Well that is very probably that. Or that’s what it feels like anyway. If you can’t score goals you won’t win games and a total of two in recent weeks against Everton, Stoke, Sunderland, Norwich and now QPR has done for us good and proper.
Rarely can money have been more wasted than by those who spent their hard earned on the Mind The Gap t-shirts doing the rounds a few weeks ago, though the fifty quid shelled out today to see us lose to the softest of free-kicks whilst not being able to muster anything in response can’t be far behind. We had a ton of possession and passed passed passed well for long periods but were about as threatening to Kenny’s goal as the late great Jocky Wilson without his teeth in would’ve been to a toffee apple.
The QPR keeper batted away everything we aimed at him, seemingly only being rattled by the persistent comments of one fan behind his goal in the Spurs end who appeared to have an unhealthy and almost personal interest in the goalie’s ‘Drugs Shame!’ whilst with the Blades. By the time, towards the end of the first half Paddy turned to give his response, (all verbal by the way, no signage), he had protected his side’s advantage with saves from Bale, Van der Vaart (3 times) as well as watch a King header float over his bar. The advantage in question came from a Taraabt free-kick that dipped over the wall and into the bottom corner whilst (#footballcliches alert) Friedel went down in instalments.
They must be putting something in water in Shepherd’s Bush as the amount of noise sporadically generated by the home fans bore no resemblance to anything I’ve ever seen before at Loftus Rd where a cup of cocoa and a good book have previously been the order of the day. Their enthusiasm hit its peak in the comic and misdirected opprobrium whenever a Spurs player was flattened or given the benefit of the doubt by Twattenburg. This purple-faced, head-bursting fury culminated in the applauding off of the red-carded Taraabt near the end despite the fact that he’d just jeopardised both this result and potentially his team’s season by stupidly kicking the ball away at a free kick.
The response from the away end to the baying home fans was loud given the lack of anything useful going on on the pitch, but often sarcastic as Harry was lauded with regular and free advice – “he plays on the left”, “he plays on the right” and “Redknapp for England” – as frustration grew at the obvious lack of width when contrasted with the crowded mosh pit in the middle.
Even though we dominated the play and Friedel spent the game looking for a shot to save there was an inevitably about the result after we went behind such was our inability to create space and clear cut opportunities. In the second period we piled forward and Kenny saved from Van der Vaart, Bale, Defoe and Modric as try as we might, we couldn’t notch an equaliser. As a consequence the top four finish we all thought was inevitable just a couple of months ago now depends on the results of others, not just our own. Four fences left, Blackburn, Bolton, Villa and Fulham. We cannot afford a stumble at any of them but each one at the moment is starting to look all a bit Beecher’s Brook.
By MF
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