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The 0-1 scoreline doesn't really tell the whole story of this game. Oh, hang about, yes it does. This was quite simply one of the worst games of football I have ever had the misfortune to witness. With no shots on target from Rangers in 90 minutes we were probably lucky to get nil!
Holloway started in the 3-4-1-2 formation but yet again changed after less than 15 minutes. He began with Palmer, Carlisle and Shittu at the back, a midfield quartet of Forbes, Rose, Bircham and Williams with Doudou just behind the front two of Thomson and loan signing Calum Willock.
Within a few minutes he had switched to a 4-4-2 with Palmer moving into midfield, Rose going wide right and Doudou going wide left. As big a fan as I am of Holloway I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated by his constant switching of formations. Are we to believe that we have no idea what formation our opposition will line up I until they actually set foot on the pitch. I think that the scouting system used by Rangers to look at upcoming opponents is fatally flawed and needs to be sorted immediately. Whether this is down to Holloway or Jackett or whoever something is letting us down badly at the moment.
Anyway, back to the turgid fare on show at Loftus Road yesterday afternoon. Carlisle headed a Marc Bircham free kick over the bar and Thommo also fired over before the player everybody loves to hate, Marco Gabbiadini, headed a Chris Hargreaves cross goalward. It seemed to be heading in before Royce flung up an arm to turn it over the bar. Soon after, Jamie Forrester had a goal harshly disallowed for offside following more good work from Gabbiadini.
Gabbiadini and Forrester had too much for Carlisle and Shittu for most of the afternoon. Indeed, the way Gabbiadini mugged Shittu time and again was verging on embarrassing. You know what you are going to get from Gabbiadini, he will hit the deck at the merest touch and will whinge and moan and provoke you. He suckered Shittu into stupid challenges more than once and Big Dan will have to learn from this.
Rangers two best chances fell to out of touch Andy Thomson. The first was a volley that he sent screaming into the top tier of the School End when he should have at least worked Lee Harper in the Northampton goal. The second chance came following a rampaging break from Willock. After a half of showing little of the promise that Holloway had trumpeted in the days leading up to the game he suddenly burst down the left beating three men on the way. He cut a low ball across the box and Thommo slid in but was a stud length away from converting it.
Doudou was forced out of the game early in the second half through injury to be replaced by Karl Connolly. Connolly showed some initial nice touches but you couldn't tell whether this was because he was playing well or whether he was being made to look good by the shite surrounding him.
The Northampton goal when it came was the one single moment of class in the entire game. Forrester was twice thwarted by last ditch blocks on the edge of the box and the ball rolled into the path of Paul Trollope. He chipped Royce with a precision effort that sailed into the corner of the net.
You somehow knew that Rangers would have nothing to come back with and this proved to be the case. The only player performing was Bircham and he was virtually a one man band as he desperately tried to drag Rangers back into the game.
Time after time Bircham played clever passes around the Northampton box only to be let down by the shocking inability of his team mates to make the most basic of runs. The way that he stood up to the challenge in the face of his battle against glandular fever should be set out as an example to some of the other players in the side that seemed to be taking things far to easy.
In a last ditch desperation attempt to get back into the game youngsters Oli and Burgess were thrown on. Burgess couldn't even get a touch of the ball for five minutes so bad was the passing on show. When he did get it he only served to send a wild long range effort into The Loft.
At the final whistle the team were booed from the field and to my mind not without justification. This was a diabolical performance and I'm not sure I have seen anything quite this bad since the Swansea debacle last November. It was certainly our worst home performance for a couple of years.
We may have to start facing facts that we are a two man team and when Gallen and Langley are missing we have little to offer in the way of creativity. With Gallen's arse strain taking longer to heal that we would have hoped we may have to grin and bear it for a while longer yet. If we get dumped out of the cup at Vauxhall Motors next week then Mr Holloway may have to start glancing over his shoulder.
simon@qprnet.com
