Chance

Birmingham 0 Queens Park Rangers 2

Brighton 2 Queens Park Rangers 0

Queens Park Rangers 3 Yeovil Town 0

If you are a QPR fan, chances are you'll be scratching your head about the team injuries and ruing our luck...But, yesterday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the mercury was rising, and QPR won 3-0 playing some nice football along the way. With Yeovil's first 'goal' disallowed, it felt like luck (and the referee) were on our side this time. 

However, chances are, that when you saw Zamora lined up on the bench at 2:01pm, you thought 'Christ on a bike, we're now scraping the barrel for options'. I believe I tweeted 'Don't panic everyone Zamora is on the bench hahahahaha'. 4 people favourited that tweet, and one person replied 'Time for some comedy gold'. 

And, chances are that some QPR fans were hoping that 'fat fingered' Kranjcar would not come off the bench (whilst they downed their 5th pint and rubbed their over sized bellies). But that other QPR fans were hoping they would see the Loftus Road dreamboat in action. Neither hoping (of course) for a Traore injury that would mean he would actually play - but all cheering like maniacs after a sublime set-up of Morrison's second goal. 

However, chances are you will be very worried about the additional three injuries picked up - Green, Traore and Jenas all out for Tuesday's match against Sheffield Wednesday. And you'll be wondering just what is going on and what is causing our players to snatch these little niggles. I must say I'm  tempted to get a physio qualification and apply for a job at QPR to help the dire situation. Chances are, if Niko is still there when I do qualify, I'll probably do it for free. 

You'll be thinking just how lucky we are to have found such a nifty mid-fielder like him who is arguably better than Adel Taarabt and for me a lot more interesting as a person. But, chances are, he's way too good for West Ham to sell and we will wave goodbye to him at the end of the season and watch him play for other clubs with a little bitterness (like we do when we see Routledge when he plays for Swansea). 

Chances are, Keane isn't going to cut it, and neither is Maiga (especially if Zamora's picked ahead of him). Both players will likely be lost in the world of a loanee lifestyle and forgotten by most. 

And chances are that earlier this week when you heard about Danny Ings getting injured you knew that it probably wouldn't make a lot of difference to our position in the table, and you tried not to be happy about it (it isn't very nice to wish ill on anyone) but you did pull a little wry smile to yourself as you read the news. 

To be honest, Burnley and Leicester have run away with it, and we will probably make it to the play offs and that the road will be bumpy. But, chances are, we will draw Forest away in the first leg and lose. Or we do make it to Wembley and, again, lose. 

So, chances are, there will be a few QPR fans hoping we try to consolidate in the Champ and finish 7th - therefore avoiding the heartache of this kind of a play off competition (winning competitions not being our forte obviously). Although there will be a few who will wonder what's the point in playing if you aren't going to want to win something. 

Speaking of winning, chances are you've noticed just how committed Barton is to playing football for QPR at the moment and how passionate he is when we score a goal and when we win. Look around at all the other players, and chances are they aren't quite as enthusiastic as he is. He's grown up since the day he set foot in our club the first time, and he's also playing well - he is leaner, faster and fitter than I've ever seen. Or maybe, he's simply found his level. I suspect he won't be far off the top when it comes to voting for the Player of the Year. Looking back at what he did two years ago, and just how angry we all were - perhaps it's about time some of us realised what giving people a chance can do for us as well. 

And that's exactly what happened with when Zamora came off the bench and scored that crucial second goal (and what a blinding header it was). Chances are that you cheered through laughter almost in the same way Zamora and Barton did when they celebrated. You laughed at yourself for being the fickle football fans that you are. But you realised that anyone who pulls on a QPR shirt deserves our support and that was really the most important lesson of all. 

Although we lost more to injury (I believe we now have a full first team in the treatment room) it was, indeed, a wonderful day yesterday. And if you are a QPR fan, it was not by chance that you enjoyed watching Villa beat Chelsea 1-0. You definitely enjoyed watching Mourinho's very unhappy post-match interview and enjoyed the hashtag 'tearsforjose'. 

Mourinho's the type of manager who would say that you make your own luck in life and generally I quite agree. I also believe that good things come to those that earn it, not those that wait. But sometimes in life, you have to make sure you allow some flex for stuff you cannot account or plan for. And laugh at yourself. Chances are, you won't always be at the top of your game, so it pays to never say never. 

Treasure

Queens Park Rangers 0 Swindon Town 2 (Capital One Cup)

Leeds 0 Queens Park Rangers 1

Queens Park Rangers 1 Birmingham 0

#rbgf

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the lack of blog posts these past few weeks. Work and family commitments left me with so few hours in the day to be able to report on my trip to Leeds. I hope it suffices to say that it was great to be back up north and spend time with QPR friends Gary & Robbie. It was made even better by a fantastic win at a very intimidating ground. 

I should be back on, in the usual form in the coming days, and look forward to another evening game this Wednesday. There is so much to talk about, but of all the topics I'm excited about a very interesting campaign that Barton is championing in support of Stonewall, the charity that works towards equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. I'll be looking at whether this campaign could be the tipping point in the history of gay football players, or whether it's just another failed attempt in an archaic football world. 

However, first up this week I'd like to welcome back my best QPR friend @gemcricketmad who has written a little piece on her experience of  Birmingham game which I begged her to do. Gemma often visits Loftus Road with her son, and I was hoping for a piece that captured how special the experience is. I was not disappointed. I hope you enjoy, and You RRRRssssss

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There are 2 types of Saturday afternoons at QPR for me. Those with my 7 year old Rs fan in tow and those without. The latter usually end up in a far too late night, a never-ending lecture on my return about my alcohol consumption and Sunday being a long and total write off. The QPR Birmingham game fortunately, was the former and it got me thinking. What does going to QPR mean to little H? (I'll call him that for the benefit of this blog because it stands for his name but also for hooligan which at times I worry I am creating.)

He asked me at bedtime last week "Mummy, why are you so obsessed with QPR?" I struggled to answer and so said "do you mind that I am?" He grinned, laughed and said  "no, but can we go to the shop before the game on Saturday?"

Now for anyone who knows my son, he is obsessed with shopping and collecting and QPR provides him with the perfect platform to indulge in both these passions endlessly. Before we had even got to the turnstiles on Saturday, I was poorer thanks to one programme (for the collection) one gold badge (for the new, lucky "we'll win now" badge collection) and one QPR jacket, complete with hidden hood ("in case it rains during the game"). We are both good at finding excuses to shop.

As I had tucked him into bed on Friday night, I asked him what two things he was most looking forward to about getting back to Loftus Road (this was to be his first game of the season) and he said without thinking "Goals" and "The Springbok". I was worried by this answer on both fronts; AJ likely to be out and only having Austin to rely on (Little H has Austin on his new shirt and the same football boots so huge pressure) left me with the deep seated worry that there might not be any goals;  and The Springbok....... Yes, well, I am successfully but worryingly turning my son into a child who aged 7 begs to go on pub crawls - how irresponsible a mother am I? Actually don't answer that. But I must confess that our afternoons together are pretty sacred he and I time and I think that the fact QPR gives us that great excuse, makes us love it all even more.

So onto the game. The 1st half was a scrappy and tense affair, typical of the tough and relentless type of Championship football we are quickly readjusting to. The midfield were all over the place, we didn't look like scoring and Bobby..... well Bobby was on the pitch and only thanks to the Dunne wall of Loftus Road, Greeno and our crossbar, did we slope in at half time without being at least a goal down. So how did little H feel the first half had gone? "Great" he said "it was all great". Now I must add at this point for those who don't know me, that I come from a split family. I have an 11 year old Gooner son #fail, who is a walking talking stat man. He watches every ball of a game and can tell you anything you need to know about any match he has ever watched on TV or at a ground. His younger brother however, well lets just say, I was relieved 10 minutes in when I asked him which end we were shooting at and he actually knew. For Little H, a good first half at QPR consists of a large pack of Percy pigs, a drink of something fizzy and the promise of crisps or chocolate at half time (this explains his 3am visit to my bedside following the game to tell me he was feeling sick). 

So after a quick half time pint (mine obviously) it was onto a thankfully very different 2nd half, minus the Bob but with the addition of SWP and a shift in formation. Now I have a chequered past when it comes to missing goals around half time (other son missed 2 of the 4 England goals against Moldova)  but someone was smiling on us yesterday. As we walked towards our seat and play was well under-way, we were just in time (phew) to watch Charlie push the ball over the line - cue absolute delight from him and us all. And so the game continued in an entirely different manner to the 1st half. Joey (deep breath) played well again but saved me from a fate worse than death by not quite scoring with his mid air bicycle kick. We defended well - the lovely Ned not putting a foot wrong, midfield pace was good and generally we looked like we believed we could win the game. The moment Austin hit the deck looking injured was my most worrying, given our distinct lack of alternatives.

A highlight for Little H was the throwing of the blue smoke bomb by a Midlands fan and the pause in the game (son is also obsessed with bombs, smoke machines and rebellious behaviour) and was desperate to know how the smoke was emitted, where could he buy one, how had it been smuggled into the ground and what would happen to the man who did it.......

We chatted on intermittently - he believed he had seen at least 40 QPR goals live (if it's 20 he'd be lucky) and he seems to have erased the last 2 seasons from his memory (aside from beating Chelsea) talking nostalgically about the year we were promoted (he's forgotten we lost that Leeds game too). I am convinced he is creating many of our games out of his imagination, but actually that is no bad thing. The last 10 minutes of the game was spent with me arguing that just because we were winning, did not mean he was allowed to invade the pitch at the end; that I explained, we would save for our promotion.

So I won't bore you with the pints at the pub after (of which there were too few due to me being on mummy duty) but I must just share little  H's comment on the final whistle as he jumped up and down cheering "Mummy, now we've won, does that mean you'll take me to three pubs to celebrate?"

Secretly, I was proud. Job done.

Sneaky trip back to the pitch side after the game complete with new shiny badge and jacket (purchases)