The Pre-Match Warm Up
Friday 16th March February 2007
by Ron Norris & Simon Skinner |
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Rangers GO TO LEICESTER
Leicester provide John Gregory's next
challenge on Saturday afternoon. The R's have drawn the last two games
1-1 and arguably should have won both games, can we finally get three
points on the board at the Walkers Stadium? |
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Match Preview |
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Leicester City v Queens
Park Rangers
The Championship
Saturday 17th March 2007
Kick Off 15:00 |
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TEAM NEWS |
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After the excellent
yet heartbreaking draw at Derby in midweek there is good and bad news for
John Gregory. Lee Camp and Adam Bolder are available for selection after
sitting out the game through ineligibility. Martin Rowlands injured a
hamstring at Pride Park and will sit this one out as is likely will Dexter
Blackstock who did his hamstring against Sheffield Wednesday. Marc Bircham
is still crocked.
Rob Kelly should be
able to welcome Matty Fryatt back to the squad after over a month out with a
foot injury. Skipper Paddy McCarthy and keeper Rab Douglas are definite
absentees but other than that it is a clean bill of health for Leicester
City. |
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A QUICK GUIDE TO OUR OPPONENTS |
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LEICESTER IN
BRIEF |
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The last
few weeks have seen the protracted sale of the club to Milan
Mandaric finally sealed so Rob Kelly is probably just waiting
for a P45! Mandaric admitted to talking to potential managerial
candidates before the deal had even gone through so Kelly will
be delighted that his players have come through for him in
recent weeks and kept him on the payroll. |
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TOP SCORERS |
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Name |
FLC |
FAC |
LC |
Total |
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Iain Hume |
11 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
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Patrick Kisnorbo |
5 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
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Elvis Hammond |
4 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
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Gareth McAuley |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
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Stephen Hughes |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
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LAST FIVE
GAMES |
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Date |
Versus |
Venue |
F |
A |
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13/03/07 |
Leeds |
Home |
1 |
1 |
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10/03/07 |
C. Palace |
Away |
0 |
2 |
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03/03/07 |
Southend |
Away |
2 |
2 |
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24/02/07 |
West Brom |
Home |
1 |
1 |
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20/02/07 |
Burnley |
Away |
1 |
0 |
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CLASH OF THE
DAY |
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Patrick
Kisnorbo v Paul Furlong. In the last couple of games Furlong has
had something of a renaissance in terms of performances if not
goals. His hold up play looks to be as sharp as ever and he will
always be a physical opponent. Aussie Kisnorbo has been in good
form himself this season, ably deputising for the injured
McCarthy and weighing in with a superb seven goals this season
(including one at Loftus Road). To put that in perspective,
Dexter has nine! |
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RANGERS VERSUS ..... |
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LAST TIME OUT |
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Queens Park Rangers 1 - 1
Leicester City
Saturday 28th October 2006 |
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“A ball
into the box from Rowlands found Blackstock at the back post and
his effort was on target and had beaten Logan before the
Northern Ireland defender snaked out his left hand to divert the
ball away. Referee Stroud had an easy decision to make, whish
was lucky for him as he had generally made a hash of most tricky
ones on the afternoon. McAuley was off and a pen was awarded.” |
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HEAD TO HEAD |
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Overall |
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Played |
QPR |
Leicester |
Draws |
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48 |
21 |
18 |
9 |
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At Leicester |
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Played |
QPR |
Leicester |
Draws |
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22 |
5 |
13 |
4 |
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LEAGUE
STANDINGS |
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Pos |
Team |
P |
GD |
Pts |
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16th |
Leicester |
37 |
-5 |
46 |
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22nd |
QPR |
37 |
-16 |
37 |
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OTHER MEETINGS |
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Rangers
have their snouts ahead in the head to head with nineteen wins
to Leicester’s seventeen. On the two visits to The Walkers
Stadium Rangers have left with a Phil Dowd inspired defeat and a
Nygaard inspired (!) victory. Last season Nygaard’s opener was
cancelled out by Elvis Hammond before Furlong had an eventful
last four minutes, bagging the winner and then getting himself
sent off. |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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THE REFEREE |
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Yet
another new boy to add to the wall of shame no doubt! Neil
Swarbrick is in his second season on the list and on face value
he seems fairly level headed with 70 yellows and 5 reds in his
27 games this season. He has reffed at Leicester before, taking
charge of Cardiff’s win there last season. |
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THE REF RECORD |
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Season |
Games |
Yellows |
Reds |
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2006-07 |
27 |
70 |
5 |
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2005-06 |
29 |
57 |
2 |
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2004-05 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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2003-04 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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QPR CONNECTIONS |
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Frank McLintock came to Rangers after a glittering Arsenal
career and became the bedrock of the side that went so close to
the title in 75/76.
He spent his formative years at Leicester City and was FA
Cup runner up twice in his time there before The Gunners snapped
him up.
He later returned to manage at Filbert Street after leaving
Rangers but didn’t last very long! |
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RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF |
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SIMON:
Two good displays have yielded only two points this past
week. To my mind the lack of points could work against the players as much
as the good performances could work for them. If we want to win we have to
keep a clean sheet as two goals seem a tough ask at the moment, the only
problem there is that I don’t think we are capable of keeping a clean sheet!
This must win game smacks of a draw. 1-1.
RON:
The Derby certainly sounded encouraging, having missed for a trip to
Hannover I can only go on the reports I've read but I do know a few
Germans who learned a couple of new English swear words at about half nine
last Tuesday! Gregory has stated we need nothing less than three points this
weekend and I reckon we might get them. 2-1 to Rangers.
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Current score: Ron 25 Simon 24 |
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