| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR 14:29 - Jan 11 with 1965 views | coolranger |
Like all on here I have experienced the rollercoaster of emotions and experiences supporting Rangers over the last few years since we first climbed back into the Premier League.
I now fear we will be relegated again, and quite possibly finish last with perhaps 30 points. All three PL seasons have been nothing but an immense struggle, seemingly against the odds. The odd victory, usually at home, has given us all brief hope only to experience a tough reality check as we get flattened by other sides over subsequent weeks.
Following Rangers through a PL season is like having to go 15 rounds with a leading heavyweight boxer, and being told that no matter how many times he hits you, you must keep getting up until you finish the final round. By the end you are on your knees, punch drunk, exhausted and almost relieved that you don't have to go through it again for a while.
Players and managers have come and gone and yet consistent weaknesses and problems have remained. Regardless of who we sign or who is in charge we seem to be constantly trying to stand up in a pit of quicksand.
Some simple facts that for me create a perfect storm;
1. Off the field our infrastructure, facilities, youth set up and support base is distinctly lower level Championship
2. The club's culture is Championship - deep down I don't think there is enough belief within the club that we truly belong in the PL - I think this mindset permeates throughout the club and into the players minds, which is why so many seemingly good signings underperform when they join the club
3. We have no players who happen to support the club or have come through our youth system, playing for us is simply a well paid job until something better comes along
4. Our Manager has perhaps lost his energy and passion for the fight, and run out of ideas too
5. Our pre-season fixtures say much about our thinking, League of Ireland sides on poor pitches, second tier German outfits, Harrow Borough on a sloping field, Bodmin Town on our Cornish tour and so on - few other PL clubs would play such fixtures
6. Our Chairman stretches himself with far too many interests, when really we need someone with more time to focus on the club.
7. We have no senior directors with Footballl experience, and so the Manager is largely unchecked once in place, but at the same time he has limited support
8. We play in a small, tight, much loved ground which gives us a distinct advantage at home, but perhaps contributes to our historically poor record on the road when we face sides in larger stadiums
9. We have suffered more than our fair share of disruptions - the Ale Faurlin legal case, the Mercenaries, major long term injures, the Joey Barton red cards and disruptions, Jose Bosingwa, Adel Taarabt, Djibril Cisse, the Meticulous Taffia disaster, the Warnock sacking etc 10. The threat of the heavy FFP fine that hangs over us...
I could probably go on. But I think my point is made. I think we need to continue to do our best to support the club and the team of course. Enjoy this PL season as best we can. But be prepared for a return to the Championship.
As to the future....learn from our PL experiences and make a plan to try and create a stronger base from which to return to the PL perhaps in 2-3 seasons. Hopefully with a younger, vibrant and innovative manager, an attractive brand of football and a more solid infrastructure capable of supporting PL football.
PL football today is a huge business. In relative terms we are virtually 'a corner shop' - limited financial muscle, limited support, limited stadium, limited infrastructure, limited expectations. Transforming our situation will take time, resources, commitment and a large slice of luck.
My hope lies in how other smaller clubs have developed themselves - look at Southampton, Brighton, Swansea to name but a few.
[Post edited 11 Jan 2015 14:29]
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| (No subject) (n/t) on 15:53 - Jan 11 with 1867 views | pomanjou |
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| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 16:29 - Jan 11 with 1797 views | macclesfieldman |
You make some very good points. What I can't accept and why I haven't been to LR since the opening match is:
- Talking all summer of a back 3. Signing Isla and selling Simpson to play a back 3 but reverting to a back 4 in August.
- Signing Rio Ferdinand, Jordan Mutch, Leroy Fer & Sandro, all have been disappointments.
- His public slating and non use of AT. He is our best player, it's his job to get the best out of him.
After 4 transfer windows and millions spent we have 1 decent full back and Hill. We have no creativity in midfield, a complete dependence on Hill, 2 poor wingers. The squad is crap and on grass or paper will finish in the bottom 3.
- HR seems like a spent force and his coaches are too old.
I will not be at LR again until HR and all his coaching team are gone 'I had a season ticket for 28 consecutive seasons, living in Belgium for 10 of them so this is a painful decision for me to make). |  |
| Wild horses couldn't drag me away... |
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| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 16:47 - Jan 11 with 1763 views | TearsOfaClown |
I am happy in the Championship - only if we built a squad and manager that can handle the PL should we aspire to higher things - going up and hanging on before the drop is pointless (like our away form).
Perhaps then we could actually try to have a decent run in the FA and League Cup. In '67 we won the 3rd division and the league Cup - all because we had a brilliant manager and a very tallented squad. From that we became something.
"Our pre-season fixtures . . . Harrow Borough on a sloping field" . . .yer couldn't make it up!
When I was a wee boy (late 60's early 70's) - I used to watch them - saw a defender go for a slide tackle on a wet pitch, missed the ball and the played, slid off the pitch and into the upright of a scaffold pole that was adapted to make a barrier on the side of the pitch. Crack - pause - scream. Awful. |  | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:01 - Jan 11 with 1727 views | E7Ranger |
Great points. I get the impression that our club is in the most unprofessional state ever. All over the place. And it seems certain to me that it's a struggle to find many people doing their best or taking things seriously. It's all turned into a circus act with the odd gutsy performance thrown in, almost just in order to feck with our heads even more. | | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:09 - Jan 11 with 1711 views | baz_qpr |
I think Sir Les has been brought into breach the gap re the board.
For me one of the biggest problems we have is a lack of balance between "experience" and those with something to prove. I don't think we have anyone currently in the coaching staff with something to prove, and we managed to go up on the back of Mclarens influence for the the first half of the season Charlie Austin (HR's one good buy) and a lot of luck in the playoffs. We made a huge mistake not signing a replacement for Zamora, and we seem to have pissed away £4m on Phillips, 6m on Sandro, £4m on mutch £4m on Fer £18m that would have been better spent on Troy Deeney and a couple of championship midfielders ready to step uo |  | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:31 - Jan 11 with 1676 views | paulparker |
Every single poster on here wants the club to move forward ,
We all want an academy of youth players, we want our club to buy fresh your players with sell ons
most of us couldn't care what division we are in as long as we see structure , a vision of what QPR should be about
We want flair football home and away , & we want a coaching team who have ideas, who see us as the club to manage
Unfortunately with the current regime in place it won't happen
TF and his pals don't care for inferstructure, laying foundatIons or making a new identity
They care about staying in the PL it doesn't matter how , they are gambling on old oak
If that happens then they can sell us on
Over 3 years now tone as been with us & not one mound of earth as been dug at Warren Farm and nor will it
Not one youth player has come through, even in the championship we haven't bought anyone through to the 1st team, instead we used average players on loan to plug gaps
We have lived day to day hoping it will all come good
Is there a 4 year plan even a 4 month plan FFS , I think we all know the answer
We can all post to we are blue in the face about what needs to be done and most of it is good stuff
If we can see then so can our board they just choose to follow that path |  |
| And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:45 - Jan 11 with 1632 views | QPR_John |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:09 - Jan 11 by baz_qpr |
I think Sir Les has been brought into breach the gap re the board.
For me one of the biggest problems we have is a lack of balance between "experience" and those with something to prove. I don't think we have anyone currently in the coaching staff with something to prove, and we managed to go up on the back of Mclarens influence for the the first half of the season Charlie Austin (HR's one good buy) and a lot of luck in the playoffs. We made a huge mistake not signing a replacement for Zamora, and we seem to have pissed away £4m on Phillips, 6m on Sandro, £4m on mutch £4m on Fer £18m that would have been better spent on Troy Deeney and a couple of championship midfielders ready to step uo |
" Charlie Austin (HR's one good buy)"
Who was not his first choice | | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:57 - Jan 11 with 1610 views | stuabd |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:45 - Jan 11 by QPR_John |
" Charlie Austin (HR's one good buy)"
Who was not his first choice |
Let's face it he was hardly taking much of a chance on Charlie. Proven goal scorer at that level. Who wouldn't have bought him given the chance and considering where we were. |  | | |
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| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 18:24 - Jan 11 with 1544 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:31 - Jan 11 by paulparker |
Every single poster on here wants the club to move forward ,
We all want an academy of youth players, we want our club to buy fresh your players with sell ons
most of us couldn't care what division we are in as long as we see structure , a vision of what QPR should be about
We want flair football home and away , & we want a coaching team who have ideas, who see us as the club to manage
Unfortunately with the current regime in place it won't happen
TF and his pals don't care for inferstructure, laying foundatIons or making a new identity
They care about staying in the PL it doesn't matter how , they are gambling on old oak
If that happens then they can sell us on
Over 3 years now tone as been with us & not one mound of earth as been dug at Warren Farm and nor will it
Not one youth player has come through, even in the championship we haven't bought anyone through to the 1st team, instead we used average players on loan to plug gaps
We have lived day to day hoping it will all come good
Is there a 4 year plan even a 4 month plan FFS , I think we all know the answer
We can all post to we are blue in the face about what needs to be done and most of it is good stuff
If we can see then so can our board they just choose to follow that path |
we can't build at WF until the people blocking it have exhausted every avenue I'm afraid. TF's made loads of mistakes, but I'm afraid in a democratic society, these things can take a lot of time.
Plus, youth players have come through, but were sold before they could - Parrett and Sterling. That's still a pitiable number, granted, but it's not zero. |  |
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| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 20:48 - Jan 11 with 1450 views | TopCat34 |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 18:24 - Jan 11 by Antti_Heinola |
we can't build at WF until the people blocking it have exhausted every avenue I'm afraid. TF's made loads of mistakes, but I'm afraid in a democratic society, these things can take a lot of time.
Plus, youth players have come through, but were sold before they could - Parrett and Sterling. That's still a pitiable number, granted, but it's not zero. |
How much time is TF really willing to give it, though? Obviously got a lot on his plate, especially now, but he has wavered in the past threatening to quit and such like. |  | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 20:54 - Jan 11 with 1441 views | coolranger |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:01 - Jan 11 by E7Ranger |
Great points. I get the impression that our club is in the most unprofessional state ever. All over the place. And it seems certain to me that it's a struggle to find many people doing their best or taking things seriously. It's all turned into a circus act with the odd gutsy performance thrown in, almost just in order to feck with our heads even more. |
Football clubs, like most businesses require finance, infrastructure, resources, people, clear but realistic objectives and a sound strategy for achieving these. They also tend to develop a culture which is shaped by both fans and internal management, staff and players.
We have a recent history of struggling to make the step up to the PL. We have an extremely busy Chairman with too many different interests, a crisis in Asia and limited football knowledge. We have a manager and coaching team near the end of their time in management and coaching. We have limited ability in key positions, a lack of pace, creativity and probably now self belief. The training ground is dreadful. The fans are turning.
When the perfect storm hits, it is very difficult to turn things around sufficiently mid-season without an injection of positive energy and momentum - this is where I believe both the Baggies and Palace will prevail.
Sorry, just the way I see it now. I intend to enjoy the rest of this PL season as best I can, and return with renewed hope to support the Rangers next season, in what is likely to be the Championship. | | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 21:00 - Jan 11 with 1412 views | coolranger |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 20:48 - Jan 11 by TopCat34 |
How much time is TF really willing to give it, though? Obviously got a lot on his plate, especially now, but he has wavered in the past threatening to quit and such like. |
What we were trying to do I believe was get ourselves established in the PL while in parallel moving along the new stadium project.
The priority has to be the former. We have now played 97 PL games since we got back in 2011, and we have never really been in any sort of 'comfortable' position at any stage in two and half seasons. How many of those 97 games has seen us 'cruise' to victory?
Perhaps four or five.
Generally it has been a sequence of disappointments with the odd goal victory here and there, usually at home. We average 8 points a season on the road. | | | |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 21:01 - Jan 11 with 1407 views | baz_qpr |
| Le denouement ....the perfect storm - QPR on 17:45 - Jan 11 by QPR_John |
" Charlie Austin (HR's one good buy)"
Who was not his first choice |
That's not strictly true, He tried to sign him in the previous transfer window when we were in the Prem but the deal could not be done, then in the summer it looked like he was going to Hull in the premiership until the failed medical and only at that point did he come available, but its fair to say he was the first player HR tried to sign when taking over from Hughes | | | |
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