QPR Fan Comments | Vital Football

QPR Fan Comments

Calvin Plummer

Vital Football Legend
Football’s a bit shit at the moment isn’t it.

Jose Mourinho’s back, Liverpool fans are crawling out of the woodwork, 20,000 extra Leeds United fans have snuck back into Elland Road and are pretending they were there all along while their team score one last minute winner after another. Mediocre players who used to cost £5m now go for £40m, academy players who’ve never played a first team game and you’ve never heard of now pull £50,000 a week, run-of-the-mill gobshite forwards with ten goals in their last 86 appearances rampage around the most expensive hotel on Miami Beach shouting “BEANS BEANS BEANS” down the lens of the phone to an Instagram following of millions. Bury, nearly Bolton, and soon Macclesfield, cease to exist altogether.

We have a new toy, VAR, which takes an interminable amount of time to reach decisions every bit as incorrect and infuriating as the ones the referees used to make in a split second. After 27 looks over nearly four minutes at Dele Alli punching a recent Everton corner clear with his arm well above his head, no penalty was awarded. Every goal is assessed, for offside, or handball, or a sin committed by the scorer in a previous life. If it transpires that somebody involved in the move a couple of minutes prior to the goal had the tip of their boot beyond the last defender – as long as you zoom in on a heavily pixelated image with an inadequate frame rate from a camera not exactly in line with the incident - then the goal is ruled out. Having spent all season insisting that Raheem Sterling, Roberto Firminio, Raheem Sterling again are offside at the arm pit, we then succeed in killing the joy of a last minute Sheff Utd equaliser against Man Utd by spending a couple of minute debating whether the top of Tartan McPartick’s shoulder counts as handball. Can’t have it both ways you unfeeling, emotionless droids. If you’re offside at the arm pit then you can score with it. Congratulations on digging that hole for yourself lads. Pricks.

At QPR, a terrific start to the season above all expectations is threatening to give way to one of those long winless runs we so enjoy. Three separate occasions Ian Holloway lost six in a row, and Steve McClaren went from the edge of the play-offs to the sack with one win in 17. Already there are murmurings about Mark Warburton’s inability to stop the defence conceding two goals every time it takes to the field – nine games in a row now, the worst run since the 1950s, and five games without a win. The Twitterati say Warburton should be sacked immediately, and Gareth Ainsworth appointed instead. Yup, we’re there already.

We go 1-0 up at Fulham, hit the post to go 2-0 up, go through on the goalkeeper and kick the ball straight at him for 3-1, and end up losing 2-1 to goals that we gave them. One of our group misjudges that one step in the away end that’s randomly twice as deep as all the other and snaps his ankle. Afterwards the stewards try and funnel 2,000 QPR fans down one staircase causing a crush, while another set of steps sits unused behind a line of officious, jobsworth yellow coats unable to think for themselves. When the frustration of the night gets the better of me and I lose the plot with one of them, I subsequently spend three days afterwards beating myself up for having a go at some poor bastard on minimum wage just doing as he was told by his orange coat overlord.
Played seven-a-side on Monday, had 25 shots on goal to their two, lost 1-0. And the goal was my fault.

Bloody sport.

But, do you know what, I’ve got Wednesday afternoon off. Now I’ve bitched and moaned on here often enough about the weight of midweek fixtures in this Godforsaken league – particularly during Shaun Harvey’s reign of terror when he came to the conclusion, all by himself, that football supporters want their local games on a Saturday and all their trips to Blackburn on a Tuesday night, requiring two days off work, peaktime train fares and a stay in some dire provincial Travelodge where the stains from a recent prostitute bludgeoning resolutely refuse to come out of the carpet.

There is, however, something about a midweek football match. The lovely moment when you wake up and realise that, although it’s Wednesday, it’s not a working Wednesday, it’s a Wednesday for pubs and football and pubs. The tube ride in in your jeans, surrounded by people in suits. The leisurely walk through the city streets, surrounded by offices packed with people behind steamed up windows performing menial tasks on shiny Apple Macs in stuffy rooms for no real positive gain whatsoever. All with the knowledge that you’re going to the Crown and Sceptre, and Loftus Road, not to a Powow Now conference call with six people you don’t give a shit about or want to talk to.

You’re like a kid playing hooky from school, there’s a naughty feeling to it that I haven’t experienced since my dad used to tell my teacher I had a dental appointment and whisk me away in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon to go with him and his mates on the train to Aston Villa away in the League Cup (lost 1-0, Andy Townsend scored, not for me Clive). There's the lights, and the way the pitch gleams, and steam and smoke rising from the kiosks into the dark sky, and people you're used to seeing on a Saturday suddenly ponsed up in work clothes. There's that Samuel Di Carmine goal, or that Dexter Blackstock goal, or that Jamie Mackie goal, or that Paul Furlong goal. There's the abandonment of plans to go straight home after in favour of an all out assault on last orders somewhere, brought on by a late equaliser.

And all we need to really put the tin hat on the whole thing is a QPR win. Just a little one, achieved with a dodgy own goal or something like that, to keep the wolf from the door and the mouth breathers off social media and the Neil Warnock jungle drum in the cupboard for another week or two at least.

Come on Rangers, throw us a bone.

Forest Team News:

Forest midfielder Ryan Yates is on the naughty step after his red card at the weekend at Bristol City. That could be a real problem if fellow midfield enforcer Samba Sow also doesn’t make it – Forest will give him as long as he needs to prove fitness. There’s a fairly sizeable injury list at The City Ground at the moment with Yuri Ribeiro (rickets), Alfa Semedo (gout), Carl Jenkinson (blinded by the light), Yohan Benalouane (scurvy) and Michael Hefele (gangrene) all missing tonight. Luckily a recent transfer policy that would make even Harry Redknapp blush a little bit has left them with a squad of 42 players (eight out on loan) including six senior goalkeepers so they should just about squeeze through.

Forest Form:

Only Bristol City (two) and West Brom (one) have lost fewer games than Nottingham Forest (three) this season. Their away form is even more impressive with just one defeat from nine games – four wins and four draws in the remaining eight. So far they’ve won on the road at Fulham (2-1), Stoke (3-2), Swansea (1-0) and Luton (2-1) with draws at Leeds, Charlton, Blackburn (all 1-1) and Bristol City last time out (0-0). Forest have scored 20 times this season which is the lowest total in the top half of the table, and lower than four teams in the bottom half including 21st-placed Luton Town. They’ve done that from 48 shots on target which, following Huddersfield’s (52) game last night, is now the lowest amount in the league. They’ve scored one goal or fewer in 12 of their 16 league games this season including six of the last seven but they’ve taken 17 points from those dozen games regardless.
 
Tough one tonight against a team that have a very good away record, don't create alot but don't give many anyway (will score plenty tonight then)!

We need to actually go a bit more direct tonight and turn them, they are quite happy letting teams play in front of them.

Usual 2 goal handicap.

Our first clean sheet tonight.

2/1 for a Forest win seems a massive price to me given respective home and away records.

Taking my Nottingham Forest mate tonight....He always sees his team win, home or away. We missed the wonderful match last year in Nottingham...see what I mean. He is very good, never celebrates but just smiles...I hate him smiling condescendingly...

I see Adomah starts for Forrest. Lifelong QPR fan. Scored a brace against us last time and looked crest fallen both times. Hope he can bang in a few OGs this time to even that out.

Even start.

Fuck sake.

Jesus this fannying around at the back is just ridiculous. Why??????

Play with fire and you get burned.

Christsake 0-1 already.

This is down to the manager he isn’t doing his job In organising the back four.

He is either stubborn or our players are thick as a castle wall because we concede the same goal over and over again and never seem to learn. Also the team selection is poor tonight, wells on his own is not working.

I gotta say Forest's defensive coverage is superb. Those two lines of four move together like a slide rule.

Another Forest corner terribly defended there.

Do we practice defending corners at all?

Obviously not. Perhaps it doesn’t fit our “football philosophy” of aesthetically beautiful football.

Watson always plays far better against us than he ever did for us. Strong side Forest tbf having spent a few bob. Good idea to give them an early goal and lull them into a false sense of security.

Was just thinking the same...he was awful for us, just invisible and he's doing alright here. Frustrating.

Can we at least keep the faith until 0-2. Playing quite well currently.

Yup, couple of half chances.

What game are you watching. We are playing Sh1t.

It looks like they've 12 in midfield.

Bad team selection yet again I’m afraid , Forest have sussed us out and they know how to defend.

Dire, turgid, poor in every way. We are playing at such a slow pace, Forest have so much time. Where oh where has the speedy, skillful QPR team of September and October gone?

Forest look too good defensively to concede more than a goal.

Did Warbs not state intensity for the full 90 minutes? Forest will soak up this level of intensity until Christmas without barely a scratch.

Ffs Red for Wallace.

Goodnight all.

That is a red card offence? fck me.

Nonsense red.

It was a nailed on red surely. No attempt to play the ball and knew he was in trouble so stopped Lolley getting onto it. Just rank defending compounded with a red card.

I'd have said yellow. But, like most of us here, I'm biased. Looked like Hall was coveting.

Not really harsh, just awful defending.

What exactly was Hall coveting?

Robinson's contract at Forest.

Didn't know Ben Watson has been employed as a referee's advisor.

We're gonna end up with nine men soon.

Warburton won’t be able to spin this one.

60 mins gone forest are cruising, Hardly broken a sweat, Watson with his arm around the ref every 2 mins, completely nullifying anything we can put together.

Have to say, Rangers are still in this. Good attitude.

We're marginally better than we were before the sending off, but Forest still look very comfortable.

Cash should of got a red but ref bottled it and gave a yellow.

He barely touched him.

2-0 game over.

Most of the defence had a lovely view from a distance of Grabban scoring.

Refs fucked us.

He really hasn’t. They’ve been quite good and we’ve been crap.

We f*cked ourselves. We've never really been in it.

0-3. No words.

Another two plus goals conceded, tenth game in a row, enough is enough. Nearly 70 fúcking years since that last happened.

Very poor but they’re a good side.

Good grief, 4-0.

OMG I was just about to say Lumley should have saved the third and then he spills a shot and its 4-0.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team win 0-4 so easily.

Forest really like giving us a tonking.

Ah yes, the familiar and comfortable feeling of being in 16th place.

I left at 2-0 to watch a rerun of the Wire.

Forest were much better, much more compact and actually knew what they were doing.

Forest defensively are outstanding. Envy.

Some kid had a go at me for not singing enough, not realising I was so pished I couldn't actually speak. That learnt him.

If some yute in a Jd sports Lonsdale twinset and Professor Pat Pending Nike's told me to start signing like i'm in some f cuking Khmer Rouge re education camp chanting on demand , then he'd get told to ride his pet Pitbulls Bulbus Glandis. Fkn' cheek.

Forest are a tidy well drilled team, but not Barcelona, I thought sending off was harsh but inevitable in the modern game.

Oooooft! New a-hole torn by Forest.

What annoys me the most is I don’t actually think they were that good. They were happy to sit on a 1-0 it looked like until we just gifted them goals. Very very frustrating.

Forest are a good side.

They've gone over 4 hours without conceding, we struggle with 4 minutes.

I wish we could defend like Forest.

They were much better than us, end of.

Forest have always been a proper team.

This is the ultimate proper team - 1979 European Cup winners, with proper shirt numbers and positions.

GK 1 England Peter Shilton
RB 2 England Viv Anderson
CB 3 England Frank Clark
CB 4 Scotland John McGovern (c)
LB 5 England Larry Lloyd
DM 6 Scotland Kenny Burns
CM 7 England Trevor Francis
AM 8 England Ian Bowyer
RW 9 England Garry Birtles
CF 10 England Tony Woodcock
LW 11 Scotland John Robertson
Substitutes:
GK 12 England Chris Woods
DF 13 England David Needham
MF 14 Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill
MF 15 Scotland Archie Gemmill
FW 16 Scotland John O'Hare
Manager:
England Brian Clough.
 
Football’s a bit shit at the moment isn’t it.

Jose Mourinho’s back, Liverpool fans are crawling out of the woodwork, 20,000 extra Leeds United fans have snuck back into Elland Road and are pretending they were there all along while their team score one last minute winner after another. Mediocre players who used to cost £5m now go for £40m, academy players who’ve never played a first team game and you’ve never heard of now pull £50,000 a week, run-of-the-mill gobshite forwards with ten goals in their last 86 appearances rampage around the most expensive hotel on Miami Beach shouting “BEANS BEANS BEANS” down the lens of the phone to an Instagram following of millions. Bury, nearly Bolton, and soon Macclesfield, cease to exist altogether.

We have a new toy, VAR, which takes an interminable amount of time to reach decisions every bit as incorrect and infuriating as the ones the referees used to make in a split second. After 27 looks over nearly four minutes at Dele Alli punching a recent Everton corner clear with his arm well above his head, no penalty was awarded. Every goal is assessed, for offside, or handball, or a sin committed by the scorer in a previous life. If it transpires that somebody involved in the move a couple of minutes prior to the goal had the tip of their boot beyond the last defender – as long as you zoom in on a heavily pixelated image with an inadequate frame rate from a camera not exactly in line with the incident - then the goal is ruled out. Having spent all season insisting that Raheem Sterling, Roberto Firminio, Raheem Sterling again are offside at the arm pit, we then succeed in killing the joy of a last minute Sheff Utd equaliser against Man Utd by spending a couple of minute debating whether the top of Tartan McPartick’s shoulder counts as handball. Can’t have it both ways you unfeeling, emotionless droids. If you’re offside at the arm pit then you can score with it. Congratulations on digging that hole for yourself lads. Pricks.

At QPR, a terrific start to the season above all expectations is threatening to give way to one of those long winless runs we so enjoy. Three separate occasions Ian Holloway lost six in a row, and Steve McClaren went from the edge of the play-offs to the sack with one win in 17. Already there are murmurings about Mark Warburton’s inability to stop the defence conceding two goals every time it takes to the field – nine games in a row now, the worst run since the 1950s, and five games without a win. The Twitterati say Warburton should be sacked immediately, and Gareth Ainsworth appointed instead. Yup, we’re there already.

We go 1-0 up at Fulham, hit the post to go 2-0 up, go through on the goalkeeper and kick the ball straight at him for 3-1, and end up losing 2-1 to goals that we gave them. One of our group misjudges that one step in the away end that’s randomly twice as deep as all the other and snaps his ankle. Afterwards the stewards try and funnel 2,000 QPR fans down one staircase causing a crush, while another set of steps sits unused behind a line of officious, jobsworth yellow coats unable to think for themselves. When the frustration of the night gets the better of me and I lose the plot with one of them, I subsequently spend three days afterwards beating myself up for having a go at some poor bastard on minimum wage just doing as he was told by his orange coat overlord.
Played seven-a-side on Monday, had 25 shots on goal to their two, lost 1-0. And the goal was my fault.

Bloody sport.

But, do you know what, I’ve got Wednesday afternoon off. Now I’ve bitched and moaned on here often enough about the weight of midweek fixtures in this Godforsaken league – particularly during Shaun Harvey’s reign of terror when he came to the conclusion, all by himself, that football supporters want their local games on a Saturday and all their trips to Blackburn on a Tuesday night, requiring two days off work, peaktime train fares and a stay in some dire provincial Travelodge where the stains from a recent prostitute bludgeoning resolutely refuse to come out of the carpet.

There is, however, something about a midweek football match. The lovely moment when you wake up and realise that, although it’s Wednesday, it’s not a working Wednesday, it’s a Wednesday for pubs and football and pubs. The tube ride in in your jeans, surrounded by people in suits. The leisurely walk through the city streets, surrounded by offices packed with people behind steamed up windows performing menial tasks on shiny Apple Macs in stuffy rooms for no real positive gain whatsoever. All with the knowledge that you’re going to the Crown and Sceptre, and Loftus Road, not to a Powow Now conference call with six people you don’t give a shit about or want to talk to.

You’re like a kid playing hooky from school, there’s a naughty feeling to it that I haven’t experienced since my dad used to tell my teacher I had a dental appointment and whisk me away in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon to go with him and his mates on the train to Aston Villa away in the League Cup (lost 1-0, Andy Townsend scored, not for me Clive). There's the lights, and the way the pitch gleams, and steam and smoke rising from the kiosks into the dark sky, and people you're used to seeing on a Saturday suddenly ponsed up in work clothes. There's that Samuel Di Carmine goal, or that Dexter Blackstock goal, or that Jamie Mackie goal, or that Paul Furlong goal. There's the abandonment of plans to go straight home after in favour of an all out assault on last orders somewhere, brought on by a late equaliser.

And all we need to really put the tin hat on the whole thing is a QPR win. Just a little one, achieved with a dodgy own goal or something like that, to keep the wolf from the door and the mouth breathers off social media and the Neil Warnock jungle drum in the cupboard for another week or two at least.

Come on Rangers, throw us a bone.

Forest Team News:

Forest midfielder Ryan Yates is on the naughty step after his red card at the weekend at Bristol City. That could be a real problem if fellow midfield enforcer Samba Sow also doesn’t make it – Forest will give him as long as he needs to prove fitness. There’s a fairly sizeable injury list at The City Ground at the moment with Yuri Ribeiro (rickets), Alfa Semedo (gout), Carl Jenkinson (blinded by the light), Yohan Benalouane (scurvy) and Michael Hefele (gangrene) all missing tonight. Luckily a recent transfer policy that would make even Harry Redknapp blush a little bit has left them with a squad of 42 players (eight out on loan) including six senior goalkeepers so they should just about squeeze through.

Forest Form:

Only Bristol City (two) and West Brom (one) have lost fewer games than Nottingham Forest (three) this season. Their away form is even more impressive with just one defeat from nine games – four wins and four draws in the remaining eight. So far they’ve won on the road at Fulham (2-1), Stoke (3-2), Swansea (1-0) and Luton (2-1) with draws at Leeds, Charlton, Blackburn (all 1-1) and Bristol City last time out (0-0). Forest have scored 20 times this season which is the lowest total in the top half of the table, and lower than four teams in the bottom half including 21st-placed Luton Town. They’ve done that from 48 shots on target which, following Huddersfield’s (52) game last night, is now the lowest amount in the league. They’ve scored one goal or fewer in 12 of their 16 league games this season including six of the last seven but they’ve taken 17 points from those dozen games regardless.

I like that article CP - if you post on their forum, please do pass that on!
 
I always love these and interesting to see most of them see we were decent and they were poor

also interesting to see they questions whether they practice defending in training...I remember asking that alot under warbs lol
 
Tough one tonight against a team that have a very good away record, don't create alot but don't give many anyway (will score plenty tonight then)!

We need to actually go a bit more direct tonight and turn them, they are quite happy letting teams play in front of them.

Usual 2 goal handicap.

Our first clean sheet tonight.

2/1 for a Forest win seems a massive price to me given respective home and away records.

Taking my Nottingham Forest mate tonight....He always sees his team win, home or away. We missed the wonderful match last year in Nottingham...see what I mean. He is very good, never celebrates but just smiles...I hate him smiling condescendingly...

I see Adomah starts for Forrest. Lifelong QPR fan. Scored a brace against us last time and looked crest fallen both times. Hope he can bang in a few OGs this time to even that out.

Even start.

Fuck sake.

Jesus this fannying around at the back is just ridiculous. Why??????

Play with fire and you get burned.

Christsake 0-1 already.

This is down to the manager he isn’t doing his job In organising the back four.

He is either stubborn or our players are thick as a castle wall because we concede the same goal over and over again and never seem to learn. Also the team selection is poor tonight, wells on his own is not working.

I gotta say Forest's defensive coverage is superb. Those two lines of four move together like a slide rule.

Another Forest corner terribly defended there.

Do we practice defending corners at all?

Obviously not. Perhaps it doesn’t fit our “football philosophy” of aesthetically beautiful football.

Watson always plays far better against us than he ever did for us. Strong side Forest tbf having spent a few bob. Good idea to give them an early goal and lull them into a false sense of security.

Was just thinking the same...he was awful for us, just invisible and he's doing alright here. Frustrating.

Can we at least keep the faith until 0-2. Playing quite well currently.

Yup, couple of half chances.

What game are you watching. We are playing Sh1t.

It looks like they've 12 in midfield.

Bad team selection yet again I’m afraid , Forest have sussed us out and they know how to defend.

Dire, turgid, poor in every way. We are playing at such a slow pace, Forest have so much time. Where oh where has the speedy, skillful QPR team of September and October gone?

Forest look too good defensively to concede more than a goal.

Did Warbs not state intensity for the full 90 minutes? Forest will soak up this level of intensity until Christmas without barely a scratch.

Ffs Red for Wallace.

Goodnight all.

That is a red card offence? fck me.

Nonsense red.

It was a nailed on red surely. No attempt to play the ball and knew he was in trouble so stopped Lolley getting onto it. Just rank defending compounded with a red card.

I'd have said yellow. But, like most of us here, I'm biased. Looked like Hall was coveting.

Not really harsh, just awful defending.

What exactly was Hall coveting?

Robinson's contract at Forest.

Didn't know Ben Watson has been employed as a referee's advisor.

We're gonna end up with nine men soon.

Warburton won’t be able to spin this one.

60 mins gone forest are cruising, Hardly broken a sweat, Watson with his arm around the ref every 2 mins, completely nullifying anything we can put together.

Have to say, Rangers are still in this. Good attitude.

We're marginally better than we were before the sending off, but Forest still look very comfortable.

Cash should of got a red but ref bottled it and gave a yellow.

He barely touched him.

2-0 game over.

Most of the defence had a lovely view from a distance of Grabban scoring.

Refs fucked us.

He really hasn’t. They’ve been quite good and we’ve been crap.

We f*cked ourselves. We've never really been in it.

0-3. No words.

Another two plus goals conceded, tenth game in a row, enough is enough. Nearly 70 fúcking years since that last happened.

Very poor but they’re a good side.

Good grief, 4-0.

OMG I was just about to say Lumley should have saved the third and then he spills a shot and its 4-0.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team win 0-4 so easily.

Forest really like giving us a tonking.

Ah yes, the familiar and comfortable feeling of being in 16th place.

I left at 2-0 to watch a rerun of the Wire.

Forest were much better, much more compact and actually knew what they were doing.

Forest defensively are outstanding. Envy.

Some kid had a go at me for not singing enough, not realising I was so pished I couldn't actually speak. That learnt him.

If some yute in a Jd sports Lonsdale twinset and Professor Pat Pending Nike's told me to start signing like i'm in some f cuking Khmer Rouge re education camp chanting on demand , then he'd get told to ride his pet Pitbulls Bulbus Glandis. Fkn' cheek.

Forest are a tidy well drilled team, but not Barcelona, I thought sending off was harsh but inevitable in the modern game.

Oooooft! New a-hole torn by Forest.

What annoys me the most is I don’t actually think they were that good. They were happy to sit on a 1-0 it looked like until we just gifted them goals. Very very frustrating.

Forest are a good side.

They've gone over 4 hours without conceding, we struggle with 4 minutes.

I wish we could defend like Forest.

They were much better than us, end of.

Forest have always been a proper team.

This is the ultimate proper team - 1979 European Cup winners, with proper shirt numbers and positions.

GK 1 England Peter Shilton
RB 2 England Viv Anderson
CB 3 England Frank Clark
CB 4 Scotland John McGovern (c)
LB 5 England Larry Lloyd
DM 6 Scotland Kenny Burns
CM 7 England Trevor Francis
AM 8 England Ian Bowyer
RW 9 England Garry Birtles
CF 10 England Tony Woodcock
LW 11 Scotland John Robertson
Substitutes:
GK 12 England Chris Woods
DF 13 England David Needham
MF 14 Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill
MF 15 Scotland Archie Gemmill
FW 16 Scotland John O'Hare
Manager:
England Brian Clough.

Thanks CP - as ever, a great read & several posts that made me chuckle.
 
I always love these and interesting to see most of them see we were decent and they were poor

also interesting to see they questions whether they practice defending in training...I remember asking that alot under warbs lol

Lovely tippy tappy football, but more often than not - tactically outdone or physically bullied.

Quite like Warburton though.
 
I always enjoyed and frustrated watching football under Warburton. I remember being bullied in midfield and complaining that the defence appeared to repeat mistakes and never practice. He doesn’t seem to be learning.

I do enjoy the comments. Thanks CP
 
Fair comments and pretty funny as well, the realisation that warbs is unable to change his style and his team's can't defend is upon them. His face was a picture last night.
 
Football’s a bit shit at the moment isn’t it.

Jose Mourinho’s back, Liverpool fans are crawling out of the woodwork, 20,000 extra Leeds United fans have snuck back into Elland Road and are pretending they were there all along while their team score one last minute winner after another. Mediocre players who used to cost £5m now go for £40m, academy players who’ve never played a first team game and you’ve never heard of now pull £50,000 a week, run-of-the-mill gobshite forwards with ten goals in their last 86 appearances rampage around the most expensive hotel on Miami Beach shouting “BEANS BEANS BEANS” down the lens of the phone to an Instagram following of millions. Bury, nearly Bolton, and soon Macclesfield, cease to exist altogether.

We have a new toy, VAR, which takes an interminable amount of time to reach decisions every bit as incorrect and infuriating as the ones the referees used to make in a split second. After 27 looks over nearly four minutes at Dele Alli punching a recent Everton corner clear with his arm well above his head, no penalty was awarded. Every goal is assessed, for offside, or handball, or a sin committed by the scorer in a previous life. If it transpires that somebody involved in the move a couple of minutes prior to the goal had the tip of their boot beyond the last defender – as long as you zoom in on a heavily pixelated image with an inadequate frame rate from a camera not exactly in line with the incident - then the goal is ruled out. Having spent all season insisting that Raheem Sterling, Roberto Firminio, Raheem Sterling again are offside at the arm pit, we then succeed in killing the joy of a last minute Sheff Utd equaliser against Man Utd by spending a couple of minute debating whether the top of Tartan McPartick’s shoulder counts as handball. Can’t have it both ways you unfeeling, emotionless droids. If you’re offside at the arm pit then you can score with it. Congratulations on digging that hole for yourself lads. Pricks.

At QPR, a terrific start to the season above all expectations is threatening to give way to one of those long winless runs we so enjoy. Three separate occasions Ian Holloway lost six in a row, and Steve McClaren went from the edge of the play-offs to the sack with one win in 17. Already there are murmurings about Mark Warburton’s inability to stop the defence conceding two goals every time it takes to the field – nine games in a row now, the worst run since the 1950s, and five games without a win. The Twitterati say Warburton should be sacked immediately, and Gareth Ainsworth appointed instead. Yup, we’re there already.

We go 1-0 up at Fulham, hit the post to go 2-0 up, go through on the goalkeeper and kick the ball straight at him for 3-1, and end up losing 2-1 to goals that we gave them. One of our group misjudges that one step in the away end that’s randomly twice as deep as all the other and snaps his ankle. Afterwards the stewards try and funnel 2,000 QPR fans down one staircase causing a crush, while another set of steps sits unused behind a line of officious, jobsworth yellow coats unable to think for themselves. When the frustration of the night gets the better of me and I lose the plot with one of them, I subsequently spend three days afterwards beating myself up for having a go at some poor bastard on minimum wage just doing as he was told by his orange coat overlord.
Played seven-a-side on Monday, had 25 shots on goal to their two, lost 1-0. And the goal was my fault.

Bloody sport.

But, do you know what, I’ve got Wednesday afternoon off. Now I’ve bitched and moaned on here often enough about the weight of midweek fixtures in this Godforsaken league – particularly during Shaun Harvey’s reign of terror when he came to the conclusion, all by himself, that football supporters want their local games on a Saturday and all their trips to Blackburn on a Tuesday night, requiring two days off work, peaktime train fares and a stay in some dire provincial Travelodge where the stains from a recent prostitute bludgeoning resolutely refuse to come out of the carpet.

There is, however, something about a midweek football match. The lovely moment when you wake up and realise that, although it’s Wednesday, it’s not a working Wednesday, it’s a Wednesday for pubs and football and pubs. The tube ride in in your jeans, surrounded by people in suits. The leisurely walk through the city streets, surrounded by offices packed with people behind steamed up windows performing menial tasks on shiny Apple Macs in stuffy rooms for no real positive gain whatsoever. All with the knowledge that you’re going to the Crown and Sceptre, and Loftus Road, not to a Powow Now conference call with six people you don’t give a shit about or want to talk to.

You’re like a kid playing hooky from school, there’s a naughty feeling to it that I haven’t experienced since my dad used to tell my teacher I had a dental appointment and whisk me away in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon to go with him and his mates on the train to Aston Villa away in the League Cup (lost 1-0, Andy Townsend scored, not for me Clive). There's the lights, and the way the pitch gleams, and steam and smoke rising from the kiosks into the dark sky, and people you're used to seeing on a Saturday suddenly ponsed up in work clothes. There's that Samuel Di Carmine goal, or that Dexter Blackstock goal, or that Jamie Mackie goal, or that Paul Furlong goal. There's the abandonment of plans to go straight home after in favour of an all out assault on last orders somewhere, brought on by a late equaliser.

And all we need to really put the tin hat on the whole thing is a QPR win. Just a little one, achieved with a dodgy own goal or something like that, to keep the wolf from the door and the mouth breathers off social media and the Neil Warnock jungle drum in the cupboard for another week or two at least.

Come on Rangers, throw us a bone.

Forest Team News:

Forest midfielder Ryan Yates is on the naughty step after his red card at the weekend at Bristol City. That could be a real problem if fellow midfield enforcer Samba Sow also doesn’t make it – Forest will give him as long as he needs to prove fitness. There’s a fairly sizeable injury list at The City Ground at the moment with Yuri Ribeiro (rickets), Alfa Semedo (gout), Carl Jenkinson (blinded by the light), Yohan Benalouane (scurvy) and Michael Hefele (gangrene) all missing tonight. Luckily a recent transfer policy that would make even Harry Redknapp blush a little bit has left them with a squad of 42 players (eight out on loan) including six senior goalkeepers so they should just about squeeze through.

Forest Form:

Only Bristol City (two) and West Brom (one) have lost fewer games than Nottingham Forest (three) this season. Their away form is even more impressive with just one defeat from nine games – four wins and four draws in the remaining eight. So far they’ve won on the road at Fulham (2-1), Stoke (3-2), Swansea (1-0) and Luton (2-1) with draws at Leeds, Charlton, Blackburn (all 1-1) and Bristol City last time out (0-0). Forest have scored 20 times this season which is the lowest total in the top half of the table, and lower than four teams in the bottom half including 21st-placed Luton Town. They’ve done that from 48 shots on target which, following Huddersfield’s (52) game last night, is now the lowest amount in the league. They’ve scored one goal or fewer in 12 of their 16 league games this season including six of the last seven but they’ve taken 17 points from those dozen games regardless.
Absolutely top class.
 
Cheers CP, some great comments and a great write up by fans who have been kicked in the teeth so many times.

As ever great to see so many comments saying we are a good side and a well drilled side.
 
Football’s a bit shit at the moment isn’t it.

Jose Mourinho’s back, Liverpool fans are crawling out of the woodwork, 20,000 extra Leeds United fans have snuck back into Elland Road and are pretending they were there all along while their team score one last minute winner after another. Mediocre players who used to cost £5m now go for £40m, academy players who’ve never played a first team game and you’ve never heard of now pull £50,000 a week, run-of-the-mill gobshite forwards with ten goals in their last 86 appearances rampage around the most expensive hotel on Miami Beach shouting “BEANS BEANS BEANS” down the lens of the phone to an Instagram following of millions. Bury, nearly Bolton, and soon Macclesfield, cease to exist altogether.

We have a new toy, VAR, which takes an interminable amount of time to reach decisions every bit as incorrect and infuriating as the ones the referees used to make in a split second. After 27 looks over nearly four minutes at Dele Alli punching a recent Everton corner clear with his arm well above his head, no penalty was awarded. Every goal is assessed, for offside, or handball, or a sin committed by the scorer in a previous life. If it transpires that somebody involved in the move a couple of minutes prior to the goal had the tip of their boot beyond the last defender – as long as you zoom in on a heavily pixelated image with an inadequate frame rate from a camera not exactly in line with the incident - then the goal is ruled out. Having spent all season insisting that Raheem Sterling, Roberto Firminio, Raheem Sterling again are offside at the arm pit, we then succeed in killing the joy of a last minute Sheff Utd equaliser against Man Utd by spending a couple of minute debating whether the top of Tartan McPartick’s shoulder counts as handball. Can’t have it both ways you unfeeling, emotionless droids. If you’re offside at the arm pit then you can score with it. Congratulations on digging that hole for yourself lads. Pricks.

At QPR, a terrific start to the season above all expectations is threatening to give way to one of those long winless runs we so enjoy. Three separate occasions Ian Holloway lost six in a row, and Steve McClaren went from the edge of the play-offs to the sack with one win in 17. Already there are murmurings about Mark Warburton’s inability to stop the defence conceding two goals every time it takes to the field – nine games in a row now, the worst run since the 1950s, and five games without a win. The Twitterati say Warburton should be sacked immediately, and Gareth Ainsworth appointed instead. Yup, we’re there already.

We go 1-0 up at Fulham, hit the post to go 2-0 up, go through on the goalkeeper and kick the ball straight at him for 3-1, and end up losing 2-1 to goals that we gave them. One of our group misjudges that one step in the away end that’s randomly twice as deep as all the other and snaps his ankle. Afterwards the stewards try and funnel 2,000 QPR fans down one staircase causing a crush, while another set of steps sits unused behind a line of officious, jobsworth yellow coats unable to think for themselves. When the frustration of the night gets the better of me and I lose the plot with one of them, I subsequently spend three days afterwards beating myself up for having a go at some poor bastard on minimum wage just doing as he was told by his orange coat overlord.
Played seven-a-side on Monday, had 25 shots on goal to their two, lost 1-0. And the goal was my fault.

Bloody sport.

But, do you know what, I’ve got Wednesday afternoon off. Now I’ve bitched and moaned on here often enough about the weight of midweek fixtures in this Godforsaken league – particularly during Shaun Harvey’s reign of terror when he came to the conclusion, all by himself, that football supporters want their local games on a Saturday and all their trips to Blackburn on a Tuesday night, requiring two days off work, peaktime train fares and a stay in some dire provincial Travelodge where the stains from a recent prostitute bludgeoning resolutely refuse to come out of the carpet.

There is, however, something about a midweek football match. The lovely moment when you wake up and realise that, although it’s Wednesday, it’s not a working Wednesday, it’s a Wednesday for pubs and football and pubs. The tube ride in in your jeans, surrounded by people in suits. The leisurely walk through the city streets, surrounded by offices packed with people behind steamed up windows performing menial tasks on shiny Apple Macs in stuffy rooms for no real positive gain whatsoever. All with the knowledge that you’re going to the Crown and Sceptre, and Loftus Road, not to a Powow Now conference call with six people you don’t give a shit about or want to talk to.

You’re like a kid playing hooky from school, there’s a naughty feeling to it that I haven’t experienced since my dad used to tell my teacher I had a dental appointment and whisk me away in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon to go with him and his mates on the train to Aston Villa away in the League Cup (lost 1-0, Andy Townsend scored, not for me Clive). There's the lights, and the way the pitch gleams, and steam and smoke rising from the kiosks into the dark sky, and people you're used to seeing on a Saturday suddenly ponsed up in work clothes. There's that Samuel Di Carmine goal, or that Dexter Blackstock goal, or that Jamie Mackie goal, or that Paul Furlong goal. There's the abandonment of plans to go straight home after in favour of an all out assault on last orders somewhere, brought on by a late equaliser.

And all we need to really put the tin hat on the whole thing is a QPR win. Just a little one, achieved with a dodgy own goal or something like that, to keep the wolf from the door and the mouth breathers off social media and the Neil Warnock jungle drum in the cupboard for another week or two at least.

Come on Rangers, throw us a bone.

Forest Team News:

Forest midfielder Ryan Yates is on the naughty step after his red card at the weekend at Bristol City. That could be a real problem if fellow midfield enforcer Samba Sow also doesn’t make it – Forest will give him as long as he needs to prove fitness. There’s a fairly sizeable injury list at The City Ground at the moment with Yuri Ribeiro (rickets), Alfa Semedo (gout), Carl Jenkinson (blinded by the light), Yohan Benalouane (scurvy) and Michael Hefele (gangrene) all missing tonight. Luckily a recent transfer policy that would make even Harry Redknapp blush a little bit has left them with a squad of 42 players (eight out on loan) including six senior goalkeepers so they should just about squeeze through.

Forest Form:

Only Bristol City (two) and West Brom (one) have lost fewer games than Nottingham Forest (three) this season. Their away form is even more impressive with just one defeat from nine games – four wins and four draws in the remaining eight. So far they’ve won on the road at Fulham (2-1), Stoke (3-2), Swansea (1-0) and Luton (2-1) with draws at Leeds, Charlton, Blackburn (all 1-1) and Bristol City last time out (0-0). Forest have scored 20 times this season which is the lowest total in the top half of the table, and lower than four teams in the bottom half including 21st-placed Luton Town. They’ve done that from 48 shots on target which, following Huddersfield’s (52) game last night, is now the lowest amount in the league. They’ve scored one goal or fewer in 12 of their 16 league games this season including six of the last seven but they’ve taken 17 points from those dozen games regardless.

Fook me we should get this dude to our match freds. Its him or rick and morty imo
 
There are fans that are just always arseholes (a few come to mind) and there are fans you have a lot of time for.

QPR firmly sit in the second category.

I will never forget how brilliant they were to us when they relegated us. Lots of respect for them, even though we are a bit of a bogey team of theirs