Lofty Needs You...

If you don't know already, the Football Fans Census awards have come around again and much to my surprise, LH was nominated in the Best Blog in The Championship category this time last year. Unfortunately, it didn't make the final 10, but it would be great to think that LH could do well again and if not, get a bit further.

So, if you have a moment and would like to vote, please click here.

Whilst your there and in a generous mood, you may also like to consider voting for the excellent site I do a few bits for, Loft for Words in the best online fanzine category, along with Clive Whittingam as best writer/editor. Clive's work is excellent and an award would be richly deserved.

The closing date is tomorrow (Friday), I thank you!!

R's On the Road...

Weather permitting of course, QPR's next game is away at Nottingham Forest this coming Saturday 7th February. Lee Brown brings you some info, hints and tips for those R's fans making the journey to the City Ground.

Rough Guide to Forest, by Lee Brown

The City Ground, Current Capacity 30,576



Nottingham Forest play at The City Ground situated south of Nottingham City Centre and the River Trent opposite Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. The visitors are accommodated in the Lower Tier of the Bridgford Stand. The capacity is 4,750 but this is usually reduced to about 3,000. Access to the visitors turnstiles is through The Brian Clough Stand car park via Scarrington Road off Lady Bay Bridge. It
is also possible to follow Colwick Road (and Orston Road), to get to these turnstiles, this can be found halfway along Radcliffe Road next to a pedestrian crossing.

Parking prohibitions are in force on match days around the ground. Nottingham City Council operates a paying car park 15-20 minutes walk away on Victoria Embankment. Access is via Clifton Bridge complex to Queens Drive and then
Riverside Way. South of the river in West Bridgford it is permitted to park in the side streets; however, it should be noted that this parking is in short supply and is unpopular with residents. There are also a number of places on the opposite side of the Trent, including Notts County's Meadow Lane ground, which charge about £2 to park.

As you may or may not know, Rangers away form at the City Ground is dreadful! QPR have never won there in their history, making it one of the only grounds they have failed to pick up a win from. Having only scored 16 goals in the previous 26 fixtures at Forest, it is essential that Rangers continue their rich vain of form away from home having scored 5 and kept 2 cleans sheets in the previous 2 away games.

On top of the 2 clean sheets in the last 2 away games, Rangers also have a clean sheet from the weekend game against league high-flyers Reading. Defensively QPR now look very stable, the combination of Connolly, Stewart, Gorkss and Delaney now looks a settled and well oiled back four. It's all a question of who has their shooting boots on to go and score the vital goal(s) that their smooth passing and counter attacking football deserves.

It may only be a matter of time before we start finding the net on a more frequent basis. Forest themselves have been in good form and were on a 6 match unbeaten streak until losing to Cardiff on Saturday. Since being under the guidance of ex Preston and Derby boss Billy Davies, Forest have clawed themselves away from the relegation scrap and are now climbing the league at a healthy rate and are currently laying in 17th place. The main dangerman for Forest has been Rob Earnshaw, whose 11 goals in all competitions, 4 in the last 5 games before missing the Cardiff game, has helped lift Forest up the table and also defeat Man City up at Eastlands in the FA Cup.

Pubs, Grub and Sights

The Meadow Club on Meadow Lane has now become the 'unofficial' pub for away supporters it adjoins Notts County FC. The Trent Bridge Inn and Larwood and Voce do not allow away supporters in. There are a large number of food outlets around the ground including a McDonalds, which is less than 5 minutes walk down Radcliffe Road. If you have time to spend in the city centre there are a vast number of pubs, clubs and eating places. For those of you who like a bit of culture when it comes to a good old fashioned pub with some light hearted entertainment then I would highly recommend Hooters, although it is not suitable for some of our younger viewers.



If you are looking at buying any football memorabilia then I would strongly advise a trip to the MSR memorabilia shop located in the Broadmarsh shopping centre. For a bit of history visit the Trip to Jerusalem near the castle, or even take a trip to the castle itself.

QPR v Swansea Postponed...

QPR's home clash with Swansea tomorrow has been postponed due to adverse weather conditions.



At the time of writing, the games at Palace and Deby have also fallen foul to the snowy weather. Cardiff's cup replay at Arsenal has also been called off, meaning the R's trip to Wales on the 15th February, will also have to be re-scheduled.

In better news, QPR striker, Rowan Vine has been given the all clear to resume training, after breaking his leg at the end of last season.

QPR Begin to Prove a Point...

QPR 0-0 Reading

An entertaining goalless draw at Loftus Road meant Reading lost ground on Championship leaders Wolves, while sadly, QPR missed the chance to move into the top six.



Well, despite the somewhat negative opening line, this was a decent game which I thoroughly enjoyed. Following Lee's excellent report from Blackpool, it is back to my ramblings for this one, in what was labelled the Battle of the Hoops?!? You will hear no more of this from me, simply because Reading do NOT wear hoops, end of story!

After back to back away wins, the mood was clearly upbeat around the stadium before the game and although the temparature was rapidly dipping as the day was moving on, my heart was certainly warmed by the return of the SOUP in the Lower Loft kiosk - something of which I am now assured will be a permanant fixture from now on. Winter Vegetable was the order of the day and although it was no means my personal favourite, it went down well all the same. I was also warmed by the sight of Vickie's cool new white gloves, Lee Cook take note!!

Onto the game and despite the lack of goals and overall opporunities for either side, this was thoroughly enjoyable game of football played at a high tempo in front of the R's biggest crowd of the season. QPR's best chance of the match came on 11 minutes when Heidar Helguson somehow headed Damien Delaney's left-wing cross wide from inside the six-yard box.

Reading almost went ahead when Cisse's shot was tipped away by Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp, who also did well to keep out Leroy Lita's deflected effort early in the second half.



Rangers had the lions share of possession but Reading always looked capable of nicking a goal when coming forward - and very nearly did so with 20 minutes to go, when a goalmouth scramble ended with defender Matt Connolly blocking Kevin Doyle's attempt to bundle the ball over the line. But with the two sides so well matched, the draw was probably the right result on the day.

QPR: Camp, Delaney, Stewart, Mahon (Ephraim 77), Leigertwood, Routledge, Gorkss, Connolly, Cook (Di Carmine 90), Miller, Helguson (Blackstock 84). Subs: Hall, Alberti.

Lofty's Man of the Match - a good few contenders for this one I'm pleased to say, with Delaney having his best game in a QPR shirt to date. Gorkss and Stewart were immense against a very good Reading front line. Wayne Routledge was a constant threat, but today's award goes to home debutant, Liam Miller.

I have to be honest and say, that I maybe just am a tad disappointed that Rangers didn't 'go for it' as such with say, 20 minutes to go and put two up front. But nevertheless, this was another decent performance against a very decent side and for the second time this season, have shut out the league's top scorers.

Come on You R'ssssss!!

Winning in the Rain - Match Report

Blackpool 0-3 QPR

by Lee Brown

As promised, Lee Brown of the Henley Mob, has kindly written War and Peace the match report from last night's superb win at Blackpool. Many thanks to Lee, for an excellent report and I am delighted to announce that with the transfer window still open, negotiations are currently ongoing to bring Lee to Lofty Heights!



Thanks to Sam for the photo :o)

Rangers went into this game looking to build on an impressive away victory at Derby by following it up against a Blackpool side that had beaten promotion chasing Birmingham in their last home fixture. This looked as if Blackpool would provide a stiff test and with the cold, wet conditions this was going to be anything but a stroll in the park.

Rangers had also been rocked by the news that Radek Cerny had picked up a hamstring injury, so Lee Camp returned in goal, despite the rumours that this could in fact be his last game for the superhoops. The only other change from the team that started at Derby was Liam Miller making his debut in place of the injured Martin Rowlands.

Myself and fellow Henley Mob members Sam and Justin took to the journey at 3 o’clock really not knowing what to expect from the game but as our long, accident ridden journey unfolded and the great selection of cheesy music keeping our spirits up in the car, the positivity grew and we got the feeling that we would get the result the R’s required.

Blackpool started the game the brighter of the two teams and it was QPR supporter DJ Campbell that had the first opportunity to test the R’s defence, his shot was comfortably saved at Lee Camp’s near post. Rangers first real attack came through some good clean passing through the Rangers midfielders and Routledge passed inside to Liam Miller, who couldn’t get the ball from under his feet and the Blackpool defence were able to clear their lines.

On 17 minutes Rangers took the lead. A long ball found Helguson 25 yards from goal, he took the ball down before finding Routledge on the right wing. Routledge delivered a fantastic ball far post cross to find the Icelandic striker who nodded the ball into the bottom right hand corner, sending the helpless Rachubka the wrong way. 1-0

Routledge was running riot down the right wing giving Blackpool left back Harte a torrid time. Rangers clearly saw this as Blackpool’s achilles heel and proceeded to use this route on quite a regular basis as we counter attacked. It was on 40 minutes that Routledge picked up the ball deep inside the Rangers half and ran and the Blackpool defence to the edge of the 18 yard box, passing 3 Blackpool players on his way, he found the on-coming Lee Cook just inside the box who chose not to try and double Rangers lead but instead found Helguson who had strayed into an offside position. Had we taken advantage of this opportunity it would’ve been a goal that the travelling 202 fans would’ve been talking about all the way home.

At the start of the 2nd half 2changes were made, the 1st was a change of ref, so the tubby guy that was quite kind to us with a few decisions came off and was replaced by a much more mobile ref. Blackpool made the 1st change of the game, bringing on Owens for Martin. It was Owens who made an instant impact, running at Delaney before jinking inside to put in a teasing cross which the Rangers defence dealt with efficiently.

On 55 minutes Sousa made the 1st Rangers change taking off Miller for Ephraim and only minute later Rangers doubled their lead. Cook delivered a teasing corner, the Blackpool defence cleared but only to Helguson who was on the penalty spot, as he tried to play the loose ball back out to the left wing former R Ian Evatt slid in and swept Helguson off his feet. Definite penalty! Helguson rolled the penalty into the bottom right corner, sending Rachubka the wrong way.

Rangers then began to take control of the game and were seeking to put the game to rest. That man Routledge again was causing all kinds of trouble down the right hand side, he cut inside and found himself inside the Seasiders penalty area after a mazy run and unleashed a drive that Rachubka dually dealt with. He really should’ve put the game away and send the travelling fans into raptures again.

Just 2 minutes later Routledge was in an identical position and he again chose to shoot across Rachubka and the Blackpool stopper produced a carbon copy of the previous save. Would Rangers be made to pay the price for missing these clear cut opportunities? With 20 minutes to go Liegertwood found himself in acres of space in the centre of the field, he managed to find the advancing Cook who beat the offside trap and sent his drive wide of the right hand post.

Helguson then made way for Blackstock.

On 77 minutes disaster stuck for the home team. Routledge was blocked on another one of his mesmerising runs by Blackpool sub Crainey, on landing Routledges leg dug into the hip of Crainey causing him a lot of discomfort and forcing off the field. Blackpool had already made all 3 of their substitutions so for the remaining 13minutes had to play with 10 men. Unfazed by the numerical disadvantage Blackpool enjoyed their best period of the game for the next 5minutes. Taylor-Fletcher sent a drive wide and Fox forced the underworked Camp into a fine save.

With time coming to a close and the Blackpool players heads dropping Rangers found time to pressure the home team and their efforts were rewarded. Routledge cut in from the right hand side, laid the ball off to Cook who played a fantastic ball for Ephraim who was advancing into the 18 yard box, he sent a low drive into the bottom left corner and wrapped the game up.

In summary, I have to say the Rangers backline were as solid as ever, Stewart and Gorkss were immense again. Mahon and Liegertwood protected the back 4 extremely well, Hogan added another dimension to the midfield when he came on. Helguson worked hard up front on his own and took both his goals well. Routledge was the undoubted star of the show. A good all round performance away from home. 5 goals and 2 clean sheets from the last 2 away fixtures, now hopefully Rangers will take great confidence going into Saturdays tough challenge against a Reading side that are looking strong contenders for promotion.

Winning in the Rain...

Blackpool 0-3 QPR

QPR chalked up their second consecutive away win, with a convincing 3-0 win at a rain soaked Bloomfield Road. Heidar Helguson bagged two goals, with one coming from the penalty spot and Hogan Ephraim added a third late on.



This was a big ask for most midweek, including myself who sadly, had to give it a miss. But both the Henley and Leeds mob were amongst the 202 drenched supporters and Lee has kindly offered a match report, which will go online tomorrow.

QPR: Camp, Delaney, Stewart, Mahon, Leigertwood, Routledge, Gorkss, Connolly (Hall 88), Cook, Miller (Ephraim 55), Helguson (Blackstock 74).Subs: Bulmer, Di Carmine.



Sam's Man of the Match - with Fitz Hall coming on after 88 minutes, the award surely would have gone to Kaspars Gorkss? But sadly, no and I quote - Wayne Routlegde, by a mile!!!

Rowlands Out For The Season...

QPR Captain, Martin Rowlands will sadly, miss the rest of the season. After being stretchered off in the 11th minute of Saturday's win over Derby, the worst fears were confirmed after scan results revealed he has suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury on his right knee.



R's Boss, Paulo Sousa said of his Captain on the Official QPR Website;

'Martin is our captain and our leader - he epitomises everything we are about.

We have lost him as a player, but we will not lose him as a personality, because he is a huge character around the Club and I will continue to involve him as much as possible. He is a player we all hold in extremely high regard and we will be doing everything we can to get him back to full fitness as soon as possible.'

WISHING YOU A VERY SPEEDY RECOVERY!!!, Martin!!!