Helping Blackstock and Signing Borrowdale

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Dave McIntyre BBC606 - Feed Blackstock and he will score
- It’s very early days, but Paulo Sousa got his first real judgement call spot-on.
- Dexter Blackstock not only secured an important win for QPR last night, he also justified an immediate change made by his new coach.
- This season Blackstock’s role has largely been about working for the team, often as a lone forward.
- It's not been an easy task and he has had his detractors – both in the directors’ box and elsewhere.
- But after a very short time to assess his players, Sousa wants the emphasis shifted from Blackstock’s job for the team to the team’s job for Blackstock.
- He wants the team to work for their main striker, not the other way around, and Sousa was immediately repaid with two well-taken goals from Blackstock against Charlton.
- Blackstock is a more reliable striker than many give him credit for.
- His form was poor for much of last season, partly because of an untimely injury and a subsequent dip in confidence.
- But a striker who scores 14 goals as a 20-year-old in his first full campaign in League football shouldn't be underestimated – especially when those goals are scored for a struggling club.
- When Blackstock got those crucial goals in crucial matches, he not only helped to keep Rangers up and proved he can score at Championship level, he also proved he can deliver in high-pressure matches.
- For such a young forward, those were great signs for the future.
- Last season was a disappointment, but all strikers suffer losses of form and four goals in seven games during the run-in again suggested he is a 20-goal Championship striker in the making.
- For much of last season and the current one, he has been asked to perform a role for the team at his own expense.
- His excellent work rate aside, Blackstock lacked the attributes of a lone striker, whose task is often a thankless one and involves bringing the best out of other players.
- He rarely lets Rangers down. When he gets the service he scores, as he showed during a purple patch when Lee Cook was on top form before his move to Fulham.
- Blackstock delivered again against Charlton, scoring twice to take his tally for the season to nine - leaving him on course for the 20-goal mark.
- He has now scored 13 goals in 28 games. That's not bad for a forward who hasn't been in the best form and played many of those games alone up front.
- Sousa wanted him in the box on the end of chances and he did not disappoint, first burying a cross from Damiano Tomassi and later heading in a cross from Hogan Ephraim.
- And he almost completed a hat-trick with a diving header that went wide.
- When was the last time a Rangers side provided Blackstock with that kind of service? It hasn’t happened often.
- Rangers should celebrate Blackstock; a young, English striker trying to make a name for himself.
- He will need to take his game up a level to stay in a team capable of challenging for promotion, but Rangers are some distance from that stage and he is still developing nicely. It’s easy to forget he is still only 22.
- Sadly, others aren’t faring so well at the moment.
A switch to a wide position has not helped Dani Parejo, who is still struggling.
And with Coventry full-back Gary Borrowdale being lined up for a move to Loftus Road, Damien Delaney needed to produce a better performance.
His display was an improvement on Saturday’s shocker at Watford but Delaney, who has done quite well for Rangers, is having a really bad spell.
Borrowdale, a former England Under-21 international, is set to join on loan with a view to a permanent move for an undisclosed fee when the transfer window opens in January.
He joined Coventry from Crystal Palace for around £650,000 in July last year but has since lost his first-team place.
Borrowdale was recently told he could leave if another club came in for him and that alerted Rangers, who were interested in signing him last January but were told he would cost £1.5million - BBC606


SKY SPORT -Rangers target Sky Blues ace
Sousa could make defender first signing
- Skysports.com understands Queens Park Rangers are lining up a move for Coventry defender Gary Borrowdale.
- Borrowdale is well down the pecking order at the Ricoh Arena and Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman is willing to let him leave.
- The 23-year-old has not featured for Coventry this season and spent a month on loan at Colchester last month.
- The news has alerted QPR to Borrowdale's availability and they are ready to bring him to Loftus Road.
- Rangers are ready to sign Borrowdale initially on loan with a view to a permanent deal.
If Rangers tie up a deal for the versatile defender he will become new boss Paulo Sousa's first signing since taking charge at Loftus Road." Sky Sports


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