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Weary Wigan and QPR play out fractious, forgettable stalemate Weary Wigan and QPR play out fractious, forgettable stalemate
(35 minutes later)
The last time Harry Redknapp was involved in a two-legged tie at the back end of a season it was a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. It is fair to say this was altogether less memorable than that. The QPR manager's maiden appearance in the play-offs was a fractious, forgettable affair. Either Wigan or Rangers may yet make an immediate return to the Premier League but this sterile stalemate served only to suggest that Derby County are the most vibrant side in the play-offs. The last time Harry Redknapp was involved in two-legged ties at the back end of a season, his opponents were first Milan and then Real Madrid. As the Queens Park Rangers manager's first taste of the play-offs was a forgettable, fractious affair, the Champions League and the Championship felt worlds apart, even if Redknapp, ever ready with a flippant one-liner, pretended to disagree.
Each had tried to suggest the other were favourites, Redknapp describing Wigan's as the best squad in the division and Uwe Rösler retorting that Rangers' wage bill must be three times bigger than his own. Nor did relations between the clubs improve when Callum McManaman caught Danny Simpson with a late challenge and escaped unpunished. "It's reminded me of when we went to the San Siro to play AC Milan except Joe [Jordan] didn't get nutted by [Gennaro] Gattuso," he said, recalling his Tottenham days and ensuring the post-match entertainment proved livelier than the fare on the pitch. Wigan looked jaded in their 61st game of a marathon campaign and this sterile stalemate served to suggest that Derby are the most vibrant team competing for the remaining spot in next season's Premier League.
The reprieve was temporary. The winger ended up in the book as the referee, Mike Jones, brandished yellow cards at James McArthur and McManaman for challenges committed in the space of seconds, the advantage he attempted to play disappearing as McManaman chopped down Gary O'Neil. Rangers and Wigan, whose three games this season have produced a solitary goal, reconvene on Monday. "The pressure is on QPR now," said Wigan's manager, Uwe Rösler. "They came for the draw and got it." Redknapp disagreed, insisting: "I picked a very open team. I picked two out-and-out wingers." Yet one is a left-back by trade, although Armand Traoré was the lone Ranger who threatened with a shot Scott Carson tipped wide.
With Richard Dunne and Gary Caldwell already cautioned, it meant bookings were outnumbering shots in a scrappy start. Rangers fashioned the slickest move, when Charlie Austin teed up O'Neil, but McArthur flung himself into the path of the midfielder's shot. There was a second opportunity when Junior Hoilett crossed and Armand Traoré, the left-back being deployed as a right winger by Redknapp, headed over the bar. Wigan were scarcely more potent. "We controlled the game," Rösler added. Opportunities were rarities, however. Jordi Gómez fashioned one with a fine piece of chest control and connected sweetly with a half-volley that Rob Green parried. After an hour, Rob Kiernan thumped the ball across the six-yard box and Marc-Antoine Fortuné stabbed his shot over the bar.
Since Rösler's appointment Wigan have forged a reputation as one of the Championship's most progressive sides. There was precious little evidence why until Caldwell picked out Jordi Gómez with a long pass and the Spaniard fooled Simpson with a piece of chest control before drilling a half-volley that Robert Green parried. Kiernan was involved in the first flashpoint when Clint Hill appeared to elbow him. "A penalty," Rösler said. "The player admitted he caught him." The referee, Mike Jones, did not see it. Neither did Redknapp. "When you sit on that touchline, you have got the worst view in the whole ground," said the Rangers manager, who was equally unsighted when Junior Hoilett felt Gary Caldwell elbowed him.
The rancour was a constant. Hoilett felt Caldwell had elbowed him and Wigan felt Clint Hill was guilty of the same offence. There was less goalmouth action, although Traore's low drive was parried by Scott Carson. Belatedly Wigan mounted a spell of pressure. The Scot was cautioned while mistimed tackles abounded. It scarcely calmed relations. The game of claim and counterclaim began in the buildup with Redknapp arguing that Wigan have the division's best squad and Rösler retorting that Rangers' wage bill is three times the size of his own.
When Rangers couldn't clear a corner, Rob Kiernan hammered the ball across the six-yard box and Marc-Antoine Fortuné lifted his shot over the bar. That Rangers have underachieved grievously and expensively was confirmed when the anonymous Ravel Morrison was replaced. "He looked disappointed," said Redknapp. "I brought Niko Kranjcar on. He is not the worst player in the world. He's got 80 caps for Croatia. It's not an insult to come off for him."
Yet a series of crosses brought no breakthrough and Rösler was unusually slow to react. He eventually introduced Nicky Maynard and Martyn Waghorn for the tail-end of the 61st game of a marathon campaign. Wigan have been to Wembley four times in the last 13 months but they are looking jaded.
A fifth trip seems less likely now.