A day after hearing the news, I've had time to try to get my head round this and rid myself of the initial emotion so, where do I think this puts us? Warnock's performance:- We were 17th in the Prem. No teams below us have been wielding the axe - established teams with real concerns. Far from ideal pre-season. NW wanted some of the Championship players such as Danny Graham when there weren't funds and had to buy his Premiership quality players in a rush. Probably bought bigger names because he was making up for not getting 8-10 in that money at the start would have got him (don't think that Dyer was top of his wish list somehow). Young, Ferdinand and Traore have done well. Barton and SWP less so. We're 17th (worth labouring the point). The recent run has been dreadful. The teams we've played have been the worst possible for us. Exceptions to this are Sunderland - new manager and on a great run, West Brom - goal disallowed which probably would have sealed it, Norwich where we were 1-0 up with 10 men and Swansea where we scored the 3rd goal by a visiting side. Our CBs have been hit by injury with no stable partnership and have lacked presence. Did anyone ever say what the expectations were? I can't remember a "with this bunch of lads we've got to be mid table" coming from management. Performances have been patchy through the bad run but there have been decent spells too. Is the Premiership a step too far for him? What, the same man who had us top of the table from a precarious position after 5 months and kept us there all year? What credentials do we want. Looks like we'll get Hughes (thankfully not Zola who I like as a man but has a worse record than NW in the top flight) but, to all those who say we were too defensive, let's not think that this will be anything other than more of the same judging by even his Man City exploits. Does that warrant sacking? I've heard people say that this is a good business decision but Football is not a business and if TF wanted to make more cash then he should've bought another airline. I have more respect for the Kenrights of the world who realise that it is a passion too (yes I have lost a lot of respect for Mr Fernandes). If we're going to sack managers every 5 months for business reasons after a generous initial outlay then, I'm afraid, we're no better off than we were 4 years ago. Having read a lot of what's been posted recently, I know that my view is in the minority and, to be honest, I have lost enthusiasm and have greater things going on than arguing these points (and sounding increasingly bitter in the process) so will take my leave from here for a while. I'll still be cheering them on (Sunday and always) regardless but with a touch of sadness at where I feel we're heading. TTFN, Matt
I still think you have to wait and see how things turn out. Yes, there are many things about football today that aren't ideal but luckily there are more important things to life. It's not all bad. If Mark Hughes and Tony Fernandes brings us success, we won't be too unhappy. The good signs are still there, such as TF bringing down the prices and refunding season ticket holders, etc.
I agree with everything you say Matt, that's exactly how I feel. All the best mate, have a breather and look forward to your posts in the future.
Matt I couldn't agree more. Saw a clip of TF earlier, just after he'd taken over, saying that what NW needed was stability etc etc. The passion NW showed was second to none and, as we seem to be destined to become a 'project' for Mark Hughes, I fear that QPR have lost a rare and totally committed manager who had grown to love our club. He deserved better!!
Do we seriously think that this decision was solely made by TF? He would almost certainly have been under pressure from the "real" money men behind the club.
Yeh, I agree with all this and particularly your point about Neil's passion Thorpe, and love for the Club. But Matt the Club has moved on, not as you and me wanted but you never know how things willl turn out. Maybe we will have cause to cheer on and debate on here a better future under the new owners and new management.
Lets not lose sight of the fact that the players have got us into this situation, if just a few had shown Mr Warnocks passion and really played for him like they do at say Norwich, he would have have kept his job. It does concern me that TF is trying to sprint before we can crawl and if Mr Hughes does spend all this money on another set of passionless journeymen footballers we will be another Portsmouth waiting to happen. Maybe Im getting old (54) , but I do hanker for a team with some local boys in and some players that actually get a testimonial!
I don't blame TF, hes brought a club to promote himself and his businesses and he can't do that in the Championship, so he has to taken steps to keeps us there (in his view). In return we will hopefully get a new stadium, better youth squad system and some success but we also have to succumb to the modern era of Premiership football ownership. There are no Swings without roundabouts. Football used to be the game of the people, unfortunately it's now it the toy of the rich. Money is causing the Soul of football to drip out into the pocket of the bankers.
Hi QPR Matt, You have put into words that were in my mind! But it has happened now so not a lot that WE(fans) can say or do now! But still feel very sad.
Well said Matt. Neil never deserved this. But as ever in football we will continue to support our club whatever happens! Time to move on. But thank you Neil for everything!! You are a legend!
Managers and players come to be paid to attend the best interests of the club - not the other way round. Investors expect to see a return at some point (look at how long it took the Goons to ship out!). Tony Fernands is a long way from that - millions to purchase his shares, millions on initial signings and wages, millions on the Warnock contract buy out and introducing the Hughes team; and millions more on the expected new signings and wages this month. Surely the man has the right to make the call when he feels the time's right. Funny people, us fans. Want it both ways, don't we? We want to win so bad it turns blue on here after a bad result. We want promotion and we want to stay up but we also want to do that with people we're comfortable with who patently can't give us what we want! Yes, we're 17th atm. Any further reverses and we go 18th, 19th, 20th. Looking at our run in there's little chance of recovery under the old regime. Fragmented dressing room and rarely any forward cohesion on the pitch. Frankly, if I were Tony Fernandes, I'd be making similar calls right now. For me, it's all about the best interests of the club. For him there has to be a plan to get some sort of return on his investment too...
Hi Matt, thanks for taking your time to write this post, always appreciate your views. Agree with many of your points and have no problem with it, in the same way i have no problem with the actions taken by the club. Don't stay away to long, hope to see you back soon. Take care
