Saturday 5 March 2011

QPR seal sneaky victory over Leicester


Warnock's men have clearly been working on their luck skills at the training ground because today was a squeaky bum day at Loftus Road. The players seemed flat and in some cases, unforgivably, appeared to lack any real appetite for the game.

Leicester, by contrast, were on fire. All over the QPR side for much of the first and then second halves Paddy Kenny was the thin green line that kept Rangers in contention on multiple occasions. One athletic leap and one-handed fingertip curl over the crossbar earned the stopper a spontaneous standing ovation which was fully deserved.

The fans seated around me, in the Ellerslie Road T block, were crying out for a half time rollocking that would see some of the midfield players receive a stern reminder of exactly how much they were being paid for all of this, and a polite request that would they please pull their collective fingers out.

But despite Warnock's angry gorilla impressions from the sidelines compared to Sven Goran Erikkson's serene and very much seated countenance the Leicester side were deserving of their nickname the Foxes as they threaded clever ball after clever ball through what seemed to be an increasingly ragged QPR defence.

Adel Taraabt only got one clear chance in the penalty area but decided to clutch his face in mock agony instead of ride an innocuous challenge half way through the second half and was swiftly substituted. So thank goodness for his replacement Ishmael Miller, on loan from West Bromwich Albion who showed strength and poise to convert the only shot on goal from the Rs for the whole match. "sign him now" went the cry from the stands, and well he might be.

As we left, counting our luck, news came in that Swansea and the others had lost - and in the pub we then heard that Ipswich had hit Cardiff 2-0. That leaves the Rs an astonishing 8 points clear at the top.

But one thing is for sure, even with most of the teams around us having lost today, promotion is ours to lose - but lose it we will with many more performances like that. The next banana skin is a trip to our old friends Millwall (who I had to thank for my only experience of ever being kettled by the police) on tuesday night.

And how many clubs fans would have a vespa rider outside the stadium afterwards?! See below:

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