No, but don't hold your breath. He'll go. I'm still hoping that someone will bid £60m for Sterling and net us a cool £12m.
Let's face he is almost certain to go but one thing we need to make sure is we negotiate hard to secure the best deal as are going to need at least 3 additional strikers which won't be cheap.
I reckon Charlie will go as once again we have blown our chance to cement the club in top flight. Sadly until we move ground and act like a bigger club (by that i mean stay in top flight and compete) we will always lose the likes of Charlie/Sterling and the rest of the decent players we have had over the years. I will miss Fer/Isla/Vargas as well! If there was a handbook on how not to run a club properly in top flight football, it would be about us. I doubt Charlie will go up north as his family are quite settled here by all accounts, Palace would be a dodgy move so i guess he could end up at Saints. Good luck to him as he did his part by scoring 17 goals, it was just our useless defence that let us down with the help of Harry.
I think Leeds would probably top us on that one. They had it all, then messed it up big time and haven't recovered. At least we went up, made mistakes, went down, came straight back up, made different mistakes and ......... (I still haven't quite given up on this year yet.)
Portsmouth take some beating for a lesson in how to screw up a club. I wonder what similarities we have with them?
I have to agree that Charlie's likelihood of staying is low. Too many clubs need a good striker and it's something to imagine what he could do with another club if he had better service and a stronger defence. Even if we stay up, we're so cash strapped that it's going to be hard to justify keeping him when we can use the funds to support getting a supporting cast that's younger and fits the bill of the new manager (even if that's Ramsay). Charlie's value might never be higher and, as much as he loves us, he's probably not going to balk at the chance to compete for something bigger than simply staying up. I wish it weren't so as it would be amazing to keep him, but I can't see it happening.
It's a smaller club with highly devoted fans. He seems to revel in the adoration and everything I've seen suggests he genuinely likes the community of QPR. That said, it's not to say that he wouldn't love other clubs too that gave him the chance to play either. Charlie's always struck me as someone who wants to relate to the club he's with and its fans - from every interview I've seen of his. I'm not saying he's wedded to QPR, but I don't see him fitting in well with a club where every player is viewed as a commodity.
Apparently Chelsea want him now. He is currently looking in the mirror and pinching himself. QPR will only ever be a stepping stone club in this day and age.
I have to think any team looking for a physical, determined striker will be looking at Charlie. He's simply too much of a shining light to stay with us, which is too bad. But he won't ever make the money can earn with us -- particularly when we pay so much for the rest of our roster. I am really hoping that the changes that we're hearing in philosophy (e.g., build from the academy) take hold and then we can create a team more organically, more affordably and one day get to reward someone like Charlie with a contract to keep him. But until then, you're absolutely right: QPR is a stepping stone for great players. What I hope to see is that we stop being a place for people on their way out (see: Rio Ferdinand).
He also didn't look the part v West Ham. I'm wondering if his mind isn't elsewhere? He was very poor at best.
I agree with you full stop. I am not sure what was with him yesterday, but he wasn't himself. Of course, we never know what's happening with these players (maybe his girlfriend got upset with him, his best friend pissed him off, his Mom called him out on something, his dog (if he has one) isn't well...or maybe a possible contract lead with another club or even a bad bit of sushi from the night before). He's entitled a bad game, but certainly I'd love to see him end the season with a big finish. It's been such a joy to watch him this year when so many things were going awry with the club. He's a great player and good person. No matter what happens, I'm glad to have been a supporter through this season for no other reason that we got to see Charlie develop into a league-beating striker before our eyes. That doesn't happen very often in any league and will be a nice add to QPR's storied history.
Absolutely. I'd be amazed if Chelsea, or any other of the top six or seven, went for him. He has a great shot and a real eye for goal, but no pace and not much physical presence for a big man outside the box. His body language has been odd since the Austin for England crap started. He has scored goals at every level he's played at though and I'd trust Mourinho's judgement of a player over mine!
Charlie is a good striker who has had/is having a very good season. Scum would be too much of a step up for him, the suggestion is comical. Leicester (if they stay up) would be a good match.
I really do agree with this, he is not as good as he thinks he is (slow of body and of mind)......I think he has found his level with us, or just above (Stoke, W Ham) I have said before, I would not be too unhappy to see him go.....he is restricting our options...he needs to play off OBZ (and he will play better with a younger/fitter/more mobile OBZ)... but he does not have the ability to become a top6 player I am afraid. So get as much as we can, and let him go (he is stupid if he goes to Chelsea, with no game time...he needs to play so should go to a mid-table team (Stoke, Wham, Swansea) Then buy in a cheaper replacement, a young hungry lower division player...team him with our youngsters Manning, Grego-Cox and see what happens But thank you Charlie...you have given us a couple of good years, where you have been very responsible for the hope and fun we have had
