Good article and correct to highlight Remy's goal scoring ability. That little hesitation before putting the strike in was class. Great credit to Hoillett too for the vision in the pass.
The comment about sacking Adkins is very true but the article isn't very accurate about Southampton. Most Saints fans were shocked despite the statements from the club that the move was necessary to establish Southampton as a club which would be regularly challenging for Europe. A number of Saints fans seem to welcome this kind of ambition but despite the stadium and excellent youth set up, the club is effectively a force only on a regional level. I agree with the article that this was a major mistake and think that QPR will actually finish higher than us albeit I don't think this will happen until next month. For me, Reading and Wigan will go down and the third place will be between Saints, Sunderland and Villa. Odd to see Puncheon singled out in yesterday's performance. This is a bizarre observation in the article as he looked more up for it than Remy who I felt only played well in periods of the first half. He was our best player and has been all season. At the beginning of 2012/13 it is fair to say that he looked like our only player capable of playing to a PL standard. If anyone should have bee questioned it was Ramirez who looks like £12 million very poorly spent or Lambert, whose cancelling out of the game made it seem laughable that the local paper has been touting his for an England call up for much of 2013. Lallana will be a huge miss as he now looks to have had a recurrance of his injury but Puncheon was our only attacking force yesterday. He seemed the only player who wanted the three points.
Whilst as a promoted team with all the usual problems adapting to prem standards, Saints seemed to have got themselves over the hill before the new manager came in. Together with the enthusiasm of their travelling fans, they were a real force at LR under Adkins. It was clear they wanted to play for him. Yesterday was a different proposition altogether. Defence lacked the confidence and ability to capitalise on their strengths going forward and overall, the team lacked imagination and purpose. Just goes to show how much difference managers make to a club's chances. Frankly, I was astounded when they sacked Adkins at a time of positive adjustment. Much different to our dismissing Warnock last year. He seemed to have lost it after some decent results earlier in the campaign. Question is, is Pochettino Saints' version of Mark Hughes? Personally, wouldn't wish that on anyone but as a Rangers fan, every little helps and Pochettino does seem 'little' compared to Nigel Adkins. We'll see.
i get loads of abuse for saying Ramirez was a waste of money. They could have had Samba for the same money including wages. He would have helped a lot more than Ramirez.
The 6th (trivial) thing we learned from the Southampton game was that this might not turn out to be our worst ever season after all... At the end of the 1968–69 season we were relegated from our first jaunt in the top league, on just 18 points from 42 games - for 4 wins, 10 draws and 28 defeats (2pts per win - would've been 22pts total these days). With 10 games to go, just need one more win to better that. INCIDENTALLY: 'Travelled' to Upton Park that season to watch us lose (surprise, surprise...) a cliff hanger of a game, 4-3. Guess WHO scored the winner for 'Ammers with a Bobby Moore / Trevor Brooking assist then? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTxWjxDrd1s to find out. Brilliant upright aerial scissor kick. Doesn't look as spectacular from this footage but silenced us Rs - and I for one never ever forgot it! (Dunno what he's talking about, 'QPR were a good side those days...' Mists of time!)
Brixton R I think Pochettino has an excellent reputation on the continent but scrapping for survival in the Prem requires a more dogged , English approach. Adkins dismissal was a disgrace as he was beginning to get the hang of this league but I think the decision reflected the nature of the PL becoming more continental - especially amongst the larger clubs. What was annoying was the fact that Adkins seemed a perfect fit for the culture of our club. I think we have always thrived on our modest ambitions and it is difficult to recognise the direction our chairman is looking to take the club as he sees us as something more than a provincial club. This partly explains the signing of Ramirez although it doesn't account for the fact he has only completed 6 games this season. Yesterday's performance was very similar to the home match against Wigan where Adkins was out-thought tactically by Martinez. Redknapp did the same to Poch. As a spectacle it wasn't entertaining but the three points were deserved. I can remember seeing the old QPR of Dave Sexton's era and I still have a soft-spot for the R's as I see your team as broadly similar to us. Despite the fact that we have managed to get a new stadium , I don't think we are any bigger than yourselves and I must admit that I would rather see us maintain our identity than gamble with an unproven Argentinian. Personally, I would rather watch Saints play a local derby against Pompey than regular European football against teams that I need to look up on a map where they come from. Clubs need to reflect upon where they came from and generally attempts to "re-brand" a club has tended to fail.
