The Pre-Match Warm Up
Friday 20th April 2007
by Ron Norris & Simon Skinner |
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Rangers FACE CARDIFF
After the good run at Easter came to
end at The Stadium of Light, Rangers will look to finally seal
Championship survival against Cardiff on Saturday afternoon. Will the
pressure finally be off John Gregory by a quarter to five tomorrow? |
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Match Preview |
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Queens
Park Rangers v Cardiff City
The Championship
Saturday 21st April 2007
Kick Off 15:00 |
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TEAM NEWS |
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John Gregory should be
welcoming Lee Cook back into the side following his absence with a slight
ligament strain to his knee. Danny Cullip is rated as a doubt after he
strained his hamstring putting a hurting on Darryl Murphy last week at
Sunderland. Michael Mancienne may be back after he suffered dizzy spells
after getting a boot in the chops against Preston. Bircham is back in
training but lacking in fitness and of course Ainsworth is out with a busted
leg.
David Jones is
definitely without Simon Walton who is in the throws of a five game ban
having been sent off three times in his last twelve games! Former Forest and
West Brom man Ricardo Scimeca is out with an infected groin (stop sniggering
at the back) and centre back Glenn Loovens is out with a foot problem. |
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A QUICK GUIDE TO OUR OPPONENTS |
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CARDIFF IN
BRIEF |
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It was all
gravy at Ninian Park earlier in the season as The Bluebirds
seemed to be beating all comers as they assaulted the summit of
The Championship. Ray Jones put a fly in their ointment with a
last minute winner at their place and they never seemed to
recover. A bad trot followed and inconsistency has blighted them
since, ultimately leading to their current position six points
outside the play off berths. |
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TOP SCORERS |
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Name |
FLC |
FAC |
LC |
Total |
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Michael Chopra |
22 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
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Steven Thompson |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
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Paul Parry |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
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Ricky Scimeca |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
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Darren Purse |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
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LAST FIVE
GAMES |
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Date |
Versus |
Venue |
F |
A |
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14/04/07 |
Stoke |
Home |
1 |
1 |
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09/04/07 |
Burnley |
Away |
0 |
2 |
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07/04/07 |
Sheff Weds |
Home |
1 |
2 |
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31/03/07 |
Sunderland |
Home |
0 |
1 |
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17/03/07 |
Derby |
Away |
1 |
3 |
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CLASH OF THE
DAY |
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Damion
Stewart v Michael Chopra. When you come up against a man who has
bagged over twenty goals this season to date you have to be at
it from the off. Of late, Stew Peas has been starting slower
than an Austin Allegro in mid-winter but he cannot afford to do
so against Chops. Whilst his recent form hasn’t been great (last
weeks goal ended a seven game drought) he is still a massive
danger to our hopes of staying up. |
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RANGERS VERSUS ..... |
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LAST TIME OUT |
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Cardiff City 0 - 1 Queens Park
Rangers
Friday 17th November 2006 |
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“The ball
was fed wide by Nygaard into the path of first half sub Ward and
he carried the ball toward Ledley and McNaughton. Some lovely
slight of foot saw him sneak between the two and deliver a
beautiful cross between the centre backs and the keeper. All the
Cardiff players seemed to abdicate responsibility and Ray Jones
was on hand to snake out his left leg and poke the ball home
from four yards.” |
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HEAD TO HEAD |
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Overall |
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Played |
QPR |
Cardiff |
Draws |
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60 |
28 |
22 |
10 |
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At Loftus Road |
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Played |
QPR |
Cardiff |
Draws |
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29 |
20 |
6 |
3 |
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LEAGUE
STANDINGS |
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Pos |
Team |
P |
GD |
Pts |
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11th |
Cardiff |
43 |
8 |
64 |
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18th |
QPR |
43 |
-13 |
49 |
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OTHER MEETINGS |
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Rangers
have the slightest of edges over Cardiff in the league head to
head with twenty two wins to twenty; there have also been nine
stalemates. Rangers have won the last two games at HQ by the
same score line, 1-0. The Bluebirds last win came in their
promotion season when a blistering hat-trick from Rob Earnshaw
and another from Millennium nemesis Andy Campbell wrapped up a
harsh looking 4-0. |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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THE REFEREE |
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For the
second time in recent times Rangers have been handed a reprieve
from the thrustings of Uriah Rennie. He has obviously been
called to something far more glamorous so we have the pleasure
of Mick Thorpe’s company instead. He has booked ninety five in
thirty four games with another five reds. He took charge of
Derby’s win at Loftus Road in October and also did last seasons
home win over Cardiff. |
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THE REF RECORD |
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Season |
Games |
Yellows |
Reds |
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2006-07 |
34 |
95 |
5 |
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2005-06 |
41 |
111 |
5 |
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2004-05 |
29 |
54 |
3 |
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2003-04 |
33 |
99 |
8 |
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QPR CONNECTIONS |
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Matthew Brazier started life on the left of midfield for
the Rangers youth team before playing in the first team at left
back. He never set the world alight in his time at Loftus Road,
in fact, I am not even sure he could find the matches!
He moved on to Fulham and then to Cardiff, on loan
initially and then on a perm. In typical fashion, he managed to
notch in front of The Loft when he returned with the Welsh
outfit. |
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RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF |
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SIMON:
A win will put the tin hat on survival even though I am
confident that we already have enough points given the games our rivals
face. If Cullip is missing his leadership at the back will be a huge miss
but the potential return of Mancienne may counter this slightly. Cardiff
will be having one last tilt to get to the play offs, with so much at stake
I think this will be pretty cagey and end in a draw. 1-1.
RON:
Coming off the back of a defeat is never a good thing but
the loss to a quality Sunderland side surely won’t have dented the
confidence too much. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off before that
game and finally secure our Championship survival. Cardiff have been shaky
on the road of late, taking only two points from the last six trips and I
don’t think they’ll add to that total tomorrow. 2-1 Rangers win.
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Current score: Ron 29 Simon 28 |
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