Owls report

[londonranger]

QPR beaten by late Sheffield Wednesday fightback

By Ian McCullough 16/12/2023

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37'Diaby (OG)86'Cadamarteri90'Musaba
Embed from Getty Images

QPR missed a glorious chance to pull out of the bottom three after conceding two late goals at Hillsborough.

Ilias Chair’s deflected effort seven minutes before half-time looked to be enough to give Rangers a fourth win in five games, but goals inside the final 10 minutes from Bailey Cadamarteri and Anthony Musaba handed the Owls a dramatic victory.

Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes made five changes to the side that drew with Plymouth and were comfortable for much of the game until Cadamarteri turned in Djeidi Gassama’s low cross.

That goal came shortly after Sam Field should have won the game for Rangers when he was teed up in the box by Chris Willock but could only shoot straight at Cameron Dawson.

Musaba won the game in the 95th minute on when he turned in from close range after a Barry Bannan cross was headed on to the post by Marvin Johnson after Rangers had failed to clear their ball.

The result leaves Rangers in the relegation zone after Huddersfield grabbed a late draw at Millwall.

QPR:Begovic, Cannon (Willock 45), Clarke-Salter, Paal, Field, Dixon-Bonner, Dozzell (Cook 85), Smyth (Kakay 75), Chair, Armstron

[londonranger]

Lousy Offence

Lousy Defence

[londonranger]

Cifuentes made five changes. Maybe needed 10 changes.

[surreychad]

I was at the game and we were comfortable without being overly threatening in the first half, they were clearly worried about the pace of Armstrong and he did have a couple of good runs. The second half we made changes and lost the pace upfront and they came out of the blocks like a whippet with a smacked behind, Dykes just isn't capable of holding the ball up. No real complaints from me, apart form clear the bloody ball when under pressure rather than try playing your way out and I didn't get the half time substitutions

[rickyqpr]

Dec 18, 2023 12:31:00 GMT surreychad said:

I was at the game and we were comfortable without being overly threatening in the first half, they were clearly worried about the pace of Armstrong and he did have a couple of good runs. The second half we made changes and lost the pace upfront and they came out of the blocks like a whippet with a smacked behind, Dykes just isn't capable of holding the ball up. No real complaints from me, apart form clear the bloody ball when under pressure rather than try playing your way out and I didn't get the half time substitutions

Well done for travelling all that way - especially this time of year.
I think, I hope, that the substitutions are all about giving everyone a fair crack of the whip, during a period when squad rotation is necessary.
We have a week off and then 3 games in 6 days, will certainly benefit the clubs with big squads - and that is not us. I had a fear before the game that if we did lose at Hillsborough, we may well have 4 defeats on the trot - because of the intensity of the programme, and the nature of the games. Southampton, Millwall and Ipswich in 6 days is going to be very tough.
There is likely to be little or no cash available for the window, Marti has to use this run to decide who stays and who goes, remembering that 15 are out of contract in the Summer.
Dunne, Field, Dozzell, Armstrong - I think we have a one-year option on.
Willock, Bergovic, Kelman, Adomah, Archer, Kakay, Drewe, Dixon-Bonner & Dukes- McKenzie, Walsh & Mahoney.
Presumably, he has formed a view about their on-going value to the team, their need for experience / playing time, and the cost of replacements.
Players like Dykes and Chair are tied up with term contracts but may also attract bids. 
Without a Director of Football, it is pretty much going to be his call.
There are some in our squad who are struggling to adapt to the new style e.g. Field and he may well generate the funds necessary to reshape the centre of midfield. Dozzell is too much of an in and out player for my liking. We need a striker and a midfield general from somewhere, and then it will be all horse trading. I hope we extend Dixon-Bonner, I accept that Willock has been halfway out the door since Beale left, but I cannot get too worked up about the out of contract guys. I suspect that Marti just wants to survive and then build his own squad of players - hopefully not as old as Cook, Begovic and Colback though.

[blatantfowl]

Interesting points Ricky.

Despite the sparseness of the squad I think some departures are quite possible in this window, not so much for transfer fees but to free up wages so we can have some incoming options.

I am under the probably erroneous impression that Marti has enough contacts in Scandinavia that he can find us attacking options for very little money. I may still be living in the 1990s though.

[kerrins]

We have not got any decent strikers in the squad(no surprise there) otherwise this game could have been nailed down.

In consequence Sheffield were not finished off...and the Fat lady finished us off!