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Reply | Budgies vs Rs Match Thread
at 14:49 29 Dec 2024
Compare the value of the Norwich squad to our squad.
They could keep Ashley Barnes on the bench till the 80th minute.
We had the lifeless statue that is Madsen to bring on and then an Aussie youth player.
Marti getting a hell of a lot more out of very limited resources than the Norwich manager is out of his embarrassment of riches |
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Reply | Marti (still) 'very happy' with his squad
at 16:17 27 Dec 2024
Not sure what you think you are proving, that’s all.
Short of Marti being dragged around Shepherd’s Bush Green in tar and feathers for our first defeat in 8 games, I don’t get what you want.
Could the squad be better? Of course.
Was the summer transfer window a success? Some good arrivals but the two most expensive players remain, at the very best, unproven.
How much credit/blame attaches to the head coach for transfers? From what little we know he is one of four decision-makers. With the exception of Andersen and maybe one or two others, his primary input has probably been on the position and type of player as he is unlikely to have seen them perform in person.
Does Marti really think the squad is good enough? Only he and presumably Nourry know because like most professionals he would not air direct criticisms in public or undermine the confidence of his players.
Does it matter if Marti thinks the players are as good as he would like? Not really, because these are the players we have who were bought to the best of the club’s scouting ability and budget.
Is Marti underperforming? He kept us up against huge odds last season and this season if you go by budget we are roughly where we should be. Given our injury crisis, arguably better.
Was yesterday frustrating? Yes. Just as it must have been for Norwich when we beat them 3-0.
So is everything fine and dandy? Clearly not. While our home form has improved significantly our last two away performances have grown much worse. Even without the injury crisis the squad has holes, notably the lack of Hayden. But then fans of even the most successful teams moan they lack this or that player.
How surprised should we be that QPR failed to make it 8 games unbeaten? Not very when the two linchpins of our recent defensive success were unavailable.
Is being in a perpetual state of apparent anger with your club healthy, particularly when generally things are improving? On balance unlikely but I’m not a psychologist.
Does a blame culture tend to improve an organisation? I’m struggling to think of success stories here.
Hope this helps. |
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Reply | Marti (still) 'very happy' with his squad
at 12:50 27 Dec 2024
In the history of football, has a manager ever gone into a season and said the board has let him down and that his squad is completely cr*p? |
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Reply | Out Of Contract
at 16:19 23 Dec 2024
Dunne, Cook, Frey and Kolli - essential we get them all re-signed.
Chair - if we get a good offer its probably time to say our sad goodbyes as its now or never. We finally look strong enough to survive without him. But if we can get him to re-sign and stay, that's great from a footballing perspective.
I would even keep Paal if he would re-sign as solid enough and works well with Chair.
Fox not a terrible reserve if no one better out there but if we can find the next Morrison, lets replenish the conveyor belt instead.
The only players I would definitely release are Andersen (the new Stefan Johansen really - after a promising start, just looks spent) and Coleback, as no point having a player who is never available.
Some fans seem to want some perpetual revolution. Successful clubs evolve instead. We are not going to get 10 Premier League standard players on free transfers.
Never thought I'd write this but not sure we need a whole lot more in January, excited to see how the current crop kick on. |
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Reply | Seeing Two Different Approaches Home & Away ( I Like it)
at 12:24 23 Dec 2024
Well ideally - of course we all would.
But we aren't good enough to do that. Marti tried that at the start of the season and it didn't work too well.
Ugly away draws and expansive home wins works pretty well for me as a combo... |
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Reply | Where are the "Nourry out" comments now ???
at 12:10 23 Dec 2024
Think there are misconceptions on both sides.
Those who defend Nourry on transfers by pointing out the success of Nardi, Morrison, Kolli, Varane etc overlook that Madsen and Cellar accounted for about 80% of our budget. So that has to go down as really poor spending of scarce resources.
But equally those attacking him for not having a better reserve left back - I mean, is that really the end of the world, and do you not think budgets might have something to do with it? I am sure in an ideal world he would like six world class left backs but he has to prioritise.
Finally - all this banging on about communications (only on this board BTW). I accept the initial approach to it was a bit Pravda-esque, but honestly the average fan is not obsessing about this. A regime is judged on results, not on how much news it releases (or how many leaks/ sitdowns it gives to message boards).
Overall his record is very mixed but whereas with Les and Hoos those old dogs were never going to learn new tricks, I'm cautiously optimistic that Nourry might. |
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Reply | LFW Message Board Glossary
at 00:02 14 Dec 2024
"We should sell x player to raise funds to buy a proven striker in January."
X player was typically signed on a free transfer, 34 pushing 35, with three cruciate ligament operations behind them, and on the rare occasions when fit, unable to get into the side. |
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Reply | QPR v Oxfoooooord match thread
at 16:27 10 Dec 2024
Its also received wisdom that we never do well if we play too much.
Seems to be a pattern here. Can't quite put my finger on it... |
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Reply | Neil Harris on his way out at Millwall
at 16:24 10 Dec 2024
I recall clambering on a tube after a home fixture and being surrounded by about 30 men who all looked and somehow even smelt like Grant Mitchell. Who maybe when older would start to look like Greg Wallace, perhaps with similar views. One of them lent into me and I was already anticipating the dental work when he smiled and said "your lot played quite well tonight." I wasn't wearing a scarf btw, but maybe I just didn't look like Grant Mitchell. It was one of those many reminders I've had over the years never to assume... |
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Reply | Who had the better brace?
at 16:08 10 Dec 2024
Hahaha, good point, nicely expressed.
Disingenuous? I'd prefer to call it modesty, but yes, for sure, a lot more to it than turning up for Jack. Turning up does help, tho, as our recent experiences show.
When I was a teenager I was absolutely terrified of asking girls out, because I feared rejection even more than I craved the acceptance (and as a hormone-driven boy, you really DO crave acceptance). I was far older than I should have been when I realised you simply had to pose the question. Sure, you would get a certain number of knock backs. But the knock backs were rarely brutal, and you also blagged some acceptances. The older I get the more I realise I was quite stupendously stupid as a young man, all the while imagining myself to be mildly intelligent.
Anyway, this is drifting WAY off topic, for which apologies... |
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Reply | Another Injury Update
at 13:26 10 Dec 2024
Unfortunately their service appears to have been experiencing technical difficulties all season. What with the brains of the operation in Dubai an' all... |
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Reply | Neil Harris on his way out at Millwall
at 13:24 10 Dec 2024
Preferably somebody of colour, who requires a translator and wears a snood, even in summer. If he were also LGBT+ it would be Netflix fly-on-the-wall documentary of the year. |
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Reply | Who had the better brace?
at 13:21 10 Dec 2024
Kolli's goals packed more emotional punch somehow, but on a technical level Cellar's were in a different league. And scored under intense pressure, given his stock with fans at the time. I loved Kolli's aggressive header and also the tackle followed by driving run, but come on - on a normal day, with a functioning goalkeeper, both would have drawn fairly comfortable saves. Am still puzzled by Gunn's positioning for the header. Its not like he was a foot or two wrong. He was so far north of the centre of goal he was virtually in Neasden.
Not to take anything away from Kolli - he played with freedom and lightness when others in hoops this season have played as if lugging a bag of cement on their backs. He attacked the ball with belief, aggression and purpose, which we so rarely manage. Just asking the goalkeeper questions can garner rewards.
Jack Nicholson was once asked to explain his success with women. He pondered for a moment, then replied: "I turn up." I have often thought he should give a motivational talk to our strikers... |
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Reply | Chair
at 13:03 10 Dec 2024
Genuinely baffled that anyone would play Smyth over Chair. To a lesser extent am also surprised by other comments saying they would play Saito over Chair (and I really like and rate Saito).
Agree Chair was very poor when he played this season, and should only come back when he is genuinely match-fit, but last season pre-injury he scored (from memory) 7 goals and got 7 assists. How many goals and assists has Smyth got despite being first choice for most of this season so far?
Even the beloved Saito has only actually got about one assist and no goals all season - so its a bit much to use the "no end product" stick to beat Chair with.
Smyth has looked better the last two or three games so deserves credit. His work rate is certainly admirable. And his pace does seem to worry defenders. But where is the end product? Other than the penalty he "earned" the previous game, how many of those great runs result in anything? That penalty award served to remind me what he SHOULD be achieving on a regular basis, but its more like once or twice a season.
The familiar Smyth play is battle, run well, lose possession or sky ball over the bar and slap his thigh in frustration like he can't believe he has just wasted that opportunity. Surely you are a bit used to it by now son?
He gets in the team currently because of injuries but I would be disappointed and surprised if he were anywhere near the starting 11 with Chair, Dembele and Saito all fit and in form.
When properly fit Chair is easily our best offensive player. Yes he is frustrating, but "frustrating" could be the middle name of Paul Smyth.
Look at it this way: what would be their respective transfer values?
Totally accept Chair was way below his usual high standards when he has played this season. But my hunch (no proof I accept) is that this has more to do with the cluster-f*ck that has become our fitness/ conditioning programme this season. He looked absolutely way off the pace, with one injury quickly following another - when he has previously hardly missed a game through injury in several years. |
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Reply | Paal
at 14:50 9 Dec 2024
If his contract expires in the summer, very hard to see anyone buying him in Jan. Unless another club is desperate they will just agree pre-contract terms to sign in the summer. Its the Manning Way for QPR left backs, and for the new club they get a v decent Championship player for free.
So assuming we have to pay his wages till the summer, we might not have the budget to replace him. The alternative is Fox or Ashby, neither of whom I'd see as an improvement.
Personally I'd like to see him offered new terms. But maybe his demands are unreasonable. In theory I agree with the new club strategy of freezing out players who won't re-sign to avoid more Manning/ Bright situations, but as we saw with Kolli, sometimes for a club in our predicament it is smarter to be pragmatic. |
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Reply | Kolli
at 14:43 9 Dec 2024
Really hope he signs a contract extension.
But lets not assume the club has messed up. I mean, it is perfectly capable of having done so, but we don't know the contract demands or if there are any other off-field issues.
He seems very likeable and a great prospect (the best to emerge here since Chair). But so did Ledesma when we printed all those commemorative t-shirts... [Post edited 9 Dec 14:52]
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Reply | Cifuentes gone?
at 12:23 26 Nov 2024
A crucial difference tho: Curaton - from memory - cost £50,000, Celar was rumoured (stand to be corrected) to have cost about £2m. We must have paid that believing we had bought a proven, ready made, high scoring striker. |
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Reply | Is this on Nourry?
at 10:51 21 Oct 2024
Nourry must take primary responsibility for recruitment. Some of those signings were actually pretty good such as Nardi, Dembele, Saito. But Madsen the worst signing since Ned Zellic and highlights a major flaw in our recruitment strategy - statistics are the starting point, but fairly meaningless if you don't factor in that he played in a much less physical league.
Marti must take responsibility for motivation. While he was incredibly lucky last season with injuries he has been equally unlucky this. But ever since pre-season there has been a torpor, a lazy complacency which has quickly morphed into resignation and despair. Many thought he would "get a reaction" during the international break, but he hasn't. Injuries aside, he has made some odd selections. Ashby would not be anywhere near my team, and I would play almost anyone above Madsen. He needs to find players with cajones. My question to Marti is: are you telling players this, or are your training sessions still all about passing out from the back and tippy tappy?
Marti needs to select the hardest nuts he has available and hope that gets us through to Jan.
Then Nourry needs to eat some humble pie, risk our FFP budget, and bring in Hayden Jan 1. Then we at least stand a chance of surviving. |
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Reply | Fans Forum 30/09/24
at 15:53 25 Sep 2024
Agree the facilities are crap and there are questions to ask about that - eg "have you ever conducted a survey to ask what fans would be prepared to spend in the ground?" or "could it make commercial sense to open a quick turn over restaurant in the ground, such as by building out in the dead space about the Loftus Rd entrance?", or perhaps most sensibly "Could we have a fans meeting with a director of operations/ COO to discuss facilities in the ground and money making opportunities there the club are missing out on?"
But I have seen one or two forums where a fan has just gone on and on and on about one in itself very trivial point to the CEO.
The art of asking a good question is to a) elicit information or b) bring about change.
When one fan is complaining about the price of beer after another fan has been complaining that the club don't seem to have enough money to "buy a f*cking striker", the CEO is just inwardly rolling his eyes and not taking the question or the questioner seriously. |
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