Yeuch. Super Hoops 2 Spaghetti Hoops 1. Suddenly, the pre-match hype and tension of glorious days in London W12 seem so far far away. We were, to put it mildly, inept for a great deal of the match, yet a neutral would probably say that save for about the last 2 minutes of the first half and up until Rangers’ second goal we dominated.
So what went wrong? You can look at it in one of two ways : one, we are shite, or second, it was one of those days, and yes teams do play badly and yes, teams do lose occasionally. Even us. I tend to fall inbetween both stalls meself…
What was the problem? I don’t know, I guess the old WFC achillies heel of complacency reared its ugly turd-like head again. Remember, we have been strolling it too much of late against Wolves and Wigan, we tried it again today and finally got caught out.
Our previously solid paring of Wil and Will was breached twice in exactly the same manner, though it has to be said that our width players (and especially our right side) were virtually non-existant. Jupp looked out of it at times (is this the same Duncan Jupp who was turning heads only last season? Now he’s turning stomachs), Ardley laboured as usual, and am I the only person who is getting rather fed up with Marcus Gayle? Just because he scored against Man U about 3 years ago does not mean he should automatically get in the squad : I guess that people like Johnathon Hunt and Pär Karlsson when they get their feet together may be giving the likes of Ardley and Gayle some much needed competition.
Anyway….
Plus points: Save for the 15 minute spell mentioned above, 75% of our defense looked quite solid. The fact that after 2-0 down we went for it – we went to our much vaunted and more direct Plan B and looked threatening, hopefully this will wake the players up and make them realise that you cannot stroke around the ball all the time and expect to win. The away support for us was fantastic – about 3,000 (meaning QPR had to move the mesh separate to accomodate us all). £16 wasn’t bad for a good view, shame it was facing the pitch.
Minus points: We lost. We conceded two goals for the first time this season. We conceded poor goals. General complacency until we went 2-0 down. Gave the ball away too much in vital areas. Overall distribution and crossing was poor. We maybe got “found out” today, we have been teetering on the edge for a couple of games now – maybe this will be the wake-up call that Burnley was. The ref was a totally inept cunt – missed a penalty for us, if the handball was any more blatant then it would have had a neon sign on it with a huge arrow saying “Handball, please give penalty”. Wil’s 5th booking, means he’ll have to miss a match or two – the return of Dean Blackwell (oh goody, I can hardly wait……).
Where to improve: Ah, where shall I start. Let’s start at the very basics, shall we? Firstly, the round thing with “Mitre” or “Adidas” on it is called a football. Got that? A f-o-o-t-b-a-l-l. Now, what do we do with this thing called a football? We kick it, that’s right. Now, where do we kick this football device to? Yes, a member of your own team. Thank you.
Sorry, I’m being cynical. Let’s try being a bit more direct, shall we? That means learning to cross the ball accurately for a start. How about challenging for the ball in midfield? That’ll be a good way to carry on. And as this for a radical idea, would it be possible for certain members of our first team to actually look who to pass it to? Yes, that will apply to quite a few of you today. Please learn this by Wigan, or by Stockport at the very latest. Thanks.
Truth is stranger than fiction: The away attendance. This must have been the biggest crowd we have taken to Loftus Road ever. The Rangers’ stewards were shitting themselves.
Point to ponder: Just why is it that we seem to save our worst performances when we take a large away contingent? Think about it – Fulham last year, Bradford, Soton and today. Is this some perverse punishment that the club dishes out? Or is it a subconcious adverse reaction to playing in front of so many of our support?
In a nutshell: One step back? If so, just make sure we learn from it…..
Elsewhere, I was involved in a conversation with one Charles Koppel. The centre of conversation – apart from the rowing of course – was the SLP article tomorrow. And guess what – it’s slightly out of context. But before you commit suicide, this is what CK meant : an announcement could well be made by the New Year at the earliest but – and I warn you – it could take up to a year before an announcement is made. Now do you see what I mean when I tell you not to get jumped up ideas? Remember, CK did use “hopefully” in the SLP.
So, why the seemingly long time? Well, two reasons : one, it is best not to say where it is to save the residents going apeshit. Secondly, I would imagine that buying land off a private entity is not as easy as buying land (like PGPF) from a charity. Without knowing much about land surveying and stuff like that, even if both parties are willing to tie up the deal there is bound to be problems with leases, clauses (ie you cannot build for x amount of time) and what have you. So yes, if CK has found a site – and I have no reason to doubt he has – actually having it in WFC’s possession may take a bit more time. Have patience, it will be worth it in the end
Forgot to mention this yesterday – despite its vast improvement in recent months, Planet/NTL/whoever are going to lose their licence for the Official site, and it’s going “in-house” from the new year. This according to Reg Davis on C17 Sport. By “in house”, I wonder if it’ll be given to one of us WFC webmasters to do? (note to WFC: I don’t actually want the job of designing it, though I will gladly do a bit of writing for it). Or will one of BRG’s internet companies get the job? Or both? Guess a section of the SW19 Poll will wind its way to WFC before you can say “TOS violation”
Finally, the Palace match at their place is off. Although scheduled for the 8th, it’ll now be some other time. Guess it prepares them for their expected arse-kicking….