QPR Crush Reading - Reports and Comments - "[T]his team have a glamour, sparkle and an exhilarating cutting edge" (The Times)

-
- Checkout the TWO QPR Reports! This QPR Report site. And, the second combination messageboard and quasi-blog QPR Report Messageboard. If you're interested in constantly-updated news re anything QPR-related and also QPR nostalgia, this site has both - along with assorted eclectic non-QPR football material.

- QPR REPORT: UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY --- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!


- Updated re QPR/Leeds and Beckford - Leeds Cool

- Comparing QPR's Start to this Season With Previous Seasons

- Bernie Ecclestone's Perspective on a (non-QPR/non-football matter)

- Questions still about Birmingham's Owners while Notts County "Secret" Takeover Approved by the Football League

- Sepp Blatter Running for Reelection

- Gareth Southgate Sacked after 3 1/2 Years

- An Open Letter from News Now

- Needing to Win 11-0, nine goals in last 10 Minutes

- Updated: Dennis Wise Interest in Buying Charlton

- Martin Allen Suspended by Cheltenham and BBC


QPR 4 Reading 1 - Reports and Comments

- Photos from the Game

The Times - October 21, 2009- Queens Park Rangers leave Brendan Rodgers fearing for his future - Queens Park Rangers 4 Reading 1 Gary Jacob
- With white trainers in the high street and the teams warming up to American rock, the Eighties are truly back in fashion. For long periods last night, Queens Park Rangers captured the mood to perfection.
- Just like their illustrious predecessors that graced the top flight, this team have a glamour, sparkle and an exhilarating cutting edge. Their performance was epitomised by Akos Buzsaky’s wonderful free kick and Jay Simpson’s expertly taken volley, goals that came after they had been reduced to ten men.
- Both sets of fans taunted Brendan Rodgers, the Reading manager, with chants predicting that he would be sacked. His team are barely recognisable from the side that appeared in the Premier League two seasons ago and “Brendan’s Babes”, as they have been nicknamed in the local paper, are finding life too hot to handle. From near certainties for promotion last season, they face a battle to avoid League One.
- Rodgers admitted that only two league wins was a “horrendous” start to his tenure at the Madejski Stadium. “I will fight for my life,” the 36-year-old, who took over at Reading in June after seven months in charge of Watford, said. “Am I going to sit here and feel sorry? Will I hell. If I felt it was me \, I would go. I am not arrogant to think that if it is not working, I can stay in a job. I don’t feel under pressure, but I do worry. It was a bad night.
- “We have a massive task. I became a manager at 35 not because I was nice, but because of perseverance and determination. I want to give people the chance, but I can’t watch too much of that.”
- Reading were not troubled by QPR’s bright opening, but crumbled after conceding during a bizarre minute. Ben Watson, the QPR midfield player, received a second yellow card for taking a quick free kick, having been booked for a lunge on Shane Long a little more than ten minutes earlier. Buzsaky scored from the second attempt at the free kick, but the dismissal worked against Reading. They came close when Simon Church hit the post, but conceded a second when Wayne Routledge’s cross dissected the defence and Simpson volleyed in.
- Reading were reduced to ten men themselves when Ivar Ingimarsson received a second booking, for tripping Simpson just after half-time, and conceded twice more. Rowan Vine cut in to beat Adam Federici at his near post and Patrick Agyemang rounded the Reading goalkeeper to score their thirteenth goal in their past three home games. Brian Howard scored a consolation.
- Flavio Briatore, the QPR co-owner, sat in the directors’ box before celebrating with the players in the dressing room. “If we produce these performances in April, then the players have grasped it,” Jim Magilton, the manager, said.
- Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2): R Cerny — P Ramage, D Stewart, K Gorkss, G Borrowdale — A Buzsaky (sub: G Mahon, 67min), B Watson, A Faurlin, A Taarabt (sub: P Agyemang, 75) — W Routledge, J Simpson (sub: R Vine, 54). Substitutes not used: T Heaton, F Hall, M Alberti, G Ainsworth. Booked: Borrowdale, Watson, Faurlin. Sent off: Watson.
- Reading (4-4-2): A Federici — J Tabb (sub: B Howard, 46), M Mills, I Ingimarsson, D O’Dea — J Kébé (sub: G Sigurdsson, 46), K Cissé, B Gunnarsson, J McAnuff — S Church (sub: H Robson-Kanu, 59), S Long. Substitutes not used: B Hamar, J Karacan, G Rasiak, A Pearce. Booked: Ingimarsson. Sent off: Ingimarsson.
Referee: A Hall. - The Times


QPR Official Site - MAGILTON: 'OUSTANDING TO A MAN'
-Jim Magilton insisted no praise could be too high for the R's, as Reading were put to the sword in emphatic style at Loftus Road.
- Rangers were reduced to ten men when Ben Watson was the recipient of a 'ridiculous' refereeing decision, but it mattered little, as goals from Akos Buzsaky, Jay Simpson, Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang condemned the Royals - who were also reduced to ten men - to a heavy defeat.
- "It's always difficult to replicate a performance like Saturday's but no praise can be too high for my team tonight," Magilton told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "To a man, they were outstanding.
- "Akos scored a simply magnificent free-kick, but the second goal is as good as you'll see - at any level of football."
- Magilton added: "We passed the ball fantastically well at times.
- "The players have raised the bar again tonight - but you don't win anything in October, and rest assured, I'm not getting carried away.
- "The old adage that you play as you train has never been truer.
- "We work very hard in the week and we're producing on matchdays, so I'm delighted."
- Despite the 4-1 victory, Magilton was baffled by Mr hall's decision to send Watson off for taking a quick free-kick, adding: "It's a crazy decision - ridiculous.
- "I think a referee of his experience should have provided a little bit of common sense.
- "Maybe just give him a stern ticking off, but the referee implied to our lads that there was an assessor in the stands and he'd be marked down if he didn't send him off.
- "But goals change game and the Buzsaky free-kick gave us a lift and we didn't look back from then." QPR


QPR Official Site
- Ten-man Rangers put on a superb performance to overcome Reading in front of a partisan Loftus Road crowd.
- The R's task looked to be somewhat of a struggle when Ben Watson was harshly sent off for a second bookable offence on the half hour, with referee Mr Hall appearing to show him a yellow card for attempting to take a free-kick too quickly.

But it mattered little, as Akos Buzsaky's free-kick from the next attack put Jim Magilton's men a goal to the good.

And things got all the better thereon in, as Jay Simpson smashed home a second just before half time, following an outstanding passing move.

Ivar Ingimarsson's mistimed challenge on Simpson saw him pick up a second yellow and resultant red at the start of the second half, providing Rangers with another almighty boost.

And when Rowan Vine blasted home soon after, the writing was all but on the wall for the Royals.

Patrick Agyemang added a fourth with a fine individual goal soon after, and although Brian Howard notched late on for the visitors, it was a mere consolation.

After Saturday's mouth-watering display at the expense of Preston North End, Jim Magilton unsurprisingly made a limited number of changes for the clash with Reading - just one in fact.

That swap came in midfield, where Watson replaced Gavin Mahon in the middle of the park.

Radek Cerny - was presented before the game with the Puma Golden Glove by Les Ferdinand for his clean sheets last term - started in goal for the R's.

At the back, Peter Ramage and Gary Borrowdale occupied the full-back berths, while stand-in skipper Damion Stewart lined-up alongside Kaspars Gorkss in central defence.

In midfield, Adel Taarabt and Buzsaky began down the flanks alongside Alejandro Faurlin and of course, Watson.

Wayne Routledge partnered Jay Simpson in attack.

As you can imagine, that super 4-0 defeat of North End at the weekend was still fresh on the mind of many of the R's players.

So with that, there was no surprise to see Rangers out of the traps so quickly.

And after Simpson had won a free-kick around 25-yards out, Faurlin's effort was comfortably saved by Adam Federici in the Royals' goal.

It was the R's first opportunity in what was a tight opening 10 minutes.

Rangers though, were beginning to look dnagerous in attack. Taarabt, in truth, should have done better than to fire straight at Federici from close range when found out wide by Routledge soon after.

Moments later, the visitors had their first chance of the game, but when Jobi McAnuff beat Ramage out wide, he could only blast low into the side netting.

To say that this was a tight affair was an understatement, though Rangers still looked the more likely of the two sides to break the deadlock.

Watson, after being played in by Taarabt, was unlucky when only a forest of legs on the edge of the area prevented his shot from troubling the Royals' goalkeeper.

And if the Wigan loanee was unfortunate with that - he couldn't believe his hard luck when shown his marching orders on the half hour.

The Wigan loanee decided to take a quick free-kick, only for Mr Hall to bemuse everyone when he brandished a second booking - claiming that the free-kick was taken without his permission.

Incensed, the Rangers faithful needed someone to do something special if they were going to now take an advantage in the match - so up stepped Buzsaky in the 31st minute.

The Hungarian international, arguably in the best form of his career, sent home a low, curling shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, and Loftus Road was rocking.

And Magilton didn't relent, continuing to play two men up front.

Rangers were starting to show that they were made of strong stuff and incredibly, soon after their first goal, the R's were two goals to the good.

Buzsaky - scorer of the R's opener - played an exquisite pass out wide on the right to Routledge, and the rest was poetry in motion in the 39th minute.

Passes interchanged back and forth, with Cerny and Gorkss involved at one stage, but when play quickly switched to the other end, Routledge played a high, looping ball into the box to Simpson and the young striker made no mistake to fire home from for six yards.

The R's could have been three goals to the good, but after some trickery from Taarabt out wide, Routledge could only straight at Federici in the Reading goal.

Reading gave the home some something to think about before the break when Simon Church's free-kick hit Cerny's right-hand post, but that effort went to safety.

As the teams re-emerged after the break, many a person would have predicted a Reading backlash in the second period - but their task was made all the harder when they too went down to 10 men 80 seconds into the half; Ingimarsson seeing red for a poor late tackle on Simpson.

Reading didn't give up though and when McAnuff found Long, his header flew just over.

Mindful of an injury Simpson picked up after that collision with Ingimarsson, Magilton decided to replace him with Vine - and it was a change that gave Rangers some fresh impetus.

Indeed, Taarabt was unlucky not to find the net when firing his shot just over from outside the area.

Buoyed by that opportunity, Rangers went searching for another goal - and Vine should have found the target on two separate occasions when fed by Routledge.

Open at the back, Reading were giving the home side countless space, and Taarabt again shot just over from a Routledge cross.

It was space that helped Rangers notch a third in the 71st minute. Taarabt played a short ball on the edge of the box to substitute Vine and the striker made no mistake, drilling home into the bottom left-hand corner.

And if the points weren't already safe, they were in the 83rd minute. Agyemang rounded the Reading goalkeeper and tapped home, after a superb through ball from Gavin Mahon.

Howard did add a late consolation for the visitors, slotting home from close range in the 86th minute, but that was all it was to be, as Rangers extended their unbeaten home record in all competitions to 13 matches.

QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Routledge, Buzsaky (Mahon 66), Gorkss, Watson, Faurlin, Simpson (Vine 53), Borrowdale, Taarabt (Agyemang 76).

Subs not used: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Ainsworth.

Scorers: Buzsaky (31), Simpson (39), Vine (71), Agyemang (83)
Bookings: Watson (19 & 30), Borrowdale (24), Faurlin (44)
Red Cards: Watson (30)
Reading: Federici, Cisse (Sigurdsson 46), Mills, Gunnarsson, Tabb (Howard 46), Long, McAnuff, Kebe, Ingimarsson, Church (Robson-Kanu 56), O'Dea.
Goals: Howard (86)
Subs not used: Hamer, Karacan, Rasiak, Pearce.
Bookings: Ingimarsson (38 & 46)
Red Cards: Ingimarsson (46)
Referee: Mr A R Hall
Attendance: 11,900 QPR


Reading Official Site
Reading Official Site


QPR 4 (Buzsaky 32, Simpson 39, Vine 73, Agyemang 83)
Reading 1 (Howard 87)

Reading suffered a heavy defeat at QPR this Tuesday night after a highly eventful game at Loftus Road.

QPR went down to ten men on 32 minutes when Ben Watson was shown a second yellow for taking a free kick too quickly, but Akos Buzsaky then took the set piece legally and curled it right into the corner.

Jay Simpson scored a crucial second goal soon after, and Simon Church then hit the post with a free kick just before half time.

Incredibly, Reading were also reduced to ten men within ten seconds of the start of the second half, Ivar Ingimarsson dismissed. It was a huge blow not only in terms of losing our captain, but also because it threw out our gameplan, Brendan Rodgers having made two substitutions at half time in a bid to win the game.

The game was then incredibly open, and Rowan Vine then Patrick Agyemang notched for the home side before Brian Howard scored a late consolation.

QPR (4-4-2): Cerny; Ramage, Borrowdale, Gorkss, Stewart (c); Watson, Buzsaky (Mahon 65), Routledge, Faurlin; Simpson (Vine 54), Taarabt (Agyemang 75)
Subs: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Ainsworth, Agyemang
Booked: Borrowdale (foul 24), Faurlin (foul 44)
Sent off: Watson (two yellows; foul 19, taking free kick too quickly 31)

Reading (4-4-2): Federici; Tabb (Howard HT) , O'Dea, Ingimarsson (c), Mills; Cisse (Sigurdsson HT) , Gunnarsson, Kebe, McAnuff; Church (Robson-Kanu 60), Long
Subs: Hamer, Pearce, Karacan, Rasiak
Sent off: Ingimarsson (fouls 38 & 46)

Attendance: 11,900

Ref: A Hall

First half
The game started fairly even, and the most obvious talking point in the early stages was referee Hall's continual use of the whistle for even the most minor of supposed infringements.

The home side were the first to chance their arm, Adel Taarabt shooting at goal after cutting in from the left but Adam Federici saving relatively easily.

Then Jobi McAnuff did very well to cut in down the left hand side and work some space, but tried to shoot from an acute angle when perhaps he would have been better served finding a man in the middle.

Both sides were having chances, and Ivar Ingimarsson got in a superb block on 18 minutes on the edge of his own box. Then Kalifa Cisse and Jimmy Kebe both had decent chances on the edge of the box but but couldn't keep their efforts down.

Kebe was also very unfortunate to be pulled back for offside after Cisse put him in from a quick free kick. It looked a let off for the home side and Kebe would have been clean through.

Right on the half hour the game reached a pivotal moment - and incredibly both sides had real reason to feel agrieved with the referee's decision. First of all, Rangers were awarded a highly, highly dubious free kick in a shooting position 25 yards out. As our players understandably questioned the decision, Ben Watson tried to take the free kick quickly, and was very harshly shown a second yellow card for his troubles.

If we thought that dismissal would give us a lift, Akos Buzsaky stepped up and curled home a brilliant free kick to make it 1-0 to the home side. So ultimately Rangers had scored from a hugely questionable free kick - but went down to ten men at the same time.

Eight minutes later it was 2-0. As Reading tried to press high up the pitch, Rangers worked the ball wide to Wayne Routledge. His cross into the box was a cracker, and Jay Simpson turned home a left footed volley right at the back post.

Reading did all they could to rally, and just before half time Simon Church hit the outside of the post with a 20-yard free kick, home keeper Radek Cerny rooted to the spot. And there was still time for McAnuff to fire an effort just over the crossbar.

Second half
Brendan Rodgers made a double change at half time, but within ten seconds of the restart his gameplan was taken away from him. Ingimarsson slid in on Simpson, and referee Hall showed him a second yellow card. This challenge was probably a booking, but the earlier decision in the first half was very questionable - and our skipper had arguably only made two fouls all evening.

So it was ten against ten, and Gylfi Sigurdsson saw an effort blocked soon after - then Shane Long headed over a very good chance from eight yards out.

Rangers were always dangerous on the break, and Rowan Vine missed a great chance - then saw Federici make a good save from him a minute later.

It had become incredibly open, and Kebe was our main man. He went on a superb run down the right, resulting in an almighty scramble inside the home area. Straight away though Rangers broke and Matt Mills had to put in a great block.

Again Kebe went on a cracking run soon after, and once more Sigurdsson saw a shot blocked. Hal Robson-Kanu then tested Radek Cerny with a curling left-footed effort.

Rangers were always dangerous on the break, and with 18 minutes left Vine made it 3-0 with a neat finish at the near post. Sigurdsson
Patrick Agyemang almost found the net within seconds of coming on, and it needed a very good save from Shane Long to keep out the big striker as he bore down on goal.

Reading were trying valiantly to get a goal, and Brian Howard forced Cerny to tip over from his very good effort. Then Long spurned another good chance, shooting over from eight yards after more Kebe excellence.

It was a game where the ball was just going from end to end at will, and once more Sigurdsson had an effort blocked. FInally we had a consolation, Robson-Kanu doing well to find Howard, who finished very nicely high into the net.

Then we had another effort blocked on the line, once more Kebe the provider. Reading

- - QPR 4 Reading 1 - Other reports


- Ken Bates' Leeds Bans the Guardian Newspaper from Elland Road (over The Guardian's coverage of 'Who Owns Leeds?')

- Telegraph - Queens Park Rangers' finance director Gavin Taylor quits football club to set up hedge fund

- Football Against Racism Week: October 15-27

- QPR's New Sponsor, Toyo: Who Are Toyo? (Various Possibilities - If anyone actually knows for sure...]