QPR v Sheffield Wednesday | Match Thread

[Abseits]

Sunday 4th - 12 Noon (Live on Sky Plus)

The whirlwind Christmas programme concludes in less than 48hrs.

Let's be frank, it's been a hugely disappointing festive period on the pitch and our very tiny promotion balloon (bubble?) has been well and truly deflated, but not necessarily popped yet. But will The Owls roll up with a shiny pin to deliver the coup de grace to our withered inflatable?

We really ought to be rubbing our hands together at the prospect of facing the worst team in the league by a country mile. They have ONE league win all season (away at Portsmouth, something we could not do). They are P24 W1 D8 L15 and after their 12 point deduction they are bottom of the league 32pts from safety. Even without the points deduction they'd still be well adrift and doomed.

However.... They have beaten us 2-0 on their last two visits here. We managed a draw at their gaff last season but they "doubled" us the season before last after we melted in the last 10 minutes and turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 defeat. We drew there 1-1 in an absolute stinker of a game earlier this season.

So, the recent head-to-head goes very much with them.

They lost 3-0 at Deepdale yesterday and you get a sense that the euphoria that followed the exit of their former owner has now waned and the realisation that they are going down in May is starting to weigh heavily on them.

After this, we'll have a welcome 13-day break from the league (we play at Stoke on Saturday 17th January). We NEED to put in a convincing and winning performance on Sunday to get our season back on track. How will it go? Christ knows - this is QPR so any and all outcomes are possible.

[shaggy24]

You would expect a response from us after the Norwich debacle will we get one in not so sure.

a game we should win but with us v bottom sides probably struggle and get another episode of Barry Bannan pulling the strings never has a bad game v us

1-0 win at best

[Abseits]

Ah yes, Barry Bleeding Bannon - pest, gremlin, irritant and perpetual thorn in our side... I'd happily swap him for Varane AND Madsen, he's a one-man midfield - I'd love him in our side. Hopefully, we can keep him quiet for a change. Can you imagine any manager telling him he couldnt manage 3 games in a week and needed a rest? He'd deliver an uppercut to their nutsack......

[Acton Stations]

Ah yes, Barry Bleeding Bannon ..... He'd deliver an uppercut to their nutsack......

He sounds like a squirrel's worst nightmare!

Seriously though, I was hoping that we were going to bounce back yesterday, playing a Christmas fixture at home against very beatable opposition. Unfortunately my inflatable is well and truly withered now.

1-1 at best.

[LoftusRoadLad]

We better win this one or we will be in the silly pit.

[Acton Stations]

Oh, I almost forgot ... Wednesday to score their goal in either the second or the 46th minute.

[DJ Hooper W12]

Wednesday is a must win game for the morale more than the points for both fans and players. We dipped our toe in the playoffs saga and are now on a slow decline again. A good result tomorrow with a few goals would paper over the cracks. There is something or someone missing at this club that can’t generate a fighting spirit for 90 minutes a couple of times a week. Apart from Coventry this is not a particularly difficult league. We need to beef up both mentally and physically. Apols for stating the bleedin obvious again

[daveshads]

Sky Bet have us as 5 to 2 on and Wednesday @ 13 to 2. They haven’t been watching obviously.

[ragr]

I'm not liking the language coming from JS at all. He has said "it's difficult to explain, a big drop" & "very difficult for us, we could not find an answer." Given the performances in the last three games - and it is performances and not results - I would expect a person in a management position to offer up words that would indicate that a solution is forthcoming, express some annoyance that plans haven't worked out and have some idea as to why and/or to provide some kind of motivational thoughts as to what happens next. By taking the approach he has he's beginning to sound a little powerless. Nobody likes a bluffer and you can smell them a mile off so at least he's not that. But the next best thing is not someone who sounds genuinely baffled and borderline clueless. We know at this point that he's not a manager and more a development coach and the big tell is the lack of response to tactical situations and the continuance of like for like substitutions rather than innovating and altering systems in a timely way. I've been willing to cut him some slack because of the good performances we've seen at times but his own development in maintaining the performance levels is extremely concerning - it's not the results again, it's the performances, which are controllable.

On the plus side, we're in a better position now than in recent seasons. That, however, merely shifts the expectations in respect of performances.

I'm also not liking the noises coming from the club with regard to recruitment this month; no-one likes to feel desperate because other clubs can detect that and shift their position accordingly but if the club haven't already scoped out a right back and a number 8 during the first half of the season because of the blindingly obvious necessity for improvement and avoidance of square pegging from day one then it beggars belief. Not to mention the only mildly less critical LB and GK situations. Maybe because of that JS is playing a game publicly with his recent statements - where have we heard that before if that is the case? If so, that's worrying.

I really don't want a manager change at all given our position and I honestly wouldn't mind the last three results if the performances had been decent. The last three games have been abject, however, and JS needs to not only get a hold of the situation but to look like he has a hold of the situation and is taking responsibility for it. Can you really be a manager who is "surprised" by performances? How surprised was he when we spanked Leicester?

[DJ Hooper W12]

Good post ragr think you echo what a lot of us think,it’s not always the result that is the problem it’s the abysmal way we achieve it. And your right JS isn’t a manager more a coach,we need someone to get inside these players heads

[72bus]

Going tomorrow out of blind loyalty , don't like 12o'c kick offs ....no atmosphere , fans half asleep , not fair on the SW fans having to travel at the crack of dawn .....No idea what the result will be know it's going to be freezing and attendance will be low.....don't know if the manager knows his best team so he could make numerous changes .
As said need to go to Stratford with a win under our belts .....it's not easy being as Rangers supporter .

[Acton Stations]

Come on now Rangers, we have an opportunity today to put this recent dark cloud behind us and get a win on the board. Let this be a Hoops epiphany!

[swede]

I'm not liking the language coming from JS at all. He has said "it's difficult to explain, a big drop" & "very difficult for us, we could not find an answer." Given the performances in the last three games - and it is performances and not results - I would expect a person in a management position to offer up words that would indicate that a solution is forthcoming, express some annoyance that plans haven't worked out and have some idea as to why and/or to provide some kind of motivational thoughts as to what happens next. By taking the approach he has he's beginning to sound a little powerless. Nobody likes a bluffer and you can smell them a mile off so at least he's not that. But the next best thing is not someone who sounds genuinely baffled and borderline clueless. We know at this point that he's not a manager and more a development coach and the big tell is the lack of response to tactical situations and the continuance of like for like substitutions rather than innovating and altering systems in a timely way. I've been willing to cut him some slack because of the good performances we've seen at times but his own development in maintaining the performance levels is extremely concerning - it's not the results again, it's the performances, which are controllable.

On the plus side, we're in a better position now than in recent seasons. That, however, merely shifts the expectations in respect of performances.

I'm also not liking the noises coming from the club with regard to recruitment this month; no-one likes to feel desperate because other clubs can detect that and shift their position accordingly but if the club haven't already scoped out a right back and a number 8 during the first half of the season because of the blindingly obvious necessity for improvement and avoidance of square pegging from day one then it beggars belief. Not to mention the only mildly less critical LB and GK situations. Maybe because of that JS is playing a game publicly with his recent statements - where have we heard that before if that is the case? If so, that's worrying.

I really don't want a manager change at all given our position and I honestly wouldn't mind the last three results if the performances had been decent. The last three games have been abject, however, and JS needs to not only get a hold of the situation but to look like he has a hold of the situation and is taking responsibility for it. Can you really be a manager who is "surprised" by performances? How surprised was he when we spanked Leicester?

Spot on.

[LoftusRoadLad]

.

[daveshads]

Couldn’t really criticise the starting line up, except maybe Hayden. So go for it guys. Those first ten minutes or so, where the initiative is won or lost, are so important. When we start badly, it’s almost tangible. That’s when we really miss a leader on the field.