Huddersfield v QPR 21Oct23 2 - 1 FT 22nd/8pts

Unfortunately for Ainsworth, the players continue to let him down.
Yes, I agree, he is no tactical genius. But every post/pre match interview, he says that they "want to put it right", "know it wasn't good enough" etc etc.
Yet the players throw him under the bus at the first opportunity they get.
Do they just not believe in him? Or, are they just not good enough to back up his statements?
Perhaps it's both.

We had very little attacking threat once Armstrong went off. The subs hurt us. Smyth couldn't put a foot right in particular.

How we didn't score the one on the line I have no idea. Dunne had a free header too. So we were unlucky in some ways but cannot give teams a 2 goal head start.

Huddersfield did nothing in the second half and we still couldn't score from open play.

Ainsworth was very quick down the tunnel which was unusual for him. Chair first down the tunnel followed by Ainsworth.

I'm sure we all want Ainsworth and QPR ro succeed but it's hard to get behind him when he's taking off Armstrong when we are 2-1 down and he doesn't bring on Kelman or Willock who are at least genuine attackers. He then wasted subs on defenders changing Kakay and Paal and Colback. The subs killed any momentum we had and I would love to sit Ainsworth down and know how he thought those subs were improving our chances of getting something from the game.


I agree with something jimjams said in pre-season that I'd got myself into a mindset where I was happy to get behind Ainsworth type football, being hard to beat, getting the ball forward, whatever it may be.

But what we are getting right now is just embarrassing to the QPR name.

We are doing neither of these and that is why we are failing! If we were set up to be defensively strong then we do not have the players capable of maintaining breakaways to offer the chance of scoring. Armstrong should have scored today. No excuses. We can moan about Dunne's header not being good, but he is not there as a striker. It is bad when we miss a player today because he is injured but who hasn't scored more than 3 goals. 

Here are the WLS ratings for the players:

Asmir Begovic: 6

Produced a couple of routine saves. Was left hopelessly exposed for both Huddersfield goals.



Osman Kakay: 5

Continues to be targeted by opposing sides and once again struggled, with Jack Rudoni causing him major problems.



Jimmy Dunne: 6

A decent display and his return from injury has been a positive for Rangers. But he missed a good chance to equalise when he was unable to hit the target with a late header from Andre Dozzell’s corner.



Jake Clarke-Salter: 7

Did well. An encouraging performance – not least because the previously injury-plagued defender carried on and completed the match despite seeming to hurt his groin in the first half. He scored with a header from another Dozzell corner, hit the bar in the second half and won a number of challenges.



Albert Adomah: 6

Offered Kakay better defensive cover than Paul Smyth has recently, but struggled going forward before going off in the second half.



Sam Field: 7

Had a good game in midfield, where he was strong in the challenge and sensible with the ball.



Jack Colback: 6

Better in the second half after an iffy first period.



Andre Dozzell: 7

Ineffective for periods of the game but delivered corners for Rangers’ goal and Dunne’s late chance. Clearly better in a more advanced position when both Field and Colback are available to play behind him.



Kenneth Paal: 6

Sold on the left without creating much despite being willing to get forward.



Ilias Chair: 5

Tried hard to make things happen and never hides, but there were times he needed to release the ball quicker. Overall it was a disappointing display.



Sinclair Armstrong: 5

Worried Huddersfield, who were clearly aware of the threat he poses with his pace, but they dealt with him pretty easily. Denied what looked a certain equaliser by a goal-line block as he tried to force in the rebound after Clarke-Salter hit the woodwork. But for all his exciting attributes and enthusiasm, Armstrong needs to react more decisively in those situations.



Paul Smyth: 6

Replaced Armstrong up front in the second half but was unable to seriously trouble the home defence.



Reggie Cannon: 6

Came on with 20 minutes left for his debut. Has pace and might be one to watch. Rangers’ other substitutes – Ziyad Larkeche, Rayan Kolli and Elijah Dixon-Bonner – had less time to make an impact.

Since the start of last season, QPR have lost more games in the Championship than any other side (30 defeats).

16 of these league defeats have come under Gareth Ainsworth and in just 25 Championship matches.

This is a good point, if they didn't change manager in the break they won't change this week now. It would be a stinker of a first game for a manager against Leicester, it would kill any feel good factor straight away.

Looks like he's getting these few fixtures probably up to and including Rotherham. It would be last chance saloon by that point (very good chance we'll have 6 straight defeats going into that game) so lose that one and it's game over for Ainsworth because we could start to be cut adrift in the bottom 3.