Defending Disappoints Magilton – Again

Jim Magilton couldn’t defend his side’s rearguard once again as they wilted to the attacking force of Middlesbrough.

Patrick Agyemang’s goal was the only relief as goals from Dave Kitson, Gary O’Neil, Mark Yeates and a brace from Leroy Lita completed the away rout.

Middlesbrough dished out a lesson in finishing as they put Rangers to the sword in a second half display that showed their promotion credentials.

While he was disappointed Magilton refused to berate his side too much despite the heavy defeat. He told QPR.co.uk that his side gave Middlesbrough the impetus all too easily.

‘I think we were guilty of giving the ball away very, very cheaply,’ he said.

‘We came up against a side who were looking for their first win under a new Manager and they showed the quality they possess.

‘We were punished. When you give the ball away to good players, they tend to punish you.

‘We defended pretty poorly throughout, but their finishing was clinical and you have to praise them for that.’

While some would expect the R’s boss to be damning of his side’s display, he remained placid throughout his press conference, giving a level-headed approach to QPR’s performance.

He conceded that while it was not a good performance, in the grand scheme of things it is now down to the players to put things right on Monday night.

Magilton continued: ‘We’ve dished out a few hidings of our own this year, but we’ll have to take this one on the chin.

‘I’ve not gone overboard in the past when we’ve scored four or five and I’m not about to go overboard after this defeat.

‘The players know they didn’t perform, but I’m not going to berate them.

‘You sometimes learn more in defeat than you do a victory. Let’s see what we’ve got after Monday night.

‘We’ve got just a few hours to think about it and we’ll go to Watford aiming to put the wrongs of this performance to right.’

As Magilton rightfully said, Rangers take on Watford this Monday live on Sky as Rangers find themselves in a very different situation to the last time they were televised.

Match Report >>>




Have your say on The Forum

Follow us on Twitter