West Ham v QPR: Rangers players let Harry Redknapp down, says Graeme Souness
'QPR threw in the towel'
Monday 6 October 2014 09:27, UK
The QPR players let down their manager, their club and their supporters in their 2-0 defeat at West Ham, says Graeme Souness.
A Nedum Onuoha own goal after just five minutes set West Ham on their way before Diafra Sakho doubled the hosts’ advantage just before the hour.
Rangers never looked like getting back on level terms with Sam Allardyce’s side and the result leaves QPR rooted to the foot of the Premier League table with just four points from their first seven games.
They just threw the towel in as though they’re feeling sorry for themselves.
After the match Sky Sports pundit Souness slammed the work rate and desire of the QPR players and said boss Harry Redknapp will be fuming at the lack of commitment from his side.
“If you haven’t got players willing to work hard, you’ve got nothing,” he said.
“If you’ve got really good players and they’re willing to work hard you’re going to win more games than you lose – but if you’ve got decent players not working hard you’re not going to win any games.
“With the best will in the world, these are goodish players and they have to put a real stint in for their manager.
“But Harry will go home tonight and not sleep. He’ll be tearing his hair out. As a manager you think ‘I’m guaranteed everyone will have a real go’, especially if you’re down near the bottom. He’s not getting that off these players.
“Put a stint in for your manager. That manager is going home to suffer, have a sleepless night, be miserable around his family and he’s going to wake up tomorrow feeling even worse than he does tonight, thinking ‘how am I going to put this right’.
“These players have a duty to their manager, a duty to the club and a duty to the supporters to give them a bit more than they’ve given them today.
“After losing the first goal none of them showed any sparkle to get themselves back into the game. They just threw the towel in as though they’re feeling sorry for themselves.
“That’s why management drives you mad. That’s so disappointing for Harry.”
Diabolical
Gary Neville was equally appalled by the performance from QPR. He had predicted Rangers, out of the three promoted sides, would fare better this season, however, he has re-evaluated that opinion after a number of lacklustre displays from the west London side.
“Two years ago I thought they were a shambles in the Premier League, all the way through the season,” he said. “But I thought after that, and getting promotion the way they did last year, the very least we’d see would be a very hard working team that would do well this season, relatively.
“But what we’re watching is diabolical.
“The basic premise of a football team is to work hard. You think of Harry Redknapp teams down the years – at Portsmouth, West Ham and Tottenham – and they were swashbuckling, attacking teams, sometimes even reckless in attack. There’s nothing there.
“I’ve watched them a few times this season and it’s repeated. When you see it three, four times that’s a worry, a real worry. You saw Harry Redknapp at the end on the bench and it’s not even worth getting up, standing in your technical zone trying to get your team back in it.
“They were only 2-0 down, if they got a goal with five minutes to go they’re in the game. But he knows it’s not coming.”
Stronger
As for West Ham, who now sit seventh, Neville says they can go into the international break encouraged by their start to the campaign – and the potential of their forward pair Enner Valencia and Sakho.
“Last year, when you looked at West Ham, particularly with Andy Carroll out injured, they lacked firepower in front of goal,” he said. “But this season they look completely different.
“Stewart Downing has got a new lease of life and the two up front look a real handful. Plus, they’ve still got Carroll to come back who will make them even stronger.
“So it’s looking good for West Ham. The fans wanted more expansive football and they’re getting it. But I have to say, were West Ham anywhere near their best today? I don’t think they were because they were playing against such a poor side.”
