This is a quality piece of writing. To construct an article about QPR week in and week out and to then do another one of this calibre and still make it sound so refreshing is a huge talent. That takes some genuine skill. Well done CW. I love the little idiomatic's and analogies that run through your work. Superb.
I liked this bit.. Referee – Mark Clattenburg (County Durham) 10 I’ve never given a referee a top mark before, but what was there to fault here? Never more than five yards away from any decision he gave, showing amazing fitness to carry that on right through to the end of extra time, and not a single decision wrong in my mind. You could argue Scott Carson should have been penalised more for time wasting, and that Niko Kranjcar was lucky to stay on the pitch, but I thought he was absolutely exceptional and contributed to a terrific match. This is about the best refereeing display I’ve seen at Loftus Road.
Really good match report 100% agree about Clattenburg, we now know why he's England's best referee. I'm so grateful we've got a substantial amount of time to rest the legs of the older players, and giving Kranjcar some time to recover from that hamstring injury.
One of Clives' best ever reports, but I admit that I very much enjoy his writing. He captures the atmosphere brilliantly and the decription of the last minutes should be nominated for the Booker Prize... except this wasn't fiction! I think that I will re-read it over a coffee this afternoon, and then again this eveninig, and probably tomorrow as well...
Fantastic write up - enjoyed every word. Clattenburg 10? I know he had a good game overall but I would have happily shot him as he let stoppage time drag on and on. It must have been 3 minutes in the end which equates to 1/5th of the second period of extra time. To put it another way: in a regular half he would have had to add 9 minutes stoppage time. And this in a period where there were no goals, substitutions or major injuries.
A very good write. Their Keeper deserved at least a red for me for kicking BZ after the penalty, well yellow anyway, but he was pretty good.
I made a wholehearted attempt to read it all but alas I came up short again. He really packs some wordage into his articles. I did chuckle at this line though "Rangers were in trouble. There were fortunate, first of all, that McClean is one of the game's genuine scumbags."
