In one respect, Ferdinand had bad luck. He hired Beale who could have been an excellent manager for us. Ferdinand could not have foreseen Beale's disloyalty, but once Beale was gone, we were on a wobble. If you have one, DoF is a key role - the quality of Les's replacement is crucial, as will be his staying power for the team's consistency.
Made my day to see him gone. We were going nowhere with him in place and in a results business you'd like to think a DoF has to take some accountability. Onwards and upwards with the added bonus that Tim Sherwood looks likely to be out of the picture forever now.
Well said, we just don't know exactly what Les' role was, what decisions were his, what he was truly responsible for. I despise how ugly our fans have become over this but then we need a scapegoat at all times. Sure Les has some culpability but we do not know for what so the knuckle-draggers with the bile they've spewed for me have misdirected their ire. There are problems top to bottom at QPR and Les leaving does not fix them.
SLF has guided us through some difficult times, with FFP and we were once in a real promotion push. The recruitment of castoffs, crocks and sicknotes has not really worked ( Eze aside). To me that is his failure. The failures over the years has been painful Washington, Smythe, Bettache, Masterson, Bonne, Dickie, Dozzell and others that have faded and died Warbs saw that...and commented on the lack of any strength in the home grown reserves. So that is why I am sad but content that he has gone. It will take a generation to put right. So we need a DOF with long term ambitions to bring 2 or 3 players every year into the team from the reserves. ...and to make them into successes to sell on and to form a team that can push on.
Charlie Austin tweeted. The weekend starts with some good news...and the ashes start too. He obviously didn't like SLF either
IIRC he told a story on the podcast about SLF asking if he was planning to retire, which sounded insensitive to say the least, with the caveat that it's one side of the story.
Steve Gallen a contender but Warbs apparently interested too. https://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr...c&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
l don’t think we need a DoF. If we were building and not a selling club, l’d say, maybe…. but we’re we are at and our possible future, l can’t see how a DoF is relevant to our club. Thanks Les for your efforts but the role should become redundant until we are in a position and decide to make a play for the PL. Until then, we just need to keep it tight and survive.
Well put Raving. Can’t see us (or any ambitious club) not having a continuity plan via a DoF position - especially at the rate managers come and go. It will be key that we get the right man now. We have a board that IS ambitious, IS keen to get it right but just doesn’t know how to do it properly (and under FFP flexi rules). He’s going to have to work well with Hoos and be able to get both Board, Manager and football infrastructure on the same plane. Also agree on SLF, he’s had a tough job that has never got any easier. That said, he’s had his opportunity and we are not seeing any improvement through the whole football infrastructure of the club to give us the performances we need. That tells you he had to be changed. Still a legend as a player for our club.
The irony, or course, for SLF is that a state of the art training facility with the first team and youth squads co-located *should* lead to improvements from this season onwards. Also more appealing to new signings - at youth and senior level - than portacabins. Having played his role in establishing this, a new DoF will benefit. Ever the way in life and hopefully makes us more attractive to a new DoF.
We're all making a massive assumption that he was forced to resign. It's just possible he wants to turn his hand to new ventures and deemed this the correct time. Ultimately, it's all about points on the board as an absolute must, stylish football as a strong preference and financial stability essential too.
To get the recipe right you need good ingredients and a good cook - good equipment definitely helps. Ingredients: I’m not sure how good our young players really are to make it. Cook: I’m not certain if we have the right coaches to develop good young players into first-teamers. Results so far say we don’t. Equipment: we certainly do have a first quality training ground now. I just hope we get a first class DoF in quickly to get things going between now and season start. Then look at what needs to be done on youngsters, coaching, recruitment and plan for success.
Whatever the successes and failures, and to whom each should be attributed, most arrangements eventually run their course and become stale. Always a gamble to freshen things up, but things don’t appear to have been working as needed for a little while.
We'll probably get the surviving Chuckle brother in....at least he'd be good at training the squad how to pass...to me, to you, to me, to you
