Comment: Fernandes keeps making the same mistakes at QPR Ben Kosky Thursday, February 7, 2013 7:15 AM âTrust usâ has been the simple, yet impassioned message emanating from QPR this week, in the wake of criticism of the boardâs transfer policy. . .. Chairman Tony Fernandes was first up with an interview in a Sunday newspaper, defending Rangersâ player recruitment during January and insisting there is no danger of financial meltdown even if the club lose Premier League status. Fernandes was quickly followed by chief executive Phil Beard, who issued a statement via the club website, assuring fans that there was no cause for panic with regard to the balance sheet at Loftus Road. Both stressed that there is a contingency plan in the event of relegation â and that Fernandes and his fellow investors certainly have no intention of pulling the plug. No doubt this may have reassured some QPR fans. But others will surely be exceedingly concerned by the gaping holes in their chairmanâs argument â and the way he spectacularly misses the point so often. Firstly, Fernandesâ over-use of the word âprojectâ â an unpleasant echo of the Flavio Briatore regime â should set alarm bells ringing, but that is just a minor issue. Fernandes claims that QPR were âunderinvestedâ prior to his arrival and points out: âWe inherited a squad where every single player who has left is no longer playing in the Premier League, doesnât that say something?â Indeed, Tony â but not what you think it does. Briatore and his cohorts did invest in the club, they just did it very badly and with only short-term thinking in mind. That is why the majority of the 13 players signed during Rangersâ promotion year were never likely to be part of the squad in the Premier League. Never mind the players âinheritedâ by Fernandes, what of the clutch of signings made during that first season back in the top flight â 15 in total? Where are they now? Joey Barton, Anton Ferdinand and Djibril Cisse are all in exile overseas but still under contract for some time, with DJ Campbell likely to join them when the loan window opens. Three more have been released. Luke Young has disappeared off the face of the earth, Shaun Wright-Phillips â aside from his winner at Stamford Bridge â has done next to nothing and itâs fair to say that Bobby Zamora, Armand Traore and Samba Diakite all have their critics. Thatâs not a particularly impressive return on your investment â and, while Fernandes seems to think offloading players on loan âhas taken a massive chunk off the wage billâ, Rangers can expect to make a loss on all those players. Great business sense. Come to think of it, when did QPR last sell any player for profit? Clubs like Fulham, Swansea and Wigan seem to manage that on a regular basis and so far, have remained in the Premier League. Itâs truly horrifying to think Fernandes has been so easily hoodwinked by his managers that he believes the amounts of money lavished on players are âwhat we need to surviveâ. There is no other club that spends so much on recruiting approximately 15 players EVERY season just to stay up. And this is why Rangers fans should be wary of trusting Fernandes. He says nothing to indicate that he realises mistakes have been made â and presumably will stick to the same policies next season. If QPR stay up â and probably even if not â expect another wave of new arrivals to show just how âambitiousâ the club are. More upheaval, no continuity and a lack of team spirit yet again. Meanwhile, Fernandes will continue to labour under the misapprehension that QPR are a bigger club than they are, waffling about 30,000 to 40,000 seater stadiums that he could never hope to fill. Like it or not, Rangers were never one of the bigger clubs in the top flight last time they were in it. But that isnât to say they couldnât survive â and thrive â by playing to their strengths. Namely, being a community club with close ties to their traditional support, developing their own players and recruiting others who were hungry and looking for a step up. More recently, Rangers have only been interested in big-name players on their way down from bigger clubs â and why would they feel motivated to perform at Loftus Road? Itâs not too late for QPR to be a club of which fans can feel proud once again. But they literally canât afford to keep repeating the same mistakes.
Fernandes' not so brilliant idea of "child free zones" on Air Asia didn't go down too well on Radio 5 Live this morning.
Doubt that will worry him, as he doesn't run flights to the UK, and plenty of other airlines do this already. Anybody listening to Nicky Campbell may need a health check anyway. I don't have any problem with kids on flights. I have problems with the parents of kids who can't control them. But what do I know, usually fly business class, very few kids in there - seems even the rich won't shell out on their kids comfort. Incoming! (the company pays lads, and only for intercontinental flights.) I'm on a train right now, cattle class, overcrowded, overheated, no wonder I avoid them in the UK. But it does have free, snail pace wi-fi, which is a surprise.
Meh, give it a couple of years and TF will get Indonesian citizenship. Just because there isn't legal "bumiputra" bullshit like in Malaysia doesn't mean they aren't racist as **** there. Pogroms against the Chinese, Papua, East Timor, Maluku and much more. Ever see a dark skinned Indonesian on TV? **** no. He rants against "right wing bloggers" out to get him but doesn't seem to realise that President SBY was one of that monster Suharto's generals. TF's either gullible, stupid or on the run. Makes me nostalgic for Gianni Paladini.
I would like to see a fight to the death between Campbell and John Humphries. If both ended up dead and somehow they took James Naughtie with them.
Humphries is another twat. Having kids in your late sixties is the ultimate in narcissistic selfishness.
right, thread sufficiently diverted from the crap article that kicked it off, my work here is done. Thanks for your help Imaz.
My pleasure Presumably Fernandes is well aware of Indonesian law regarding non citizens, business and property. Can't see him easily becoming a citizen either without plenty of korupsi.
what a crap artical. It tells us nothing, all 'ifs' and 'buts'. The reason QPR never went forward was because we always sold our best players and spent 15 years in the wilderness and under invested. We never had a chance to grow. Believe this muppet and we will be stuck in the dark ages. Why are people so scared of change?
I find it interesting that people writing such articles about QPR seem to assume that Fenandes and the Mittals became billionaires by being complete f*ckwits. Your owners are not a couple of lucky lads with a lottery win burning a whole in their pockets, they are seriously rich people and obviously they will have a number of very clever people planning strategies if you stay up or should you go down. Either way they are wealthy enough to invest what is required to move forward. You won't have to fire sale your best players like Birmingham/Blackburn/Wolves etc. If any clubs owners just pulled the plug then any club would fold, not just QPR. I agree with the article that your strategy of buying a new squad every year does not seem hugley wise and will irritate the fans of other clubs but you have to assume at some stage you will get the right players in place and go on from there.
He was known as "The Ego" by many at Five Live in London. Can't see that having changed now they have moved to Salford, just a whole new set of people to belittle and brow beat.
You would think someone who writes (sic) for the Kilburn Times would be a Rangers supporter but obviously not. This article is just another pathetic attempt to keep dear little clubs like QPR in their place.
The most remarkable thing about this article and the twat that wrote it, he's a QPR supporter, apparently.
No lottery win just inherited wealth and a public school/Oxbridge education. Nothing wrong with that of course just look at Cameron, Osborne and Johnson. Towel folding experience can get people a long way.
