Managers old and new see QPR draw

Last updated : 16 January 2011 By Tony Scholes
Danny Fox
Danny Fox - played well on his return to league action
It was typical in that there was driving rain for much of the afternoon, thus giving a very Burnley like welcome to new manager Eddie Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall. They both arrived with chairman Barry Kilby and watched the game from the directors' box.

The press corps of photographers were pointing at the Bob Lord Stand but it was the Jimmy Mac Stand that captured the attention of the crowd ahead of kick off with the return of a Burnley great in Jimmy Adamson.

He was there for the opening of the Jimmy Adamson Suite within the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. He left Burnley in January 1976 and the last game he saw at Burnley, from my recollection, was in September 1978 when he returned as Sunderland manager on a day when the Wearside club beat us 2-1 despite having both full backs sent off.

Yesterday, his appearance brought with it spontaneous applause even before any announcement, and it built and built throughout that announcement and beyond. If Jimmy was unsure of how he'd be remembered at Turf Moor he'd have gone home in the firm knowledge that he very much remains a Burnley legend.

Given that the opposition was QPR, the team we battled with for promotion in 1973, and with Dave Thomas, who played for both clubs during that season making the half time draw, it was all set up to be a classic. The ninety minutes, however, was far from that.

As expected the Burnley team was unchanged from the one that beat Port Vale. The only change came on the bench where Kevin McDonald replaced the injured Dean Marney.

The first quarter of an hour or so was worrying. I don't think we got on the ball much at all and it was very much a case of one side clearly on top. It really did look as though it was going to be a tough afternoon and there were no hints whatsoever that we might get into the game.

The one positive that came out of that opening was the fact we didn't concede a goal. Lee Grant made one good save to deny Shaun Derry and saved again after a deflection in the box but overall we didn't have much to deal with in terms of chances.

We were midway through the half before we offered anything at all, and our best effort came just past the half hour. That was from Jay Rodriguez and Paddy Kenny's save was every bit as good as Grant's earlier in the game.

The rest of the half was more even but still QPR had the edge and by half time we'd done well to still be level against a tough, strong team that really is difficult to play against. Dare I call it a typical Warnock team?

There wasn't much change in the second half when again they were the better of the teams, but in fairness they didn't create anything like enough chances although they should have scored on one occasion.

Much of the concerns in the second half centred on Adel Taarabt. Good player he may well be, but his behaviour leaves much to be desired. Maybe his manager should teach him to stay on his feet a bit as he continually tried to con referee Mike Jones.

Jones, ably assisted by two shocking assistants on the day, had certainly fallen for it when he yellow carded Michael Duff in the first half. However, there was little even Jones could do when Taarabt showed his total lack of sportsmanship in the second half.

A dropped ball in the centre circle, something that really should have been our free kick, was to be played back to us by the QPR player. He unsportingly hoofed the ball out for a thrown in very close to the corner flag in our right back position.

Howls of derision from the stands, accompanied by the expected 'Same old Warnock, always cheating', was interrupted when the QPR manager himself intervened. We took the throw, gave it them back so they could play the ball back to our goalkeeper.

Warnock, after the game, just about accused us of targeting him. Maybe he should have taken a closer look at what Derry was getting up to with Jack Cork if he wanted to know about targeting.

Long before the game ended it had 0-0 on it. It was a long way from our best performance of the season but to our credit, against this tough side who sit top of the league, we battled hard, defended well and kept our first clean sheet since the 4-0 home win against Barnsley back in October, and that's something positive for the new manager to build on.

It was a tough afternoon for us. QPR will be going up this year which will probably cost the manager his job as they go for someone high profile to match their image. I wouldn't have said no to him a year ago.

The best performances came in the defence with both Michael Duff and Danny Fox, playing his first league game since the Doncaster game in November, the top performers.

It's something for new man Eddie Howe to build on and, despite the lack of real entertainment and goals, I hope Jimmy Adamson went home having enjoyed his first afternoon at Turf Moor in almost three and a half decades.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox, Graham Alexander (David Edgar 86), Wade Elliott, Jack Cork, Chris Eagles, Chris Iwelumo (Steven Thompson 68), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Andre Bikey, Kevin McDonald, Ross Wallace.
Yellow Cards: Michael Duff, Graham Alexander, Danny Fox, Steven Thompson, Jack Cork.

QPR: Paddy Kenny, Bradley Orr, Matt Connolly, Kaspars Gorkss, Clint Hill, Shaun Derry, Alejandro Faurlin (Leon Clarke 81), Tommy Smith, Adel Taarabt (Fitz Hall 90+3), Petter Vaagan Moen, Rob Hulse (Heidar Helguson 81). Subs not used: Radek Cerny, Gary Borrowdale, Antonio German, Lee Cook.
Yellow Cards: Alejandro Faurlin, Bradley Orr.

Referee: Mike Jones (Chester).

Attendance: 14,819.