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Whilst Blackburn Rovers players get over the trip to India, we have to get over a dismal performance against Fulham, which was not only a humilating defeat, it also showed our deficiencies at the back. I know we had to change around the defence at late notice but we caved in and went down without a glimmer of passion and pride for the jersey. The fact it was against our London rivals made it even worse to take and I just hope that is now out of our system.
This Saturday brings pressures of a different kind in that we are favourites to win and our fans fully expect to go away with three points in the bag. Even Blackburn Rover fans I know expect us to win and that could potentially be very dangerous, as we seem to do better in games when we are the under-dogs. One player that needs no reminding about Blackburn Rovers is Jamie Mackie who was the one bit of good news to come out of the Fulham game. One wonders if we had been in with a chance of winning the game, whether he would have made a sub appearance though it was good to see his perseverance pay off after coming back from such a nasty injury.
We know that for this coming Saturday that Gabbidon will again be absent, though we can expect the return of Traore at left back. That will certainly give us a bit more balance with Luke Young reverting to right back, with the centre back pairing of Fitz Hall and Anton Ferdinand. It was quite interesting to see that even though Hall was carrying a knock during the Fulham game, it seemed Warnock was very reluctant to bring on Bruno Peroni, which has to beg the question why is here or indeed why did we not keep Kaspers Gorkss or get in another defender before deadline. If we get an injury at the back we will really struggle, with Matthew Connolly being our best option on the bench. He finished last season a bit hesitant at the back and has not been fully tested in the Premiership. We are very thread bare in the defensive department, that just might lead to a few goals going in both ends this Saturday.
In midfield we will probably set up with Faulrin and Derry holding the midfield, Barton potentially playing right and SWP on the left. It does annoy me a little when players don't playin there natural positions, you can see when SWP played right against Newcastle United how devastating he could be, though against Fulham he was trying to head in corners from Bradley Orr. I can see the argument of playing Tommy Smith on the left and SWP on the right and Derry maybe making way for Barton, but I suspect that Warnock will keep the same players and formation in midfield that he has for the last few games.
The front two is far more interesting in what Warnock might actually do. In Adel Taarabt you have a footballer who at times is simply sublime, but the on the other hand his petulance can get the better of him. The last game, I am sure many QPR fans would have liked to go down to the pub or Bus stop at half-time, but the majority stayed to applaud the team off the pitch, no professional footbaler should be leaving before the game finishes especially when we are all facing the embarrassment of such a heavy defeat>. I'm not sure if Warnock will react by putting him on the bench and maybe use the trip to Morrocco as an excuse/ I think Warnock has a real dillemma this week because we are not scoring at home (bar one own goal) and he might just feel that playing a 4-4-2 with Campbell/Bothroyd up front might just be a better option. I know many QPR fans have already turned on Bothroyd, but in all honestly even though he has looked slow at times, he does not get much help up front and the pairing of Campbell might just work. I never thought, I'd be saying this being an admirer of Adel Taarabt but I think for the Blackburn game its a risk worth taking and maybe using him as a substitute late on in the game.
Playing Campbell up front on his own, would not work bearing in mind the style of football we play and even though some might argue for the recall of Helguson, it would for me, be interesting to see how Bothroyd/Campbell partnership gets on. Thats a decision to be made by the manager and it will be very interesting how he plays it up front.
Blackburn Rovers have shown by beating Arsenal that when backs are against the wall, they can come up with a result. The Rovers manager is under enormous pressure, it will be interesting to see what the trip to India has done for team morale and how the players genuinely feel about making the trip half way around the world. In public, they are saying the obvious stuff, but it has to be questioned that during a season was it something that each and every player enjoyed doing, when they could have spent a few days relaxing at home with families whilst on the International break.
I think the first 20 minutes of this match is vital. It cannot be under-estimated how much fans want the Blackburn manager to be axed, but like any football fan they will get behind the team to start. It's when that first goal is conceded it could get incredibily uncomfortable for Steve kean, who incidentally has watched the last 4 QPR games in preparation for his teams visit to Loftus Road this Saturday. For me this game is about who scores first and I really don't think its a "gimme" like many R's fans think it will be. After all, we have not won one game at home all season
I suspect we will win and even though I got the Fulham prediction completely wrong, this game game could easily have 4-5 goals and I can see us winning 3-1 or 3-2. The big danger for me is that after the Fulham debacle how long it takes us to settle. The fans of course will be fully behind the players but if the things I have highlighed happen in reverse and Blackburn take the lead, it won't take long for some of the minority to make their feelings known.
At the moment players have enjoyed the full backing of the fans, but Loftus Road is not a hiding place for any player when the crowd turn. I really hope that does not happen. I would also like to see a performance by our captain Joey Barton. Okay, he had a really good game against Wolves but he has gone missing in games against villa and Fulham. Lets see him stamp his authority on the game and show us what all the hype is about. The very fact that training has gone up 50% since he got here shows the players have the respect for him and now its time for him to be a leader on the pitch by showing the fans what kind of footballer we have at this football club.
All in all, expect plenty of goals in front of a packed Loftus Road stadium. We need some momentum going into a hard run of fixtures and a win is imperative to keep confidence high. I suspect we will get it, but only just.
Prediction
QPR 3 Blackburn 2
This Saturday brings pressures of a different kind in that we are favourites to win and our fans fully expect to go away with three points in the bag. Even Blackburn Rover fans I know expect us to win and that could potentially be very dangerous, as we seem to do better in games when we are the under-dogs. One player that needs no reminding about Blackburn Rovers is Jamie Mackie who was the one bit of good news to come out of the Fulham game. One wonders if we had been in with a chance of winning the game, whether he would have made a sub appearance though it was good to see his perseverance pay off after coming back from such a nasty injury.
We know that for this coming Saturday that Gabbidon will again be absent, though we can expect the return of Traore at left back. That will certainly give us a bit more balance with Luke Young reverting to right back, with the centre back pairing of Fitz Hall and Anton Ferdinand. It was quite interesting to see that even though Hall was carrying a knock during the Fulham game, it seemed Warnock was very reluctant to bring on Bruno Peroni, which has to beg the question why is here or indeed why did we not keep Kaspers Gorkss or get in another defender before deadline. If we get an injury at the back we will really struggle, with Matthew Connolly being our best option on the bench. He finished last season a bit hesitant at the back and has not been fully tested in the Premiership. We are very thread bare in the defensive department, that just might lead to a few goals going in both ends this Saturday.
In midfield we will probably set up with Faulrin and Derry holding the midfield, Barton potentially playing right and SWP on the left. It does annoy me a little when players don't playin there natural positions, you can see when SWP played right against Newcastle United how devastating he could be, though against Fulham he was trying to head in corners from Bradley Orr. I can see the argument of playing Tommy Smith on the left and SWP on the right and Derry maybe making way for Barton, but I suspect that Warnock will keep the same players and formation in midfield that he has for the last few games.
The front two is far more interesting in what Warnock might actually do. In Adel Taarabt you have a footballer who at times is simply sublime, but the on the other hand his petulance can get the better of him. The last game, I am sure many QPR fans would have liked to go down to the pub or Bus stop at half-time, but the majority stayed to applaud the team off the pitch, no professional footbaler should be leaving before the game finishes especially when we are all facing the embarrassment of such a heavy defeat>. I'm not sure if Warnock will react by putting him on the bench and maybe use the trip to Morrocco as an excuse/ I think Warnock has a real dillemma this week because we are not scoring at home (bar one own goal) and he might just feel that playing a 4-4-2 with Campbell/Bothroyd up front might just be a better option. I know many QPR fans have already turned on Bothroyd, but in all honestly even though he has looked slow at times, he does not get much help up front and the pairing of Campbell might just work. I never thought, I'd be saying this being an admirer of Adel Taarabt but I think for the Blackburn game its a risk worth taking and maybe using him as a substitute late on in the game.
Playing Campbell up front on his own, would not work bearing in mind the style of football we play and even though some might argue for the recall of Helguson, it would for me, be interesting to see how Bothroyd/Campbell partnership gets on. Thats a decision to be made by the manager and it will be very interesting how he plays it up front.
Blackburn Rovers have shown by beating Arsenal that when backs are against the wall, they can come up with a result. The Rovers manager is under enormous pressure, it will be interesting to see what the trip to India has done for team morale and how the players genuinely feel about making the trip half way around the world. In public, they are saying the obvious stuff, but it has to be questioned that during a season was it something that each and every player enjoyed doing, when they could have spent a few days relaxing at home with families whilst on the International break.
I think the first 20 minutes of this match is vital. It cannot be under-estimated how much fans want the Blackburn manager to be axed, but like any football fan they will get behind the team to start. It's when that first goal is conceded it could get incredibily uncomfortable for Steve kean, who incidentally has watched the last 4 QPR games in preparation for his teams visit to Loftus Road this Saturday. For me this game is about who scores first and I really don't think its a "gimme" like many R's fans think it will be. After all, we have not won one game at home all season
I suspect we will win and even though I got the Fulham prediction completely wrong, this game game could easily have 4-5 goals and I can see us winning 3-1 or 3-2. The big danger for me is that after the Fulham debacle how long it takes us to settle. The fans of course will be fully behind the players but if the things I have highlighed happen in reverse and Blackburn take the lead, it won't take long for some of the minority to make their feelings known.
At the moment players have enjoyed the full backing of the fans, but Loftus Road is not a hiding place for any player when the crowd turn. I really hope that does not happen. I would also like to see a performance by our captain Joey Barton. Okay, he had a really good game against Wolves but he has gone missing in games against villa and Fulham. Lets see him stamp his authority on the game and show us what all the hype is about. The very fact that training has gone up 50% since he got here shows the players have the respect for him and now its time for him to be a leader on the pitch by showing the fans what kind of footballer we have at this football club.
All in all, expect plenty of goals in front of a packed Loftus Road stadium. We need some momentum going into a hard run of fixtures and a win is imperative to keep confidence high. I suspect we will get it, but only just.
Prediction
QPR 3 Blackburn 2
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