QPR v Bristol City 18SEP21 0 - 0 0mins 12pts/6th

I am dumbfounded

26 shots and we lose.

The second half was complete domination

The big chance was Dykes' shot he tried to cushion home rather than blasting it, but it was a match only one team looked like winning... and we lost.

I said it at half time but unless we smarten up defensively we are going nowhere this season. Both goals were so similar how we are completely open after being on the attack.

A lot to think about but this is the most disappointed I've been about a defeat for a long time because we really didn't deserve to lose that. Gutted.

OK on the train and I have had time to calm down... This was a match we should have won on paper, and one we could have won. Instead two of their four only attacks produced goals. I lost count of the number of half-chances and good chances we did not get. Their
42 was superb (Chelsea loaner?). Because Ball's defensive midfield role was sacrificed for another attacker we let the midfield get out of control. I still believe in two strikers (just not convinced about Gray or Austin) but we should have dropped Willock instead. I love Willock's play but question whether there is room for him and Chair if playing two up front. Good performances from Dykes, Dickie, Chair and DeWijs. Less than wanted from Johansen, Gray and a very poor Odubajo. This performance guarantees the B side will play against Everton. We need to get sorted for the Baggies!

It was a strange game because I thought de Wijs was outstanding yet we lose.

It's just one of those games where we could have won 4-1 but lost 2-1. Still frustrated now a couple of hours on.

Post Bristol City Stats:

The defeat against Bristol City drops us to 8th

QPR hadn't lost for 143 days and have now lost twice in 5 days

Luckily only one of the teams above us (Bournemouth) won so we are still only 1 point outside the top 6 despite our back to back defeats.

QPR have achieved a once in a generation scoring run, now scoring in 21 consecutive games. We have not previously experienced this for nearly 60 years since a run of 34 games from December 1961 to September 1962.

With 12 points and 8th place we are still 11 places higher than we were after 8 games last season when we were 19th with 7 points.

However we are now a bit behind where we were in Warburton's first season in charge 2 years ago (19/20) when we had 16 points from 8 games (we did then only win 2 of the next 11 that season)



Our 14 goals scored is joint 3rd highest in the league but only 3 teams have conceded more than our 12

We rank 4th in the league for number of shots and shots on target and also rank 3rd for number of crosses

We have committed 75 fouls which is the 3rd lowest amount in the league (only Hull and Sheff Utd have committed less fouls)

Conversely we rank 2nd for fouls drawn on 106 (Swansea top on 111). Combining these 2 stats suggests there is an argument growing that we are being bullied and aren't being smart enough once again.

Stefan Johansen is already on 4 yellow cards and will miss a match once he gets to 5

We have now only won 2 of the last 9 games without Lee Wallace

If the table was based on 1st half performances we'd be 20th. We are unbeaten in 2nd halves and would be top. As we have all been saying we just need to perform as we know we can for 90 minutes.

Brilliant stats northwesthoop that prove how slowly we start games. The question that Warburton has to solve is why are we starting games so poorly and what are the reasons.

IMO there are a combination of factors but the biggest issue is down our right. Odubajo and Kakay are both unfortunately out of there depth as defenders/wing backs in the Championship. Dom Ball is an honest player who does an alright job as a right sided holding midfielder but is at best average. I thought that  maybe we would see Dozzell challenging for the right midfield role but whether he has lost confidence after getting substituted after 30 minutes against Barnsley or whether Warburton has lost a bit of faith in him I don't know.

Going forward when Amos/Field are fit then we will see some more competition in the midfield which should make us stronger.

The only way I believe we solve our right wing back issue is by scouting the Championship for someone proven at this level and then bringing them in. Other than that we need to look at getting a loan in from the Premiership for a defender with experience.

I don't disagree northwesthoop.

In the past I often criticised Warburton for being tactically lacking and despite us advising him on this site that he needed to move from his favoured 4-2-3-1 he continued to play that formation (Played 18, Won 4, Drew 6, Lost 8, Goals Scored 18, Goals Conceded 26.

However, he did eventually listen and moved to the 3-4-1-2 formation that has given us more balance and has been sucessful (Played 13, Won 8, Drew 2, Lost 3, Goals Scored 20 Goals Conceded 15. You would think that when he has found a system that works he would let the other team worry about how to counteract us. 

The issue that I have with Warburton is that he seems to have some sort of self destruct button where he wants to  change things to not only baffle the opposion and our fans but it also confuses our players. The Barnsley game was an example where he started Thomas as the right wing back and Kakay as the left wing back. Then yesterday not only does he change the formation but he plays just one recognised midfielder in Johansen. Then with 10 minutes to go and us pressing for the win what does he do but take off a striker in Dykes and replaces him with defensive midfielder Ball.  

I hope that yesterday was a freak result but I also hope that Warburton goes back to our winning formation and gives Johansen a bit of help in that midfield.