QPR's Depressing Loss to Crystal Palace - Further Reports

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UPDATE: More from De Canio

Ealing Times - De Canio: We can get out of this position
QPR manager Luigi De Canio insists he can keep the team in the Championship despite seeing them slip to the bottom of the table.
Rangers lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace yesterday despite leading through a Damion Stewart effort at the break and are now four points of safety.
But De Canio said: "It is very big job but with what we've showed in the past and what we did in the first half I have faith that we can get out of this position."
Rangers wilted in the second half and were clearly lacking in confidence. De Canio admits this is the biggest hurdle facing the strugglers.
"The worst aspect of the defeat is the way it hits the team's confidence. When players start to lose self esteem that is when the difficulty starts," De Canio added.
"At the moment this is our worst adversary. The main disappointment was we failed to convert our chances in the first half when we deserved a bigger lead." Ealing Times

[And his Comments on the Official Site]
QPR OFFICIAL SITE - DESPERATELY DISAPPOINTING
Luigi De Canio was at a loss to explain Rangers' disappointing second half display in the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
"It's a really negative moment for us all," he told www.qpr.co.uk.
"It seems that the slightest mistakes are costing us dear at the moment and that is very disappointing.
"We didn't concentrate on two set-pieces and that has cost us tonight."
The 2-1 reverse and wins for Norwich City and Preston North End saw Rangers slump to the foot of the Championship table.
De Canio said: "I'm very concerned with the league position and I'm very upset tonight.
"I hoped that we could win in front of our fans after two home defeats, but we didn't and that is disappointing.
"We showed good quality in the first half, but we need to show that over 90 minutes if we are to get out of the situation we are in." QPR

INDEPENDENT QPR 1 Crystal Palace 2: Morrison ushers in Palace festive spirit - By Paul Newman
A long hard winter is beckoning for Queens Park Rangers. Luigi de Canio's team have taken only two points from their last six matches and defeat last night left them bottom of the Championship table.
Having dominated the early stages and taken a 10th minute lead, Rangers let Palace back in the game and were punished by two goals midway through the second half. Palace's football never flowed, but they are now unbeaten in seven matches, Neil Warnock's arrival having added steel and determination.

The only blemish on the Palace manager's evening came when he was banished to the stand in injury time. With Lee Camp, the Rangers goalkeeper, out of position after charging out of his penalty area, Warnock attempted to control the ball as it came towards him at the dug-out. Warnock said he had been trying to get the ball back into play as quickly as possible, but was sent off after the fourth official accused him of wasting time.

Rangers had gone in front inside 10 minutes, Damion Stewart powering a header into the roof of the net from Akos Buzsaky's corner. Rowan Vine, Ben Sahar and Scott Sinclair regularly stretched the Palace defence in the first half, but Rangers lacked composure in front of goal and gradually lost their grip.

Palace were invigorated by the arrival in the second half of two teenage substitutes, Lee Hills and Sean Scannell, but Ben Watson's set pieces were their most potent weapon throughout. After 64 minutes the midfielder's free kick picked out the unmarked Clint Hill, who scored with the faintest of touches, and three minutes later Mark Hudson's near-post header from a Watson corner found Clinton Morrison, who stooped to head home his sixth goal in five matches. Independent

Telegraph/Julian Bennetts - Neil Warnock sent off as Palace battle back Queens Park Rangers (1) 1 Crystal Palace (0) 2

Neil Warnock should have been basking in the glow of a come-from-behind win that moves his Crystal Palace side towards mid-table while QPR slip to the bottom of the Championship after an insipid second-half display.

Instead, Warnock was left to reflect on his injury-time sending-off for time-wasting, which came after two goals in three minutes from Clint Hill and Clinton Morrison turned the game on its head after Damion Stewart had given QPR a first-half lead.

"That's made his night," said Warnock of fourth official Lee Probert, who harshly ruled the Palace manager was trying to delay play after QPR goalkeeper Lee Camp had given away a throw-in while 50 yards out of his area and was scampering back.

"It wasn't a surprise as you can't really get any recognition as fourth official without doing something like that, but I was actually trying to speed play up!"

Warnock was rather more satisfied with his team's second-half effort, though: "We didn't give up and were much the better side in the second period. It's a good win in a tough local derby," he said after Palace made it seven games without defeat.

Luigi De Canio, Warnock's opposite number, was less pleased. "I'm very disappointed," said the Italian, whose side have not won for six games. "The worst aspect is that when a player or team starts to lose their self-esteem, then that's when the difficulties start."

It was the hosts who took the lead after nine minutes against the run of play, Stewart rising to power home Akos Buzsaky's corner.

QPR began to play with a swagger that has been noticeably absent at Loftus Road this season, and will rue their failure to make more of their dominance, with visiting goalkeeper Julian Speroni making three important saves.

Warnock's side improved dramatically after the break, though, with Ben Watson's set-piece delivery proving the difference between the sides.

Firstly, on-loan Stoke left-back Hill beat Camp to the ball to flick home Watson's free-kick from inside the six-yard box after 64 minutes. Morrison made it five goals in six games with a true poacher's effort just three minutes later, heading home from less than a yard after Mark Hudson had headed Watson's corner against the bar.

Palace were comfortable after that - although Warnock still found the time to make his mark on what had otherwise been a forgettable second half.

Match details
QPR (4-4-2): Camp; Rehman, Stewart, Malcolm, Barker; Rowlands (Nygaard 71), Buzsaky (Bolder 86), Leigertwood, Sinclair; Sahar (Balanta 83), Vine.
Subs: Cole (g), Ainsworth. Booked: Rowlands, Rehman, Camp.
Goal: Stewart 10.
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Speroni, Butterfield, Hudson, Fonte (Hills 52) Hill; Soares (Fletcher 72), Watson, Derry; Songo'o (Scannell 59), Scowcroft, Morrison.
Subs: Freedman, Martin. Booked: Butterfield.
Goals: Hill 65, Morrison 68.
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire) 13,300 - Report

BBC - QPR 1-2 Crystal Palace
Clinton Morrison's sixth goal in five games kept up Crystal Palace's resurgence under manager Neil Warnock - who was sent to the stands late on.
Damion Stewart headed QPR into the lead from Akos Buzsaky's corner.
Clint Hill equalised on 65 minutes from Ben Watson's floated cross and Morrison nodded home the winner after Jose Fonte's header came off the bar.
But the night ended on a sour note when Warnock was sent off for time-wasting as he attempted to retrieve the ball.
QPR manager Luigi di Canio:
"We lost concentration at two key moments during the match, especially at a time when things seem to be going wrong for us.
"The major disappointment is how we failed to take our chances in the first half, only going 1-0 up.
"We deserved a bigger lead from our play, and then they probably would not have caught us."
Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock on his sending-off
"I don't blame referee Alan Wiley, but it's (fourth official) Lee Probert who's told him.
"How I want to waste time when their goalie is 50 yards out of goal, I don't know, but straight away he said 'I'm having you' and that's made his night." BBC

MIRROR/Ann Gripper - Warnock sees red but Eagles hit heights

Neil Warnock accused fourth official Lee Probert of trying to write his own headlines after the Crystal Palace boss was sent from the dugout at QPR.

As the game entered stoppage time, Warnock attempted to retrieve the ball to allow his side to take a quick throw-in with Rangers keeper Lee Camp well out of his goal.

Probert ushered referee Alan Wiley over and the Premier League official sent a disbelieving Warnock to the stands for timewasting.

The Eagles boss rapped: "I don't blame Alan Wiley, I think he's one of our best referees, but it's Lee Probert who's told him.

"How I want to waste time when their goalie is 50 yards out of goal and I try to flick the ball to one of our players, I don't know, but straight away he said 'I'm having you' and that's made his night, no doubt.

"It wasn't a surprise, because you don't get any recognition as a fourth official. I wondered how he'd get some headlines."

The incident failed to take the gloss off a third win in four games for Palace, after Clint Hill and Clinton Morrison cancelled out Damion Stewart's first-half opener for Rangers.

The defeat saw the hosts hit the bottom of the Championship for the first time under Luigi de Canio to leave the club back where they started when they sacked John Gregory.

Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, the men behind the £30million takeover, were in the stands to watch De Canio's seventh game in charge.

It was all smiles at half-time for the Formula One men, but by the end they must have been worried about the sanity of their investment as Rangers conceded two goals in four second-half minutes to make it six games without a win.

And with the Hoops four points below the dotted line De Canio admits keeping the club in the division is going to be a massive challenge.

He said: "It's a very, very big job. But with what we've shown in the past and what we showed today in the first half there's a lot of faith we can sort this out and get out of this bad time.

"There is a problem with confidence. The worst aspects of defeat are ones that niggle away at a team's confidence."

Things had looked so promising for Rangers when they went ahead after nine minutes. Akos Buzsaky delivered a beautiful curling corner which was met with a late run from centre-half Stewart who powered a bullet header beyond Julian Speroni.

But it was downhill from there. On-loan Stoke defender Hill ghosted in at the back post to poke home a Ben Watson free-kick on 65 minutes.

And Rangers never looked like fighting back. Four minutes later Morrison landed the killer blow with his sixth goal in five games, reacting fastest when Mark Hudson's header from Watson's corner rebounded off the underside of the crossbar.

Sub Lee Hills could have saved Warnock from being sent to the stands if he had made the game safe instead of putting his 73rd-minute header over Mirror



See Earlier Reports/Comments of QPR's Palace Loss