| PLYMOUTH ROCKED AS RANGERS SHOW
THEY MAYFLOWER
The two goals
Rangers scored against Plymouth deserved to earn more than just the
one point. As it was, they salvaged a point from a game that we had
dominated in large parts only to see yet more clear-cut chances go
begging.
After Langley picked up a heavy knock
to the knee in the Wycombe debacle Doudou took his place on the
right of midfield. The real buzz amongst the fans though was the
return of Jerome Thomas from Arsenal. Nobody had expected him to
start as he had been out with a pulled hamstring so the roar that
went round when chino man called out his name was something.
The ovation for JT was in stark
contrast to the impeccable minutes silence for the late Daphne
Biggs. You could hear a pin drop inside Loftus Road, even the Argyle
fans fell silent to a man as a fitting tribute was paid to a lady
that was QPR through and through.
JT must have wondered what the bloody
hell he was doing back as he was fouled within four seconds of kick
off. He hadn't even managed to dribble outside the centre circle
before he was kicked up the arse. The thing about him is that he
doesn't let it affect him and just keeps coming back for more.
Rangers, as usual, created a hatful of
first half chances to pass up and then defended sloppily at the
other end. Romain Larrieu in the Argyle goal was having an absolute
belter of a game. He made a stunning save to deny Gallen and from
the subsequent corner he had his hands warmed by a Williams drive
that he deflected wide. He also found himself well placed to take a
header from Gallen and plunge low to his left to tip a Thomas effort
past the post.
This is not to say that it was all
one-way traffic. Plymouth came to play and in Mickey Evans they have
a terrific target man. The way he brings the midfield runners into
the game was causing untold problems for Palmer and Shittu. The fact
that Bircham and Rose weren't tracking the runners wasn't helping
either. It was from this route that Plymouth hit the front.
The ball was knocked in toward Evans
and he challenged for the ball with Shittu. Big Dan should have
cleared the danger but for the second time in two games he dwelled
and allowed himself to be robbed. Evans turned the ball into the
path of the impressive David Friio who had plenty of time to fire
home off the post. It was poor defending all round from the midfield
who let him run to Shittu who failed to deal with the initial
problem.
Shittu is fast becoming the most
frustrating player at Loftus Road. We can all see that he has
bundles of ability but he seems to have some communication issues
with his teammates. On two separate first half occasions his
inability to listen to a call could have cost us. Firstly, Royce
called for a ball and started to come for it, Dan ignored him and
went steaming in for it anyway. The second time, Forbes had a simple
clearance to effect but couldn't because Dan had come blundering
across his line. It annoys me as for the last half an hour he played
like Bobby Moore, it was shame that for the first hour it was more
like Bobby Ball!
As is the norm, Rangers concede a goal
ten minutes into the second half. Simon Royce has made a stunning
double save to deny Evans and Hodges. From the resulting corner the
ball fell to Hodges and his shot through a ruck of players went
through the legs of Tommy Williams and in.
I had been saying that we needed a
quality goal to beat Larrieu and that is exactly what JT provided.
Shittu played a ball into the edge of the box. After good interplay
with Pacquette who had now replaced Doudou, Thomas bore down on
goal. He proceeded to smash and unstoppable rising shot high into
the net. It was no more than JT deserved, as he had been a constant
threat. If he couldn't get the ball wide he would drift into the
centre. Short of pulling the fullbacks shorts down he couldn't have
done much more to him.
Larrieu was back on form minutes later
as Tommy Williams launched a thirty-five yard screamer than forced
an acrobatic save from the Argyle stopper. He was getting right on
my tits by this point as he was also indulging in some disgraceful
time wasting antics. How referee Cable didn't caution him will
remain a mystery. What the ref did do however was stop his watch
every time he did it and how this was to blow up in his face.
As the game drew to a close Andy
Thomson made his return from injury and things picked up. His
movement was now causing problems for the Argyle back line and deep
into stoppage time the equaliser came. The goal was simply stunning
and this is no surprise as it came from the boot of Richard
Pacquette.
The ball was played into the area and
only half cleared, Pacquette walked onto into and lashed a left
footed volley into the top corner. He tore off his shirt and ran
screaming toward The Loft. Not the actions of a player that wants to
be shown the door.
Having come back from the summer break
overweight and having looked decidedly uninterested in pre-season
the turn around in Pacquette in the last couple of weeks is
remarkable. He has knuckled down and showed Olly what a valuable
member of the squad he can be. His worth is immeasurable when
compared to that of Doudou. He actually appears to be getting worse
and I wouldn't even have him near the squad let alone the team. He
offers nothing in terms of a goal threat or the ability to set up
chances for others. Maybe he should have been on the list in the
summer.
Rangers created another fifteen
chances and you can't help thinking that somebody is going to get
battered shortly. Whilst we are struggling to convert these chances
we must learn to keep it tighter at the back as we cant afford to
keep giving teams a goal start. Clarke is rumoured to be back next
week and it might be time for Dan to have a seat on the bench for a
couple of weeks.
Of course we were treated the usual
booing of the team at the break as we hadn't stormed into a ten goal
lead. Sometimes the Rangers support really pisses me off, as they
would rather slag the team off, or more to the point certain
individuals, than back them in adversity. When we get behind them I
have a feeling the goals will come, how about we start at Mansfield
next week?
simon@qprnet.com |
