Sorry if posted already. Ron Norris, QPRNET A wretched afternoon at Loftus Road saw QPR easily beaten by Southampton on a day when both the fans in the stands and the players on the pitch all gave up on the Mark Hughes era. With little credibility left there is no nowhere left to go for our beleaguered, and soon to be, ex manager. Hughes kept favour with the same starting eleven that lost at Stoke last weekend; Julio Cesar was in goal behind a back four of Jose Bosingwa, Captain Ryan Nelsen, Anton Ferdinand and Armand Traore. Esteban Granero, Alejandro Faurlin, Samba Diakite and Adel Taarabt lined up in midfield with Junior Hoilett supporting Djibril Cisse. On the face of it that’s a side that should be treading water in mid-table with ease not drowning at the bottom as we are. Southampton were quickest out of the blocks, Adam Lallana had the first shot in anger when was teed up by Gaston Ramirez’s flick only to volley over the bar. Former loan Ranger Jason Puncheon then saw his angled cross bounce off the post with Cesar beaten. It was the first of many moves that Puncheon would be involved in and summed up our performance that a player who appeared so limited during his brief time in W12 re-appeared to be so deadly against us. Taarabt registered the first of QPR’s limited chances on goal when he showed some lovely feet to evade three challenges on route to The Saints box but saw his shot saved by Paulo Gazzaniga in the Southampton goal. This was one of Gazzaniga’s better contributions, I’ll say this for Southampton they know how to find a shaky ‘keeper. Shortly afterwards he nearly palmed in a Hoilett effort but managed to divert it round his post. After forcing a little bit of the play it seemed inevitable that the visitors would soon take the lead and as they lined up a corner I said to myself this’ll be it then and indeed it was. Lallana sent in a corner that was defended in typically shambolic style and Southampton had three goes at getting the ball over the line. First it was Jose Fonte’s turn, then Puncheon whose shot was blocked by Bosingwa before Rickie Lambert bravely put his head in amongst flying feet to open the scoring. Loftus Road erupted in fury and for the first time chants of “Hughes out” began to ring round W12. Hughes stood unmoved, hands in pocket as he did for much of the first half. I know he said this week that he can’t do any more but he could at least pretend to be interested and perhaps waves his arms around a bit. The visitors continued to control the game and, as we have become accustomed to seeing when we concede, Rangers had absolutely nothing in reply. Jack Cork had a crack from distance before Taarabt released Granero on a run but he could only drag his shot well wide. It was possibly the Spaniard’s poorest performance in a QPR shirt but let’s be fair, a right winger he aint. Rangers looked to be going into the break a single goal down but things would get much worse just before the whistle went the lead was doubled via Puncheon. Allowed the freedom of the pitch he cut inside and fired home left footed from 25 yards. There was little argument with the standard of the finish but plenty to be had with the level of commitment from our players leading up to it. The fury in the stands boiled over now and the team left the field to a chorus of boos and jeers. Hughes made two changes at half time; firstly he introduced Jamie Mackie and chose to replace Faurlin - presumably by the process of sticking a pin in the team sheet. He also changed his stance, removing his hands from his pockets and folding his arms instead. It’s nice to see him mix it up. QPR certainly started this period brighter, although it would have been hard to have been any worse frankly. After Mackie had gone on an early run that quickly had the crowd signing his name Taarabt then set up the anonymous Cisse whose volley was eventually gathered by the nervous looking Gazzaniga at the second attempt. The play between Tarbs and Cisse provided an interesting reflection of two players in very different stages of their QPR career. Adel continues to impress in this terrible season and it says a lot about his progress that when practically everyone else goes missing he continues to be the man who at least tries to drive us forward. Indeed Taarabt mark one may well have gone down the Cisse route and just given up. As for Djibril it would be a treat if the Frenchman could show as much fight on the pitch as he did on his twitter account later that evening. Rangers quickly provided false hope three minutes into the second period when they halved the deficit. Taarabt (naturally) set it up when he swung in a good cross to Hoilett who found himself with an empty net at his mercy after Gazzaniga went missing. David made no mistake and glanced his header home to make it 2-1. You would think that would be the signal for Rangers to charge at the visitors but this goal did nothing to galvanise this set of players. Loftus Road quickly put aside the ill feeling and got behind the team but were repaid with forty plus minutes of miserable performances from mostly disinterested millionaires. Southampton continued to be patient and pick their chances; Lambert forced Cesar into a save before Puncheon had a couple of further efforts. First dragging chance wide following Lambert’s knock down before he had another crack from 25 yards this time sending it wide of target. Hughes made two further changes as this awful second half ticked away. First he replaced the booked Diakite with Shaun Derry. On for a rare appearance Derry, like Mackie before him, was awarded hero status on his return the pitch. Fabio then returned from injury to have a run out, I assumed he would replace the lightweight Traore but in the end it was the equally appalling Bosingwa who made way, what a fine set of full backs we have managed to assemble. In-between those changes Puncheon had another crack at goal with Cesar doing just enough to tip it away from danger. Rangers continued to be limp in attack with Nelsen heading a Granero corner straight at Gazzaniga about the best we could muster. The Saints continued to press and we continued to welcome them into their box with open arms. Japanese defender Maya Yoshida almost volleyed home their third from a corner but Cesar was equal to it. That killer goal wasn’t far away though and with seven minutes left to play the result was sealed for Southampton. After having a free man at almost every corner they finally took advantage of it and played one short to Morgan Schneiderlin, he was allowed time and space to cross low and Ferdinand capped off a rotten individual performance with the own goal. The remaining minutes played out amongst a bitter atmosphere in The Bush with the fans turning their anger from the dugout to the players with choruses of “you’re only here for the money” no doubt stinging their precious little ears. The full time whistle brought predictable and deserved scorn and our static manager made his first quick movement of the day as he scuttled off down the pitch quickly followed by half of his wretched players who couldn’t get away quick enough. The likes of Mackie, Nelsen and Taarabt made the effort to clap the fans and they were really the only names to emerge with any kind of credit in this one. I have no beef with Southampton, they are a decent club but I’m sure most of their fans would probably accept this isn’t their greatest side. Regardless it was one that absolutely murdered us on the day, they could and should have run up a much higher score and had it been a better team facing us I dread to think what would have happened. It seemed fairly clear that many of our players simply gave up and perhaps they too are fed up with the current coaching set up. It’s an unacceptable thing for them to do of course and they were rightly scorned for it. The annoyance will be when they roar out under a new boss and show just what they can do when they feel like it. They should make no mistake though their gutless and cowardly showings won’t be quickly forgotten. When all is said and done it is down to the man on the bench to send out a motivated side and if Hughes can’t do that anymore than he must go. ‘Losing the dressing room’ is a cliché fans like to trot out whenever a manager falls out of favour, if Saturday is anything to go by things have gone well beyond that.
In a match amusingly dubbed El Sackio it was Nigel Adkins who emerged the big winner over his, apparently, more reputable opposite number and not just in the result. Compare and contrast his attitude with Hughes. Whilst our boss blindly insists we’re heading on the right path and that we will come good Adkins takes all his criticism on the chin and bounces back smiling and positive for every match. The other week after getting done again a grim interviewer pointed out he had a massive challenge ahead of him to keep Southampton up, he replied with a smile saying ‘yes but what a challenge that is’ and he meant it. Here’s a man who appreciates what he has and will work his arse off to make it right. He might be naive and he might well fail but no one will ever be able to question his dedication or determination to improve and learn. Can we say the same about our guy who shows nothing but bloody minded belief that his way is the only way? Hughes might still believe that but, save for his acolytes on the bench, there aren’t too many others left who think he is heading down the right path. When your fans turn on you that is hard enough for any manager to survive but when your players give up on you at the same time you might as well pack your bags and go. Hughes has already said he won’t quit though so that only leaves one option and it is one Tony Fernandes needs to action this week. The R’s owner has been incredibly patient and loyal, some say too much so, but if this season is to be saved he must take action now and that can only mean a new manager. That will doubtless result in more expense for him and potentially more changes in the January transfer window but with the clubs set up the way it is there simply isn’t the option of failure, we must stay in the top flight and Hughes clearly is not going to deliver that. Saturday was a terrible day for QPR, players giving up and not trying and a manager out of ideas and support resulted in a poisonous atmosphere at home. Unfortunately there is only one thing that will bring everyone back together and that’s a new man at helm. Over to you Tony. Man of the match It doesn't really matter in the scheme of things but I'll go with Ryan Nelsen, Taarabt had a decent shift too but Nelsen, despite being left isolated by disinterested fellow defenders, never gave up and kept fighting as best he could.
