This was another big game, if not quite last week’s six-pointer. Why? Because Huddersfield were playing fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday and if we lost this fixture and the Terriers won theirs, we would be six points adrift in the relegation zone. On the other hand, if Sheffield Wednesday won, they’d leapfrog us.
Martí Cifuentes made one change to last week’s starting line-up, replacing the suspended Sam Field with Elija Dixon-Bonner. The important changes were to the bench, which this week included the three players we’ve brought in: Michael Frey, Isaac Hayden and Joe Hodge. So much for the new CEO’s announcement when he was appointed that we wouldn't be bringing in any new players in the January window.
That meant we lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Asmir Begovic between the sticks; Reggie Cannon, Jake Clarke-Salter, Steve Cook and Kenneth Paal in defence; Elija Dixon-Bonner and Jack Colback in midfield; Ilias Chair, Lyndon Dykes and Chris Willock in front of them; and Sam Armstrong leading the line.
The hosts started better than us, cutting open our defence in the fifth minute, and certainly didn’t look like a team that hadn’t won in seven or with a manager about to depart.
Our first decent attack came in the 10th minute, with Chair firing on all cylinders and getting a shot off that needed saving. As Charlie said, it was good to see Chair so up for it because we rarely win games if our leading playmaker isn’t on top form. Today, he was the man of the match.
Sinclair Armstrong, by contrast, was having a bad day at the office. He repeatedly got in behind in the first half -- by my reckoning in the 13th, 20th, 24th, 29th and 35th minutes -- but never looked like scoring, either because he took too many touches, scuffed his shot or hit it straight at the keeper. His frustration boiled over in the 42nd minute when he barged over a defender, earning himself a yellow.
It was honours even at half time, with very little between the two sides. Our xG was 0.61 to their 0.45, and we had 10 shots to their seven, with two on target a piece. Both sides were playing with a high press, meaning it was quite an open game, with plenty of chances at both ends. It was just a question of who was going to take theirs first.
That turned out to be us, God be praised. Cifuentes made a triple substitution in the 57th minute, bringing on Paul Smyth, as well as our two new midfielders -- Joe Hodge and Isaac Hayden -- for Willock, Dykes and Dixon-Bonner. We immediately looked more lively and threatening, but it was Chair who got the goal four minutes later.
He cut in from the right just outside the box, as he so often does, and beat first one, then another defender, before trying to outfox the keeper, Aynsley Pears, by sending a low ball towards the far post instead of trying to curl it into the far corner. The ball hit the post, then went in off Pears, going down as an own goal. But as far as I’m concerned it was Chair’s goal.
No sooner had the visiting fans – about 650 of us -– stopped celebrating than we got another. Once again, Armstrong found himself in space on the edge of the area, but instead of trying to beat his man or take a shot, he put in a perfectly weighted pass for new boy Joe Hodge, who then buried it in the back of the net. He took it well – there was still plenty to do – and ’m not sure any of our existing strikers could have finished it. What a promising debut!
But this being QPR, the fans weren’t allowed to just sit back and enjoy themselves. We conceded nine minutes later, setting ourselves up for a nail-biting final half hour.
Cifuentes replaced Armstrong with Michael Frey in the 77th minute and even though he didn't get much of a sniff he looked powerful and dangerous in the box. We need someone up front who can bully defenders, not just charge at them like a rhino, and Frey looks like he fits the bill.
I had to leave at the end of normal time to catch a train back to Manchester so I could be on time for a Free Speech Union event. That meant I missed the 10 minutes of added time, but judging from the ticker on FotMob it was squeaky bum time, with Blackburn desperately trying to equalise. It was particularly nerve-wracking because by then we’d got the news that Huddersfield had beaten Wednesday 4-0. If the Blue and Whites equalised we’d be five points adrift. Luckily, we managed to see it out.
So a huge win for us and if the Terriers had lost we’d now be out of the relegation zone. If we can manage that soon – our next three fixtures are against Norwich (H), Stoke (A) and Bristol City (A) – we might succeed in pulling the teams above us into a relegation scrap. Only two points now separate Huddersfield from the five teams above them.
Having seen our three new players in action, and having beaten Blackburn at Ewood Park for the first time since 1999, I’m feeling more optimistic than I have done in some time. Martí Cifuentes and the new CEO look like they really know what they’re doing. What a week they’ve had.
Sam/Sinclair gets a lot of friendly criticism for his poor touch, which is kind of semi-valid (how old is he...?), but the weight of that through ball to Hodge...no-one makes a pass like that if they've got a poor touch! Same with his decision making, people say it's poor (how old is he...?), but he chose to ignore a more senior player (Chair) who clearly wanted the ball, and was well placed,, to wait for Hodge to get into the perfect position before making the aforementioned pass.
And, as if by magic, Sam becomes Sinclair!