Well, that wasn’t a pleasant experience. Charlie and I were invited to watch this game in the Directors’ Box by John Read, a friend who lives in Leamington Spa, so had to endure the almost constant celebrations of the Coventry fans sitting next to us. We were expecting to lose – I predicted 2-0 – but not to concede seven! Julien Stephán has had the worst start for a QPR manager since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who was also winless in his first four in all competitions. But even he hadn’t conceded 13 goals at this point. It doesn’t bode well, particularly as we’ve had such a good window, supposedly strengthening in several key areas. The one consolation is that our big new signing, Richard Kone, got a goal in the 91st minute.
It’s tempting to blame the manager for this humiliation. His starting line-ups have been consistently baffling and today was no exception. Why continue to play Joe Walsh in goal when he’s proved mediocre at best and we have a better keeper on the bench? He made one save today, earning a Fotmob rating of 2.8, the lowest I’ve ever seen. In the first half, Coventry scored from all five shots they had on target. And why play Steve Cook at centre back when Amadou Mbengue is available? Or Rumarn Burrell when Kone is on the bench? The starting 11 looked like a League One team, at best: Walsh in goal; Jimmy Dunne, Cook, Liam Morrison and Esquerdinha as the back four; Jonathan Varane and Sam Field in defensive midfield; Kieran Morgan (who had a mare), Karamoko Dembélé and Rayan Kolli as the attacking trio; and Burrell leading the line.
To be fair to Stephán, he may not have a free hand when picking these players. Christian Nourry is seemingly completely intransigent about his ‘development model’, determined to buy as many young players as he can, develop them, then sell them for a profit. That means it makes more sense to play the 23 year-old Walsh than it does the 31 year-old Nardi – although how 34 year-old Cookie fits into that strategy is hard to say. Maybe the Frenchman has persuaded Nourry that we need a grizzled veteran in the changing room to whip all these youngsters into shape. If so, that doesn’t seem to be working.
Which brings me to another reason it would be unfair to lay all the blame at the feet of the manager: some of the players were just phoning it in, particularly in the first 45 minutes. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a poorer first half performance by QPR – and I went to a lot of games when Gareth Ainsworth was in charge. Even with a slight improvement in the second half, we still conceded two more goals, leading to our worst result since 2018, when we lost 7-1 to West Brom. Not surprisingly, the almost 1,800 away fans that made the trip to the Coventry Building Society Arena had dwindled to about a fifth of that towards the end, as you can see from these two pictures.
The fans were typically stoical, breaking into a chant of “We’ve had a shot” when we finally got one on target in the 63rd minute, followed by “We’ve got the ball” and – inevitably – “We’ve lost the ball”.
Another mitigating factor – and I’m not trying to make excuses – is that Coventry looked really good, having put in five against Derby last week, bringing their tally for the last two games to 12. They didn’t just create more chances than us; they were able to finish, which we weren’t. Without Chair, who was out injured, we had less to offer in attack than in any other part of the field.
Injuries! There’s another reason we haven’t been able to compete so far this season. Kwame Poku, supposedly a battle-hardened Championship and League One player who never gets injured, is out, as is Frey, Celar, Larkeche, Clarke-Salter and now Chair. Even those players who are supposed to be fit, like Dembélé, go down with cramp in the 80th minute. Why is our squad so manifestly unprepared? I thought Ben Williams was supposed to be back?
Ah, this was a difficult watch. I don’t suppose Stephán is in trouble – for Nourry to ditch him after a handful of games would reflect too badly on the CEO. But winning against Charlton next Saturday feels like a must. If we lose at Loftus Road, after losing three already this season, I can see the crowd turning ugly.
You can watch the ‘highlights’ on Sky Sports here.
You might have to change the name of this blog, as pride was the last feeling associated with that shambolic performance: no confidence, self-respect or anything to be admired.
I agree with a lot of Nourry’s strategy, but someone needs to rein him in if he is influencing team selection. No manager would willingly select Walsh over Nardi.
Early days but i could see the issues at the Watford game last week - it's difficult to be optimistic at the moment. I don't recall being 5-0 in the first half in all my years a QPR fan - and he better be right next week that it will be very different- else he will lose the players, fans and be heading for an early bath!!