Match Day Thread Bristol City v QPR

Ever since that international break we have been shocking. Hoof the ball up and hope Matt Smith nods it down to someone, that is literally our game plan. I blame Holloway and his tactics for today's pathetic display. I think we'll stay up this season but no idea where another point is going to come from.

 

This was a painful and dull 90 minutes.

As others have said, playing Smith up front merely encourages us to hoof it up in his general direction all the time. Today was monotonous with Flint easily coping with anything vaguely threatening. Holloway sets us up too defensively and then, when time is running out or we are a couple behind, he adopts a more attacking formation (aka less defensive) or brings on the players he should have picked in the first place. This change in approach, as in the second half today, makes us look a much better side.

I thought Freeman was our man of the match, although he faded a bit in the second half. Washington looked lively and worked hard when he came on. Lynch and, especially, Onuoha did some good individual stuff. But that's part of the problem: it's individuals. I can offer positives about most of today's squad but that's the problem: put together, they are less than the sum of their parts. Therefore, it's easy to point the finger of blame at the manager. Plus, today, other than the honourable mentions above, the players were just not operating at the right level. Our wide men were totally anonymous and might as well have stayed in the changing room. Smith is a one trick pony and it is a trick with which Bristol were clearly all too familiar. Why was that a surprise to us? Today, I would have passed better than Luongo, a player whose praises I have sung in the past but who is now testing my patience. Bidwell is totally one dimensional and it ain't a great dimension. Furlong seems to be copying him and has given up on offering an attacking threat.

We have now lost four on the trot and today's performance, against one of the weakest sides in the division, should be taken as a salutary warning for next season. We are very poor. Bristol's players passed the ball better than us and they found space - boy, did they find space - so much better than us. I could say this is getting embarrassing but the fact is IT IS ALREADY EMBARRASSING.

The formation is wrong, the tactics are wrong and the players are either incapable of delivering or can't be a***d to do so. I expect more of the same on Monday and I am not confident of us collecting another single point this season.

Thank God I haven't stumped up for my 2017/18 season ticket yet. Maybe I can wean myself off the habit. Because habit it is: let's face it, there's not much on offer to tempt any newbies to join the QPR fold. Has anyone really enjoyed this tosh for any sustained period since Warnock's promotion season when we had a settled formation, side and tactics with players who gave their all, week in, week out?

 

I am truly fed up with this tinkering. Heard someone say Holloway doesn't know his best team ... well,he bloody well should by now.
It's disgraceful how he expects fans to travel all over the country to watch him keep changing five players every match. It makes me think he hasn't a clue. Conte found his formation, stuck with it, and won his league. We are so far away from anything like form, entertainment and being the football side we were promised.
Next season, yet again, does not bode well if we can't beat teams like Bristol.

 

I was quite pleased with the result actually

 

I think 4 months is long enough for a manager. Not to prove themself, do anything with the team or build anything approaching progression. It's long enough for a QPR manager. Full stop.

Holloway out. At least then we can give the next guy a go before we replace him in August.

 

I'm beginning to think some of our lot need this sort of message...

 

Holloway shd of been given til the end of the season to keep us up n after that thanks but no thanks imo!!

 

Ollie's record to date: P26 W8 D3 L15, just two clean sheets. Relegation form...

 

More blood! We want more blood!

FFS have you lot been QPR fans for more than five minutes? The problems at the club are slowly being sorted. Bringing in yet another manager and yet more players (with all the money we don't have) isn't going to make things magically better.

 

We are trying every type of manager:
Warnock - blood and guts sweary teflon shouter
Hughes - passionless inept spender
Redknapp - ancient lazy teflon big name geezer crook
Ramsey - over promoted rabbit caught in the headlights nice guy
JFH - greedy dim tactician who didn't understand tactics
Holloway - clown on the way down

One day we'll get a good one, but probably by mistake.

 

I agree that we shouldn't change managers yet again. However, Ollie is beginning to have a complete mare and just doesn't seem to get it that changing the team wholesale every game leads to the players playing like strangers. It also takes the piss out of every supporter who takes the time and expense to attend.

I'm beginning to wonder whether he's a little bit simple.

 

Its hard to get whether some of the posts on here are sarcastic or are genuine opinions.......

 

I agree on the second point but I guess if it benefits us next season it's worth it. I guess there are plenty he's not sure on and is giving a chance. Some are new to this country so shouldn't be discarded but have been average at best. Others are at least displaying they aren't good enough for what I hope will be a crack at the playoffs in a worse Championship next year.

 

I've got the feeling that, since he knows he's safe from relegation, he's using the remainder of the season to experiment instead of waiting 'til pre-season (which often tells you nothing anyway). In any case, I'm not defending his current form. I'm just mentioning a possible reason for events recently.

I feel good about next season. We might be able to push for a play-off place, imo. But we'll see some decent football and we, as fans, need to get back into that mentality of not expecting so much like we did about ten years ago. Because of the silly mess that we've been, we seem to feel that we deserve to be in the EPL pronto. It doesn't work like that. Our club has a lot of real growing to do before any of that nonsense. We punched above our weight for a while, that's all. Now we need to grow properly, and things seem to be in place for that. It might take ten years to get anywhere and things change in football.

 

My hope and thoughts exactly

 

I'm not sure Holloway was experimenting against Bristol. Other than leaving Washington, a player I like, on the bench, he probably fielded close to his best available side. (I assume Hall was injured.) He also started with a well-tried formation, not an experimental one, but it habitually sees us playing too defensively. If we can't even get a point away against sides like Bristol, who were recently hammered by Preston and were still very much in the relegation fight, there's no way I personally can "feel good" about next season.

As much as I liked him first time round, I didn't support Holloway's appointment this season and his recent record, including spells of 6 defeats on the trot and now 4 defeats on the trot, stinks. I'm not one of those who clamours for the managers dismissal after 6 months in the job but this is sure testing my patience. I read in the press this morning that Holloway himself was furious with the performance which at least means that, unlike Harry and his predecessors, he is not delusional.

 

Safe are we? Don't think you can discard that yet until we get our next win & hopefully Monday.

 

I have supported QPR since 4th February 1967. I have not asked for Holloway's blood. However, unlike you, I cannot see the problems on the field being sorted: a run of 6 consecutive defeats, closely followed by 4 more consecutive defeats is strong evidence to the contrary. And the argument that Holloway is experimenting in preparation for next season won't wash either: yesterday's line up was very familiar both in terms of personnel and in terms of formation.

 

Bloody hell guys. We lost to a single goal against Bristol C away and apparently had a good goal and good penalty shout disallowed in the game. We have no given right to be automatically better than any other team fighting for their Championship status.

Last week we lost to the best team in the league - by one goal from a wonder free kick that ought not to have been awarded.

Not sure Holloway is the best manager for us - but I'd watch his team of players over what I saw under Ramsay or JFH any day.

 

Bristol were in control of the game throughout. Our players played like they had the God given right to win. I was there: it was yet another dull, (poor) defensive performance from us, no better than what we saw under JFH or Ramsay. Had we played all game like we did in the second half against Brighton, we would have won but we set out with the wrong formation, tactics and (one or two) players. For all that, plus my ticket money, I have the right to moan like hell.