Premiership Dreams. Is it worth it?

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Rob Feldman
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Saw this on ftbpro, long winded, but worth a read.


QPR - Premiership Dreams Is It Worth It???
09 Mar 2012| Premier League, Queens Park Rangers

On the 13th August 2011 it began, QPR had arrived, fresh from winning the league and having pulled together as a unit under incredible pressure of a potential point deduction by the ‘ever reliable’ F.A.
There had been many potential mooted signings, stories of boardroom unrest, takeovers etc etc, by the end of the summer I didn’t know what to believe, in the end we ended up signing DJ Campbell, Kieran Dyer and Jay Bothroyd – exciting times!
QPR this season have reminded me of a boy who has just finished primary school and is making the jump to secondary school, his mum would have given him a list of guidelines of what he should and what he should not do.
Many of my friends had warned me the gulf in class between the championship and the premiership, I knew this was true but I thought with Neil Warnock’s so called battling of ‘us against the world’ mentality, I was convinced we would be okay.
I have compiled from my own observation a list of points not to forget when you are in the premier league..........
A list of points not to forget when you’re in the premiership:
Time and space:
QPR started the 2011/2012 season Against Bolton Wanderers at Loftus Road, a fixture many thought was with all due respect to Bolton maybe not the toughest looking fixture out of the other 19 teams. Incredibly after just 30 minutes, I realised just how big the gap is when Bolton against the run of play scored a fantastic 30 yarder by Gary Cahill, one bad clearance and before I had batted an eyelid we were already 1 - 0 down, the game was bossed in midfield by Muamba and Reo Coker (hardly world beaters) but QPR’S maverick and last year’s talisman Moroccan Adel Taarabt could barely hold the ball for more than 10 seconds before being disposed, the speed of the counter attack, the clinical finishing, the solidity of the defence, the ever reliable Shaun Derry could not get near the Bolton players and the more creative Alejandro Faurlin could hardly muster any of his great visual passes. In the Championship or lower leagues the time and space players have is considerably more than in the premiership.

Keeping 11 men on the pitch is a must:
This season against Bolton, Aston Villa, Norwich, Wolves and Fulham QPR have shot themselves in the foot, other than the Bolton game where Clint Hill was sent off in the dying minutes, the four other games I have mentioned QPR have been in control of a game and out of nowhere pressed a self destruct button which has seen them fall a player short for large spells of the game. In the Championship, such mistakes can be dealt with by a backs to the wall attitude or a never say die spirit which can see teams with 10 men battle as a unit to get 3 valuable points (Reading home and away last year springs to mind), in the premiership it really is a lot less forgiving with 10 men against 11, premiership teams can expose the gaps created on the pitch and use it to wear down and tire the other team down, it can seem so unforgiving and cruel but the reality is, players should be responsible or wise enough to not react when provoked. I somehow don’t think Mick Mccarthy or Martin Jol had a lot of sympathy for Djibrill Cisse or debutee Samba Diakate getting themselves needlessly sent off.
Don’t get over excited until the game is over:
When Cisse netted on his debut against villa, there was sheer delirium, finally a striker who is not afraid to wallop one in the onion bag, we have not really seen many clinical strikers at Rangers since Sir Les, Kevin Gallen or Paul Furlong, I thought at last a new hero. I turned round to my mates and said ‘I think we will be alright this season now’, the same mistake I made when we played Newcastle in September, I saw Wright Phillips make a complete mug of Ryan Taylor and I foolishly laughed on the way home about how much better we are then Swansea and Norwich! (how wrong I was) A big lesson I have learnt is to not get ahead of myself too early in the premiership, In the Championship a lot of the time you can tell when you are in control of a match that you will in most cases get the three points, however in the Premiership the teams are fitter and can find that extra yard of pace in the latter stages of a game. I think we all can all agree that football is a game where excitement and passion can get the better of us where all rationale in the heat of the moment is nonexistent, this is a mistake we all make not just QPR fans, just ask our North London neighbours - Tottenham about prematurely judging a game before the game is over.



Paper Does Not Mean Anything.................
I have learnt however good QPR’S team may look on paper or if rangers fans are trying to second guess how good are team will be with Taarabt, Wright Phillips and Cisse all in the starting eleven, let me tell you - it does not mean we will go and win games, team spirit and unity is a major factor, if you look at Norwich and Swansea who both on paper have weaker teams then us, yet on the pitch they play with a heart and desire we can only dream of, they remember how hard they worked to get where they are now, with Rangers so far I have not been able to say the same. When we signed Shaun Wright Phillips and Joey Barton I was so excited, I was jumping up and down like a mad man, I even brought a QPR shirt with SWP on the back, I thought he would score at least 8 to 10 goals this season, with regular games SWP will go on and help solidify QPR’S premiership status. The flying pacey, diminutive winger who used to scare the living daylights out of any poor full back when in full flight, unfortunately Wright Phillips has looked like a shadow of his former self, when given the chance to run at defenders he just chooses a simple sideways pass and slows the game down, it is almost like any confidence he had has been taken away from him. It really is a shame that a player who used to be a regular England International with such potential, which he shows in very brief cameos (Blackburn last 20 mins away to name one or two) is not fulfilling what we need from him. Joey Barton is a whole different entity, the player who himself said ‘honestly, I think I’m the best English midfielder, Frank Lampard’s on the way down and Gerrard’s been injured a lot’ if he played half as well as his sentiments suggest then maybe his comments wouldn’t look so laughable. Constantly tweeting about matters that are completely irrelevant to QPR, until only a week ago when he wrote come on you r’s for the first time since signing from his beloved Newcastle. I will even use Jay Bothroyd as an example a player who was in imperious form in the Championship for Cardiff last season, even earning himself his first England cap, whose confidence should have been sky high, just simply does not look like he can handle the pace of the premiership.
I will finally use West Ham as an example they had players such as Michael Carrick, David James, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Paolo DI Canio and they got relegated, it is about playing as a team, a unit, it is not based on who has the most well known players.
People ask me has it all been worth it........ I will tell you at the end of the season. 

 

Cheers young one, but I didn't write it. Someone named Rob Feldman did. I am merely the messenger.