The annual resurrection of Clint Hill – Preview

Friday, 23rd Oct 2015 19:30 by Clive Whittingham A sure sign things haven't gone to plan again, the annual autumn recall of Clint Hill to the QPR starting line-up occurred on Tuesday evening ahead of Saturday's visit from MK Dons. Queens Park Rangers (10th) v MK Dons (20th) Championship >>> Saturday October 24, 2015 >>> Kick Off 15.00 >>> Weather – Showers, 14 degrees >>> Loftus Road, London, W12 Tuesday evening's dirge at Loftus Road may be a game we'll never remember beyond the end of next week, if indeed you can still any details of it today, but it did represent a time-honoured, much-loved tradition in the recent history of QPR. Yes, that's right, it's that time of the season again when we admit all our best laid plans have gone to shit and recall Clint Hill to the starting line-up. Prior to his retirement this ritual used to come with added Shaun Derry in midfield, but Clint is left to plough the furrow alone these days. And what a furrow he ploughed on Tuesday night, right through the shoulder blade of visiting centre forward Modou Sougou as he ran clear on goal thanks to Hill's rusty touch – not even a free kick awarded as the Wednesday medical staff took to the field to collect the scattered bits and pieces of their player up in carrier bags. Hill was signed by Neil Warnock, to plenty of furrowed brows and scepticism, in the summer of 2010 on a short-term deal designed to add experience and violence to a defence that had been too porous and nice for several seasons prior to his arrival. He'd be able to do that for 12 months, maximum, according to Warnock who drained what little faith remained in the QPR medical examinations for prospective new signings by saying Hill had an "ankle like a cement mixer". Hill was part of a promotion winning team in W12 but having played more than his fair part in that success he then suffered a fate which has befallen him pretty much every year since. Warnock signed Armand Traore to play at left back, Anton Ferdinand to play at centre back, and loaned Clint back to the Championship with Nottingham Forest. Job done, time up, so it seemed. Of course it subsequently transpired that Armand Traore and Anton Ferdinand aren't particularly good at football and Hill was hastily recalled to become a key part of the defence in a QPR team that survived by the skin of its teeth. And this has continued ever since – Hill gets written off and dropped for younger, more expensive, bigger names who subsequently flop necessitating the return of Hill to the team in mid-October each year. Mark Hughes did it with Stephane Mbia, Harry Redknapp did it with Chris Samba and later Steven Caulker, Chris Ramsey has done it with Gabrielle Angella and Grant Hall. They all come crawling back to Clint sooner or later. The value of having a centre half who can do the ugly, mostly aerial, stuff was there for all to see on Tuesday – just a second clean sheet of the season for leaky Rangers. It is the old story about team being more important than individuals - a lesson QPR have struggled to come to terms with. Throughout the last four years expensive individuals, far better - on paper at least - than the players they're replacing, have come into QPR and done poorly. Each year the same, lots of new signings and reasons for optimism based around individuals and names. It's been the same again this year since Rob Green, Leroy Fer, Sandro, Matt Phillips and Charlie Austin all remained with the club rather than leaving when everybody expected them to in the summer. Five quality individuals means much better QPR team yes? Pressure increases on Chris Ramsey as a result. I think I wrote after the transfer window had closed that if Derby or Middlesbrough signed those five players everybody would be immediately putting them down as title favourites. But we're probably all guilty of that QPR 'individuals over team' mentality in that respect. After all, it pays scant regard to how you go about re-integrating those players into a team and a club they had probably mentally already left. Players who spent the summer thinking they would be first choice have suddenly dropped down the pecking order leading to, in their eyes, promises being broken. Seb Polter's angry Tweet after being dropped on Tuesday night a case in point. The individuals may all be good, but slinging them in when they're potentially not overly thrilled to still be here doesn't guarantee results and risks upsetting the balance of the group. Sandro and Fer, on top of that, had no pre-season. In four of the five cases – Austin is exceptional in every sense of the word – it probably also overcooks just how good these players actually are. Robert Green has always been a keeper who's a bit too good for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League – he's now that but in poor form. Goals against Fulham, Forest and Bolton can be laid at his door this year. He certainly hasn't looked like a goalkeeper so good it's worth assuming his team will finish higher in the table simply because he's there. He still can't kick, even when he is playing well. Sandro spent all of last season injured and has only just come back into the team now, a yard off the pace as his wild tackle against Wednesday that he may have been red carded for had it happened later than the eighth minute shows. Why do we expect him to stay fit and dominate the midfield throughout a 46 game Championship season? A dozen games in and he's made two starts. Leroy Fer goes from whacking in 30 yard piledrivers to falling over his own rubbery legs. Fans spent most of last season bemoaning his complete lack of defensive ability, branding him a luxury player – now, suddenly, his presence is a reason to say QPR shouldn't finish midtable, they should be in the play-offs. Matt Phillips, too, has flattered to deceive for much of his time here. A consistently good four months of football at the end of last season followed an inconsistent and injury-plagued first 18 months with the club, and that form seems to be draining away from him again if the last two games are anything to go by. All of these players were here last season when QPR finished dead last in the Premier League, which makes the rush to get back just because they're still here seem a little odd as surely the same result will occur unless we go out and spaff all the Premier League TV money on some more individuals. Are they really as good as we think? Are we right to be hanging a head coach for not getting more out of them? Is there actually any more to extract? We've picked up just one point from six this week against teams that were inferior on paper, but teams all the same. When QPR have one of those, then we can justifiably talk about raised expectations. Links >>> But for the grace of God – opposition profile >>> Loans and Shoestrings – Interview >>> Names don't win games – Podcast >>> Duncan at Loftus Road for first time – referee >>> Another home draw beckons – Betting Saturday Team News: James Perch returns from his one match ban leaving Chris Ramsey to decide which three out of him, Nedum Onuoha, Gabrielle Angella, Grant Hall and Clint Hill fit into the two centre back berths and the right back slot. Jamie Mackie and Charlie Austin are medium term absentees so Jay Emmanuel-Thomas will continue as lone striker – whether Seb Polter makes the bench after his midweek outburst, and what reserve attacking options Ramsey can go with if he doesn't remains to be seen. Sandro might struggle to do three starts in a week which paves the way for a recall for Karl Henry – which will go down well if it happens. Darren Potter and Dean Bowditch will travel with the squad but aren't expected to start for MK Dons following a recent bout of night terrors. They join Mark Randall (athlete's foot), Matt Upson (gout), Dale Jennings (plague) and Joe Walsh (smallpox) on the sidelines. Elsewhere: Championship fixtures stretch as far as the eye can see across four days this weekend as the competition enters crucial round 76. Rotherham v Sheffield Owls is up first tonight, a fixture that was 1-0 to the home side after 85 minutes last season but finished 3-2 to the visitors. Amazing, really, that the Sweatmeister General lived through that experience. His second game in charge of the Champions of Europe following the midweek draw with Rupert and Tarquin takes them to Bolton on Saturday – Neil Lennon currently trying to assemble the least threatening attack in the history of the sport by pairing Emile Heskey with Shola Ameobi. Tarquin and Rupert kick off early against Waitrose for some reason on Saturday – big do at the rugby club they've got to go home and change for perhaps – but the Saturday lunchtime TV game is the always hostile all-Lancashire affair between Big Spending Burnley and the Mad Chicken Farmers. League leading Brighton have a home banker with Preston, while Charlton manager Guy Luzan needs a win to keep himself in a job as the struggling Addicks host relegation rivals Abacus. Huddersfield play the Derby Sheep, Tigers Tigers Rah Rah Rah host Birmingham, the Trees play Ipswich and Wolves are at home to Boro. Cardiff v Bristol City is this week's Monday Night Football. Referee: Scott Duncan is the man in the middle for this one, his first ever appointment at Loftus Road. MK Dons have happy memories of this official - he was in charge for their 5-1 home win against Yeovil at the end of last season that helped seal their promotion to the Championship. QPR less so – his only appointment with the R's so far was a 1-0 loss at champions-elect Leicester two Easter's ago when Benoit Assou-Ekotto was, rightly, sent off for being a knob. Full details and stats available here. Form QPR: A draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night levels it all up again for Rangers who are now, as the American say, 4 4 and 4 for the season. Three of the four wins, however, came in August and the 4-3 victory against Bolton here a fortnight ago is the only win Chris Ramsey's side has managed in seven matches. The clean sheet kept against Wednesday was only the second shut-out of the season, both of which have occurred in the two games Karl Henry hasn't started. MK Dons: The Dons made a reasonable start to life in the Championship with two wins and a draw in the opening month, although given how the two teams they beat – Bolton and Rotherham – have done since perhaps that's an indication of their true level. Blackburn were vanquished 3-0 last weekend, but only having been reduced to ten men at 0-0 in an incident which saw a penalty awarded for the first goal. That's their only win in nine league games, seven of which have been lost, and there's a 6-0 home loss to Southampton in the cup in amongst that run as well. The Blackburn game was the first time Karl Robinson's side has scored more than one in a league match since the opening day of the season. Betting: Our tame professional odds compiler Owen Goulding tells us… "Having just woken up from a Rangers watching induced coma on Tuesday, the joys of the Championship means very little rest time before its time to go again - this time against MK Dons. "The 12 men of QPR managed to secure a draw against Sheffield Wednesday thanks to an inspired performance from Mr Haines in the centre. He's not available this week so Rangers will have to rely on other sources and it's hard to predict what team Ramsey will put out. "The whole 'give youth a chance' seems to have gone out the window if rumours of Suk Young's fitness are true and I'm not entirely sure of his plan of action. MK Dons bring a struggling side to West London on Saturday and they will be looking to improve on their similar stat to Rangers of one win in the last five games. Both teams have only managed to score more than once in those games so a low scoring affair could be on the cards. Looking at the match prices, the draw stands out at 13/5 and that's where my money will be going. Recommended Bet: QPR v MK Dons - Full time result- Draw @ 13/5 (Bet365/Betvictor) Prediction: Reigning Prediction League champion isawqpratwhitecity tells us… "Apart from a win at home last weekend, the Dons' form is dire. My best prediction is a mushroom cloud over W12 if we lose, despite our current mid-table 4-4-4. But even with Austin's injury, we ought to do this at a gentle trot. So get ready for a hard slog. That Bolton spirit seems like ages ago." Jim's Prediction: QPR 2-1 MK Dons. First Scorer – Jay Emmanuel-Thomas LFW's Prediction: QPR 3-2 MK Dons. First Scorer – Jay Emmanuel-Thomas The Twitter @loftforwords Pictures – Action Images Photo: Action Images



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GetMeRangers added 20:28 - Oct 23

En interesting review, but had me pondering. Is CR a great coach of individuals, we all know of successes he has had in the past of developing young players, and perhaps not a great coach of teams. It could even be argued that some of the summer signings were that of individuals rather than those that would play well in a team.



Maybe I am stating the obvious and this is in fact the difference between a coach and a manager 0

Roller added 21:02 - Oct 23

Clive, I've had my "thanks and farewell" piece written on Clint for two seasons now, I dare say you have too; it follows very similar lines to your piece here. God knows when I'll get to use it, 2020 perhaps? What a magnificent professional. 1

TacticalR added 00:46 - Oct 24

Thanks for your preview.



Hill. Just how long can this man go on?



On our 'star' individuals...it's obvious that a lot of them are pretty flawed, otherwise we wouldn't have got relegated. That's not to say that players like Phillips and Fer don't have talent, and I hope both come good. However, a good team needs to be more than the sum of its parts, and that's something we have struggled with.



We can't keep on changing our whole team every time we go up or down. The trick is how to build a team in the Championship that can survive in the Premiership. That is hard. A few teams have done it in style (Swansea and Southampton), but most haven't. 1

PunteR added 01:38 - Oct 24

There is someone that posts on the forum that goes to a lot of u21 games and has strong opinions about why we are not picking the likes of Doughty,Harriman etc.

Hill is a player that spent most of his career in the so called lower leagues ,yet we rely on him massively. As Hill has shown ,you have to give players opportunities.

i honestly think there is a very fine line between players in the top division and league 2.

its no surprise in the FA cup lower leagues beat the pampered prem teams . 0

Burnleyhoop added 13:15 - Oct 24

I understand your arguments Clive, but until we get Fer, Philips, Sandro and Austin fit and playing together, supported by Chery and Luongo and hopefully, a settled back four, we don't yet know whether we have a decent team or not. Surel'y we should give Ramsey the benefit and a bit more time to settle things down.

As long as he keeps Henry well away from the first team I will keep my powder dry in the hope of seeing improvements in the near future. In truth,I have always felt that we would not see the best of this squad until the New Year and I'm sticking to this view.







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Loft1979 added 17:06 - Oct 24

Clive. You are in my opinion the most worthy writer on all matters QPR. While I disagree on all but the underlying hypothesis I still love this piece.



1. Clint. Is the captain. Only he can run this team ...on the field. No he can't run, he gets poster used by wingers ad nauseous, but when he is in detention the defense as spoken above is a shambles. But also consider he has been ostracized by CR and with NW in house guess who's back...

...hmmmm. Derry 'predicted' this after the Fulham game...writing from his chair on how much Clint was missed.



Soo. Is CR the manager? Or is he the defacto manager



Fer and Sandro = bait. The 'injury' story sounds like more rumor and press play. More likely QPR want to be carefully with the high dollar merchandise...press clippings reiterate the obvious...that Austin, fer, Phillips, and Sandro are fodder for the January window.



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GloryHunter added 22:22 - Oct 24

The "first scorer" bets by both pundits were rather prescient, no? 0

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