Can QPR talk about the future? No, they're doing bad financially and look set for relegation. Can QPR talk about the present? No, they're in the relegation zone and are quite far adrift. So they talk about the past. Right.
It depends how you define Big Club. I think a simple way to define it is whether or not the average resident of another country has heard of us based on our footballing prowess. Ask some kids in, say, New Zealand, to name English football teams and they're likely to say Man U or Chelsea. They may also mention clubs that are on the wane, but who have rich histories, such as Liverpool and Arsenal. A few may also mention up-and-coming teams such as Everton, Spurs or Man City. In this light, No, we are not a big club. We are not consistently in or around the top of the Premier League. Despite being a founder member of the Premier League, and arguably the "smallest team" to stay in it since its foundation, we do not have a history of winning honours. We are not (yet) one of the up-and-comers. But then again, neither are QPR, nor many other teams in the Premiership: the Stokes, Sunderlands, Norwichs and West Broms of this world. The important thing, is that we have the potential to grow into a big club. We have a good catchment area (with only Pompey, Bournemouth and Reading around us) and an academy that has proven results. Our finances are stable; we are not funding present joy with future debt. It may be that Everton and Spurs are currently in the ascendancy. There is little reason why that could not be us in a few year's time.
I'd call it ambition...except I'm sure that Nicola would say that wanting to be in a similar position to Spurs shows a lack of ambition. Too many people say that everything remains the same. When I was young Bolton and Leeds were top clubs. Admittedly ManU are like an unstoppable juggernaut, but most things change with time.
It's not about how big your club is, it's about how good you are at playing football, and at this moment in time QPR are ****e.
QPR were famous for a while, in the sixties, when Steptoe And Son supported them. But so were Saints, we had that bloke from Man About The House.
Don't forget Eddie from Bottom has a QPR bedspread. Doesn't QPR's average attendance fall well below Saints? Seeing as neither team has really won anything lately that seems to be a good factor to judge which club is "bigger".
The "they-won't-want-to-play-in-a-small-city" is interesting. This is not an argument I heard put forward when the topic was debated in my local in Liverpool. What was seen as key though, was the "soccer hot bed" stuff. The appetite for football in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle does seem greater to me than in Southampton. When I moved back to Southampton a few years back it was one of the things that disappointed me about living there, and why I moved back north (well that and the politics). In Liverpool or Manchester you cannot go into a shop, a cafe, a barbers, a pub or catch a taxi where football will not be part of the conversation. It was summed up last weekend when i was meeting up with some Saints mates in a pub and the guy behind the bar noted that I was with a couple of blokes in Liverpool shirts so asked how we thought it'd go, but added that he didn't care as he didn't like football. My scouse mates were speechless (a rare occasion). I'm not saying that this makes the "they-won't-come-here" argument valid, but does show that as a City Southampton has a lot of work to do to mobilise its own local support. I must add though, that those who do support the team in the area are as fanatical as any fans I've met, and the atmosphere at the Northam end is second to none. I decided I didn't like Southampton as a City, but I love being with Saints fans, home and away. But I do wonder whether there is a queue of 20,000 disappointed people waiting for the stadium to expand and clearly this does affect size.
Well, if you base these things on silverware, there is probably little to separate us. We have an FA Cup, and to my knowledge they don't. Other than that, we're about as inept on that front as they are, though I would bet we have more significant runner-up accolades. Then again, they have a League Cup win. Problem with Saints is during our various golden periods, we only ever seem to be second best. Hopefully that will all change. We need a winning mentality installed at this club - this big shake up we're going through, where people are worred that the club is becoming distant from its fans and is all about buinsess, is pretty much a necessity if we even want the opportunity to rip up that part of our DNA and install a culture of winning. It's all about the future...
Was this in the 2008 - 9 season when there were boycotts going on as the club was sliding out of the Championship and into administration?
I think maybe the perceived size of QPR by there fans and directors/owners could be there downfall as with average home gates of 17,000/18,000 fans and a wage bill that would make some of the top clubs in Europe blush there is no way they can do anything other than lose money hand over fist. Tony Fernandes is a rich man and some may say he has been a fool with his money but one thing is for sure like every good businessman when making a loss they all know when enough is an enough and they write it off as a bad business move ! I think QPR are going down after this weekend and wouldn't be surprised that TF walks as soon as they do! Depending on the contract situations with the current squad I would imagine some players being hard to move and we could see a reasonably nice little club like QPR fall from existence in the same way Pompey are! Shame but really think its possible!
