The preamble
It’s been a long summer without club football since that memorable night in Munich. Yes, yes, I know we’ve played three league games already but that feels more like being served an amuse-bouche only to be told that the chef’s just popping out for three weeks holiday before he can prepare your starter.
There have been sporting activities attempting to fill the summer interregnum and I decided in advance to be a good Brit and support all our boys and girls, regardless of their country of origin and well before Sean Connery pissed on my parade by declaring that Andy Murray is Scottish not British.
For some time I’ve imagined there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, because countries are a historical legacy where geographical location was the only logical way to group people since they needed to be within easy travelling distance to communicate with each other. But with the advent of the Internet, mobile phones, social networking and affordable high speed travel it’s as easy to communicate with someone on the other side of the world as it is your next door neighbour. Despite the current problems with the euro we’re still proceeding at pace towards currency convergence, common taxes, single spoken language, global brands and world-wide laws leading me to the conclusion that soon, even if not in my lifetime, countries will be redundant.
Accordingly to ensure I got the maximum enjoyment out of the sporting summer I waved goodbye to my British and English citizenship and declared myself to be the first resident of Ish, a superset region for all countries with ‘ish. You won’t believe how liberating it feels to no longer be constrained by arbitrary longitudes and latitudes. Whilst all around me suffered the expected English penalty blow-out in the Euros I was able to revel in the third consecutive Spanish success. At the Olympics and Paralympics I was guaranteed to have someone to cheer in every event, now including Sweden and Denmark, and the summer was rounded off nicely by the Northern Irish Rory McIlroy and Scottish Andy Murray. And to cap it all I’ve offered thanks to the god of linguistics who ensured that I’ve been spared by one character from the ignominy of supporting the Welsh.
Pre-match
To shake or not to shake. A question that can be used in a wide variety of circumstances. Cooking, milkshakes, Kenco coffee beans, ‘n vac, noisy children, post urination and of course handshakes, an act commonly performed upon meeting, greeting, parting, offering congratulations, or completing an agreement, its purpose is to convey trust, balance, and equality. Handshakes possibly originated as a gesture showing that the hand holds no weapon.
Anyhow Anton bypassed JT and Ashley and no doubt his brother Rio wished he’d used the bypass after he was caught speeding three times in five weeks on the same road and was banned last week for six months. Both brothers seem to lack respect for the law and presumably both missed quite a few days of school.
The first half
No room for Mata which didn’t surprise me because last year I think he found this match a little too brutish. The ref, in his reddish shirt, got his yellow card out for us and seemed a bit biased, almost as if he felt he needed to counterbalance Anton’s failed prosecution. At the other end we had two reasonable claims for a penalty, with JT being dragged to the ground at a corner and the distinguished Hazard clearly tripped as he ran at speed into the box.
We had the best possession and created two good chances, one for the impoverished Torres and the other for the impish Hazard.
However we struggled to create a really clear-cut chance and it was difficult to see how we could create an opening against the amazing defensive qualities of Bosingwa and SWP.
QPR were forced to make two substitutions first half. We showed all the class against our poor neighbours but not enough in the final third.
The second half
Moses made his debut as a sub for Bertrand but despite having 30 minutes to show something he was unable to perform any miracles.
We seemed to lack a midfield and no one seemed capable of changing the game. Ramires looked a little lost on the wing and Lampard and Mikel were unable to provide a cleverish defence splitting pass.
Mikel made a catastrophic back pass but fortunately QPR lacked the polish to establish a lead. On the break the stylish Hazard produced a great run, laying the ball off for Torres who made a feeblish attempt to finish.
Sturridge came on for Torres after 80 minutes which seemed a bit harsh because surely Torres needs longer to get into the game than that.
Cech continued to kick long for the imaginary Drogba.
We managed to conjure up one more chance with a decent cross from Moses but unfortunately Hazard blasted over from eight yards.
The player ratings
Ish ratings allow for a margin of +/- 3.
- Cech – 7ish
- Ivanovic – 7ish
- Cole – 7ish
- David Luiz – 7ish
- Terry – 7ish
- Bertrand – 7ish
- Ramires – 6ish
- Lampard – 7ish
- Mikel – 7ish
- Hazard – 7ish
- Torres – 6ish
- Moses (sub) – 6ish
- Sturridge (sub) – 7ish
The summary
Well it was better than last year where we imploded after going down to nine men and to be honest I’m grateful for a point against a team that views their duel with us as their biggest game since appearing in the FA Cup Final in 1982.
Last week we bought a new bread knife for the kitchen, an expensive Japanese Global knife from John Lewis, with serrated teeth. Prior to that the bread was being torn and shredded rather than cut but this new knife is a revelation, slicing through the loaf as if it were the butter. Chelsea have paid top dollar for their cutting edge but it’s nowhere near as effective, today verging on toothless.
Finished
It’s been a while since I’ve published such gibberish yet you’d be churlish to relinquish what can be accomplished by adopting the Ish philosophy.
The press reports
The Observer, David Hytner: “The one apiece was not bad for either side, even if the two dropped represented Chelsea’s first blemish of the Premier League season. Both teams departed with regrets, with QPR’s centring upon the two clear chances that they spurned in the second half. Park Ji-sung fluffed a gloriously free header while Bobby Zamora seized upon a loose Mikel John Obi back-pass to round Petr Cech only not to shoot. He finally unloaded after checking inside but the opportunity had passed. Chelsea were the better team in the first half and they might have snatched victory in the closing moments only for Eden Hazard to blaze over the crossbar from the substitute Victor Moses’s low cross. Roberto Di Matteo lamented his side’s lack of cutting edge for the first time this season. All of the passion, all of the huff and puff, came to nothing.”
The Sunday Telegraph, Gerry Cox: “A large banner laid out in front of the Loftus Road tunnel as the players emerged before kick-off read, “Get on with the Game”, but the racism row that has rumbled on since last October’s corresponding fixture refuses to go away. The players did get on with a game – not the best this ground has seen – but only after the brouhaha over the handshakes continued. As expected, Anton Ferdinand refused to shake hands with John Terry and Ashley Cole, as did Ji Sung Park, QPR’s captain.”
The Official Chelsea FC Website: “The Blues were held for the first time in this league campaign in what, despite no goals, was not a dull derby encounter. It was on the whole an even contest. Queens Park Rangers can point to more genuine chances, especially after the break, but Chelsea spurned the best of all when Hazard fired over near the end, and it is very hard to explain why we weren’t awarded a penalty when the same Chelsea player was clearly fouled in the first half. The bright, attacking link-ups that have been evident on occasions this campaign were few and far between in this game. Victor Moses came on for his debut in the second half and with Daniel Sturridge introduced late on as well, we opened the visitors up more, but Rangers too could have won it near the end.”
At least we didn’t concede and looked a bit better at the back than in the Super Cup. Not great, and it was only QPR, but at least better. I thought Sturridge looked pretty good for the ten minutes he was on, offering incisive, quick play that Torres wasn’t offering. I think RDM started out too cautiously playing Bertrand and Ramires, whereas I think we needed a bit more attacking threat from at least one of those wings. When Moses and Sturridge came on there were glimpses of what our squad offers in terms of attacking threat. There are a lot of new players so it won’t always go well, but there’s enough there for me not to worry too much. However the pivot still looks pretty crap to be honest. Mikel looked good (minus that one big error), but Lampard still isn’t settling into that role that well. He’s trying, but it isn’t working that well. The pivot is meant to dominate the midfield area, passing quickly and accurately, keeping the opposition at bay, with them trying to harry us for the ball and getting tired, but we just aren’t that imposing in that part of the field yet. Maybe the backroom staff see something in training with Lampard and he is gradually improving and getting used to the position.
It’s only been a few games into the season, so I’ll reserve proper judgement for a while longer, but so far our performances have mostly been pretty good, like in the majority of our league games, with a few pretty poor ones, like the Super Cup. I just hope they’re all working on their passing a bit more, becoming less rusty, and maybe telling Torres not to keep dribbling into a bunch of opposition defenders whenever he gets the ball.
Finally, I fucking hate QPR. What a bunch of twats they have in their fans, manager and most of their players. Bosingwa is still quite amusing though, especially now that he’s not in our defence. And Park seems like a nice guy. But the rest can fuck off! I hope they get relegated.
Well, Park refused to shake Terry’s hand..
I missed the very beginning of the match with the handshakes. All the news seems to be about Anton and Terry (and Ashley Cole). I didn’t realise that about Park. It’s about the come up on MOTD. If that’s true then that’s all the more reason for QPR to be relegated!
Impoverish Torres? Well, exactly so! He can’t hold the ball, simply can’t.
What is wrong with RDM playing lampard abs leaving Oscar out the kid is on fire at the moment and stop playing Ryan he is no winter for crying out loud that’s why Moses is there for. Seriously if he continues like that we gonna finish outside the top four trust me. Disgusted today to negative tactically bring on pep please
The first call for Pep – after all, we’re only top of the league and unbeaten after 4 games. Genius.
Surely it’s ok for the team to have a Pep talk?
Arf!
RdM’s team selection today was frustrating to say the least. Luiz after his horrific Super Cup performance picked ahead of Cahill. Terry risked ahead of Juventus. Lampard (sigh) after 2 England games not only starts but plays 90 minutes. Romeu must be in despair. Ryan Betrand LW?? Yes we know he is a talent and put a shift in there in the CL final but QPR ha ha are no Bayern Munich. And Ramires RW. How many times does RdM need to play him there to realize he is wasted. What Oscar and Moses made of it, heaven only knows. Probably the same as us mere mortals watching on helplessly.
By the way Danny did more in 10 minutes than Torres did in 80. So next time you feel like a sulk “El Nino” try putting a shift in first. Or watch the Super Cup video of Falcoa.Useless twat. CFC are flogging a dead horse preserving with FT9.
Finally both Ferdinand and QPR fans really showed their lack of class today. God knows what Granero is making of that Shepards Bush shower.
People can’t show what they haven’t got by definition. I am talking about QPR fans and this twat Ferdinand.
In my little bloog,( http://www.themagicworld.org/bloog/?p=4685 ) I wrote today that we were not sharp, crisp and determined in our passing. We had no real pace until later in the second half when RDM subbed in Victor Moses (who should have started instead of Ryan Bertrand) and Danny Sturridge (who should have started instead of Ramires, maybe). QPR made a sporty attempt to punch above their weight, and fair play to them, they got some hits in. All in all, we should have blown into Loftus Road, taken all 3 points, and left Anton Ferdinand’s head on a stick inside the area (metaphorically speaking, of course) with an endless cassette tape loop of The Kinks “Stop Your Sobbing” resounding through the empty stadium.
But not on THIS day. Not happy with only 1 point. We are not playing like an elite team.
As yes, Cech has GOT to stop hoofing it up to the Imaginary Didier Drogba. Everytime we get a goal kick, it makes me cringe.
I forget to mention MY …ish of the match.
That would be CHILDish. That would refer, of course, to Anton Ferdinand.
d selection was pathetic…i feel moses nd oscar should hav started d game…bertnand shud hav playd at LB nd cahill at CB…both ashley nd JT jst recovered from injuries nd risking dem ahead of a big match was stupid…lamps was on international duty nd shud hav been given a break…playn him 4 d whole match was a bad decision….RDM is a genious in man management bt i feel he got it terribly wrong dis tym….
Haha, great stuff Mark.
My thoughts:
1. Last season was a 1-0 defeat with two red cards. Yesterday was a 0-0 with 11 men still on the pitch. I would call that an improvement.
2. An improvement especially because of our weak-ish record at Loftus Road, 1 win in the last 12 league outings.
3. Undefeated in the league, joint clean sheets, still top.
4. Without possibly the coup of the season – Julio Cesar – we win that match 2-0.
5. Victor Moses will eventually cement that right hand side as his own.
6. RDM’s post match comment about how to deal with handshakes was absolutely world class. I love this man….
7. …but he needs to figure out his strongest three-man creative combination behind the striker. This will take time, for sure.
8. We need to talk about Fernando Torres. We will need another striker of a different approach to see out this season.
Juventus should tell us a lot more about the progress that has been made. That’s going to be a cracker.
Juve are struggling against Genoa at the minute.
Torres is ok but not a game changer in the way you need your lone-striker to be.
I’m not sure how RDM intends to figure out his best creative trio by playing Ramires and Bertrand there and leaving Studge, Oscar and Moses on the bench. I think he needs to work out how to give the whole team the correct balance. The defensive wingers seem to be some sort of solution to Lamps inability to operate efficiently in the pivot. Are we seriously going to see him play 4 full games in a fortnight?
Finally one tactical thought. If, as is generally accepted, the animosity/needle involved in yesterday’s game tends to affect the result why didn’t RDM rest Cole & Terry for Wednesday and take a lot of the sting out of the game. Cahill and Bertrand are perfectly capable. It would’ve ruined Anton and the boo-boys day and kept the focus on a football match which ought to have been pretty winnable. I like RDM a lot but I’m not sure he’ll ever have the guts/nous for making big calls on big players a la SAF/Mourinho. He is however a safe pair of hands and very professional/uncontroversial. I’m not knocking him, far from it. He maybe just lacks a little genius? Maybe I’m 100% wrong and doing him a huge disservice but people will always get frustrated especially when they see a disappointing performance and players obviously being played out of position. We didn’t spend £35million on Oscar and Moses to have them back up Bertrand and Ramires surely. So some difficult tactical decisions need to be made to achieve a balance between our attack and defence.
Splendid(ish) stuff Mark, mysteriously overlooked by many/most of the commentators so far. I didn’t see the game but I’m still a bit baffled by the tenor of some of these responses. Bertrand? Played extremely well in that same position against Newcastle, certainly doing enough to justify continued selection. Nando ditto. As Mark says, Mata was presumably left out on the theory that he’s not really a bearpit kind of competitor, which given the options available (i.e. the tough, highly experienced and very athletic Ramires) seems reasonable. In which case it’s not that surprising that Oscar wasn’t selected either, given that he makes Josh McEachran look like Wladimir Klitschko. Moses has only just joined the club so not selecting him to start hardly seems like an obvious error.
I’m no far of QPR either but disappointed too by contempt directed at Mark Hughes, who was a hugely influential and notably classy player for Chelsea in his years dahn the Bridge.
Probably not a bad point from a game which sounds as if it could have gone either way. And since we’ve just won the world’s biggest club competition while playing pretty iffily at best, let’s not get too rabid about a low-to-middling performance.
Karma strikes again.
There I was pleased with myself that I’d had the sense not to waste a Saturday afternoon peering at dodgy internet streams and settled for Sky’s 60-minute highlights version in the evening.
Having been irritated as ever by Tony Gale’s outrageous anti-Chelsea bias (he even had the gall to claim the Nelsen on Terry penalty was “50-50 holding”) – and the endless obsession with handshake woffle – I had to admit we, ahem, lacked fluency to put it mildly and all too many of the team seemed keen to join Cech in lumping long balls to “the imaginary Drogba” as Mark put it.
A quick skip through MOTD to see what deep insights Hansen and Shearer might bring to the occasion [well, you live in hope] only to see despite RDM’s hint that the media might stop droning on about handshakes they launched into another tedious binge on the subject.
Down to the newsagent on Sunday morning to feed my quaint habit of reading hardcopy papers on that day to find the Observer now costs a whacking 30p more than last week and had 3 “stories” on the front page of its Sports section:
1) Mancs fans’ love of anti-Scouse chants
2) Handshake woffle
3) Boxer Ricky Hatton’s Dad being arrested for allegedly fighting with him in public.
Dear me, and the NFL coverage offers no respite where it’s all about the iniquities of replacement referees and the suspensions of New Orleans Saints coaching staff and players [possibly].
Final nail in coffin, Sky start trailing next week’s Liverpool v Manc game, which means even more handshake woffle next weekend.
I despair!
Look it’s your own fault for buying the Sunday papers. Should of followed my lead and had the Italian glossy mags couriered over if you really want to keep a breast of the news.
I think I prefer handshakes now to football itself. I thought there was some robust, and limp handshakes during the 90 odd minutes, although Ferdinand did miss two sitters which might have got QPR the points.
I did read Park also missed a couple of sitters as well? could be crucial in their relegation battle come the end of the season. I think there were some dubious off the ball handshakes as well, which should be investigated by the FA.
If anyone has a link to the OPTA handshake table it would be interesting to see, but all in all a point and a few handshakes a piece seemed a fair result given the atrocious conditions we had to deal with, namely Loftus Road, and their fans. 😉
PS Keep buying the Italian and French magazines Mark, I need all the commission I can get, that bloody lens cost me a small fortune!
Amusing stuff Mark.
Apart from being a clever device to avoid supporting the Welsh, I’m to sure that it really gives you that many more people to support or indeed encompasses that much of the known world. But hey ho.
I think your by turns wistful, weary and impish summary seems to capture what was a rather tawdry and uninspiring return to Premier League action.
Having been restricted to radio and MOTD highlights, your view of the game seems to tally with the impression I had.
Given that it was post international and a fixture we got nothing from last year combined with the usual derby hoo ha with a large dollop of added nastiness added in, I’m in the camp that sees it as a point more than last time and wipes the dust from that grubby hole on the way out.
And in terms of player quality the R’s are probably a step up on last years edition albeit they’ve only all just met.
I seem to be more adversely affected by that match than most of us here.
It wasn’t the loss of points, or the performance as such, but we seemed to do the hardest part – getting to the break with all eleven players – I was really looking forward to us fine tuning our game and putting a few chances away, but in re-gaining our discipline we seemed to lose our fire, and were happy to settle for the point.
That usually means a defeat when we try it, so maybe 0-0 was OK (-ish).
They had a much better game plan for second half, and got hold of the ball and pushed forward, where we were trying too many one touch, over elaborate tricks, on a tight and congested little pitch, but I hadn’t given up hope, and when Danny left the bench there was a possibility of one of those surprising decisions, like at Reading, when he came on for Mikel, but no, it was to be like for like and that was about it.
Thought that Moses looked lively, and it wasn’t really a bad performance by us, we had chances, could’ve had penalties etc, but it was a game we should have won, or to put another way, there will be much more difficult games than that ahead.
Suppose the prospect of Juve must not be discounted, either, and when the most important home fixture (on paper, anyway) comes first in CL, it’s bound to affect planning and players.
Nick,
I’m not one to whinge and moan a lot [well, not compared to some on here, anyway] but if Disqus insist on sticking to their new layout which results in new posts replying to older entries getting buried in the middle of the blog no matter which filter we choose, do you think they might be persuaded that they need to introduce:
1) automatic highlighting of unread entries, preferably in a nice shade of Chelsea-blue
2) an automatic “go to first unread entry” facility.
Even the otherwise ghastly forums based on Moodle that the OU inflicts on its students these days have both of these facilities, which I guess means that these are not technically difficult things to do.
OK. I’ll put it to a vote, BBD. Regular commenters: Go back to the old Disqus comment layout or keep the current one?
I’m not fussed either way. My one concern is that Disqus will eventually phase out the older layouts.
How about go back to the old disqus and hope and pray that by the time that version gets switched off disqus have enhanced the new one in some helpful way..
I like threading because on the old version it was sometimes hard to see to which post a reply was being made but, on balance, it is pretty tricky to find new posts at a glance.
P.S. Is there any way to moderate bluboydave’s endless whinging?
I’m more than happy to go back to the old system.
Actually you may have a point BBD as I thought my reply to you would end up down here instead of up there, but for that to happen I would have to reply to Cunningplan who I have no interest in conversing with at all! 😉
I’ll have you know we Scots are mostly feeling pretty chirpy at the moment now that Andy Murray has finally won a Grand Slam and are certainly not in endless whinging mood, despite the best efforts of our national football side to make the fastest ever exit from the next World Cup Qualifiers 😉
He’s British 🙂
God on a stick! I’ve just realised that the reference to “parent” on some of the posts is not part of the posters profile in which they announce their fecundity to the world but is a way of referencing the original post on which you are commenting.
I feel I’m getting to grips with this computational business now.
I see where you’re coming from BBD but perhaps we ought to tough it out a while. Otherwise we’re a bit like the Chelsea board and their managers/coaches….
Note to all:
The MOD in green next to my name is not designating me as someone who rides a hairdryer and wears a parka.
I once rode a Triumph and still have the leather jacket. Just felt it was important to point that out.
That’s better. It might have well been in binary for the past few days! A failure to spot new posts was probably all my fault but I fear change now I’m in my 40s.
My iPhone definitely prefers this format. not sure if I need a software update or just that disqus need to iron out some compatibility issues. Often when using my iPhone the whole comment box would go completely blank and when it did work it seemed very slow.
It’s a cunning plan by Apple to get all their sheep, oops I mean users to upgrade to their next identical product to keep their coffers full. 😉
Very good game with Citeh and RM last night, that result clearly upset Joe Hart when he was being interviewed after the game.
[…] Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Chelsea – Sluggish Performance Fails to Punish QPR […]
Aaaah, the old format returns, perfect for the iPhone, the iMac, the iPad. Less so for granny Smiths, Golden delicious, Russets and Cox’s Orange Pippins as I’m on an Apple theme.
Listen to the podcast folks, this weeks is the best yet. Bizarre and eclectic. (Just 2 words I did learn recently)
You forgot to put the letter “i” in front of Granny Smiths Golden Delicious etc etc… to make them more appealing to the sheep… I mean customers. 😉
Podcast has risen to new heights this week, superb!
I’m no sheep. I might be the only one with a Windows phone!
Thanks for reverting to the old format, Nick which looks splendid on my steam-driven non-Apple PC.
I still think the idea of highlighting of unread posts could be the solution to improving the new Disqus layout, though on reflection Chelsea-blue might give legibility problems.
I’ve just listened to the latest Podding Shed and thought it was excellent stuff as ever.
Glad to hear you finally got the timing of Essien’s involvement in the Madrid v Citeh game right, though it gives me no pleasure to say he looked as slow and prone to wildly inaccurate passing as he did in his rare appearances for us last season.
I think his main contribution to keeping the score at 0-0 must have been the amount of “dead” time he created from his passes ending up out of the field of play 🙂
Well that was both good and bad wasn’t it. The pivot isn’t really improving at the rate it should do. And Terry looks increasingly slow against top class opposition nowadays, along with Lampard. Oscar looks a player though.
The same issues at QPR were present today. Our attack looks pretty good overall, with any combination of Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Moses (from the weekend anyway) etc looking pretty threatening. Going back though our pivot doesn’t offer enough protection, especially to Ivanovic or Cole. Luiz looked good. Let’s hope that someone from our youth (be it Kalas, Bruma or Chalobah) can step up over the next few seasons and take the place of Terry as he is slowly phased out (as he should be to be honest), and become our fourth choice centre back competing with places along with Cahill, Luiz, Ivanovic (or a replacement we may consider purchasing, as Ivanovic has hardly looked the steadiest of players when played in the middle).
If only we still had Steve Clarke! Just look at what having someone like Steve Bould as Wenger’s assistant has done to their defence.
Anyway let’s go beat Stoke, the team I hate most apart from QPR.
I felt the game had a draw written all over it, especially when they pulled one back before half time.
And as good as the ref was in the final, I thought he had a poorish game tonight, too many soft free kicks given to Juventus, plus the refusal to award us what I thought was a pretty clear penalty with Hazard.
Apparently the penalty was 50-50! He did only kick him four-times from behind. Oh and give him a push for good measure. It seems a bit like no referee wants to give Hazard a penalty since he got two in two (both stonewall). Typical CL refereeing. If a CFC player touches any opponent from behind anywhere on the pitch a free-kick is awarded. Swap the shirts and put the penalty incident in the centre circle and the referee gives a free-kick every time.
Third iffy performance in a row.
Mikel giving everyone who hates him plenty of ammunition. Just stood perfectly still as the game went on around him directly before both goals. Along with Ramires (who has been badly out of form so far this term) gave the ball away as often as not.
Torres absolutely no different to Kalou tonight. Constantly running down blind alleys.
Not sure if it’s the system or the players or both but our midfield is still (£80million later!) unable to control possession and therefore unable to control matches against good sides. Needs addressing as urgently as our one-man strike force (who looks like he wants to be winger anyway). I would still like to see Romeu and Mikel get a go together in the pivot. Unless Mikel is going to play like he did tonight, in which case I’d be willing to do the same job for a fraction of the price (£15,000 a week will be fine, if you’re reading RDM).
On a positive note Oscar had a magical debut. If he can grow into the side and dictate the tempo for us as he does for Brazil (where he receives about three times as many passes from his team-mates) he could help us control possession.
Not sure why Cahill isn’t being given more of a chance considering he is probably our best centre-half, in terms of form, currently. Not sure why Sturridge is so out of favour as well. We must be resting him for that all important Capital One League Cup tie with Wolves.
[…] years gone by.Robbie Di Matteo chose not to deploy either of the defensive wingers that started the 0-0 draw against our bottom of the league neighbours QPR. Rather Oscar was given the nod to fulfil a similar role to the one he played against Pirlo and […]
[…] Di Matteo chose not to deploy either of the defensive wingers that started the 0-0 draw against our bottom of the league neighbours QPR. Rather Oscar was given the nod to fulfil a similar role to the one he played against Pirlo and […]
[…] House of Bayou, who made his competitive feetballs début a few weeks ago, the very weekend we played our emotionally challenged cousins from up the road.He donned the traditional No. 1 shirt as custodian for an U10 football side whose name includes the […]
[…] The curious headline is prompted by young Junior, scion of the noble House of Bayou, who made his competitive feetballs début a few weeks ago, the very weekend we played our emotionally challenged cousins from up the road. […]
[…] trophy of a spectacular season.Thus far our season has been very good. Nineteen points from 21 with QPR being the only slight stain on what in anyone’s eyes is a very good start to the season. Of course the critics have been out […]
[…] The curious headline is prompted by young Junior, scion of the noble House of Bayou, who made his competitive feetballs début a few weeks ago, the very weekend we played our emotionally challenged cousins from up the road. […]