I think the ref was just awful. Full stop.
I do agree that SP’s substitutions were defensive. QPR’s first subs at 55 minutes changed the game. They scored 2 minutes later. A few minutes after that Pearson came on for Brooks. We’d been on top for the best part of an hour and then handed them the initiative for most of the last half hour. The last 10-15 minutes saw an onslaught on our goal, encouraged by bringing Mepham on for Christie. We survived but rode our luck. Losing Brooks cut down our attacking and possession options.
We held on so that maybe justifies it. But the dark arts we displayed are exactly what many on here raged against in previous seasons. Seems it’s now seen as a necessary evil, an asset even. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now.
Some say it’s needed to get out of the division. It wasn’t in 2015.