The day for me started as an incredibly relaxed event. My neighbours are away on holiday and I have been unashamedly using their ping pong table like a child with a new toy and yes I do have permission, so donât go and accuse me of breaking and entering. I won the best of 13 match with my mate on a cruel net cord with the games tied at 6-6 and the scores at 20-19. Afterwards we set off for the match with one of us in a much better mood than the other. As we got closer to the ground the excitement that awaited grew and grew as it was, like so many others, the first time I was going to see QPR in the top flight. The match started and to be honest I was almost dissapointed due to the noticeable gaps in the stands which showed to full effect that it had been no exaggeration that loyal fans had been priced out of the chance to see their team at Loftus Road. However my disappointment didn't last long, before we all knew it the ball was in the back of the net and I was foolish enough to not check the linesmanâs flag. I was off. I couldn't believe it! Surely the Premiership wasnât this easy, surely we canât just waltz in here and do as we please...well. No. We couldn't. We had another great chance when Steinsonn made a brilliant goal line clearance from Bothroyd and it seemed only a matter of time before we took the lead. However Bolton then began to show their Premiership experience and showed the difference in class between the teams. It wasn't their flashiness or skill that impressed me it was their ability to re-organise and just calm a situation at ease. The moment that stuck in my memory was when we broke from a Bolton corner. The crowd urged the players on expecting a full on attack having experienced a season in the championship where we would have indeed reached the opponents box and probably carved out a great chance for ourselves. However Bolton defused the situation and the attack petered out by the halfway line. In between the previous events there was of course the injury to Dyer which had seemed almost inevitable but as it turned out, not too serious. At the time it happened you couldn't help but feel for the lad while at the same time cursing him for making us play Orr at RB for the whole of the ninety minutes. The back line looked weaker than ever. Nevertheless the 45 minutes continued and it looked set to be an impressive half for the R's until Gary Cahill shaped up to shoot from 25 yards out. It reminded me of when Bothroyd pulled the trigger against us last year at Cardiff. The same thought pattern went through my head and doubtless thousands of others, "Go on then do your wors...F**K" The timing of the goal seemed to take the wind out of our sails as we all turned into Mick McCarthy stating that we played well but the scoreline suggested otherwise. As the second half began we looked a team who was up for the challenge but before we knew it Bolton had put an end to the game scoring three more goals. The atmosphere that followed the second and third goals was up there with the best I've experienced but by all accounts the strangest. Briatore started getting flack from left, right and centre yet the fans seemed determined to not just put all their efforts into telling Briatore exactly what we thought of them as one chant of abuse was followed by one of support, then one clamouring for the Indians, then one stating our love of NW (which I started by the way ), then another asking where's our money gone, then another celebrating a tackle by Shaun Derry etc. It was as good as you could have hoped for in the reaction from the fans. When the first chant echoed round calling for Briatore's head I thought to myself "No, not this again." Before presumably everyone else thought the same as chants of support and a little serenading of Fernandes ensued with "We want the Indians" following "Youâre just a fat orange bastard!" Which must of made for interesting conversation between the two as they sat side by side. However what I found really disappointing was the reaction by the fans to the 3rd and 4th goals from Bolton as what seemed like almost half of the SA Road stand emptied. I mean come on. First of all you've spent at least £50 just to be there so you might as well stay and you've also just been swearing at Briatore for not properly equipping NW with funds to prepare the team. So why leave in disgust at our teams poor showing when you yourself had been just exclaiming that our team is not ready, not to mention the simple fact that it was our first game in the top-flight for 15 years (As the overhead announcer told us at every bloody opportunity). Personally I left disappointed but I had still enjoyed every minute. I knew it was going to be tough but a small part at the back of my head had always expected the worst so I wasn't exactly surprised. I've parted with my money to travel up to Everton this Saturday in the knowledge that we could well be thumped again. But even if we do lose 5-0 and "Premiership. You're having a laugh!" rings round Goodison Park I'll still enjoy it. You never know boys this could be our only season in the Prem for another 15 years but with some good support and the tag "Underdogs" surronding us at every match we could be experiencing the beginning of a Prem season all over again next year and doubtless Iâll enjoy every minute of that one too. Itâll be tough even with a Fernandes takeover. But come on, who expected otherwise?
