From the Telegraph Are Queens Park Rangers doomed? Ask their fans. “We’re going down,” they sang as they slid to defeat here, and amid the gallows humour there was a real dismay there too. Teams threatened with relegation are supposed to give every last drop of sweat.QPR barely gave their first. Crystal Palace did nothing out of the ordinary to record their biggest league win of the season. They just did their jobs. In fact, the one real moment of quality came from Matt Phillips, who scored the greatest consolation goal in history with a dipping 40-yard effort. But by then the game was gone, the Championship just a little closer. And QPR’s new head coach Chris Ramsey had to take at least some of the responsibility. There were certainly a few eyebrows raised when Ramsey gave Shaun Wright-Phillips his first league start in over two years. Now 33 years of age and comfortably the third-best footballer in his family, to describe Wright-Phillips as a 'luxury player' is to pay him the warmest of compliments. Throwing him into a relegation scrap was a gamble. Throwing him in alongside Adel Taarabt, fellow enemy of the heatmap, was suicidal. Wright-Phillips was already puffing after 20 minutes, and barely got out of first gear. He jogged, he trotted, but mostly he walked. He walked in every direction. He walked all afternoon. He walked as if he was a character in a Cormac McCarthy novel. please log in to view this image Unhappy return: Shaun Wright-Phillips failed to make a good impressoin on a rare start The difference between the sides was stark. When Palace got the ball, Zaha and Yannick Bolasie instantly spread wide, giving the passer options, stretching the QPR defence, creating gaps. QPR’s wingers, by contrast, neither drifted wide nor pushed forward. Instead they just sort of hung out, like extras in a sitcom. The body language was atrocious. The tracking back was virtually non-existent. Zaha scored the first goal after 20 minutes, finishing a swift counter-attack by bundling in Bolasie’s cross at the far post. Then, with half-time looming, QPR simply fell apart. First, Bolasie advanced on the left, and with Wright-Phillips and Darnell Furlong pointing frantically at each other, Bolasie simply sprinted around the outside and crossed for James McArthur. Barely a minute later, Joel Ward’s curling shot made it 3-0, after three defenders had somehow failed to stop Zaha. “There’s nothing to explain,” Ramsey said afterwards. “We really need to do better in those situations.” Right-back Furlong was hauled off at half-time, the 19-year-old hung out to dry by the lack of support from his team-mates. To be fair to QPR, they were much better in the second half, and Phillips’s goal was a delight. Gathering the ball on the edge of the centre circle, Phillips took a couple of touches before lashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Yet in the aftermath of QPR’s best moment of the match, here is the reason they are going down. As Phillips celebrated a goal that Alan Pardew said was even better than David Beckham’s on the same ground in 1996, only two team-mates trotted over to congratulate him. Everybody was still too furious with each other. “The players downstairs are disappointed,” Ramsey said. “They’re not bickering and moaning at each other. "Yep, some people are disappointed, and some people are obviously voicing their opinions, but they’re still unified. All we can do really is to keep fighting.” They are a strange sort of club, QPR. Few clubs can defy momentum like they can, following a couple of decent performances with a horror show like this. They will need to defy momentum again. For if they carry on playing like this, they will be gone by the end of April.
It's 2012-13 revisited, we coasted the last ten games holding up the white flag, it was appropriate we were in all white yesterday. Wins for Villa and Burnley mean we're looking more and more likely to go down now, can you see us winning again this season? On that performance we'll finish last. Shame we can't play Sunderland every week, then again they'd probably beat us now...
That was my worst period of being a QPR fan in 43 years. If it happens again a massive bond between me as a fan and the club will be broken, I will probably walk away until I can see some fundamental change because this is humiliating. I expect us to be relegated but we can still do it with dignity and passion.
I don't mind getting beaten by a better team, but losing in the manner we did yesterday is wholly unacceptable. If this was any other business but football there would be a few people queuing up at the job centre Monday morning.
This probably deserves a thread of its own. A gap has emerged between the club and its supporters. That strong sense of affinity that was there has weakened in recent years it would seem. It is a disturbing development. What do we stand for as a club? What is our ethos? What is our plan? There is something rotten in the state of Denmark and Fernandes has a lot to answer for. I wish I had a crystal ball. I fear that this is going to end in tears. However, it might just mean that we get our club and soul back.
Spot-on, you look at the way Burnley have not succumbed to paying silly money and the way there is such a togetherness running from the top downwards there. They are an object-lesson in prudent management and principles which will ensure they grow in stature for all the right reasons. We are like one of those crazy dogs forever chasing it's tail...
Only last week, after the Spurs match I was saying...how much worse I felt this time. Because the team (although incredibly limited) was really trying, I was really with them...we had picked up the plucky losers badge. They gave their all last week, and were denied a point by a bad refereeing decision. I felt for them and said to my fellow sufferers, I do not mind this relegation fight, if we battle for every point and go down fighting...It will be different...we did not have the classy players but those we had gave everything!! But yesterday was like that awful day at Reading, when nobody cared and nobody tried. In my mind...the Everton match is such a make and break match...which is little to do with relegation. It is actually far more fundamental than that....that match is vital to hold the club together as a functioning unit....in whatever league we play in next year (next years...possibly longer)
Much like Stan, I have supported this club for over 40 years and I don't think I've ever felt so detached from it. We as fans have passion, why hasn't the team? We lack the likes of Big Mac, Terry Fenwick, players who would give 100%, 100% of the time. If the players don't care, it's hard for us to.
You're one of many Shefford, next year will be my 50th year supporting the Hoops and you'll know what I mean when I say I still get a knot in the stomach when going to games, I honestly thought following that great day at Wembley last May that we would turn the corner and establish ourselves. How wrong could I be? Yesterday I was in the Holmsdale stand with a Palace mate who got me a ticket, funnily I didn't get that feeling in the stomach and was joking we'd get thrashed, especially when I saw the team. We truly are an embarrassment...
Back in November I said to my boys I reckon we need 20 points by the end of 2014. We went into the Swansea game on Jan 1st with 19 points (I think) scored a great goal but then basically tried to hang on with 70 mins on the clock. I felt sorry for the players because they gave it all ; but then I thought crikey if we cannot win at home against Swansea when we have played to the max how are we going to win anywhere? We now have 22 points - it is poor but deep down I am not surprised. I will be at the Everton game and hope the fans get behind the team and we can somehow get three points which will keep us alive. Worst thing would be for fans to turn on players - seen that too many times in the past and is not helpful to anyone. In our situation you have to rely on our most experienced players . They have to stand up and be counted. .
There is no hope. Resign yourself to relegation and God only knows what after that. We're doomed I tell you.
Anyone see Bear Grylls during the week? At times of greatest despair you need to be relentlessly positive and give maximum energy... It looks like a few of our team could do with some of his inspirational leadership. I know we have our mind coach already who doesn't appear to have had a huge influence (to us at least) so this is probably a dirty word to most of us. We are QPR and we've seen all of this before (and worse). Sure it's disappointing but give up supporting the R's? Not me. If we are relegated then FFP permitting (and there have been a number of positive posts on here suggesting it might not be as bad as we think) we will get a fresh start. Lessons appear to have been learned (finally) and there are too many people with big stakes in the club for it to be allowed to implode. Last and most important the club is about us the supporters as well and I'm very proud to be one and have friends like you. Let's not lose our sense of humour which has always been a must for QPR fans. We ain't dead yet!
