A good friend of mine worked at Cheltenham recently and met both Charlie Austin and Howard Webb, amongst others. He told me that Charlie got a huge amount of stick at the bar with rival fans chanting "you're going down" at him repeatedly. Charlies response.............shrugged his shoulders and said hey a few years ago I was working on a building site and anyway if QPR do go down, I wont .............I'll still be in the prem! Not sure what else he could have said to be fair? Also a very drunk Howard Webb ( guiness guzzler apparently) was pledging his love to all things Villa and showed my mate a watch which he said Alex Furgussen had given him. My mates response..........." I bet its 5 minutes slow!!" Mixed feelings re Charlies response but not sure how else he could have dealt with it!
Yeah - it's not wrong. He clearly loves it at QPR, but given the way this season has been for him, with 16 goals so far and knocking on the door of the national squad, he'll want to make the most of his chances at Euro 16. That means if we stay up, I wouldn't be surprised to see him with us next season. If we go down, he'll move. No Championship player will be considered for England.
Can't agree with the above. If he's got an 'I'm alright, jack' attitude already, how much effort is going to put in? If he was really up for it, he would have replied with something along the lines of 'We're not down yet' (although I know we probably are!). I actually find it a bit disappointing. This is assuming the comments are accurate (no offence to the OP).
Certainly no offence to the OP but I can't see Charlie saying that. It would be odd to be humble bricklayer Charlie and big time premier league Charlie in the space of one sentence.
TBH I didnt really press my mate to spell out the exact wording and try to analyse its content or context. What i have relayed here is pretty much as I was told. My mate has no reason to lie to me and he is not the sort to wum. I have no doubt that Charlie mentioned about being a brickie not so long ago and that he would more than likely remain in the premiership. I dont however believe that he shouted it to the baying rabble in one sentence, stanced with hands on hips and a nah nah nah nah nah added to the end of his retort. Take this as the general gist of what was said and dont try to analyse it too much guys...............he is still putting a shift in and Cheltenham was a while ago.
If he keeps on scoring goals it's good for his next contract, whoever it is with, and for us. No reason for him to stop playing.
As much as I'd love to think of Austin as as much of an R's fan as me, the sad truth is, he almost certainly isn't it. He's given his all for QPR, and he is the only reason we aren't already down. I'd be gutted if he left us, but if we go down, I couldn't blame him. He's taken his opportunity and proved himself a top striker, so he has earnt the right to want to stay in the Premiership. Far rather a player who gives his best, and wants to stay in the top flight, as opposed to others who do next to nothing, and assume it's their right to be Premier League players.
A good post Dave, thankfully at the end of this season wherever we may be playing our football we will be rid of some wasters.
Never forget that With Charlie, he knows how fortunate he is to be here in the Prem with us. He's no mercenary on any level....
Mmm............I'm a bit divided on my thoughts on Charlie. On the one hand, he has done brilliantly to score the amount of goals that he has in such a struggling side and he is unquestionably a good goal scorer. On the other hand, watching his body language closely at home games, his shoulders visibly sink when BZ goes off and Charlie has to play up top on his own. I'm convinced that he hates it. He seldom makes any runs into the channels and tends to just want to stay central. Whenever he and Bobby are together, he gestures to whoever has the ball to hoof it up to Bobby. If and when he leaves us, he will need to adapt his game, as many other teams in the Premier League play with one up front.
If a gang of lads were slagging him like that, he should have just taken out his wallet and waved a few 50 quid notes at them. In other words, whether he plays in the Premier League or Championship, he will still be far better off that the gobshites doing the mouthing.
He's already done that one. And gone one better, setting light to the notes in a Swindon nightclub some years ago!
