In charge
Jimmy records first win
ARESURGENT secondhalf performance away to Rotherham gave Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink his first win as Queens Park Rangers manager but the Dutchman insists the hard work is still to come.
The Rs showed they can cope without Southampton-bound striker Charlie Austin as Junior Hoilett, Matt Phillips and Sebastian Polter all netted after the break.
It ended a run of eight games without a win, despite Rotherham having had the better of the first half, and Hasselbaink admitted it was nice to see hard work on the training ground pay off.
“It feels good, more so that it was a good performance – especially in the second-half,” he said.
“Winning games puts players in the right state of mind but we have to keep our feet on the ground.
“We had a few words at halftime. Nothing crazy, just organising-wise and making sure the players believed.
“When you lift the pressure, you start to play freely.We need to now get to that stage from the start to give us a platform each game.
“We have to make sure we keep on improving, but it is nice to get the recognition of our hard work and those three points.”
Rotherham had taken the game straight to their visitors, and Nedum Onuoha blocked shots from both Matt Derbyshire and Danny Ward in the first few minutes.
Fit-again keeper Alex Smithies had to get down quickly to his left just two minutes later too, as Gavin Ward’s cross spun sharply goalwards off Karl Henry’s knee.
After weathering the initial storm, QPR were on the back foot again on 29 minutes when Massimo Luongo gave the ball away.
Paul Green turned well and beat Smithies with a curling leftfoot which hit the base of the post, before Onuoha got across Derbyshire to deflect the rebound into the side-netting.
Rotherham were to rue their missed chances though as the Rs seized control of the game with an explosive start to the second-half.
Hoilett opened the scoring on 52 minutes, showing great strength and determination to chase onto a long ball and stay on his feet just long enough to slot in side-footed.
Just two minutes later Luongo’s clever chip released Phillips and the winger took advantage of former Blackpool team-mate Kirk Broadfoot’s slip to double the advantage.
Rotherham made changes up front in response, but Jonson Clarke-Harris was blocked at the near post on 81 minutes as he looked to turn Joe Mattock’s cross in.
Emmanuel Ledesma then shot just wide from the edge of the area on 88 minutes as the Millers looked for any way back into the match.
But Polter sealed victory in stoppage time, tapping in from close range after Leroy Fer sprung the offside trap and squared for the striker.
And Millers’ boss Neil Redfearn admitted his side had ran out of legs after the break
“It’s probably one of the weirdest 3-0 defeats I’ve ever been involved in,” he said. “If it had been 3-0 to us at half-time it would probably have been about right.
“But it just shows the ruthless nature of this division. If you don’t get your noses in front then you’re open to that sort of thing.
“I thought second half, to be fair to the lads, there was a tinge of tiredness in it. It’s basically been the same players for the last three games and that’s a big ask.You’re talking about an ex-Premier League side and if you give them chances then they’ll be clinical.”