| Why get rid of Les? 06:09 - Feb 20 with 11018 views | alexferguson60 |
I understand why Warburton was fired.
Our season had fallen so badly that we were lucky that the game ran out.
The appointment of Mick Beale was an excellent one. People move to bigger jobs all the time. I don’t like what he did, but football is a business. He managed to knife QPR AND Giovanni Van Brockhorst in the back in one fell swoop. It took some doing.
And the appointment of Critchley may have looked good on paper, but it didn’t work out.
Honestly, I don’t understand who the fanbase wants to get in.
Why would you get rid of Les Ferdinand? The man’s a club legend and helped to steer us to some sort of financial stability. I don’t understand what he could have done more. | | | |  |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:22 - Feb 20 with 2037 views | Antti_Heinola |
Would be quite the decision to look at a candidate and reject them for being too ambitious and too drivenm for the job.
A lot of nonsense hindsight thinking going on here I'm afraid. I think it was a brilliant, clever, bold appointment that unfortunately went tits up. | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:32 - Feb 20 with 1985 views | PunteR |
So Les can criticise , scapegoat and sack Critchley but the fans cant criticise Les..?
Cmon Esox, have a word. | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:35 - Feb 20 with 1972 views | 89_50 |
I don't disagree that Les is on very thin ice now, but in the hypothetical situation that he walks at the end of the season, I wonder if there's anyone experienced that would be daft enough to take on this bin-fire of a club.
Any appointment wouldn't likely see any immediate success. While we have some promising youngsters now getting B Team minutes, they're at least two years away from being able to truly be tested in senior football.
And any change in transfer policy (given we've only really adopted this stats-driven approach since 2020), will take time to reap rewards.
To me (and I appreciate this may be naive or stupid), Les needs to grow a spine and say 'no' to what manager wants, manager gets, avoid loaning players totally, and stick with a single, coherent plan. At least we can then judge if that is truly working, rather than this mishmash of approaches collectively failing. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:35 - Feb 20 with 1967 views | derbyhoop |
Although mistakes have been made, by all the Executives, I think it is harsh to put the blame, solely, onto the DOF.
The wage bill has been slashed while retaining Championship status. Scouting has been improved. The evidence is Chair, Eze, Dieng and the 13 players that have been enticed away from our academy.
There is far more analysis of potential signings and the last 3 managerial appointments show a level of continuity that wasn't apparent when Warnock, Redknapp, JFH, McClaren were appointed.
The development of Heston should make us more attractive to players and, hopefully, more sustainable.
We have to be aware that we are trying to manage on 1 of the smallest budgets in the Championship, in 1 of the most expensive areas in the country.
Fundamentally we should be a decent L1 side, given budget and facilities. We have been better than that. | |
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Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:36 - Feb 20 with 1967 views | andrew1302 |
Benny the Ball that is one of the best posts i have read on this forum and quite clearly and correctly sums up the situation. Les has failed and absolutely should go. He can deflect his errors onto someone else but ultimately he is the cause of them. But , on the basis he wont resign it is up to Rueben to make the call. I just cannot understand how someone who is spanking 2m a month just doesn't seem to have any involvement at all. He is a very successful businessman which for certain means he is no pushover so what is his game here? Why won't he take action that seems blindingly obvious to the majority of fans. Maybe he wants us to go down so he can just close down the club whilst he keeps the ground as it is separately owned and recoups £30m plus for the site. it simply makes no sense that he keeps Les on given he has failed in all the agendas set for him. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:38 - Feb 20 with 1951 views | Phildo |
Surely we just need a new algorithm? | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:42 - Feb 20 with 1915 views | Northolt_Rs |
Hoos laughing his fat face off at fans during that podcast made my fkn blood boil. Get this w@nker out of my club NOW. | |
| Scooters, Tunes, Trainers and QPR. |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:44 - Feb 20 with 1900 views | Dixie_CT |
Would Devlin, Frayling, and Steve Gallen do any worse than the current lot? | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:50 - Feb 20 with 1863 views | PunteR |
I get it that people want to defend Les Ferdinand but let's be honest his decisions recently have cost us.
The Beale thing was avoidable and his decision to leave QPR came way before the Rangers job came up, so something wasn't right there.
They let Warburton go without having anyone else lined up is another stupid decision although tbf it looked like they took their time to get someone in and not rush something but then who knows the timelines of events.
We're looking at relegation with half a squad that don't want to be here or injured. No manager now,
No players ready to replace the loans and the whole thing is a mess.
You got posters on here saying you can't criticise the board in case we hound them out and they leave us in financial ruin and then you get other posters saying you can't criticise the DoF , cos it's Les and it's not his fault. Maybe it's the fans fault. Let's sack the fans. | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:52 - Feb 20 with 1859 views | PunteR |
Well les is doing his very best to cling on the job so it can't be that bad of a gig. | |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 10:55 - Feb 20 with 1838 views | essextaxiboy |
Lots of people are rejected for being over qualified .
When he started to want to bend the DOF model to suit himself , that should have rung alarm bells because thats where both our plans parted company and we are paying for that now
If our long term plans were not spelt out to him at interview then that is failure . Hindsight is relevant only from a fans point of view and I have said that. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 10:59 - Feb 20 with 1822 views | PlanetHonneywood |
Spirited Michael, I'll give you that, and no doubt the latest malaise disappoints you greatly.
However, one shouldn't confuse questioning and, where warranted, criticism of those that run QPR and the job they've done, with not caring to whatever level of devotion people feel able to apply.
To blindly go along without speaking up when you feel things are wrong would be a dereliction of that caring. Saying nothing is people's right, of course, as is having alternative views. But by any metric, QPR hasn't been run professionally for decades and isn't being run properly now.
I see the current situation at QPR amounting to a real and existential crisis. It's been coming to the boil for some time, and I'm not sure that if it continues, unabated, there'll be many regularly rocking up to sit beside you and share the love much longer.
Les is on what, £200-250k? Hoos, probably the same. A plethora of coaches and other staff and look where we are: yes we might have a cracking away kit, but everything seems to be resting on the training ground yielding untold gems. It should be much, much more than this. | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 11:11 - Feb 20 with 1759 views | TheChef |
Clearly we were using the wrong algorithms.
More like alcopops.
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| Why get rid of Les? on 11:15 - Feb 20 with 1730 views | TheChef |
Northolt can't wait for all your positive posts when the team starts winning again!  | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 11:25 - Feb 20 with 1665 views | Antti_Heinola |
Come on mate.
A club never in the history of the world went for a manager and then said, 'actually, you're too good, next'. He wasn't ovber-qualified, was he? He hadn 't even had a number one job.
There are hundreds of sticks to beat the club with. This isn't one of them. Put that stick away. | |
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| I qq at Why get rid of Les? on 11:31 - Feb 20 with 1618 views | stanistheman |
At last someone has put down what I have been saying all these years but in a better constructed message. People give him credit for the wage bill and getting rid of overpaid players, that wasn’t down to him.
The players brought on to replace them were mostly of inferior quality hence cheaper. The managers he and Fernandes brought in were not the best options available (from the UK or Europe).
The best one was Warburton, but perhaps the internal differences between him and Ferdinand contributed to the loss of form of the team (which started before Willock got injured).
Loved him as a player but he has been dreadful as a DoF.
I have no idea who he will replace Critchley with and won’t offer his resignation either , but needs to or shown the door sooner rather than later by Bhatia or Rueben. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 11:42 - Feb 20 with 1576 views | GaxZE |
For me Les has made some errors. The biggest is getting rid of stability. Even though we fell from grace under MW, it was stable we was on the edge and never looked threatened.
Beale was a gamble regardless how it's judged. He got some really good performances out of very talented players. But it fell apart partially because Beale left but also because the players in the squad have very poor character when things don't go well. Evident in many season of Warbutons and Ollie's reign.
This is the reason I feel Les has to go. One because as a DoF he's not kept our squad based on the 'blueprint' he and the hierarchy have set... but also those he has recruited or had a hand in - is missing that grit and determination to fight when sh1t hits the fan.
Lee Hoos however has got off scott free here. His utter comtempt for QPR fans is now plain to see in the Podcast interview he did. That's a horrendous sign during really testing times. As Critchley has gone, I feel Les should offer resignation at minimum. But then so should Hoos. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? on 11:46 - Feb 20 with 1560 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
Well said John and I agree.
Les isn't a scapegoat. He isn't the only one at fault and replacing him won't automatically fix our issues. But for me the time has come for a change at the head of football side of things. We all know what the modus operandi was / is and I believe in it too.
The fact is we haven't brought through anywhere near enough players, nor have we made a profit on a player outside of Eze. These are literally the yardsticks for that role. It may not have been his fault, he may have been swayed by Warburton with Kelly, Hendrick and Sanderson, by the Snake with Richards, Roberts, Laird and Iroegbunam and by Belk on Bonne, Kelman and Dozzell. The fact remains that we're not buying low and selling high, we're not developing players consistently. We're not bringing lads through the academy. All of that is on his watch.
Not all he's done has been bad but he hasn't met the criteria, it's as simple as that for me and I think it's time for a change.
And - like always - Coming to a QPR fans forum and criticising people for airing negative views when we're amidst one of the worst runs of results in our history is a bit like going swimming and complaining when you get wet. [Post edited 20 Feb 2023 11:50]
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| Why get rid of Les? on 11:53 - Feb 20 with 1519 views | Esox_Lucius |
No, not at all. I am deeply disappointed at some of the results this season but, as someone who has seen us up and down 3 divisions since I began going, I am seeing it in the broader view of another period of hardship for the club. Two years of negligible revenue during the pandemic but still having to pay staff & players, two recent seasons of transfers that pushed the P&S side of FFP to the edge have all contributed to this situation we are now in.
If I felt the clubs existence was under threat, as it was during the Fulham Park Rangers debacle, I would be be fully involved in the protests, as I was last time, but to me, this is just another of the regular QPR cycles.
The real culprit was the season the club decided that they should start spending more than any other Championship club on wages whilst having the third, I believe, lowest revenue. This set the stall out for fans expectations and they were duly placated with obscene amounts of overspend in the following years. I would happily give back Zamora day, despite the elation I felt at the game, if it meant the club weren't in the parlous state they are now but that is merely hindsight and it is what it is.
There is an awful lot of opinion being produced as facts in attempts to undermine the work of the club and the truth is, none of us none what constraints the club are being put under. Revitalising the academy is a step in the right direction IMO but it takes around 12 years to develop a child into a pro footballer and the process won't really begin until we have the training ground completed and functioning as a tool to attract the best young players to QPR.
My own personal gripe is with Lee Hoos and his failure to demonstrate any commitment to attracting the next generations of QPR fans, and having more locals turn up to games. Just about everyone I know at QPR, around 200+ people, lives more than 10 miles away and a fair few in other countries. There may be 17 other clubs in London we are competing with but it's been a long time since I saw youngsters walking around the area with a QPR shirt that wasn't going to the game that day. Get the players into local schools for a bit of football "training", run small a side games pre game for local boys & girls teams, give them and their family free tickets to the game so there is only positivity about their experience (and they may not notice the cramped seating LOL). These are just a few ideas but as it stands, we have a very aging fan base, a large number of those falling out of love with the club and no longer attending/ bringing revenue in, a stadium barely fit for purpose and little likelihood of being able to stay in the area if & when the day comes that a stadium begins to be built.
I hope you can see from this missive that I am not a happy clapper but am pragmatic about what is happening as I really don't know the inner workings as much as anyone commenting about how to run the club should be.
It's a lot more personal than buying a ticket to the cinema but on a broader platform, sometimes you see a film you don't care much for and you chalk it down to money wasted but don't give up on attending the cinema. I would also hope that in the vast majority of cases you wouldn't be going on SM continually pouring abuse at the actors/ Directors/ Studios etc. because of a dud film you watched. As a result of the innate tribalism in football it is difficult to illustrate the point with a good analogy but I'm sure it won't be a stretch for those on this board. | |
| The grass is always greener. |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 12:02 - Feb 20 with 1476 views | PunteR |
You get the football bit right you bring in the fans. | |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 12:14 - Feb 20 with 1444 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
Esox you criticise people here for passing off opinion as fact whilst at the same time assuming that people here that are brave enough to give an opinion are the same ones advocating protests as well as assuming that they simply must be using Twitter to hurl abuse at the club and its staff.
Can you see the irony / hypocrisy there?
I can assure you I have never in my life tweeted the club or anyone associated with it to offer a negative opinion. I don't condone the idea of protesting against the QPR owners. I don't boo or squeal at players at LR or away matches when they've rolled over and donated three points yet again. I support them with and until my dying breath.
However, I do have an opinion (and that's all it is) on the job that our DoF is doing. What better place to air that view than here- a QPR forum - a place to debate current QPR affairs.
I love this club mate, I really do. It means the world to me. Criticising the job that important people within it are doing isn't treasonous. It's just conversation.
Oh - and just to add - You make some wonderful points about appealing to young fans and the community. I couldn't agree more with you. [Post edited 20 Feb 2023 12:17]
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| Why get rid of Les? on 12:15 - Feb 20 with 1432 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
So who appointed the manager they've just sacked? That's a million pounds wasted.
Who assembled the current squad? It certainly wasn't the manager they've just sacked.
Who keeps defending the players, including the pathetic sicknotes who downed tools a couple of months ago?
Whose mates are running the academy, which can't even produce a decent player to get in our current (crap) team? Because again it wasn't the manager they've just sacked.
Les is not doing his job out of charity. He gets a massive salary, despite proving himself incompetent in every criterion the job demands. The thought of him being there for another 12 days, let alone 12 years is terrifying. | | | |
| Why get rid of Les? (n/t) (n/t) on 13:09 - Feb 20 with 1303 views | qprboy101 |
Players qpr have made profit from
Eze
Furlong
Freeman
Smithies
Players qpr have made a loss
Sylla
Washington
Bonne
Goss
Smyth
Manning
BOS
Ariel Borysiuk
Lungo
Bidwell
Cousins
Gladwin
Pawel Wszolek
Yeni N'Gbakoto
Lynch
Polter
This is why he should go [Post edited 20 Feb 2023 13:13]
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| Why get rid of Les? (n/t) (n/t) on 13:59 - Feb 20 with 1207 views | PlanetHonneywood |
Chery and The Coyote, too.
Clearly, the effing algorithm QPR have been using should have been changed years ago. | |
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| Why get rid of Les? on 14:12 - Feb 20 with 1164 views | QPunkR |
I think it's an unfair stick to beat LF with, that we haven't produced more Raheem Sterlings etc in the past few years. I don't think anything going on or not going on in the youth setup is going to turn a future L1 footballer into Messi.
I wish we were producing better youth products, like everyone else. But the fact we're not is not just solely down to one man | |
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