QPR (a) - Tues 19:45 1st Dec - What Can We Expect?

[Davefevs]

QPR (a) – Tues 1^st Dec 19:45 – What Can We Expect?

@BigTone condensed midweek version

City head east again on Tuesday looking to get back to winning ways after a poor performance at Reading on Saturday where they were second best throughout.  QPR have had an extra day’s rest after their 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Friday night, but will be missing Todd Kane after he picked up two yellow cards.  Rangers mini revival of three wins and a draw in their previous five is now over but their home record is decent.  At the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium they’ve picked up 12 points from 7 games, so City will be looking to put that record to the test. Results didn’t go too badly over the rest of the weekend with Norwich and Bournemouth drawing, but City still slipped to 6^th, whilst QPR are now 15^th.

Who’s the Boss?

QPR are managed by former City Trader Mark Warburton.  The 58-year-old started as a pro at Leicester before a successful spell at Enfield where he won the FA Trophy and the Alliance League (now National League) before playing in the US until injury ended his playing days.  His coaching career began at Watford taking the age group teams (whilst Mark Ashton was CEO) and he became Academy manager in 2006.  He left acrimoniously in 2008 and later became first team coach at Brentford with former .

Pic 1 - Rangers boss Mark Warburton

He followed Uwe Rosler into the hotseat as Brentford missed out on promotion, but Warburton got them up at first attempt.  In February 2015 in their first season back in the Championship, it was decided that Warburton would leave in the summer.  He then went on to manage Rangers where he won the Scottish Championship (not Premiership) and Challenge Cup double.  A short spell at Forest in 2018 led to his latest role at QPR, appointed in May 2019.  The Rs finished 13^th last season.

Recruitment:

QPR are like most Championship clubs, reliant on developing their own players and selling for a big profit.  This summer’s incomings were funded by the sale of Eberechi Eze to Crystal Palace for £16m.

Incomings:

§  Rob Dickie – Oxford (£2.4m)

§  Lyndon Dykes – Livingston (£2m)

§  Macauley Bonne – Charlton (£2m)

§  George Thomas – Leicester (Free)

§  Albert Adomah – Forest (Free)

§  Luke Amos – Tottenham (Undisc.)

§  Chris Willock – Benfica B (Undisc.)

§  Tom Carroll – unattached

Outgoings:

§  Eberechi Eze – Crystal Palace (£16m)

§  Ryan Manning – Swansea (£250k)

§  Grant Hall – Boro (Free)

§  Toni Leistner – Hamburg (Free)

§  Marc Pugh – Released

§  Angel Rangel – Released 

How do they play?

Formation / System: 

Warburton has set QPR up with a back four this season, preferring a 4231 (or similar) in most games.  But it is a flexible system depending on the three forward players and the main striker selected.  

Pic 2 - QPR's starting line-up on Friday [Wyscout]

On Friday night QPR tried to get Ilias Chair close to Lyndon Dykes, but the formation morphed into 4231 and 4141 at times especially without the ball.  They were good as pressing Brentford when the time was right, and the Bees didn’t have it their own way by any stretch of the imagination.  When Macauley Bonne is up-top they can press harder and he caused Bournemouth all manner of problems earlier this season.

I’ve been quite impressed with their brand of football in the games I’ve watched, but their Achilles heel is in defence where switching off at key moments has cost them. 

Pic 3 - QPR morph into 4231 without the ball

We can see QPR’s defensive shape with their four defenders, two holding midfielders and the attacking three.  But the discipline of this shape is lost as the move progresses.

 

Pic 4 - Brentford suck players towards the ball

The ball ends up at the far post with Rico Henry.  Osayi-Samuel rightly helps out Todd Kane so that he isn’t one-on-one.  Dominic Ball is cutting off the pass to the penalty spot, but Willock (bottom of pic) has let Dalsgaard run and Tom Carroll (22) is trying to get into a position where he might affect the play as a result of Willock’s poor tracking.  But where is Ilias Chair?  He hasn’t followed Janelt’s run to the edge of the box.  Henry lays it off to him, and he strokes the ball into the bottom corner to put Brentford ahead.

For all the neat passing between Carroll and the other midfielders, the pace of Osayi-Samuel can be a devastating weapon. 

Pic 5 - Osayi-Samuel runs 50 yards with the ball versus Brentford

Picking up the ball well inside his own half and fighting to get past his marker, Osayi-Samuel sprints 50 yards with the ball at his feet.  Dykes would ideally like to be between Dalsgaard and Pinnock to give a better passing option to his teammate, but he’s just going to try to get into the box.

Pic 6 - What a cross, what a finish (by Dykes)!

On the run, Osayi-Samuel hits the penalty spot with a wicked curling cross / pass and Dykes has by now gained a yard on Dalsgaard and finishes with aplomb past Raya for the equaliser.

As mentioned above I’ve seen them play some nice football in established phases of possession.  They get Tom Carroll on the ball dictating the move but are reliant on Chair and Willock’s skills with the ball.  Dykes provides the target should they need to bounce passes off of him, similar to Chris Martin for us. 

Pic 7 - Willock goes wide to Hamalainen versus Watford

Against Watford, trailing 1-0, they started to build pressure in the Watford third.  Willock makes a simple pass to Hamalainen the left-back, but Watford look okay defensively.  We see Chair (10) make a run to the corner of the area to give Hamalainen a passing option, however nobody tracks him. 

Pic 8 - Hamalainen drives inside

Willock makes a run on his outside, but Hamalainen cuts inside.  Dykes offers a short passing option, receives the pass and flicks it into Chair’s path who his free on goal.  He takes the ball in his stride and shoots past Ben Foster.  A simple example of good movement and a one first time pass.  Although he only has one goal from open play (plus four penalties rifled into the net) Dykes looks like he’s settled into Championship football really well and has a good all-round game.

The players / possible line-up:

GK: Seny Dieng (26) – Swiss born Senegalese u23 keeper who spent last season at Doncaster on loan.  Spent time at Zurich, Grasshoppers and Zurich before signing for the Superhoops in 2016.  Started the last 12 league games and is happy with the ball at his feet. 

RB: Osman Kakay (23) – QPR academy player who represents Sierra Leone at international level.  Had loans at Livingston, Chesterfield and Partick Thistle and having rotated with Todd Kane, will get another start on Tuesday following Kane’s suspension. 

CB: Rob Dickie (24) – signed from Oxford in the summer for £2.4m having started at Reading.  Nice passer of the ball, but not convinced by him as a defender against the quality of Championship strikers.  Dickie is battling it out with Conor Masterson (22) – the Ireland u21 international who signed from Liverpool in July 2019.

CB: Yoann Barbet (27) – French left footed centre-back who started at Chamois Nort before signing for Brentford in 2015.  QPR snapped him up on a free in the summer of 2019.  Alongside Dickie I feel there is a mistake in them.

LB: Niko Hamalainen (23) – Florida born Finnish international who moved from Dallas to QPR aged 17.  Diverse range of loans at Dagenham, Los Angeles FC and Kilmarmock!  Didn’t feature in the early weeks of the season but has come in of late to replace Lee Wallace (33) – the ex-Hearts and Rangers full-back now that Ryan Manning has moved to Swansea.

DM: Tom Carroll (28) – former Spurs youth who moved to Swansea in 2017 for £4.5m.  Subsequently loaned to Villa and eventually released before QPR picked up in September.  Spent a season ar Rangers back in 2013/14 on loan.  Neat and tidy passer who sits in to free up the attacking midfielders in front of him.

DM: Dominic Ball (25) – hardworking midfielder who brings a bit of bite to the Rs midfield.  Another player who started at Spurs, before moving to Rotherham in 2016.  Loan spells at Peterborough and Aberdeen before signing for QPR in July 2019 on a free transfer.  In and out of the starting eleven this season, but Tuesday will be his 50^thappearance should he play but will face competition from Geoff Cameron (35) – the former Stoke player who can also play in the back four.  Earned over 50 caps for the US national team.

RAM: Bright Osayi-Samuel (22) – really exciting wideman who started at Blackpool and cost just £90k in 2017.  Has stepped into Eze’s shoes and has 2 goals and 3 assists in 12 starts this season.  Caused Tommy Rowe some problems last season and is my DANGERMAN. 

Pic 9 - Bright by name, bright by nature - Osayi-Samuel is the man to watch!

CM: Ilias Chair (23) – Belgian born attacking player who has earned one Morocco u23 international cap.  Joined QPR’s academy in January 2017 from Lierse and is really showing what he can do this season with 4 goals already.  Another option in midfield is George Thomas (23) – who signed from Leicester in the summer on a Free.  A Wales full international who has not featured much so far. 

LAM: Chris Willock (22) – England u20 International who played under Keith Downing.  Started at Arsenal before moving to Benfica.  Loaned to Huddersfield last season and caused us lots of problems in one of our worst performances of the season.  Signed for an undisclosed fee as the window closed.  Pushing hard to “run down the wing for you” is Albert Adomah (32) – the former City fans favourite who joined his boyhood favourite team this season.

CF: Lyndon Dykes (25) – Aussie born striker who moved from Livingston in the summer for £2m.  Made his Scottish debut in September and has 2 international goals already.  Scored from the penalty spot in his opening two games and added two more, before notching his first from open play on Friday night versus Brentford.  Really impressed with his movement and hold-up play and although not the quickest looks like he knows where the ball will land in the penalty area.  Competition is provided by Macauley Bonne (25) – who signed from Charlton in the window.  Another striker I like the look of who has a couple of goals to his name already.

Prediction: 

With both teams coming off of the back of defeats I see this one ending in a draw.  Might be a good barometer for City – are they good enough to win at tough away grounds like QPR. 

QPR 1:1 Bristol City 

[BigTone]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

QPR (a) – Tues 1^st Dec 19:45 – What Can We Expect?

@BigTone condensed midweek version

City head east again on Tuesday looking to get back to winning ways after a poor performance at Reading on Saturday where they were second best throughout.  QPR have had an extra day’s rest after their 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Friday night, but will be missing Todd Kane after he picked up two yellow cards.  Rangers mini revival of three wins and a draw in their previous five is now over but their home record is decent.  At the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium they’ve picked up 12 points from 7 games, so City will be looking to put that record to the test. Results didn’t go too badly over the rest of the weekend with Norwich and Bournemouth drawing, but City still slipped to 6^th, whilst QPR are now 15^th.

Who’s the Boss?

QPR are managed by former City Trader Mark Warburton.  The 58-year-old started as a pro at Leicester before a successful spell at Enfield where he won the FA Trophy and the Alliance League (now National League) before playing in the US until injury ended his playing days.  His coaching career began at Watford taking the age group teams (whilst Mark Ashton was CEO) and he became Academy manager in 2006.  He left acrimoniously in 2008 and later became first team coach at Brentford with former .

Pic 1 - Rangers boss Mark Warburton

He followed Uwe Rosler into the hotseat as Brentford missed out on promotion, but Warburton got them up at first attempt.  In February 2015 in their first season back in the Championship, it was decided that Warburton would leave in the summer.  He then went on to manage Rangers where he won the Scottish Championship (not Premiership) and Challenge Cup double.  A short spell at Forest in 2018 led to his latest role at QPR, appointed in May 2019.  The Rs finished 13^th last season.

Recruitment:

QPR are like most Championship clubs, reliant on developing their own players and selling for a big profit.  This summer’s incomings were funded by the sale of Eberechi Eze to Crystal Palace for £16m.

Incomings:

§  Rob Dickie – Oxford (£2.4m)

§  Lyndon Dykes – Livingston (£2m)

§  Macauley Bonne – Charlton (£2m)

§  George Thomas – Leicester (Free)

§  Albert Adomah – Forest (Free)

§  Luke Amos – Tottenham (Undisc.)

§  Chris Willock – Benfica B (Undisc.)

§  Tom Carroll – unattached

Outgoings:

§  Eberechi Eze – Crystal Palace (£16m)

§  Ryan Manning – Swansea (£250k)

§  Grant Hall – Boro (Free)

§  Toni Leistner – Hamburg (Free)

§  Marc Pugh – Released

§  Angel Rangel – Released 

How do they play?

Formation / System: 

Warburton has set QPR up with a back four this season, preferring a 4231 (or similar) in most games.  But it is a flexible system depending on the three forward players and the main striker selected.  

Pic 2 - QPR's starting line-up on Friday [Wyscout]

On Friday night QPR tried to get Ilias Chair close to Lyndon Dykes, but the formation morphed into 4231 and 4141 at times especially without the ball.  They were good as pressing Brentford when the time was right, and the Bees didn’t have it their own way by any stretch of the imagination.  When Macauley Bonne is up-top they can press harder and he caused Bournemouth all manner of problems earlier this season.

I’ve been quite impressed with their brand of football in the games I’ve watched, but their Achilles heel is in defence where switching off at key moments has cost them. 

Pic 3 - QPR morph into 4231 without the ball

We can see QPR’s defensive shape with their four defenders, two holding midfielders and the attacking three.  But the discipline of this shape is lost as the move progresses.

 

Pic 4 - Brentford suck players towards the ball

The ball ends up at the far post with Rico Henry.  Osayi-Samuel rightly helps out Todd Kane so that he isn’t one-on-one.  Dominic Ball is cutting off the pass to the penalty spot, but Willock (bottom of pic) has let Dalsgaard run and Tom Carroll (22) is trying to get into a position where he might affect the play as a result of Willock’s poor tracking.  But where is Ilias Chair?  He hasn’t followed Janelt’s run to the edge of the box.  Henry lays it off to him, and he strokes the ball into the bottom corner to put Brentford ahead.

For all the neat passing between Carroll and the other midfielders, the pace of Osayi-Samuel can be a devastating weapon. 

Pic 5 - Osayi-Samuel runs 50 yards with the ball versus Brentford

Picking up the ball well inside his own half and fighting to get past his marker, Osayi-Samuel sprints 50 yards with the ball at his feet.  Dykes would ideally like to be between Dalsgaard and Pinnock to give a better passing option to his teammate, but he’s just going to try to get into the box.

Pic 6 - What a cross, what a finish (by Dykes)!

On the run, Osayi-Samuel hits the penalty spot with a wicked curling cross / pass and Dykes has by now gained a yard on Dalsgaard and finishes with aplomb past Raya for the equaliser.

As mentioned above I’ve seen them play some nice football in established phases of possession.  They get Tom Carroll on the ball dictating the move but are reliant on Chair and Willock’s skills with the ball.  Dykes provides the target should they need to bounce passes off of him, similar to Chris Martin for us. 

Pic 7 - Willock goes wide to Hamalainen versus Watford

Against Watford, trailing 1-0, they started to build pressure in the Watford third.  Willock makes a simple pass to Hamalainen the left-back, but Watford look okay defensively.  We see Chair (10) make a run to the corner of the area to give Hamalainen a passing option, however nobody tracks him. 

Pic 8 - Hamalainen drives inside

Willock makes a run on his outside, but Hamalainen cuts inside.  Dykes offers a short passing option, receives the pass and flicks it into Chair’s path who his free on goal.  He takes the ball in his stride and shoots past Ben Foster.  A simple example of good movement and a one first time pass.  Although he only has one goal from open play (plus four penalties rifled into the net) Dykes looks like he’s settled into Championship football really well and has a good all-round game.

The players / possible line-up:

GK: Seny Dieng (26) – Swiss born Senegalese u23 keeper who spent last season at Doncaster on loan.  Spent time at Zurich, Grasshoppers and Zurich before signing for the Superhoops in 2016.  Started the last 12 league games and is happy with the ball at his feet. 

RB: Osman Kakay (23) – QPR academy player who represents Sierra Leone at international level.  Had loans at Livingston, Chesterfield and Partick Thistle and having rotated with Todd Kane, will get another start on Tuesday following Kane’s suspension. 

CB: Rob Dickie (24) – signed from Oxford in the summer for £2.4m having started at Reading.  Nice passer of the ball, but not convinced by him as a defender against the quality of Championship strikers.  Dickie is battling it out with Conor Masterson (22) – the Ireland u21 international who signed from Liverpool in July 2019.

CB: Yoann Barbet (27) – French left footed centre-back who started at Chamois Nort before signing for Brentford in 2015.  QPR snapped him up on a free in the summer of 2019.  Alongside Dickie I feel there is a mistake in them.

LB: Niko Hamalainen (23) – Florida born Finnish international who moved from Dallas to QPR aged 17.  Diverse range of loans at Dagenham, Los Angeles FC and Kilmarmock!  Didn’t feature in the early weeks of the season but has come in of late to replace Lee Wallace (33) – the ex-Hearts and Rangers full-back now that Ryan Manning has moved to Swansea.

DM: Tom Carroll (28) – former Spurs youth who moved to Swansea in 2017 for £4.5m.  Subsequently loaned to Villa and eventually released before QPR picked up in September.  Spent a season ar Rangers back in 2013/14 on loan.  Neat and tidy passer who sits in to free up the attacking midfielders in front of him.

DM: Dominic Ball (25) – hardworking midfielder who brings a bit of bite to the Rs midfield.  Another player who started at Spurs, before moving to Rotherham in 2016.  Loan spells at Peterborough and Aberdeen before signing for QPR in July 2019 on a free transfer.  In and out of the starting eleven this season, but Tuesday will be his 50^thappearance should he play but will face competition from Geoff Cameron (35) – the former Stoke player who can also play in the back four.  Earned over 50 caps for the US national team.

RAM: Bright Osayi-Samuel (22) – really exciting wideman who started at Blackpool and cost just £90k in 2017.  Has stepped into Eze’s shoes and has 2 goals and 3 assists in 12 starts this season.  Caused Tommy Rowe some problems last season and is my DANGERMAN. 

Pic 9 - Bright by name, bright by nature - Osayi-Samuel is the man to watch!

CM: Ilias Chair (23) – Belgian born attacking player who has earned one Morocco u23 international cap.  Joined QPR’s academy in January 2017 from Lierse and is really showing what he can do this season with 4 goals already.  Another option in midfield is George Thomas (23) – who signed from Leicester in the summer on a Free.  A Wales full international who has not featured much so far. 

LAM: Chris Willock (22) – England u20 International who played under Keith Downing.  Started at Arsenal before moving to Benfica.  Loaned to Huddersfield last season and caused us lots of problems in one of our worst performances of the season.  Signed for an undisclosed fee as the window closed.  Pushing hard to “run down the wing for you” is Albert Adomah (32) – the former City fans favourite who joined his boyhood favourite team this season.

CF: Lyndon Dykes (25) – Aussie born striker who moved from Livingston in the summer for £2m.  Made his Scottish debut in September and has 2 international goals already.  Scored from the penalty spot in his opening two games and added two more, before notching his first from open play on Friday night versus Brentford.  Really impressed with his movement and hold-up play and although not the quickest looks like he knows where the ball will land in the penalty area.  Competition is provided by Macauley Bonne (25) – who signed from Charlton in the window.  Another striker I like the look of who has a couple of goals to his name already.

Prediction: 

With both teams coming off of the back of defeats I see this one ending in a draw.  Might be a good barometer for City – are they good enough to win at tough away grounds like QPR. 

QPR 1:1 Bristol City 

FFS, if that's condensed version then I dread seeing the full post

[GrahamC]

Always rated Warburton, think he is a good manager who gets as much as he can from what he has available to him.

Albert is 33 next week, I must admit I thought he was a year or two older than that, seems to have been around for ever, bless him.

Really worry we are currently flogging the likes of Hunt, Paterson, Semenyo & Nagy to death whilst others are either not really fit enough to play (Bakinson, Massengo, possibly Mariappa) or never are fit at all (Williams, Walsh, Baker).

Take a point now.
 

 

[BLRed]

A tough game. Elias chair to score against us.

hope we go back to Martin/Wells up top and get some goals

[Davefevs]

Assuming everyone is fit tomorrow (doesn’t appear to be the case from Holden interview) I would go:

                         Bentley

Mariappa / Vyner / Kalas / Rowe

      Massengo / Nagy / O’Dowda

                       Paterson

                   Wells / Martin

i don’t think Bakinson will be ready, and Semenyo can have a little rest along with Hunt and Dasilva.  Massengo needs some minutes from the start, it’s not easy coming on.  Mariappa in for debut as we go “solid” at the back and I don’t mind whether you call it 4132 or 4312....I want Pato to get close to Martin and Wells our best “partnership” up top.

It won’t be anything like this side admittedly but it’s what I’d go with giving likely available personnel.

 

[Davefevs]

18 minutes ago, markcarter said:

Expecting ‘this match has come too early’ for Kalas, Bakinson and Mariappa.  Euphemism used when Holden doesn’t want to tell us what their injuries are and/or the truth about their recoveries.

From the interview on Sound of the City, I heard the following, paraphrased not word for word.  I’ve added Gregor press-conf quotes in Italics in between.

Kalas - Saturday came too soon, but he’s being coy about whether he’s back - “sooner or later” was used.  We already know he had a tight quad.  We know he’s been for a scan, and it’s good news.

“We will see with Tomas Kalas exactly where we are at tomorrow morning with him.”

Bakinson - he trained today but he’s not had any prep time following his spell out (which we know was due to a positive case although he suffered no symptoms).  Holden said he’s waiting to see what he’s got in the tank, or words to that effect.

“Yes he is, he trained this morning, but he has done nothing at all for the best part of two weeks now, so we are getting him back up to speed now and that will be really important for us, because he will be another welcome addition to the squad.”

Mariappa - is fit, has looked after himself and is likely to play a part over the coming weeks.

“He has been very good since he came in the building. It has been quite a while since he played a game, but he has been keeping himself fit. You can see that, he is very agile, and he is very fit. 

“He obviously takes his fitness very seriously, you wouldn’t think he has turned 34, he is very fit.

“He will come into the reckoning of course with the amount of games we have got coming up, everybody is going to be involved.”

Seriously, what more are you expecting by way of an update?  He isn’t gonna tell you the team.  I honestly can’t think of anything more he could say without giving QPR insight.  I’m bemused by you wanting to constantly beat Holden with the sane stick about injuries.

 

 

 

[PHILINFRANCE]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

From the interview on Sound of the City, I heard the following, paraphrased not word for word.  I’ve added Gregor press-conf quotes in Italics in between.

Kalas - Saturday came too soon, but he’s being coy about whether he’s back - “sooner or later” was used.  We already know he had a tight quad.  We know he’s been for a scan, and it’s good news.

“We will see with Tomas Kalas exactly where we are at tomorrow morning with him.”

Bakinson - he trained today but he’s not had any prep time following his spell out (which we know was due to a positive case although he suffered no symptoms).  Holden said he’s waiting to see what he’s got in the tank, or words to that effect.

“Yes he is, he trained this morning, but he has done nothing at all for the best part of two weeks now, so we are getting him back up to speed now and that will be really important for us, because he will be another welcome addition to the squad.”

Mariappa - is fit, has looked after himself and is likely to play a part over the coming weeks.

“He has been very good since he came in the building. It has been quite a while since he played a game, but he has been keeping himself fit. You can see that, he is very agile, and he is very fit. 

“He obviously takes his fitness very seriously, you wouldn’t think he has turned 34, he is very fit.

“He will come into the reckoning of course with the amount of games we have got coming up, everybody is going to be involved.”

Seriously, what more are you expecting by way of an update?  He isn’t gonna tell you the team.  I honestly can’t think of anything more he could say without giving QPR insight.  I’m bemused by you wanting to constantly beat Holden with the sane stick about injuries.

 

 

 

That would be a welcome change ....

[bcfc01]

38 minutes ago, markcarter said:

A tight quad is not an injury.  It is a symptom of an injury.  A scan is done to seek to determine what the injury is that has caused the tight quad.  A scan has been done.  Is there an injury?  Who knows?  We don’t because we haven’t been told.

Why should we be told ?

What is there to be gained in knowing - and why should Holden give a heads up to QPR ?

 

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

43 minutes ago, markcarter said:

A tight quad is not an injury.  It is a symptom of an injury.  A scan is done to seek to determine what the injury is that has caused the tight quad.  A scan has been done.  Is there an injury?  Who knows?  We don’t because we haven’t been told.

Why don’t we just send a full and detailed report on our injury situation to every manager in the Championship?

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, markcarter said:

A tight quad is not an injury.

yes it is.  It’s a common piece of jargon to describe the grading of the strain of the quadriceps muscle.  “Tight” or usually a minor form of a quad strain and can obviously go to the extreme of a “torn quad” which is what Walsh had / has.

It is a symptom of an injury.

Eh?

A scan is done to seek to determine what the injury is that has caused the tight quad.

The scan can be done purely to check the grade of the thigh strain.  It appears that has been done and returned nothing to be worried about, e.g. it’s no worse than a tight quad and not a strain for example.

A scan has been done.

yes, confirmed.

Is there an injury?  Who knows?

Who knows indeed.  But if there wasn’t an injury do you think Kalas would’ve sat in the stands on Saturday and been absent on Wednesday v Watford?
We don’t because we haven’t been told.

Please, please, please give me an idea what you would’ve told us (if you were “Honest Dean”)?  You can make up the injury details, but I really don’t get your point, unless you just want to dig-out Holden

Comments above and a web article below.

 

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, markcarter said:

Football supporter would like to know whether the club’s all time record signing and best centre back is injured or not.  Crazy, crazy idea

And let our opponents get intel ahead of the game as to how we might play.

Imagine if they were gonna rest Dykes tomorrow.  Honest Holden comes out and says Kalas is still out because he doesn’t want to upset City fan Mark Carter.  Warburton might think, well if they’re gonna play Moore and Vyner and possibly Rowe, then I might as well go with my physical Striker than Bonne.

Personally I’d like to know how much each City player earns.

Personally I’d like to know City’s line-up in advance so I can write my preview.  I’d like Warburton to tell me his plans too.

Guess what?  A football supporter isn’t told every little detail ahead of a match or in general.

Im not sure if you’re a WUM, naive or just want to criticise Holden for little reason....especially when he’s explained a few times why he won’t give out certain info.

[bcfc01]

1 hour ago, markcarter said:

Football supporter would like to know whether the club’s all time record signing and best centre back is injured or not.  Crazy, crazy idea

We all know he was injured with a quad issue and had a scan which thankfully revealed it to be short term.

But you appear to need the specific details of his injury (or any other player it seems).

Which is, indeed, a bit crazy 

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

We all know he was injured with a quad issue and had a scan which thankfully revealed it to be short term.

But you appear to need the specific details of his injury (or any other player it seems).

Which is, indeed, a bit crazy 

It was this single fibre that was a bit tight.....never bought a round!!!

[bcfc01]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It was this single fibre that was a bit tight.....never bought a round!!!

And here's me thinking it was the lateralis.

I can sleep tonight 

[Abraham Romanovich]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

And let our opponents get intel ahead of the game as to how we might play.

Imagine if they were gonna rest Dykes tomorrow.  Honest Holden comes out and says Kalas is still out because he doesn’t want to upset City fan Mark Carter.  Warburton might think, well if they’re gonna play Moore and Vyner and possibly Rowe, then I might as well go with my physical Striker than Bonne.

Personally I’d like to know how much each City player earns.

Personally I’d like to know City’s line-up in advance so I can write my preview.  I’d like Warburton to tell me his plans too.

Guess what?  A football supporter isn’t told every little detail ahead of a match or in general.

Im not sure if you’re a WUM, naive or just want to criticise Holden for little reason....especially when he’s explained a few times why he won’t give out certain info.

Seems to have hit a bit of a nerve here was this response  absolutely necessary.

 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Abraham Romanovich said:

Seems to have hit a bit of a nerve here was this response  absolutely necessary.

 

Yes, imho, go back and read Mark Carter’s posts.

[Robin101]

Anyone else just about reaching Bristol City saturation point? 

Yet another match tonight. I’m exhausted just refreshing matchday OTIB twice a week. Players must be knackered.

Barely time to consider our form/position/opponents etc before the next game rolls around.

[City oz]

2 minutes ago, Robin101 said:

Anyone else just about reaching Bristol City saturation point? 

Yet another match tonight. I’m exhausted just refreshing matchday OTIB twice a week. Players must be knackered.

Barely time to consider our form/position/opponents etc before the next game rolls around.

Great post but “players must be knackerd” come on they get paid well to play football. That is what they do. If they are knackerd then why ??

[Robin101]

11 minutes ago, City oz said:

Great post but “players must be knackerd” come on they get paid well to play football. That is what they do. If they are knackerd then why ??

Granted. I’m not breaking out the violin for them. But it’s certainly an intense period, and travelling up and down the country takes a toll too. 

I think there should be some changes tonight to keep things fresh. Nagy especially has played a lot of football once you consider he played three times for Hungary in the international break. Martin and Wells in too I should think.

[Son of Fred]

17 hours ago, GrahamC said:

or never are fit at all (Williams, Walsh,

I do wonder if the two W's have gone off to play on another level!

[Abraham Romanovich]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Yes, imho, go back and read Mark Carter’s posts.

This seems somewhat appropriate 

 

[BigTone]

20 hours ago, Davefevs said:

QPR (a) – Tues 1^st Dec 19:45 – What Can We Expect?

@BigTone condensed midweek version

City head east again on Tuesday looking to get back to winning ways after a poor performance at Reading on Saturday where they were second best throughout.  QPR have had an extra day’s rest after their 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Friday night, but will be missing Todd Kane after he picked up two yellow cards.  Rangers mini revival of three wins and a draw in their previous five is now over but their home record is decent.  At the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium they’ve picked up 12 points from 7 games, so City will be looking to put that record to the test. Results didn’t go too badly over the rest of the weekend with Norwich and Bournemouth drawing, but City still slipped to 6^th, whilst QPR are now 15^th.

Who’s the Boss?

QPR are managed by former City Trader Mark Warburton.  The 58-year-old started as a pro at Leicester before a successful spell at Enfield where he won the FA Trophy and the Alliance League (now National League) before playing in the US until injury ended his playing days.  His coaching career began at Watford taking the age group teams (whilst Mark Ashton was CEO) and he became Academy manager in 2006.  He left acrimoniously in 2008 and later became first team coach at Brentford with former .

Pic 1 - Rangers boss Mark Warburton

He followed Uwe Rosler into the hotseat as Brentford missed out on promotion, but Warburton got them up at first attempt.  In February 2015 in their first season back in the Championship, it was decided that Warburton would leave in the summer.  He then went on to manage Rangers where he won the Scottish Championship (not Premiership) and Challenge Cup double.  A short spell at Forest in 2018 led to his latest role at QPR, appointed in May 2019.  The Rs finished 13^th last season.

Recruitment:

QPR are like most Championship clubs, reliant on developing their own players and selling for a big profit.  This summer’s incomings were funded by the sale of Eberechi Eze to Crystal Palace for £16m.

Incomings:

§  Rob Dickie – Oxford (£2.4m)

§  Lyndon Dykes – Livingston (£2m)

§  Macauley Bonne – Charlton (£2m)

§  George Thomas – Leicester (Free)

§  Albert Adomah – Forest (Free)

§  Luke Amos – Tottenham (Undisc.)

§  Chris Willock – Benfica B (Undisc.)

§  Tom Carroll – unattached

Outgoings:

§  Eberechi Eze – Crystal Palace (£16m)

§  Ryan Manning – Swansea (£250k)

§  Grant Hall – Boro (Free)

§  Toni Leistner – Hamburg (Free)

§  Marc Pugh – Released

§  Angel Rangel – Released 

How do they play?

Formation / System: 

Warburton has set QPR up with a back four this season, preferring a 4231 (or similar) in most games.  But it is a flexible system depending on the three forward players and the main striker selected.  

Pic 2 - QPR's starting line-up on Friday [Wyscout]

On Friday night QPR tried to get Ilias Chair close to Lyndon Dykes, but the formation morphed into 4231 and 4141 at times especially without the ball.  They were good as pressing Brentford when the time was right, and the Bees didn’t have it their own way by any stretch of the imagination.  When Macauley Bonne is up-top they can press harder and he caused Bournemouth all manner of problems earlier this season.

I’ve been quite impressed with their brand of football in the games I’ve watched, but their Achilles heel is in defence where switching off at key moments has cost them. 

Pic 3 - QPR morph into 4231 without the ball

We can see QPR’s defensive shape with their four defenders, two holding midfielders and the attacking three.  But the discipline of this shape is lost as the move progresses.

 

Pic 4 - Brentford suck players towards the ball

The ball ends up at the far post with Rico Henry.  Osayi-Samuel rightly helps out Todd Kane so that he isn’t one-on-one.  Dominic Ball is cutting off the pass to the penalty spot, but Willock (bottom of pic) has let Dalsgaard run and Tom Carroll (22) is trying to get into a position where he might affect the play as a result of Willock’s poor tracking.  But where is Ilias Chair?  He hasn’t followed Janelt’s run to the edge of the box.  Henry lays it off to him, and he strokes the ball into the bottom corner to put Brentford ahead.

For all the neat passing between Carroll and the other midfielders, the pace of Osayi-Samuel can be a devastating weapon. 

Pic 5 - Osayi-Samuel runs 50 yards with the ball versus Brentford

Picking up the ball well inside his own half and fighting to get past his marker, Osayi-Samuel sprints 50 yards with the ball at his feet.  Dykes would ideally like to be between Dalsgaard and Pinnock to give a better passing option to his teammate, but he’s just going to try to get into the box.

Pic 6 - What a cross, what a finish (by Dykes)!

On the run, Osayi-Samuel hits the penalty spot with a wicked curling cross / pass and Dykes has by now gained a yard on Dalsgaard and finishes with aplomb past Raya for the equaliser.

As mentioned above I’ve seen them play some nice football in established phases of possession.  They get Tom Carroll on the ball dictating the move but are reliant on Chair and Willock’s skills with the ball.  Dykes provides the target should they need to bounce passes off of him, similar to Chris Martin for us. 

Pic 7 - Willock goes wide to Hamalainen versus Watford

Against Watford, trailing 1-0, they started to build pressure in the Watford third.  Willock makes a simple pass to Hamalainen the left-back, but Watford look okay defensively.  We see Chair (10) make a run to the corner of the area to give Hamalainen a passing option, however nobody tracks him. 

Pic 8 - Hamalainen drives inside

Willock makes a run on his outside, but Hamalainen cuts inside.  Dykes offers a short passing option, receives the pass and flicks it into Chair’s path who his free on goal.  He takes the ball in his stride and shoots past Ben Foster.  A simple example of good movement and a one first time pass.  Although he only has one goal from open play (plus four penalties rifled into the net) Dykes looks like he’s settled into Championship football really well and has a good all-round game.

The players / possible line-up:

GK: Seny Dieng (26) – Swiss born Senegalese u23 keeper who spent last season at Doncaster on loan.  Spent time at Zurich, Grasshoppers and Zurich before signing for the Superhoops in 2016.  Started the last 12 league games and is happy with the ball at his feet. 

RB: Osman Kakay (23) – QPR academy player who represents Sierra Leone at international level.  Had loans at Livingston, Chesterfield and Partick Thistle and having rotated with Todd Kane, will get another start on Tuesday following Kane’s suspension. 

CB: Rob Dickie (24) – signed from Oxford in the summer for £2.4m having started at Reading.  Nice passer of the ball, but not convinced by him as a defender against the quality of Championship strikers.  Dickie is battling it out with Conor Masterson (22) – the Ireland u21 international who signed from Liverpool in July 2019.

CB: Yoann Barbet (27) – French left footed centre-back who started at Chamois Nort before signing for Brentford in 2015.  QPR snapped him up on a free in the summer of 2019.  Alongside Dickie I feel there is a mistake in them.

LB: Niko Hamalainen (23) – Florida born Finnish international who moved from Dallas to QPR aged 17.  Diverse range of loans at Dagenham, Los Angeles FC and Kilmarmock!  Didn’t feature in the early weeks of the season but has come in of late to replace Lee Wallace (33) – the ex-Hearts and Rangers full-back now that Ryan Manning has moved to Swansea.

DM: Tom Carroll (28) – former Spurs youth who moved to Swansea in 2017 for £4.5m.  Subsequently loaned to Villa and eventually released before QPR picked up in September.  Spent a season ar Rangers back in 2013/14 on loan.  Neat and tidy passer who sits in to free up the attacking midfielders in front of him.

DM: Dominic Ball (25) – hardworking midfielder who brings a bit of bite to the Rs midfield.  Another player who started at Spurs, before moving to Rotherham in 2016.  Loan spells at Peterborough and Aberdeen before signing for QPR in July 2019 on a free transfer.  In and out of the starting eleven this season, but Tuesday will be his 50^thappearance should he play but will face competition from Geoff Cameron (35) – the former Stoke player who can also play in the back four.  Earned over 50 caps for the US national team.

RAM: Bright Osayi-Samuel (22) – really exciting wideman who started at Blackpool and cost just £90k in 2017.  Has stepped into Eze’s shoes and has 2 goals and 3 assists in 12 starts this season.  Caused Tommy Rowe some problems last season and is my DANGERMAN. 

Pic 9 - Bright by name, bright by nature - Osayi-Samuel is the man to watch!

CM: Ilias Chair (23) – Belgian born attacking player who has earned one Morocco u23 international cap.  Joined QPR’s academy in January 2017 from Lierse and is really showing what he can do this season with 4 goals already.  Another option in midfield is George Thomas (23) – who signed from Leicester in the summer on a Free.  A Wales full international who has not featured much so far. 

LAM: Chris Willock (22) – England u20 International who played under Keith Downing.  Started at Arsenal before moving to Benfica.  Loaned to Huddersfield last season and caused us lots of problems in one of our worst performances of the season.  Signed for an undisclosed fee as the window closed.  Pushing hard to “run down the wing for you” is Albert Adomah (32) – the former City fans favourite who joined his boyhood favourite team this season.

CF: Lyndon Dykes (25) – Aussie born striker who moved from Livingston in the summer for £2m.  Made his Scottish debut in September and has 2 international goals already.  Scored from the penalty spot in his opening two games and added two more, before notching his first from open play on Friday night versus Brentford.  Really impressed with his movement and hold-up play and although not the quickest looks like he knows where the ball will land in the penalty area.  Competition is provided by Macauley Bonne (25) – who signed from Charlton in the window.  Another striker I like the look of who has a couple of goals to his name already.

Prediction: 

With both teams coming off of the back of defeats I see this one ending in a draw.  Might be a good barometer for City – are they good enough to win at tough away grounds like QPR. 

QPR 1:1 Bristol City 

Ok, I will try after spending hours looking at the stats & facts etc presented by Dafyd.

Condensed Version 

QPR 1:1 Bristol City

[CliftonCliff]

19 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Really worry we are currently flogging the likes of Hunt, Paterson, Semenyo & Nagy to death whilst others are either not really fit enough to play (Bakinson, Massengo, possibly Mariappa) or never are fit at all (Williams, Walsh, Baker).

Take a point now.
 

 

Quite right, Graham. This is a real concern. Have commented on it elsewhere (on the "style of play" thread). We are, to use Dave's phrase, "down to the bare bones" of the squad, as the presence on the bench v Reading of two raw, totally inexperienced youngsters testifies.

Nagy seems to be one of those Duracell battery bunny types like Weimann (when he's fit), who can run and run. He came into the side only recently, too, though I do recognise he's had a lot of games in a short time, with international duty. Semenyo has occasionally started games on the bench and seems a very strong lad. Still, it's far from ideal, even for those two. Hunt has a lot on his shoulders since Sessegnon got injured and will clearly have to be rested at some point soon. 

The biggest worry for me, though, is Pato. He gets a lot of stick from some, but people seem to ignore just how much hard graft he typically gets through in a game. There are echoes in this of the famous Cup run a few years ago, when we beat MU and so on. Loads of injuries, same small group of players starting again and again, game after game, with Jaimie at the heart of much of what was good about that spell, until it finally imploded through sheer exhaustion as much as anything.

We can shuffle things a bit to cover for the other three you mention, if absolutely necessary, but there is a reason Pato gets picked repeatedly despite the risk of fatigue and/or injury. He is arguably the best footballer at the club (though you wouldn't think it from the criticism he receives) and of a type we cannot really cover with a direct, like-for-like replacement. He started the season in cracking form, but whilst he is fit, he is of very slight build and has looked drained to me at times lately - one of the principal reasons, in my opinion, for the declining number of chances created and attempts on goal.

[Bazooka Joe]

18 hours ago, markcarter said:

A tight quad is not an injury.  It is a symptom of an injury.  A scan is done to seek to determine what the injury is that has caused the tight quad.  A scan has been done.  Is there an injury?  Who knows?  We don’t because we haven’t been told.

Thank Quad it may be less serious than I thought.

[bristolcitysweden]

Strong coffee needed to stay awake - two tankers turning

[mozo]

19 hours ago, Davefevs said:

And let our opponents get intel ahead of the game as to how we might play.

Imagine if they were gonna rest Dykes tomorrow.  Honest Holden comes out and says Kalas is still out because he doesn’t want to upset City fan Mark Carter.  Warburton might think, well if they’re gonna play Moore and Vyner and possibly Rowe, then I might as well go with my physical Striker than Bonne.

Personally I’d like to know how much each City player earns.

Personally I’d like to know City’s line-up in advance so I can write my preview.  I’d like Warburton to tell me his plans too.

Guess what?  A football supporter isn’t told every little detail ahead of a match or in general.

Im not sure if you’re a WUM, naive or just want to criticise Holden for little reason....especially when he’s explained a few times why he won’t give out certain info.

To be fair though Mr F, it's quite normal for managers to divulge injury info. It's not all secret squirrel.

Just today, Pep gave details on Aguero, Lamps on Gilmour and Ole on De Gea.

 

[grifty]

6 hours ago, City oz said:

Great post but “players must be knackerd” come on they get paid well to play football. That is what they do. If they are knackerd then why ??

What an odd view. I get paid for what I do, and I sit in front of a computer all day, but when I finish, I'm knackered. Are you saying footballers shouldn't get tired? I'd be more concerned if a player came off after 90 mins and wasn't tired!

[JackofromSanJavier]

20 hours ago, Davefevs said:

And let our opponents get intel ahead of the game as to how we might play.

Imagine if they were gonna rest Dykes tomorrow.  Honest Holden comes out and says Kalas is still out because he doesn’t want to upset City fan Mark Carter.  Warburton might think, well if they’re gonna play Moore and Vyner and possibly Rowe, then I might as well go with my physical Striker than Bonne.

Personally I’d like to know how much each City player earns.

Personally I’d like to know City’s line-up in advance so I can write my preview.  I’d like Warburton to tell me his plans too.

Guess what?  A football supporter isn’t told every little detail ahead of a match or in general.

Im not sure if you’re a WUM, naive or just want to criticise Holden for little reason....especially when he’s explained a few times why he won’t give out certain info.

Many of the young'uns today would have struggled as supporters back in my prime times, when we relied almost entirely on what was written on the last couple of pages of the Western Daily Press as our source of City-related information.  Never did me any harm 

Internet???? Schminternet!!!!

 

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, mozo said:

To be fair though Mr F, it's quite normal for managers to divulge injury info. It's not all secret squirrel.

Just today, Pep gave details on Aguero, Lamps on Gilmour and Ole on De Gea.

 

I’m not saying it’s not, but to fair it’s pretty common not to give those that are touch and go, especially your captain that might dictate a back 4 if fit or a back 3 if not.

Out of interest what did they each say (paraphrased).  Don’t forget Holden told us about 6 injuries, said Kalas might be and that Bakinson was back in training.  He just kept some detail to himself.

[Curr Avon]

And I've just been handed the teamsheet. It looks like a 4-3-3 lads and lasses.