midfield players for that game (Taraabt got our umpteenth weird sending off of the season, and Diakite - who has been immense - tweaked something). Derry and Buzsacky are just not good enough to cope with a buoyant Chelsea out for revenge (we beat them at Loftus Road).

The 6-1 mauling sent spirits through the floor, but most people realise that was a blip and the return of Cisse (scored or sent off in every game he's played for us this season) and Taraabt and Diakite back has us hopeful of beating a Stoke side we beat at their place with an inferior pre-January transfer window side.

The upshot of all this is, that we are still pretty sure that our staying up totally depends on you. Blackburn have left for the Championship, and Wigan have a piss easy run in. After you beat Villa and drew with Sunderland we were convinced you were staying up (as were the bookies) but WBA are a bloody good side and Stoke are not straightforward at home, so who knows?

Reading you guys, it would appear you're going through the same thing here. The only difference is that if we go back to the Championship we feel we have the squad (almost all will stay) and the money (Fernandes has a plan) to come straight back up. I fear that relegation for you will not be dissimilar to the last time we went down. And I would not wish that on anyone.

[norm the jedi]

Not enough goals, not enough bodies.
We can punt round tactics formation weather systems, astral projection and the fluctuations of the ftse 100 index if we like?
The players we had upright and breathing for most of the season just aren't good enough as a unit.
No doubting their effort or application most of the time.. But when you're shit you're shit no matter how hard you try. No doubt our full squad is good enough to stay up.. Our back ups and bit part cast aren't?

[coffeymagic]

i left after the 3rd went in preferring to sit with Mrs Coffeymagic and watch Peter Andre then this tosh.

What was the atmos like at full time?

On the subject of Peter Andre what a life that lad leads. It certainly warrants every second being documented for posterity.

Last night we saw him organising a bloke to come and now his lawn and the other week he was in B+Q buying that very same lawn.

I wonder what will happen next week?

[BWFC_Insane]

Hope this helps.

welcome!! indeed it does! it illustrates my point that comparing any two isolated results is a poor way of concluding that a manager is tactically inept whilst at the same time claiming that the manager whose team has the same number of points after the same number of games is somehow tactically much better.

what's the general mood-vibe with QPR fans after our thumping last night??

Well it's helped, a little. The last six weeks and pretty much swung from "going to stay up" to "we're doomed" coinciding pretty much with whether we were playing at home or away. There was a wave of optimism after the win against Spurs - and Chelsea's victory in midweek against Barcelona perversely led people to believe that we could get something at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately we lost our best two midfield players for that game (Taraabt got our umpteenth weird sending off of the season, and Diakite - who has been immense - tweaked something). Derry and Buzsacky are just not good enough to cope with a buoyant Chelsea out for revenge (we beat them at Loftus Road).

The 6-1 mauling sent spirits through the floor, but most people realise that was a blip and the return of Cisse (scored or sent off in every game he's played for us this season) and Taraabt and Diakite back has us hopeful of beating a Stoke side we beat at their place with an inferior pre-January transfer window side.

The upshot of all this is, that we are still pretty sure that our staying up totally depends on you. Blackburn have left for the Championship, and Wigan have a piss easy run in. After you beat Villa and drew with Sunderland we were convinced you were staying up (as were the bookies) but WBA are a bloody good side and Stoke are not straightforward at home, so who knows?

Reading you guys, it would appear you're going through the same thing here. The only difference is that if we go back to the Championship we feel we have the squad (almost all will stay) and the money (Fernandes has a plan) to come straight back up. I fear that relegation for you will not be dissimilar to the last time we went down. And I would not wish that on anyone.

Well, we are told our owner would continue to back us in the championship, he is after all a proper fan.

And we would be shedding around 9-10 from the wage bill (mainly older players and wastes of space like Robbie Blake) out of contracts.

And with apparently according to our chairman a plan for if we go down and "no need to sell" we COULD be well placed to come back with LCY and Holden returning and a couple of youngsters looking like breaking through.

However, many teams have said that and I don't think the the practical is half as easy as the theory.

With the parachute payments any club going down who is backed reasonably by an owner has two seasons to return to the top flight, before finances catch back up with you as parachute payments reduce and then you're on the slipper slope I feel......

[Andy Waller]

It was great to see Vela last night though. The first time since StuSA got injured I've seen one of our midfielders actually want the ball.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm not sure exactly what people would have done at 1-1. We chased the game and left ourselves open, but is that really a surprise? The killer second goal came from exposing the hole behind Boyata - who thereto had shown commendable maturity on the ball, except when he blazed that late first-half chance over. It could easily have come down the other wing, where Lennon understandably had the beating of Ricketts.

We should've held onto possession a bit better. We were a bit gung-ho when a point would've been a good result. Taken the confidence out of the Spurs side by making them run about a bit for the ball while we were in the ascendancy. Instead wave after wave of Bolton attacks just leaves us wide open for counter attack (something we've not been good at dealing with all season).

Its not all about winning! Sometimes its about crawling over the finish line with a few draws here or there.

Oh, I accept that totally. But had we "held on for 1-1" you can bet your ballbag there'd be folk on here saying we should've gone for it. Including, possibly, me.

we are still pretty sure that our staying up totally depends on you. Blackburn have left for the Championship, and Wigan have a piss easy run in. After you beat Villa and drew with Sunderland we were convinced you were staying up (as were the bookies) but WBA are a bloody good side and Stoke are not straightforward at home, so who knows?

Welcome, friend. I quite like QPR, one of my best mates at work is an Rs fan. Over the last month we've just looked at one another and sadly shook our heads.

I'd still rather have our run-in than yours. But I wouldn't rule out Blackburn. They might pull it out against Wigan, and even Chelsea if your hated rivals are easing up before the Champions League final. They can only get to 37 so we need four more points, which also tallies with overtaking you, unless you get something at City.

Close as chuff. Sick to the bones.