Despite a record of two wins, one draw and seven losses, Chris Ramsey has done well and should be appointed permanently, writes Neil Dejyothin.
That was certainly the case prior to the Chelsea game. Everybody was puzzled, and pondering what the formation and line-up would be. Just where would Karl Henry be playing? Perhaps right-back? Maybe right-midfield? Or would Joey Barton be on the right? And where would that leave Matt Phillips? On the right, left or in the centre behind the front two? Or perhaps it's a 3-5-2 system? But never on the left. Karl Henry? Really?
Actually, it ended up making perfect sense. Of course Henry was going to play on the left.
In previous matches, particularly at Villa and Palace, we'd been exposed rather too easily down that side — a situation exacerbated by injuries. Chelsea brought one of the best attacking full-backs in Europe, Branislav Ivanovic, to play down their right and nullifying him was an excellent move on Chris Ramsey’s part. It's that simplicity and common sense that’s been missing at QPR for so long and on so many levels across the football club.
It was a shrewd tactical move, backed up by experience of past matches and an understanding of form. Niko Kranjcar, a fine player, hasn’t been in the best of touch and is the kind of lad who needs to play regularly to keep his sharpness topped up. Junior Hoilett has been out of form, and has struggled for most of his career at QPR. Armand Traore, despite his bold words in the summer, is as fragile as he’s ever been. None of them have offered as much attacking output as they should have, and they're certainly not good enough defensively. With Leroy Fer and Eduardo Vargas sidelined, why not concentrate on stopping Chelsea’s threat down that side, and simply play to our own strengths down the other where Matt Phillips is playing so well?
Henry could also tuck in and suffocate the midfield when needed. Through crowding that area, we reduced Chelsea to their worst pass completion performance in any match this season — 70%. It was actually a blue print for other sides out there on how to nullify them. No wonder Jose Mourinho came away impressed, and offered Ramsey commiserations at the final whistle.
Ramsey has simply used common sense, evaluated our strengths and weaknesses and played to them. That’s why we’ve seen players put in their strongest positions. Matt Phillips’ has returned to form now he’s stationed on the right, and Leroy Fer started to look the part when played in the hole before he picked up an injury.
That’s on top of improving the general organisation of the side. We saw a committed ten-man performance against Hull City after Joey Barton’s dismissal, for example, and he's made some smarter, bolder moves, like switching to 3-5-2 in the second half against Aston Villa in a bid to change the game - which it did. We even saw a set-piece routine come off for a Charlie Austin goal against West Brom.
I’ve heard some raise questions about what the style might be like if we’re down in the Championship, because it’s all a bit direct at the moment. But that’s because Ramsey is playing to our strengths. What choice does he have when we have limited options in attack and a chronic lack of pace? We’re not going to turn into a pass and move team overnight, nor should we try to in the thick of a relegation battle. We should play to our strengths; it gives us the best chance.
I doubt the teams Ramsey has managed over the years at Tottenham in their reserves or academy played the way we are doing. But Spurs have different personnel with different attributes. Ramsey is making the most of what he’s inherited.
There are some who may feel we’ve regressed defensively since Ramsey took charge. But under Harry Redknapp, we were extremely conservative, even when we were in the Championship. The side was always set up to protect a lack of pace and legs across the team, and was heavily reliant on Charlie Austin’s goals.
Under that arrangement, Redknapp’s team didn't manage to win a single away game this season, and registered just seven goals in the process. Since Ramsey has taken over, we’ve won twice away and drawn once, and scored seven goals on the road in the last two matches alone.
Ramsey is playing a more open expansive, positive, attaching game and by doing that, you’re always going to expose the defence - and we’ve not been that strong at the back all season. But what it has done is spread goals around the team, which is a positive. Austin, Zamora, Vargas, Fer, Phillips, Sandro, Barton and Hill have all been on the score sheet. We’re not just relying on Charlie Austin anymore.
Sure, the home results have been unfortunate, but would anybody else really have fared much better overall? Redknapp may well have got a similar amount of points in the same set of matches, but would you have enjoyed it? Would we have won away from home yet? Probably not, and judging by the mood on the terraces these days, especially at away games, things have changed for the better.
Under Ramsey the work ethic has improved, which is why we’ve been closer in matches, including the ones we’ve lost. The effort put in against Chelsea was huge and perhaps that's just because the players recognised it was a derby, but you heard Ramsey say afterwards that the players now understood what type of application is required.
QPR don’t need anything overly scientific to function and perform better, they just need some common sense, values and hard work.
Some of you will point to what you see as bizarre decisions Ramsey has made that you can’t get your head around or understand. Why did he pick Shaun Wright-Phillips at Palace? Why did he leave out Eduardo Vargas for so long? The answer shows what Ramsey is all about and why he is right for QPR.
Ramsey inherited a situation where the club was not only in the midst of a relegation battle, but also — once again - had factions within the playing squad, whatever the persistent lines about great team spirit would have you believe. There were Redknapp’s favourites, the players Redknapp had discarded, and a youth set-up Redknapp completely ignored all within the group.
Ramsey wiped the slate clean. He saw the need for the entire club to pull together in unison for the battle ahead. He offered equality and that has reaped rewards.
In his first two matches against Southampton and Sunderland, Ramsey used 22 players across both squads and got everybody involved. He’s since stretched that to 30 in total. That’s included players who have been left out in the cold - such as Adel Taarabt, Matt Phillips and Shaun Wright-Phillips — and youngsters looking to gain experience like Darnell Furlong and Michael Doughty. You need everybody on side and pulling in the same direction for a relegation scrap, so this was a smart move.
Ramsey’s message to the club was clear — if you were fit and available, and had trained well, you’d be considered for selection. This sent out a message to the regular starters that they needed to maintain their performances to stay in the team, and to anybody discarded by Redknapp that they could break back in if they did the right things.
Equality is an important factor amongst footballers, and in the case of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ramsey stayed true to his word and selected him because he was fit, available and had trained well. In this case, he may have had fewer options because of injuries, but this move would have pleased other players in the squad, if not the supporters there on the day.
Wright-Phillips is still a popular figure in the dressing room, and will have friends in there willing for his situation to change for the positive, so Ramsey giving him a fair crack at the whip will have been warmly welcomed, earned Ramsey respect and brought togetherness in the camp.
That Ramsey could leave out Vargas, also sent out a clear signal to the players. In the heat of a relegation battle, it’s a risk to leave quality players out, but Ramsey wasn’t satisfied with Vargas’ levels in training and therefore he wasn’t considered for selection. It’s as simple as that.
He spoke directly with Vargas, who to his credit, responded positively. Then, showing there was no bias and it was about hard work, Vargas worked his way back into the side with no hint of prejudice about it. It’s just a shame he got injured when he was having a positive impact.
Ramsey said before the Villa game: "The only reason Vargas got picked was because his training has changed. In order for us to get out of this situation we need to train properly and respect the other players who are training properly. Karl Henry hasn't been playing but every single day, training session and match he gives everything. Those players need respect, if they're going to do it everybody needs to do it."
For me, that’s good man management, and good football management.
Alex Ferguson was the master of this. He would ruthlessly drop players no matter what if they didn’t meet the training standards set. In February 2000, he infamously dropped David Beckham for not turning up to training because his son was ill, ahead of a crucial top of the table clash with Leeds United, which they went on to win. There are some things that are more important for the health and running of the club than results.
It didn’t work out for Wright-Phillips and maybe if it were me, I wouldn’t have considered him myself because of his situation with the supporters at QPR. But we as fans know and understand the history - Ramsey has been quick to say he doesn’t, and that the past has nothing to do with him, just as he did when responding to questions about Mauro Zarate. He felt obliged to stay true to his words and give Wright-Phillips a chance, and I admire and respect Ramsey for that because so many others wouldn’t have dared. I suspect however, we won’t see Wright-Phillips again unless there’s an injury crisis.
In that Arsenal game, I remember thinking Ramsey had a bigg decision to make because we were doing ok. Sandro was playing well and I wondered whether he’d leave him on or risk upsetting the applecart and take him off. Just as that was going through my mind, he was substituted for Niko Kranjcar. I liked the decisiveness of it. This wasn’t just about the result, it was about the player, our player, an expensive asset the club hasn't seen value for money from. It was more important to look after his welfare for the longer term.
Sure, we went on to lose that match and Kranjcar had a bit of a stinker, but it happens. On his day Niko can be a class act as well, so you couldn’t have foreseen the outcome. Sadly for Kranjcar, he’s recently given the ball away twice around the opponents' penalty box only to see us hit hard and punished on the counter attack and concede - it also happened against Aston Villa. Perhaps that’s why Ramsey went with Henry instead against Chelsea.
We’ve rushed players back so often in the past. Look what happened to poor old Alejandro Faurlin under Mark Hughes, or more recently this season. The stupidity we showed trying to rush Jordan Mutch and Joey Barton back from respective hamstring injuries, not to mention Sandro, cost us all three players for longer than they needed to be out at the start of the season, and arguably ruined Mutch's QPR career. So this is sensible management from Ramsey. I like that he doesn’t rush players back and believes it’s in the best interests of the club that we take players’ health and welfare more seriously. I hope it pays off for him.
I also like that Ramsey doesn’t complain about injuries and suspensions and cites the need to make use of the squad or younger players to step forward and fill in, because so many managers will use that as an excuse for poor performances and results. He is willing to work with his players and develop them, and is taking responsibility to cover the many eventualities that occur in any normal season. He has seldom used square pegs in round holes, like so many others have done.
By delivering on his promises, Ramsey has helped unite a dressing room and keep them fighting together, irrespective of whether they have the quality to survive. He has won their respect and has always been straight with them. He’s repeatedly identified our strengths and weaknesses, highlighting them in victory and defeat, and clearly understands the magnitude of the situation the club finds itself in. He has shown good consistency in everything he’s done at a club where instability is rife.
That honesty keeps his players on their toes and willing to go again, and that’s why despite the difficult run of results, Rangers still have a puncher's chance of staying up. They’re fighting for themselves, for Ramsey and the club. That much is evident, and it could so easily not have been the case as we’ve seen in previous campaigns. We’ve seen us down tools before and put the cue on the rack, we know what it smells like.
Yeah he’s made some mistakes, (who hasn’t?), and at times pandered to the rhetoric when it comes to fielding youngsters. That’s to be expected for someone who has never managed at this level before.
He's started a process, and the youngsters have been warmly received by the senior players. I think he timed that well, because we had enough games remaining to give him a chance to assess and analyse those players ahead of the run-in. The pathway and door has now been opened, it’s up to the kids to prove they’re ready to walk through.
Had Ramsey done this any later, when the pressure was really on, it may not have been suitable and done more damage than necessary. You could argue that might have been the case for Darnell Furlong against Arsenal or Crystal Palace, but similarly had we already been confined to relegation and the games were meaningless, it may not have provided conclusive proof either. And I still think those kids, particularly Furlong and Michael Doughty, can be really pleased with their contributions. What you see now is Ramsey taking them off the cooker, because the time is right, and he understands the difference between when he should and shouldn’t use them versus when he has no choice.
He is quick to credit others where it’s due, citing a team effort for the tactical changes against Aston Villa. There are one or two hints of being inexperienced at doing these things, but he’s relaxed, composed and appears to be enjoying it and growing with each one. This is a stark contrast to a lot of the nonsense we’ve been given from our managers for several years, including some of the better and more successful ones.
What QPR needs is to be run with respect and care, from top to bottom, from the owners through to the managers and players. That needs to start from the very top, which has been the real problem, and is why we’ve suffered for so long because the managerial appointments made have often reflected the board's agenda and not the needs of the football club first.
Some of you may well think that what Ramsey brings to the table is just the basics, and they are, but we so often overlook the basics and common sense. We have someone here starting to get some of the basics right, so let him continue until there are proper foundations in place that can be the catalyst for identity and growth in the future.
Ramsey has the fire in the belly and drive to succeed. He understands that, perhaps because of the colour of his skin, even though he’s earned his stripes and done his time this may be his only chance to put himself in the shop window to fulfil his ambition and become a manager. Therefore, you can be sure he will give it everything he’s got.
He is doing that now and, in the heat of a relegation battle, he’s stayed true to his own expectations and put in place a regime where there are standards to be met, irrespective of the immediate need in terms of results. He’s stuck to his guns, put the health of the football club first and ultimately that will improve the probability and consistency of success in the long run.
That is what I want to see. That is what QPR needs. It doesn’t need a high profile manager or a lot of money to do that, it just needs the basics of respect and care and hard work.
Are there risks taking him on? Of course. There are unknowns in terms of how Ramsey would approach rebuilding a squad with Les Ferdinand, whether it’s in the Championship or Premier League, but I’d like to see him given the chance to do it and develop his own team.
Don’t forget that Ramsey has years of experience as a coach and as a manager, both domestically and abroad. He’s spent ten-years at Spurs and has several years experience for the national team at Under 16 to Under 20 level. So perhaps he and Ferdinand know a lot about young players up and down the country that might be worth pursuing? Similarly Ramsey has many friends in football, and you may or may not like Spurs, or even Tim Sherwood and Aston Villa, but they may well become allies in terms of player recruitment later down the line. These details make Ramsey a choice worth considering seriously.
There are alternatives out there, but we have someone here who can do the job, is here right now doing it, who is just as qualified and experienced - if not much more - than some of those alternatives, who isn’t here just for the money and whose agenda and motives are right for QPR.
The soul of the place has eroded massively over recent years. All Ramsey has done is treat the club with respect and care - he’s put football first, QPR first and that’s all you want to see, especially if we can’t have a board that does the same. At this time, it’s what we need, and what we’ve needed for years.
Why wait? Give Ramsey the job on a permanent basis and give it to him now. To me, it would show the board understands the deep-rooted problems at Rangers and that they're serious about solving them. Show you can recognise potential when it stares you in the face.
You never know, it may just inspire and elevate Ramsey and the players to the next level they need to survive too.
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