Match Day Thread Bolton v QPR

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QUEENS Park Rangers head up north this Saturday still looking for our first away win of the season against bottom of the league Bolton Wanderers.

The R’s haven’t won away from home since mid-February and despite some impressive performances on the road, especially this season, a first victory still eludes Ollie’s side.

Bolton have had a difficult start to life back in the Championship following their promotion from League One last season.

The Trotters have picked up five points form a possible 36 this season, finding the net on just six occasions. But they come into this game off the back of a fine and deserved win against Sheffield Wednesday last week.

The Bolton Wanderers manager Phil Parkinson has done an excellent job since taking charge of the Whites in June 2016. He oversaw a tricky campaign in League One last season to guide them to a 2nd place finish behind Sheffield United, despite losing key player Zach Clough in the January transfer market.

Their transfer embargo meant that they could only bring in free transfers and loans in the summer window. But they did manage to hold on to most of their prized assets as well as re-signing influential winger Sammy Ameobi and also brought in the exciting forward Adam Armstrong on loan from Newcastle.

It seems like a long time ago since Bolton were an established Premier league outfit. They enjoyed much success throughout the noughties, especially under former manager Sam Allardyce, where they competed in Europe and had international stars such as Nicholas Anelka and Jay-Jay Okocha.

But the Trotters have struggled both on and off the pitch since their relegation in 2012 and are very much in a rebuilding process under new owner Ken Anderson.

QPR are hoping to build off a good performance but disappointing result against Sunderland last week. The R’s were the better side but for the fourth away game this season did not take advantage of taking the lead and ended up dropping two points.

Former QPR frontman Andy Johnson was the only goal-scorer last time Rangers were victorious at the Reebok stadium back in August 2013.

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Last Time Out​

Bolton 1-1 QPR - 20th February 2016

Bolton moved off the bottom of the Championship despite Matt Phillips' last-minute equaliser denying them all three points. After a dull first half, Wanderers started the second period brightly and were rewarded when Clough curled home an unstoppable strike. However, deep in injury time Phillips' low strike, after a brilliant individual run, squeezed past keeper Ben Amos to steal a point.

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Stats​

• Bolton have scored just three goals in their last ten league games
• QPR have scored the first goal in 50% of our matches this season
• The R’s have won just two of the last 10 games when facing Bolton away from home

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Manager Viewpoints
Ian Holloway: “Things will feel much better once we get that first away win. Once you’ve done that, you can put it behind you but I would be far unhappier if we weren’t scoring. As a group the lads know what they’re doing well and they know what they can do a little bit better. But I can’t ask for anymore from them. We are expected to beat Bolton away from home. It’s going to be tough but that is what we are going there to do.”​

Phil Parkinson: “QPR put in an excellent performance against Sunderland which we watched closely and they were very unlucky not to pick up the three points. We know that we are coming up against a team of similar standard to Sheffield Wednesday, if not better, but everyone is looking forward to another home game especially after last week.”

Team News​

QPR: Rangers will be without defenders Grant Hall (tendonitis), Jack Robinson (hand), James Perch (knee) and Nedum Onuoha (hamstring) for the trip to Bolton however Jordan Cousins will be in the squad after returning from a hamstring problem.

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Bolton: Aaron Wilbraham is back in full training and could be in contention for the game. Josh Vela is expected to keep his place in the team after impressing last week against Sheffield Wednesday but Will Buckley remains out.

Referee​

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James Linington: Has handed out four red cards in 15 games this season.

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LFW's Clive W's match preview ...

History repeating - Preview

Friday, 20th Oct 2017 19:27 by Clive Whittingham

QPR head through the wind and rain to bottom-placed Bolton tomorrow afternoon, just grateful the Trotters finally got their first win against somebody else last week.

If we weren’t QPR, this wouldn’t be a particularly big match. But we are, so it is.

Setting aside the sheer horrifying amount of football still to be played over the many coming months during which recovery from a poor result in one match in October can easily be made, QPR are currently fifteenth in the league. Now that is the sort of league position that, almost universally, people were saying they would “snap your hand off for” over the summer when the sky was falling in and Rangers were definitely going to be relegated and Ian Holloway was an idiot and Les Ferdinand killed my dog and so on. So it is somewhat disappointing that here we are actually sitting fifteenth, and yet all hands still seem firmly attached, there are no salivating hordes beating the door down to grab them as they promised.

Turns out “I’d snap your hand off for fifteenth” is actually quite like “as long as the players are trying their best and trying to play good football I’m happy whatever the result” i.e. an absolute load of tripe. Are the team trying? Patently, obviously, yes. Is the football good? It’s trying to be. We’re not just hoiking it up to Matt Smith are we? Three ball playing midfielders, no destroyer, trying to play the ball on the ground. Are people happy? No they are not.

Continued here ... https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/46776

 

Six pointer marred by Hill controversy - History

Friday, 20th Oct 2017 08:45 by Clive Whittingham

Ahead of Saturday's trip to bottom-placed Bolton, LFW looks back to 2012 and a memorable meeting between the two sides who were both struggling in the Premier League at the time.

The final throes of Bolton's Premier League existence were a traumatic affair. Two goals up against a West Brom side with nothing to play for in their final home match, they contrived to concede two goals in the final ten minutes just as QPR were scoring with the final kick of the game at home to Stoke City to turn one point into three.

It moved Rangers out of the drop zone with a game to play, and meant Bolton needed a win at Stoke City on the final day and to hope that Mark Hughes' side didn't win at Manchester City. Given QPR's away record, and City needing to win to seal the title, it felt like all the Trotters needed was a win at the Britannia Stadium to stave off the drop for another year.

Continued here ... https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/footb...x-pointer-marred-by-hill-controversy--history

 

Linington in charge of Bolton trip - Referee

Friday, 20th Oct 2017 08:32 by Clive Whittingham

A second QPR appointment of the season for Isle of Wight official James Linington this weekend as the R’s haul themselves back up north to Bolton.

Referee >>> James Linington (Isle of Wight),

Assistants >>> Robert Merchant (Staffordshire) and Geoffrey Russell (Northants)


QPR 2 Hull City 1, Saturday August 19, 2017, Championship

Hull, with two players already off injured, didn’t approach the second half with much ambition. Goalkeeper Allan McGregor saw yellow for timewasting near the end of proceedings but referee James Linington could have taken action against the luminous stopper much earlier than that. They asked QPR to break them down and sat back to see if it would happen. Seb Larsson’s deliberate pull back and booking when Rangers did look like they’d got the right side of their opponent summed it up.

QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 7, Onuoha 6, Baptiste 5 (Wszolek 63, 6); Lua Lua 4 (Smith 57, 6), Bidwell 6; Scowen 7, Luongo 7, Freeman 6; Mackie 6 (Sylla 72, 7), Washington 6

Subs not used: Furlong, Ingram, Manning, Borysiuk

Goals: Smith 74 (assisted Freeman), Sylla 90+1 (assisted Washington)

Bookings: Perch 82 (foul), Sylla 90+1 (over celebrating), Smith 90+7 (foul)

Hull: McGregor 5; Aina 5, Dawson 7, Hector 6; Clark 6, Meyler 6, Stewart – (Diomande 10, 6), Bowen 7, Larsson 6; Grosicki 6, Campbell 5 (Mazuch 45, 5)

Subs not used: Mannion, Weir, Batty, Olley, Lenihan

Goals: Bowen 35 (assisted Meyler)

Bookings: Meyler 56 (foul), Larsson 60 (foul), McGregor 87 (time wasting)

Referee – James Linington (Isle of Wight) 6 Should have been down on the time wasting much earlier, and I still think it looks like an obvious foul by Washington for the Sylla goal but Hull didn’t appeal and nobody else has mentioned it so hey ho.

Continued here ... https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/footb...3/linington-in-charge-of-bolton-trip--referee