Day Out

ACAS, the BBC and KC

Paul Lindsay goes to Loftus Road to assess King Karl's progress…

Christmas. A time for families, so the saying goes, but also one for problems when you are a Wrexham supporter with a partner who has a family living in London. 

This year was her turn to be with the family for Christmas and I was obviously expected to accompany her south for the festive season. When the Football League computer drew the Robins a home fixture on Boxing Day, I knew there were going to be problems. After some discussion, ACAS were called in and a compromise solution was reached: I would spend Christmas in London, with the proviso of being allowed to attend a traditional festive fixture on Boxing Day. At the same time, agreement was reached that we would return on the Friday 29th in time for me to be able to visit the Racecourse for the visit of Bury on the 30th.

I decided fairly early on that the game I was going to see would be QPR v Norwich. Of all the big teams at home on Boxing Day, Arsenal and Charlton were long since sold out - and I had been to Upton Park twice before. Selhurst Park was the local choice but Wimbledon-Portsmouth held little appeal, so I decided to visit QPR, get a new ground in, and have a look at Karl Connolly in the process. Actually getting to Loftus Road was not as straightforward as I had imagined. Situated in Shepherds Bush next to the BBC, it was - in theory - a 15-minute trip by train from East Croydon to Victoria, a short trip round the Circle Line to Notting Hill Gate and two stops along the Central Line to Shepherds Bush. However, I had not taken into account the reduced level of Boxing Day rail services and had reckoned without a 50-minute wait for a train at the start of my journey. 

When the train did eventually arrive at Victoria - fortunately slightly early - it was still a race against the clock to make it on time for kick-off. Tube services were kinder and it was with less anxiety that I disembarked the train at Shepherds Bush. This proved shortlived, however, as, having been fed misinformation somewhere, I saw several supporters emblazoned in QPR scarves still on the train as it pulled out of the station heading for the more convenient Tube stop for Loftus Road at White City! Exiting the station onto Shepherds Bush Green, I was now in a hurry and whipped out my A-Z, searching for the shortest route to the stadium. I broke into a jog, instantly regretting the excessive quantities of food consumed the day before; by the time I arrived at the ticket office, with just five minutes to spare, I must have resembled Roger Bannister in that famous clip after his four-minute mile.

After paying what I considered to be an excessive £20, I quickly purchased a programme and fanzine and took up residence in the South Africa Road stand locating my seat next to a convincing Prince Andrew lookalike literally seconds before kick off. Connolly, unfortunately, but not altogether unsurprisingly, was not in the starting line-up. He appears to have developed into something of a super-sub at Loftus Road and had come off the bench for the final 15 or so minutes on more than one occasion to score vital goals for the R's which, to me, seemed to be a waste of his talents given the precarious league position in which his new employers find themselves. 

Rangers surprised most people in the ground by taking an early lead in the 11th minute with a well-taken goal by Clarke Carlisle. The first half was relatively even with both sides cancelling each other out to some extent. King Karl's main contribution to the proceedings was to spend most of the half doing stretching exercises along the touchline directly in front of where I was sitting. Five minutes from the interval, Norwich pulled a goal back with a side-footed shot (which the ageing Ludek Miklosko in the Rangers goal appeared to stand and watch, apparently thinking it was heading wide). As the home supporters streamed away for their half-time refreshments, QPR kicked off, went upfield to score their second only a minute later. 

At the break, I indulged myself in a hot chocolate and a 'Real Cornish Pastie' which helped fill a corner, thank you very much. Supporters were still retaking their seats when Norwich equalised for the second time in the match; they stole through the Rangers defence into the box leaving Miklosko floundering for the second time in the game. From then on it was very much a case of QPR being on the back foot. Connolly continued his warm-up routine and grumblings were heard from around the stand at Gerry Francis' tactical ineptitude and it was only when Iwan Roberts scored what turned to be the Canaries' winner with 10 minutes left on the clock, that he decided it was time for a change. Connolly finally entered the fray but was unable on this occasion to produce the magic required to salvage anything from the game for Rangers and it was Norwich who left the field after 90 minutes to applause…while QPR were left to rue their apparent inability to defend. 

On current showing, Gerry Francis' team are not showing anything like the consistency to climb out of relegation trouble and, even at this mid-point of the season, it will be no surprise to see them at the Racecourse next season.