LONDON // As Harry Redknapp conducted his post-match press-conference, his mobile phone went. He took a glance at it and turned it off. “It’s Charlie Austin’s grandad,” he said. “He’ll be happy tonight.”
It was a moment that seemed to sum up the day. For Queens Park Rangers this was a return to basics, to the family feeling that Redknapp is so good at generating. In a sense, it had to be.
Redknapp had said after the shambles at Tottenham last week that he used a 3-5-2 because Loic Remy cannot operate as a lone striker and that 3-5-2 is the only way of playing two forwards without deploying a 4-4-2 with its inherent risk of using only two central midfielders.
With Remy on his way to Chelsea for £10.5 million (Dh64m), perhaps it made the decision to go to a 4-4-1-1 easier.
“I got a phone call at 12 o’clock to say Loic was leaving,” Redknapp said. “I never had any idea he might be leaving. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the player and he’s got to take it: he’s gone for Champions League football and you can’t blame the lad. He had a buyout clause and he’s got to be the cheapest signing of the century.”
With no Remy, Austin led the line with Leroy Fer playing behind him. Fer was critical. His 25-yard drive against the crossbar, lifted the whole mood of the stadium after a cagey opening, prompting a QPR surge that culminated in the only goal, Fer heading down a corner for Austin to smack in.
“I don’t think there was too much difference between the two teams,” said the Sunderland manager Gus Poyet. “We started well. Then they had that 15 minutes after the shot by Fer. We put ourselves under pressure giving the ball away cheaply and that gave the momentum to QPR.”
Chasing the game, Sunderland put the ball in the box repeatedly, but lacked the quality to carve out clear chances. Clint Hill, recalled to the squad to play at left-back, turned one cross-shot by Adam Johnson over his own bar and Rob Green meet a decent save from an Emanuele Giaccherini snapshot, but that aside it was a lot of effort for little reward.
Poyet spoke of a couple more signings before the window closes on Monday.
“It was well-deserved,” said Redknapp. “You’ve got to work hard to get results. The big problem we had in the first couple of games was I had to throw a team together with players who weren’t fit. They need to play together. When you’re down got to pick yourself up.”
He’s done that for now, but the suspicion is that both these sides will be down a lot more before the end of the season.
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