Due to 999s holiday and the fact Tramore lives over the seas....it fell to me to attend the latest Fans Network meeting at HQ on behalf of Not606. At this latest meeting representatives of most the different fan forum (Loft for Words, WATRBs, Podcast, IndyRs, QPR.net) were invited to come and meet our new CEO Lee Hoos. Lee joined the club in late summer after a successful 3 years with Burnley. He was first brought to this country by Mohamed Al Fayed to work with Fulham, before joining Southampton in 2006 and Leicester City in 2008. Lee is an east coast American, but it is not easy to tell that from his accent. He comes with a Law degree and other business management qualifications, but seems to have a pretty good knowledge of footy, judging from some of the anecdotes he told. Lee, with the media guys Ian and Paul in tow, met us with a friendly smile, strong handshake and a bottle of beer (though it was noted we drank bottles of Bud, whilst the media guys drank Speckled Hen!!). He introduced himself and told us that his reason for accepting our job, was that his family is based in London, and the round trip to Burnley 6 days a week, was killing him and his family relationships. His first sentences included what a great place QPR were and what wonderful guys the owners are. He has only met them a few times, they have given him the agenda, and they are leaving it “mostly” to him. As expected Les and Chris are a great team and so knowledgeable, obviously we cannot expect him to have said anything else. Have got to say, Lee really knows how to orchestrate a meeting. We managed to get in a few early questions before he went onto ask US what it is we really wanted. He used the well-tried “flip-board” technique...and for anyone who has sat in on strategy meetings, in any form, you always know how this goes...everyone has a say, everyone feels good, a list is produced at the end which is exactly what everyone wants and everyone goes home happy. So we talked about the good things that make QPR a unique club...the ground, the community, the history, the kit, the legends, the fans, the tangible feeling of belonging which was exemplified by the bucket collections when the club went into admin. Then we talked about things that have gone wrong....now this became a really long list. Just touching the surface, it was the take-over by the Goons, the destroying of the soul by the shipping out of the many people who used to work here, the shifting of the fans from their seats, the kit, the stories of the new stadium, Warren farm, TFs tweets, the hatred of us by the rest of the football world (we used to be everyone’s favourite club and now we are thought of as arrogant @@@@@s) We talked about what we wanted to do about it. It was here Lee made his first real statement. He wanted to make the club sustainable (not profitable you understand but sustainable). This is an interesting concept actually and a very holistic approach. The footy on the field has to work, and it has to work in an economically viable way, to bring in the fans. Then you hook the fans in permanently. He is looking to bring the fans back in one by one over time .....making footy more attractive (which he completely leaving to Sir Les and CR, under his sustainable budget). He wants to bring back the people who have left and encourage the occasional regulars to get memberships, then season tickets etc. He mentioned speaking to Baltimore Ravens, and asking their CEO how he sold season tickets. They said “we don’t need to...there is a waiting list of 30 years”. He wants to build a one team approach, so every part of the club is part of the whole. He stressed the role of having an academy worthy of the name, and we sensed this is where his thrust was. Building the new stadium is not “just over the horizon” but further down the list. He did not actually say that but he said he was not sure we could sustain a 30,000 seater stadium at this current time. ...which I must admit is realistic. My impression that his first thrust is for training facilities/Academy at Warren Farm. At the end, the meeting was scheduled for 90 minutes but lasted over 2 and a quarter hours, we got in a few questions of our own. The formal links with Viagogo are being severed; Lee wants the club to sell all the tickets themselves, it was then stated that nearly every match last season there were nearly 2000 no shows, from people with tickets, that needs to be sorted out. Lee listened to all the comments about the family stand, and said they were looking at all possible scenarios about pricing and placement. He said they were well aware of FFP and obviously negations are still underway. He said the Sandro situation was resolved....and implied such ineptitude would not be tolerated in the future. He praised the QPR in the community project, exactly what is epitomised by the “one team” concept...there will be another Tiger Cubs walk, but more of that later. The new buzzwords at the club are definitely “sustainability”, “one team”, “holistic” I came away very happy, I think we all did, but that was the plan....and Lee is very good at it. He is here to make the club solid, like Burnley and Southampton are now and that sounds great. I think he knows, and we know this is a long term job, with no quick fix...we need to be patient, but overall I am optimistic (even after Saturday!!!)
Thanks Beth. It certainly sounds like the club is being run in a more pragmatic fashion now. The problem with this, though, is that it calls for patience from us fans and, judging by reactions to our defeat yesterday, not many have that.
Popped over to see how much of a melt down you were all in only to find this excellent report from Beth. I'd have loved to have been there but the change of date due to the tube strike scuppered me. A few questions if I may? Did Hoos give any impression as to whether the club were actually operating within the season's budget, would this budget potentially change depending upon the final resolution of the FFP situation and any indications as to when that may be? See you on Saturday Beth.
Hi Roller It is really obvious that Lee is working on a budget, and from that Les and Chris are too.The wage bill has been reduced, they know how much they have to spend. There was no "doom and gloom" feeling when he was asked directly about FFP. He maybe a great actor, but I genuinely felt, he felt he knew where that was going, and it was not too scary a place. Whatever it was, I did feel it had been budgetted for. I really did feel that he knew what he was doing, and his record with clubs like ours shows he has done this before So keep the faith,, this is not a quick fix...give them all a chance please
Thanks Beth, hopefully Hoos has got a firm grip on the finances. I've been banging the patience drum myself. To quote myself: We are in this position due to short term thinking, papering over the cracks and knee-jerk reactions. I believe that we are finally taking a sensible approach to rebuilding our football club within a sustainable budget. It will take time. There will, initially at least, be more bad days than good because that is the mess that our previous approach put us in. What we all need is patience. With the team, with the management and with each other.
Cheers Beth, good update and nice to get to know Hoos a little better. I've had a good feeling about him after reading up on him when he got appointed. Hi Roller, how nice of you to pop by. Long time mate.
It does appear that we've gone from one extreme to the other regarding retrenchment. Austerity has reached QPR, therefore we all have to remember ... ''We are all in this together.'' Cheers Beth, I hope you enjoyed the evening. Thanks for forwarding the details.
Thanks for posting that very well written report up Beth. It's much appreciated and all sounds encouraging.
Hello Roller - It is very good to you back on this site! As the site is not in "melt down" mode, then perhaps the posters have "passed the test", and you will visit us more often in the future?
No..... you have me there oddball...Will try to get the gist of it with a bit of punctuation... Nice, you read, you Simon Nice you,.... read, you Simon (threat) Nice you read, you Simon (threat) Nice you, read you, Simon (compliment) Not sure if it is a threat or a compliment or not!
Do you ever Beth and DT. Do you ever post something and then regret having done so as soon as you've hit the send key? Not sure I understand what either of you have said.
Look forward to seeing you col & Tramore the week after! Just keep Roller away & we can have an educated discussion!
