April 9 2010

Crystal Palace

The papers will be billing this "The return of Neil Warnock" but in truth, this is just a sideshow to a long history with QPR, writes Simon Pophale.

The regionalisation of Division Three back in the 1920s is usually a cue for a long gap between us and our opponents, but with QPR it instead provided a derby game which has been contested, in all competitions, at both grounds 94 times.

Forty four of these matches are at our place, whether it was the Nest or Selhurst Park and 42 of them in the league. We hold sway with 15 wins to QPR's 10, but 17 drawn games point to the fact that when it comes to playing the West London outfit, we take a point more often than not.

With so many games to choose from, here is a selection of some of the more memorable encounters:

28/09/1991: Crystal Palace 2-2 QPR

I remember this as the first home match that we would play without Ian Wright, sold to Arsenal earlier in the month. Devastated (and the impending arrival of Marco Gabbiadini was not helping) and dejected, at least Palace didn’t spoil my birthday completely by salvaging a point in a match that we so easily could have lost.

Despite going behind, goals from the ever-dependable Mark Bright and a belting, rising effort into the top corner from a former non-league player, Stan Collymore, gave us a share of the points. Stan found life difficult in the South and following a further 17 appearances, mostly from the bench and on the wing, was sold for peanuts to Southend.

QPR Manager Watch: In the heady days of the QPR managers office not having a turnstile inserted in its place, Don Howe was the current incumbent. He managed 75 games in charge of which he had won and lost an equal amount, 27. QPR fans would have welcomed this as a refereshing change from the turgid, dull football under Trevor Francis. We would not be that stupid to hire him, would we?

14/02/2006: Crystal Palace 2-1 QPR

Another game, another new era for QPR – Gary Waddock had taken over only a few days before and his first away match was at Selhurst. We were in need of a win as Cardiff were breathing down our necks in 7th.

Iain Dowie must have said all of this in the pre-match team talk as we came out on fire with “resident goal-getter against QPR” Clinton Morrison opening the scoring on three minutes, a lead we extended just after the half hour with Jobi McAnuff.

We squandered numerous chances to make the game safe and QPR were a different proposition in the second half. Paul Furlong headed home from close range to reduce the deficit to one and although sustained periods of pressure, they could not beat Gabor Kiraly as we reinforced our 6th place aspirations.

QPR Manager Watch: Gary Waddock, appointed in February, sacked in September; he only got 23 matches to impress for the former QPR player and with only four wins, the boot from the board was inevitable.

02/12/2006: Crystal Palace 3-0 QPR

QPR were our quick-return fixture of the season and the embarrassing 2-4 defeat at Loftus Road only a month previously brought us an opportunity to redress the balance. The Peter Taylor era had started with a bang and then saw us slip down the table, so a victory was a welcome fillip as we moved into 16th place.

Goals from Dougie Freedman and Shefki Kuqi put us in the driving seat before half time and Morrison came on to put the result beyond any doubt in the second half.

QPR Manager Watch: John Gregory was in the hot-seat for this one. He lasted 48 games after taking over in September 2006 and getting the boot in October 2007.

Last Time Out: 02/04/2009: Crystal Palace 0-0 QPR

Sounds dull, looks dull, was dull. The most exciting part of this game was seeing Paulo Sousa get sent to the stands following an incident between the mild-mannered Claude Davis and Samuel Di Carmine.

Our best effort came from a Shaun Derry long range drive after only two minutes, while Julian Speroni made some important saves, notable from Di Carmine. For both clubs, this game pretty much saw any aspirations for anything, other than the end of the season to come quickly, end.

QPR Manager Watch: Paulo Sousa, the most enigmatic and well dressed Portugeezer to manage a side at Selhurst since Jose Mourinho, lasted for 26 matches and despite only losing 7 times, only winning 7 probably cost him the patience of the highly understanding board at Loftus Road.

Still we had Neil Warnock and surely they wouldn’t appoint him. Oh no, wait, hang on....