Before I start this Ramble, and it’ll be slightly different to normal, I’d just like to say I was impressed with all fans at the ground for the minute’s silence for Remembrance Day. It was very moving and immaculately observed, a proper fur up moment.

As time goes on folk are starting to forget just what this represents and THAT shouldn’t be allowed, EVER.
Before fans start going off on one about trivial things like football this puts some severe perspective on things and gives us a moment of reflection for those men and women who lost their lives in conflict and continue to risk AND lose their lives in service of this country.
I’m pleased we can pay our respects to them all in this small way and long may it continue.

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OK…On with the football.

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I know there’s loads of fans fed up of hearing about how well we played, how many chances we created, how close we came to scoring and winning…and how we didn’t deserve to lose….and I know there’s loads of fans for who winning, is the be all and end all of the footy match and nothing else matters, but the fact is we DID play well, we DID create chances, we DID come close to winning and we DEFINITELY didn’t deserve to lose this….The QPR fans will make the long trip South feeling like the dogs bollox and they’ve every right to be….this turned into a smash and grab at the end and they’ve stolen the points.

I don’t give a monkeys chuff that people will point and say ‘Fook playing well, we lost’ and those that were on the radio saying ‘We were rubbish’ or 'We played crap' Well, I can’t get me breath…if THAT’S rubbish then I want more of that rubbish, if we played crap then cover me in shit and crap me up...I want to see loads more crap because it was entertaining crap and I go to be entertained as well as wanting Wednesday to win. We need to stop blathering and get perspective about where our team is.

Let’s not forget here, QPR have money and they have talent all over the pitch, ALL OVER the pitch, and they used it…but we…this ramshackle team with a low in confidence, moved about defence, booed by it’s own fans…well we equalled them for most of the game and outshone them for large periods of it. We had more possession and we had more corners…we just couldn’t do the important bit…get more goals.

Rangers are one of the Championships rising teams, other teams have real cause to fear them but we...Sheffield-fookin-Wednesday, took the game to them today and we almost pulled it off….and who knows…had the ref and linesman not been so blinkered, we have done just that. How anyone could miss such a blatant handball and how one tackle seemed OK and an almost identical tackle seconds later was a foul I don’t know…how he could miss some things when he had a clear and unobstructed view a couple of yards away, I don’t know…how the ball comes off a QPR player and goes behind for them a goal kick I DON’T FOOKIN KNOW…this shit happened all game and he was very poor…having said that, he was poor for both sides at times and HE IS NOT the reason we lost.

But he didn’t help.

In my opinion this was a smashing game of football from both sides, some wonderful passing and movement from both sides…great play from both midfields and superb defending…woodwork hit, good saves AND goals, what more do you want from a game of football.

QPR set about us from the off, showing why they’ve been doing quite well this season and giving us a taste of that flair football we’ve all heard about, showing us why they’re a team possibly heading out of this division through the right exit door…

Within 10 minutes of the start the wonderfully talented Taarabt put a good ball through the heart of our defence for former Wednesday target Jay Simpson to run onto and show us why Brian Laws wanted to bring him to S6 as he put the ball past Granty with ease… It was well placed by Taarabt and finished well by Simpson, good move and we were stunned.

Rangers seemed to be all over us straight after that, with great moves, running off the ball and when they hit the post shortly after the goal, we held our breath…this could be a proper hiding…but no sooner had those thoughts come into the head, they were banished when we equalled the QPR move with a cracking move and goal of our own.

Potter may not be international standard like Taarabt but when he’s on form he's a match for anyone and his touch and vision was orgasmic as he put a beautiful ball through for JJ to run onto and slot inside the far post for the Wednesday fans to go mental…if that wasn’t enough of a copycat reaction we then went on to hit the post just as QPR had done after their goal. This time it was Varney fleet footed into the box, slipping a couple of tackles and agonisingly hitting the woodwork when it looked easier to score. It just wasn’t Varneys day as he’d been denied a penalty moments before that.

After that initial flurry from Rangers where they looked set to trample us we steadied ourselves and after the equaliser really got hold of the game…QPR weren’t without threat but they weren’t getting things their own way. Routledge cutting in from the right had to be stopped a few times, including with one excellent tackle from Lewis Buxton where he crunched into him and came out with the ball…it needed to be good and it was, VERY good and with a little bit of a swagger about him as he strode forward with the ball too.

When Rangers did have possession they passed it well, they moved it quick, from one side of the pitch to the other, they moved for each other and worked hard at trying to make inroads but our defence stood firm and the two centre halves did very well, but anything the QPR midfield did ours matched as we also passed it about and moved for each other…and both sides had chances and half chances up to the half time whistle but neither could put them away.

When we came out for the second half it was pretty much all about us as we seemed to step up yet another gear.

We all guessed wrong about the free kick on the edge of the box we had as Tommys Miller and Spurr stood over it only for our usual taker of free kicks, Potter, to put it narrowly over the top of the Rangers goal…this was Wednesday in the first few minutes after the restart, a sign of things to come.

Shortly afterwards Miller went close hitting the base of the post and as the game had gone on he’d taken more of an important role and was involved in most things that got us moving forward, this was a good performance from him….on the other side JJ was full of himself again and making the QPR full backs life a misery, he turned him inside out and seemed to be able to go past him at will…we just needed the end product from him.

A mark of how our midfield and defence did, especially second half, was Buzsaky being subbed. he wasn’t being as effective…That’s a good player there and we kept him quiet….OK, so we couldn’t keep the impressive, wonderfully talented Taarabt totally quiet but with a special player like that you won’t …BUT….we DID do very well against him and limited those tricks and taunts to a side netting attempt and THAT is quite an achievement in itself.

I was enjoying this…we’d had the lions share of the possession and we were playing well…defending well, attacking well and at pace…but we couldn’t rest as QPR looked sharp on the break….but for all this good football from our side it took until late into the second half for any atmosphere to be generated in the ground and even then it was short lived

We’re watching our team play lovely football and the mood around the ground was so fookin dull…the band weren’t here and if I’m honest, we could probably have used them today because the whole place needed a lift.

Just as we’re settling into a good attacking rhythm Frankie went down with cramp…someone went over and tried stretching it off but he wasn’t having it and he was subbed…

Frankie had played well, better than last week which had also been good and it's nice to see him coming back to form but now it meant shuffling the pack. The impressive Lewis Buxton moved over to Frankies slot and Richard Wood came on…to quite a few boos from the home fans….who then booed him whenever he touched the ball.

Again I’ll ask…WHAT FOOKIN GOOD DOES THIS DO OUR TEAM?

Have your opinions about the lad, if you don’t like his contract situation or the lad himself fine…you’re entitled, but for fooks sake, leave it out when we’re midway through a game…save it for afterwards.

If that shuffle wasn’t bad enough Sean McAllister replaced Miller…I’m a big fan of Sean’s but this wasn’t a good move IMO…though it seems it may have been because Miller wasn’t well.
Miller had been vital to our forward momentum and when he went off lost a lot of that…When JJ followed him not long after then our attacking options had changed totally.

JJ had tormented the Rangers defence all game and perhaps should have done better with some of his chances but he’d pulled something, at least it looked like that’s what he was signalling, and off he went, the QPR fans will have been relieved to see the back off him, he was replaced by Leon….who with virtually his first touch got past his man to fire into the side netting.

Not making the most of those good chances came back to haunt us yet again as the impressive Kasper Gorkss got on the end of the second of those two QPR corners to head Rangers to victory…

GUTTED!

It was a killer blow and it hurt like fook.

We didn’t deserve that…they didn’t deserve that…BOLLOX!

We pressed in the remaining minutes but we couldn’t find the equaliser and when the whistle went it hurt like chuff.
The fans booed the ref and we all left sloughened to fook…We’d been mugged…AGAIN!

The thing is though…it DID hurt but once again I can take plenty from this game…

I can’t find fault with any player on our side, they played well, to a man…this was a very good team effort again.

We saw Miller and Simek get another good game under their belt and contribute more of the good stuff…we saw our two centre halves; Hinds and Buxton play very well together…VERY WELL. Hinds got through some right work today and he and Lewis looked good as a pairing…. AS steady a pairing as we’ve seen for a while.

Our midfield moved the ball about well, they worked for each other and they created some good chances and played good football. They controlled the game for long periods too and against this opposition that IS a plus.

I have to say though that James O Connor was different gravy today. He put tackles in, he chased loose balls, he ran and he moved, he passed…lordy did he pass…one ball down the North Stand wing second half, for JJ to run onto was sublime…he got into the box, he jinked and harried…there was a point in the first half where he chased the ball as QPR passed it around, almost like they were trying to take the piss…it was easy for them…must have been half a dozen passes…he chased every fookin one of em and eventually he GOT THE BALL! He turned it into a good attack too…it was lovely to see.
It was one of the best performances by a Wednesday player in a long time IMHO, he worked hard for 90 minutes and never gave up, outstanding stuff and kudos to him.

QPR are a talented bunch, they have Routledge down the wing who’s no slouch, they have Watson who ALWAYS causes us problems WHOEVER he’s playing for and of course, the aforementioned talents of Buzsaky and Taarabt. Add to that lot…at the back…and up front in the end…they have Gorkss. He’s a fookin rock for them in defence but when he gets on the end of one of only TWO corners Rangers had the whole game, with all that attacking talent around him failing for 80 minutes, and he fookin scores, then you just have to take it on the chin….

You have to.

This was a good, entertaining game of football and both sides played their part. We aren’t getting the rub of the green at the moment, but we will…it will come.

We move on.

Personally I move on with a bit of heart…I like what I’m seeing on the pitch and I STILL think someone is in for a hiding from us…One more thing….

Make a note in ya diary…

Saturday April 3rd: QPR Away

That day is now Vodka and Victory Day – The day we take back the 3 points.

I love London away days...I love QPR away days.

Cheers

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive


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