Where's The Respect? (Part Four)

QPR's interim manager Gareth Ainsworth was happy with his team's performance. “Commitment and passion have been shown in abundance,” he said. “They’ve been very professional in the last two weeks and we can achieve things if that keeps going on. I know that coming on in the last ten minutes you’ve still got to get the pace of the game and you’ve still got to get into the game. Akos [Buzsaky] is a player who can come on and create chances from nothing, especially against ten men. He really does know how to play that system and Gavin [Mahon] came on as they were looking tired. Gavin’s shown just what an important player he is for us. We thought that we would go and score. Gavin scored a fantastic header and we’ll take the three points.”

He also found time to praise the contribution of the young Argentinian prospect, Emmanuel Ledesma. “Emmanuel is a very talented player,” said Ainsworth. “He can unlock defences and he’s learning the game, but he’s a fantastic talent to have. He went through a sticky patch and now he’s back to himself. It’s always difficult being in and out. He did very well; I’m very proud of him.”

Meanwhile, Dave Jones had further criticism of Lee Probert's refereeing. “It’s so difficult coming to terms when we get a performance like that from the referee,” he said. “You need people to be strong; I think that in certain situations when the crowd go up he’s given fouls. I think the crowd played a big part, but for me his performance was unacceptable. We didn’t sit back; we had a go and had far more chances. I can’t remember Tom [Heaton] having a save to make. We were just outnumbered. I didn’t think they were better than us; it was eleven against ten and then nine. I felt we might have closed the cross down, but I can’t fault them. I thought they were superb and as I said with ten men I thought we dominated the game and took it to them. It’s difficult to play against a team with ten men, because normally they shut up shop, but we didn’t just shut up shop; we came out with the ball and tried to play some good football. It’s difficult to play the opposition and the men in black.”

Jones had more to add, as Michael Chopra should have had a penalty as well. “It’s a penalty,” said Jones. “It’s up to him, but he’s got to be brave enough to give it.” So what did he think of Chopra's performance. “It’s always going to be difficult for Chops, because I thought with ten men he’s going to have to run, chase and do things that we don’t really want him to do. I thought that everybody was fine today, but I felt that in certain situations maybe we could have took a little bit care of the ball in some areas, but that’s why we’re not in the Premiership. I thought he [Michael] looked sharp; his touch looked fine and with him up front today it worked very well.”

Cardiff are still in with a chance of promotion, but if they miss out by a point or two, they will look back on this match with more than a little annoyance, especially if it costs Dave Jones his job as well.