Observer
Richard Cresswell scored for the fourth successive match against Queens Park Rangers this season but calamitous defending allowed Adel Taarabt to claim a point for Neil Warnock's visitors on his return to Sheffield United, the club he managed for seven and a half years. It was the third 1-1 draw between these sides this season and was a fitting result in a game in which neither fully deserved three points.
Warnock's seat in the QPR dugout at Bramall Lane for this match might have been occupied by Kevin Blackwell had Rangers got their desired target last summer. However, given the managerial bloodletting that has taken place at Loftus Road since, Blackwell may consider it fortunate that such a move never materialised and that Warnock, his coach and mentor of 17 years, now occupies the division's most precarious post.
Warnock had won both his games in charge of Rangers before this match to reignite long-forgotten play-off aspirations, while Blackwell's team have slipped away from top-six contention after six defeats in nine matches.
Yet neither side asserted themselves for much of the first half and chances were sporadic. The first fell to the Rangers striker Taarabt who shot straight at the United goalkeeper Mark Bunn when clean through in the eighth minute.
United's Henri Camara blazed over soon afterwards on a swift attack by the home side, though it would have been a controversial goal as Camara had aimed a kick at the Rangers centre-back Damion Stewart in the build-up.
Hogan Ephraim saw two good chances go begging for the visitors - first he hit the post with a cross-cum-shot, then Bunn smothered a later effort - before United grabbed the lead on the cusp of half-time with a goal the quality of which belied all that had preceded it. Cresswell was the scorer, directing a fizzing header into the top corner of the net from Mark Yeates's cross.
United's Dutch defender Marcel Seip was solely culpable for Rangers' equaliser four minutes into the second half. He dawdled on the ball near the centre-circle and was robbed, then outpaced by the spritely Taarabt, who this time had the beating of Bunn.
Three minutes later, Taarabt's clever footwork drew a foul on the edge of the area from where he almost made it 2-1, his whipped free-kick being well tipped over.
United could have won it at the end though, but their substitute Darius Henderson wasted a simple chance to score when he somehow failed to connect with a piercing cross at the far post as the goal gaped before him.
News of the World
Crystal Palace's administrator claimed Neil Warnock didn't have the bottle for a relegation battle - well, he has certainly put fight into QPR.
Two wins and a draw so far for a team which, prior to this visit to Warnock's former club, had lost four away games on the bounce without scoring once.
Yet this was still a glass half-empty game. Both camps claimed it was a case of two points spilled.
Undeniably, Kevin Blackwell's Blades had the best chance to grab a decider.
Richard Cresswell's cross eliminated Rangers keeper Carl Ikeme and left sub Darius Henderson closing in on goal.
But, somehow, the ball bisected Henderson's legs to leave United playing catch-up in the play-off stakes.
Blades assistant Sam Ellis said: "We dominated the game to an extent and created the best chance. It's two points dropped as we see it."
Warnock countered: "I don't agree with Sam but then I don't agree with him on many things.
"It's not often you come to Bramall Lane and are disappointed with a point but that's the way I feel."
Rangers had to come from behind, though. They found themselves trailing to Cresswell's header just before the break.
But the Londoners levelled through Adel Taarabt within five minutes of the restart.
Tricky Taarabt tormented United throughout the game but it still took a mistake by Marcel Seip to let him in.
The French centre-back should have cleared and was then left for dead as the on-loan striker from Spurs surged clear to finish emphatically.
Warnock added: "You could look at Adel's minuses but I prefer to look at his positives.
"It takes a certain type of manager to appreciate him and I don't think I've ever had a group of players with this amount of ability."
The People
Rangers gave new boss Neil Warnock plenty to smile about on an emotional return to his old Bramall Lane stamping ground.
For not only did the West London club end a run of four away defeats, they stretched their unbeaten start under Warnock to three games. And on this performance the Loftus Road fans can forget all about relegation.
With Moroccan ace Adel Taarabt a constant threat, Warnock's men were the better side for long stretches as they extended United's barren sequence to just two wins in ten matches.
Kevin Blackwell's play-off hopefuls went in front through Richard Cresswell just before the interval but Taarabt equalised four minutes into the second half.
In the end United were indebted to keeper Mark Bunn for maintaining their top-six hopes.
United made an uncertain start and only a fine save from Bunn denied Taarabt in the ninth minute.
Henri Camara wasted a shooting chance from 18 yards at the other end but Rangers, with Taarabt given a free role up front, looked the more likely to score and they went close again in the 20th minute when Hogan Ephraim's angled shot rebounded off a post.
With the home fans becoming restless, Rangers threatened again three minutes before the interval. Alejandro Faurlin and Taarabt freed Ephraim but once more Bunn rescued the Blades.
United went in front with one of their few serious raids of the half on 44 minutes - when Mark Yeates crossed for the unmarked Cresswell to head past Carl Ikeme.
There was a hint of relief in the celebrations. And there was more relief when Bunn rescued the home side yet again in added time before the interval, diving to keep out an effort from Jay Simpson.
But there was nothing the Blades keeper could do about Taarabt's equaliser.
The on-loan Spurs ace outwitted Chris Morgan and left Marcel Seip in his wake before slotting his shot past Bunn. Two minutes later Tarrabt forced him to make another save from a 25-yard free-kick.
And United's number one was relieved to see Michele Liegertwood's long-range effort fly just wide five minutes later.
Blackwell sent on Darius Henderson to pep up his misfiring attack on 68 minutes but the sub missed a glorious chance from a Cresswell cross with just two minutes left.
The Mail
Adel Taarabt is hardly your typical Neil Warnock type player. The sight of a player fannying around in gloves at, of all places, Warnock's spiritual home of Bramall Lane might once have prompted an unprintable response.
On the one hand, a free spirit who unfurls outrageous talent one minute and fritters possession the next. On the other a manager whose reputation is based on steel rather than style.
But it is a sign of Warnock's mellowing nature that he rates the contrast as a 'great combination' - and also a symbol of his turnaround of a skilful yet soft-centred Queens Park Rangers.
Warnock, who handled Victor Moses with care at Crystal Palace, is even prepared to temper his scorn for Taarabt wearing gloves.
'It's a bit strange for me but I'll just have to change in my old age,' said Rangers' new boss after the 20-year-old Morocco striker, on loan from Spurs, delivered a first point on the road after four defeats without scoring.
Unbeaten: Neil Warnock has made a strong start as QPR manager
But when Warnock - boasting seven points from three games - calls Taarabt a 'loveable rogue' you can tell where the common ground really lies.
'Adel needs a manager like me,' he said. 'I spoke to Harry Redknapp about him and we both agreed he can have you tearing your hair out.
'I'll give him the freedom to enjoy himself. But he's also working as hard as he's ever worked in his life . . . and I think he understands my English very well. 'I'm instilling some of my strengths into a team with more ability than any I've managed.'
Relegation fears have receded to give Rangers a sudden glimpse of the play-offs. "I just wish I'd been there a few weeks earlier,' added Warnock.'We'll try to win every game and you never know what might happen.'
His former club Sheffield United seem to be heading in the opposite direction amid a pile-up of harrowing statistics for boss Kevin Blackwell, who has used 34 players this season and given 20 debuts.
Cutbacks and injuries have forced Blackwell into 15 temporary signings since last season. Now he needs yet another after skipper Morgan's latest booking accumulated to a two-match ban.
Bramall Lane fans have been unforgiving, as they were again after Richard Cresswell's fine headed goal was negated by Taarabt pouncing on a mistake by Marcel Seip, but Blackwell's assistant Sam Ellis said: 'We have no complaints about the crowd. All they want is to see us winning games.
'Without the problems we've had, we would have been in the play-offs. It's that simple and I'm sure the supporters are smart enough to see that.'
