We didn’t lose, which is a relief I guess, but Stoke were there to be beaten and we couldn't do it. Cifuentes out.
I know I'm far from being the first but I've given up on Celar now and whoever said he should take that penalty rather than Madsen should be shot at dawn. A man who must have a negative rating for confidence, who hasn't scored in living memory, versus a man who has one of the best penalty records imaginable. Now let me think about that difficult decision. Celar runs about a bit (but not that much and not very fast) and offers nothing. When did he last win a header? When did he last create a chance? Alfie Lloyd was far better when he came on: quicker and more aggressive, putting in tackles and hitting the post (when, perhaps, he should have scored). It will be a tearless farewell when it comes... which, hopefully, will be sooner rather than later (January wouldn't be too soon for me). Didn't expect to say this: I wasn't too sad to see the back of Dykes but he was a much better player.
Some people will disagree but I don’t see a guy who’s not doing his best. I think this really might be it. The occasional shot where he creates half a yard for himself which doesn’t go in anyway and nothing else.
The killer instinct that some of us (I'll admit myself included) got excited about...based on two minute highlight videos...is no where to be seen. The step 'up' from his past experience is more like leaping over a vast canyon and it seems to be asking too much. Looks like a man out of his depth and I'm sad to say it, but I'd rather see Lloyd start and get some more regular game time.
I'd agree with that: I think he is doing his best. But it's just not good enough. I know you've got to give new recruits from foreign leagues time to adapt to the Championship but I've seen nothing to suggest he will ever be a success at this level. I'd love to be proved wrong but I think we've seen enough. And if Celar is evidence of our much vaunted, data-driven recruitment model, it's a strong argument in favour of the alternative: "what manager wants, manager gets"! (However, to be fair, Saito was my MOTM today, Varane has improved significantly and Dembele looks very promising, when fit)
One would hope not but this is QPR so we’ll probably bring Paul Hart in assuming he’s alive and even if he isn’t it can’t be ruled out.
I’ve had an excellent day out but that was a horrible game. Two very poor teams. Any result would have been justified and I expect us to be relegated. The chanting for Cifuentes was truly bizarre.
Very low quality game from 2 poor sides. Out of every team I've seen play this season, we are the worst and thoroughly deserve to be bottom of the league. We play the same set up, week in, week out, even at home and for some bizarre reason we expect results to change. The players aren't good enough. The tactics, beyond ridiculous now. Selections within those tactics obviously don't work. Celar, who by the way is kept out of the Slovenian team by that world class player Jan Mlakar just isn't good enough on his own, maybe not good enough in a pair. Lloyd is better but even then, he's not the answer but probably our best option since Kolli isn't wanted. This team is going down, I have no doubts about that. Our attacking options today were quite frankly pathetic. Smyth, you might aswell turn away and not watch when he gets into a good position because his end product is non existent. Celar, need I say anything, Madsen, had his best game today and was still ****e. Saito played ok and was our most dangerous player. It's not looking good and I can't see how it gets better.
Rubbish ref He had 2 chances to give Stoke a free kick before they scored. Who told him about playing advantage stoopid ref
It was lovely to see you Andy (WBA2QPR3) after your time away That was the best bit.. The penalty just destroyed me. Really not sure I will get over that for a long time.xx
Close. Dunne. He was reasonably good going forwards but a catastrophe defensively and far more than just the goal. I don’t particularly rate Paal nor Ashby and certainly not Santos but at least their availability gives us the option to drop him.
So if Celar had scored his penalty, would that properly have ended his drought? Anyone can score a penalty, can't they? As it happened, he didn't betray any lack of confidence, sitting the keeper down and then calmly stroking the ball wide of the post. Ridiculous when you have someone in the side who never misses. This was plainly planned, because there was no on-pitch discussion. Not Marti's fault, though.
According to his post-match interview, as reported in WLS, Marti says the players decided who should take the penalty. In my book that is totally wrong: he is the boss, he chooses the team, he decides the tactics and he is supposed to be more of an expert than any of the players. His failure to take responsibility for such a key decision is a big mistake and not the the first he has made. However, whilst I didn't sing his name during the match, I still very much support him as our manager. He worked miracles last year and he has been dealt a poor hand this year in terms of the players at his disposal and the injuries we have suffered. In my opinion, firing him now would be madness but very QPR, having just extended his contract.
Based on that performance and every other, SWP has just lost his crown as The Worst QPR Forward Ever to Celar. Celar needs to see a doctor for allergy to scoring goals. A more acute case nonscoreitise of l’ve never seen.
