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QPR Problems
Blues fans have done the team proud of late. They’ve followed the team in numbers, leading to a succession of sold out allocations at grounds up and down the country. While the result wasn’t great on Saturday what happened off the pitch was possibly worse – and something needs to be done about it.
Before anyone says it, this isn’t a diatribe against coin-throwing fans, or the “baby zulu” who stepped over the hoardings to demonstrate why the QPR fan offering out the away end was on a foolhardy mission. As worrisome the idea of Blues fans chucking money is, it pains me that nothing has been said in the media about the issues many fans faced outside the ground before the game.
I’m going to be honest – I wasn’t at QPR and I’m working off several second-hand reports. That means it’s impossible for me to make a personal involved with any sort of push back against QPR for their policy on away fans in the upper tier on Saturday. This doesn’t mean I can’t do anything though – and as I saw something asking me for my opinion on it this morning I thought I’d share it so something might get done.
The Football Supporters Federation (FSF) have an away match survey at this link. It’s an ongoing project to see how away fans are treated and has led to the rise of campaigns like “Twenty’s Plenty”. I can’t promise filling in the survey will do anything but the more people who are able to give first hand accounts of what happened, the more we can push the FSF into helping Blues fans do something about it.
I’m not going to pretend Blues fans are angels because we all know that’s not true. However, as rough and ready as Blues fans can be it doesn’t give any club the right to treat us without the respect due to all football fans. If it is true and the gates were shut due to two drunken supporters, then questions must be asked about the common sense in that decision and the dangerous issues it could have caused outside the ground.
I’m hopeful that the Trust and the Collective – both of whom are set up by fans to work for fans – will pick up on these issues this morning and as the Collective did with the Brentford game that was postponed at late notice, they will work with BCFC and QPR to to try to ensure that other fans don’t have similar experiences.
Edit
To contact QPR directly to complain please email their Supporter Liaision Officer Andy Rees at andyr@qpr.co.uk
To make a complaint about the Metropolitan Police please follow this link https://secure.met.police.uk/complaints/
To contact the Birmingham Mail about this please use this link http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/contact-us/
86 Responses to “QPR Problems”
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Mate I love what you’re trying to do but we both know it will get us nowhere.
QPR are a disgrace backed up by a violent psycho mob called the met who thoroughly enjoyed the batoning and verbal abuse of our fans.
Doing nothing gets you nowhere. At least doing something gives you a chance of changing things for the better. Also, speaking out gave rise to Twenty’s Plenty, so don’t think it never works.
As we’re on a football blog, a cliché seems the correct quote to use,
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
From Blues Trust :
tell the FSF Amanda Jacks, who assists fans with policing and stewarding issues and can give a referral to specialist lawyers for legal help if needed. On her Twitter account, @FSF_Faircop, she has put a message asking fans to get in touch, which says, “If you’re a #bcfc supporter who was at QPR on Saturday, please get in touch with your experiences. Contact details in my profile.” Her contact details are phone: 07703 519555, email: amanda.jacks@fsf.org.uk
Can we see more comments from people who were actually at the game on Saturday, as I cannot get to matches, I think that this is the first instance concerning Blues fans that I have heard of, would like to read Dave Mann’s comments on what he perceived happened, as I am well aware he usually attends every away match with his family.
Kazakhblue, hi mate and yes I was there with my family and as I said yesterday before the game was fine for us, we found a nice pub full of mainly qpr fans but a few Blues fans also and it was all hunky dory and hassle free , walked to the ground got in no problem and the atmosphere was electric to put it mildly even though there was still lots of Blues fans to come in , as our fans arrived it got more and more intense and you could see both sets of fans were provoking each other from the corners of the ground , one qpr fan thought he was Rambo and got on the pitch to come towards our supporters so one lad decided to face him up and decked him with one punch and then it went off big fold … Lots of our friends didn’t get in till 3-30 and said the police were over the top and a disgrace and Ime talking good honest proper supporters who like me travel all over the country , left the ground and went straight to our coach and went home and was glad to leave purely because our performance on the pitch was awful .. Personally the trouble in the ground was all we saw so me and my family didn’t get bothered like a lot of fans so I suppose we got lucky but I will have my reservations about going back there again because the area is a dump and the ground not much better , I hope that puts you more in the picture mate . KRO
Thanks for your feedback Dave, it’s just a relief that yourself and your family and all the genuine travelling Blue Noses got back safely.
It’s all down to common sense and experience mate . KRO
Dave Mann is spot on as I as there too. My account of the whole experience is here: http://www.joysandsorrows.co.uk/2016/02/view-from-the-south-queens-park-rangers-v-birmingham-city-2/
I ended up getting in the ground about 2.30 & there was no sign of any trouble outside at that time but the guy sat next to me with his 2 sons inside the ground had the door shut in his face by the stewards AFTER his sons had already gone thru the turnstiles, he said he almost had to plead on bended knee to get in which to me is an absolute disgrace. I bumped into some friends at half time that didn’t get in til 3.30 & said the police outside were goading the fans into kicking off. Apparently there were families outside trying to get in & the kids were terrified as police wielded their trunceons indiscriminately. Like Dave I left the ground after the game & went straight back to my coach & was glad to get away.
BCFC and the FSF should be asking for the CCTV footage outside the ground as evidence against the bully Met.
Maybe some Blues fans may have footage on their phones too.
Sorry guys, but every club has its idiots, look at our twat that thought he could take on 3600 of you lot! But before the game there were so many of your fans drunk, swearing and abusing people you made it difficult for the police not to get involved.
Been going to games home and away for 40 years now and always enjoyed the lively banter between fans and yes that includes going to Birmingham, but, Saturday your fans let you down badly.
You get treated on the day by the way your fans act and it seems to me your reputation is now proceeding you.
I personally didn’t see any drunken behaviour outside the ground. I’m not defending anyone if what you say is true, but maybe the fact QPR weren’t selling alcohol in the ground caused more trouble than it prevented as most fans would have been in the ground drinking. In my experience you treat people like shit & with total disrespect & they will turn on you, which is obviously what happened on saturday
Exactly Chris, the point you make about not being able to get alcohol in the ground is also made in my report. I thought it was a silly attempt to prevent trouble when all it does is drive fans away from the ground in search of a safe place to drink pre-match only to return in droves later just before kick off where with inadequate entry turnstiles there is a problem with crowd control! The Met Police did not cover themselves in glory with their handling of the situation which was boorish, stupid and amateur. It was a poor experience all round and I will think twice about returning to Loftus Road in the future.
Yes dave we do have a reputation and in my 40 years watching Blues home and away I’ve seen plenty of it but from what good honest law abiding fans told me the stewards and police were a disgrace and an embarrassment to there uniform .. And yes some of our fans are idiots and go round looking for trouble but not fans trying to get into a football stadium with cctv everywhere , I didn’t see the outside problems but I believe the fans that I know and what they told me and it don’t look good on your club and stewards .. And yes those fans that threw items on to the pitch towards the QPR players should be caught and banned and those were the only idiots that I saw from our side . KRO
I got to the ground at 14:40 & saw how aggressive the police and stewards were to the extent a family walking by the horses was hit by a thug of a policeman swinging his batton catching a young lad around his head that is nothing less than assault!! I don’t think you have a clue what went on & if you think that behaviour is ok by police & stewards your as bad as they were. I was with 3 children & we were left outside until 15:30 and when we eventually got in we weren’t allowed to go to our seats which I paid for so had to stand in the isles so you coming on here blaming Blues fans is a joke,think you need to look closer to home!! Must be nice for you having such perfectly behaved fans. I would never spend good money going to such a shithole again you should be embarrassed. Rant over kro
It doesn’t excuse bias Stewards and incompetent Met Police arresting the Blues fan on the pitch yet not arresting the QPR fan.
That is QPR condoning it’s own fans breaking the law.
The FA should charge them over that, as that is a blatant failure of the Stewards and ignoring the law on entering the pitch.
I was at QPR but luckily safe in the ground before the problem. Friends told me how bad it was and I agree with you Dan we should all consider reporting what happened in the hope QPR arent allowed to create such a dangerous & risky situation again. That said, it does not excuse some of the behaviour I saw from a very small number of fans who were throwing missiles (most of which didnt get out of the away end the muppets)
I was there Saturday. We were squeezed between 2 horses at the upper entrance. I didnt see any physical aggression from the fans or old bill, but the potential was there with the way we were being horded like animals.
No explanation for the huge police presence. We had more than that at Fulham and I didnt see half as many old bill. Why? What was the point?
It kills me to think that we in a way actually pay for the police to treat us like that. Disgrace.
I wasn’t at this match but I did go to Rotherham where I witnessed some unacceptable behaviour by Blues fans. Drunken behaviour, arguing and swearing at the police at half time was evident. Then at full time whilst making way back to our coach some Blues fans didn’t seem quite with it. I was of the opinion that they were under the influence of drugs, dare I say?
Seems I just missed this as we got to our seats in the upper tier about 2 minutes before kick off. We saw the police cordon outside but were able to pass through it around 2.50pm. One of our group finally rolled up around 3.20 having been caught up in all the nonsense outside. It’s astonishing to believe that such a lack of common sense still exists in policing of football matches a generation after Hillsborough. This really shouldn’t be swept under the carpet by the cockney press, the vile mail or the Met Police. If there’d been serious injuries or worse out there, then what would they have said?
I have to say, Saturday was like a return to the 1980s for me. The pub was rammed with loud, drunken Blues fans with very few colours on show, just like in the Zulus’ heyday. A sitting target for a brick through the window – if that had happened then all hell would have broken loose. Then a trek through a total dive of an area to QPR’s hopelessly outdated Subbuteo stadium to be met by cordons of police who moments later would be fueling fans’ anger through their stubbornness and stupidity. But of course they won’t allow the press to report that when there’s those scummy Brummies to blame instead. A work colleague just walked in and the first thing he mentioned was the coin throwing inside the ground. It was inexcusable, but I made sure he heard the full story. It’s important that many more people hear it too.
After the game we were directed by police off a pavement where the incident had occurred to avoid the blood on the ground – a clear sign of what had happened earlier. I have no desire to visit that poxy ground again with its overpriced restricted view seats and 1980s style crowd control methods. The football was shit too.
We got in the upper tier about 20 minutes before kick off. We had no problem whatsoever with the police, stewards or locals though we got misdirected a couple of times regarding where we were supposed to get in the ground. We had to show our tickets before getting near the turnstiles where there wasn’t even a queue. We got searched a couple of times but again no problem with that. It was very noticeable that there were a lot of empty seats at kick off and we did hear there were problems outside. All I can say is that I have experienced a lot worse at other grounds over the years. I am not going to jump to any conclusions but there were no obvious signs of any problems at the time we got there.
I was at the game with my kids and did think that there was very high police attendance after the game but was not aware of any issues before. Every club has its idiots , including us, and what bothers me is the age of them. I am 50 and there are plenty of older fans who cannot behave. To that point there were two in the left hand upper tier, not the corner where the fan ran on, who were being constantly abusive and taking photographs of QPR fans. One was a fat tatood man in a short sleeved blues shirt and the other had a red sweatshirt and a green sleeveless hoody on top. They seemed annoyed that a QPR fan was talking to a steward about their poor behaviour and just kept shouting “grasser” at him after that. However 95% of your fans were just giving usual weekly banter especially to Grandad in the sombrero.
To all your proper fans enjoy the rest of the season
Guys, if you take a look at some of the independent fan reviews for QPR, it would appear that Bluenoses weren’t singled out, the experience is the same for all attending clubs. This must be the most despised away experience in the league.
Where have you seen these reviews mate?
Hi Turley, google will reveal but here is one such review : http://www.tothe92.co.uk/groundguide/qpr.html
I will think twice about going there again Bluenosesol purely because it’s a bad area and a bad stadium . KRO
I was at QPR with my 6 year old son and I saw enough to convince me not to return next season despite being based in the SE. We arrived at the upper tier entrance at about 2.45, which is a bit later than ideal but didn’t seem that unreasonable based on all other away days. There was a caged holding pen about 6 meters wide by 20 metres long outside the gate, which was essentially at an opening to a narrow alley between houses. The small number of turnstiles were at the end of the alley. Essentially the system was a crude funnel with chain link fence, walls and metal gates – not the type of design where you want a surge placing huge pressure on relativly few at the front. The holding pen was empty except for literally one or two blues fans and a dozen or so stewards, who were preventing access to the pen to a growing crowd of hundreds. Police were nearby in the road, watching but not really getting involved. At first I thought that the stewards were just thoroughly searching people or checking tickets but then it seemed like virtually nobody was being allowed in, without any announcements or obvious reason. The crowd had grown significantly and I had to lift my boy over my head as the pressure really increased from the back and people became understandably frustrated and vociferous but certainly not violent as far as I could see. To the great credit of those around me they saw me struggling with my lad and they pushed and shoved people to slowly but surely squeeze us forward and alerted stewards who allowed us to escape the crush and enter the pen. We then queued in the pen for a few minutes with about ten other blues fans, waiting to go through narrow gate into alley where a couple of searches were being conducted at a time before being allowed to enter the queue-free turnstiles. I guess I was there just before the reported singing, batoning, surging, gate kicking etc as I got into the ground at about 3.10. I didn’t see anything unusual from the crowd outside, in terms of particularly bad behaviour, to warrant the hold up. It seemed that the system and infrastructure are simply not good enough to allow access to 1,800 people over the course of 30mins, let alone the likely 1,000 that turned up with 15 mins or less to spare. The concourse inside was also massively over its capacity at half time. Overall, it wasn’t a good experience. Completely avoidable tension and potential flashpoints were created. Yes I know people shouldn’t behave and react the way they often do but, if you’re controlling a football crowd, you should consider and allow for the fact that alcohol will be a factor. should I have got there earlier? Possibly. Was I scared for my life? No but I feared the possibility that the situation could easily escalate. Was my boy upset? Yes but he quickly got over it. Am I glad I wasn’t there with my 6yo when the inevitable dangerous surge and violence (either fans, police or stewards) occurred? Absolutely. Is this acceptable in 2016? No way. Was it good value for money? Definitely not. Will I be visiting Loftus Rd with my son next season? No chance.
I was at the game and got caught up in the whole police escort before the game – Basically it all started at Belushi’s Bar which is just outside Shepherds Bush Station – The atmosphere inside that bar was amazing and everyone was in good spirit singing all our favourite blues songs. This is what away days are about, right!
Anyway, someone had let off a blue flare in the smoking area outside the bar and before we knew it there were about 4 or 5 police vans surrounding the bar, followed by a barricade of police. This seemed very excessive for a flare?? I’m not saying he should have lit the flare but the atmosphere inside was friendly and everyone was just enjoying their day out.
We left the bar at about 2:30pm to head to the match but were held back by police for around 10-15 mins. They then escorted all of the fans who were in the bar to the stadium and this caused us to miss kick off. When we got to the ground we noticed that they police had parked their vans in a way to barricade the Blues fans once again. This started to anger a few fans as up until this point it has been singing and chanting and nothing violent.
As a few fans started to “get their point across” I saw one policeman (who I can only imagine was in charge here) order every policeman and their horses to line up in front of the gate where all Blues fans were heading for.
At this point we were at about 3:10pm and there was no sign of them letting us through. The police held their batons in the air and shouted to all fans to stand back. At this point it started to get a bit lively and that wound up a few Blues fans who clearly didn’t like the way this was going. Inevitably there was going to be some trouble and it took a section of about 20 fans who tried to push their way through the police but this was only heading one way and that was a whack from the police.
Me and my friend stood back at this point as we are not the violent type. What I saw was an older blues fan, maybe late 60’s get his over the head with a baton and this clearly knocked him about. This then followed by a number of fans being hit by police who were on horses.
Eventually at about 3:15/20, the police started to push back so fans can start to get in.
I think this all could have been avoided has the police not herded up a very large group of Blues fans. Had the police let the fans make their own way to the stadium then this simply would not have happened. There is no stopping the police just having a presence along the main road but at the end of the day the fans were herded together and provoked by the police, this is only going to end one way.
Forget about the police and gate shutting – we have lots of absolute morons who call themselves Blues fans. These days I’m reluctant to take my family because of the language and attitude of some individuals, let alone when a few become violent. Why is there so much hate towards the opposition, the officials, the away supporters, etc? It’s just a sign of a very sick society. We could take a huge leaf out of cricket or rugby’s book and see how sport should be enjoyed.
Unfortunately Roger that is life nowadays & it’s not just football, schools aren’t much better due to the fact you’re not allowed to punish kids anymore, My job used to take me to many schools & the amount of swearing from the pupils was unbelievable & the teachers wouldn’t bat an eyelid. The amount of violence at schools is a disgrace, in my day it was rough (I left school in 79) but you never heard of kids or teachers being stabbed. These do gooders who wanted he cane stopped & smacking stopped have created a generation of problems which would take decades to sort out. I’m afraid society will get a lot worse before it gets better.
Speaking as someone who’s a cricket fan I think you’re mistaken if you think cricket fans are all genteel people with pimms and petit fours…
Maybe not but on the whole cricket fans know how to behave.I`ve followed The Bears for many years and rarely seen any problems even in 20,000 crowds at Lord`s or Edgbaston. There`s a tribalism in football which can spill over to hatred and then violence which doesn`t seem to be the case in the `gentler` game.Also cricket fans are treated as decent citizens by stewards which ,as we know,is not always the case at football grounds,particularly for away supporters.
They were before the game prostituted it self with limited overs cricket 20/20 etc
Sorry Tony, but ballcocks. I know of people who weren’t genteel in the slightest supporting Warwickshire around the time I was born.
There has always been a raucous element at Edgbaston Dan but mostly it was good humoured banter, there was usually a comedian with a pint in his hand but nothing to compare to a Football match.
This changed somewhat when limited overs cricket came along but still nothing in comparison to Soccer.
I have the impression you’re an incredibly fun guy to be around.
Roger, I have been going away with the bluenoses for fifty years but nowadays I only go to the odd away game. As a big and ugly 59 year old I can cope with the bad language, drunken behaviour, vitriolic chanting and stench of weed. Sadly my mother, sister (both cancer survivors) and my disabled mate are not quite so able to survive in such a hostile environment. I note that the Wasps team at the Ricoh are offering senior prices for 60 year olds, whereas its 65 in football, so may give that a whirl come my 60th in May as opposed to going to Blues away games. I will of course follow all home games with my full price season ticket! KRO!!
Why be a glory hunter and go to watch a Prem cartel London team based in the Midlands when you have rugby clubs with heritage like Moseley and Coventry?
Chris I followed Solihull Bees for many years. Not looking for glory just a bit of comfort which I deserve in my old age!! PS like to go and see Solihull Moors now and again also. If I was a glory hunter I wouldn’t be a Bluenose!! KRO
Sorry Roger. I’m a 62 year old female and have been going to all blues home and away games since the early 70’s. Yes there are a few idiots still, who seem to want to spend most of their time drinking but the majority of fans are well behaved and friendly. We were in the upper trier on Saturday and the only event I witnessed was some idiot QPR supporters gesturing and running down the aisle towards the front on several occasions. Good stewards would have ejected these people. The ground however is very poor for the 21st Century.
Roger , your right ofcourse but it’s not as bad as it was back in the 70s and 80s .. I feel pretty safe with my family in tow because we’re with a bigger family in the Blues fans that I go with , we all know each other and the trouble I’ve seen over the last ten years or so away as been very small … Fans will react if provacated , I done it at Cardiff so let’s not go over the top here , I drank and talked with qpr fans before the game and it was all good banter, trust me mate it’s not all hatred and fighting these days , Saturday will not put me off going away mate it shouldn’t other genuine supporters either and it’s now a matter of moving on to the next game . KRO
It might not be as bad currently as it was in the 70`s/80`s but that doesn`t mean it hasn`t the potential to re-surface. Football hooliganism hasn`t gone away it`s just been better contained.
Correct but I didn’t say it couldn’t resurface or that hooligans had gone away , it’s been contained yes and as I said it’s not as bad as it was . KRO
It still has the potential to develop again.And if we can`t rely on stewards and police to behave what chance have we got?
I was at the game on Saturday, I was also at MK Don’s, Rotherham, Fulham they were also SELL OUT’S and I can guess the same 3,000 at QPR were also at those games,.
What was the difference then to cause so many issues?
The pre-match atmosphere was toxic at QPR we arrived at 11am and straight away got turned away from numerous pubs, stating home fans only. These were the same pubs that 2 years ago welcomed everyone with open wallets and a dam good time was had by all.
Saturday gone all you could see everywhere were groups of frustrated Noses walking the streets looking for somewhere to have a beer.
Contrast this to the games mentioned above, amongst others, where a positive pre-match atmosphere was encouraged.
One of the comments that came out after Hillsborough, was “if you treat people like animals then they will act like animals”. I am not condoning my fellow blues fans as they also have a responsibility however when there is an underlying trend of antagonism and hatred from the people who are meant to be “protecting” you then can understand why it happened.
I just wonder if the Met had adopted a different way in terms of policing would the outcome had been different and would be talking about what another great away day it was.
I’ve just heard that the idiot QPR fan who tried & failed badly to take on the away end wasn’t even arrested, i’ve also been led to believe alcohol WAS on sale in the home end. If this is the case then this is a shear case of predudice & I hope the authorities take suitable action against QPR
Loftus Road is NOT a good stadium, and it suffers from narrow access points & poor facilities inside, but plans have been submitted for a new stadium. From all the accounts above it seems pretty obvious that the police were concerned about the heavy drinking and late arrival at the stadium. Someone mentioned Hillsborough and police not learning from it, but I would say that it was BECAUSE of that disaster that they restricted entry. Sadly under those conditions that developed you cannot easily tell drunken thugs from annoyed supporters. Whatever happened outside the stadium though, there was no excuse for throwing coins at players or disabled QPR supporters; or getting involved in a fight. Birmingham does not need those type of ‘supporters’. No club does!
With respect Chris there more likely to punish us than them so I wouldn’t get your hopes up mate , it’s London and that tells you everything about the way we were and are treated . KRO
Dave, I remember going to Spurs in the Prem and they had an alcohol ban. They said that we were the only club for which the away ban was enforced. It wasn’t even enforced for the Arsenal!!! What you say is true. Whenever there has been an alcohol ban it only ever applies to the Blues not the home fans.
As I said that’s London for you mate . KRO
There’s a club statement on bcfc.com
What I don’t understand is, there were 1000 more of us at Fulham a couple of months ago & yet they still sold alcohol in the ground and although there was a police presence there it was nothing like it was on saturday & the game at Fulham passed without incident. The amount of police on sat was reminisant of the miners strike in the 80’s with police horses & vans everywhere. I kinda get the feeling the police were hoping for trouble rather than being there as a deterrant
On another subject, I am abit disappointed at blues form of late. I am also questioning if Fabbs was a good buy. TBH I would of spent the £1.5 M on a decent LB or CB. I feel it was a buy to make the fans happy but though Toral with Shinnie as back up was good enough. Don’t forget Bucks, Mags and Cotts could also do a good job at number 10. I also think our counter attack style is questionable. We have the lowest possession in the league and really on nicking a goal or two on the counter. Would like to see us try a keep possession and build attacks instead of sitting back and inviting trouble. We really on teams not taking their chances and most teams will take one or two chances. I love GR but just think we need to change our style. If we carry on as we our, we will not make the play offs and fall short. KRO
I agree, but I think Rowett is set in his ways. He sets the team up not to concede, but when that eventually does happen and we have to chase the game, it seems to be a scattergun approach, especially with substitutes. I have to admit, I often don’t get his substitutions. Still, we can’t be too critical, we’ve done better and are higher in the league than any of us thought back in August.
Agree cannot see him changing his ways and he probably does not have the players to do it, He must surely swallow a bit pride and bring Caddis back in. Then for me if its the Derby 4-3-3 , K-G-D with T-D-M or Cotts for Maghoma if we want the Caddis combination. Or if its the 4-2-3-1 which 2 defensive mid fielders do you play? Cannot see the point of Buckley, Vaughan or Shotton if we were looking to improve the squad. Really hope Fabbrini settles as he added a different dimension and was so exciting last season and seemed a big coup for GR in January. Anyway enough of my negatives. Agree we are still in a great position in the league and the the GR team who have got us there have done a brilliant job.
Agree. waste of a precious £1.5 mill on one player who last season only performed at St Andrews.
With Brock, it seems GR struggles to spend money wisely.
Plus Shotton’s wimpy challenge which led to the goal, shows why Caddis should be playing, especially away from home as his runs are part of our counter attacking, which has helped with such a good away record.
FFS give Fabbrini a break. He has played 4 games, 2 of which were as substitute for the last 15 minutes. He set up the winner in the Bolton game with a great bit of skill and how can he be blamed for Shotton tackling like a big pansy and clumsy defending for the second goal on Saturday.
I think the issue regarding Fabbrini and the so far disappointments in form goes back to the Tesche/ Fab.mania from last season. The pair caused a welcome medication after years of awful match days and achieving 10th spot was bliss. We naturally wanted better this season and we are getting there- but the jump from 10 th to 6th is colossal and our squad just doesn’t have the cash backing to get there.This season will hopefully get us up another notch which will be progress but next season will be a toughie to progress even further unless HK etc changes in our favour.
Blues have the 7 th best goals against record and the 14 th best goals for record , but our target to reach the play offs has to to be more goals as more goals mean more wins up to a point , when we reach that point when we start conceding more and start losing more, then slightly attack less as that’s the point where we have peaked , but until we start to attack more then we wont know what our peak is ..,we have under achieved with shots at goal and shots on target this must be addressed for us to move up a few places , ex -defenders make good managers normally as long as they do not let their defensive minds rule their judgement….
Tbh William, I couldn’t care less whether we win every game til the end of the season 1-0 or 10-0 i’d just like us to start winning with regularity again. I understand what you are saying about the need to score more goals but 3 points is 3 points & i’ll take them however they come!!.
Here is my experience. Got to the turnstile on South Africa Road at 2.50. Remarked just how many Police there were. Got into my seat at 2.58 and noted how many empty seats there were. These did fill up eventually. Presumably by people stuck outside. A guy behind me had clearly had a lot to drink. Swearing and goading the QPR fans rather than watching the game. When they scored he took it out on the seat in front of him, next to me, broke it completely with 2 violent kicks. I think he was clocked by a steward, He melted away after the first half into the crowd.I sincerely hope they have him on CCTV. People like that give all fans a bad name. A bad day all around.
There are multiple issues here but let’s not conflate undeniably unforgivable bad behaviour on the part of some fans with real issues for majority of fans around ingress design, layout, plans, processes, the interactions between stewards/police and management of change in a common-or-garden football crowd scenario. Yes there are interfaces between the two things but the former does not negate responsibility for the latter. Please do not be distracted by the false dichotomy.
I think the two-tone statement from the club acknowledges this important nuance. It is right that the club both helps to weed out criminal elements AND represents the genuine interests of the average match-goers. Well done Blues. Special thanks BCFCs Dave Boston for his support and Amanda at FSF – both are interested in considered observations from anyone else present, who will all have experienced events slightly differently. Please contact them if you have something reasonable to add.
Treating all fans as if they are the same as the small but significant and culpable criminal minority is complete folly. As a society, we readily fight against this kind of bigotry and abuse when waged against other, more popular sub-sections of our community. I fear that the kind of regressive crowd control tactics employed at QPR can only end up perpetuating the myriad mistakes of the past. Most other clubs seem to deal with this kind of challenge in a much more effective way. I hope QPR can be persuaded to learn from the great strides being made elsewhere and to treat average away fans as visitors and not intruders. We don’t need to be pampered, just treated with a modicum of respect and I truly believe that those managing the crowds may be pleasantly surprised by the impact. I don’t merely base this on guesswork but on many years of observation of cause and effect around the country with the same set of fans.
Just to be clear this does not absolve any Blues fans of responsibility for any criminal activity, which has been well publicized and rightly condemned loudly and for as long as I can remember. This is a chronic problem but right now I think we also need to shine a light on the other, equally serious, acute problems encountered at Loftus Rd on Saturday.
I was lucky enough to go to the Cup Final at Wembley yesterday eating and drinking in The Bobby Moore Club and watching the game alongside the subs with just an aisle between us. We were greeted with smiles and respect by model-looking hosts and hostesses. Imagine the contrast if I had gone to QPR less than 24hrs before…..even if I had been dressed and conducted myself in exactly the same way. Most fans are like me, not looking for trouble and should not automatically be tarred with the same brush as idiots.
I was at QPR I arrived at 2.30 and got in without fuss. I did think that there were quite a few stewards but all seemed OK to me. My seat was in the upper tier in the corner where the fuss was going on I couldn’t see what blues fans were up to but saw the reaction from the QPR fans. I thought one of them was going to explode with rage and the stewards didn’t do anything to calm the situation. My view has always been if you look for trouble you will find it but reading the comments of others it seems the police over reacted. Why oh why can’t our fans behave and the police deal with any transgressions with common sense it is very frustrating as a bluenose of almost 50 years standing to see our reputation being damaged KRO Brighton Blue
My worst experiences on away days have also been in London, always seem on a confrontational footing in my experience. Worrying that football fans as a whole seem to be regressing all across the country, the Baggies coining their own player because they don’t like the teams style of play?! Banning alcohol at the games just means fans will ‘power drink’ beforehand until the last minute, meaning they all turn up worse for wear at the same time. Couple that with penning in and perceived aggression and it’s no surprise at all that things go wrong.
As for flares, smashing seats and searching out a scrap, it is just alien to me. It just smacks of people using the game as an excuse to cause trouble and I don’t understand it. Yes emotions can spill over and if you are threatened you are within your rights to defend yourself but there is too much behaviour from some fans that seems premeditated.
QPR will hopefully change the way it does business and mitigate rather than accentuate their poor facilities, and hopefully fans of all clubs will stop a concerning trend and stop passion and excitement spiralling into something more unsavoury.
Nice lesson by Chris Hughton on how to approach your home games. No one big fellow up front but ball players who know how to shoot. Shoot on target and the hits outnumber the misses. As Staffs says get the players shooting practice day in and out -we have them.
We’re crying out for a Craig Gardener, someone who shoots on sight and asks questions later (Adams?) The trouble with our players, is that they all want to walk the ball into the net most of the time. It’s down to the manager to change this mentality.. gerrem on the training pitch and work on shooting from all areas inside and outside the box. If they can’t, find someone in the reserves who can.
Counter attacking requires breaking at pace and then as you say shooting (accurately) at every opportunity. The system doesn’t appear to be working at the moment.Still believe if you give teams too much possession then eventually they are going to use it to their advantage unless you have a lot of luck defensively, continually frustrate the opposition, or have an amazing defensive set up> Our defensive record has been good although at times I wonder how we have got away with it. When we have the ball would like to see us moving forward with more pace , fluency and getting more players around the box.
It would good if we could find a system whereby Donaldson could play facing the opposition goal, instead of always having his back to it and having long balls pumped up to him. It’s such a laborious tactic and the main reason he/we don’t score that many goals. By the time he does get into the box, he’s too far behind play to get on the end of things properly, hence the way he always has to stretch to get on the end of things (and invariably misses.)
I guess Staffs that means running on to decent balls down the channels or getting more crosses coming back at him from the opposition line from the likes of Cotts/Caddis.Both ways facing the opposition goal. Don does however seem to take his chances better when he does not have time to think about it and has to react instantaneously. Some of his lay offs eg for Toral if I am correct, at Burnley and against Ipswich have been superb- but that relies on having someone close to him and knowing where they are going to be which probably doesn’t happen as much as it should in our system.
Something needs to change, because the 4-2-3-1 isn’t producing goals – 2 in the last 4 games. Even the 4-3-3 gave us 7 goals in 4 games (with only 1 conceded.) I’d just like us to be a bit braver and a little more aggressive going forward. It gets a bit tedious seeing us concede possession and let other teams do what they like against us.
We will never break with pace with Gleeson (who spends more time going across the field or backwards) Maghoma or Cotterill never of whom has real pace and tend to stroll up the pitch. Like to see Viv given a chance with instruction to run at defenders.
Agree with your comments Jonno. Also wish I could see where Buckley, Vaughan and Shotton are going to strengthen the existing squad. Perhaps a big contribution is just around the corner from all 3.
To be honest, I personally didn’t expect much from Fabbrini and Vaughan, but I’m disappointed with Shotton. He’s far better than what he’s shown so far. I won’t judge him though until he’s been played in his proper position. But, as to whether all 3 have improved the team/squad, the jury’s very much still out.
The Blues fans were not a problem they just wanted to get in the ground and they waited patiently on police orders but obviously as each minute went by got more and more annoyed. First advance on the police line was about 3.15, we’d been there patiently for 25 minutes. Nothing to do with drunk fans, it was poor policing, physical assault and stewards insisting on stopping everybody to check their tickets prior to the turnstiles of which there were two
Me wifey went on Saturday. Seems a large group of blues fans were being hurded by the police at 2.35. Too many at the turnstiles mixing With ordinary folk. It seems no one was being let in. Nothing was moving. Saw a few batons wielded on under 10’s and OAP. Disgrace. We got in around 3.20. Worse experience since 80’s.
I was at the opening game of 83/84 season,West Ham away, where the police arrested the whole train of supporters at Euston station!
Villa fans leaving after 74 mins , should have left after 74 seconds . :-) KRO
Careful Dave-got a nasty feeling about this game. Hope I am wrong.
So you can honestly see them coming back from that and scoring 3 goals to snatch a win can you?Not me I’m afraid.
Exactly mate . KRO
Not now at 0-2 but I am so used to them being so jacksy over the years that I don’t take anything for granted with them. Would love to see them keep this team in the Championship-nice fodder.
Last season, Leicester had 19 points from 29 games at this stage.. and they survived. So all villa need is Jamie Vardy. :)
You will be mate . KRO
This latest report on VSO by GR has sent out mixed messages for me. I hope I am mis-judging all this but imo GR has made a hash of his progress instead of keeping faith and playing him regularly without the mistake of the expensive Buckley and lesser degree Vaughan. Gray’s replacement should have been VSO and Maghoma/Cotterill as ideal support. Cannot swallow the ‘easing him in gently’ mode. This player was getting game time and improving- but the loan window buggered it up for him. My message to GR is to get him back in along with Caddis and Davis against Hull and swallow pride. Fans will get behind the team and should defeat happen-then rather it be to Brucie.
I didn’t see any any heavy-handed business from the Met but compared to the games at Brentford and Fulham earlier this season, the level of policing was ridiculous. There must have been a dozen coppers stood outside the door of Brewdog alone. We didn’t have any trouble getting into the ground itself, although it sounds like we were in the minority.
As mentioned above, by not selling alcohol in the ground the club and the police are effectively encouraging people to get as much down them as possible in the hours beforehand. However, based on how long it took to get your hands on a Bovril and a KitKat inside the ground, I doubt many people would have managed to buy a drink at half-time anyway.
The atmosphere inside the ground was hostile, although the two factors mentioned above probably contributed to this.
If we’re in the same league next season, I don’t think I’ll bother with Loftus Road again.