Written by James McManus QUOTE QPR look set to clinch the signing of former Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar before the close of the transfer window, but this deal is just the latest in a long line of stop-gap, short-term transfers that could harm the club further down the line, as boss Mark Hughes continues to gamble with their financial future. A few facts to bring you – QPR were the only club last season not to hand a single start to a player under the age of 21. Of their current 32-man squad, 19 of them are over the age of 30. The average age, factoring in the signing of the Brazilian goalkeeper, of their nine summer transfers comes in at 28.5 years of age. This is far from planning for the future, rather simply trying to avoid the drop before he moves on to bigger and better things. Stability is the name of the game this season, and on the face of it, you can’t really question any of the summer deals that Hughes has gone for as they all boast knowledge of the Premier League and have been successful elsewhere during their respective careers, but dig a little deeper and nearly all of them are fraught with problems. The Junior Hoilett capture represented something of a transfer coup as he’d been linked with bigger clubs since January last season, while Samba Diakite did reasonably well during a loan spell which has since been made permanent, but these are the only two deals that you would qualify as ‘good business’ so far. The rest of the players, however, have either not been first-choice at their clubs for some time, have been playing at a lower standard, or have been involved in clubs which have been battling for their survival. The likes of Andrew Johnson, Ryan Nelsen, Park Ji-Sung and Fabio were all far from regulars in their respective sides last year, while Robert Green played in the Championship and Hoilett was battling the drop all last term. There’s gelling as a new side, which is no mean task in itself, then you also have to factor in that many of them will not be familiar in recent times with being guaranteed starters week-in, week-out, while others will have to get used to being back in that crucial winning habit again – that’s a lot of minor problems to overcome in a season such as this. Hughes is clearly banking on experience as being the key to stability this season, but it appears as if he’s gone way too far the other way, and the back four still looks extremely ropey on paper and in practice, while the pursuit of Julio Cesar smacks of desperation and a lack of faith in a fellow summer signing Robert Green after a couple of admittedly shaky performances. Nothing typifies the short-term trap that they’ve fallen into more than their pursuit of the chunky goalkeeper, and he’s the second number one that Hughes will have signed inside three months. This is not a revolving door policy, more a 100mph merry-go-round, during which any player can be sacrificed on a mere whim. In all honesty, I couldn’t really tell you what their starting eleven is at the moment and while Park Ji-Sung is a perfectly decent player, naming his as captain seems like an odd move – does he lead by example? Is he vociferous leader on the pitch? The answer is that he’s probably neither and the side does look like it’s lacking in both leadership and direction at the moment. Also, Park has never really played to the best of his ability in a two-man central midfield while in England, and has more often than not been part of a three-man midfield while being given a specific tactical job to do for the sake of the rest of the side – the role he’s been asked to perform so far must have been somewhat alien to him. His midfield partnership alongside Diakite, particularly at the expense of Alejandro Faurlin, looks very strange to boot and hasn’t really worked so far, with the Swansea performance the most obvious example of such, as both just seemed to go missing in the second half. You also have to factor in that players like Julio Cesar, Jose Bosingwa and Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora did not come cheap in terms of wages and instead of battle-hardened experience, you have a side full of OAP’s looking for one final big payday before they retire. Given the age issue throughout the whole squad, it’s entirely conceivable that the majority of the first eleven will need replacing within two years, which will come at a great expense to owner Tony Fernandes and could unsettle their progress further down the line again. In key areas, right down the spine of the side, there appears to be little cohesion or understanding about what Hughes’ vision is. A centre-back partnership of Clint Hill and Anton Ferdinand is simply not good enough for the top flight, and while he may be seeking to add a player here before the window closes, with both Michael Dawson and Ricardo Carvalho (another ageing player at 34 years of age who played very little last season on a short-sighted loan deal) linked, you have to question why that wasn’t a priority from the outset at the beginning of the summer. The main accusation often levelled at Hughes during his time at Manchester City was that his approach to the transfer market was scattergun at best and he was really very wasteful with the resources that he had at his disposal. He resembled a kid in a candy shop, or somebody going on an ill-judged spending spree on Football Manager, with no real thought given to how these signings would adapt, into what system they would go and how much of a role they would play. For every Vincent Kompany there was a Roque Santa Cruz and for every Carlos Tevez, there was a Wayne Bridge and very few of his signings remain key players at the club now under Roberto Mancini. It seems as if, with a sizeable budget compared to his fellow potential lower mid-table rivals, that he’s been done little more than tried to ensure that the club don’t go down this season. This in itself is a reasonable expectation, but the flawed and somewhat bizarre approach to transfers leaves a lot to be desired and the majority are little more than expensive stop-gap purchases. Many tipped the Hoops’ for a top-ten finish this season prior to the campaign kicking off, but with such an heavy influx of new faces, the side will take time to gel. Hughes has shown himself in the past to be a more than capable operator in the Premier League, but the moves so far this summer all point to a dampening of expectations and a lack of ambition, precisely at a time when the club should be looking up the table, excited about the future after last term’s escape. The plan so far of banking on experience to help the club consolidate is something of a gamble and the repercussions if it goes wrong are potentially catastrophic financially, while for Hughes’ sake and the amount that he has personally staked on this policy being a resounding success, it could be a career-defining next few months, with his reputation certainly on the line.UNQUOTE Some interesting points made in this article, particularly the replacement of Rob Green, although the transfer window exacerbates this kind of club behaviour Mistakes too - what is "at the expense of Alexandra Faurlin" all about. Doesn't he know he's been injured?
mcmanus has been talking to andy jacobs,i would ask him to name me ONE squad in the premier league that doesn't buy experienced players.
Must say I been saying much of what Mr McAnus is. It bothers me too. But a good Quality, Young CB, CM, and CF by Friday night, and all will look Good again.
How nice for our humble club to get some attention! Fortunate that "you can’t really question any of the summer deals that Hughes has gone for" even if they are not all cheap youthful first team regulars from Champions League clubs - one wonders what friend McManus would say if they could be questioned. At least there is some original comment with the innovative reference to "gelling".
Well yes we are looking short term.....the reason being, from next year the money coming into the Premiership is ASTRONOMICAL......any gambles on wages etc will be paid over and then we can build more slowly and look at the future. Anyone not in the Premiership next season will be massivley missing out financially as the Premiership elite move further and further away....looking at younger unproven players isnt an option at this stage and any decent young players are all snapped up.
Interesting and for me valid thoughts. I wonder who is monitoring MH activities? His aimlessness seems obvious to me. I am not to much impressed by him and some of his transfers or contract extensions. Nevertheless I am hoping there are enough professsionals (Beard, Rigg) around - ... also to pull the Release Cord in time.
Excellent point particularly if financial sustainability rules are also made to stick at some stage. Investment now seems very sensible from that perspective. But...three clubs will still go down each season and there will always be risk for the likes of QPR.
Bang on the money. Had the club been buying a host of young players (that, incidentally, the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Man. City were not interested in) this guy would be writing an article criticising Spunky for signing an inexperienced bunch of wet-behind-the-ears no-hopers. He can't win. Given the choices, shorter-term contracts for older, more experienced PL veterans who can still stand up is preferable.
So how would this muppet have described Sir Alex's move to persuade scholes out of retirement at 36? Man City taking on Hargreaves? Tottenham taking sherringham? So basically a club who signs an experienced player over the age of 30 is looking short term and destined for doom. We have Traore, faurlin, taraabt, diakite, fabio, mackie, Hoilett, Ferdinand, all well under 30 and first team starters. Looks like a pretty solid base for the future to me. Sometimes buying a player of experience in his 30's, with the full knowledge that they will end their careers with you and have no sell on value still makes sense, especially for a team like us trying to build a solid future. Who should we buy? Young kids with no experience? Break the bank and buy all the best players a la Chelsea or city? Hughes is doing some great business despite what some hack with an axe to grind or some doom merchants on here think. Give us 5 years and then take a look! New academy, new stadium and stability.
Frankly my dear, you're wrong Mr McManus. Two years you say? Then where's the problem, as most of the ageing players are recruited for free, on two year deals (some even on one year deals). It would have been just as expensive assembling younger and more expensive prospect this season as it will be in two years time. But there is a BIG difference imo. As Franckster so excellently pointed out there will be a massive increase in PL revenue from next season, and we will hopefully have become more attractive from a players point of view making it easier to attract better players.
To emphasise the point you are making, I think I read it on here that the club that come bottom next year get more in prize money than Man city got for winning last year. 60 million ?? As Franckster says, if you ain't in the Premiership next season then you have missed out BIG TIME
Tosh. The only thing I vaguely agree with is Park as captain. Nelsen was more captain material from what I saw last night.
the majority of teams that get promoted and then stay up the first year have always added experienced players to their squads.otherwise alan hansen would have a cream stain in his pants.
