Add 2 or 3 good quality players to what we have today, including a striker and a CB and it could be enough to get us top 6. A reduction in the oversized squad would help pay for it too. Think our owners could find the way to finance that and not incur any major FFP fine with a little more ambition /investment now
Got to say I like our current situation. Younger, hungrier relatively untested players alongside bargains from the lower leagues. I just hope the owner holds his nerve and ignores all the silly media bollocks - I think given the current (reported) financial situation we are moving (perhaps a bit slowly for some) in the right direction. When you compare the budgets of other teams in the division we are now relative minnows and I really believe we need to adjust our expectations. No doubt we will bloody a few noses along the way, that's always a fantastic bonus, but when you look at what we are doing at U23 it bodes well for the future and indicates that the current stewardship of the club is (finally) getting it right. We have been very unlucky with Hall being out, but when you look at the bigger picture I find it hard to be gloomy - more optimistic that things are coming together. The very worst thing we could do now is blink and sack the manager. I'm 100% behind the project - even if I moan a bit when things go wrong.
I agree. Most of the performances I have seen this season have been better than anything I've seen from a QPR side for a good while - probably since the Warnock promotion season. Freeman and Scowen are fantastic signings and Luongo has developed into an excellent player alongside them in midfield. We have been unlucky with centre-back injuries, but Robinson has been a revelation deputising, and could make himself a first-choice CB if he continues there. We have struggled for goals, but the imminent return of Charlie Austin will soon put that right . Most importantly, though, we have a squad that are all pulling in the same direction and we are developing young players who will be future first-teamers. Sir Les and Holloway are doing it right and should be allowed to continue on the current path.
Patience, Stan. Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end. (who said that?)
Wishy Wishy I prefer QPR exactly where we are in the championship. It's perfectly possible we can have a run currently and climb and eventually finish well enough to get into the play offs. Those matches take place at the end of the season and only then in the future can we adjust our hopes. The modern football fan seems aligned to the same wish when you ask another what would do if you won the lottery? The modern football fan watches matches on the TV and today even sides with an English based team in European competitions ... to me that is crazy as most teams playing in those comps are mainly made up of non English players. Yes we have the richest league in the world and the penny should drop that is the only reason they are playing here. England does not own football and until that is fully accepted then the failure of the national team will never be understood. The mentality is the root cause IMO Being a QPR fan is enough for me as I have said all along
That's almost optimistic from you Os..............but Here's the rub The R's can only sustain a loss of £39m over a rolling 3 year period. In 15/16 we lost £11m in a year when we had 10m of parachute payments, Austin's sales proceeds £4m and the bonus of Liverpool selling Stirling to City. So over the 2 years 16/17 and 17/18 we can only lose another £28m without breaching FFP and seeing as the parachute payments have all but finished, apart from Smithies we have no real saleable assets, we've only got TV revenue once so far this season, match receipts are dwindling and don't cover the day to day running costs of the club I really can't see how we're not going to run up losses close to that figure. True maybe getting rid of Caulker and Ned from the payroll might save a bit of money as they are probably the last on decent contracts but culling the rest of the squad isn't going to save that much cash........ I like what the club are about at the moment and it's a lot healthier than it was a few years ago......who knows we might tonk Bolton on Saturday and then bloody the noses of Wolves and Sheff Utd in the next 2 games, that's what the R's are about........
Depressing numbers that look about right, though surely Smithies isn't our only saleable asset. It could be we will have to sell players in January. If Sylla or Smith don't start scoring regularly by January I think we'll need to bring in someone who does somehow. A Keeper and 1 or 2 of our many midfield players may be the price we have to pay.
And what do we do with Smith or Sylla if they don't score, who is going to buy a non goalscoring striker? Roller has just started a thread about FFP which goes into far greater detail than the paragraph that I posted earlier today. In all honesty I can't see there being any additions in January, there may be one or two sales to trim the bulging squad that we have at present but that wouldn't be enough to ease any FFP restrictions.........
No I mean scoring more regularly than they do. Smith and Sylla have reasonable scoring records, but Washington and Mackie do not, and we don't get many from our midfield.
Agree about Mackie, he's certainly not the player he was when he first came here, maybe injuries and age are beginning to catch up on him. I'm still hopeful that Washington will become the goalscorer that we hoped he would be when we got him from Posh (optimistic again!!!!!!), I'd like to see him get a run of games with Sylla up top to see if they can develop into a scoring unit, but he may just be a younger version of Mackie. I still think that shortly we'll give some side a right going over, we're creating chances and maybe just not getting the breaks......
Mackie should never start ahead of Washington, who is a much better footballer. Sylla is a bit flaky, but scores goals. Idrissa and Conor up top for me too.
Ashley Williams scores for Everton just minutes after he should have been sent off, referee is diabolical.
