I posted it in another thread, but it's probably worth putting in it's own one. Clearly scoring goals is a major issue, and of course scoring first - something the team with Hourihane/Winnall et all did so well. We barely lost a game when scoring first. I recall earlier on in this year we had the worst record in the league for taking the lead then not going on to win the game. Then if you don't score first then you're always chasing the game. It's worth noting that in the run of form at the bottom of the list below, 12 out of those 22 goals conceded were in three games against Fulham, Derby and Villa. I'd imagine the new Austrian signing is going to get game time pretty damned quick, and the other 5 central midfielders are going to have to fight it out for two places. Defeinsively we've enough to stay up - but we need to start scoring, something we did early doors. 19th November '17 Played 16 | Won 5 | Drawn 5 | Lost 6 | Points 20 For 23 | Against 22 7 points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand. 6 points off 6th place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd February '18 Played 30 | Won 6 | Drawn 9 | Lost 15 | Points 27 For 29 | Against 44 1 point clear of the relegation zone with no games in hand. 24 points off 6th place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Run of Form Played 14 | Won 1 | Drawn 4 | Lost 9 | Points 7 For 6 | Against 22 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The lack of goals is the most frustrating for me. If you read the QPR forum they admit that we started the better today, and had we anything up front, they would have been struggling in those early exchanges. Problem is, they have just described quite a few of our games for us. It's like groundhog day. We have really good spells when we're on top, but can't score, and then we concede. Game over. I haven't given up hope on that front though. Moore looked decent before today, and Mcburnie made a good impression. Also, our main goal threat, Pinnock will hopefully be back before too long.
A few thoughts on yesterday. We could and should have been in the lead at half time. First half: They'd hardly threatened, and Townsend hadn't had much to do. Early on, Moncur had made a forceful run at the QPR defence and laid it through in the path of Moore, who shot at an angle across the goal, and the goalkeeper saved comfortably. He ought to have done better and taken the chance. Hammill had a fierce shot from the left pushed over by the goalkeeper. Second half: They took the lead against the run of play when Scowen scored out of the blue from distance which brought them back into it. Bradshaw had a half chance when he spun in the box but the shot was too tame, and late on McBurnie in a goalmouth scramble managed to lay it off for Moncur who shot very well, on target, but it took a lucky deflection off a defender's boot and flew over the bar. Late on we were pressing with Lindsey pushed up and they had a couple of breakaways, when in one of them Townsend dived very bravely at the feet of a forward to save. Contrary to the opinion of many, I thought we deserved a point, but we have to start taking chances, such as those presented to Moore and Bradshaw. We need to go for wins now, and might do better by sacrificing either Williams or Gardner for an attacking midfielder, but I do think three points on Saturday will be hugely important to stop the rot and lift the spirits.
