Saturday 19th December 2009
The Coca Cola Championship
Loftus Road Stadium
Referee: N D Swarbrick
Attendance: 12,631
Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Sheffield United
By The Godfather

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Gorkss, Ramage, Stewart, Williams, Taraabt, Watson, Leigertwood, Routledge, Simpson, Agyemang.

Sheffield United starting line-up: Bunn, Morgan, Kallio, Stewart, Kilgallon, Walker, Harper, Montgomery, Quinn, Ward, Cresswell.

Minutes before kick-off at Loftus Road, a video is always played on the big screen. You must know the one I mean. Clips of QPR players scoring goals and supporters celebrating in the stands, with dramatic Star Wars music blaring out in the background. Now, that's not really an accurate image of our club, is it? A more realistic pre-match video would surely include two blokes head-butting each other, perhaps with the Chinese Olympic team joining in the fight, too.

Unlike my proposed pre-match video, Saturday afternoon's encounter was far from entertaining. In Paul Hart's first game in charge of the home side, there were few clear-cut opportunities. However, Queens Park Rangers should have taken all three points, after dominating the second half and forcing the best chance of the match in the final minute. I have to say I was not impressed by Sheffield United, who seemed to resort to hoofing the ball aimlessly up the pitch far too often. Another case of two points dropped rather than one gained, I'm afraid.

It's far too early to determine Paul Hart's favoured style of play, formation and tactics. He was appointed on Thursday and therefore only had a couple of days to prepare his team for the match. As a consequence, this was a performance very similar to those of the Magilton era. There were a lot of attractive passing patterns, but little end product.

The one tactical change that Hart did make seemed a little bizarre. His decision to move Routledge to the left wing did not reap success. In fact, when the former Crystal Palace man took up position on the right flank in the latter stages of the match, Rangers suddenly looked far more dangerous in attack.

Other than that, Paul Hart kept with the same team that drew with West Brom last Monday night. Once again, Jay Simpson started on the flank, something that I find difficult to understand given that he is QPR's top scorer. It was not surprising that the Arsenal loanee struggled to make an impact on proceedings.

Paul Hart really couldn't have wished for a better start to his QPR career. With just a minute on the clock, Watson's corner found its way to Leigertwood on the edge of the box. The midfielder's drive deflected off a Sheffield United defender and into the bottom corner of the net, allowing Mikele to celebrate a goal against his former club.

Rangers could have continued the momentum. Instead, five minutes later, they conceded an unbelievably soft goal, thanks to a terrible defensive error. The ball was given away on QPR's right hand side, allowing Kallio to progress to the byline. With Ramage standing still, the United man crossed in for Cresswell, who tapped it into the back of the net from close range. I must say, this was another disappointing performance from Peter. As much as I appreciate his work-rate, I'm not convinced that he possesses the necessary attributes to succeed at this level.

Then, in the 18th minute, the home team created a decent opportunity to regain the lead. Watson took his corner short, finding the skilful Taraabt inside the penalty box. With a sublime piece of skill, the Moroccan turned and shot just wide of Bunn's right-hand post. However, I couldn't help thinking that Adel should have looked to pass instead of going for goal from such a tight angle.

At the other end, six minutes later, Gorkss picked up the ball on the edge of his own area and slipped, gifting Cresswell a scoring opportunity. Fortunately, the Latvian managed to recover in time and close down the experienced United striker. Eventually, he cleared to safety.

In the 28th minute, QPR responded by carving out their final opportunity of the first half. Simpson received the ball on the edge of the area, and, with his back to goal, skilfully flicked it through to Routledge. To my despair, the pass was too heavy, and the 'keeper was able to gather comfortably.

The Blades finished the half strongly, enjoying what would be their best spell of the match. First, in the 30th minute, Quinn cut inside and smashed it just wide of Cerny's right-hand post. Then, in stoppage time, with the ball bobbling about QPR's penalty area, it fell to Ward. Luckily, under pressure from a combination of Stewart and Gorkss, he missed the target with his scuffed effort.

Bookings: Stewart (32 minutes).

Half-time score: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Sheffield United.

Queens Park Rangers forced the first chance of the second half in the 51st minute. Tommy Williams, who was having an excellent game at left-back, ran down the wing and produced a low cross, which fell to Agyemang inside the penalty area. Unfortunately, the striker's first touch was poor and Morgan was able to clear the ball to safety.

Agyemang was at the centre of the action again seven minutes later. This time, he did well to progress down the left flank and produce a wonderful cross to Simpson at the back post. With all the space and time he could have wanted, the Arsenal loanee sliced his volley wide of the target. He should have done better.

Hart's men were dominating the second half and, in the 64th minute, were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty. Simpson received the ball inside the box with his back to goal and, as he attempted to turn, Morgan appeared to trip him. However, to the crowd's fury, the referee waved the appeals away.

At the other end, two minutes later, the Blades forced their first (and last) opportunity of the second half. Quinn received it on the right flank and found Harper on the edge of the box with a fine ball. Fortunately, his curling effort sailed wide of Cerny's right-hand post.

At this point, Hart decided to introduce Vine at the expense of Jay Simpson. In my view, this was the right decision. The Arsenal youngster had struggled to make an impact on proceedings - he is clearly not a winger. I do hope that he plays up front on Boxing Day.

The Super Hoops continued to pile the pressure on Sheffield United's resilient defence. Vine was the next to carve out an opportunity in the 83rd minute, cutting inside and smashing a drive at goal. Unfortunately, Bunn gathered comfortably.

As the Fourth Official indicated three minutes of stoppage time, it did seem that Queens Park Rangers would have to settle for a point. However, for a moment, I thought that they'd snatched a victory. Routledge crossed into the penalty area and Ben Watson directed a powerful header towards the top corner. Unfortunately, the ball dropped on to the crossbar and out for a goal kick.

Full-time score: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Sheffield United

Bookings: Montgomery (52 minutes), Morgan (89 minutes), Bunn (90 minutes).

Conclusion

In his post-match interview, Paul Hart said that this performance was "an encouraging start". I don't have the benefit of one of Sky's fancy monitors, but I got the impression that we enjoyed well over half of possession. However, despite this, the Rs only forced a few efforts on goal. This is the problem with the team.

United's equaliser should never have been allowed to happen. Hart needs to work with the defence on the training ground - the Rs cannot afford to give away such soft goals.

Man of the match: Tommy Williams - he looked very eager to impress the new manager and produced an excellent performance at left-back. Not only was he solid defensively; he wasn't afraid to get forward. A very promising display.