Sheffield Wednesday v QPR 1 - 2 FT

B*gger! By mistake I saw the score on FB!! I knew it was going to be hard to ignore all media references to the game, but only 2 hours afterwards....

OK, few questions and comments:

• stoatey mentioned that Ryan Manning was overrun, but who was meant to be protecting him - Eze? BOS? Shodipo? Did they do their job?
• Three penalties and two misses in a single game seems weird! Have to ask why Manning is not taking ours? @singlespeed is correct to state that whoever takes over must initiate decent penalty-taking practises!
• Was this a hard-fought game or just an end of season stroll?
• QPR for once did the fantastic in extra time!
• Now who went out on a limb and predicted 1-2....

Shodipo was out wide left today and did an ok job getting up and down the line. Manning is good going forward but seems to lack the defensive skills of Bidwell because it's not his natural position. Sheffeild Wednesday didn't do a lot but they had done their homework and knew that Manning and Shodipo are not a natural combination on the left hand side.

I would have hoped that after the debacle of Wells penalty taking that Eustace would have given the job to Manning but maybe he just left it to whoever was confident enough. The way Eze took our penalty today was totally lacksidasical and there was no conviction. It was a couple of steps and then hit to Westwoods left.. Westwood is one of the best goalies in this league and whilst Eze's penalty was a bit soft it was a good save. Westwood was on top form today and was unlucky to be on the losing team.

Watching the game it was more like a friendly at times and was a typical end of season match. It was good to win and there were some promising performances but no more than that.

Mat Smith's goal was an absolute corker and credit has to be given to Leistner who surged forward and laid the ball off to Mass down our left  who then  put a peach of a cross in for Smith to hit on the volley with his left foot.. Great finish to the season and I'm delighted for Matt Smith who was overlooked by McClaren. Smith's goal scoring record this season is a goal every 164 minutes (effectively a goal every 1.8 games). 

We need to keep smith
He’s scored some important goals
Hard to man mark with his physical presence
Not the most skilful but id like him to stay on
Manning should of taken the penalty end of,he scored a few for Rotherham

Anyone know how many goals he got in the end ?

8. 6 in the league, 1 in each cup.

Interestingly, his first league goal this season wasn't until January.

An impressive second half of the season from him really. His personal record was better than a goal every other game when you add up his minutes played.

Wells got 9 but played almost 3 times as many minutes this season as Smith.

Hemed got 7 (2 were penalties - what a waste of money). Freeman was level with Smith on 8.


Having nobody hitting double figures speaks volumes.
We really need a striker to get north of 15 if we are to improve as a club. Since we came down to this level and Austin left we simply don't score enough goals. We haven't got a striker who is so good you can't leave him out. Hopefully Warburton can find a gem.

It is a big ask and I don't expect us to manage it either but until we can get a striker who can hit that mark I don't see us ever troubling the top half. 15 goals is technically only 1 in 3 across the season so is possible but would make such a big difference.

There is no denying we have problems at the back but we have the chance to resolve that with Lynch, Hall and Bidwell all set to leave. If we can recruit correctly the opportunity is there to improve the squad at both ends of the pitch.

I could give shodipo advice on putting on weight
I’ll put him on my diet,he will soon gain then