Firstly, it was great to meet so many of you at the Crown & Sceptre before the match yesterday, including a few new faces. Great to meet you all! THE MATCH I think all of us were surprised in the pub to see that Barton was starting, alongside both Faurlin and Henry. I think most predicted that Barton would be on the right - which is what happened. Also, a shock in the form of Traore starting in place of Suk-young. It was a typical Rangers match. We started very well, on the front foot and it looked only a matter of time until we scored. Our pressure went on for about 15 minutes, then out of the blue Sheffield Wednesday had a chance, and scored. It was awful defending from Traore (who had already made a few errors), and also Faurlin which allowed their big striker to dribble the ball into the corner from the edge of the area. Typical - pressure an opponent, then concede a silly goal - where have we heard that before!? After that we struggled to regain control and the match was getting scrappy, with a few hard challenges being made on our part, notably Faurlin, Henry and Barton getting stuck in. Just when it looked like they would keep their 1-0 lead going into half time, we had a corner at the School End. Barton took it and rolled the ball to Hoilett on the corner of the box, who I think mis shot but the ball ended up at Onouha's feet to reacted to tap home. That lifted the crowd at the perfect time. Sheff Wed were clearly rattled and Kirkland came out to save a Barton header, but only into the path of AJ who slammed it home. 2-1 in the space of a few minutes! Second half both sides struggled to gain complete control, although both had numerous chances to score again. Ours notably when SWP raced down the wing and all it needed was a ball on the floor played square into the feet of two players, but as usual he cocked that up. Sheff Wed also hit the post, and had a couple of penalty claims but neither were given. Overall I think we did deserve to win as the stats show! THE RATINGS GREEN - 7.5 - solid overall, and always looked to roll the ball out rather than kick long. However a few wayward goal kicks! But most notably met several crosses and caught well at very crucial times. TRAORE - 5.5 - going forward he was good enough, but defensively all over the place. Caused confusion a few times and basic clearances went straight back to Sheff Wed players. At fault for their goal. Not impressed, and I dont understand why Suk-Young was suddenly dropped. HILL - 7.5 - coped very well with their big centre forward, won most of the aerial battles despite being the shorter one. Overall solid, but i think a few misplaced passes. ONUOHA - 8 - reacted very quickly for the goal and was solid overall. Defended well without much problem really. Damn, I knew I shouldn't have taken him out of my score prediction after Austin signed! SIMPSON - 7 - did well enough, but a few shaky moments hence a slightly lower score. But got forward well and linked well with Barton who I think he played with at Newcastle. HENRY - 6.5 - solid, but unspectacular debut. Did the horrible things well but was caught pondering around with the ball at times which Hill let him know about! But put in some hard tackles which is exactly what that game needed. FAURLIN - 7 - same as Henry really. But did go missing for a bit in the second half, but did put in several crucial well timed tackles. Had a part to play by easily getting pushed aside for the goal. A few great long passes. BARTON - 8.5 - MOM - superb really. cannout fault that bar one awful pass to nobody. Many dont like him, but he got a standing ovation at the end. Passing was accurate mostly, and made several brilliant crosses. That we missed badly last season. I thought he made a great right midfielder. Doesnt need pace to beat the man as he can cross from distance. Actually hope he plays as he is much better than SWP. HOILETT - 8 - I have been a big critic of his, but said after Southend he was brilliant, and I thought he continued that yesterday. Running at the full back, cutting in and taking shots, beating his man. All things he didnt do last season, but did yesterday. Looked up for it and if he can continue that, but finish better (he did have one great chance at the far post) he will be great for us. JOHNSON - 8 - ran and ran all day and had to do the moving for two men as Zamora was poor. Linked play well and if he can stay fit then will be crucial for us. Didnt stop working and took his goal well. ZAMORA - 4.5 - along with Traore our weak link. Barely won a header and I dont think he jumped once. Also actually bent over to avoid a ball which he would easily have taken down and passed on. Very poor movement and was similar to his pre-season performances. SUBS: SWP - 5.5 - came on and used his pace well against a tiring full back but his crossing was poor and he lost the ball on the by line which led to a counter attack which they ran down the length of the pitch and almost scored. AUSTIN - 6.5 - had a couple of half chances but instantly gave us more options up front after replacing the statue Zamora. Looks a handful and can win the headers which Zamora couldnt so could be our answer alongside AJ. JENAS - N/A - only on for two minutes after replacing Hoilett. FINAL WORD As I said I think we deserved the win, although we did make hard work of it against a resilient side. Sheff Wed didnt have too much attacking quality, but were able to create chances and cause problems thanks to passing errors, or general defensive errors mainly from the left side (Traore). Barton ran the show for us I think, and deserved the standing ovation. Clearly putting in his all which is all we can ask. A good team performance which I think pleased everyone at the ground. The crowd got right behind the players and this certainly made a difference. Most of them worked hard and some of the passing was great to watch. I think the midfield of Faurlin and Henry in the centre, and Barton out wide certainly had more bite to it than last seasons midfield and several hard crunching tackles were needed. A good start to the season, thankfully the first win off our back already compared to last season!
Good concise report, as usual, Judo. From what I've seen we are fortunate to have Huddersfield and Ipswich coming up before we tackle some of the 'contenders', it will give Harry a chance to tweak the side with additions and get a settled pattern of play. Lots of positives though, Barton might just prove all the doubters wrong and the team spirit looks massively improved. Onwards and upwards...
Thanks Judo, very fair in your assessment of the players mate. You obviously saw more good in Henry than I did, but then that wouldn't be hard. The select of Traore ahead of Suk-Young is baffling and should stop us getting too hopefully about the rumours that he is going to Russia. Personally I'd make Hoilett the Man of the Match, his attacking intent terrified their defence who made some wild lunges at him as he slipped by. If I remember correctly he played very well in the first half against Swansea last season, let's hope he can keep it up this time. More than anything else it was good to see us pass the ball around, retain possession and look threatening at times, Faurlin being instrumental in that, it is so good to see him back. If we are going to be a ball playing side would you think that we are better off with two more mobile strikers rather than one and a donkey?
Thanks Judo! Agree with you on Barton as MOM, he had a great game. I thought Henry was far worse than you, the only one out there who was really under par for me. Apart from Ned the back 4 looked suspect. I didn't see that Traore was any worse than either Simpson or Clint, and he did make a great run near the end - would like to see a lot more of that from him though. I thought Ned did well, but still feel he is a better RB, he doesn't seem able to organise the defense well which we need from a CB. I hope we get in 2 new good CB's as Clint is getting to the end of his time, and I don't think we can rely too much on Dunne.
Cheers Judo. It was all about the three points yesterday. It was great to see some team spirit and genuine fight for every ball commitment. We didn't see much of that last season. Although a couple of players came up a bit short, I don't think it's yet the time to pick holes in individual performances. ( Not that I'm saying you've done that here. ) The team and the players will improve as they play more games and fitness levels peak. The quality should then see us through. It's important that we develop together as a team.
Barton MoM in a Hoops shirt, never thought we would see that again but I totally agree. A class above everyone else on the field.
Totally agree. Liked his tweet from yesterday saying he was humbled at the support shown to him by the fans. Might be lip service but a nice touch i thought.
I thought Barton was definitely MOTM. Hoilett was decent and should have scored but for a lucky save from Kirkland. Faurlin was outstanding too. Really pleased to see him back looking so fit and strong. I can't see Zamora getting back in the team for the foreseeable future. Austin could have had a hat-trick in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch. How did he miss the header that went a foot over the bar? I was talking to two Wednesday fans in the Conyngham Arms after the match and they said we would definitely finish top two. We'll see but the performance yesterday was decent although I thought we lacked one player........AT.
Heres some alternative ratings which is pretty much how I saw apart from Faurlin being a 7. QPR recovered after Adthe Nuhiu’s opener to begin life in the Championship on a winning note. Here’s how we rated Rangers’ players in the 2-1 victory against Sheffield Wednesday. Robert Green: 6 Caught slightly on his toes at the near post for Wednesday’s goal but made up for it with some good punches and distribution to Junior Hoilett, which sparked some successful counter attacks. Danny Simpson: 6 Unspectacular but solid. Slotted in nicely on debut and his understanding of Joey Barton’s game was clear to see. There’s a basis for a good partnership there – if Barton stays. Nedum Onuoha: 7 Grabbed his first goal for the club and although not severely tested, he dealt with the Wednesday attacks with great strength and alertness. Clint Hill: 6 Committed as ever and made some important headed clearances. He’ll come under huge pressure from Richard Dunne for his place when the Irishman is fully fit, though. Barton returned for QPR. Barton returned for QPR. Armand Traore: 5 His mind seemed elsewhere. Lazy positioning – as usual – but also failed to show his usual zest going forward. Joey Barton: 8 An unexpected name on the team sheet and an equally unexpected bold showing. Looked fit, committed and incisive with his passing. His bravery in the build-up to Andy Johnson’s winning goal should not be underestimated. Karl Henry: 5 A very nervous debut. Failed to grab hold of the midfield and rarely looked capable of building a link with Alejandro Faurlin. Lacks the ‘legs’ to play in a midfield two. Improvement needed. Alejandro Faurlin: 6 Given the chance to show boss Harry Redknapp his worth. Delighted his admirers with a couple of trademark passes and you couldn’t fault his tireless energy, but off the ball he’s not as effective. His knee injury looks to have affected his change of pace over five yards. Junior Hoilett: 9 Ran the show and was in a different league to the Wednesday defenders, who were seeing stars all afternoon. Deserved a goal but found keeper Chris Kirkland in fine form. Keep Hoilett in this form and Rangers may have found their new Adel Taarabt. Bobby Zamora: 5 A target man who doesn’t win headers. Strange. Backwards is the new forward for Zamora in terms of his style of play. Made to look better than he is by having the impressive Johnson as a partner. Andy Johnson: 8 Carried on from his fruitful pre-season with another lively display. A constant pest and although his final ball isn’t always right, his finishing usually is. Took his goal like a player who, if he stays fit, could get 20-plus goals this season. Charlie Austin: 7 Showed glimpses of his predatory instincts around the box and made use of his physical attributes by winning a few headers when replacing the ineffective Zamora. Came close to a scoring debut but grazed the bar with a header.
Flyer, just curious if you will be changing the 'Johnson Out, Barton out' part of you sig, or do you still stick by it, even after yesterday's performances ??
I personally dont like either of them but admit they both had good games. Im not going to flip flop on one game.
Barton was very good, as was Ale. Loved that bit when Ale kept biting and tackling and ended up breaking them down, each time to a louder cheer. I felt a lot of feelings yesterday that had been missing for 2 years. Barton's standing ovation was pretty thorough, although I noticed a few still sitting and wondered which if them was roller! I thought hoilett was very good driving at them, looking like creating something most times, just needs to find the finish to match the approach. All in all a very satisfactory opener and many reasons to be hopeful for what lies ahead.
Crucial win, yes. And lots of positives. But that sides so far from challenging for promotion, IMO. Just hopeful that I'll get to see us win next week - it's been a while since I saw them win live, the last time was Doncaster away in the promotion season!
I think Ipswich are meant to be one of the teams who are expected to fare much better this season under Mick McCarthy. So I am cautious about that game. Although as we know no team in the championship are mugs as we found out when we were promoted but lost 4-1 at Scunthorpe. Thats how I see it. Much better off having Johnson and Austin together. We certainly looked more of a threat then. But in that case, if Remy goes we will need at least 1 more striker imo to provide competition. If not 2! Greedy I know but I honestly have no faith in BZ to do much this season. Agree, far to early to judge players. Although perhaps I can make one exception in Zamora! Throughout pre-season he has been dire. Kirkland certainly kept them in it. I seem to remember he played for I think Leicester at Loftus Road? Perhaps a different team, but whoever it was he was brilliant then as well! I did like the bit though when AJ in the second half took a drink from his bottle in the goal, and after fans had said something he tipped the rest out. Kirkland had to keep getting more bottles from the bench! Good old AJ!
Had Barton got boed, I think it would have had a very negative effect on yesterday afternoon. He is a man with particular frailties but yesterday he played like the player who is worth his huge weekly salary. Long may that continue.
Cheers Judo, agree with much of what you say. have to say that the coverage of NPC as compared to The Prem is terrible and obviously missed out on bits that you saw. Didnt really see much of Henry, but AJ looked like he was sharp and ran all game. I've never seen a white fella run that fast (except Allen Wells) Furs looked good and as much as i hate to say it, Credit where its due to Barton. Had a good game. Maybe he's found his true level. Was impressed with Hoillett and it looks like he's goijng to take the place of "you know who"! The defence is getting there and apart from a few lapses & a crap goal they should never have got, we coped with most stuff well. Overall we're clearly still a "work in progress" and still needs a bit of tinkering to get it all right. The stadium & pitch looked great & it looked like a great atmosphere..... Glad for the 3 points and that we finally had a team ouit that put in the effort and gave our fans something to cheer. Onwards & Upwards boys & Girlz!
