THESE Far Eastern betting syndicates must clearly be getting better and better at manufacturing football results.

Because quite clearly they had kidnapped an entire Premier League team here and cleverly, with skilled plastic surgery, replaced them with 11 – how would Joey Barton put it? – yes, ‘pub players’ that looked just like the originals.

How else do you explain it? Blackburn and Fulham tossed aside with an arrogance verging on contempt, Villa stretched and Tottenham given the kind of fright dished out by daleks to the under-fives.

Perhaps it had something to do with the 90-minute power cut that brought the city of Wolverhampton to a standstill four hours before kick-off.

The irony. A 90-minute power cut off the park with exactly the same happening on it.

Punters in the corporate seats (so a statement revealed) not only faced a ‘disruption’ to their food service as a result and were asked to be patient (no doubt they tucked into lukewarm chicken or boiled potatoes that were just a tad too tough, poor souls). No, they also had to sit through this.

The Wolves performance required their supporters to possess the very patience of saints. And ultimately there were few saints off the pitch, and even fewer on it.

This was not Dave Sexton’s marauding, sexy, free-flowing QPR of Gerry Francis, Don Givens, David Webb and Don Masson.

It was not the Rangers of John Hollins, Dave Clement and Frank McLintock – so cruelly robbed of the 1976 title by Liverpool’s three late goals at Molineux.

No, this QPR team weren’t supposed to be anywhere near as good.

Barton is no Francis. Jay Bothroyd certainly no Stan Bowles and Shaun Wright-Phillips no Dave Thomas – on this form he is far better.

Thankfully, power was restored to the stadium but it’s a pity the floodlights weren’t needed because had they been then Richard Stearman and George Elokobi might have had a clearer picture of the shadow they had spent all afternoon chasing. Such was Wright-Phillips’ excellence.

In the end it turned out to be as sound a thrashing as the 4-0 win Rangers dished out in 1983, the last time they met here in the old First Division.

It was too much for the home fans, who turned on their team, booing at half-time, booing at full-time and booing the withdrawal of Matt Jarvis.

Not an afternoon to savour by any means and not the best of afternoons for poor Beverley Knight to waltz on to the pitch promoting a new album and tour.