Like 58 said, a game of two halves. I was surprised just how much we got in the faces of the QPR players in the first 45 minutes, we hassled them off the ball and were quick on the counter. Not since Danny Murphy have I ever been as confident of someone scoring a penalty last night, Berba just oozes coolness. The second from their perspective was an atrocious goal to give away, but all credit to Berba finishing off the chance, although I think Cesar could and maybe should have done better. Urby would have scored from Duff's cross had Hill not converted the chance for us, so no real bad luck there from them. The second half however, different story. Dejagah going off really killed the right side, which meant Riether was also limited in his attacking presence. Those who wanted Urby to finally get some game time (there are plenty on Twitter) might have a chance of heart now after a truly abysmal 60 minute performance from him. Oh how I wish we still had Kaca on the bench to have been brought on for Dejagah, who I thought was impressive as usual and gave Traore a torrid time until his early exit. Ruiz, also below par in the second half and looked incredibly lightweight on the ball, something he has improved on this season I will admit. Kara? What went wrong buddy? Terrible slip for their first goal and gave away an incredibly debatable penalty but the worst thing was his simulation, always making meals of challenges and remonstrating with the referee, it's something we don't want to see. Thought Frimpong had a very good final 10 minutes and added some much needed steel to our midfield to replace Sidwell, who's red card I felt was very harsh, but don't expect Jol to appeal any time soon after his refusal to appeal Hangeland's red earlier in the season. Schwarzer? Another great performance, terrific penalty save, but as mentioned previously, his save from Zamora was even better. Senderos could have marked Remy a little better for their second goal but it was a very good turn and finish from him. All in all a great three points I didn't see coming at 3-2 to be perfectly honest but all credit to the guys for hanging on in there.
Agreed with all, I watched much of the second half through my fingers but the first half was a joy to watch. I also thought the Sidwell sending off was harsh but as soon as I saw it I knew he was off, and so did he I think. It was harsh to send him off but that's the way football is going, sadly. Saying that, we should've had a second penalty and their penalty could've gone either way, so Probert did his best, bless his heart. Onwards and upwards, COYW!
Just in case there is anyone on this board misguided enough to listen to TalkSport, he is Adrian Durham's assessment of the game: "Tactically Harry Redknapp completely outcoached Martin Jol in the west London derby on Monday night, but in the end QPR were undone by individual errors. There is literally nothing a manager can do to legislate for the kind of errors Christopher Samba and Clint Hill made to put Fulham 3-0 up. None of those errors were forced, Fulham weren’t even pressing with any great urgency. All players make mistakes, rarely do they make those kind of errors in the same half in the same game." Interesting that none of the QPR errors were forced, but I'm sure Karagounis slipping or giving away a penalty in a safe part of the box were tactical errors by Jol. And of course, QPR dominated in the first half apart from those errors, didn't they? Oh no, wait... Redknapp got his tactics completely wrong in the first half, as we overran his team. He deserves some credit for changing it at halftime, but that should not absolve him of the bad errors he made in his initial set-up. I really hate people like Adrian Durham who blindly support Redknapp, just because he's "one of the lads".
Obviously Mark S, Brede and Berbatov get the positive comments in this thread, but... I want a mention for Damian Duff, as he has not been credited for the harrying of the QPR "defence" which lead to a goal. Yes, it was QPR incompetance, but he and Berbatov made the goal! Enough has been said of Kara n midfield, both good and bad, but I think the plaudits for a MOM nomination should also go to Steve Sidwell for a really good first half performance. Frustrating second half for the reasons mentioned, but 3 points - COYW !!!!!!!!!!!
Really not surprised to hear that, I despise TalkShite with a passion. They have always had an agenda against FFC for some reason. It was RedCrap's tactics to put Samba up front in the last 10 minutes and have the ball hoofed up to him, tactics which created no chances whatsoever. Apart from Remy's rocket shot and Schwarzer's save from Zamora, they pressured us little and we were relatively comfortable, even more so with a man down.
Instead of talking about RedCrap and another Pompey in the making... Wherever he goes accumulates crap and debt. Spurs only saved because of Levy who could see through him!!
And here is the link to video highlights - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/april/02/qpr-highlights Looked at it a few times and have to repeat the earlier views that Mr Probert was extremely harsh with a red for Sidwell -and I'm even having second thoughts about the penalty decision against Kara.
On second viewing, the Karagounis penalty looks very dodgy. Taarabt seems to kick Karagounis and that contact took him over; not a dive per se, but it certainly doesn't look like a penalty. And the Sidwell challenge... he didn't get the ball, but it wasn't two footed and it was studs down. It's a poor challenge, but I think that was a harsh red. It's telling that after Sidwell's card, QPR only had one chance worthy of a highlight and that was a shot from outside the area. The sending off forced Jol to make the change that in all honesty we should have made at least 15 minutes before. Once Frimpong was on, to counter Mbia, QPR weren't particularly threatening any more.
Most overrated manager around. Relegated Southampton, bankrupted Portsmouth and took a team that finished 5th (would have been 4th had it not been for the food poisoning fiasco) spent a bucket-load of money and took them one place higher.
In fact, on second viewing, Sidwell's challenge was certainly no worse than Hill's on Karagounis. They were very similar and both deserved a yellow card.
Don't think it was ever a penalty by Kara. Very harsh. Also Sidwell's tackle was poor but not red. Think the club should appeal!
So to summarise, despite the ref giving the vast majority of decisions their way, and us being relatively poor in the 2nd half; QPHa still couldn't win
In the Highlights they never show the Bosingwa handball again in a reply and they don't show Karagounis penalty claim near the end of the game, when he was about to shot and got bundled into by a QPR defender. Probert was a substitute Ref for Jon Moss. Were the linemens the same in the programme as the one on the JH Stand side was rubbish.
To be honest Bidders, I don't blame them. At this stage of the season, desperate delusion is all they have to cling onto. If Arry says they need to win 4 and draw 2, the fans will suck it in and believe it, if he says QPR played fantastic and were hard done by, their fans buy into it too. They had TWO chances at 3-2 to get an equaliser, one was a shot from Remy into Row Z when pushed wide, and the other a hit and hope from outside the area from Zamora. Possession means precious little if you don't have the players to take advantage of having the ball.
QPR fan in peace; I think you would find it hard to find any level headed (not WUM or counter WUMMING) QPR fan state that despite our abject performance in the first half that your boys didn't press and hurry; and as a result of your own hard work created the goals. Sitting in the Putney End watching it was from my perspective was quite sickening, it appeared to me that the FFC players were more hungry and putting in a lot more fight. Anyone would have thought that it was you that desperately needed the points. That said I think we worked a lot harder in the second half and overall I believe that should we have got that elusive third goal it would not have been unjustified. The highlights posted here are the first time i've actually been able to re-visit the game; I agree that the Sidwell red card is slightly harsh but we all know where most FA card appeals end up. The only positive that I can actually take from the game as a QPR fan is that it was quite possibly the best game that I have seen this season;, and i'm not simply applying that to QPR games. Must admit you guys made quite a din yesterday night, our paths might cross again, and although we are not mathematically down I conclude that the only likelihood we have of playing you next season is in a cup draw.
Fair play to you HoopyD, one of the few Rs fans who've managed to retain a bit of grace. As I said, I watched most of the second half from behind the proverbial sofa so you were knocking on the door, no doubt about that. The first 35-40 mins were what undid you though, no doubt. You were also given lifeline after lifeline by the ref (dodgy penalty, let off handball in the area, Sidwell off) so the chances were there.
I have some sympathy for what HooperD says - if they had scored a 3rd it would not have been totally unjustified. We totally lost it second half and it was nail biting stuff. Altogether it was a 'great game' and after our poor performance at Loftus Rd it was pleasing to see that we were really up for it in the 1st half. Their first goal came from nothing and totally against the run of play but it gave them hope and certainly they gave it all in the second. Plenty to debate about but just so pleased we won.
What do you think another 6 points needed and even the media might think we are not in a relegation battle !!!!
