The Man City-QPR love-in

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Step aside, Britain and America – there’s a new Special Relationship in town.

For Bush and Blair read fans of QPR and Manchester City, some of whom are probably still locked together in a warm embrace.

In fact, nine months from now, there could be a whole new generation of hybrid football fans with light blue and white hoops flowing through their newborn veins.

“Djibril Cisse and then Jamie Mackie – whose headed goals are as rare as rocking horse droppings – had the home supporters leaving in their droves.”

When the final whistle blew at the Etihad Stadium, Rangers fans joined in the singing of Blue Moon, the home support serenaded their opposite numbers with choruses of “You are staying up” and everyone bounced along to the strains of We Are The Champions and One Step Beyond as the stadium DJ dusted off his wedding set classics.

But it could all have been so different.

For the majority of the first half, all was looking rosy with Bolton losing and the score in Manchester level.

At the interval, the premature party in the away supporters’ bar turned into a wake as news of Wanderers taking the lead at Stoke filtered through – and not even the random sighting of a former Coronation Street actress amidst the throng could raise a smile.

Rangers fans spent most of the afternoon with a confused look on their faces, unsure whether to believe Chinese whispers of ’goals’ elsewhere after a few unwelcome red herrings and false dawns.

But two second-half strikes and a sending off later, QPR were on the verge of becoming the first team in the league to win at Eastlands this season, while City – on the day Velcro celebrated its 54th birthday – looked like coming unstuck.

We all know what happened next, but in all honesty no-one in the visiting end cared one jot once the result from the Brittania Stadium was confirmed.

Mackie scored with a rare header.

The ideal scenario, of course, would have involved wins for both QPR and Sunderland, at home to Manchester United.

But a quick straw poll on the canal towpath as fans from both clubs streamed to the ground revealed nobody was bothered what set of results conspired to deny United the title and Bolton their place at the top table.

Especially after Ashley Young, whose Olympic standard dive at Old Trafford last month robbed Rangers of any hope of getting a result, had the temerity to claim: “QPR could do us a favour.” Do me a favour.

What we witnessed was an heroic rearguard action from a team who usually require travel sickness pills the minute they set foot outside Loftus Road.

First Djibril Cisse and then Jamie Mackie – whose headed goals are as rare as rocking horse droppings – had the home supporters leaving in their droves to the cries of “Is there a fire drill?” from the mischievous visitors.

And although QPR eventually succumbed to the Devon Loch moment Sir Alex Ferguson was hoping the noisy neighbours would suffer, the performance will live long in the memory.

As will, unfortunately, the antics of Mr Barton, who behaved like a human pinball as he bounced from one City player to the next, intent on doing as much damage as he could before finally disappearing down the tunnel to a cacophony of boos from both sets of fans.

Because of the enormity of the game, his actions were relegated to a footnote, but after serving a ban likely to run until October, there’s no doubt he will be pulling on the hoops again. Who else would have him?

The inevitable Twitter rant that followed saw Gary Lineker described as “an odious toad”, while Alan Shearer’s hairline and dress sense took a battering as Barton revelled in his role as pantomime villain.

But let’s not dwell on Captain Caveman.

I stayed the night in Manchester, with the party in full swing and City fans queuing up to have their photos taken with their new brothers in arms.

Liam Gallagher was not among their number but the former Oasis singer was spotted at a motorway service station on his way to the game, with one Rangers fan cheekily asking as he ordered his breakfast: “D’you wanna roll with it?”

Of course, once the bars were drunk dry, there were a few loose cannons floating around and as I headed off to my board and lodgings, I was accosted by one particularly inebriated City supporter, who pressed his face against mine and snarled: “Cockney w*****”

Well, one out of two ain’t bad.

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