I heard he’d going to play Arthur Daley in the remake of Minder, with Kevin Ball in the Terry McCann role.
Found this is Clives preview of the game last night.... Sad, sad situation - Preview Thursday, 14th Apr 2022 16:54 by Clive Whittingham As QPR continue to crater, it now seems that manager Mark Warburton is on his way out as the R's prepare for two games in four days we could all well do without. Huddersfield (19-12-10 LDLLWW 3rd) v QPR (17-8-16 WLLLLL 11th) Mercantile Credit Trophy >>> Friday April 15, 2022 >>> Kick Off 17.30 >>> Weather – Actually quite nice >>> Huddersfield, West Yorkshire It’s the speed and scale of the collapse, I guess, that’s caught so many of us in so much surprise and disappointment. The analytics community, and particularly our own @AnalyticsQPR, have pointed out for sometime that in metrics trendy and old fashioned, QPR were significantly higher in the league table than they really should have been. It’s something we were discussing with the head of recruitment Andy Belk as far back as August when Rangers’ impressive 3-0 win away at Hull scored super low on the xG. You and I may not like it much, and using it to assess individual games (like that one at Hull) is a fool’s errand, but it is proving rather adept at predicting performance over medium and long term and, sure enough, QPR have slid back to where it said they should be. Had that happened gradually over a period of time, I guess we’d have been a little more philosophical about the whole thing. As well as the budget challenges relative to most of the other teams up there (though not this Friday’s high flying opposition) we know all about, this squad has had to contend with a lot. We’re now potentially onto goalkeeper number five in Murphy Mahoney, and none of them so far have proven anywhere close to Seny Dieng in terms of distribution which in turn has contributed to us becoming stuck in our own half and unable to get out. Not being able to afford cover for Ilias Chair and Chris Willock in January as they wanted (Jamie Paterson, Tom Lawrence) because they’d spent the budget in the summer, and then losing Willock for the back part of the campaign, was a blow. The bad run had long since set in by the time Willock blew up at Nottingham Forest, but just a few days prior a win at Luton had lifted us back to fourth so we were still well in with a chance at that stage. Senior players the club and manager placed a lot of stock, and wage bill, in have all hit a wall at roughly the same time – Stefan Johansen, Charlie Austin, Albert Adomah and to a certain extent Lee Wallace all shadows of the players we saw tearing the place apart at various points of a superb 2021. Put all that together, lose form more gradually over a period of time, slide down to a seventh/eighth/ninth sort of a finish and you could come away taking the positives from what was, for so long, such a memorable and enjoyable season. But to go from a team pushing Bournemouth for second to one that’s rapidly accelerating back to the sixteenth spot that seems to have this weird magnetic hold over us, almost literally overnight from a team thumping Reading 4-0 to complete an unbeaten January to one limply losing 2-0 at Peterborough, has been really rather the short, sharp shock. QPR have the worst record in the entire division since the start of February, just eight points gained. The style of play has transformed for the worst, with this dull, staid, boring pass around the back replacing the forward-thinking Warburton style we’d become accustomed to that had placed Rangers consistently among the league’s top scorers over the past three seasons, even when we were in the bottom half of the table. We’re still fifth for goals scored in the division, though it’s not through anything we’ve done recently. It makes it feel like there’s more to it than simply injuries, loss of form, bad luck, all the goalkeepers being killed to death. To go from where we were at the start of February, to potentially finishing the season with a club record ten-straight defeats, and 12 losses from the final 13 games. Even the sceptics and pessimists surely wouldn’t have offered you a price. It seems, now, that it will end with the departure of Mark Warburton as manager, something else you’d have rated unthinkable just a few short weeks ago. Reading between the lines of CEO Lee Hoos’ recent interview with the Standard it would appear Warbs’ contract, improved in value but not length last summer, included an automatic extension for making the top six, which looks and feels like their minimum requirement for the investment made last summer. Having now almost certainly failed in that the choices are to renew it anyway or “shake hands and say, ‘Let's everybody just take a step back and take a deep breath and figure out where we're going to go’” which, given the weight it was given in the quote, and how things have gone since, now feels like what’s going to happen. The journos on the QPR beat are now Tweeting and talking openly on podcasts as if this is a done deal, an open secret and, as the best of that bunch Dave Mc said this week “has been the case for sometime”. Not, though, writing a story to that effect, which feels a bit odd. Like I say, we could have gone second at Blackburn, we did go fourth at Luton which was only six games ago, this “been the case for sometime” doesn’t compute really, but Dave’s record on QPR news and opinion is impeccable so you wouldn’t want to bet against it being true. It just adds to the weirdness of the whole situation, and the sense that something has gone on somewhere beyond the reach of us fans in the stand. Weird, odd, and really quite sad. Mark Warburton has been a good manager for QPR in every sense of the word. All the stuff we know and clearly see, about ripping that dire Steve McClaren squad up and helping rebuild it on a smaller budget, losing all the best players from that including the best player in the division and building all over again, improving the league performance season on season regardless. But also in the way he’s conducted himself, spoken about the club, upheld standards and emphasised the importance of respect, defended and shielded his players, brought several young talents on, avoided controversy and headlines at a club that was a newspaperman’s dream for so long. After so many charlatans in so many different forms, many who came with hangers on, most of whom had a big mouth and a media persona, he’s been exactly what the club needed in so many other ways than simply improving the team. From Harry Redknapp chucking players under the bus, revealing salaries publicly, taking them on boozy mid-season trips to the Middle East, writing the away matches off as “bonus games”, and trying to sign and spend his way out of every problem; through Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s mucky after-dinner speaking debacle; to Ian Holloway’s madcap post match antics, team selections, and riot incitement at Millwall; to this. A calm, intelligent manager who conducts himself impeccably, speaks very thoughtfully and intelligently on a range of issues, and has done everything asked of him with the team while operating within and at times embracing the restrictions we have here. I’m sure, at times, he wanted to scream stuff from the rooftops. He’s resisted and remained professional throughout. Journos, as is their job, have tried to entrap him in quotes about certain players and situations, he's straight batted it every time. It’s rare to find a manager who represents your club as well as he has ours, works un-complainingly through problems. Absolutely perfect for us. And yet here we are now on the verge of ditching him, it seems. Sure, Mark Warburton can be a little stubborn. His keenness to protect and shield his players, not give outlandish quotes in the media, can sometimes lead to repetition in his interviews that may frustrate you, particularly if things aren’t going particularly well. He’s been slow a couple of times to change team systems and selections that aren’t working – the switch to the back three that sparked the brilliant run through 2021 was long overdue by the time it came at the end of 2020, for instance. Some of his substitutions haven’t made sense to the laymen in the stand. But, look, Mark Hughes, Harry Redknapp, Chris Ramsey, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Ian Holloway, Steve McClaren… at times we hated all their team selections, substitutions and interview comments as well. It’s just part of being a football fan, you always think you know better, or would have done something different. I guarantee, at times, you’re not going to like the next bloke’s selections, subs and comments either. You’ll always think another sub, another formation, a different signing, would have made it all so different. Just like a change of manager is always the solution football clubs go for to every problem. It wouldn’t, and it isn’t. And that’s the challenge and problem we’re apparently going to be faced with now. Who and what is the alternative? Who will come here, and work with this budget, and do it better than Warburton has done? Maybe I’ll be very wrong, but when I see articles today saying the club should go for Bielsa, Nuno Espirito Santo, Daniel Farke… I can’t help but think either some people have missed a memo, or I have. Even if we assume it is simply a spectacular loss of form, and not something more serious behind the scenes, the problem you have if you retain Warbs after this scale of collapse is he has zero gas left in the tank with supporters if next season doesn’t start brilliantly – it would only need a couple of narrow home defeats in August for the pitch forks and flaming torches to be out, and then you have got a problem although the World Cup does provide a natural breakpoint in next season that could be useful in that. A bigger problem still, however, is who next – because if Mark Warburton had just done the three years he’s done here for another similar Championship club he’d be very near to the top of a lot of our wishlists to come here. Who you getting who’s better, and would come? Charlton (Curbishley), Sheff Utd (Wilder), Spurs (Pochettino) and others have all written the rule before that you sack a manager who would be his own best replacement at your peril.
Clive is demonstrably a huge Warburton fan, which of course is absolutely his right. He makes some good points. Although, for me, he always glosses over or ignores the negatives.
I’d agree he is more towards, than against, MW. But he hasn’t glossed over his stubbornness or selections/substitutions, on the contrary. It’s a fair overview and a poignant round-up and question to those wanting to ditch MW … “who you getting better, and who would come”. I don’t have a clue … but you who are much more aligned to his removal will surely be able to put forward a few candidates prepared to operate at our level and on our budget. I’m always ready to learn…
Bit confrontational mate. I have no idea who could replace Warburton, but a young progressive coach would be ideal. Definitely not a "name" off the merry go round of old managers.
We had representatives at MK Don's match last week, not scouts. Hopefully they were there to try and prise their manager away but as they are on course for promotion I doubt it would be successful. Time will tell
Maybe those of you who are much more aligned to keeping him could explain what he can do next season in order to improve things, whilst eliminating all those mistakes he's made? I'm always willing to learn....
Bit confrontational mate Maybe a fully fit squad, with some new pacey additions would help - when we were playing our best football at the end of last season and earlier in this one, we had minimal disruption to the starting eleven. Since Seny and co disappeared off to AFCON there's been countless tinkering with the team to accomodate injuries, suspensions and formation changes. Ditching our loanees - they just haven't worked and have caused imbalance in the team, and possible disruption in the dressing room. He needs to address the Chair issue....I have it on good authority that he had his head turned whilst at AFCON, and he's not been the same player since. If we can get a decent offer for him, I'd get him gone unless.he's fully committed to the club. Warburton needs the board to support him in the summer transfer window if he is to stay on - I'm not saying go all out, but some sensible additions, especially if we end up selling some of our prized assets. Austin needs to hang up his boots I'm afraid, and possibly a couple of others in the squad need either a lengthy rest come close season, or consider their playing careers coming to an end too.... If he is ditched, then I'm sure we'll all be behind whoever the next man in is, but over his tenure I think Warburton has done a decent enough job and I'd keep him on for now, and if it doesn't work out by the time the World Cup is on in December we could look at replacements then.
But we'd just bring in more crocks who will inevitably get injured too, he loves his old boys. Much better to get in a new manager who can hopefully implement his own ideas in the Summer giving our squad time to get used to them !
Was anyone on here at Huddesfield? Austin wasn't on long enough to see if he was any fitter or quicker, but from the QPR + stream he looked to have lost a bit of weight and was a bit sharper. Anyone else see that especially if you were there? Having him and Johansen back fit next season would bd a huge bonus. Austin had family problems this and I'm not sure Stefan had a proper pre-season.
I agree with most of that except about the Loanees. Dont think they've caused problems and all have done Ok (other than Sanderson on occasions but he's done well otherwise) and may contribute more before this season is finished.
Not at all confrontational mate. It was a question out there to those who are keen to seem him gone. Feels like there’s a mix of those that definitely want him gone and those who aren’t so sure it’s the right time. What would I like to see him, his coaching team and the board do? And I imagine any new rising manager will have to work this out and assess the squad we have and who can improve immediately so that we don’t need to make the following improvements I don’t know what the agenda will be regarding selling if any players who may be of interest. I think it’s clear we need a replacement for Barbet (as it seems he may be leaving) and we do need a replacement for Wallace. Field has done well, but will he still be here, and needs a creative with him. Our forwards have not impressed me, with Gray gone we need a decent prospect. None of those replacements will come cheap, so what we can afford and what is available on our budget means our management team will, once again, have to be creative.
I like McCallum and Moses has grown on me, so they could be first choice full backs/wing backs. I'd like to keep Dunne and Dickie, so maybe another centre back. Definitely need a creative midfielder added. Legs (Amos and Thomas) + Field + an inconsistent Chair isn't enough. A decent centre forward would be a must, but they are in short supply. No easy solutions whoever is in charge.
I'd add Dieng,Willock and Barbet to ones I'd definitely want to keep. If we get huge offers for anyone I would have hoped it be Chair. Though if he could keep playing like yesterday I might change my mind on that. MaCallum is on loan from Norwich who I think they payed 3 million for. They may want him back especially if they are relegated which looks likely.
Judging by the interview with Chair on the Official there seems no lack of commitment and desire to win among the players and Management. Chair thinks we can beat anyone in the League.
No easy solutions indeed. As said by Oslo, McCallum isn’t ours to keep. Moses probably has another season in him (when he’s good he is very good). With you on Dunne (who has, for the most, been having a breakout season) and Dickie. Chair I’ve never quite been convinced about, very hot and cold for me, but he had a good second half against Huddersfield (I’d take Willock every day of the week though). Austin has faded, Gray isn’t the answer, Dykes fails to impress - and I felt this needed to be his season to show he’s got it for this league (it didn’t happen). I look forward to what your new Messiah brings us. I’d just like to see another season of progress for next season. Surely it has to be a top six minimum?
