We'll probably still have Clint at centre back If only we had another 10 players with his commitment on the pitch this season. That was some smack in the face he took with the ball against Huddersfield
I am disappointed. We failed "again" in the Premiership and we are currently "failing again" in rebuilding our team. I admit that I am jealous when I watch Leicester who were promoted with us who are now flying high and are really enjoying the Premiership. Take a look at their position a year ago! Watford are another team who were promoted, but fully rebuilt their team ("franchise") and are also successful in the Premiership. In the first half of 2015 we again suffered the pain and humiliation of being relegated from the Premiership. For me, even from a distance, it was neither fun or enjoyable. However, during the summer I was very optimistic that QPR are finally returning to basics and their "Values and Culture" in building a young and dynamic squad. This new "fresh" approach with the news that we still have Austin, Phillips and Fer unfortunately brought new expectations. Perhaps them not leaving, in hindsight, was the worst thing that could happen to us. We did not "walk the talk" with regard to the youngsters and now are playing much of the team that was not good enough for the Premiership and in addition, we are frustrating the youngsters. I regret that here, two negatives do not make a positive! So where are we. I fear that we have wasted 12 months. We have neither improved the team, the culture or the potential for the future. I am most upset that we have not followed "the strategy" of building the correct ethos. But there are positives. We do have an up and coming young manger and potential young talent, but to date he is following the same mistakes with the same results. I hope that he is true to this principles and is given the times and support from both the board and the fans. Let's hope that that 2016 will be more enjoyable. Best Wishes to all fellow suffers!
2015? Yet another mess of a year. Relegation. More false promises. More sackings. Lack of youth. Youth we did bring in isn't being picked anymore. Youth policy not being built. New stadium looking like a distant opportunity. New training ground, and youth policy, a false dawn also. Fans on everyone's back. Expensive players not performing. New kit that doesn't have hoops!!!! Dropping easy points we should be capable of keeping. Poor position in a league where we should be pushing for play-off position at minimum. So if you're involved in running our club, you shouldn't be sitting comfortably. Whatever plan you have, it isn't working or it needs changing... You just keep changing the colour of the lipstick on the pig and think we won't notice. So the board and peripheral management need to build a far improved culture within this club. The core is slowly rotting. I have never heard so many dispirited fans on this forum, who are so fed-up and talking of not going to games as they have had enough (and they've seen some tough tough years). Roll on 2016. I think
Leicester owners once again treated their fans to a free beer (or water if they preferred) at last nights game. You could argue that being joint top of the PL, offering season tickets at less than £500, in a decent new stadium with good views and leg room, and making good managerial and playing staff decisions they are already doing more than most fans could hope for, without the beer. A couple of years ago Leicester were a debt ridden mess as well, their owners converted debt to equity, and pushed on. They continue to be the club, with Southampton, which we should copy.
Although we went through managers like last week's whelks go through the hapless seafood fan, I'd argue that under the Goons we went forward. Yeah, it was a case of three steps forward, two steps back most of the time, but nonetheless they left the club in a better place than when they arrived. Not that I'm getting all nostalgic for Tango & Mango or looking at things through rose-****ed testicles or nuthin'.
Also if you look at the Prem table that HE posted in the OP you will see that all of our 19 points came from home games, not a single point out of 27 available because as Kneecap kept saying "it's hard"......feck me 1 win and 4 draws away from home out of those 9 games would have kept us up......then we could have pushed on this season....... But no TF tightens the purse strings, Kneecap gets all huffy and walks....sorry hobbles away......TF gets his "dream manager" who turns out to be our youth team coach already employed by the club so no additional wages.....we only pick up another 11 points from 19 games and go down without so much as a whimper.......Coach gets rewarded with 4 year contract, DOF and TF talk about consolidating, Austin not sold so Premier League is what TF is dreaming about.......Austin injured so play 3 or 4 games without a striker.......Coach gets sacked and then re-appointed as yep you guessed it, Youth team coach......JFH comes in and starts with 4 draws and a defeat......"sack him" shout the fans because he plays without a striker............ Have i missed anything?
Good summary. I see your town, Tramore, made the BBC news headlines today for sea foam in the storm last night. Fame at last.
Did it? I missed that......didn't notice any sea fog mind that was probably because we couldn't see through the rain!!!!.....the storm was something else last night....at least it has calmed down now, the sea has returned to it's normal grey/green colour from its white this morning.....
wonder that when once the FFP fine is sorted out, and a fine imposed, whether then we will be able to really re-build where necessary
Ah yes...the sand hills have been covered...from a distance it looks like snow.......quite a sight and apparently its knee deep in places!!!!
It's been an appalling year and I full expect us to be looking back on a similarly catastrophic one at the end of 2016. I think Hasselbaink is an excellent manager, just the type we need in fact, but has an impossible job when the existing problems within the club remain. It'll be a couple of seasons after starting with a fresh, cheapish, youngish team before we can even think about a sustainable squad capable of promotion and that looks some way off still. The training facilities are worse than many L2 sides.
As I said earlier, I really don't know what to think anymore. I'd like to know TF's opinion of where he thinks we are.
We'll never succeed when the goal is short term success. It took only a couple of months to go from build solid foundations to Premiership at all costs. That's purely because of the players we wouldn't budge on price with. Those players are limiting the "team of the future" to morsels of chances and devastating their confidence in the process. The original plan could have been realised by the same clear out in January but the change in expectations from the very top (despite the large number of teams fighting for play off places and our modest position) will mean that at best our focus is purely on short term improvements (further devastating the promise of the Summer acquisitions) and at worst split between the two (with little hope of success in promotion or development). The likes of Gladwin who didn't immediately shine should have had many games in order to grow into Championship players - we bought them for their capacity to improve as much as where they are now. We ****ed it up in the few months after August and we're in the worst position we've been in under TF albeit with a manager that I believe could do well with the correct and consistent remit to build the club sustainably but he'll be gone by next Christmas and the debacle will persist.
