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Reply | Marti…… questions
at 01:14 27 Dec 2023
Begovic, Cook, Colback and Fox aren't the cause of our current predicament! They may not have been the dream signings we'd hoped for but they were solid enough given the backdrop of the flimsy side we had.
Ainsworth biggest failing was not insisting we move out more of the existing dross we had in the squad. The problem was, no one was interested because, for the most part, they are absolutely pony with poor attitudes and lack of backbone. No other team wanted them. As a result, we kept them and are now struggling at the foot of the table. What a surprise!
Pep would struggle to keep this lot up. |
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Reply | Ilias Chair.
at 23:41 21 Dec 2023
We should snap up any offer we get.
I like Ilias and think he's been a great servant. He's never shirked or sulked when many others have. He's provided moments of magic and scored some invaluable goals. However, we're still struggling at the foot of the table.
He's the best player in a very, very shit team. The whole squad needs overhauling. We need to start somewhere. Cash from his sale could be the catalyst. |
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Reply | Swans Match thread
at 21:44 19 Sep 2023
We always knew there wasn't going to be much quality. It's a question of whether the effort and passion will be enough to keep us safe this season. Think we expected it to be enough to get us something out of games like tonight's. All I can take from it is that Colbeck's presence was missed in the middle of the park. Worryingly it shows how thin the squad is to be able to compete even against those around us when we are not at full strength.
Edit: Get in!!!!! There's the quality! 😁 [Post edited 19 Sep 2023 21:48]
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Reply | Swans Match thread
at 21:08 19 Sep 2023
Westy, turn it in. He's a young lad learning his trade.
If any striker in the division was mastering your 'basic centre forward play' they'd be hitting 20+ a season in the Championship and be snapped up. It's not as easy as it looks.
I understand your frustration but think your ire is misdirected. He's being asked to lead the line with little experience. He'll get better. What won't help is keyboard tacticians slating a genuine player giving his all.
That said, if Dykes is fit he should probably be leading the line with Armstrong coming on from the bench and getting more game time and experience as time goes on. However, as it is, we've had no one else to step up and Sinclair has been the only option. The last couple of months has been a steep learning curve for the boy and will, I think, pay dividends in the future. |
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Reply | THAT GOAL
at 00:04 3 Dec 2021
Gray's goal was superb. However, it wasn't the best goal in the game. Willock's finish was exceptional.
Don't get me wrong; moving away from goal, the knee, the touch, the turn, the volley, bang! Brilliant. Like he said, it was the best goal he's ever scored. He was a forward desperate to bang one in and he did it. His offside finish showed us the mood he was in. Gray was on a mission. His technique was superb. And he buried it.
Gray had nothing more in his head than touch, touch, bang. And thank you very much for that Andre.
His finish ended up in the top corner |
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Reply | 75/76 through fresh eyes - Column
at 01:42 3 Jun 2020
It's always interesting reading about 76, especially as it's our 'what if' season.
I'm too young to have been there but like so many of us fans since, that team seem to be the reference point of how good the Rs can be.
The 69 Marsh side smashed the lower leagues and won the league cup but weren't top flight so can't be considered our best.
Venables 82 side were brilliant and unlucky in the replay but didn't challenge in the league.
The Smith 86 side kind of kept the momentum going but no silverware, no glory.
The early 90s renaissance and top 6 finish under Francis showed that we were the best in London but proved short-lived.
Since then we've only enjoyed glimpses of how good we can be but we still compare those glimpses to 76.
When we compare Eze to Taraabt, we're really comparing them both to Bowles, even though many of us never saw Bowles in the flesh. Buszaky? Cook? Wegerle? Currie? Where do they rate next to Bowles. The general consensus is some get closer than others but Stan stands alone.
Except for Rodney. It seems that's too close to call. Those that saw them both play, are generally torn. My dad, for example, loves them both but finds it hard to be drawn on who was better. However, asked which is the better side, there's no hesitation.
The 76 side were the best. So it would seem by default that Bowles is our greatest ever. He defines what quality means when it comes to QPR. We use him to compare our stock against the past in a very particular way. At QPR only the number 10 really matters.
Francis was England captain yet we don't compare him to Waddock or Wilkins. Clement is revered yet we don't put him in comparison with Bardsley or Walker. We know McLintock and Webb were formidable but rarely do we debate their merit against Fenwick and Hazel or Macca and Parker. Sinton and Sinclair could do their thing though Thomas had done it effortlessly before. Givens was great but Allen, Stainrod and Ferdinand are never really compared to him.
It may be because we got close in 76 but didn't win it that QPR fans look for something else to define us. We use the number 10 shirt (or those players that encompass the essence of it these days). Personally, I love that we have that tradition. I'm enjoying Eze while I can. I loved Adel and made the most of that while it lasted because I realised that is where the joy of supporting the Rs lies. He was flawed as lots of geniuses are.
Which brings me back round to Stan and 76. I think we'd have won the league if it wasn't for the flaws in his genius.
Years ago I read his autobiography and lapped up all his anecdotes. Drunken nights out, bookies before games, knocking over the FA cup on the sideline for a bet, reading the programme at a corner. Entertaining stuff.
One thing that got me though, was his relationship with Jim Gregory. Stan recalled that when his gambling debts got out of hand he called in the chairman to pay them off. Indulgently, Jim did this more often than not. However, on some occasions it seemed that Jim put his foot down and didn't bail Stan out. In his autobiography Bowles says that on some of those occasions he refused to play and subsequently missed a few games that season. In a proudly perverse way, Stan said that the Rs didn't win any of the games he missed.
In 76 we lost 7 games. A point from any of those games and we would have won the league.
I don't know how true those stories are but ever since reading his autobiography, it's rankled with me. I'm well aware that without Stan we wouldn't have been competing at the top of the league but I also think f*ck'ng hell, what a d*ck.
For that reason, I rate Rodney above Stan as our best ever number 10. But thank you Stan for making that 76 team what it was. [Post edited 3 Jun 2020 1:48]
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