Sousa Hails W12 Support

Paulo Sousa has refused to blame individuals for the home debacle against Ipswich, instead praising the support in W12.

Sousa spoke to QPR.co.uk after the 3-1 defeat against the Tractor Boys indicating that no single player was at fault for Rangers demise.

He said: ‘I’ve always said that we win together and lose together and each and every player takes responsibility when we win and when we lose. Today is no different to that.

‘I understand the fans’ frustrations, but as a Manager, when you lose, you all lose. Some players didn’t play to their best ability tonight, but the way to help is to support.

‘It’s a normal reaction, because they (the fans) want to see us win every match. Their frustration is our frustration.’

Sousa also expressed his frustration at the R`s inability to retain possession after opening the scoring and the subsequent away goals that followed.

He said: ‘Of course I am disappointed. We created the first goal, but then we allowed them opportunities to score and we conceded a lot of possession.

‘We made a lot of mistakes in the first and second moments and they took advantage.’

While in one breath sharing the supporters frustrations, he also stated his admiration for the supporters believing them to one of the few positives on the day.

Sousa continued: ‘Other than the result, I feel that the positives today were that the fans, who were very close to us. Since I arrived in this country, that has been the best our fans have been and I’m grateful because we needed that.

‘From the beginning they are important to us. We started well, but then we came under a lot of pressure and began to make mistakes and conceded through their counter-attacks. Those mistakes put pressure on ourselves.

‘At the start of the second half we changed that and I felt that we reacted very well and were coming back into it. We created chances – far more than them – but the goals didn’t come.’

It is my opinion that Sousa has been very generous to a section of impatient supporters who shamelessly booed him and individual players, of which he is aware.

While most were disappointed with the performance it is necessary to get a bit of perspective and note that this is Paulo Sousa`s second defeat in charge in 14 games, and brings to an end a nine game unbeaten run.

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