Saturday 22nd August 2009
Loftus Road Stadium
Referee: J Linington
Attendance: 13058
Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Nottingham Forest
By The Godfather

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Hall, Leigertwood, Routledge, Helguson, Pellicori, Faurlin, Borrowdale, Taraabt.

Nottingham Forest starting line-up: Camp, Chambers, Morgan, Adebola, Garner, Cohen, Gunter, McGoldrick, McKenna, Majewski, Lynch.

It was the same old story. At times, against a very aggressive Nottingham Forest side, Queens Park Rangers played the ball in impressive intricate passing patterns, creating several clear-cut chances. Once again, however, without a quality goalscorer, there was simply no end product. In truth, both teams enjoyed periods of dominance. Mikele Leigertwood’s 26th minute wonder-strike came during a spell of Queens Park Rangers pressure, whilst McGoldrick’s second-half equaliser was the result of a fifteen-minute siege of the Rs’ penalty area. On the balance of play, a draw was probably a fair result, but there is no doubt that both managers will feel that their side had the opportunities to take all three points.

Unfortunately, the match was somewhat spoiled by an utterly dreadful performance from the referee and his linesmen. Their decisions were inconsistent and often completely bizarre. Both sets of fans ended up chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing”, although in my view Nottingham Forest benefited more from Mr Linington’s incompetence.

Once again, Jim Magilton altered his team selection. After what has seemed an eternity, Alessandro Pellicori was handed a debut alongside the off-form Heidar Helguson up front. Adel Taraabt and Wayne Routledge occupied the wings, whilst new signing, Alejandro Faurlin, and Mikele Leigertwood took up central midfield. Ramage and Borrowdale filled the full-back positions alongside Fitz Hall and Damion Stewart in the heart of defence. For the Reds, Lee Camp returned to Loftus Road in goal, whilst Dexter Blackstock had to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench.

With just two minutes on the clock, Nottingham Forest had an excellent opportunity to take the lead. A wonderful pass completely cut the Rangers defence open and put Majewski through on goal. Cerny brilliantly palmed the shot away, but only into the path of Joe Garner. The Forest striker looked certain to score with his powerful drive, but the Rs goalkeeper somehow managed to scramble across his goal and push the ball out for a corner. Two superb saves.

At the other end, Queens Park Rangers responded by creating a chance of their own in the 11th minute. Taraabt progressed down the left flank and found Leigertwood on the edge of the box. The former Palace midfielder turned brilliantly, beating two Forest players, but he could only smash the ball over the bar.

For the next ten minutes, Faurlin and Leigertwood were clearly losing the battle in the middle of the park. This was because neither seemed to be coping with the brawn and aggression of the Forest midfielders. As a consequence, the away team started to dominate proceedings. And, in the 14th minute, they were very unlucky not to break the deadlock.

The talented Chris Cohen beat Peter Ramage on the wing with a sublime piece of skill and whacked the ball across the six-yard box. To my relief, Dele Adebola couldn’t connect with the cross.

My heart was in my mouth again just minutes later when Majewski ran through midfield completely unchallenged, passing the ball to McGoldrick in acres of space on Forest’s right-hand side. With Cerny flat-footed, the former Southampton striker somehow sent his shot wide of the post. Another lucky escape.

After that scare, Queens Park Rangers seemed to “wake up”. After a wonderful long ball from Faurlin, Heidar Helguson received the ball in the area. Under pressure from Wes Morgan, the Icelandic passed to Taraabt in space on the edge of the box. To my despair, the Tottenham loanee sent it rolling wide of the target.

At this point Pellicori started to become more involved in the game. The Italian looked lively all afternoon, holding the ball up well and chasing the Forest defenders. He did, however, seem to be lacking in the speed department.

The Rs squandered another opportunity in the 24th minute. This time Borrowdale was at the centre of the action, pouncing on Routledge’s curling cross inside the penalty area. Unfortunately the defender fired his shot well over the bar.

Just two minutes later, however, Queens Park Rangers took the lead in style. After pouncing on a throw-in 25 yards out, Mikele Leigertwood sent the ball curling into the top corner of the net. This will surely be a candidate for the “Goal of the Season” award.

After seeing his side go behind, the lumbering Adebola decided to resort to his signature tactic of falling over outside the penalty area under no pressure whatsoever. In the 40th minute the referee awarded a free-kick for a foul on “big Dele”. Luckily Majewski’s effort from the resulting set-piece was pushed out to safety by Radek Cerny.

Half-time: Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest substitution: McLeary on for Lynch.

Jim Magilton made one change at half-time, replacing Fitz Hall with Kaspars Gorkss. I’m not sure whether the decision was tactical or due to an injury. Either way, it was good to see the Latvian back in action after missing the last couple of matches.

Queens Park Rangers forced the first chance of the second half just a minute after the restart. Adel Taraabt ran through central midfield and released Pellicori through on goal. Under pressure from Morgan, the Italian could only fire into the side netting. The angle was awkward but perhaps the new signing could have done better.

Queens Park Rangers then began to sit back, content to defend their one-goal lead. The result was a period of sustained pressure on the QPR defence. However, with Gorkss and Stewart, I was confident that the Rs could hold out.

Things took a bizarre turn in the 56th minute when Lee Camp, the Forest goalkeeper and former R, suddenly charged to the halfway line, eventually hoofing the ball up the pitch. When I said in my match preview that I thought that Camp would be “up” for the match I didn’t quite expect him to try to take revenge on his former club himself!

Clearly the goalkeeper’s actions had some sort of effect because just a couple of minutes later Forest equalised. Adebola headed a long ball down to McGoldrick, who had managed to run in-between the Rs defenders. The former Southampton striker sent it crashing into the roof of the net. My head was in my hands.

Magilton responded by replacing Pellicori with Rowan Vine. The forward didn’t quite display the same raw energy and pace as he did before his horrific injury, something which I am sure he will regain as he picks up more match practice.

Vine was involved in the Rs’ next opportunity in the 64th minute. Helguson picked up the ball on QPR’s right-hand side, finding the former Luton man on the edge of the box with a decent pass. Unfortunately he produced a weak shot, which was easily gathered by Camp.

The QPR manager made his final substitution in the 65th minute, bringing on Akos Buzsaky at the expense of Adel Taraabt. The Moroccan was not at his best today, running aimlessly across the pitch and struggling to make an impact.

Nottingham Forest substitution: Blackstock on for Adebola (71 minutes).

In the 72nd minute, after Blackstock had entered the field of play to a round of applause from the QPR supporters, Mr Linington awarded Queens Park Rangers a free kick, in a perfect position for Akos Buzsaky. For a moment the Hungarian’s set piece seemed to be curling into the bottom corner, but Lee Camp dived to his right and palmed the ball out of play.

Two minutes later, Dexter Blackstock had a golden opportunity to score against his former club. After Paul McKenna had released him into the penalty area, the former Rs striker poked it against Cerny. As the ball bobbled towards the net, Peter Ramage managed to get back and clear it off the line. The goal wouldn’t have counted due to an infringement spotted by the referee.

At the other end, Heidar Helguson had a wonderful chance to win the match in the 80th minute. A cross from Vine found him unmarked in the penalty area. With Camp flat-footed, all he had to do was hit the target. However, the Icelandic sent his header looping over the bar. Another terrible miss to add to Helguson’s collection.

The final opportunity came in the last minute of normal time. Once again, Lee Camp made the bizarre decision to rush out of his penalty area. This time, however, Akos Buzsaky tackled him. As the Hungarian tried to find space to shoot at the open goal, the linesman flagged and play was stopped. Why? Who knows?

After four minutes of added time, the referee blew the final whistle, signalling the end to what had been a very lively encounter.

Full-time score: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Nottingham Forest

What the managers said….

Jim Magilton: “It was a wonderful strike from Mikele and after that you'd have thought we might have gone on and taken control. At half-time there was a precautionary message because we hadn't defended properly - and lo and behold a defensive lapse then led to a goal. We have to stop giving away chances, because at the moment we are being punished for it. There's a nervousness about us. I think these lads are hoping to win rather than expecting to, but it is still a work in progress”

Billy Davies: “Anyone watching this club will see there has been an outstanding progression, even if it's not being rewarded with the results. We are 80% of the way there, and we'll keep working with what we've got and continue to make progress. You can see the quality we've got. We were complacent against Watford but excellent against Reading, West Brom and QPR, and how we're sitting with just two points is remarkable.”

Conclusion

With Nottingham Forest’s impressive list of strikers, it was surprising to see them struggle to convert their opportunities. The Reds were well organised and very aggressive and it is those sorts of teams who do well in this division. In fairness, they probably deserved their point.

For the Super Hoops, I thought that Pellicori looked lively this afternoon. However, do I think that he is the quality goalscorer the Rs so desperately need? I will reserve my judgement until he has played a few more games.

I felt that Faurlin’s distribution was excellent at times, but, as I feared when the signing was announced, he struggled to cope with the more aggressive midfielders. Will the Argentinean be able to adapt to the English style of play?

Once again, Queens Park Rangers squandered their opportunities to win the match. I think everyone in the stadium could see that Rangers are lacking a quality striker. The question is when will the Board take action?

Man of the match: It’s got to be Radek Cerny. He made several very important saves, especially in the first half. His distribution was poor on a couple of occasions but overall this was a very solid performance. Well done Radek!