Some of it is reproduced but how much was in it initially? I wouldn't have thought Clive's articles would be suitable for a compact, stat-based, lighthearted publication like the programme is. The Club must have sat him down and emphasized editing to him before giving him the gig. How long was it anyway?
Probably too long for your liking Swords? Sorry, but I do not have access to a copy of that particular programme, but I do have the Nov 23rd Charlton match programme and Clive has a one page article:- GUEST COLUMN LOFTFORWORDS Fanzine editor Clive Whittingham brings us his own view from the Loftus Road terraces....... "On a day when the club is marking Harry Redknapp's 30th year in management, I'm choosing to be typically obtuse and focus on somebody else at the opposite end of the scale" Topic - Shaun Derry "A crucial part of the promotion-winning team, he then enjoyed two years of Premier League football deep into his 30's and he was often one of QPR's best players"
Fair play to Clive. If he translated more of that editing style to his LFW articles I think he'd be on to a winner.
Roller made the good points I don't read CW very much because i chose not to and my opinion is that he chews the fat too much I would set a page that just read: Harold just get us up this season so I can have a good summer in my knitted speedos
First off the club are to be applauded for allowing this kind of passive-aggressive article in the programme. I was reading it on the way home on Saturday and was genuinely surprised about the level of not-so-subtle criticism aimed at those in charge. While you may well have been able to throw these kind of brickbats at Briatori and co I can't see what those currently at the helm have done to deserve it. How many other clubs would even publish this kind of thing in the first place I wonder? Stock and the environment CW discusses are from a bygone era and should be treated as such. Fernandez and co have no choice but to operate in circumstances radically different from those days. The fact that they are trying to grow our club for the long term (stadium, training ground) as well as trying to build a successful football team for the present (failed) tells you they are on the same wavelength as the great Jim Gregory only in a vastly different financial situation. The missing link is the youth policy IMO. How badly we miss a competitive reserve league.
I really don't get the argument that we are trying to be something we are not? When we nearly won the League title, did any fan then say that we were punching above our weight? When we had a fantastic team in the 90's with Sir Les, I don't remember hearing anything like it. We were just QPR doing what every club was trying to do, be the best it could be. But back then things were different, each season teams came from nowhere to be at the top, players moved to the clubs they supported as a kid, top players could play for smaller teams. But times have changed. Does anyone really think there is any chairman of any club in any division thinking, well maybe we should just stay where we are? Of course not, it is every fans, players and clubs ambition to be better than they already are. So again, I just don't get Clive's argument. We have had a couple of horrendous years following promotion, to some we've made a backward step, some feel we've overstepped our mark. But there is just one reason why we are "little old QPR" and that is we've never had an owner willing to bankroll us in order to make us a bigger club. But does that mean now that we have one that we shouldn't try? Clive would do well to remember that football has changed and that football is a business, no business leader would survive very long if he aspired to be second best or to never try to expand. Yes I want us to keep our identity, to have the loyal fan base we have today, but do I want us to never try to be better than we are today, no way! Fernandes biggest mistake to date was actually buying the club when he did, 4 days in which to rebuild a team, it was never going to work. He's tried his best but it just hasn't quiet worked, but at least he's still here and trying.
Ask Swords? Clive Whittingham - here is the link to his website - provides detailed match reports. http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/
I'd argue it's possible to build a successful team on a tenth of what we've spent as proven many times. In the past we've punched above our weight- now we're punching miles below it having raised the bar with all the cash available but spending it all on utter ****e. Both when we nearly won the league and when we were top London side in the 90s we did it on nothing close to the budget (relatively) we have now. Success came through finding gems in other teams- now we buy anything that moves and has a 'name'. We actually scouted footballers, trained them and improved them to build a cohesive unit of a team. It's so crazy it worked.
But the point is things were different back then, for everyone not just QPR. But your point about scouting is very true, we turned out some real gems, but isn't that the first thing TF has tried to rectify by building the academy? And did we really spend that much? 50 million over 4 transfer windows, look at the money other teams like Stoke, Villa, West Ham, they've spent silly money on average players and are always looking like they could get relegated. The difference is not one of them had owners in charge that tried to bury them like we had with Ecclestone and Briatore. We have struggled because when we were promoted we weren't allowed to spend any money by our then owners, that hasn't happened to many teams other than the ones who were lucky to get promoted on what they had, and none of them survived. But if we don't try and build a new stadium then who knows where we'd fit in. If the likes of Brentford are building nice new stadiums, are there any fans who would really like us to take their place? None judging by the outcries every time we lose to a lesser team.
As I interpret this it is about the current board, management and players respecting the integrity of our club and how understanding the history of QPR, in this instance represented by Alec Stock, would give them a far greater appreciation of this. I don’t read those paragraphs as not wanting to push ahead, not wanting to win promotion, not wanting a new stadium or not wanting to improve.
