Queens Park Rangers Manager Mode (FIFA 13 - PS3)

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Hey all,
My Champions League thread just isn't going to work out, too many games to get through. Sorry for taking up space! xD
As some of you may know from the Career Mode thread in the FIFA Discussion forum, I've been fairly successful in my 2 1/2 seasons with Watford, having been promoted and qualifying for the Europa League through my winning of the FA Cup. I've decided to take a perennially underachieving side (Q.P.R.) and attempt to make a European giant out of them. Is it possible? Who knows, only time will tell!
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Q.P.R. Head In New Direction
Unknown Canadian will be running the show at Loftus Road

Queen Park Rangers' search for a new manager is over. It took three months, from the end of one dismal season to the beginning of a new hopeful one, but Q.P.R. have found their new manager.

The decision's a bit of an interesting one, as owner Tony Fernandes and Managing Director Phil Beard have chosen a relatively unknown Canadian by the name of Carlos Verde to try and lead the Loftus Road boys to league and trophy glory this season.

Verde has spent the last two seasons managing in the MLS, in 2010-11 he led Toronto FC to an MLS Cup finals appearance and a NutriLite Canadian Club Championship trophy, and in 2011-12 he moved to the Los Angeles Galaxy, where he did win his first league title. While managing in the MLS, Verde usually employed a 4-2-3-1, however against better teams in the World Club Cup (i.e. Barcelona, Santos) he preferred a 5-at-the-back formation, usually a 5-2-2-1.

Verde takes over from Mark Hughes, who did an admirable job of keeping Q.P.R. in the EPL last season after taking over from Neil Warnock in December with the side in the relegation zone.

Hughes has moved on to bigger and better things, taking over at Sunderland.

Verde inherits a talented group of players who are better than their 17th-place standing in the EPL Table last season indicates.

It's a side that has also been bolstered by recent summer signings like Spanish midfielder Esteban Granero, Canadian speedster Junior Hoilett, and Malian midfielder Samba Diakité.

When asked about his goals and the goals of his superiors for the coming season, Verde gave a long-winded speech about differing opinoins:

"Well I've been brought to a great club, with lots of resources and an already-talented side. The signings of Diakité and Hoilett should really bolster our midfield and inject some pace in the attacking build-up. I personally think our squad is much better than the 17th they ended up in last season. The board have obviously given me a lot of opportunity to bring in players and I've got a transfer budget about ten times that which I had two season ago in Toronto! I intend to use it, and the board feel that if I make the right moves we could finish mid-table, and maybe even challenge for a European spot. At this current time, with a club coming off of a seventeenth-place finish, I think everyone at the club is just looking for a run of consistent form really. My goal is to take full points from a list of matches that my coaching staff and I have gone over, which I feel we can rightfully take because of our superior talent. Against bigger clubs, we'll just have to go out and produce a high work rate and see what happens. While my personal goals for the squad and the board's may not overlap entirely, I think everyone will be happy if we add some consistency and finish outside of the relegation battle. As for cup, we can't really set goals seeing as the draw hasn't taken place yet, and you never know who you'll get paired up with, but the board has told me they expect a return to the Round of 16 in either the League Cup or, preferrably, the FA Cup. Obviously this will be a challenge because there are tons of quality sides in this League Association, both in the Premiership and lower leagues, so that will be quite a task, but I think we can all agree that a return to the Round of 16 would be deemed a success. Thanks for your time."


Verde was also quite guarded when he spoke of new captain Park Ji-Sung. The 31 year-old South Korean was signed by his predecessor right before Hughes was let go, and Verde has already said he wants to inject pace into the midfield, something that the 31 year-old doesn't really offer. While the board will obviously want Ji-Sung to get first-team action after the large investment they paid for him, Verde simply stated, "Park is definitely a good guy to have in the kit room, no doubt about it. As for his role with the team, we haven't quite decided where he fits in our plans, but as of right now, he is our captain and all I can say is he is a good leader, who so far has seemed to enjoy his uncapped stay at Loftus Road."

Rumors were flying this past week that Park has been transfer listed. If this is true, it would surely create some friction between the board and the coach. Rumors had Genoa, Sunderland, and Fulham as the interested parties.

Q.P.R will play three official friendlies before kicking off their 2012-13 EPL campaign.

July 22nd- v. FC Lorient
July 26th- @ Bologna
July 30th- v. Bayer Leverkusen

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

GAMEPLAY SETTINGS
Game Difficulty : World Class
Half Length : 5 Minutes
Financial Strictness : 85% (Lenient)
Currency : Sterling (UK)
Stadium : Loftus Road (18 500) (Really Stade Municipal in-game)
Default Squads
European Competition During Season One : Yes

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TRANSACTIONS
08/07/12 - Signed V.R. de Janeiro's CB Dede (80 ovr) - 7.7M + Anton Ferdinand (74, CB)
26/07/12 - Sell RB Luke Young (72 ovr) to Sunderland - 350K
30/08/12 - Signed CDM Jozsef Varga (71 ovr) - 1.1M + Radek Cerny (65, GK)


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SEASON RESULTS

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[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

QPR Make Summer Splash
Sign Brazilian star defender Dedé

In a very interesting development, Carlos Verde has spent nearly his entire transfer budget on one player! The newly-appointed QPR gaffer has reeled in V.R. de Janeiro star defender Dedé for a price of 7.7M pounds, as well as veteran centreback Anton Ferdinand.

The 24 year-old Brazilian has one the Brazilian league Defender of the Year crown two of the past three campaigns, and promises to shore up a QPR backline that was adequate at best last season.

"Yeah, for sure that's going to be a controversial move and I'm sure there are going to be media members who don't like the move, but we've taken in a younger player, a better player, no offense to Anton he's a solid defender and we wish him all the best. But we had an opportunity here to land one of the biggest summer window defenders, and we did. I'm happy. Not only will Dedé help us on the backline, he can score off of set pieces as well. I am quite happy with our group of attackers right now, Cissé and Hoilett are more than enough. My coaching staff and I felt we needed to shore up the defence, and I think this move really helps us with that."

Anton Ferdinand, on the other hand, was not impressed:
"This Canadian comes in here, feels like he can blow up the team, sell off veteran players, he hasn't got a clue what he's doing in the EPL. They'll either be relegated or he'll be canned before the end of the season. There's no doubt in my mind. I can't believe he had the nerve to send a player to Brazil!"

The QPR board spokesman could not be reached for comment, but it was apparent there would be no immediate repercussions for Verde, who spent virtually his entire transfer budget to bring in Dedé.

The Brazilian is expected to make his debut for QPR against FC Lorient in friendly action later this month.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Q.P.R. 1, FC Lorient 1

A spirited affair which featured some unfortunate luck for QPR, as major summer signing Dedé was injured and had to be substituted off after just 20 minutes in his Loftus Road debut. Mvuemba put the visiting French up in the 50th minute on a lovely strike from just outside the 18-yard box which evaded the searching mitts of Julio Cesar. Junior Hoilett tied the match for QPR in the 82nd minute when he ran onto a great pass from Esteban Granero before beating Lorient keeper Chaigneau with a quick shot to the far post. It was an average performance against an average opponent for QPR, but the main thing they took away from this game was an injury to their star signing.

DEDE OUT WITH A LATERAL COLLATERAL LIGAMENT TEAR, OUT 2 MONTHs
(Ryan Nelsen 74 overall, will fill in for him, what a blow!)

Bologna 2, Q.P.R. 2

It was an intense affair in southern Italy, as Q.P.R. locked horns with mid-table Italian side Bologna. Junior Hoilett scored both QPR goals (17', 47'), both largely due to his pace. Gimenez scored two goals (79', 88') late to equalize for QPR, who are still reeling from the loss of Dedé.

Q.P.R. 3, Bayer Leverkusen 1

A fantastic result in their final friendly match for QPR, who played a full 90 minutes and deserved the victory over one of the best clubs in Germany. Summer signing Diakité opened the scoring for the hosts in the 13th minute as he tapped in Cissé's rebound. Cissé missed a penalty ten minutes later. Schurrle brought the Germany back level a minute after that on a freekick from 25 yards out. Cissé made up for his missed penalty when he ran through the entire Bayer team before chipping the ball cheekily over Yelldell in the Leverkusen goal in the 53rd to put the hosts back in the lead. Adel Taarabt put the icing on the cake in the 87th when he scored a header off of a corner. Great result, bring on the EPL!

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

With just two games on the schedule against mid-table and relegation-zone teams, Q.P.R. were looking to come away with at least four, preferably six points from their first two EPL matches in the month of August.

Ryan Nelsen (74) picked up a knock in training, but with Dedé already injured and Clint Hill (67) next in line at centre back, Nelsen was stuck in for the season opener against Swansea, despite lingering hamstring issues.

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Swansea Steal Point
QPR blow lead, dominate play

It was a heated, busy affair in London as Swansea visited QPR.

Danny Graham and Djibril Cissé both missed glorious opportunities in the first twenty minutes for their respective teams in the first twenty minutes.

Michu opened up the scoring for the visiting Swans in the 41st minute, when he dribbled through the midfield before charging with speed at the QPR back four. He nutmeg'd M'Bia before rocketing a blast into the top corner to put the Swans up 1-nil.

Cissé responded for Q.P.R. three minutes later, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Angel Rangel. Rangel headed the ball right onto Cissé's foot, and he made no mistake, placing the ball into the near side of the net past Michael Vorm.

QPR then took the lead in the 63rd minute when Sami Diakité bore the fruit of Andrew Johnson's labor. Johnson made a fantastic run down the left flank, and cranked a hard shot towards Vorm. It was parried, but Diakité banged home the rebound into a gaping net to make it 2-1 to the hosts.

Nathan Dyer there played give-and-go with Michu, received the ball, and curled a shot around Julio Cesar and into the net in the 83rd minute to draw the Swans level.

It ended 2-2, and QPR will probably feel they should've gotten more than a point, seeing as they outshot Swansea 9-4 and out-possessed them 58-42.

"I felt we played quite well, the offense was clean and quick, and the defense only broke down twice the entire match, it's unfortunate they capitalized on both of the opportunities we gave them. We deserved three points. No matter, we've got another tricky match at Carrow Road next weekend, and we'll have to get back to the training ground and start working first thing tomorrow morning," reflected QPR manager Verde after the match.
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The decision to start Nelsen backfired, and he re-injured his hamstring. Unfortunately, I had no other option than to start Clint Hill (67 overall, 52 stamina, 68 strength) against Norwich! I also inserted Armand Traoré (71) for Fabio (75) on the left flank in an effort to inject pace onto the left side (because Park doesn't have enough). Still a 4-2-3-1, and Cissé and Hoilett were still the main focus of the offense.
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QPR Outclass Norwich
70 percent possession in absolute domination

There was no doubt as to who the better side was on the pitch at Carrow Road on Saturday, as QPR took over the match early on and never looked back.

Adel Taarabt put the visitors up in the 18th minute, after a lovely build up play, Taarabt one-timed a shot in off the post from the edge of the 18 to give QPR the 1-0 lead.

QPR continued to push the tempo and take the play to Norwich throughout the first half, but couldn't capitalize on a few golden chances (a Hill header was well-saved by Norwich keeper Ruddy, a Cissé freekick effort hit the crossbar).

The visitors doubled their money in the 60th minute, when Djibril Cissé headed home a well-placed Junior Hoilett cross to make it 2-0 to QPR.

The QPR midfielders continued to run roughshod through the middle of the pitch, and after a great buildup from Hoilett and Co., Cissé ran onto a through ball and finished with a beautiful finesse shot into the top corner. 85th minute, 3-nil to the visitors.

Norwich got a goal back in extra time to make the score a little more respectable, as Lee Dong Gook cracked a hard left-footed effort off the let goalpost and in to cut the lead to 3-1.

That would be all for the Canaries however, as QPR thoroughly dominated the match and deserved the three points.

"Yeah, I feel we were by far the better team. More talented, better technically, faster, harder on the ball, all in all we deserved the three points. We need to perform like this every time we play an inferior side, otherwise we'll end up where this club was last season. Next weekend, it's obviously a tough match with the defending champions, and they've got weapons up front and on the back line. But this group we've got here at QPR, there's something special about them. The midfield has been spectacular in both matches so far, and we've got five goals in two matches! We're in good form, and I think we'll continue it next week against Manchester City," summarized and predicted QPR manager Verde post-game.

"Well coach is really giving us free reign in terms of creativity in the midfield, and I think we've got real chemistry, myself and Adel and Sami," commented QPR's Junior Hoilett when asked about what he thought their key to success in the opening stages of the season was.

Norwich will pay a visit to top-of-table Tottenham next weekend while QPR have arguably their toughest match of the season next weekend, against Manchester City at the Etihad.
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August Recap

All in all, August was a good month for me, but it could have been better. Obviously having both Dedé and Ryan Nelsen injured leaves a fairly big hole at centre back, though Hill filled in admirably against Norwich.

The Swansea game was a bit of a disappointment, because I had chances to score a third goal, but then again so did they. I could've won, but I just as easily could've lost, so I'll take the point.

The Norwich game was a complete success, reaffirming my opinion that we could beat the lesser teams in the league with ease.

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September Preview

September 1st : @ Manchester City
- Probably the most difficult match of the season, away to the defending champions, will kick start a potentially long month of difficult matches. Will need to be at our best defensively to pick up any kind of result.

September 15th : v. Chelsea
- Another hard match, will be hard-pressed to pick up points, but at least I'm playing at home...not that that matters in FIFA. Looking for a point, anything else will be bonus.

September 23rd : @ Tottenham
- Yet another difficult match sees us travel to Tottenham to take on Spurs. So many offensive weapons, I'm afraid my centreback won't know what to do. I should have Dedé back by this game however (POSITIVE!)

This has the potential to be a really long month, so I'm hoping that I can pick up four points. That's HOPING. I'll honestly be satisfied with two points. If I can draw two of these teams I'll feel fairly accomplished. Dedé should return sometime in the middle of the month, hopefully before the Chelsea match, most likely before the Tottenham match.

Four points of six has me sitting in 8th, but that includes teams like Liverpool that have already played three matches.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

QPR Add Varga

In a small deadline day deal, QPR have added central defensive midfielder Jozsef Varga to their squad for a sum of 1.1M pounds, and third-string goalkeeper Radek Cerny. Cerny is set to retire at the end of this season, and was clearly miffed that QPR manager Carlos Verde had the nerve to send him away in the twilight of his career.
Varga is expected to debut later this month when QPR visit Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

In other QPR news, big summer signing Dedé will finally make his debut after spending the last two months sidelined with a badly strained ligament.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Sept. 9th/'12

QPR Shock the World
Londoners win at the Etihad in thriller

QPR got off on the attack, contrary to what many people expected. Adel Taarabt nearly put them ahead inside ten minutes when he cracked a shot towards the top corner, forcing Joe Hart to make a great diving fingertips save to send Taarabt's effort out for a corner.

Off the ensuing corner, Djibril Cissé wheeled around and fired a low, quick shot which Hart again dove and barely got his fingertips on, keeping the score level.

Two minutes after Hart's back-to-back saves, Mario Balotelli cranked a loose ball into the top corner to put the hosts up 1.

Djibril Cissé silenced the Etihad crowd in the 35th however, when he leveled the score with a fantastic strike from 25 yards out which curled into the far side of the net, out of the reach of a yet-again diving Hart.

The teams stood level at halftime, reflective of the first half.

Park Ji-Sung had to be substituted at halftime, as he picked up a knock on the shoulder early in the first half. Shaun Wright-Phillips came in to replace him for QPR.

Jack Rodwell nearly put City up just two minutes after the restart, when his low drive hit the outside of the QPR goalpost.

Verde's substitution paid off, as Shaun Wright-Phillips gave QPR a shock 2-1 lead in the 73rd minute when he took a Taarabt drop pass and squared it into the bottom left corner of the City goal, beating Hart and giving the Londoners a surprising lead.

City ended the match with five straight corners, three with goalkeeper Hart up in the QPR 18, but to no avail as QPR hung on for a shock 2-1 win at the Etihad.

"Yes, the boys are thrilled obviously, especially Wright-Phillips. His first cap of the season, at that stadium against that team, scoring the winner with fifteen minutes left, it's a special feeling for everyone, but especially him. He'd looked good in training this week and when I saw Park get injured early, I told him to go warm up. He rewarded his selection, and will be in the Starting XI against Chelsea," praised an ecstatic QPR manager Verde.

"Well they've always had quality sides, but it appears as though this season, they will be able to execute," stuttered a visibly shocked Roberto Mancini.

Next up for City is a match at the Britannia Stadium against bottom-table Stoke, while QPR return home for a London derby with Chelsea.
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Sep. 16th/'12

Chelsea Retain Sole Claim of First
Hold off upstart QPR in battle for first-place

Who would've thought it? That come matchday 4 in the EPL, it would be Chelsea visiting QPR in a London derby at Loftus Road, with the winner claiming sole possession of first place in the league table?

Well that was the exact situation the two teams faced coming into this match.

Fernando Torres scored in the 17th minute on a nice header off of a corner. After that, Di Matteo's men were satisfied with sitting back and allowing QPR to attack them with 10 men in their defensive third.

QPR had 62% of the possession, but couldn't crack Chelsea' defensive nutshell, and only managed four shots, two of which were on target.

Park had a glorious chance on a one-timer in the box in the 84th minute, easily QPR's best chance of the game, but sent it sailing five metres over the crossbar.

A disappointing loss for QPR, who will have wanted better, but they'll still have a record of 2-1-1, and be sitting in a European spot at the end of the weekend.
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In Capital One Cup action, I visited League Two side Oxford United. I rested quite a few players, as you can see by my squad selection. Park was out, so was Cissé, all in an effort to preserve them for my tangle with Tottenham in three days.

QPR Lose by Forfeit to League 2 Oxford
Racial slur costs QPR in Capital One Cup play

Racism in football is clearly a problem. It shouldn't be. For the first time in recent memory, the English FA is seriously cracking down on racism.

Oxford United came out firing, scoring twice inside ten miutes. A visibly frustrated Angelo Balanta then gave the finger to Oxford's goalscorer, Daniel Boateng and called him a few unprintable things within earshot of the referee.

Balanta was immediately dismissed, and the referee walked off the pitch, all the while pointing towards Oxford United's dugout to indicate a forfeit victory for the hosts.

Disappointing yes, expected, definitely not!

"We're currently looking into buying Mr. Balanta out of his contract, he's not the kind of player we want at our club," commanded QPR manager Verde post-game. "It's extremely disappointing, but it's a low-prestige tournament so it's not the end of the world. Now the boys will have a little less wear and tear when we play Tottenham in three days' time."
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After the disastrous forfeit in Oxford (really due to running out of time before my hockey practise...shhh), I really wanted to pick up points at White Hart Lane against Tottenham. I played my top line-up, identical to the Manchester City game, except Dedé is now completely healthy. I'll be happy with a point, satisfied with a close match. Spurs sit two points above me in the table (7-9, 5th-3rd). Should be a great match!
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Line-Up
GK - Julio Cesar
RB - Onuoha
RCB - Dedé
LCB -M'Bia
LB - Fabio
RDM - Granero
LDM - Park
RAM - Diakité
CAM - Hoilett
LAM - Taarabt
ST - Cissé

Shock Three Points for QPR
Surprise victory at White Hart Lane courtesy of Wright-Phillips

What a match, what a month, for QPR!

The Loftus Road boys came into the match with a solid record of 2-1-1, and this battle with Tottenham would have serious implications in the league table.

Spurs dominated the first forty-five minutes, and only multiple spectacular saves from QPR keeper Julio Cesar prevented the hosts from taking the lead.

QPR brought on Shaun Wright-Phillips at halftime, and his impact was immediate and swift. The middle third of the pitch swayed into the visitors' hands, and their attacking midfielders supplied Djibril Cissé with multiple opportunities to score.

Granero nearly put QPR up in the 60th minute, when his headed effort bounced inches wide of the far post, well out of the reach of a stretched Friedel in the Tottenham goal.

QPR took the lead in the 80th minute on the strength of a wonderful effort from Wright-Phillips, who received a pass from Cissé on the left side of the 18 yard-box, flicked the ball over the oncoming William Gallas, retrieved it, and beat Friedel with a powerful left-footed strike into the top corner to spectacularly put QPR in the lead.

Gylfi Sigurosson tied it up for the hosts in the 89th minute, when he finished off a pretty passing play with Gareth Bale and Alec Sandro with a hard low drive which beat Julio Cesar.

Wright-Phillips then scored what could well be the finest goal of QPR's season thus far in the 94th minute of play. Wright-Phillips took a pass from Junior Hoilett 30 yards from the Tottenham goal. He then nutmeg'd a charging William Gallas, and while fighting off challenges from Bale and Sandro, managed to beat Friedel with a low drive to the right side of the goal, which Friedel probably should have been able to tip. Nonetheless, a fantastic goal which powered QPR to a fantastic result, 2-1 the final.

In other notable action on September 22nd, Chelsea blanked visiting Stoke City by a score of 6-nil!

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EPL (Sep. 26th)
TEAM	GP	W	D	L	PTS
Chelsea	5	5	0	0	15
Newcastle United	5	4	0	1	12
Arsenal	5	3	1	1	10
QPR	5	3	1	1	10
Liverpool	5	3	1	1	10
Everton	5	2	2	1	8
Manchester United	5	2	2	1	8
West Ham	5	2	2	1	8
Tottenham	5	2	1	2	7
Manchester City	5	2	1	2	7
Swansea City	5	2	1	2	7
Fulham	5	2	1	2	7
Southampton	5	2	0	3	6
West Brom	5	1	2	2	5
Aston Villa	5	1	1	3	4
Wigan Athletic	5	1	1	3	4
Stoke City	5	1	1	3	4
Sunderland	5	1	0	4	3
Reading	5	0	2	3	2
Norwich	5	0	2	3	2

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Line-Up @ West Brom (Sept. 27th)
GK - Julio Cesar
RB - Onuoha
RCB - Dedé
LCB - M'Bia
LB - Fabio
RDM - Granero
LDM - Park
RAM - Diakité
CAM - Hoilett
LAM - Taarabt
ST - Cissé

Embarassing Defeat for QPR
Dismantled by lowly West Brom

After what seemed to be a fairly succesful string of form against good opponents, QPR let their guard down against 14th-place West Brom. Boy did they ever make QPR pay.

El Ghanassy opened the scoring for the hosts just three minutes in, when he deftly stepped around Dedé before beating Julio Cesar with a rocket that ricocheted off the crossbar and in to make it 1-nil to West Brom.

Odemwingie then doubled the West Brom lead in the 31st minute when he one-timed a pass from El Ghanassy past a diving Julio Cesar.

In the 49th, after Julio Cesar was sent off for a poor challenge on a rushing Odemwingie, El Ghanassy made no mistake from the spot and the rout was on, 3-nil to West Brom.

In the 78th, Graham Dorrans ran onto a nice pass from El Ghanassy and ripped a left-footed strike just inside the far post, beating Julio Cesar and bringing the scoreline to its final, 4-0 West Brom.

A pretty disappointing performance by QPR, who had more than held their own against some of the league's best.

"Well we obviously didn't play our best game, that was probably our worst of the year. I'd say, based purely on talent, that we're a better team than West Brom. No offense to them, and I know the scoreline of today's match didn't show that, but I truly believe our group is better than this ugly defeat here today," defended a defiant QPR manager Verde
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September Recap
I would say that this month was a success, I set a goal coming into the league matches for September, and we eclipsed that. Six points from three top teams, that's something to be proud of. However, the ugly incident (forfeit) at Oxford United and the disgustingly poor effort at West Brom to end the month show that there is definitely still work to be done. We sit in a European spot at the end of September, and I don't think there is any reason why we can't stay there through October.
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October Preview
October gives us a bit of a tricky match schedule, as the games are positioned very awkwardly. We play West Ham on four days rest on the 1st of the month, then go almost three weeks without a match, before ending the month with four matches in ten days. It's going to be a test in two parts; part one will be staying sharp during the 20-day break, part two will be staying healthy and energetic in the late cluster of games.
Teams' position as of September 30th

Oct. 1st - v. West Ham (12th, 8 points)
Oct. 21st - v. Everton (4th, 11 points)
Oct. 24th - v. Southampton (15th, 6 points)
Oct. 27th - @ Arsenal (2nd, 13 points)
Oct. 31st - @ Stoke City (18th, 4 points)

I see the West Ham, Southampton, and Stoke matches as must-wins, Everton is winnable, and Arsenal will be tough. With Everton currently one point ahead of me in the standings, that could be a pivotal match on the 21st.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Unless otherwise stated, this is the line-up for all of my matches (I'm going with my horses now):
GK - Julio Cesar (83)
RB - Jose Bosingwa (75)
RCB - Dedé (81)
LCB - M'Bia (80)
LB - Fabio (76)
RDM - Granero (79)
LDM - Park (79)
RAM - Diakité (76)
CAM - Hoilett (78)
LAM - Taarabt (80)
ST - Cissé (81)

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Disappointment for QPR
Feisty West Ham steal point

West Ham wanted it more than QPR. That much was obvious. QPR, needing three points to stay near the top of the table, didn't get three, they got one.

Sami Diakité scored for QPR inside five minutes with a lovely strike from the edge of the 18 yard box, which sailed into the top corner.

Ricardo Vaz Té responded for West Ham in the 19th minute, when he headed home a cross from Matt Jarvis to tie the match at 1.

Vaz Té would get a chance to put West Ham up six minutes later when Esteban Granero fouled him in the area, but he missed the penalty, sending it 10 feet over the bar.

Vaz Té would redeem himself in the 62nd minute, when he put West Ham up 2-1 with a fantastic individual effort, deking through three QPR defenders before slotting the ball calmly past an oncoming Julio Cesar.

Diakité would notch his second of the match in the 74th to draw QPR level.

QPR controlled the game in the West Ham half for the final 15 minutes, but failed to score, with Canadian Junior Hoilett missing a golden opportunity on the final play of the match.

"Yes it's disappointing, but we were playing on three days rest, they'd had a week off. That's a big thing, and I know it might hurt us in that cluster of games towards the end of the month," warned a dejected QPR manager Verde. "Well, it's one match, obviously not the result we wanted and you know Junior's going to be down about missing that chance at the end, but that's football for you. You've got to be in good form to get good results in this league, because every team can beat you and challenge you."

Next up for QPR is a home date with Everton in just under three weeks' time.