Roundheads v Cavaliers at QPR

The recent, highly unedifying events at QPR have brought to light another instance of one of the oldest battles for football’s soul: Artisan versus Artist. Some weeks ago, I eulogised over Rangers’ effervescence and à©lan as they romped to victory over Reading with a forward line so rich as to be almost cloyingly sickly. A quintet of Routledge, Buzsà¡ky, Simpson, Taarabt and Faurlin purred as Hoops beat Hoops.

Now, just a few short weeks later, as the heavens open and pitches are furrowed, the west Londoners are in chaos. Uncorroborated events at Vicarage Road on Monday speak of high unrest, but the gory alleged details of the case are perhaps leading us to ignore the tactical element. I can’t help but think that Jim Magilton should have stuck to his guns through this dry spell. Patrick Agyemang may have netted as soon as he arrived against Boro last saturday, but that’s no reason to swap he and another journeyman, Rowan Vine for youngster Jay Simpson, author of a goal more than every other game this term, despite his tender summers. Sometimes, one has to stick to principles. Ulsterman Jim is old school and when discouragement arrives, the kneejerk reaction is to sacrifice the Fancy Dans – but why not keep the ball on the floor, keep an arm round your flock, and trust that modern methods will work eventually?

Rob Langham

Rob Langham is co-founder of the defiantly non-partisan football league blog, The Two Unfortunates, a website that occasionally strays into covering issues of wider importance. He's 50 and lives in Oxford while retaining his boyhood support of Reading FC. He tweets as @twounfortunates and has written for a number of websites and publications including The Inside Left, When Saturday Comes, In Bed with Maradona, Futbolgrad and The Blizzard as well as being nominated for the Football Supporters' Federation Blogger of the Year Award in 2013.