Terry Connor - Wolves on 14:10 - Apr 11 with 1187 views | exiled_dictator |
Terry Connor - Wolves on 12:55 - Apr 11 by Northernr | On Johnson - being disliked might have something to do with the enormous amount of money paid for him relative to his performances, him coming straight in and taking the captaincy from Karl Henry, and his penchant to turn up to training pissd up. On Connor, I think it's important to look at the performance and ethos of the chairman Steve Morgan here. This is a man who is actually running a Premiership club at a profit, securing its future for years to come and investing in long term things like ground improvements and youth set up rather than short term fixes like big money footballers. He'll have noticed, no doubt, that near neighbours West Brom have steadily built a midtable Premiership club from an almost relegated First Division one through years and years of careful financial planning and management. Sometimes West Brom have lashed out a big fee, but they've never left themselves with a bloated squad of 50 players on ridiculous money as we have done. They've learnt the lessons of clubs like Leeds, Forest and Southampton and they've avoided making the same mistakes. They've suffered three relegations along the way, but they've always been in a position to bounce back immediately and they're much better off for it. Wolves are going for something similar I think. Morgan could have done what we did, and throw a load of money at it in January to try and buy survival. It hasn't worked well for us, and it's bankrupted clubs previously. If we do go down we'll be lumbered with a load of players on massive wages becase, quote, "they wouldn't have signed contracts with those clauses in." At QPR if a player refuses a relegation reduction clause you take the clause out and sign the player anyway, at Wolves if he refuses you don't sign him. They spoke to several managers when they got rid of McCarthy (and for those that say they wouldn't have done any worse had they kept him their performance in his last game against West Brom was flabbergasting) and all of them wanted assurances that they'd have buckets of money to spend on players and their contract wouldn't be reduced on relegation. Morgan said no to both and went with a cheap option instead knowing that if they do go down the club will be in the financial position to bounce back. They'll appoint a new manager in the summer, Connor will revert back to being a coach and they'll be the best positioned of the relegated sides to win the Championship next year at which point they'd return to the Premiership with a more settled set up and better bank balance than the other promoted teams. So who's the idiot here exactly? Not Connor, not Morgan... |
That really is an excellent posting summing up the differences between a club like ours, and a club like Wolves or West Brom a few years ago. I love the idea of being in the top flight, but there is a price that needs to be paid to maintain membership. The biggest problems we have are: Our ground is too small. I know I haven't even been there, but I did see it on Google Maps, and I have looked at other clubs and their capacity. If we want to maintain our Premiership status, we need to increase revenue streams and gate fee is a big one. Bigger clubs, more established than us, have moved and done so successfully. If we cannot develop the current ground, then we must move. Or increase entrance to ground to point that fans will not go. You can argue all you like about actual potential capacity, but 18,000 is not enough. Which neatly brings me to the second biggest problem we have: you and me, the fans, the supporters, the bloggers. We are a bunch of fickle intolerant people who will never agree on anything. You know the best way to get 3 opinions is to put 2 QPR supporters together in a locked room. If we had kept Warnock as manager, there would have been uproar. If we had sacked Warnock & replaced him with Mark Hughes, there would have been uproar. If we had sacked Warnock & replaced him with Bircham & Gallen, there would have been uproar. If we had sacked Warnock & replaced him with Pep Guardiola & Alex Ferguson together, there would have been uproar. QPR supporters know better than everyone else, and although there are some sensible posts on here regarding tactics, finances & opportunities, most what is written can be used as toilet paper. I wouldn't use it, because it is already full of $hit, but you it could be used as toilet paper, and I could sell it in my shop as recycled. Staying in the Premiership will be the biggest challenge the has faced in years. It will not be cheap, or easy but we have owners who have shown willing to invest, and have shown that they will get it right. Inevitably, it will take a few relegations & promotions to secure our permanent residency at the top, and it will involve leaving our current stadium for a bigger one, and then all the fighting, bitching & disagreements amongst fans will flare up like a disease you caught on a Saturday night out. But it is better to develop a logical long term strategy, than have a knee-jerk short term one. | |
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Terry Connor - Wolves (n/t) on 14:20 - Apr 11 with 1179 views | isawqpratwcity |
Terry Connor - Wolves (n/t) on 13:41 - Apr 11 by Northernr | You seem to forget that the deadwood is only half the problem. Our club with its stadium and income cannot afford the squad it currently has now in the Premiership, the losses next season if we end up a division lower with Cisse, Barton, SWP, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Zamora etc etc on the pay roll will be astronomical. And the circumstances between Warnock's sacking and McCarthy's are totally different. Ours was a gamble, their's was inevitable. They were getting thrashed on a weekly basis. |
The best thing about this argument is the serious commitment we are hearing from TF, even in the face of relegation. Under GP/BE/FB (cough, hoik, spit) we had no illusions that they would cut and run, leaving us with those awful GP contracts. | |
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Terry Connor - Wolves (n/t) on 14:23 - Apr 11 with 1178 views | Northernr |
Terry Connor - Wolves (n/t) on 14:20 - Apr 11 by isawqpratwcity | The best thing about this argument is the serious commitment we are hearing from TF, even in the face of relegation. Under GP/BE/FB (cough, hoik, spit) we had no illusions that they would cut and run, leaving us with those awful GP contracts. |
Yes I've been very encouraged by what Fernandes and Beard have said. Essentially they'll try and do what Newcastle did and offload what they can but then make sure they bounce straight back. Not ideal, and very risky if you miss out, but better than it could be. | | | |
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