- Telegraph-For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always-improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- RIP: Spurs Double Winner (and Colleague of Les Allen) Bobby Smith
- Compilation of QPR Songs (Some Oldies!)
- Birthdays for Ex-QPRs Tony Hazell and David Seaman
- Forty Years Ago Today: Barry Bridges' Final Game for QPR
- Three Years Ago: Bernie Ecclestone's First QPR Game
- VIDEO: 1982 QPR Win at Leicester: Stainrod, Stewart, Venables as Manager
- Lee Camp Set for Northern Ireland
- One Year Ago, QPR had ONE player in the Actim "Top Hundred Championship Players. Now QPR have TEN (with hopefully additional players to make that ranking)
1 QPR 7 17 19
2 Ipswich 7 4 14
3 Cardiff 7 6 13
4 Norwich 7 2 13
5 Watford 7 7 12
6 Swansea 7 3 12 BBC
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK: 'LONG MAY IT CONTINUE'
-QPR boss Neil Warnock once again heaped praise on his side, after they recorded their sixth win in seven Championship matches with a 2-0 win at Leicester City.
- Goals from Jamie Mackie in each half were the deciding factor for the R's, on an afternoon when some 2,159 Rangers fans made the trip north.
-Warnock told www.qpr.co.uk: "I knew it'd be our toughest game today. Credit to the players, they stuck at it and restricted a very good team.
- "I think they'll go close to the Play-Offs this season - I know they've not had a great start.
-"They've got some quality players. I can't remember them having a real chance, other than shots outside the box.
-"I thought that optimised the whole side, when everyone was putting a block in to try and keep the goal intact. It's just as important to keep a clean sheet.
- "You saw at the end, Kyle Walker making an overlapping run in the fifth minute of injury time, fitness levels are great at the moment, and long may it continue."
- Warnock added: "I told Amit Bhatia, who brought me to the Club, when I came that we couldn't have eight loan players like we did last year.
- "We've got young lads with enthusiasm and want to go to the top, and we've got old players, like me, cream crackered and want to finish on a high!
- "For the first goal, Nat Lofthouse would have been pleased with that header, wouldn't he!
- "It was very pleasing and you could see how much he (Mackie) cared. Him and Hogan Ephraim on the other side worked their socks off.
- "It was nice for me today, too. Last year I had to stand and be slaughtered by the Leicester fans, with 'what's the score Warnock?' for a long time in the second half.
- "And I remember saying to the press, 'I hope you go up this year,' because next year I'll come back with one of my teams.
- "So I was quite delighted today to get the result!" QPR
- Dave McIntyre/Telegraph - Leicester City 0 Queens Park Rangers 2: match report
- Neil Warnock travelled to Africa in pursuit of his main summer target, but it is a bargain signing from Plymouth who is proving to be his prized asset.
- The Queens Park Rangers manager was so desperate to buy Adel Taarabt from Tottenham, he flew to the forward’s native Morocco in an attempt to persuade him to move to west London.
- Warnock did not even get to speak to Taarabt on that trip but eventually got his man, and his acquisition of Jamie Mackie was barely noticed in comparison.
- Yet Mackie is the Championship’s top scorer, and his two goals against Leicester City not only extended QPR’s lead at the top of the table, they took his total for the season to eight – as many as he managed for Plymouth during the whole of last term.
-“If you give a lad like that just a bit of confidence, you can see the result,” said Warnock. “That first goal – Nat Lofthouse would have been proud of that header into the top corner.
-“Mackie has always been a player who works his socks off. We’ve set him ridiculous targets this season, but he’s capable of achieving them.
-“We’ve got players like him who want to get to the top, and we’ve got others who are old like me – knackered and looking to go out on a high. It’s a nice mixture.”
-Taarabt was the provider for the opening goal, serving up an excellent cross from the right for Mackie to head beyond goalkeeper Carl Ikeme.
And, after weathering a spell of pressure, Rangers sealed their victory with four minutes remaining. Mackie, a constant annoyance to Leicester’s defence, collected Mikele Leigertwood’s pass and waltzed past Michael Morrison before firing into the far corner.
-Leicester rarely looked like scoring but did go close shortly before Mackie’s second, when Andy King’s effort was pushed away by QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny.
-Rangers certainly look like promotion material but if anyone can be forgiven for being less than complimentary about them it is Leicester manager Paulo Sousa, who left the London club in April 2009 after a 26-match reign that was dominated by behind-the-scenes problems.
-Sousa said: “QPR got a lot of help with the referee’s decisions and don’t need that because they are a good side. We didn’t start well and some of my players look tired. QPR caused us problems. They are tougher than us and won that battle.”
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Ealing Gazette/Yann Tear - On-fire Mackie 'like Nat Lofthouse' says Warnock
- NEIL WARNOCK says he has set Jamie Mackie some 'ridiculous targets' this season, but reckons his on-fire striker might just deliver.
- Mackie made it eight goals for the campaign already as Rangers racked up a sixth win in seven league games in their best start for 63 years.
- The QPR boss said Mackie's towering header for the opening goal at Leicester was one legendary Bolton forward Nat Lofthouse would have been proud of and said his match-winning double was a worthy reward for another hard-working display.
- “He's always been one who works his socks off, like Ephraim and that contribution can't go unnoticed,” Warnock said of Makie.
- “It's ridiculous targets that we've set him this year, but I'll not be surprised if he reaches it. He's not even been 100 per cent fit now for the last two or three weeks.
- “Nat Lofthouse would have been pleased with that header wouldn't he – right in the top corner.
- “It was very pleasing how much he cared and he and Hogan Ephraim on the other side worked their socks off – and not just in the opponents' box.”
- Warnock, who refused to reveal just what Mackie's targets are, said of his record-breaking team: “They've all got something to prove and they're a little bit a bunch of misfits really who are doing quite well.
- “We played quite deep today, but you have to give credit to them [Leicester] for that. They pushed us deep. They kept the ball and we had to work very very hard.
- “But I must say, I can't remember them getting behind us. I thought we were in control, even when we were defending.
- “I thought we could have picked the second goal off earlier and could have punished them more if we'd been a little bit more clinical in our finishing, but that's being a bit picky really.”
- Former boss Paulo Sousa, aggrieved his team were not given a penalty when Steve Howard took a blow to the mouth, had a barbed parting shot at Rangers.
- “If they keep up like that they will be promoted,” he said. “Especially if they are helped like they have been helped... like they were today.
- “In six games they have had five penalties and they don't need it because they area a good side and they will fight for promotion." Ealing Gazette
QPR Official - Leicester City vs QPR
Jamie Mackie's deadly double sealed the points for QPR, who maintained their place at the top of the league with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium.
In continuation of his prolific early season form, Mackie put the R's in front in the 12th minute, nodding home after a superb move that also involved Shaun Derry and Adel Taarabt.
The Hoops had to withstand a barrage of City pressure in the second period, before they sealed the points in the 86th minute courtesy of that man Mackie.
The attacker broke free down the left, cutting in to beat his marker and slide the ball under the keeper, to send over 2,000 travelling supporters into ecstasy in the visitors' end.
QPR made just one change in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the trip to the Walkers Stadium, with Akos Buzsaky replacing the injured Alejandro Faurlin.
Meanwhile, the R's were handed a massive boost, as Martin Rowlands took up his place in the 18-man squad for the first time in almost a year after injuring his cruciate ligament whilst on international duty for the Republic of Ireland last October.
Paddy Kenny once again took up his place in goal, protected by a back four of Kyle Walker, Matt Connolly, Kaspars Gorkss and Clint Hill.
Derry and Buzsaky were in defensive midfield.
Mackie, Taarabt and Hogan Ephraim operated further forward, and Heidar Helguson led the Rangers attack.
On a chilled afternoon in the East Midlands, there was little to separate the sides in the opening five or so minutes.
It was the Hoops who fashioned the first shot on goal, however, and after Mackie won the ball in the air around 30-yards out, Taarabt's smashed effort was well held down low by Carl Ikeme in the Foxes net.
Moments later, the R's were again on the attack.
Buzsaky's terrific cross-field ball found Helguson on the left, and when the Iceman sent over a cross for Mackie, he could only head wide at the back stick - albeit with the ball slightly too high for the industrious forward to get any conviction on it.
Rangers were menacing - and they were rewarded for their lively start on 12 minutes.
The move that made the goal was quite magnificent, with Derry starting proceedings with a splendid long-range pass from left to right for Taarabt out wide.
Taarabt's resultant cross was inch perfect for Mackie, who raced in front of his defender just inside the box to send a looping header past Ikeme and into the top right-hand corner.
Leicester almost drew level on 24 minutes. Following a corner, a neat reverse pass into the box found Richie Wellens on the right, before the midfielder fired over the target from 10 yards.
There would little in the way of chances following the R's opening goal.
Indeed, most of the play was being fought in midfield, with both sides giving little away to say the least as the first period edged closer to half-time.
Hill was unlucky not to see his glanced effort find the target though on 43 minutes, following Taarabt's stunning centre from a set-piece out on the left-hand side.
Two minutes into the second half, Matty Fryatt flashed an effort over the crossbar, following his spin and shot from 18-yards out.
Much like the end of the first period, proceedings were close at the Walkers Stadium, with both sets of players giving nothing away and series of meaty challenges flying in.
The home side were beginning to put some pressure on Rangers, however, and the introduction of Steve Howard from the bench seemed to bring City to life.
It was Howard's flick-on that created an opportunity for Fryatt, whose thunderbolt of a shot forced Kenny into a fine save at his right-hand post, with the QPR custodian tipping the ball away from goal.
The R's thought they'd doubled their advantage on 69 minutes.
Mackie's dogged hustling eventually saw him win a tussle with his marker in the penalty area, and with his back to goal, the attacker found the net on the turn - only for the effort to be disallowed for a push.
Rangers had to fight to hold onto their lead, with Leicester's charge continuing as the minutes on the clock wore on.
However, with only three minutes remaining, Mackie raced clear to cap another immeasurable performance on the road for QPR.
Following substitute Mikele Leigertwood's through ball down the left, Mackie cut in and beat his marker, before sliding the ball under the keeper.
It was a fine finish from the in-form frontman, which earned the R's three more welcome points to take back with them to W12.Leicester City: Ikeme, Neilson, Morrison, Oakley (Howard 63), King, Dyer (Gallagher 58), Fryatt, Waghorn, Berner, Wellens, Hobbs.
Subs: Logan, Vitor, Moreno, Abe, Moussa.
Bookings: Berner (49), Waghorn (59)
QPR: Kenny, Hill, Derry, Taarabt (Leigertwood 78), Helguson (Agyemang 73), Buzsaky, Mackie (Smith 89), Gorkss, Walker, Connolly, Ephraim.
Subs: Cerny, Rowlands, German, Parker.
Goals: Mackie (12 & 86)
Bookings: Walker (68)
Referee: Mr G Scott
Attendance: 22, 968 (2159) - QPR
Observer/Joshn Ashdown - Jamie Mackie's brace at Leicester sends QPR five points clear
- Jamie Mackie took his week's tally to four and his total for the season to eight in seven games with both goals, as QPR maintained their superb start to the season, their best ever, at the Walkers Stadium. The home side dominated the ball but could find no way through, and Neil Warnock's side now sit five points clear of Ipswich at the top of the Championship.
- It took just 12 minutes for the visitors to open the scoring, and it was a goal of the highest quality. Shaun Derry delivered a raking ball out to the right to find Adel Taarabt. The Moroccan forward picked out Mackie with a pinpoint cross, and the former Plymouth forward steered his header into the top corner.
- But the leaders did not have it all their own way, and Leicester dominated after the goal. Martyn Waghorn and Lloyd Dyer offered quicksilver threat on the wings, while Richie Wellens provided the drive from the centre of midfield. Wellens twice had sight of goal, first zipping an angled drive over Paddy Kenny's crossbar, then inexplicably failing to pull the trigger when free on the edge of the area. But for all City's pressure – and the Rangers defending at times was necessarily desperate – Kenny made only one save of note, blocking with his legs from a combination of Wellens and Waghorn.
- The Foxes had roared back from the same half-time scoreline against Cardiff in midweek, ending the Bluebirds' unbeaten start in the process. That result, Leicester's first win of the season, was sparked by an equaliser six minutes after the break, but there was no instant response on this occasion. Still, Leicester monopolised the ball, but without incisiveness, although Kenny made a fine save from Fryatt just after the hour, and the home side claimed a penalty after the substitute Steve Howard appeared to be caught with an elbow in the area.
- That was the cue for a fractious final quarter, smattered with bookings and further City pressure, but four minutes from time Mackie put the seal on the victory. He should not have been able to collect Mikele Leigertwood's through ball, and skipped past Michael Morrison far too easily, but his calm, close-range finish was that of a man at the peak of his game. Rangers survived seven minutes' stoppage time to claim their sixth win in seven. Guardian
Daily Mail - Jamie Mackie at the double as flying Rangers extend Championship lead
- QPR continued their unbeaten start to the season and moved five points clear at the top of the npower Championship after Jamie Mackie's double gave them a 2-0 win over Leicester.
Neil Warnock's side have been flying and took the lead after only 12 minutes when Adel Taarabt's cross picked out Mackie and he sent a bullet header past Carl Ikeme.
Leicester thought they should have had a penalty in the second half when Steven Howard appeared to be elbowed but nothing was given - much to the fury of the Foxes players and fans alike.
The home side continued to press for an equaliser but QPR wrapped up victory with four minutes remaining when Mackie beat the challenge of Michael Morrison before firing in his eighth goal of the season.
QPR started full of confidence and Taarabt fizzed a shot from 25 yards straight into the arms of Leicester goalkeeper Ikeme.
However the Foxes went straight up the other end and Martyn Waghorn had a shot superbly blocked by Kaspars Gorkss.
With 12 minutes gone QPR took the lead when Taarabt received the ball on the right and whipped in a fine cross to Mackie who powered in a header.
Leicester reacted well to going behind and Matt Oakley played in Richie Wellens but he sent an angled drive over the bar when perhaps a cross might have been a better option.
On the half-hour mark Gorkss was penalised for handball and Waghorn had a good opportunity from a free-kick 20 yards out only to send a poor effort over the bar.
The home side were playing the better football as the half wore on but were unable to create any meaningful opportunities with Wellens having a shot blocked.
Four minutes before the break, Matt Fryatt got a shot away from close range but QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny gathered the effort easily.
Leicester came flying out the traps at the start of the second-half and Fryatt went close with a shot that went just over the bar.
Minutes later Andy King saw a shot comfortably saved by Kenny before the former Sheffield United keeper made a fine stop to deny Fryatt.
The Foxes thought they should have had a penalty when Howard looked to have been elbowed in the box but the referee waved away the claims despite the substitute suffering a bloody nose from the challenge.
The sense of injustice seemed to galvanise Leicester and they continued to press forward with Kenny alert once again to keep out Paul Gallagher's shot.
However despite all their pressure, QPR doubled their lead late on when a quick break saw the in-form Mackie receive the ball and he produced a precise finish. Mail
Sousa's Reaction: Leicester Official Site
- City boss, Paulo Sousa, felt his side suffered against QPR, not just from their exertions of Tuesday night's win over Cardiff but also from the visitors turning the encounter into a physical battle.
- He said: "We did not start it well and I thought my players were a bit 'leggy' from the game last Tuesday and also because QPR studied us well.
- They pressed us very high, closed the spaces, and did not allow us to break that pressure, especially in the last third.
- They made good counter-attacks, they are a good team and straight away they caused us some difficulties."
- "We recovered after the goal but they pushed the game into a battle and a physical battle is one we do not know how to win.
- They are stronger in that part of the game than us and so in the end we lost that battle."
- The introduction of Steve Howard for Matty Fryatt did help on that score but Sousa said: "Not only that, we need to recognise the right moment for certain players, for the good of the game."
-Howard took a blow on the face in a goalmouth incident which did not yield a penalty. The referee's only action was to get Howard led off for treatment to a bloodied nose, which rather told its own story.
-Sousa said: "When the referee was asked if he saw it, he said he didn't. The main thing is that it is not just the referee but the linesmen too.
-He said he never saw it but on the video he is only two metres away and is looking straight at it."
-"QPR do not need to be helped in this way because they are a very good side, with good quality players who fight with honesty to win games." Leicester
News of The World/Bob Sayer - WARNOCK'S MISFITS SOCK IT TO 'EM
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JAMIE MACKIE slammed in a double as top-of-the-table QPR continued to make their best start to a season since 1947.
The striker, signed from Plymouth for a fee that will hit £500,000 if QPR are promoted, scored a goal in each half to take his season's tally to eight.
And this win did Neil Warnock's ears a power of good, too. The manager, whose QPR team were beaten here 4-0 last season shortly after he took command, admitted: "I was delighted to get that result.
"Last year I had to stand and be slaughtered by the Leicester fans for a long time in the second half."
And Warnock added: "When I joined the club, I told them that we couldn't have eight players on loan as we had then. We had to buy a squad that wanted to be here.
"We've brought in young players and old campaigners like me - cream crackered and coming to the end but wanting to finish on a high."
Mackie, who turns 25 on Wednesday, escaped his marker on 12 minutes to get on the end of Adel Taarabt's pin-point cross from the right to direct a 15-yard header wide of keeper Carl Ikeme.
Warnock said: "Nat Lofthouse would have been proud of that header - right into the top corner. Jamie works his socks off. Like all the players he has things to prove.
"They are a bunch of misfits who are doing quite well."
Warnock's side were buzzing from the first whistle. Hitman Heidar Helguson supplied a seventh-minute far-post cross but Mackie's acute-angled header sailed over.
Midfielder Akos Buzsaky, the only change from the starting line-up that routed Ipswich 3-0 on Tuesday, tested Ikeme wih a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area.
There was more alarm in the Leicester ranks when a clever pass from Mackie found Taarabt - but the QPR skipper's shot was blocked by Michael Morrison.
Rangers' rampant start had Leicester chasing shadows - but the Foxes settled and gradually gave the QPR rearguard plenty to worry about.
But missed chances by Andy King, Matty Fryatt and Richie Wellens meant Leicester have still not scored a first-half goal in the league this season.
Fryatt had a half-chance of a leveller seconds after the restart but his left-foot shot from just inside the penalty area flew wide.
Leicester's attacking intentions were clear and, moments later, Wellens had a long-range shot blocked and King cracked a 28-yard shot into the arms of Paddy Kenny.
After 62 minutes Leicester threw on substitute Steven Howard for midfielder Matt Oakley - and the big striker carved out a chance within seconds for King, whose stinging 15-yard shot was tipped away at full-length by Kenny.
Howard was left spitting blood moments later when an off-the-ball arm from defender Clint Hill crashed into his mouth as QPR defended a set-piece.
Leicester screamed for a penalty but referee Graham Scott waved aside their appeals.
Foxes boss Paulo Sousa, a one-time Rangers manager, said: "I'm fighting all the time for honesty. The referee, when he was asked if he saw certain things, said 'No'.
"Everybody can make mistakes but honesty is something you either have or not. QPR don't need to be helped in that way."
Mackie made it 2-0 on 86 minutes with a clinical example of predatory poaching.
There seemed little danger but he suddenly pounced on Mikele Leigertwood's pass outside the box, left Michael Morrison in his wake and then slotted the ball inside the far post from an acute angle.
Warnock believes Leicester, despite their poor start, can challenge at the top.
He added: "I know they have not had a good start but I think they will be near the play-offs."
News of The World
The People/Jon West - Leicester 0-2 QPR: Jamie Mackie's the eighth wonder as Hoops go surging clear
RANGERS boss Neil Warnock hailed ‘bargain of the season’ Jamie Mackie for another match-winning double.
Fleet-footed Mackie has plundered eight goals in seven League games since leaving Plymouth in the summer.
On Tuesday he found the net twice at Ipswich and Leicester couldn’t cope with him on their home turf.
Warnock’s team already boast a five-point cushion at the top of the Championship table and look a good bet to go straight up.
And if they do, it will be great news for Plymouth, who will see Mackie’s transfer fee rise up to £500,000.
Either way it’s a bargain and Warnock is convinced Mackie will continue tormenting defences.
Warnock said: “Jamie knows the targets we have set him are ridiculous, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got them.
“I’m not going to say what they are, but he’s capable of hitting them.”
Mackie headed a decent chance over before nodding his side into a 12th-minute lead.
Midfield anchor Shaun Derry hit a crossfield pass out to Adel Taarabt on the right, leaving the Moroccan magician to find an unmarked Mackie, who beat keeper Carl Ikeme from 10 yards.
Back in April, Warnock saw his side thrashed 4-0 at the Walkers Stadium. Leicester were on their way to the play-offs and Rangers were worried about the drop. Now the roles are in complete reverse.
It was all the more galling for new Foxes boss Paulo Sousa, who had tasted his first Championship victory on Tuesday – a 2-1 win over Cardiff.
Sousa was one of the many managers hired and fired by Rangers when co-owner Flavio Briatore was far too hands-on at Loftus Road.
He wasn’t given much of a chance, but the former Juventus star – who arrived in Leicester after flirting with the play-offs at Swansea – won’t last long here either if the Foxes continue to struggle.
The Portuguese boss dropped targetman Steve Howard in favour of the trickier Matty Fryatt.
And Leicester strung together some flowing passing moves. But in all honesty, Hoops keeper Paddy Kenny had little to do before the break.
Battering-ram Howard replaced skipper Matt Oakley in the 63rd minute, with Paul Gallagher already having replaced an ineffective Lloyd Dyer. Almost immediately, Andy King forced Kenny into a diving save, before Howard took a bloody blow to the mouth from Clint Hill in the box, but referee Graham Scott waved away frantic penalty pleas.
Furious
The official also turned down other spot-kick appeals, much to the home fans’ vented fury, and let Rangers keeper Kenny pick up a back-pass.
Mackie wrapped up another Hoops victory with an individual strike in the 86th minute, beating Michael Morrison in the box and slotting under Ikeme.
The fourth official then signalled for seven minutes of stoppage time – but that was no use to Leicester by then.Sousa let the officials have both barrels after the game for failing to spot the Hill elbow.
He said: “I fight all the time for honesty and when the referee was asked if he saw certain things, he said ‘no’.
“Everybody can make mistakes, but honesty is something you either have or not. QPR don’t need to be helped.” The People