Gladiators.
Well, anyone who has a serious approach to supporting our club will no doubt realize that our unbeaten run had to come to an end sooner or later. That`s just realism. And to be quite honest, I would rather lose to Burnley than to the likes of Millwall! The fact that we went so long without losing from the outset of the season is testimony to the players, the staff and the undying loyalty of the supporters. I have read some comments from fans that our winning structure has been harmed since we lost Steve to Derby County. I don`t really believe that. We have been playing one up front all season so, I hardly think that is the cause for a lack of picking up points. The truth is, this last month has been difficult with so many games away from W12. Looking back on it, it`s quite surprising we only lost at Turf Moor when it could have been a lot worse. Millwall is always an intimidating ground too, Burnley are playing like Guy Fawkes night came in August and they have had huge rockets surgically implanted into their butts! As for Wigan, well, you never know what they are going to produce on match night!
I don`t want to blow my own trumpet here but, I said in conversation to a friend of mine two years ago: I don`t understand this ridiculous craving of managers for playing a lone striker. We have always played 4-4-2 at Loftus Road. It`s the safest form of defence and attack. Even if you use a holding player in midfield to bolster the defence, you still have two strikers ready to pounce on anything that comes their way. It produces more chances of striking the net. And, sadly, that has been missing. It`s alright winning games by 1 - 0 but, when the rivals around us are winning by 2 - 0, 3 - 0 or whatever we will surely start to play catch up after Christmas. The bottom line is, that if we want to get automatic promotion into the EPL we have to score goals and on a regular basis - period!!! Is that not the whole idea of football?! Certainly, the fans deserve it. What`s the point of asking your hard-working fans to be subjected to a boring game of defensive football? Only to see the opposition make a dart forward and score! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Burnley beat us !
I have heaps of respect for `Arry, don`t get me wrong. But, we are not playing in the EPL where fancy tactics are par for the course. We are playing in the Championship where your fancy tactics play no role. It`s pure grit, determination, the will to overcome thine enemy that get`s you into the wealthy realms of the EPL. And you can only do that by scoring goals and lots of them! I feel sorry for Austin because he is a lone man standing on his own. Did you notice how the introduction of AJ against Wigan transformed the last 16 minutes of the game? He was unlucky not to score and secure us all 3 points that night (if he`d have stayed standing up.)
So, what`s our strike options? We have, obviously, Austin. AJ is back and the seemingly forgotten entity of Chevanton is there, too. So, there are three fit strikers who can find the net. With Niko now out with a hamstring, there is even less reason to play a lone striker. In my opinion when we play Reading next week, let`s give them something to really think about and go a straight 4-4-2 and pepper his goal with good, crisp shots into the net!
This might sound like I`m having a dig at `Arry. In a way, I am. I like to tell it the way I see it. Sometimes, the fans see things that the management don`t. If we don`t voice our opinions and wake up - even the best of managers - then, what chance have we got ? Sometimes, ex-EPL managers get stuck in a rutt of playing a certain way. But, any worthwhile manager will listen to the fans and try what we suggest. Football is a team game - and that includes the fans who travel to home and away games at great expense to follow our Gladiators...QUEENS PARK RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB!
I heard - well read - so many fans' comments yelling out for a striker to partner Austin against Wigan. So, it`s not just me. But, they had a good, valid point. If the fans could see where we are going wrong why couldn`t the manager. Ultimately, it`s the fans ticket money that keeps him in a job!
In closing I will tell you what a Rangers fan said to me on FB after the Wigan game. We were discussing the result and the general consensus of opinion was we should play 4-4-2. This guy says: We can`t do that because it would allow our aged defenders to be taken apart at the back! I`m like: What???!! It`s not the defenders we have to worry about, it`s the bloody lack of scoring goals!
Anyway, good luck against Reading, the fakes. Let`s try and get the 3 points we need and Burnley and Leicester come a cropper!
U R`SSSSS !
Mikey Howard.