The reaction to the full-time whistle at Loftus Road perhaps told the story. There were no genuine boos or cheers from either the Queens Park Rangers faithful or the travelling Bristol City fans, with both sets of supporters left neither thrilled nor truly unhappy.
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Such a reaction had followed what had been perhaps the calmest hour and a half of the Robins’ last fortnight. The dramas of the last two weeks: the sacking of Gerhard Struber, arrival of Roy Hodgson, changes to the hierarchy and back-to-back wins over Easter had all faded, and what was left was an uneventful – yet competitive – goalless draw.
In Hodgson’s eyes, this had not been a bad game of football. Yes, there may have been very little to get the 16,745 in attendance up and out of their seats, but there were moments, flashes even, where it could have all been so different.
Up until the interval, most of those flashes had come at the Hoops’ end, with Joe Walsh the busier of the two goalkeepers. Having taken a calm and measured approach to the opening quarter of an hour, the Reds began to ask one or two more questions after a low Mark Sykes effort forced a save on 15 minutes.
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Chances, good opportunities, fell the way of Scott Twine, Sykes again, and Emil Riis leading into the break, but whether it be through poor finishing or good goalkeeping, the deadlock remained sealed. After the restart, it was the host’s turn to ask a question or two.
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Like the Robins before them, QPR dominated the dangerous possession and time and time again got into good areas. While it had been Walsh who had thwarted City, Radek Vitek stood between the posts untroubled. The Manchester United loanee didn’t have to make a second-half save.
Maybe buoyed by their comfort defensively, the Reds rallied in the hunt for a late winner. Had there been a bit more cutting edge, a bit more composure, one of Sam Morsy or Delano Burgzorg could have secured the prize. Instead, that aforementioned whistle blew with nothing to split the two teams.
I imagine this won’t be one that lives long in the memory of those in attendance, those watching at home or those on the pitch. Before you banish it to your back catalogue of games of days gone by, however, here are the stand-out talking points from City’s 0-0 draw with QPR…
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Bristol City not reliant on luck as Roy Hodgson plugs leaky backline
There will have been many of a Bristol City persuasion who left Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon with a sense of frustration that what so easily could have been three points only ended up being two. Though that feeling will have no doubt been at least slightly present on the coach back to the West Country, the Robins’ backline will have been pleased with their work.
What Roy Hodgson had labelled a “makeshift” unit at Charlton eight days prior had managed to keep a second clean sheet in as many games. Though there had been some luck involved in the gritty Easter wins over Charlton and Sheffield United, this had been – for the most part – comfortable.
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“I think for us away from home, to come here and get a 0-0 against a good opponent, a difficult opponent to beat, and [it was] deservedly 0-0,” the interim boss said. “There was no question that we were [just] lucky today.
“What was initially a makeshift back four, at least a makeshift centre-back pairing, they’ve really shown themselves to be really good players and up to the job,” Hodgson added.
Radek Vitek headed back down the tunnel having made just two saves and having faced an xGOT (expected goals on target) of 0.32 – all but 0.03 of which came from Richard Kone’s first-half header, a routine stop. For comparison, the 22-year-old made a combined 10 stops against the Addicks and the Blades, facing a combined xGOT of 1.76. In layman’s terms, for the non-statisticians amongst you, he was a lot less busy at Loftus Road than he was at The Valley and Ashton Gate over Easter.
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In turn, therefore, the backline ahead of Vitek – and the rest of the team, to a lesser extent – deserve credit for their defensive effort as they kept a QPR team that had scored 12 goals in their last four games to just two shots on target.
Bristol City’s Neto Borges in action against Queens Park Rangers -Credit:EFL
That’s no mean feat with a first-choice backline, let alone one containing a left-back at centre-back – Neto Borges – a central midfielder at right-back – Jason Knight – and someone whose Championship career is just 11 games old – Noah Eile.
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Throw in the fact that City had shipped at least a goal a game in the 11 matches prior to Hodgson’s arrival, a portion of those when Rob Dickie, Rob Atkinson and George Tanner were available, and the interim head coach deserves credit for finding a much more solid and sturdy defensive formula.
Bristol City unable to unlock QPR backline
For all their good work at the bottom end of the pitch, however, Bristol City finished Saturday afternoon’s contest with the same number on the scoreboard as Queens Park Rangers: Zero.
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Of course, just as I paid credit to the Robins for their defensive efforts, the Hoops deserve to be praised for their solidity at Loftus Road. Like Roy Hodgson’s side, QPR defended their penalty area well and made it very difficult for City to carve out openings, produce scoring chances and, ultimately, leave their mark.
Such matches happen for every team. Had any of Scott Twine, Mark Sykes, Emil Riis or Delano Burgzorg been able to convert one of their chances into a goal and had the Reds had claimed all three points, few – if any – supporters would have been talking about a lack of quality at the top end of the pitch.
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However, such an absence has been underlying in prior games under both Gerhard Struber and Roy Hodgson. At Charlton and Sheffield United, it was able to be brushed to one side because the misses of Riis, Sinclair, Armstrong and Burgzorg were irrelevant when all three points were secured.
When they’re not at their fluid best going forward, City often don’t create enough in the way of scoring chances. Partner that with the fact that they regularly aren’t clinical enough to make the most of such openings when they arise, and the risk of drawing a blank is always run.
Yes, at times, such problems are nowhere to be seen – Charlton was evidence of exactly that – but since the end of the January transfer window in particular, goals have been a valuable currency, particularly against low to mid-blocks.
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As Hodgson told Bristol Live post-match, having the ball is a bonus as the other team can’t score when you’re in possession, but the Reds didn’t do enough with that possession at Loftus Road on Saturday lunchtime.
What have Bristol City and Roy Hodgson learned so far?
The short-term nature of Roy Hodgson’s interim tenure at Bristol City means that while the 78-year-old has been in situ at Ashton Gate for just a little over a fortnight, by this time next week, he will be as close – in terms of matches – to the end of his return to the West Country as he is to the start.
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Naturally, therefore, with his first week of games as interim boss now in the rear-view mirror, it is fair to question just what both he and the Robins will have learned so far.
From Hodgson’s point of view, that is a much easier question to answer. The former England boss will have, no doubt, got a better understanding of the players at his disposal, his coaching staff, the Championship as a division, Charlton Athletic, Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers, the intensity of the second tier’s schedule, the system best suited to his squad and much more.
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That will all be useful heading into the final four, but beyond that? His learning, for the most part, will depart with him.
When it comes to the Reds’ side of the coin, however, what will they have taken from this last week of games? Yes, the unbeaten run has proven that there is – when it performs to its potential – a good squad of players in place in BS3. However, that was clear to anyone who watched the same group in the first half of the campaign or in games against Blackburn Rovers, Hull City and Middlesbrough this year.
The upturn in performances and results has also shown that a back-four may be the system this set of individuals is best suited to. Whether that remains the case when Rob Atkinson, Rob Dickie and Luke McNally are available, though, remains to be seen.
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Bristol City’s interim head coach, Roy Hodgson, applauds the travelling Robins support -Credit:Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty Images
Taking Saturday’s game in isolation, however, it is also clear that the Robins continue to lack quality, in particular quality depth, at the top end of the pitch. Emil Riis has been inconsistent in his first campaign at Ashton Gate, and Delano Burgzorg – like Fally Mayulu before him – and Sinclair Armstrong have been unable to help shoulder the scoring burden. That isn’t a Hodgson or Struber issue, but a City issue.
Perhaps the change of head coach and approach will mean that such lessons are learned by those above Hodgson at Ashton Gate. After all, by the interim boss’ own admission, what comes after May 2 – the final day of the season – is not his responsibility, but that of those higher up the Robins food chain.
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The results, performances, and feel-good factor brought about by Hodgson’s first set of games has done enough to paper over the cracks that had previously been becoming clearer and clearer in the weeks leading up to his appointment. The fact they’ve been papered over doesn’t mean that they’ve now vanished, however.
With the 78-year-old at the helm for three more weeks, though, it perhaps won’t become clear what lessons have been learned for another month or so yet.
Momentum and confidence intact ahead of Norwich’s Bristol City visit
I touched on that feel-good factor around Bristol City at this moment in time, just a matter of sentences ago. Although the first dropped points of the interim Roy Hodgson era may have seen one or two leave cloud nine, where many fans had found themselves over Easter, there is plenty of positivity still around.
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For starters, the unbeaten run remains intact. Under the new regime, the Robins have played three games, collected seven points, scored three goals and conceded once. They’ve also climbed from 16th in the table to 10th, and a campaign that threatened to peter out into mid-table nothingness has some cause for excitement once again.
That is an excitement felt partly by the fanbase but also within the changing room. City had entered the break flat, deflated and disappointed. In Mark Sykes’ own words, there was a “bad energy” that has now been dismissed. A gritty, hard-working away point away to QPR, though not perfect, won’t be enough for that feeling to vanish ahead of the final four.
“If we can go three matches unbeaten, it will be good for me, good for working with the team,” Hodgson said on his thoughts heading into the final minutes at Loftus Road. “If suddenly, in the 88th minute, they get a winner, that changes everything. It changes the whole perspective.”
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There may be little to play for in terms of relegation, promotion and the play-offs heading into the last three weeks of the season, but a purpose remains for the Reds. Whether that be playing for contracts, futures, supporters, personal pride or momentum heading into next term, there remains something on the line.
While that is the case, picking up points, winning games and performing well remain important. Hodgson and his players, so far, have done a good job of all three of those. That will need to continue – starting against Norwich City next weekend – for this interim tenure to be viewed as one: enjoyable and two: a success.
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