True, but I did check the actual Twitter account before posting that. I'm not one to rely on the QPR board for info Bidders!
One thing that seemed to go under the media radar recently, is that West Ham are about to pay Sheffield United their last compensation payment for the Tevez affair, when he was allowed to play in their relegation battle, that saw Sheffield United relegated. £18.1m was the compensation staggered in payments over the years. Tevez scored the winning goal against Man United, but had also constroversial penalty for a Tevez Dive at Blackburn and the winning goal by Zamora that Tevez stopped from crossing the line while in an offside position. It was the season that Dempsey scored the winner against Liverpool, and Had Warnock (Sheff United Manager) complaining Liverpool played a weakened team.
Stephen Kelly seems to have generated quite a stir within the Irish team since he blew a gasket at being left out of their team last December. The latest story is about a 'phone conversation with the Irish team boss, Trapattoni - THE Football Association of Ireland and are remaining tight-lipped over accusations by Ian Harte that Giovanni Trapattoni would be sacked if details of a text conversation with Stephen Kelly were made public. An FAI spokesman gave a terse "no comment" when he learned that Harte, who first tagged Trapattoni as 'a clown' has now claimed that the Italian is is 'killing' Irish football and should have been fired over the Kelly affair. Harte travels to Old Trafford tonight for an FA Cup tie against Manchester United still seething over Trapattoni's behaviour. "It's a joke. I've seen Stephen Kelly's phone, pretty much every one of the Reading lads have, and we're thinking, 'What's going on'?" claimed Harte. "If the press were to see the full text, that would be the end of Trap. That would be the end of Giovanni Trapattoni. "He should have gone after Euro 2012 and given someone else a chance, but then I don't know if it would have cost too much money. I think people need to start standing up to this. It's a disgrace." Doesn't seem to have affected his football though. He looks to be doing all right since moving to Reading (and teaming up with Nicky Shorey) including in last night's Cup game against Man United.
Joke of the Day Following the news that QPR are charging Manchester United (away) fans £70 for the game at the weekend, a local barber observed; "They base their prices on the Hammersmith Apollo. Live comedy is not cheap these days."
Fun fact: When Arsenal last won a trophy Swansea were playing in League 2. Since then they've gone on to win a trophy before Arsenal.
In some ways I have a huge amount of respect for Rafa, but his rants are almost always horribly-timed and misguided. Remember the one in his penultimate season at Liverpool? After which his team lost form and gifted the title to United.
Difficult to argue against his managerial record football wise. His PR skills though are non-existent. That said, the Abramovich clan were guilty in not making due dilligence enquiries before his signing and being prepared for the fan's reaction or realising that the press would jump on Rafa's earlier jibe's about their plastic flags. And well, what chance did he have when they gave him the title, 'Interim' Manager. Why bother anyway, when all the Chelsea manager's are interim. I agree about the timing - he should have come with this immediately after the cardboard banner waving and De Matteo chants at the first game.
Gained a huge amount of respect for him last night. Ever since his arrival, the Chelsea fans have been willing to see their team fail purely because they dislike whoever is in charge. The Steve Kean situation at Blackburn is quite similar, although he had far more time to win the fans over and his record was nowhere near as good as Rafa's has been for Chelsea (albeit with significant difference in team quality). The Chelsea fans should have given him a chance, as their positivity can only seep through to the players which improves results. If someone like Warnock was to take over at Fulham, I would be by no means pleased about it, but I'd be willing to give him a chance to win me over, the club is more important than the manager and Rafa was right to criticize the Chelsea fans who seem to have traded in supporting the club in exchange for continuing their personal 'agenda' The irony is that no manager will ever be accepted 100% by Chelsea fans and players alike apart from Mourinho, but the man who has ruined their dream of the 'special one' ever coming back (Roman) gets no abuse whatsoever. After all, he was the man who appointed Rafa and must take the majority of the blame if things have not worked out.
I too gained much of my respect for Rafa last night (which has probably brought him out of minus figures - I always hated him, especially after being so ungracious when he lost the title to United), to have such confidence in himself and his convictions to have a pop at his employers and the fans is ballsey, to say the least. I wish I had the grapefruits to say that, certainly after taking all the abuse he has (rightly or wrongly). Almost inspirational. The rant was billed as "angry" but in reality it was (probably premeditated) calmly delivered and confident. But here's the thing: why last night? He should've used the win and qualification for a competition Chelsea can still win as an opportunity to present his quality and say "we can still win something". But he chose to completely overshadow it and have a go. Seems strange. I'd also argue that Di Matteo got a fair bit of support from Chelsea fans. They still have a minute's applause in the 16th minute of every game don't they? There was also a huge backlash when he was sacked too. But you're right, not many really captured the crowd, although to be fair when the managers are only there for 3 or 4 months can you blame them?
To be fair, the fans can't criticise Roman. He's the sort who would pack up and leave in a heartbeat and I think they all know it. And of course, if he did that, where would Chelsea be then - apart from heading into administration, probably.
It would be hypocritical for most Fulham fans to side with the fans against Rafa, considering how we felt about Liverpool fans taking a similar stance against Roy. I find it a bit comical that some Liverpool fans try to take the high ground over the Chelsea treatment of Benitez. However, at the end of the day Rafa knew what he was going into. He has banked his cheques and will move on in a few months. I don't have any sympathy for either side.
Fair points made. I'm guessing the fact he didn't use last night to say 'we can still win something' because he merely doesn't care whether Chelsea win something or not. I'm guessing he didn't choose last night to have a rant in advance, but rather his patience just wore out. The Di Matteo comment runs alongside my Mourinho one, any manager which Chelsea fans get on board with (Mourinho, Ancelotti, Di Matteo) Roman sticks the sword into. But Chelsea fans are more than willing to accept this. If MAF were to have sacked Hodgson, could you imagine Fulham fans taking it lying down the same way Chelsea fans would?
Going by the transcript of the interview (I know, I know, I've read too much about this!), it seems totally premeditated. Nothing the interviewer said was leading into the fan reaction: And so goes the rant. Very strange indeed, but the Spanish Waiter does love a good rant. Fact.
I think it's the kind of thing that can be taken either way. I guess nobody will ever know if he planned to come out with that in advance apart from Rafa himself. I think he's probably wanted to say something for a while but last nights reception just pushed him over the edge and forced him to speak out.
