THE DANGER OF BEING STRANGERS AT RANGERS

Championship @ Loftus Road

QUEENS PARK RANGERS (0) 1 Nygaard 47
CARDIFF CITY (0) 0

Attendance: 12,329
City support: 1,000 approx.
Weather: The F Word .... F-f-f-f-f-f-f-freezing
Atmosphere:
"It's just like being in church" sang a silent City until someone pointed out that at least the crowd all sing in church.


As it's Xmas, to the tune of "Away in a Manger" ...

Away at the Rangers
Wish we were home and in bed
A frustrated BluebirdIs banging his head
Ball's hoofed in the bright sky
Can't score at night or day
Oh why Cardiff City
Were we so rubbish away?


Cardiff City suffered back-to-back Championship defeats for the second time this season. The Great Dane, 6' 3" Marc Nygaard decided it with a winner in the opening minute of the second half of a game between two very average teams putting on a poor show - lacking in quality and entertainment - on a bitterly cold night.

City were unimaginative and dull, dreadful in the first half and little better after the interval to the extent that everyone around me realised we were in for a long night inside the opening 5 minutes. Starting 4-5-1 and staying with that formation for far too long, even after falling behind, the passing, movement and style left much to be desired.

City huff and puff, their effort is there and they can't really be faulted on that score but this is the Championshp and you have to be so much better than that alone. We now look jaded with a defence doing well but a faltering midfield completely bereft of ideas and creativity and a lifeless attack who need help fast as now underlined by no goal in five hours of football, 5 defeats in the last 10 Championship fixtures and just 4 points from the last 15 available.

Cardiff City, at this moment in time, have lost their way. Dave Jones was spot on in his post-match assessment that City haven't become a bad team overnight if only because results and performances suggest we've now been a bad team for a month (Leeds away excepted). A paltry haul of 12 points from the last 11 games - that's quarter of a season - is more akin to relegation than play-off form.

City, after over-performing, now appear to be achieving pretty much as we largely expected to happen before a ball was kicked in August, that doesn't make it any easier to stomach. Changes are undoubtedly necessary and DJ will have to wheel and deal hard in the January transfer window if City are to re-establish momentum.

A Christmas Wednesday trip to London was the mission. However stopping en route for a bevvy in Canton whilst it was freezing outside, there was a temptation not to go at all. We did though, leaving it late to get to Shepherd's Bush Green it was achieved in just under two and a half hours with a service stop to boot. With it being Christmas holidays, street parking was very easy and we joined up with the coaches and many away travellers at Walkabout just opposite the frozen solid Green.

Inside, the kids were boisterous, the rest just having a chat and laugh until, an hour before kick-off, the 50+ police outside closed the bar and escorted or 500+ of us on the mile walk to the ground and made us London's newest tourist attraction as locals peered out of their windows, stood on buildings and turned every vantage point into an opportunity to take a photo. City fans endeared themselves by chanting as many anti-England songs as possible, nice touch along Shepherd's Bush Road, a street which seemed to consist of 50 chippies, 25 burger shops, a few takeaways and 100 kebab shops. I think I saw some fruit and veg too.

Once we got to the ground, we had to funnel into an away entrance walkway no bigger than that to the average terraced house and then be subjected to full body searches by over-zelaous stewards, a bit of a throwback and quite unnecessary. Not only had I finally got into an away ground - after my trials and tribulations at Sheffield and Preston - we still had half-hour until kick-off. The bookie was closed due to "technical difficulties" - presumably someone forgot the slips and pens but the catering outlet tea, coffee, bovril and pukka pies were well received on a night which was the coldest December one for 9 years around the country and saw many games postponed as tempartures fell below freezing and wind chill made it feel around -8. Those dodgy Christmas jumpers and gloves from grannies and aunties came in useful after all!

Loftus Road is neat and functional, no frills, completely rectangular with 4 subbuteo-style stands close up to the action. City were housed in the Upper Tier of the away stand which gave good views but, unless, you were near the front, it did make it difficult to see the goal directly below us.

I was on the left side, QPR's Sombrero Man complete with rattle and kazoo - how embarrassing - was in the adjoining stand as were Richard Langley's parents waving over at us. Those on the right were joined by Darren Purse, starting a two match suspension making himself popular when, once again, he'd let us down really. Gareth Ainsworth was popular too for doing the ayatollah, Richard Langley wasn't. Simple things keep people happy sometimes.

City needed a good result after the Boxing Day home defeat but changed tactics and had three changes, two of them enforced. As well as Purse's suspension (Cox replaced him and was Captain too), fans were shocked to see Neil Ardley at right back and Darlington on the bench. Many thought Weston had been harshly cast aside but Purse told others he had a knee injury. Up front, Michael Ricketts was dropped as DJ went for an unadventurous - it is the way we play it! - 4-5-1 system featuring Alexander, Ardley-Loovens-Cox-Barker, Cooper-Ledley-Koumas-Whitley-Boland, Jerome. Subs were Margetson-Darlington-Lee-Parry-Ricketts.

Rangers started the night 6 points behind City, 7 points above the drop zone having a poor season with financial worries (who hasn't?), manager Ian Holloway taking a lot of criticism, his team performing poorly overall and not showing signs of getting better. At home, they'd lost 5 of their previous 8 and hadn't tasted Loftus Road success for over two months. Away, they were shocking in losing 1-0 at Brighton on Boxing Day.

Ian Holloway made 6 changes for this game, some good news for him with personnel returning from injury as he went with Royce, Bignot-Shittu-Santos-Rose, Langley-Bircham-Rowlands-Cook, Furlong-Nygaard. Subs included Gareth Ainsworth.

So far, so good but now to the football, I'll keep it as brief as it deserves.

City started looking uncomfortable, having to scramble a couple of clearances struggling to put together passes and any move. They work but lacked any fluency and Plan 1 of 1 was to hope Jason Koumas produced some magic for us, QPR realising that as they set out to stop him by whatever means any time he had the ball and sometimes when we didn't. We didn't look comfortable with the system, five in midfield but no width - how did we manage that?

Jerome isolated and getting no service, he worked to close players and dispossess but had no chance to show what he was there for and easily marshalled by Shittu and Santos combined.

It was soon apparent that the R's were as ordinary as could be too so, with that, the best of City's singing remained in the pubs and the streets, Rangers never got to that point.

There were only four moments worth recounting. City produced a good left sided move but Cox hit has cross too high for Jerome, Nygaard raced between Cox and Loovens onto a Rowlands ball and saw his 20 yard shot unluckily graze the top of the bar. And there were free-kicks at either end.

Koumas was upended on a 40 yard run by Langley (who was booked), his inswinging free-kick around the outside of the wall has Rose beaten but missed his goal by a couple of inches and hit the outside stanchion then Alexander made a miraculous save to tip over Langley's free-kick which deflected off Cox's head and was destined for a top corner. Koumas' free-kick and Alexander's save were the only moments worthy of Championship football, the rest of it was uncomfortably reminiscent of visits to the likes of Halifax, Rochdale and Bury in previous years.

What singing took place was as half-hearted as the match. A section sang out, "Have you noticed Langley's sh*t"? Naughty although many QPR didn't really argue with that, he was however one of the better players on view. Right, back to the catering for another Bovril then.

Half-time: QPR 0 CITY 0

The second-half saw the game decided by a piece of action that summed up the entire match. Richard Langley had the ball in acres of space on halfway and plenty of options but hit it diagonally straight to Joe Ledley giving out ironic cheers from City. City were now on the counter-attack but Ledley hit the ball straight to Koumas facing the wrong way and with defenders behind him. A QPR player went through Koumas, a foul in my opinion but the ref waved play on as Koumas had little protection all night. As the ball ran loose, Lee Cook, whop gave City and Ardley plenty of problems, hit a ball into the area where NYGAARD rose well over Loovens (by well, it looked like a couple of feet) and looped a header past Alexander into the corner..

Then came within one minute of the restart. Incredibly, with attacking options including Lee, Ricketts plus Parry on the bench, Dave Jones kept it going with the same 4-5-1 formation and tactics for almost 25 minutes. it did however produce City's best spell but also showed our current deficiencies.

Rose was tested twice. A quick, surprise Koumas 25 yard snapshot which he could only beat out as it bounced before him but no blue shirt was within 20 yards to sniff on the rebound. Then came City's best move of the game as Barker, doing too many fancy kicks and flicks which never came off instead of basics, sent a good ball down the line, the otherwise quiet again Joe Ledley brilliantly skipped by a defender on the touchline and cut a ball across for Jerome whose 15 yard effort was too close to Rose so also beaten away. That and Koumas's free-kick were the sole moments of quality.

City had plenty of the ball but lacked ideas, telling passes and creativity. It wasn't just congested in midfield but almost exclusively bunched to the right hand side of the pitch as we got forward, the left hand side was hardly ever used and never exploited. Balls into the middle were like "nine iron" chips hit too high in the general direction of where Jerome or others may be but lacking direction, pace or change of angle. Koumas was now shackled, so were City too. Boland however made Rose produce another good save, this time was a rising 12 yard shot after a move across the penalty area.

Alan Lee replaced Cooper for the final 20, Parry came on for Whitley in the final 10 but it never got better. Instead, City could have lost by a greater score had Shittu not headed over from point-blank range at a corner, Cook fired over an inviting goal after City were cut to ribbons on the tiring Ardley's right side and Alexander not truly outstanding save to deny sub Baidoo with a shot from 6 yards after, again, City were prised open on the right.

The supporters were frustrated and the officials didn't help either. Twice, a linesman gave Rangers a throw deep in their own half after Jerome had seen a defender touch the ball out, Shittu was allowed to be as robust as he liked - Purse conceded a penalty for similar last game and when Koumas won a late free-kick and screamed at the ref to push the defence back, he never made them move one inch further than the 7 yards or so away that they were - the kick flew straight into them. He also stopped play for over 2 minutes with a Rangers defender in no particular trouble just tow foot away from walking off the pitch which he was fully capable of doing.

Subs warming down near us got some banter - none more so than Marc Bircham who was serenaded with "we saw you cry on the telly". Another game to forget, another visit to QPR to forget (it was hardly better than our unacceptable display there last season).

City are down to 11th, our lowest placing for some time but incredibly remain just three points away from a play-off place. How we can be within touching distance of the Premiership play-offs with our recent form and results and just 35 points off 26 games - a sort of tally that often means below halfway - says an awful lot about Championship standards this term ... if "standards" is an appropriate term.

THE COST OF BEING A CITY FAN:
Tickets (2): £48 - took the missus as a Xmas treat, she's just talking to me again!
Programme: Couldn't find one
Food/Drink: £18
Badges: £4
Travel: £30
Bridge Toll: £5
Total for game: £105

Total for season-to-date: £1,744