R's on The Road.......... To Derby County.

On Saturday the in-form Rangers take centre stage in the live match of the day on BBC 2 in the 5.30 kick off.
As usual here are a few hints and tips for your journey north.




The Stadium.

Current Capacity - 33,597



Pride Park has been the home of Derby County since 1997 having been at home at The Baseball Ground since 1895.
Each of Derby’s three homes, including their first home The Racecourse Ground, have hosted a full International. The Racecourse Ground hosted the England 9 Ireland 0 victory in 1895, The Baseball Ground was host to the England 2 Ireland 1 victory in 1911 and Pride Park graced the England 4 Mexico 0 match.
Derby’s most successful manager is the legendary Brain Clough. He managed to lead the club to the Division 2 title in 1969 and the Division 1 title in 1972. He also won two other smaller competitions with the club, The Watney Cup in 1971 and The Texaco Cup in 1972. He left the club in 1973 to manage Brighton and then Leeds in 1974 before taking over at bitter rivals Nottingham Forest in 1975. The A52, which separates Derby from Nottingham, has been named ‘Brian Clough Way’ in appreciation for his efforts at both clubs during his spells there.

The History between the teams.

At Derby County (21)

Derby 10
QPR 6
Draw 5

The last time QPR won at Derby (excluding last year) was on 29th October 2005 in the R’s second season in the Championship following their promotion from League One.
It was my first trip to Pride Park and what a game it was! Me along with my friends Jointy and Tony took to the road for the two and a bit hour journey in hope that we would witness a second away win of the season for a Rangers side sitting comfortably in mid table. Gareth Ainsworth opened the scoring when he bundled the ball over from close range. However five minutes later disaster struck. Paul Furlong was sent off for kicking out on Emerson Thome and the Brazilian’s play acting really didn’t help but it did leave the R’s with the seemingly impossible job of holing out for over 55 minutes. That however wasn’t to rain on Rangers parade. Derby were given the opportunity to equalize from the penalty spot after a handball inside the box. Idiakez placed his penalty into the bottom left corner but Simon Royce pulled off a fantastic save and ensured the R’s stayed in front. A galvanised Rangers attacked once again with 10 minutes remaining Kevin Gallen was set in the clear after a through ball by Georges Santos and curled a beautiful shot around the despairing Poole in the Derby goal. However just four minutes later Dexter Blackstock did pull a goal back for Derby and set up a grandstand finish. With Simon Royce bang on form we were able to hang on and bring the points back to West London and send the 3 happy travellers back home ecstatic.



How to get there.

By Car:- The sat nav postcode for today is DE24 8XL.
Follow the M1 up to junction 25 and take the left onto the A52 towards Derby. 7 miles down the A52 you will have the ground signposted all the way for the rest of the journey.
Parking can be a tad tricky. On my last visit there was a little secluded area of parking just before Pride Park but I’m not aware if this is still available so instead I would point you in the direction of the cattle market which is a 15 minute walk from Pride Park or you can always park at the Derby Conference Centre for £5.


By Train:- The ground is roughly a ten minute walk from the station and I will do my best to give you directions from here. As you get off the platform go up the stairs, turn right and walk to the end of the bridge. Go down the stairs, exit and turn right down Roundhouse Road. Bear left at the roundabout, go straight down Riverside Road or turn right and go down Pride Parkway. You will approach the ground straight ahead of you.


Pubs 'n' Grub.

The best place for Rangers fans to drink is the Harvester just around the corner from the ground. It is very friendly in there and I have never encountered any trouble there on previous visits.
For food you could use the Harvester or alternatively there is a Frankie and Bennys, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King and Subway not far from here.
Available on the concourse are a selection of Pies and Pasties all at £2.60, Cheeseburgers (£3.50), Burgers (£3) and Hot dogs (£3). They also offer a Pie & Pint for £5.50.

Gartner: 'Worst year ever' for IT spending

Gartner: 'Worst year ever' for IT spending

Tuesday, October 20 2009 02:26 PM

At the Gartner Symposium/ITExpo 2009 in Orlando, Fla., Peter Sondergaard, enior vice president of research at Gartner, says 2009 was the worst spending cycle ever. He adds that Silicon Valley will no longer be in charge of the rebound and emerging regions will drive IT spending and how it's deployed.

"You're not fit to wear the hoops!!"

After dealing out a 4-0 thrashing against Preston in an emphatic victory at the weekend it was Reading’s turn to visit Loftus Road and take on one of the in-form teams of the Championship. The Lofty Heights crew arrived in anticipation of the local derby against the team that claim to be the hoops but are really the horizontal stripes.

In attendance tonight were Lofty, Corp, California Hoop, Mark (now known as Jenson for his lightning fast driving), Justin, Sam and myself. Unfortunately due to work commitments PK was unable to join us, he should be back with us for the Derby trip on Saturday. However a few guests also came along with the group with Carl, Trevor and Banksy coming along with us all. New nicknames are being thought of for the new members so I will keep you up to date on the developments.

One change was made from the winning side on Saturday. Ben Watson returning from suspension replaced Gavin Mahon. If I was Mahon I would’ve felt a tad frustrated as his performance was exceptional and in my eyes didn’t deserve to be dropped.
With Mahon being dropped it meant that the captain’s armband was up for grabs. Damion Stewart was handed the responsibility for the evening and in turn became the fourth person to be captain this season.

The game started off as a pretty tight affair. Rangers did look the most threatening attacking wise and Reading who looked to be playing a 4-5-1 and didn’t look as if they had the willingness or the confidence to attack the R’s backline.
Rangers had a few decent efforts on goal with Taarabt having two decent attempts to break the deadlock. One slipped just wide of the post when really he should’ve done better and the other was blocked by a forest of Royals legs.
On 19 minutes Ben Watson wildly slid into a tackle on the edge of the R’s penalty area and picked up a booking for this, not the ideal way to start a game having just returned from a suspension where he picked up two bookings.
On the half hour mark our worst fears came true.
Rangers had a free kick which was a full 30 yards out, Watson tried playing a quick free kick which referee Andy Hall, who we’ve had many problems with in the past, didn’t appreciate and pulled play back and booked Watson once again and sent the tenacious midfielder for an early bath for his second match running. I have never known a player to be booked for trying to take a free kick before and found it totally ridiculous and incensed the R’s once again and jeopardised us from losing a game that we were in control of.

What followed though was just pure genius!
The free kick was now to be taken by Buzsaky and he superbly lifted the ball over the wall and found the bottom left hand corner! Yet another piece of brilliance from a Rangers player, we must now have four or five contenders for goal of the season already!

Cue the chants of “we only need ten men!”



Hang on make that six because just eight minutes later the ten men doubled the lead and what a goal it was!
Trying to remember the exact start point is hard but I will do my best to describe it.
With the ball in midfield the ball was played to Stewart just inside the R’s half, he passed to Gorkss who passed back to Cerny and started right from the back once more, Cerny passed to Gorkss and Gorkss played a simple ball to Faurlin mid way inside the R’s half. Faurlin turned and saw Buzsaky in a little bit of space on the centre spot and he played a beautiful ball out on the wide right to Routledge. Routledge put in a deep cross to the back post which is where the only R’s attacker in the box, Simpson, was heading. Simpson got to the ball ahead of both the defender and goalkeeper and tucked the ball away from six yards. A magnificent team goal and the 10 men were really taking the proverbial out of an extremely poor Reading side.

Reading did have one chance worth noting. A free kick on the left side of the penalty area was taken and looked to be creeping in at the far post, that was until Cerny flung himself across goal and managed to get a fingertip to it and push it onto the post. Brilliant save!
The Superhoops had one more effort in the first half. Routledge shooting straight at the Reading ‘keeper after good work out wide by Taarabt.

The half time get together was one of jubilation and as within many of the half time posse there is a distinct dislike for the team that were playing in orange . For the first time since 1967 it looked as if we were heading for a home victory against a team that claim to be ‘the proper hoops’, pffft don’t make me laugh.

Within thirty seconds of the second half the sides were brought back to level terms in terms of players on the pitch. Ingimarsson, who was already on a booking, decided to hack down Jay Simpson just inside the Reading half and picked up his second booking of the evening and joined Watson in having an early bath. The card happy ref must’ve been licking his lips and was awaiting his next victim to go into his book. Luckily he didn’t ruin the game any further and let the two teams play with even sides for the remainder of the second period.
Reading who had made two substitutions at the start of the second half could’ve easily given up on their game plan but in fairness they did come into the game a little more.
Simpson was taken off on 54 minutes and seemed to be carrying a knock from the Ingimarsson challenge at the start of the half. He was replaced by Rowan Vine.

Vine, who to me has been desperate to grab a goal to help boost his confidence, had two fantastic opportunities to score. Routledge was the provider for both and both times Vine failed to get a decent contact with his shot and saw one roll straight to the Reading ‘keeper and the other one was gathered by the ‘keeper after scrambling across his goal mouth attempting to get hold of the effort.
Vine wasn’t to be denied though and on 71 minutes he got his reward.
Taarabt played a short ball to Vine on the left edge of the Reading penalty area. Vine had so much space around him and decided to take an early shot, to the shock of the ‘keeper, and drilled the ball home from 15 yards out into the bottom left hand corner.

Gavin Mahon had come on for Buzsaky just before the third goal and Patrick Agyemang continued his comeback from injury by taking to the field for Taarabt shortly after the goal.

Agyemang was soon in the thick of the action and found himself one on one with ‘keeper after beating two defenders with his rubber legs, unfortunately his effort was saved on this occasion.
A few minutes later Agyemang was set free by a ball over the top by Mahon which set Agyemang clear once again with only the ‘keeper to beat. This time he wrong footed him and rounded him to make it 4-0 and well and truly rub salt into the wounds of our Berkshire ‘friends’.
There was time for Reading to clinch a late consolation. Howard poked the ball home from close range after a Reading attack down their left hand side.



Having out played the Royals for much of the game and even with 10 men we still looked the more dangerous side in the game. The only thing that remains to be said is Reading "You're not fit to wear the hoops", sorry I mean horizontal stripes.

The record now reads that Rangers are now 13 games unbeaten at home in all competitions and we have now scored 16 goals in 6 home league games this season, 13 of them coming in the last 3 fixtures.
Berkshire radio have apparently described the football played by Rangers in the first half as “champions football”, we can only hope that this will continue and the TV jinx will not come and haunt us in the next two games.


QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Routledge, Buzsaky (Mahon 66), Gorkss, Watson, Faurlin, Simpson (Vine 53), Borrowdale, Taarabt (Agyemang 76).

Subs not used: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Ainsworth.

Scorers: Buzsaky (31), Simpson (39), Vine (71), Agyemang (83)

Bookings: Watson (19 & 30), Borrowdale (24), Faurlin (44)

Red Cards: Watson (30)

Reading: Federici, Cisse (Sigurdsson 46), Mills, Gunnarsson, Tabb (Howard 46), Long, McAnuff, Kebe, Ingimarsson, Church (Robson-Kanu 56), O'Dea.

Goals: Howard (86)

Subs not used: Hamer, Karacan, Rasiak, Pearce.

Bookings: Ingimarsson (38 & 46)

Red Cards: Ingimarsson (46)

Attendance: 11, 900

Lofty once again had a tough time picking today’s Man of the Match. There are quite a few contenders up for the award once again today. Buzsaky scored a fantastic free kick, Taarabt really did look on top of his game again tonight, Routledge caused all sorts of problems again but it boiled down to a choice of two players. Damion Stewart, who captained the side for the first time tonight, played out of his skin and was rock solid at the back, I would say he was faultless tonight. However tonight the award goes to the ever improving Alessandro Faurlin. He once again ran the show in the middle of the park and looks to be maturing with every game. His engine is really good and is always looking to get involved whether it be in defence or at the top end of the pitch, tonight he could’ve scored on two or three occasions.

The crew move onto Saturday’s game at Derby and we will look forward to reporting back with our thoughts upon our arrival back home. Remember the game is being aired live on BBC 2 at 5.15 ( I think) so if you can tune in I will hope we are in for another treat.

U R’SSSSSSSSSSSSS

Rangers say Taa-ra to Preston.

After what seemed like an eternity since the last home fixture, we finally returned to the home of football for the fixture against a Preston side that has had a fantastic start to the season and were sitting in the top six after a strong start to the season.

As per usual we headed straight for the Springbok for a pre match beverage. Today’s group was Lofty, PK, Corp, California Hoop, Justin, Sam, Mark and Me. At half time we were joined by Darren and Paul, which completed the line up of the original Lofty Heights crew from back in the day.

Onto the day’s game.
Jim Magilton had a few selection headaches ahead of today’s game and a lengthy injury list. With Martin Rowlands (ACL), Mikele Leigertwood (virus), Alessandro Pellicori (knee), Matthew Connolly (glandular fever), Lee Cook (knee), Angelo Balanta (groin), Hogan Ephraim (ankle) and Ben Watson (suspended) there were spots available in defence and midfield for Rangers fringe players. The decision was to bring in Peter Ramage at right back, Gavin Mahon and Alessandro Faurlin took the two available centre midfield spots and the final change was Rowan Vine dropping to the bench and Adel Taarabt took his place in the starting line up for the first time since the away victory at Scunthorpe. Patrick Agyemang and Gareth Ainsworth completed 60 minutes in the reserves on Tuesday and took their place on the bench for today’s match.

Rangers started off the brighter of the two teams and the passing was of the same slick style that we have been treated to over the past few games but this time there was a lot more conviction in the passing and movement as Rangers attacked Preston.
After a good opening ten minutes we were treated to a very special opening goal.
Cerny took his goal kick and it was Taarabt who chested the ball down and in one movement turned from his back to goal and was facing towards the Preston goal with a little bit of space in front of him. Before you knew it Taarabt had unleashed a beautiful curling effort from a full 25-30 yards out and it floated into the top right hand corner! Absolutely fantastic goal, was reminiscent of Buzaky’s second goal against Barnsley in the last home fixture.



Having got the opening the R’s continued to pressure a vulnerable looking Preston side and really stamped their authority on the game. Routledge had two efforts well saved before Preston finally tested the Rangers defence and merely tickled efforts towards Cerny’s goal.
Five minute before half time we so nearly witnessed a goal that would’ve easily been goal of the season and would’ve gone very close second to Trevor Sinclair’s bicycle kick back in the 90’s.
The ball dropped to Buzaky a full 25 yards out at the right hand edge of the penalty area and he had the cheek to unleashed a thundering volley at goal, the effort took a few layers of paint off the crossbar and if you have the chance to see the highlights then this will be included in there, my words cannot give the effort enough justice.
Half time was soon forced upon us and leading 1-0 there only looked to be one winner in the game but as we all know and feel, the longer the game stays 1-0 to Rangers the longer you doubt that we’ll be able to hold out, a second goal was not only needed but it was truly deserved. We were all just hoping that the second goal would soon fall in the R’s favour.

Rangers started the second half as they ended the first, in total ascendancy.
We were soon to witness a near spectacular goal from the most unlikely of sources. After a string of neat passes it was Gary Borrowdale who found himself some way from goal and advanced towards goal and let go with a superb left footed drive into the top corner only to see Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan pull off a brilliant save. Was shocking yet inspirational and lead the R’s faithful into singing his name, and the crew looking at me singing his name after I had criticised him for his pre-season efforts but even I cannot deny Borrowdale of the praise he really deserves after showing so much improvement in recent weeks.
From the corner that followed Gorkss put his header narrowly wide and left Rangers still searching for that all important second goal.
Preston finally put some pressure on the R’s rearguard after this and had a few of us biting a few fingernails when Chris Brown had his effort saved well by Cerny.
Soon after the R’s were back on the attack and were handed the opportunity to double their lead.
The on-song Taarabt received the ball just outside the 18 yard box and advanced into the area before being tripped and winning a definite penalty. Taarabt grabbed the ball and marched towards the penalty spot but after a chat with captain Gavin Mahon it was Buzsaky that was handed the responsibility of despatching the chance. He made no mistake and thumped the ball low into the bottom left corner of the outstretching Lonergan’s goal.
It was nice to see Taarabt go over into the corner where Buzsaky was celebrating and congratulate his team mate and showing that his is a team player for us. Was a nice touch.
The game was still far from over as Rangers looked to continue to attack a Preston side that were clearly having a bad day at the office.
More slick, neat passing found Buzsaky who in turn flicked the ball over the Preston defender and in the path of Jay Simpson. The Preston defender could’ve really dealt with the ball a hell of a lot better but instead hesitated and let Simpson ghost around him to nick the ball off him and placed his low curling effort into the right corner for another well taken goal.
After the third goal Magilton made two changes and clearly had Tuesday’s game in his mind as he took off Buzsaky and Simpson for a well earned rest and let Agyemang and Vine take to the field for the final 15 minutes.
The substitutions didn’t have any affect on the attacking performance put on stage for us today and it was only a matter of time until we got a fourth.
Routledge picked up the ball in midfield and his driving run showed that he only had one thing in mind, he let loose with a low drive from 20 yards out and found the bottom right corner for another great goal. It was just what Routledge deserved for yet another brilliant display, only this time in a less familiar role of playing up front for the majority of the game.
Having got his goal Routledge was taken off for the final five minutes and Gareth Ainsworth entered the fray for the first time in the league this season and was giving a fantastic and well deserved reception from the R’s fans after his hard work behind the scenes over the past few years.
Ainsworth was so close to having an audacious scissor kick from the edge of the 18 yard box fly towards goal but at the last second a Preston defender nipped in front of him and headed away from danger.
In the last action of the game Vine was so close from getting himself on the score sheet and was denied by a great save and the crossbar.

We can safely say that was probably one of the best performances at Loftus Road for many a year and will live long in the memory. The passing throughout the game was fantastic and everything just seemed to click into place today and we showed what we really are capable of today and with some key players out injured today it just showed what strength in depth we have in the ranks.

The hardest decision for us today is the Man of the Match award. Taarabt put in a truly inspired performance today and looked extremely dangerous today, the midfield duo of Mahon and Faurlin were brilliant all day and looked in control, the back four were solid and Damion Stewart in particular stood out there as he was immense throughout the 90 minutes, Buzsaky again had a great game out wide and really looks as if he is back in the form of two seasons ago and is a true delight to watch. However despite all this today’s man of the match as selected by Lofty is Wayne Routledge. Today Routledge played just behind Simpson in an unfamiliar role and was a thorn in the Preston defence throughout the game and could’ve easily ended up taking up the match ball home if it wasn’t for some good goalkeeping by Lonergan in the first half but his persistance was rewarded in the end after he bagged the fabulous fourth goal of the afternoon.

After the game the old gang as well as myself and the new members of the group went to enjoy a light beverage down the British Queen to toast a magnificent performance and geared ourselves up ready for Tuesday’s game against the plastic hoops. Beer always tastes sweeter after a victory like this and hopefully there is plenty more to come from our team that is showing plenty of promise.

QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Mahon, Routledge (Ainsworth 87), Buzsaky (Agyemang 66), Gorkss, Faurlin, Simpson (Vine 66), Borrowdale, Taarabt.
Subs not used: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Harris.
Goals: Taarabt (11), Buzsaky (Pen 63), Simpson (75), Routledge (86).

Attendance: 12, 810

Far from a Wales of a time

We were on our travels to this away fixture with a full car once again. In attendance today was Me, PK, Sam, Justin and the driver for the day was Mark. Unfortunately Lofty couldn’t make the trip into Wales this weekend due to a family birthday, but if I’m perfectly honest he wouldn’t have minded missing the fixture had he known the type of encounter we were about to witness.

Before we went into the ground we decided to go into the Harvester by the stadium and enjoyed a light beverage or two. We were joined by our welsh friends Richard and Sophie as for once they had the short visit for a game rather than driving the miles we had to for this fixture. The pub is recommended for our next visit to The Liberty Stadium.
A quick meeting with Gobi and friends was the next order before we took our places inside the ground to see what would be served up this afternoon.

For the third straight league fixture the same starting eleven was named by Jim Magilton.

With Rangers showing a positive passing mentality over the past few weeks we expected a very good showing and hopefully the three points that would’ve cemented our place in the top half of the table coming into the international break, not that the tables mean much at this stage of the season.

Rangers had the better of the opening twenty minutes.
At times Rangers put together some really crisp passing but for periods it did look as if we had turned up for a training game and invited Swansea to run at us and allow them too much space. To be fair though, for all of Swansea’s good passing in midfield it was much like watching the QPR side from the end of Paulo Sousa’s reign last year, all huff in midfield and no puff up front.
Buzsaky had an effort from 25 yards out land on top of the net, Routledge ran from the halfway line and dragged a shot wide and Simpson also dragged an effort wide, those were the only major efforts in what was a pretty lacklustre first period.

The halftime get together was one that was uninspired by the football and mainly spoke of the memorable night that a few of us enjoyed at St James Park on Wednesday night, a place where a few players may of left their heads.
We decided to indulge in a few of the culinary delights on offer from the kiosk downstairs also. Justin and Sam went for the burger. It scored a very poor 1/10 with both of them as it looked like it had been micro waved nine times and even the cheese had disintegrated! PK went for a hot dog, again this scored 1/10! Again it had been micro waved to the max and if I’m brutally honest the burger and hot dog could’ve been road kill for all we knew. I went for the steak slice that was on offer; it was piping hot and was ok to be fair. I would compare it to a slice that you would get from an esso garage. It scores a 4/10 for effort. On a plus note the coffee that was on offer scores well, mainly because it was so hot that it scolded your tongue so bad that you couldn’t taste it. Nothing to really recommend from here again.

We just about made our seats ready for the second half.
Rangers looked as if Magilton had tore into them a bit at half time as they looked the more fired up of the two teams. There was more urgency in the passing and we looked as if we wanted to take the game to the Swans.
Within the opening ten minutes we had more action than the entire first half but that proved to be both good and bad.
A Rangers corner from the right hand side caused all sorts of problems in the Swansea area. Watson’s centre was sent goal wards by Simpson and his effort was fantastically saved by the Swansea goalkeeper.
Seconds later another corner come across from the same right hand side, this time it found Gorkss rising highest at the back post, only for his powerful header to go agonisingly wide.
Minutes later the game turned on its head, only it didn’t go the way you would expect it.
Rangers broke away once again, Vine fed in Routledge and the tricky winger cut in from out wide, passed four defenders (dummying two of them in one go) and found himself in space and only 12 yards out. He decided to aim for the left side of goal and once again a stunning save was pulled off. The save was parried and cleared high, Vine aerially challenged and was pulled down but no foul was given..... Dyer then controlled the ball and Rowlands, who was already on a yellow card for a hard first half challenge, threw himself at the ball and caught Dyer. There’s no doubt about it, it was a second yellow and we were down to ten men, just as we had the game by the scruff of the neck.
A 4-3-1-1 was adopted as the R’s continued to try and press a vulnerable looking Swansea team.
However with Swansea packing out their midfield with five in there they were carving through the R’s midfield and soon made their numerical advantage count.
Angel Rangel raced down the Swansea right and drove a cross in that evaded the R’s defence and Gower arrived at the back post unmarked to slide home the first goal of the game.
Three minutes later and further damage was done.
Watson slipped when challenging in midfield and inadvertently handled the ball on purpose and picked up his second yellow of the afternoon.
Despite being down to nine men Rangers continued to press in hope of getting an equalizer.
Taarabt, who had just come on, found himself in space and pulled an effort wide.
It did prove to be too much to claw back and with 85 minutes on the clock the game ended as a contest.
Once again Swansea broke away down their right hand side and another ball found its way to the far post and Lee Trundle was on hand to put away the killer goal.

All in all we may have lost 2-0 but had it not been for the two sending’s off and some dubious refereeing decisions then Swansea would never of got close to winning the game, a Rangers win or a bore draw would’ve been the result. You could not take away the effort from the players today, despite being stuck in first gear throughout the first half. It’s been a good six match unbeaten run and this international will prove useful to charge the players batteries up once again and then once again attack this league.

Man of the Match today is being given to Damion Stewart for a near faultless effort today. He made quite a few vital interceptions and his distribution was very good also.

The journey home took us two hours from Swansea to Maidenhead, a record that would be hard for anyone to beat. We also found out our winner for the away prediction competition, in 5th was Mark, 4th was PK, 3rd was Sam, 2nd was Justin and for the 2nd time I won the prize money.

Swansea City: de Vries, Williams, Tate, Britton, Pratley (Lopez 86), Dyer, Dobbie (Beattie 72), Monk, Rangel, Gower, Butler (Trundle 61).

Subs not used: Orlandi, van der Gun, Cornell, Richards.

Scorers: Gower (74), Trundle (85)

Bookings: Gower (74)

QPR: Cerny, Stewart, Leigertwood, Routledge, Vine (Faurlin 61), Buzsaky (Taarabt 76), Gorkss, Rowlands, Watson, Simpson (Pellicori 76), Borrowdale.

Subs not used: Ramage, Mahon, Heaton, Ephraim.

Bookings: Rowlands (37 & 53), Gorkss (42), Watson (72 & 77)

Red Cards: Rowlands (53), Watson (77)

QPR fans in attendance - 602

R's on The Road.......... To Swansea City

On Saturday R’s supporters make the second long away trip in three days as they travel across the border into Wales and to Swansea City. Here are a few hints and tips for your journey.



The Stadium.

Current Capacity – 20,500

Swansea Town were formed in 1912 and played at the Vetch Field. They joined the football league in 1920 and have been members ever since. In 1970 they changed their name from Swansea Town to Swansea City.
The early 1980’s were the clubs most successful years when under the guidance of Cardiff born manager John Toshack. He guided ‘The Jacks’ into the top flight in 1981 before leading the club to three successive Welsh Cups which lead to the club playing in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup.
After suffering years of rapid falling down the leagues and financial meltdown in 2003 the club finally found some stability and started to build towards the future.
Swansea moved into the Liberty stadium in 2005 having been at home at the Vetch Field since 1912 and spending 93 years there.
The stadium cost £27 million to build and is fairly conservative in design. It is another of the familiar bowl shaped stadiums that we are now becoming accustomed to in this day and age.
A few useless facts about the stadium include- there are 1,450 pre-cast concrete piles in the ground. If you laid out the piles end to end then they would stretch to almost 13miles! Also, The upper floors and roof structure will be supported by 2,500 tonnes of structural steelwork, which is equal to the weight of 300 average sized African elephants or 1,400 Ford Focus’. Now if they are not useless facts then I don’t know what is.



The History between the teams.

At Swansea (18)

Swansea 9
QPR 8
Draw. 1

Fixtures between the clubs have been very few and far between and when the clubs finally do play each other it is usually in a cup competition. That was until of course The Swans got promoted into the Championship with Roberto Martinez at the helm for the 2008/2009 season. A 0-0 draw for Iain Dowie’s men against 10 men and a defender in goal for over 60 minutes at the Liberty Stadium was played out last October in the R’s first visit to Swansea’s new home. The R’s did manage a 1-0 victory in the return fixture, this time Paulo Sousa was the Rangers manager before his well publicized departure. He is now of course in charge of the day’s hosts.

How to get there.

By Car:- The all important post code for sat nav users is SA1 2FA.
Otherwise here are the directions for you.
Get on the M4 and go all the way down to junction 45. From here join onto the A4067 towards the City Centre. Around two and a half miles down the road you will see the stadium on your left hand side.
For parking it is advised to supporters to use the Park and Ride facility which is located at Swansea Vale which is on the A4067, shortly off the M4 turning.
There is also street parking available just past the stadium so it will be a case of whatever floats yr boat.

By Train:- As reported on the Official QPR website this Monday the train service will terminate at Cardiff on Saturday due to works on the line. A replacement bus service will be available from here. Check out the national rail website out for details on your journey so you can allow enough time to arrive at the Liberty Stadium.


Pubs 'n' Grub.

Police have instructed pubs close to the ground to not admit away fans, however some people have said that the Harvester right outside the ground has let in away supporters is a great choice of pub for today. If you venture into the City Centre for a drink then these three pubs are recommended, Yates, The bank Statement and The No Sign Bar.
Alcohol is also served in the ground for around £3 a pint.
For food you can use the Harvester as already mentioned or use the array of restaurant or retail outlets available to you.

QPR Have a Memorable Night on the Toon...

Newcastle 1-1 QPR

QPR's impressive run of form continued, holding leaders Newcastle to a 1-1 draw at St James Park and bringing an end to their 100% home record.



Firstly, a hello from me to you all as I make a guest appearance as Lee will no doubt still be feeling the effects of a day and night out in Newcastle, although from what I have heard, I am sure he will be gutted about not writing this one himself!

Well, for one reason or another, mainly work commitments, I was sadly unable to make the long trip to the North East. Some would listen to the commentary on QPR player, watch Sky Sports news or hunt around for some internet or radio coverage. Me? I just can't do that as I find listening to the game, even more nerve racking than being there. So last night, I was relying on Lee to update me from the happenings at St James by text... and plenty a text came in. (thanks mate)

In fact, that's how this report will be based and I must admit to being somewhat surprised as the first text came in before 8pm - Watson, 25wards out, beauty! Looked deflected tho! Now, I am assuming the spelling mistake was a slip of the hand rather than looking at the phone through glazed eyes. The next one soon followed and I cringed before opening it, but it was soon turned to joy as it informed me of Newcastle being awarded a harsh penalty, only for Cerny to make a good save, Lee did add that it looked poorly placed.



Two more texts followed as I became more and more jittery, after Borrowdale cleared off the line and Cerny was again called into action - we need to hang on, read the end of the text. There was then a long gap before the next one, which came 20 minutes into the second half, stating we have coped well with the pressure and are coming back into the game slowly. Could we do this? Could we really pull off a fantastic result??

Sadly, the next text read - 1-1, cross over and poor marking at the far post. It was even more disappointing when I found that the scorer was Marlon Harewood, who normally, cannot hit a barn door from the inside unless he is playing against QPR.

It was 9.43 when the final message arrived - Second Half was Newcastle's, but one bit of poor defending has cost us. Good point for us. And indeed it was. Lee later said that it was a great match which had him on the edge of his seat throughout. It wasn't much different here, but I so wish I could have been there myself. Thanks, Lee for the updates!!

QPR: Cerny, Stewart, Leigertwood, Routledge, Vine (Faurlin 87), Buzsaky, Gorkss, Rowlands, Watson, Simpson (Taarabt 73), Borrowdale. Subs: Ramage, Agyemang, Pellicori, Heaton, Ephraim.

A fantastic result and performance maybe should have had a better reward, but I for one would have bitten anyone's hand off for a point before the start. And from what I have been reading on facebook and suchlike, a good night was had by all in the Toon after the game. There may be a report on the after party, but you will have to ask Lee about that one...

Come on You R'ssssssssss!!!