Further Match Reports & Managerial Comments

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SUPPORT FOR WADDOCK TO GET THE JOB....CRITICISM OF THE WAY HOLLOWAY WAS TREATED
"...the clamour in the QPR camp is growing for caretaker-boss Gary Waddock to be handed the reins full time after a second win in just his third match in charge.Having spent his entire playing career at Loftus Road, Waddock admits he would jump at the chance once Ian Holloway's gardening leave is resolved.And midfielder Marc Bircham would love to see his "hero" and assistant Alan McDonald remain at the helm. "If Wads got the job, I think everyone in that dressing room would be happy," said the boyhood Rangers fan."Waddo is more than capable. He's a fantastic coach and he's got the tactical know-how with the managers he's played under."He's played under some of the best managers like George Graham and Terry Venables and he can take the best bits under those managers and bring them to this side."Wadds was probably my first hero at QPR. He was Rangers through and through and Macca was there as a professional for 12 years."They've come in and done a brilliant job."You can't get two more QPR people than Gary Waddock and Alan McDonald - I remember watching them for years."However, Bircham was critical of the manner of Holloway's departure almost three weeks ago, calling him "the best manager I've ever played under"."They say Olly's on gardening leave but all of us know he isn't really coming back," Bircham said."The way it happened, that was the only disappointment. If he's going to leave the club, then it should be done properly."Whatever happens, he's left a legacy at the football club."
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/nationwide1/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/02/26/SOCCER_Sheff_Utd.html



PA Sports -BOO-BOYS DOING DAMAGE - WARNOCK
By Ben Rumsby, PA Sport
The Bramall Lane boo-boys are endangering Sheffield United's Coca-Cola Championship promotion charge, according to Blades boss Neil Warnock.
QPR became the first side to do the double over Warnock's men this season with a 3-2 win on Saturday which put arguably the biggest dent yet in United's Barclays Premiership ambitions.
The defeat means the Blades have won only one of their last five games, and with Leeds and Watford both winning, what was a 10-point gap to third place could be down to just two should Leeds win at Bramall Lane on Easter Monday.
It might have been so different had Paul Ifill netted a penalty when United were 2-1 up, but sloppy defending allowed Rangers to climb off the ropes, much to the ire of the home supporters.
In fact, certain sections of the crowd began venting their frustrations as early as the sixth minute, when Marc Nygaard took full advantage of a sleepwalking United defence to put Rangers ahead.
A lifelong Blades fan himself, Warnock insists he can understand the supporters' fears of throwing away their best chance of a top-flight return since relegation 12 years ago but argues such pessimism is counter-productive.
"Most of them just feel like I do." he said. "I think they're so frustrated, the fans, having been where they are for so many years.
"It is easy to criticise but unfortunately fans don't think about the damage it does to certain players.
"It was very frustrating in the first five minutes. I thought it was unfair really and put more pressure on people.
"Three or four lads, early doors, got rid of the ball a lot quicker than they should and they were knocking long balls rather than keeping possession.
"We've got to stand up and make sure we don't respond to that. The crowds are going to be frustrated at times but 15 minutes, 20 minutes later we're winning 2-1.
"As I said to them at half-time, it's 'Warnock out' or 'Warnock for England'."
Despite insisting he was not concerned about the threat of Leeds, Warnock admitted he would rather be playing them next than rock-bottom Crewe.
He said: "We haven't got to worry too much about the doom-and-gloom merchants, we've got to get on with the job in hand now, which is getting back to winning ways on Friday night.
"We've got bottom of the league next and I wish it was Leeds next week and not Crewe."

While Warnock has his critics, the clamour in the QPR camp is growing for caretaker-boss Gary Waddock to be handed the reins full time after a second win in just his third match in charge.
Having spent his entire playing career at Loftus Road, Waddock admits he would jump at the chance once Ian Holloway's gardening leave is resolved.
And midfielder Marc Bircham would love to see his "hero" and assistant Alan McDonald remain at the helm. "If Wads got the job, I think everyone in that dressing room would be happy," said the boyhood Rangers fan.
"Waddo is more than capable. He's a fantastic coach and he's got the tactical know-how with the managers he's played under.
"He's played under some of the best managers like George Graham and Terry Venables and he can take the best bits under those managers and bring them to this side.
"Wadds was probably my first hero at QPR. He was Rangers through and through and Macca was there as a professional for 12 years.
"They've come in and done a brilliant job.
"You can't get two more QPR people than Gary Waddock and Alan McDonald - I remember watching them for years."
However, Bircham was critical of the manner of Holloway's departure almost three weeks ago, calling him "the best manager I've ever played under".
"They say Olly's on gardening leave but all of us know he isn't really coming back," Bircham said.
"The way it happened, that was the only disappointment. If he's going to leave the club, then it should be done properly.
"Whatever happens, he's left a legacy at the football club."
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/nationwide1/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/02/26/SOCCER_Sheff_Utd.html


The Sunday Times Blades’ soft centre exposed
Alan Combes at Bramall Lane
NOT just the result but the manner of Sheffield United’s defeat should give succour to the chasing pack in the Championship. This game showed that for all their embarrassment of riches up front, United have failed woefully to develop an effective rearguard and remain vulnerable to pace and height.
What was demonstrated so clearly in the 4-1 home defeat by Watford three weeks ago was given further substance here as Queens Park Rangers completed an improbable league double.
A glimpse at the substitutes’ bench is said to be the most effective method of assessing a strong team in England’s top two divisions these days. So it must have been with a heavy heart that QPR fans noted that the Blades contained strikers in reserve such as Neil Shipperley, Danny Webber and Steve Kabba. Rangers’ caretaker manager Gary Waddock could only dream about having such talent at his disposal.
Imbued with fresh confidence after impressive displays against Reading and Sheffield Wednesday, United opened with unaccountable caution. QPR’s Steve Lomas staked his claim to run the show from the outset and he was the one who dug the ball out of midfield and found Marc Nygaard on the halfway line. Nygaard was more effective than pretty as he wove his path through Chris Armstrong and Neil Collins, but he was the one to emerge with the ball when Chris Morgan and Paddy Kenny jumped into the fray. Finding the net was the easy part of his task and Rangers led with just six minutes on the clock.
The game developed into a curious mix of intricate passing that would have graced a higher level and devil-may-care clearances of park football quality. United might have looked vulnerable at the back, but it was inevitable that a Michael Tonge cross would find a striker’s head. So it was that Ade Akinbiyi was the man to float his header past Paul Jones for the 21st-minute equaliser. Self-belief had returned to the Blades’ ranks and, eight minutes later, an Armstrong corner was headed into his own net by Marc Bircham under pressure from Chris Morgan.
With Paul Ifill causing problems down Rangers’ left flank, United were in the ascendancy. However, a Lomas free kick that brought a stunning save from Kenny and Paul Furlong’s wasting of a good chance reminded the Blades that QPR were far from a spent force.
Neil Collins’s free kick just after the interval led to a hotly-disputed penalty when Ian Evatt brought down Morgan in the six-yard box. But United spurned their chance of a two-goal comfort zone when Ifill sacrificed power for direction with his spot kick and Jones pounced on the ball inside his right post.
Rangers bounced back in the 56th minute when Matthew Rose and Cook worked a neat corner that found Nygaard’s head and entered the net via Morgan’s abortive clearance.
Lee Cook, whose stature had grown with every touch of the ball, ran fearlessly at the heart of United’s defence before laying off to Furlong. Neatly sidestepping Morgan, Furlong effortlessly dispatched the ball past Kenny. With a combination of aerial power and incisive promptings from midfield, Rangers had wrestled control of a game they had never looked like winning at half-time.
Warnock threw on his three substitutes, but by the time they had settled Rangers had the game firmly in their grip. They did have two lucky escapes in the closing seconds, when first David Unsworth fired narrowly wide after his own free kick and Armstrong scuffed an opening created by Webber.
STAR MAN: Lee Cook (QPR)
Player ratings: Sheffield United: Kenny 6, Kozluk 6, Collins 5, Morgan 3, Armstrong 5, Ifill 4, Jagielka 6, Montgomery 5 (Unsworth 63min, 3), Tonge 7, Horsfield 5 (Webber 66min, 6), Akinbiyi 6 (Shipperley 78min, 5)
QPR: Jones 6, Bignot 5, Shittu 6, Evatt 5, Rose 6, Langley 6, Bircham 5, Lomas 7 (Santos 90min, 5), Cook 8, Furlong 7, Nygaard 7 (Youssouf 72min, 5)
Scorers: Sheffield United: Akinbiyi 21, Bircham og 29
QPR: Nygaard 6, Morgan og 56, Furlong 74
Referee: K Friend
Attendance: 25,360
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2093-2058851,00.html


Independent - Sheffield Utd 2 QPR 3:
Blades off the rails in the final furlong
By Jon Culley at Bramall Lane
Published: 26 February 2006
United remain strong favourites to accompany Reading in claiming automatic promotion to the Premiership but nerves are beginning to jangle at Bramall Lane, where Queen's Park Rangers delivered the shock of a second home defeat within a month for Neil Warnock's team, who have won only twice in seven matches.
Yesterday, United went behind early, recovered to lead 2-1, but then missed a penalty and conceded an own goal before the veteran striker Paul Furlong fired in a 74th-minute winner for Rangers.
The consequence is that the gap between the Sheffield side and the nearest pretender to second place is down to seven points following Watford's win over Cardiff. None the less, Warnock says his side should not allow doubts to undermine them.
"If we'd known before the season started that we would be in this position with 10 games left we would have been delighted," he said. "It is how we react to this that is important but if we look after ourselves we needn't fear Leeds or anyone else." Their fans do not see things the same way. After Marc Nygaard had beaten Paddy Kenny at the second attempt to give Rangers a sixth-minute lead, some supporters vented their frustration and Warnock admitted that his players had been affected.
Rangers surrendered their advantage in the 22nd minute with a soft goal. Their goalkeeper Paul Jones was caught flat-footed by Michael Tonge's cross and Ade Akinbiyi beat him with a looping header.
If that was a gift, United's second goal required even less work, the mere presence of the captain, Chris Morgan, at his shoulder was enough to force Marc Bircham to turn Chris Armstrong's inswinging corner into his own net. It was an advantage to which United should have added five minutes following the restart after Morgan had been hauled down by Ian Evatt inside the Rangers penalty area. But Jones dived to his right to save Paul Ifill's penalty kick.
Even QPR's temporary manager, Gary Waddock, admitted that a 3-1 lead for United would have been difficult to overturn. Instead, the cost of Ifill's miss increased seven minutes later as Morgan put the ball into his own net. With 16 minutes left, Lee Cook set up Furlong to send a diagonal shot beyond Kenny and win the points for Rangers.
United remain strong favourites to accompany Reading in claiming automatic promotion to the Premiership but nerves are beginning to jangle at Bramall Lane, where Queen's Park Rangers delivered the shock of a second home defeat within a month for Neil Warnock's team, who have won only twice in seven matches.
Yesterday, United went behind early, recovered to lead 2-1, but then missed a penalty and conceded an own goal before the veteran striker Paul Furlong fired in a 74th-minute winner for Rangers.
The consequence is that the gap between the Sheffield side and the nearest pretender to second place is down to seven points following Watford's win over Cardiff. None the less, Warnock says his side should not allow doubts to undermine them.
"If we'd known before the season started that we would be in this position with 10 games left we would have been delighted," he said. "It is how we react to this that is important but if we look after ourselves we needn't fear Leeds or anyone else." Their fans do not see things the same way. After Marc Nygaard had beaten Paddy Kenny at the second attempt to give Rangers a sixth-minute lead, some supporters vented their frustration and Warnock admitted that his players had been affected.
Rangers surrendered their advantage in the 22nd minute with a soft goal. Their goalkeeper Paul Jones was caught flat-footed by Michael Tonge's cross and Ade Akinbiyi beat him with a looping header.
If that was a gift, United's second goal required even less work, the mere presence of the captain, Chris Morgan, at his shoulder was enough to force Marc Bircham to turn Chris Armstrong's inswinging corner into his own net. It was an advantage to which United should have added five minutes following the restart after Morgan had been hauled down by Ian Evatt inside the Rangers penalty area. But Jones dived to his right to save Paul Ifill's penalty kick.
Even QPR's temporary manager, Gary Waddock, admitted that a 3-1 lead for United would have been difficult to overturn. Instead, the cost of Ifill's miss increased seven minutes later as Morgan put the ball into his own net. With 16 minutes left, Lee Cook set up Furlong to send a diagonal shot beyond Kenny and win the points for Rangers
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/coca_cola/article347786.ece

QPR Club Call - Waddock on future
Q.P.R caretaker manager Gary Waddock has said he will look at his position only on a 'game by game' basis, following the 3-2 victory against Sheffield United on Saturday.
"I have enjoyed every minute of it," said Warnock on his role.
"To be caretaker manager of a club that I joined when I was 12 and played at every age group and then been given this wonderful opportunity to manage and come to places like this and get a result is amazing.
"I am doing it on a caretaker basis, I am looking at it on a game to game basis. Olly is on gardening leave and is still the manager of this football club and I will do the best I can in charge of it.
"He gave me the opportunity at the footballl club to coach and I owe him a lot."
Waddock believed the turning point in the game was Paul Jones penalty save from Ifill on 49 minutes at Brammal Lane.
"It was the turning point," said Waddock.
"Sometimes you need a bit of luck, and we got that today and we went on to get a good result.
"If you're coming up to Sheffield United you are not going to dominate the game, there are going to be spells when you are under pressure.
"We defended well and we created a lot of chances in the second-half."
"The group of players have worked their socks off. We dug deep, and got a fantastic result.
"I have enjoyed every minute of it.
http://217.158.112.238/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,5034-169529-19728-36699-234805-13916-5024-layout104-186747-news-item,00.html


Sheffield United Clubcall - Warnock: Pen miss crucial
Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock believed Paul Ifill's 49th minute penalty miss was the turning point in the game, following the 3-2 defeat against Q.P.R on Saturday.
Rangers took the lead through Nygaard (6), but the Blades hit back through Akinbiyi (21) and Bircham (og 29). The visitors scored twice in the second-half through Morgan (og 56) and Furlong (74), and the Blades boss blamed the penalty miss.
"I knew it was a crucial time in the game," said Warnock.
"I thought we would have gone on to win the game, but football has that nasty habit sometimes and I think we got well beat in the end.
"It was a game we should have won comfortably and we ended up not getting anything from it.
"Everyone was distraught in the dressing room but you have to look at the positives. We've got a game in six days and then we are on the road. We haven't got to worry too much, and we must get back to winning ways.
"You could see their heads go down, it happens everywhere, possibly you learn more about some players in poor games, it is how we cope now and how we respond.
"We don't like losing games but it has happened.
"It was a game we should have won, but we were slow to get out of the gates."
http://217.158.112.238/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,5034-169529-19728-36699-234802-13916-5024-layout104-186747-news-item,00.html