Angella was class today and marshalled the defence well. I think he could also be used as a holding midfielder as his distribution is very good. There's going to be a lot of R's at MK next week. There was a lot of talk before the game of heading up there and I'm sure a lot more will be purchasing tickets on Monday following today's performance Terry.
View from the other side:- Gary Rowett's talks about Blues defeat at Loftus Road Gary Rowett on Blues start and overall performance . . . "I spoke a lot to the players before our game about the mentality and our mentality to do what we have done so well away from home, which is to be very, very hard to beat, a difficult team to play against. "We break so well when teams come onto us, and we deal with that. "But I have to say I thought the first 45 minutes I thought was probably the worst we have been in terms of our energy, our drive to really make something happen. "We started from the kick-off. We went sideways, we went backwards, we went sideways, we ended up with the ball with Tomasz Kuszczak under pressure who kicks it to the halfway line and then the it is straight back at us. I felt that was symptomatic of the first-half. "The first goal was a very poor one to concede. Ryan Shotton has a bit of time, he can get there quicker and ends up trying to be too clever. He should perhaps just stick it (the pass in behind) in the stand. He gets closed down and they go and score. Chery has about four or five touches in the box and we don't get near enough to him. "The two big moments in the game - whether they would have been pivotal or not, I don't know - but we possibly had a penalty when their 'keeper cleared out Ryan, just inside the box, before they scored. The referee said he got the ball clearly which, when I watch it again, was a dreadful decision. I don't want to sound like sour graps, but their penalty was a bit soft. I have never seen anyone fall over when they have had a slight shoulder barge. "And Polter, to be fair, is quite clever. He sees Michael Morrison coming and leans into him and goes down. I am not going to bemoan because if we have done that this season you get a penalty. But I felt it was soft." Gary Rowett on Blues second-half display . . . "It was a much better reaction second-half. Maybe if we had taken one of those opportunities. "But we didn't create enough. I don't think we showed enough drive and desire, really, to get anything out of the game. "Whether it was a missed opportunity (after Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County results), it only is if you play as well as you possibly can do and make it incredibly difficult. "Our biggest strength is our collective, our work rate as a unit. Our collective drive as a team. I think that's been the big thing for us. We have had five clean sheets in six games. But it just felt that this looked like the type of game after two or three minutes that was never going to happen. It was too open. We didn't control the spaces well defensively. I just thought we looked a little lacklustre and I can't put my finger on it. "As I said, disappointed. Poor goals concede and away from home you need to be a lot more stronger mentally to get anything out of the game. "I told the players at half-time that when you have worked yourself so hard to get into a position in the league, with not that many games to go, you have got to work hard to get anything from that opportunity and it is not just going to be put on a plate for you. You have got to be incredible driven to get those type of results and not just settle for where you are. I felt we were too far off the pace of the game and didn't make anything happen. First-half there wasn't really enough fight for us." Report: QPR 2 Blues 0 Blues were undone by two first-half goals in five minutes at Loftus Road. Tjaronn Chery’s shot on the turn gave QPR the lead, whilst Junior Hoilett converted a penalty after Michael Morrison fouled Sebastian Polter. Blues came out second-half and showed a positive response but they were unable to get the goal they desperately wanted. QPR started brightly and Paul Robinson did excellently to rush out and block Matt Phillips’ effort after his clearance fell to the winger. Phillips was again in the action five minutes later after he intercepted a loose ball but Robinson again did well to make a block on his cross. The hosts continued to press and Nedum Onuoha skipped past three defenders but Blues were able to clear at the second attempt. Blues’ best chance came after 23 minutes through David Cotterill. The winger broke through the middle and fizzed an effort past the far post with Alex Smithies at full stretch. QPR pressed and Chery went close as his effort deflected just wide of the post. The hosts, who were on top and got their first through great work by James Perch. Perch overcame Ryan Shotton’s tackle, squared a pass to Chery whose shot on the turn found the far corner. The Hoops immediately pushed forward and got their second through a penalty. Sebastian Polter was released down the left, he cut past Robinson and went down from a Morrison tackle whilst running towards goal. Hoilett stepped up and struck a low penalty to his left with Tomasz Kuszczak diving the other way. Blues came out second-half and immediately had chances. Jonathan Grounds’ second attempt was headed over by Karl Henry with Smithies scrambling, whilst the keeper followed up with a good save from Cotterill’s effort minutes later. QPR responded and Kuszczak had to make two excellent saves. Massimo Luongo’s effort was brilliantly tipped over for a corner and the keeper did well to make a great reactionary save from Gabriele Angella’s free header. Gary Rowett threw Jon Toral and James Vaughan onto the field and Blues looked to push forward. Maikel Kieftenbeld should have done better in the area but he lashed an effort over the bar, whilst Cotterill’s shot flashed across goal and wide. That was as close as Blues came with QPR happy to see the game out. Read more at http://www.bcfc.com/fixtures-result...id=3834146&tcmuri=2515764#TrSdFfk4XVKYRtFu.99 Read more at http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/birmingham-city-gary-rowett-2977132.aspx#PlksQ36LqQ4rfGHP.99
Birmingham were unbelievably **** which is evidence, if needed, of what an awful division this is we are in the middle of. Interesting to hear Rowett's views on Smithies tackle on their guy. Looked like a great challenge from my perch in SAR and there were no huge appeals from their players. Without Gray their form has been pretty bad. Could be a long season next year.
Good summary. I thought Perch had his best game for us, and I'm really delighted Chery's getting his opportunity. I had a fear he'd go out on loan without us ever seeing what he's really capable of. We looked like a team yesterday, rather than a bunch of overpaid individuals with an indifferent attitude.
I thought it was a good all round team performance; no-one was really outstanding and there were no weak links. There was some nice passing movements, especially in the first half, and we always seemed to be bringing the ball down and looking for a pass rather than playing head tennis. Chery was probably the pick of the bunch, at the centre of so many neat passing triangles which we used to work our way forward and into space. Luongo increasingly grew into the game and became influential. Polter worked hard but was also very effective, holding the ball up and showing some neat touches and, dare I say it, some pace. His movement to win the penalty - and the pass to him - was excellent. Their lad was lucky not to see red. Both Phillips and Hoilett showed some trickery and were useful outlets from defence but, in both cases, their crosses were usually disappointing. Henry had his best game for some time, winning the ball, passing it forward whenever possible (!) and generally covering the defence well. The defence was solid; Perch was a revelation at left back and JFH must have had a word with Ned because he became a maurauding right back, showing some neat footwork when taking on one, two or even three defenders! Smithies punched a couple he should have caught but he kicks well and looks assured.
I've just booked the tickets 999's. Upper tier sold out & now sellingh a further batch of tickets. Lower tier prices are the same as the upper tier. Come on TF, your missing out by having the Lower Loft & School End as silver!
I was really pleased for JFH, as there were assertions he inherited Rowlett's good work at Burton. This result (and the SW game) will give JFH and the players much needed confidence. Sure there will be set-backs, but a lot of promising signs.
Lots of positives here, many thanks. Nasser looks a clever player from what I have seen of him, and a good crosser of the ball. A good alternative for Hoillet?
I haven't seen enough of Nasser to judge. From what I've seen, he certainly looks promising and may have some of Hoilett's trickery but with more end product. But make no mistake, Hoilett has generally played well recently and yesterday was no exception. I would look to extend Hoilett's contract but it would have to be on sensible money. However, with no visibility of what wages others are on, I can't easily define "sensible".
