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Health and safety nonsense hovers over Hull trip — full match preview
Health and safety nonsense hovers over Hull trip — full match preview
Thursday, 2nd Dec 2010 23:59 by Clive Whittingham

QPR are due to travel to the KC Stadium on Saturday to face Hull City in the Championship — that is, unless “common sense” is applied.

Hull City (19th) v QPR (1st)

QPR have arrived. I received official confirmation of this fact in the Newlands Shopping Centre in Kettering on Thursday afternoon. I’d popped in there to escape the icy wind whistling down the high street that was dissuading unsuspecting members of the public from stopping to give me their opinions on the student protests and let me take their photograph. All journalists hate doing vox pops because people tend to not be too keen to stop, and are often rude in their refusals, and it’s impossible to shake the thought that the task is ultimately pointless because even those people who do care what some randomer thinks of today’s top story would concede that it makes not a jot of difference to them or the story. Most people simply ignore them, and rightly so. More on pointless tasks shortly.

Anyway while gearing up my meagre self confidence for another harassment of happy shoppers I stumbled across a stall in the middle of the precinct selling calendars and such like. And there, standing proudly with Manchester United’s 2011 annual to its right, and Cheryl Cole’s 2011 wankathon to the left, was the QPR annual 2011. I didn’t even know such a beast existed but there it was, slap bang in the middle of the stand in Kettering town centre. And better still, if you bought it you got Cheryl’s half price. The stallholder looked at me with the eyes of somebody who was considering alerting the authorities as I took out my phone and photographed the glorious moment. He probably thought I was snatching a free picture of the chain smoking, racist Geordie, rather than the God like figure of Alejandro Faurlin, but I didn’t feel correcting him would have helped my cause much.

Suitably buoyed, I went on with the menial job of asking strangers for their opinion and now, some eight hours later, I’m back in my warm house engaging in another utterly pointless activity — writing a match preview for a game that is unlikely to take place.

I’ve written on LFW before about the frustration of match postponements. Last season we had the freak storm that put paid to our home match with Crystal Palace — although not before I’d paid for my train ticket and got as far as London St Pancras from Sheffield. Prior to that there was the infamous FA Cup third round replay at Luton, called off just over half an hour from kick off with QPR fans queuing to enter the away end. In the defence of both QPR and Luton on those occasions the rain was biblical, and the pitches very much waterlogged. But such is that feeling of anger when you have £60 worth of match and train tickets or petrol receipts in your pocket and you’re actually there ready to go through the turnstile I always feel like demanding to see and inspect the pitch myself. Should this be allowed to happen I have no doubt I’d slosh around the sodden turf, sinking ankle deep into the mud while shouting things like “what’s wrong with you tarts, get your arses out here and get playing.” Ultimately though all there is left to do in such circumstances is skulk home muttering things about the pitch they used to play on at the Baseball Ground in the 1960s.

This Saturday though we face a new phenomena in the world of match postponements. A football match that doesn’t take place, even though there is a perfectly fine and playable pitch for it to take place on. The KC Stadium has the best undersoil heating system money can buy — a system that has enabled the ground staff to steadily increase the temperature of the pitch during this week so it has melted its snow covering gradually, without waterlogging the grass, and allowed it to drain away. At 3pm on Saturday there will not be a pitch in the country in better shape to stage a football match. Chances are though no football will be played.

That’s because it is now acceptable to call matches off because the roads and approaches to the ground are not safe for spectators. I’m not sure how we’ve let this nonsense sneak up on us, but sneak up on us it has and now nobody says a bloody thing as one game after another falls by the wayside because the “safety of supporters cannot be guaranteed” and anybody asked to justify the ludicrousness of calling a match off while four times as many people go shopping on the same icy roads half a mile away trots out a line about “common sense.”

The health and safety Nazis and nanny state strikes again. If you called a game off whenever the safety of supporters could not be guaranteed just how many home games would Stoke City be allowed to play? Oh, apparently they don’t mind some 44-year-old unemployed pottery worker smashing a window with a lump of wood and showering you with glass, but if there’s half a chance you might slip on some ice the game has to be off.

Now if you have a relative who was horribly maimed slipping on some ice outside Shrewsbury Town’s ground in 1994 then please forgive my insensitivity here but in my opinion the sole, one and only consideration in this circumstance should be the state of the pitch. Can you play football on that pitch? Good, let’s play football then and if people would like to come and watch and feel it is safe to do so then let them come and if they think it’s a bit cold and snowy then let them stay at home. It’s their choice. Remember that? When we made our own choices rather than have them made for us?

Hull have lost a game this way before, against Chelsea, as have we at Loftus Road against Swansea. On both occasions the pitches were playable, on both occasions the police voiced concerns about spectator safety, on both occasions the games were called off and on both occasions the police expressed no concerns about four times the number of people due to attend the matches making their way to shopping centres within walking distance of the stadiums.

Three weekends before Christmas will Humberside Police be in touch with the Princess Quay shopping centre this weekend saying that while it’s all very nice and cosy inside, the approach roads are covered in snow and therefore it must close? No, of course not, and even if they did they’d be quickly told to piss off. And there will be far more people in Princess Quay this weekend than there will be at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

Hull City even said on Thursday that they may leave the decision until Saturday morning — which would surely defeat the object of ensuring the safety of supporters travelling to the game. Unless they make the decision at 6am on Saturday morning three coach loads of QPR fans will already be on the road, and many more besides will be at Kings Cross station. Is the snow going to get any better between now and Saturday? Is there suddenly going to be some blast of heat to melt it away? I’ll be angry if this game is called off anyway, but if it’s called off on Saturday I’ll unleash a Fatwa on somebody — or whatever the good people of Hull believe it is that we do in our “town full of bombers.” If the pitch is playable then the game should be played. End of story.

Five minutes on Hull City

Recent History: I had to afford myself a small smile this morning when former Hull City player and subsequently rent-a-gob for the newspapers and radio stations in that part of the world Peter Swan proffered his thoughts on this weekend’s game. While admitting that he’d seen nothing of QPR this season Swan said he had noticed that Rangers have won quite a lot of games by the odd goal (in fact only two of our 11 wins so far have been by that margin) and that Neil Warnock (a man with six promotions to his name over the past 20 years) has had his fair share of luck.

I smiled because ordinarily I’d go to town on such utter clap trap, regularly spewed forth from next to no research whatsoever from the Swan’s and Peter Beagrie’s of this world and given air time and column inches by bone idol newspapers and broadcasters because they think that as these people used to play the game a bit they are suitably qualified to henceforth with whatever half truth and nonsense dressed up as opinion they like. However, as I’m about to contend that Phil Brown struck a bit lucky himself after taking over at Hull City perhaps I’ll back off on this occasion.

It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that we’ve been without Hull City on our fixture list for the last two seasons while they have been gallivanting off in the big time. The distance of the place, QPR’s recent record and a frosty relationship with the supporters in this part of the world probably means you haven’t missed them too much but despite all of our recent history with the Tigers it was hard not to admire the way they initially went about attacking the top flight. By simply sticking to the same sort of game plan as they’d had in the Championship they caught several big names on the hop after promotion, most notably Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium although that game is now remembered by most people outside Hull more for the visiting supporter’s laughable “you’re getting mauled by the Tigers” chant coupled with mauling hand actions. Start pitching pink tents now and I’ll let you know when you’re as camp as that.

Hull won six of their first eight games in the Premiership, and picked up another six points through November and the start of December to sit a creditable fifth in the table as the midway point of the campaign approached — European qualification beckoned if they could maintain their form. Everybody knows what happened next. On Boxing Day they came up against a Man City side in the first throws of new money, boasting a very decent team geared to attack at every opportunity. Hull needed to be right on their game to get anything at all and having collapsed to a 4-1 defeat at home to Sunderland the game before a further loss was always likely. Paul McShane against Robinho was never likely to be a conspicuous success and as it turned out City were 4-0 up at half time. Shit happens, move onto the next game. If we get promoted this season one thing we must accept is that next year there will be some thrashings on the road.

Manager Phil Brown then, for reasons entirely ego related, delivered a half time bollocking, complete with exaggerated finger waggling, to his beleaguered team on the pitch in front of the spectators. “Brilliant” cried the radio phone in indiots, “about time these molly coddled footballers were brought down a peg or two.” The ex professionals in the media were less fulsome in their praise, preferring instead to suck their teeth and mutter things along the lines of: “I wouldn’t have done that if I were him.”

Nobody will ever do it again. Brown, in my opinion, was lucky on several counts to this point. Firstly he was lucky to get the Hull job at all. He’d started his managerial career at Derby County, taking over a side that had made the play offs the year before under George Burley and quickly turning it into an outside bet for relegation from this division. So much so that Derby sacked him before he’d completed a full season in charge for fear of the damage he would do if he stayed. His policy of loaning players at a rate of one a week to the point where, for our visit to Pride Park that season, he had two more than he was allowed to name in the squad smacked of an idiot out of his depth. He pitched up next at the KC Stadium as an assistant manager to Phil Parkinson and was lucky to get that.

Hull were the original Swansea City — a lovely new ground married up with a manager at the top of his game and a fine team. Attendances increased four fold (don’t let Hull Cty fans tell you they were all there through thick and thin, their home gate for a match with Bournemouth at this point of the 1994/95 season was 3,056) and the team flew up the leagues under the guidance of Peter Taylor. When he left City turned to Parkinson, who had done remarkable things with Colchester United in his first role as a boss but found Taylor’s shoes hard to fill on Humberside. Brown stepped into the subsequent breach as caretaker and despite a series of poor results — including home defeats by Ipswich (2-5), Plymouth (1-2), Norwich (1-2) and West Brom (0-1) — he kept them up and was given the job permanently.

And that seemed to work out as you would expect, with Hull knocking around 18th position in the league in October 2007. Step forward Fraizer Campbell and 15 goals later, almost one every two games, Hull had beaten Bristol City in the play offs and were on their way to the big time. It’s unfair to accuse managers of luck when their signings turn out well because that’s a big part of their job — but Brown’s other signings were so mediocre, and Man Utd are so good it was almost a no brainer. If he wasn’t lucky, he certainly dropped on nicely with Campbell and they would never have been promoted in a million years without him. That they managed to pull a declining Watford side in the play off semi final, almost a free pass to Wembley such was the magnitude of the Hornets’ collapse that season, only adds to my scepticism.

Brown’s team was sixth in the Premiership when he marched them back onto the pitch for a dressing down they probably wondered what they had done to deserve. They won only two more league games all season, out of 19 fixtures, and stayed up on the last day despite failing to win any of their last 11 matches on goal difference alone. Brown, discreetly, took to the field sporting a ridiculous beard to sing a few bars of “this is the best trip I’ve ever been on.” His image as a complete joke of a manager was firmly cemented.

Last season the poor form continued. They won only two of their first 11 league matches and between December and February failed to win at all. Brown had an important ally in chairman Paul Duffen, but while Hull were sinking deeper into the relegation mire he was busy undoing the sterling work of his predecessor Adam Pearson by working up a mountain of debt paying vastly inflated wages to poor players. Hull had the worst side in the league, but were in the top ten wage payers in the league. Ultimately it needed Pearson to retake control of the club in the spring, ushering the ridiculous Duffen off to the side, to stop it going into meltdown completely. Brown was finally replaced, and has spent time since getting his agent to link him with every available job while fans of the clubs in question hide behind their sofas with the lights off hoping he’ll think they’re out and go away.

This summer, a good appointment. In the midst of a deep Duffen/Brown created financial crisis the Tigers tempted Leicester manager Nigel Pearson to move north and a long and painful rebuilding process has now begun.

The Manager: Pearson’s decision to leave the Walkers Stadium seemed like a strange one on the face of it.

The former Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday centre half has built a very tidy coaching reputation for himself in the game since retiring — working with Stoke, West Brom, Newcastle and the England Under 21s. He stepped into management properly (an early spell as last man standing at Carlisle hardly counts, although he kept them up against all odds with the famous Jimmy Glass goal for the record) for the first time at Southampton. He found a skint club down on its luck and facing relegation from the Championship but kept them up, and in some style with a late in the day win at West Brom. His reward for that was the sack, as well known mentalist Rupert Lowe tried to instigate a joint first team and academy set up at St Mary’s with little known Dutchman Jan Poortvliet at the helm. Southampton were promptly relegated and plunged into administration which is nothing more than they deserved.

Pearson meanwhile rehabilitated Leicester who passed Southampton coming the other way 12 months later. After the won League One at a canter they made the play offs in the Championship last season and looked good for the final after recovering from losing the first leg at home to take Cardiff to penalties on their own patch only for Frenchman Yann Kermorgant to stupidly elect to chip his crucial spot kick in the shoot out and then watch in horror as it was easily saved. Still, Leicester looked good for a push this season which made it all the stranger when Pearson walked out to join cash strapped Hull City.

Pearson was regularly at odds with Leicester chairman Milan Manadaric over how much money he had to spend on players, and managers that work under the Serb always know the sack is never more than three bad results away, but by moving into the cash crisis at the KC Stadium he seemed to be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

I really rate Pearson, despite his dourness, but the job at Hull City is a massive one. It may take three seasons for Pearson to have the team looking and functioning how he wishes and in that time their Premiership parachute payments will end adding pressure on him to get it right sooner.

Three to watch: Looking down the Hull City squad list there are some eye catching names who actually aren’t in the team at the moment. John Bostock, Jimmy Bullard, Nolberto Solano, Jay Simpson, Kevin Kilbane, Peter Halmosi, Craig Fagan and Caleb Folan are all on the pay roll but didn’t start at Middlesbrough last week for one reason or another.

A man that did was Manchester United winger or striker Cameron Stewart, who played 70 minutes at the Riverside Stadium but made little impact in difficult conditions. Comparisons are already being drawn between him and Fraizer Campbell as they arrived at the same point in the season, from Man Utd, and they look a bit alike. Stewart has already spent a month on loan with Yeovil this season, where he made one start and four sub appearances, and it remains to be seen whether he can emulate Campbell’s immense success in this part of the world.

Stewart was replaced by Jay Simpson last week, a man who will be familiar to QPR fans after a season long loan deal at Loftus Road last term. Simpson signed from Arsenal last August and seemed to be the ideal man for Jim Magilton’s QPR side — a striker the team had long been crying out for. Initially, as Magilton’s ideas clicked into place, Simpson was a success. He scored twice in his third match at Cardiff as the R’s won 2-0 and had ten goals to his name by the turn of the year. Sadly, as the team fell apart and worked its way through three managers, Simpson lost confidence and form completely. He seemed to have his touch back at the end of February with three goals in five matches as Neil Warnock arrived but a succession of bad misses in a home game against Plymouth knocked his confidence again and he failed to score in any of his last 11 games at Rangers. When Arsenal said they would sell him in the summer, Warnock showed no interest, which said a lot.

Simpson is yet to score in 14 Hull City appearances, although you wouldn’t back against that changing on Saturday. He divided opinion by the end of his time at QPR and all in all it doesn’t look as if he will fulfil the potential he showed in his early Arsenal days as part of their youthful League Cup side.

Finally Robert Koren seems to have settled in a lot better than Simpson and made a much bigger impact. The Slovenian international, capped 44 times, was a surprise release from West Brom in the summer and seemed set for Leicester for most of the close season before City swooped in. His debut wasn’t a conspicuous success, losing 4-0 at Millwall, but he has scored five goals already since then including two in his last two games and Shaun Derry will have to be on his guard against the threat he poses from midfield.

Links >>> Hull City Official Website>> Hull City Message Board >>> KC Stadium Travel Guide

History

A feature of the Luigi De Canio reign at Loftus Road, and our recent visits to Hull City, has been late goals against. The Tigers broke Rangers’ hearts in 2007 when Stuart Elliott scored twice in the last five minutes to turn an away win into yet another defeat, and the Tigers were at it again on our last visit here — keeping their promotion push just about on track with an injury time goal by defender Michael Turner. Earlier Dexter Blackstock had been awarded the first goal after a mistake by Bo Myhill, although the ball barely seemed to cross the line and Rangers were fortunate to be awarded the goal.

Hull City: Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Turner 7, Brown 7, Dawson 7, Garcia 6 (Hughes 54, 7), Ashbee 4, Marney 6, Pedersen 6 (Folan 61, 7), Windass 6 (Fagan 75, 7), Campbell 7

Subs Not Used: Duke, France

Booked: Fagan (foul)

Goals: Turner 90 (assisted Folan)

QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 6, Stewart 7, Hall 7, Delaney 7, Ephraim 7, Ainsworth 7 (Connolly 90, -), Mahon 6, Rowlands 7, Blackstock 6 (Leigertwood 55, 5), Agyemang 7 (Balanta 80, -)

Subs Not Used: Pickens, Lee

Booked: Rowlands (foul), Camp (time wasting), Leigertwood (foul)

Goals: Blackstock 14 (assisted Ephraim)

Luigi De Canio got his QPR reign off to a flying start against a poor Hull City side at Loftus Road. A fine first half strike from Ephraim, who cut in from the left flank before curling a low right footed shot into the corner from the edge of the area, preceded a vintage Mikele Ligertwood strike after the break. There was only really one team on the pitch which makes it all the more surprising that by the end of the season Rangers had stayed in much the same position while Hull won promotion into the Premiership.

QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 7, Cranie 8, Stewart 7, Barker 7, Rowlands 7, Ephraim 8, Leigertwood 8, Buzsaky 7 (Ainsworth 86, -),Vine 7 (Nardiello 90, -), Nygaard 7 (Bolder 81, -)

Subs Not Used: Cole, Timoska

Booked: Mancienne (foul), Barker (foul), Stewart (foul), Vine (wasting time)

Goals: Ephraim 26 (assisted Rowlands) Leigertwood 56 (assisted Ephraim)

Hull: Myhill 5, Ricketts 5, Turner 6, Brown 7, Delaney 4, Garcia 5 (McPhee 58, 6), Ashbee 4, Marney 7, Okocha 4 (Featherstone 71, 6), Windass 7, Campbell 6

Subs Not Used: Duke, Dawson, Livermore

Booked: Turner (foul), Delaney (foul)

Head to Head >>> Hull wins 13 >>> Draws 13 >>> QPR wins 15

Previous Results:

2007/08 Hull 1 QPR 1 (Blackstock)

2007/08 QPR 2 Hull 0 (Ephraim, Leigertwood)

2006/07 Hull 2 QPR 1 (Blackstock)

2006/07 QPR 2 Hull 0 (Blackstock, Jones)

2005/06 QPR 2 Hull 2 (Ainsworth 2)

2005/06 Hull 0 QPR 0

1991/92 QPR 5 Hull 1 (League Cup)

1991/92 Hull 0 QPR 3 (League Cup)

1985/86 Hull 1 QPR 5 (League Cup)

1985/86 QPR 3 Hull 0 (League Cup)

Played for Both — Mark Hateley

QPR 1995-97 >>> Hull City 1997-98

To say Mark Hateley isn’t fondly remembered at Loftus Road is quite an understatement. When Ray Wilkins was given £6 million to spend on finding a replacement for Les Ferdinand following his departure to Newcastle it was more money than any other QPR manager had ever been given in the history of the club. In fact it was more than all of Wilkin’s predecessors had been given put together. Ferdinand needed replacing, as did Clive Wilson, and a new goalkeeper was required but with Kasey Keller, Andy Booth and others out there in their prime options were available.

Wilkins may as well have piled the money up and set fire to it. He spunked it on Ned Zelic, Jurgeon Sommer, Gregory Goodridge, Smon Osbourn and, perhaps most damagingly of all, Mark Hateley. His pedigree was not in doubt — AC Milan, Monaco, Glasgow Rangers, 32 England caps. But Hateley was long past his best when he arrived in W12 and infamously waved to the fans on his opening night having appeared on the field on crutches. It was soon apparent once he had donned the hoops that he’d spent far too long terrorising the defenders of Motherwell and Dundee and was no longer a threat in the English league. Just five goals in 30 odd appearances, each one followed by his cheeky ‘ear cupping’ celebration to the supporters who slated him the rest of the time was all he offered Rangers in two inglorious seasons in London during which time the R’s were relegated out of the top flight never to return.

Hateley spent time at Leeds, and was then signed back by Glasgow Rangers during an injury crisis in 1997 but distinguished himself only by getting sent off in an Old Firm derby for headbutting Stewart Kerr. As you do.

Hateley was then made the manager at Hull City. Cash strapped, playing in a creaking Boothferry Park ground in front of miniscule attendances and faced with the persistent threat of extinction this didn’t seem like the easiest place to start a managerial career. And so it proved. Hateley lasted about a season and a half, during which time he played 29 times and scored three goals, before being sacked. He later had his contract terminated by Ross County for poor performances.

Since then he has appeared on television, sporting ridiculous tans and ear rings, and waxing lyrical about how brilliant he was.

Links >>> QPR 2 Hull City 0 Match Report >>> Hull 1 QPR 1 Match Report >>> Connections and Memories

This Saturday

Team News: QPR are expected to be unchanged following last weekend’s fantastic home win against Cardiff City. The players have trained as normal this week despite the snow. The R’s are without Lee Cook and Peter Ramage who have long term injuries and Akos Buzsaky who has only just returned to light training after minor knee surgery. Martin Rowlands remains out of favour.

Hull are waiting for news on midfielder Ian Ashbee after he picked up a knock against Middlesbrough last weekend. The 34-year-old was substituted after just half an hour at the Riverside Stadium and recently spent a year out of the game through injury. City boss Nigel Pearson said: “It's his Achilles but we'll have to wait and see what the damage is. It's disappointing because he's worked very hard to get back to a level of fitness that he's more happy with. That's helped him to have an impact on the games recently so it's disappointing for him for sure."

Elsewhere: Three Championship games have already fallen victim to the weather including, rather ominously for our fixture in Yorkshire, the games at Sheffield United and Doncaster. Portsmouth’s home match with Burnley has also gone although as Stuart Attwell was supposed to be refereeing that they may see it as a blessing in disguise. Of the remaining games the Saturday evening clash between Millwall and Scunthorpe live on Sky remains on as I write this, as does Cardiff’s banker home win against Preston in South Wales. Ipswich v Swansea is the televised Saturday lunchtime offering while Derby v Norwich looks to be the pick of the remaining games.

Referee: Fresh from sending off former Hull and QPR left back Damien Delaney in the East Anglia derby last week, experienced Football League official Keith Hill is the man in the middle on Saturday. For full details of his history with QPR, including last year’s game at Swansea where he sent off two of our players, please click here.

Form

Hull City: Hull have won three, drawn three and lost three of their nine home matches this season but the three defeats have come in the last four home matches — Sheff Utd, Scunthorpe and Portsmouth have all won here before Ipswich were vanquished last time out. Hull kept five clean sheets in their first five home games this season but have only scored six home goals of their own and have failed to score in five home games. Since an embarrassing loss at home to Scunthorpe in the Humber derby they are unbeaten in four games — two 2-2 draws and two wins.

QPR: Rangers are closing in on another club record — 20 matches unbeaten. They have managed this a couple of times, including across the 1971/72 and 1972/73 seasons when the run was then brought to a shuddering halt with a 4-1 loss at Hull City. Could history repeat itself on Saturday? Rangers have won four and drawn five of their away matches this season scoring 14 and conceding five. Wins have been hard to come by of late on the road and the R’s come into this game on a run of four straight draws — although coming against Portsmouth, Forest, Swansea and improving Bristol City none could really be considered a bad result. Rangers have won three of their last five games to open up a five point gap at the top of the Championship.

Prediction: Well my honest prediction is a postponement, probably coming about an hour after I’ve finished writing this bloody thing. Neil Warnock has advised QPR fans not to travel because of the weather, which hints that he knows it’s probably going to be off. I understand his point about safety being more important but my safety is my concern. Nobody has seemed that concerned about my safety since Monday this week when the snow started — I’ve been expected to be at work every day. Why they should suddenly give a toss on the Saturday I don’t know. Anyway, if the game does go ahead I anticipate a goalless draw, which will be well worth all the hassle if it happens.

0-0, 9/1 with Stan James and various others

Photo: Action Images



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JB007007 added 08:05 - Dec 3
Great reading again Clive. The annauls is hilarious. But what the hell is a QPR one doing in Kettering! I enjoy winding up sports shops asking them where the QPR shirts are and why they have Liverpool and Man Utd crap in their stores 200 odd miles from where they are.
I hope this game goes ahead as we have some momentum and this is one we can win.
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derbyhoop added 09:04 - Dec 3
Totally agree about the Health & Safety culture. Why is going to a football match more hazardous than going to work, the theatre or Christmas Shopping. The latter 2 are just as much voluntary choices. And sitting in my home office, needing to travel miles through the snow and ice for the former, is going the same way.
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Lambrettaman added 09:42 - Dec 3
Hull fan here.

Though I agree entirely with the sentiment of the article, there does come a point where the risk exceeds what is reasonable for people attending a sporting event. Last week at Boro, we had a situation where the Teeside police were telling people not to leave their homes, while over 1000 of us travelled up there to see what can only be described a pantomime(though I suppose it is pantomime season). The players couldn't see where the pitch started and finished, we couldn't see the players, cars were sliding into each other in the car park, it was all fairly ridiculous.

I'm currently about 15 miles from the KC Stadium and the snow is about 18" deep outside my house, my business is based in London(only 4 miles from Loftus Rd, at Hanger Lane) and I tried to get there this week, but having managed only 30 miles in 3 1/2 hours, I turned round and came home. I'm not sure that the author realises quite how bad it is here at the moment, the schools are all closed, many people have not left their homes for days, there have been hundreds of crashes on the roads, including a few fatalities and the police will be very nervous about doing anything that could potentially add to that tally.

I hope that the game goes ahead, if it doesn't snow again today, then they should be able to grit the roads and pavements around the ground, but around 25% of City fans(rough message board poll) don't think they can even get from their homes to Hull and the police may decide it's better to remove any reason for them to attempt to do so.

Also, just in the name of accuracy, our attendances did drop below 4,000 for two seasons in the 90's, when we were bottom of the fourth, had no team to speak of, were permanently facing administration and everything around the club was a disaster, but there was no four fold increase in support when we moved into the KC. Our attendances at Boothferry Park averaged 9,500 in our last season, they did increase to 12,800 in our first season at the KC, then 16,800(still in League Two), then 18,000(League One), then 19,800(Championship) and obviously we were at capacity in the Premier League. It's fair to say we haven't got much in the way of history, but our support is one of things we can be proud of.

Anyway, if it is on and you are coming up, safe journey and let's hope there's no more stupid bomber chants(though unfortunately, it's fairly likely if we're losing).
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tribalr added 09:43 - Dec 3
Where's the photo?
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Northernr added 09:57 - Dec 3
Lambretta - I'd have sympathy for this health and safety nonsense if they insisted that the shopping centres closed as well, but they don't. Also, I notice Hull Stingrays against Sheffield Steelers remains on - are the people going to that using different roads? I know exactly how bad it is because my family lives near Hull. It should be left up to the supporters to decide.

And whichever way you slice it and whatever excuses you give attendances below 5,000 at Boothferry Park to just below 20,000 at the KC Stadium is a four fold increase.
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ShrivHoop added 09:58 - Dec 3
Brilliant read. Many thanks for giving me a good start to the day! You are right about the Baseball Ground in the sixties but the good citizens of Derby may have similar memories of Loftus Road! Both were dreadful at times! Your H&S rant is spot on. I visited Sainsbury's yesterday and their ice rink disguised as a car park saw many of my fellow over 60s doing involuntary pirouettes,flips and splits. No major damage done and no staff telling us not to shop. If not going to Hull suggest a supermarket visit - might just be great entertainment! For those going to the match, our form and league position should really be good enough for a win but even in a brilliant season I get still nervy about all matches, so I agree with a draw. Will say 1-1 as I think we will score up there, if it goes ahead, which it won't!
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Northernr added 10:05 - Dec 3
Game off, as suspected. Fcking ridiculous.
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NorwayRanger16 added 10:18 - Dec 3
It can' be called of! I need my QPR fix this weekend!

Perfect point about health and safety, this has sneaked upon us without anybody really protesting. On wednesday they played the Europa League game between Rosenborg BK and Bayer Leverkusen in Trondheim (Norway), the game was played in -16 degrees celcius!!! The only thing UEFA looked at was the health and safety of the players and that the surface was playable. The conditions in Hull makes Trondheim look like the North Pole. Go figure...

I'll call my boss on monday saying my safety is at stake and that i can't attend work :-)

Fingers crossed the game goes ahead, you R's!
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Lambrettaman added 10:28 - Dec 3
Northernr

I take your point re the Stingrays, but it's not really comparable, considering the conditions between here and Sheffield and their normal attendances, there's likely to about 200 people there.

If you take our worst ever attendances, then they have increased four fold, in fact last season they'd increased six fold, I was just pointing out that they didn't increase purely because we moved to the KC. Your attendances are currently three times higher than your lowest season, yet you haven't moved at all.
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NorwayRanger16 added 10:30 - Dec 3
Noooooooooooooooo!!!!
Weekend ruined, damn!
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YorkRanger added 10:37 - Dec 3
Hugely disappointing - I had a quick and easy train journey for this one.
Lambrettaman - Key difference between tomorrow and the debacle at the Riverside last week is the condition of the pitch from "The players couldn't see where the pitch started and finished, we couldn't see the players" to what should be perfect playing conditions at the KC.
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Myke added 10:39 - Dec 3
The beauty of beating Cardiff is multiplied now. Even if they beat Preston tomorrow were still top!!
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Lambrettaman added 10:48 - Dec 3
YorkRanger

I'm sure the pitch would have started fine, but they're now predicting heavy snow tonight and again for tomorrow, which I think was probably the deciding factor.

I'm gutted, I can't go to Palace next week due to a family Christmas do, so I've got no live footie for over two weeks now.
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BathRanger added 11:40 - Dec 3
Great preview as usual and I agree with the Health & Safety points. Whereas when I grew up people used common sense, unfortunately now we seem to live in a blame culture, and if someone sustains an injury they look to sue for compensation, hence all these health and safety regulations. Pity that you can't counter sue for stupidity.

In Bath we've had about half an inch of snow in total and the news doesn't cover everywhere so apologies for not really knowing the situation in other parts of the country. But seeing as how the UK's transport infrastructure usually collapses when there is any amount of snow and ice (unlike Norway and many other countries), if the game were on, would the QPR team bus be able to get to Hull from London? If the team played well below par and lost because their bus had to be abandoned after getting stuck on a road somewhere for several hours, I expect there would be loads of people complaining that the game should have been called off. Just a thought.
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Ray_Jingardon added 13:11 - Dec 3
NorwayHoop, I regularly travel to Trondheim for work. Unlike England the whole place doesn't come to a grinding halt when a few flakes of snow fall !!
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benbu added 13:39 - Dec 3
Bath Ranger - you have made the point which it all comes down to. If somebody falls (in this blame culture) they will sue and nobody wants that hassle.

Im pleased some 'common sense' has been used by calling the game off friday morning not saturday mid-day! Atleast everyone knows the decision nice and early. Nothing worse than getting all the way up north for a game to be off (like I did for Tranmere 2004). 2 Home games last year called off at 6.45pm an hour before kick-off, surely club officials can see how bad it is at half 4...

northern r - your comments about people's decision to go shopping is a good one. People should have the choice if they want to go out but its far easier to postpone 1 game of football in a town/city than the council closing 100's of shops which means losing business before christmas. Looking at the state of the country in this weather (under-prepared as usual) i think this has probably done us a favour and saved us all alot of pain travelling on terrible roads / delayed trains. I am gutted its off but pleased im not facing travel chaos which could be hours on end each way...

the players will also be nice and fresh for Watford next friday! - not a complete let down
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BrixtonRanger added 14:09 - Dec 3
Lambrettaman,
Always good to here from opposition supporters on loftforwords.
Clive,
thanks for putting all this effort into a preview of a match, that as you say, was never likely to go ahead.
Is QPR vs Watford on 10th Dec now in doubt?
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BrixtonRanger added 14:10 - Dec 3
Lambrettaman,
Always good to hear from opposition supporters on loftforwords.
Clive,
thanks for putting all this effort into a preview of a match, that as you say, was never likely to go ahead.
Is QPR vs Watford on 10th Dec now in doubt?
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Monahoop added 16:58 - Dec 3
Although it's highly unlikely, let's hope that Preston find a wee bit of form tomorrow and add to Cardiffs recent wobbles by beating them. As I say,unlikely but it could happen!
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isawqpratwcity added 21:44 - Dec 3
I don't think Hateley was Wilkins biggest waste of money. That dubious distinction has to go to Ned "I'm-a-wuss" Zelic. I want to throw things at the screen every time he appears here as an "expert".
He quit QPR after a handful of games because he was unhappy and missed Germany. What did he think he was going to do? Commute?!?!
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dodge_stoke_r added 12:03 - Dec 4
I know what you mean about QPR having "arrived". I was in the Potteries Shopping Center a couple of weeks ago and there was a stall selling place mats, coasters etc, and there amongst the Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea etc mats was little old Queens Park Rangers. My beer glass now sits proudly on a QPR coaster in our house.
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