The merry-go-round – preview Saturday, 21st Feb 2015 00:36 by Clive Whittingham Chris Ramsey’s calm demeanor and training ground influence have brought an away win and a dramatic upturn in mood at QPR. Can it continue at Hull on Saturday? They don’t call it a managerial merry-go-round for nothing. The same old faces clamber on and off, and go round and round. Two months ago if a Premier League manager was sacked you could absolutely guarantee that Tim Sherwood and Tony Pulis would be joint favourites to succeed him. Betting markets would be opened with those two at the top, and newspapers would fight to find out which of the two it would be. Pulis because he’s had a steady career topped off with a fine season at Palace last year, Sherwood because his agent and PR people have successfully watered and cultivated what is still potentially an absolute myth that he’s some managerial genius in waiting with only half a season at Spurs, where he lost 10 and drew four of his 28 matches, as fertilizer. If both were ruled out, a scramble would begin to find somebody else people have heard of. Michael Laudrup, for instance, despite saying he will not break his current contract in Qatar. After that, questions like “well who else is there?” would fill the Sunday Supplement air. This is how it is and always has been. Firstly, despite the successes of Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Brendan Rodgers in this country, there is a lingering perception that you need to have played football at a high level to understand football at a high level. You could call it the Steve Claridge, or Robbie Savage, logic if you like – because when either is employed on license payers’ money to squawk down the phone on the evening Five Live phone ins, the rare callers who make good points and catch them out are honked down with the cover-all answer of “I’ve played the game and you aint so I know and you don’t.” Robbie Savage’s continued employment, absolutely everywhere, as anything other than a means to warn ships of impending doom in thick fog remains a total mystery, incidentally. Turns out there are still television executives completely oblivious to the success Sky are having on Monday nights with careful, considered, intelligent analysis who still believe what the football watching public at large really desire after a long day at work is to be poked repeatedly by a gobshite whose opinions are forced upon you like a cheese grater to the side of your face. Read the rest here.... http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/37931/the-merry-go-round-–-preview
Possibly one of Clive's greatest efforts. There are some great observations within this piece. I'll defy that even Sword's will enjoy them.
Absolutely top notch and sound.. Good shout ...It is also nice that the club do not have to be embroiled in the Arty circus.....the press has seemed to think we have employed a loser..and so we are going down without a squeak.. and have moved their interest on to more interesting fields such as Leicester...and Sunderland.. The club is calmer, the players and TF also seem calmer and that reflects the attitude that Chris seems to emit, calmness but energy, some one with a plan and a bit of confidence..a few wins would aid that feeling... Before kick off I have a good feeling, and a performance this afternoon would bolster that..come on u Rrrs
A good read Nines, hopefully CR has steadied the ship and we can get enough points to assure our safety. His integration of some of the younger players into the squad, like Doughty, is a breath of fresh air - old dinosaur chops would never have thought of doing that in case it backfired, but Ramsey has nothing to lose.
I actually thought this might be shorter and worth a read but I can't do it - the preview is a decent length sample and there's still no mention of us or Ramsey. Probably a lot of scene setting left too. It's also a bit subversive saying Sherwood lost 10 and drew 4 of 28 matches. It's a very bad attempt at putting a negative slant on 62-63 points per season form. Sherwood has his faults but a 50% win ratio is never one of them. It's not even that well written (a slightly cumbersome "incidentally" suggesting a rant at Robbie Savage would be better off in the paragraph before). My post is probably as tedious to everyone else as his lengthy tomes are to me, so I'll just stay away from his threads in future.
You cannot but admire Clive Whittingham's prose; and yes, before anyone else opines, he makes Garth Crooks look like a Trappist monk by comparison. Some great observations as ever...... and time for one of my own. I've never met the fellow, but I put him in the same bracket as the young chap on his first date at the Coningham Arms on the night of the Wigan playoff match. Patiently ordering his Disarrono cocktails for him and his lovely date before patiently paying by credit card whilst 200 thirsty football fans watch on in despair just wanting a quick pint before kick off. Times and places!
A great read and just highlights that there is more reason to hope Chris succeeds than just our love of QPR.
Thanks Ninesy, really excellent read. I too was disheartened by the questioning that CR had in the latest press conference. He handled it beautifully though. He'll do for me. I think we may have been very lucky.
One of Clive's best imo. His use of English isn't always the best, but that doesn't detract from what he's trying to put across at all.
An excellent appraisal of the current situation. It speaks volumes that Sherwood himself said not having Ramsey as his assistant was a blow and the fact he has quietly gained tremendous managerial experience with both England U-20s and in the MLS tells you he is no wet-behind-the-ears novice. I heard someone on the radio this morning talking about how so many teams when playing 'stronger' opposition set out their game plan based on fear of the opponent. How many pressers did Harry give eulogising over players we would be facing and then send a team out with no game plan other than to survive? Ramsey won the game for us at Sunderland simply telling each player what the game plan was and playing to win, he deserves every success merely for that approach...
Started it when you posted it last night. Half way through now but despite 17 cups of coffee I'm about to collapse with exhaustion. I need some slee...
I find the criticism of CW's articles puzzling. I find them always entertaining and they are only too long if you have the attention span of a gnat. What makes me most uncomfortable, though, is the snooty criticism from some of his writing style. OK, it's not Hemingway, but get over yourselves.
Thanks Nines, very good read, love the ......... "although you’ll still find Richard Keys on the Twitter mentioning his mate Reidy for every job that comes up, when he’s not “hanging out the back” of Andy Gray that is." ............. classic stuff. Here in Oz, we have a couple of sports journalists who write in similar vein. Very refreshing indeed.
Usually completely agree with you Strolls, but this is a bit condescending. Whittingham is a professional writer, he gets paid for writing (admittedly not his LFW stuff). His style is totally fair game, it's the only distinctive thing writers have - in his case the content has usually already been on here, but more pithily. He writes like a sixth former who has read a little too much Hunter Thompson and not understood that there is a lifestyle that accompanies writing like that, and what he does is puerile, with his off colour sexual and scatalogical references, meant to shock and surprise. As it happens I fundamentally agree with the content on this, which is essentially there is an old school of middle aged and over ex player English/Scottish 'football people' who talk out of their arses. But the fact is, apart from in the media, their time has almost gone if (as Whittingham himself notes) you look at who actually coaches/manages the top teams. Of course, I would not have commented at all had you not goaded me into it, so it's all your fault.
Sorry Stan, I didn't mean to goad you. My point was that these are articles on a QPR message board after all and that it is the content that we should be focussing on rather than the quality of the writing.
Strolls, he ain't half up his own bunghole though is he? (PS I've no idea what Stan wrote there but it sounds bloody good)
