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Something tells me I will be writing lots of these 'Welcome' posts over the next few weeks...
Rangers have today signed midfielder Gavin Mahon on loan from Watford with a view to a permanent transfer.
Gavin has signed initially on an emergency loan, so that he is able to play against Leicester tomorrow.
WELCOME AND GOOD LUCK GAVIN!!!
Watford 2-4 QPR
The injury time defeat against Plymouth on Boxing Day became a distant memory, as Rangers turned the Championship table upside down. Football supporters everywhere experience a rollercoaster of emotions whilst following their teams all over the country and moans and groans become all too familiar in many an after match discussion. But every now and then, your team will give you something to make everything else worthwhile and yesterday's win over second placed Watford was one of those times - in a game where being there felt like an absolute privelage and made you feel very, very proud.
But before the game, it seemed like anything but, especially when the R's team was announced - Buzsaky, Walton and Vine dropped to the bench and a VERY strong rumour (which didn't happen) of Marc Nygaard playing centre back! This news soon had Rangers fans furiously adjusting their betting slips.
But the sold out Rangers end needed not to worry as Rangers gave their best performance of the season so far in a game that will live long in the memory. Instead of the normal match report, I will just briefly run through and give a pictorial view of the events...
13 minutes - Watford 0-1 QPR - Dexter Blackstock was felled in the box by Jordan Stewart and Martin Rowlands tucked home the resulting penalty - and yes, I finally got a Rangers goal photo!!
29 minutes - Watford 0-2 QPR - Damion Stewart headed home Rowlands near post corner.
40 mins - Watford 0-3 QPR - the goal of the game - Bolder, Rowlands and Balanta excahnged passes before the teenager touched back to Rowlands, who took one touch to control the ball and then lashed a fearsome left footed drive past the sprawling Lee.
52 mins - Watford 1-3 QPR - Damien Francis headed towards the goal from close range, Rehman's clearance hit Camp for the ball to ricochet into the net for an unfortunate owl goal - this despite a friend who wasn't even at the game, insisting by text that it wasn't an own goal at all.
82 mins - Watford 1-4 QPR - a fine passing move saw Rowlands feed Buzsaky, who rounded the keeper and drilled home from a tight angle for his 6th goal for the club.
85 mins - Watford 2-4 QPR - former R's hero, Dan Shittu smashed the ball home from close range for a small consolation for the home side.
QPR: Camp, Barker, Stewart, Bolder, Blackstock, Ainsworth (Vine 63), Rowlands, Malcolm, Rehman, Nygaard (Walton 92), Balanta (Buzsaky 74). Subs: Cole, Moore.
Lofty's Man of the Match - Martin Rowlands - an outstanding performance!!
If there was any disappointment, it was that Dexter Blackstock was denied a goal that was so deserved by the Rangers front man. But that was it!! What a fantastic day and a great way to say goodbye to 2007!
With that in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and wish everyone a VERY HAPPY and EXCITING 2008!!!
QPR have today signed the highly rated, Manchester United defender, Kieran Lee on a 6 month loan deal.
The 19 year old right back will officially sign on January 2nd and will be eligible to play in the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge.
WELCOME AND GOOD LUCK KIERAN!!!
Plymouth 2-1 QPR
This is getting very hard to take now...
Rangers Christmas cheer came to an abrubt end as a 94th minute goal from Ebanks-Blake gave Plymouth a Boxing Day derby victory.
And yes, the above was indeed written with definite sarcasm. This season's fixtures have become a joke and instead of spending some of the festive period with our loved ones, finishing off the remains of the turkey etc, the FA kindly sent us down to Home Park - one of the furthest away trips of the season. This made even more annoying when reading the programme, saw that Plymouth played Bristol City just last week and the R's travel to Watford next Saturday! Come on Lord Mawhinney, it's not bloody difficult!!
So, with the above in mind, we set of at 9.30 for the mammoth trip to Devon, at which point, I must just mention that the journey started for the Leeds contingent at 7pm Christmas night - who lodged at mine and as I am writing, are on their way back to Yorkshire right now!
Even after the long journey, it was a surprise to see keeper Lee Camp make an appearance in the away concourse, obviously caught short before the warm up as he headed straight to the toilet. Obviously, photo opportunities were not taken at this point.
Onto the game, and Rangers were dealing well with Argyle's hoof ball in the first half and were ahead on 19 minutes, as Martin Rowlands cut the ball across for Gaz Ainsworth to slide the ball home. Despite having the majority of the possesion, Rangers continued to deal comfortably with whatever Plymouth offered and went in deservedly a goal to the good.
Now, not for the first time, it seemed a different R's side that came out for the second half. It was obvious that Argyle were going to be up for it, but Rangers were now struggling to deal with what they had dealt with so comfortably previously.
Three minutes after the interval, Argyle were level when Walton (perhaps a bit harshly after seeing the TV replay) was adjudged to have handled in the area and Ebanks-Blake made no mistake from the resulting spot kick. The referee then took centre stage and started handing out yellow cards like Christmas presents - in a game that in truth, didn't really have one dirty tackle in it.
But, just as we thought we may hold on for a well earned and decent point, disaster struck in the 94th minute. Halmosi's corner caused panic in the R's box and, after the ball eventually bounced down off the bar, Ebanks-Blake was on hand to smash home a late, late winner to break our hearts, ruin our Christmas and make the journey home an extremely long one.
QPR: Camp, Barker, Bolder, Buzsaky (Blackstock, 78), Ainsworth, Rowlands (Nygaard, 67), Walton, Malcolm, Vine, Rehman, Leigertwood. Subs: Cole, Moore, Kanyuka.
Lofty's Man of the Match - Rowan Vine
In summary, disappointment is an understatement, but unfortunately, the late /last minute winners have become all too familiar this season. What has become the annual Plymouth, after match and excellent 'Belly Buster' burger, certainly didn't seem to taste as good tonight...
QPR 2-1 Colchester
A quality double strike from Akos Buzsaky ensured that Rangers won't be spending Christmas in the bottom three, in a game where the R's started with a sprint, but ended up hobbling over the finish line. But at the end of a 'must win' game, I am sure that Rangers fans everywhere will agree that today, the result was ultimately more important than the performance.
Not surprisingly, after another positive week in the media, the talk around Loftus Road was mainly about the latest investment from the Mittal Family, which ultimately led to the slightly amusing chant/s of '1-0/2-0 to the billionaires', from the Rangers faithful.
Onto the game and Rangers dominated for 52 minutes and following plenty of chances, had what seemed, a comfortable 2-0 lead. Akos Buzsaky continued his one man crusade for the goal of the season award and struck twice. His first on 27 minutes, saw him recieve a throw, steal a yard on the defender and then struck a superb left footed drive into the top corner.
The second, was a superb, slick, footballing move. The impressive Rowan Vine raced 40 yards before laying the ball to Blackstock, who in turn layed in Buzsaky to calmly slotting the ball past the keeper. It was then surely the cue for a 3, maybe 4 nil victory... but far from it.
Rangers went to sleep for 10 minutes and simply let Colchester back into the proceedings. Mark Yeates pulled a goal back with a tidy finish on 62 minutes and from there on in, Rangers struggled to get out of their own half. Desperate defending and yet again, Lee Camp kept the visitors at bay but we held on, despite the going down to 10 men for the last eight minutes after Damion Stewart received his second yellow card from the quite awful referee, Mr D Whitestone.
QPR: Camp, Barker, Stewart, Bolder, Blackstock (Nygaard 75), Buzsaky, Ainsworth, Malcolm, Vine, Rehman, Leigertwood (Walton 83). Subs: Cole, Moore, Balanta.
Lofty's Man of the Match - Akos Buzsaky, who's goals today would have graced any stadium and were worth the admission money alone.
In summary, I guess we can forget the majority of the second half and be thankful for the 3 lovely points. But I have to say that it was more than disappointing to see Rangers sit back and let Colchester come at them, when they were definitely there for the taking. But hey, it's Christmas and instead of picking bones out of the performance or another diabolical referee, I am more than happy to take the early present of 3 points.
Finally, whilst I am on the subject, I would like to wish you ALL a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and here's to what is going to be an EXCITING 2008!!
QPR 0-0 Wolves
Rangers found yet another opposing keeper in inspired form and an another under generous referee, as the two sides had to settle for a point each, in what was a reasonably entertaining affair at Loftus Road.
In fact, it was another case of two points lost as promotion chasing Wolves were definitely there for the taking. There was an upbeat mood around Loftus Road prior to kick off, what with the excellent midweek win over Burnley, along with some very happy Rangers fans who had managed to snap up their tickets for the FA Cup game with Chelsea in the new year.
Depsite a nervous start, the first half belonged to Rangers with Rowlands, Ainsworth and Buzsaky all testing the keeper. Blackstock missed an absolute sitter from close range and five minutes before the break, the R's striker was later adjudged to be climbing on a defender, before heading back to Ainsworth to tap into the empty net.
Rangers continued to bombard the Wolves goal in the second half, with Blackstock going close and Stewart heading down and unfortunately, over the bar from Buzsaky's corner. But 3 minutes later, the game was about to change as the R's were denied a stone wall penalty, when Nygaard was clearly wrestled to ground with the goal at his mercy and right in front of the referee by Kevin Foley.
The quite unbelievable decision seem to throw Rangers from their stride and Wolves started to come right back into the game. In fact, they missed the best chance of the game to take a lead they would have barely deserved, when Stephen Elliot somehow managed to fire wide from six yards out.
Rangers ended the game much the stronger. Martin Rowlands forced another great save from Hennesy in the Wolves goal, before Gareth Ainsworth was denied the goal his performance deserved in the 85th minute, firing his shot from the right just wide.
QPR: Camp, Barker, Stewart, Blackstock (Sinclair 83), Buzsaky, Ainsworth, Rowlands, Malcolm, Rehman, Nygaard, Leigertwood. Subs: Cole, Moore, Walton, Balanta.
Lofty's Man of the Match - Gareth Ainsworth - the R's winger has been chomping at the bit for his chance to show the new manager what he can do - and he is certainly taking that chance. The man ran his socks off for the entire game and is one of a rare breed of player that would run through a wall for his team!!
In summary, another half decent performance gave Rangers little reward as other results saw us drop back to the bottom of the table and a bad refereeing decision has yet again cost us dearly. But there were many positives to be taken with allegedy, the worst back four in R's history keeping another clean sheet. There were inspiring performances from Martin Rowlands and man of the match, Gareth Ainsworth. And finally, going back to the defence, credit much be given to a solid performance by the much criticised(by myself too, I admit), Zesh Rehman, who had his best game in an R's shirt to date.
Burnley 0-2 QPR
Rangers turned the form book upside down, as Damion Stewart and Rowan Vine claimed second-half goals to lift the R's off the bottom of the Championship and gain their first win at Turf Moor for 27 years.
The result was even more pleasing as it was a fitting send-off to former striker, Ray Jones, who was tragically killed hours before this fixture was originally scheduled to take place back in August.
I must admit, that I along with many others, was dreading this fixture as Burnley have been in great form and were unbeaten since the arrival of Owen Coyle as Manager. But injuries and suspension, meant that there was finally a welcome start for winger, Gareth Ainsworth and Marc Nygaard also returned to the starting line up. But something that has been kept very quiet, was the return to the squad for Simon Walton, who cruelly broke his leg pre season and made his R's debut as an 88th minute sub - Welcome Back Simon!!
Alan Mahon had the best chance of an otherwise dull first half, but saw his 20 yard shot smack the post. Rangers began creating chances in the second half and were ahead on the hour as Sinclair's corner to the far post was headed home by an unmarked Damion Stewart. It was then wave after wave of Burnley attacks with Lee Camp and Damion Stewart performing heroics at th back. But in stoppage time, Rangers sealed the win in bizarre fashion as Burnley keeper Kiraly went up-field for a corner, only for Rangers to break out of defence and secure the points as Vine stroked the ball into an empty net.
QPR: Camp, Barker, Stewart, Bolder, Ainsworth (Moore 94), Malcolm, Vine, Rehman, Nygaard (Walton 88), Leigertwood, Sinclair (Blackstock 76). Subs: Cole, Balanta.
Well, the performance of the season it may not have been, but what a fantastic result this is!! It was our game in hand on the rest of the pack and to win it was a fantastic achievement on a freezing cold night in Lancashire - and, as mentioned earlier, the result was both fitting and worthy of the memory of former striker, Ray Jones.
Ray Jones 1988 - 2007
'those we have held close to our hearts, will be there forever.' - Lofty
