QPR's Watford Disaster - "Rangers Were Utterly Useless"

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The Mirror/Mike Walters - FILTHY RICH BUT CLAP TRAP
Sousa on starting grid but will Flavio give him time? In association with COMMERCIAL VEHICLES - WATFORD 3 QPR 0
- So much for affluence and continental sophistication - QPR's dunces launched Paulo Sousa's reign by bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase stinking rich.
- After his watching brief from the stand, backseat driver Sousa revealed that Rangers' horror show had "put a few ideas in my head."
- And judging by all the headshaking and tut-tutting in the front row of the directors' box, foremost among those ideas must have been: "Oh no, what have I done?"
- With leaked emails and co-owner Flavio Briatore's alleged enthusiasm for team selection, Rangers have become a rich source of intrigue, gossip and envy.
- But if this limp display is the best they can muster to impress their fourth manager since Formula One magnate Briatore's takeover at Loftus Road, Sousa's era will be shorter than a pit-stop. Rangers were utterly useless. Mikele Leigertwood conceded a soft penalty with a senseless push on Jon Harley, while captain Gavin Mahon was hauled off at half-time.
Their misery was complete when Fitz Hall was sent off nine minutes from time for an agricultural challenge on Will Hoskins - he was dismissed on his last visit here, with Wigan, too.
Sousa had to sit through Rangers fans serenading their own team with English football's unofficial national anthem, What A Load Of Rubbish, and walking out on them en masse long before the end.
He said: "I have only been here for two days and I can't change everything, but I watched from the stands and it put a few ideas in my head.
"It was a bad performance, especially in the first half. I don't think the players had enough confidence in themselves and we need to work very hard. I have a clear picture of what we need to do."
Tommy Smith's spot-kick, Darren Ward's first goal of the season and Lee Williamson's third goal in four games under caretaker boss Malky Mackay sent Watford surging over the horizon before half-time.
On-loan Ward knows only too well the cost of hiring imported expertise in the Championship after he was sacrificed by Gianluca Vialli in Watford's ill-fated dabble with pasta, dolce vita and foreign mercenaries.
He said: "They look one of the strongest teams in this division, but here they were nothing like that. With the chairman and their money, they are expected to be up there. They have to get their heads down."
Mackay would be delighted to land the Hornets job full-time.
"People talk about experience as a manager, but I've got 10 years' experience of this division," he said.
SORRY FITZ'S HALL OF SHAME
May 2006, Watford v Crystal Palace, play-off semifinal: Starts mass brawl on touchline by disputing throw-in with Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd. Hall booked and Palace fined £50,000.
February 2007, Watford v Wigan, Premier League: Hall sent off for two-footed challenge on Johan Cavalli after 20 minutes.
November 2008, Watford v QPR, Championship: Another straight red for dangerous tackle on Watford sub Will Hoskins.
COMPUTER
...VILLAIN OF THE MATCH 4 Fitz Hall (QPR) Three red cards and a brawl in his last three visits to Vicarage Road
ANORAK This is Watford's biggest win at Vicarage Road since last February when they beat Wolves
NEXT THREE GAMES....QPR: Tomorrow: Charlton (h) Champ Sat Nov 29: Palace (a) Champ
Sat Dec 6: Wolves (h) Champ
Watford: Loach 7, Mariappa 7, DeMerit 7, Ward 7, Doyley 7, McAnuff 7 (Hoskins 78), Williamson 9 (O'Toole 82), Jenkins 7, Harley 7, Smith 8, Priskin 7. Goals: Smith 26 pen, Ward 34, Williamson 45.
Qpr: Cerny 5, Delaney 4, Stewart 3, Hall 3, Ramage 4, Mahon 4 (Tommasi 46, 4), Leigertwood 4, Ledesma 4 (Parejo 53, 4), Ephraim 5, Agyemang 3, Blackstock 4 (Di Carmine 61, 4). The Mirror


The Guardian/Mark Tallentire - Watford fans back Mackay's case as Sousa vows to rebuild QPR
- QPR's caretaker, Gareth Ainsworth, was in charge for this one as Paulo Sousa, the vaunted former Portugal midfielder and more recently an assistant coach with the national side, had not seen enough of his new squad in training. After watching 14 of his players in action from the stand Iain Dowie's successor was quick to concede he faces a busy few weeks.
- "It was a bad performance, especially the first half," said Sousa, a European Cup winner as a player with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund and from tomorrow the third man to pick the QPR team this season - the fourth if talk of the owner Flavio Briatore's input is to be believed.
- "I have a lot of work to do but I believe in my work. I know the results are coming and I believe in these players. I am here for a medium- to long-term project, to build a solid base for the Premier League. When you go to the Premier League without a base, of course you go down. I am here to change things for Flavio and the club who contracted me, to improve things. The English style, I know it. I speak with Jose Mourinho often regarding what I can do. He said he believes in me and I can get the results."
- Sousa will start from 12th place and a low base when they face managerless Charlton tomorrow after a witless performance which saw Mikele Leigertwood concede a needless penalty which was converted by Tommy Smith and promptly throw the game away before half-time, Darren Ward and Lee Williamson converting from low cut-backs in to the box. QPR then contrived to play the final six minutes with 10 men after Fitz Hall was sent off for hacking down Will Hoskins.
- Watford, who had lost five league games in a row and started in the bottom three, have a managerial conundrum of their own and the caretaker Malky Mackay will be looking to build on this success at Bristol City tomorrow. The amiable first-team coach was formally interviewed last week for the job and is on a shortlist that includes Blackpool's Simon Grayson and the out-of-work Ian Holloway, not that he had much time to reflect about his candidature as he headed for the airport and a flight to Scotland to complete the next phase of his Uefa Pro-Licence.
- "I had a good interview. I gave them my proposal as to where the club could be and how we are supposed to get it there," said Mackay, who was delighted when the fans gave their verdict before the final whistle and he responded with a thumbs-up.
- "To get the three points and come out of the relegation places was important," he said. "I have to make sure I win more games than I lose and that gives me the chance to put a case together to make the decision easier for them.
- "I've been at the club a few years, I know its heartbeat and I've been immensely proud to be caretaker manager." Advantage to the Scot.
Man of the match Tamas Priskin (Watford) The Guardian


The Telegraph/Andrew Warshaw - Watford set to name Chelsea's Brendan Rodgers as manager
- Watford are expected to end their search for a new manager this week by appointing Chelsea's reserve team coach, Brendan Rodgers, as the successor to Aidy Boothroyd.
- Rodgers, who was taken to Chelsea by Jose Mourinho, turned down the opportunity to become Boothroyd's assistant last season. Watford's poor form led to Boothroyd leaving by mutual consent earlier this month......
- Rangers are another club with a new manager. Paulo Sousa starts taking training in earnest today after being appointed as the full-time successor to Iain Dowie.
However, Sousa will not be able to count on the services of Bolton's Heidar Helguson after a proposed loan move to QPR collapsed for a second time. Negotiations with sporting director
Gianni Paladini broke down yesterday after QPR changed the terms of the deal.
If the new manager did not realise the pressures that go with joining the richest club in the country, outside the Premier League, he does now. The Telegraph


The Sun/ By PAUL JIGGINS
PAULO SOUSA proved he cannot walk on water as his introduction to English football with QPR turned into one damp squib.
West London’s newest Portu-geezer saw his Rangers side sunk — on and off the pitch.
After leaking goals against Watford, the hapless Hoops were then hit by a flooded dressing room.
A drain malfunction left new boss Sousa’s Gucci loafers looking more like bathroom loofahs as his players were forced to change in a couple of inches of shower water, which — like their club’s problems — simply refused to flush away.
The pools may have been only ankle-deep but Rangers appear to be in it right up to their necks at the moment.
Whether Sousa can turn the tide remains to be seen.
But he faces a task of King Canute proportions, according to Darren Ward.
Watford’s on-loan Wolves defender said: “It’s a bit of a funny one with them at the moment. I was speaking with QPR’s Fitz Hall and Mikele Leigertwood and they don’t know whether they’re coming or going.
“On paper they look a good club but here they looked nothing like that.
“When a new manager comes in it’s natural for players to be worried about what’s going to happen. The best way to deal with it is to think, ‘I’ve got to play well’. But that didn’t happen here.”
Ward lashed Watford 2-0 up in the 34th minute after Tommy Smith had opened the scoring with a 26th-minute spot-kick — awarded when Damion Stewart needlessly pushed Jon Harley.
Lee Williamson’s strike on the stroke of half-time wrapped up the points.
Rangers failed to rally after the break. And their nightmare was complete when Hall was sent off 10 minutes from time for a rash foul on Will Hoskins.
Sousa, who watched from the stands, said: “I’m sure you understand that now I need to believe in my players.
“After that, January is in two months.”
Watford are set to look a little closer to home for their new boss, with caretaker Malky Mackay the frontrunner after this win.
Williamson said: “The lads all hope Malky gets the job.
“We’ll know for sure in the next few days but, hopefully, we’ve given him a lift with this performance.” The Sun