BEES PUT END TO 50 YEAR PAIN!
CARETAKER boss Lee Carsley ended a half century of hurt for Brentford fans against their local rivals QPR on Friday night, but insists he is still not the man for the job full-time.
Marco Djuricin’s second-half strike not only secured the Bees their fourth-straight Championship win, but also a first victory over QPR since triumphing 6-1 back in August 1965.
But despite this impressive record and history-making moment, Carsley admits he still has no plans to become the permanent Brentford manager.
“We were almost spectators within the game ourselves first half, and this is a great hostile environment. You want that passion,” said Carsley, who was promoted from his role as development squad manager following the departure of Marinus Dijkhuizen.
“But in the end I thought it was a great night for us.
“The fact QPR are a former Premier League team and we haven’t beaten them for so long.
“But we’re still letting crosses and shots go when they should be blocked, and we rode our luck at times in the first half.
“The main thing for me was to get the belief back for the lads. They weren’t doing themselves justice at the beginning of the season. All the things they weren’t doing – they’re doing now.
“As a coach I’d love to say we’ve put on mind-blowing sessions – but it’s about the players. My coaching career has come early. Management is on the horizon.
“It’s a big job at Brentford – pushing for the Premier League. It’s not a firsttimers job, it’s not a have-a-go and see how you get on. It deserves a manager who has a proven track record and I’m neither of them.”
It could have been an entirely different story as QPR were, twice, a lick of paint away from opening the scoring in the first half.
On both occasions it was Massimo Luongo who was denied, first after he headed a Matt Phillips cross against the bar before striking the post with a curling effort.
But whatever Carsley said to his troops at the interval appeared to work as the Bees started the secondhalf much brighter.
Djuricin’s fierce shot was palmed away by QPR goalkeeper Robert Green and John Swift fired the rebound wide.
QPR were still a menace at the other end as David Button did well to keep out Phillips’ powerful header.
But on 56 minutes the hosts were ahead as 22-year-old Djuricin, on loan from Salzburg, fired home from an Alan Judge cross for his fourth league goal of the season.
QPR’s top scorer Charlie Austin came on as a second-half substitute after a month out with a hamstring injury, but was unable to make an impact as Brentford leapfrogged QPR in the table.
Chris Ramsey has led QPR to just two wins since August, but the Rangers boss is refusing to rule out a promotion charge as he believes it is simply a matter of time before his troops begin to click.
“You have to take your chances when you get them and we didn’t do that,” he said. “When you go away and play in this league you have to play ugly and sometimes we are being too naive.
“We gave the ball away cheaply for their goal, we went for a counter-attack and they ended up scoring.
“The fans want the bragging rights and we feel sorry for them.
“They gave us support and unfortunately we haven’t been able to give them the three points.
“From my point of view, when you are in this seat you have to abide by what the owners want you to do. “When we get more settled I’m sure we can put a little run together and hopefully be up there.”