Match Reports and Comments....Comparing QPR's Start This Season With Last Year

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As the Observer notes, QPR have now taken six points (from three games) this season. Last season, it took QPR until October to reach six point (and nine games.)

Last Season's Start: 2007/2008 Results
Bristol C 2-2 QPR 11-08-2007
QPR 0-2 Cardiff 18-08-2007
QPR 0-3 Southampton 01-09-2007
Leicester 1-1 QPR 15-09-2007
QPR 0-2 Plymouth 18-09-2007
QPR 1-1 Watford 22-09-2007
West Brom 5-1 QPR 30-09-2007
Colchester 4-2 QPR 03-10-2007
QPR 1-0 Norwich 08-10-2007

September 2007
Norwich 7 7
Leicester 6 6
Preston 7 5
QPR 6 3
Sheff Wed 7 3
[QPR lost their next game to WBA..QPR fell to the bottom, and John Gregory was axed after 8 games

October 2007
22 Crystal Palace 13 -4 11
23 QPR 12 -11 11
24 Norwich 13 -11 8


Dave McIntyre/BBC 6062-0 to Rangers then.
The first goal a simple finish from Blackstock and the second a really well taken one by Ledesma – his first for the club.
The team recovered well after an enforced change in the first half, when Fitz Hall went off injured.
Hall has an abductor problem and his condition will be assessed on Monday. He looks unlikely to play against Carlisle in the Carling Cup so expect Kaspars Gorkss - left out today having played 90 minutes for Latvia in midweek - to return on Tuesday night.
Doncaster looked a decent side at times and Rangers are far from the finished article, but that early goal made all the difference.
Second goal of the season for Blackstock and no doubt a boost to his confidence.
It’ll be interesting to see whether he is rested for the Carlisle game with the likes of Patrick Agyemang and Samuel Di Carmine getting a run-out, or whether Iain Dowie now decides that he doesn’t want to break Blackstock’s momentum after two goals in three games.
Rowlands left on the bench with Ramage and Stewart replacing Gorkss and Connolly (who came on for Hall) and Cerny again getting the nod over Camp. Some controversial choices by Dowie there.
Dowie actually singled Connolly out for praise afterwards and do you agree with Sean O'Driscoll, the Doncaster manager, who put the result down to "QPR learning from their defeat at Sheffield United and being a lot more solid"?
And it was fitting that Blackstock should score on the day the club marked the one-year anniversary of Ray Jones' death.
The two got on well and Dexter, as you would expect, said afterwards that he was determined to do well today and was especially pleased to get that goal.
Look forward to reading your views on the game, the team selection and how Rangers are looking four games into the season. BBC606


Observer/Philip Dorward - Match Report - Dowie's men recover to deliver knockout Blow
The sporting gods shone on West London. Hammersmith-born boxer James DeGale showed Queens Park Rangers the way from Beijing by winning gold, while Rovers had as frustrating and as confusing a day as their fellow townsperson, taekwondo bronze medallist Sarah Stevenson.
But this is progress, indeed, from QPR, who took until October to rack up six points last season. With the pressure on manager Iain Dowie, it was certainly a relief to get Rangers' Championship charge back on track after their woeful performance in the 3-0 defeat away to Sheffield United last Saturday.
'We spoke openly and brutally about Sheffield United during the week, but we've put that to bed and the response is a clean sheet today,' said Dowie. 'Today, we were first to everything; we had a lot of chances and restricted Doncaster to few. We played sensibly and that's important.'
This was always going to be one of the more interesting match-ups of the early season; two ambitious teams, owned by nouveau riche chairmen.
Doncaster Rovers owner John Ryan made his fortune in the cosmetic surgery business and has certainly done a decent nip-and-tuck job on the South Yorkshire club. But his Make Yourself Amazing business is small beer compared to Flavio Briatore's fiefdom. Aside from the Renault Formula One team, there are interests in fashion, nightclubs, pharmaceuticals, holiday resorts and the uber-trendy Cipriani restaurant in London's Mayfair.
That said, only Ryan turned up yesterday. With Briatore and co-owner Bernie Ecclestone otherwise engaged at the new Valencia circuit that was playing host to the European Grand Prix, sporting director Gianni Paladini was left to hold the fort.
Prior to kick-off, the Italian blessed himself, but QPR didn't need any divine intervention as Doncaster gifted them the result with two goals from set pieces. The first came after five minutes, when the impressive Daniel Parejo, on loan from Real Madrid, floated over a free-kick from the left. No one from the visiting side bothered to pick up Dexter Blackstock, who smacked a crisp volley past Neil Sullivan from close range.
The second goal, just before the half-hour, also owed much to feckless defending. Mikele Leigertwood's long free-kick dropped between Sam Hird and Gareth Roberts on the edge of the Doncaster penalty area. As the defenders played 'after you Claude', Emmanuel Ledesma took advantage, the Argentine having the simple task of stroking the ball past Sullivan.
It was all to the chagrin of Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll, who admitted his side were given a rude awaking to the Championship yesterday.
'They had eight people over 6ft 2, so it's not rocket science what was going to happen at set pieces. I was disappointed with that, but it's the first physical test we've had this season and we've struggled to find the way to get a result,' O'Driscoll said.
Doncaster's cause was not helped by Matt Mills going off with a broken jaw just before the hour, but, in truth, this was a woeful performance that belied their battling efforts in their first two games in the Championship.
An effort from 25 yards early in the second half by Richie Wellens that went straight to goalkeeper Radek Cerny was the nearest they got to goal.
For their part in the second period, Rangers did not get Ledesma and Lee Cook on the ball as much and posed less of a threat. But, that said, it was a disciplined performance from QPR, although it is not every week that they will come up against opponents as obsequious as Doncaster.
At the final whistle, Dowie punched the air. It was not quite James DeGale, but it certainly turned out to be a better sporting day for West London than Doncaster. Observer


SPORTING LIFE/By Andy Sims, PA Sport - DOWIE DELIGHTED WITH LOAN RANGERS
Emmanuel Ledesma and Daniel Parejo were the toast of Loftus Road after QPR got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Doncaster in the Coca-Cola Championship.
Boss Iain Dowie was full of praise for his loan stars after Parejo set up Dexter Blackstock's opener and Ledesma grabbed a classy second to seal a comfortable win over newly-promoted Rovers.
Argentinian Ledesma arrived in west London on loan from Genoa while fellow midfielder Parejo was brought in from Real Madrid, and the youngsters left Doncaster chasing shadows at times during the first half.
"Emmanuel is a very good player," said Dowie. "It's wonderful to watch him, he makes your eyes open wide with some of his tricks but he can also do the simple things well.
"He played his position very well. He played a bit off the cuff last week but he has responded with a very disciplined display - and he makes the ball talk.
"Daniel has got everything in his locker. For one so young he has got great talent and he's also learning about the physicality of the game.
"They are good lads. We've finished the game with five under-20s on the pitch, there aren't many teams who do that. But we have to give them time to develop.
"They are not going to become superstars overnight. Because Daniel is from where he is from, everyone expects him to be (a superstar). But he is improving and Emmanuel's discipline was miles better than in his first game.
"They are settling in but it takes time."
Blackstock grabbed the opener after just five minutes when he turned in Parejo's free-kick, and Ledesma doubled QPR's advantage on the half-hour when he chased a long punt upfield, held off two challenges and tucked the ball away.
The home side should probably have won by more, but they took their foot off the gas after the break.
Dowie, who famously coined the term "bouncebackability", was delighted his side showed that particular trait in style following last week's chastening 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United.
"The attitude, application and desire of the players to embrace what we are trying to do has been terrific," he added.
"Doncaster are a very good side, one of the best passing sides in the division, and we nullified that and we had a creativity.
"We were first to everything. The defeat at Sheffield United hurt and we spoke openly and brutally about that in the week and put it to bed. The response was a clean sheet today."
Doncaster defender Matthew Mills was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw as his side slipped to their first defeat of the season.
"You have to give credit to QPR," said Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll.
"They learned from that defeat at Sheffield United and were much more solid today, they made it difficult for us.
"Eight of their players are over 6ft 2ins so it's not rocket science to say you have to defend properly at set-plays, so we're disappointed with that.
"It's the first physical test we have faced in this division and we struggled to find a way to get a result." Sporting Life


Also: Earlier Reports and Mangerial Comments on QPR 2 Doncaster 0