It does seem odd that Bothroyd has totally fallen out of the equation. On another note, I really felt that on Monday HR should have switched Townsend to the left for the final 20 minutes or so. It was calling out for some crosses that the forwards could attack.
'Arry is a curate's egg of a manager. He is loyal to players he thinks can deliver. If you're out of favour there is no way back. He has done reasonably well so far but you need to beat Wigan, Stoke and Reading before the end of the month to stand a fighting chance of survival.
Some great posts on this thread, but this one by nuts perturbed me some what. Why are people hating us? They don't hate Man City who have spent far more to buy the title then we ever will. Maybe it's the Man U hatred that excuses that. But then Chelsea are in our shadow and are the original Man City model, so why pick on us. We've been in the doldrums for the last seventeen years. I can't see how we've offended anyone. We've spent a little bit of money compared to the aboves standards but Chelsea have probably shelled out more on Torres than we have our full squad. The one thing I do notice though, is that a lot of abuse is from the lower teams and not the big six. Rarely do we see a ManU, a City, Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal or Spurs fan giving us abuse, on here or otherwise. It's usually your Swans, Norwich, Soton and Fulham fans giving it. Who do your mates follow nuts?
THIS !!!!! your right on the money, we never seem to get the "bigger" clubs fans on here giving us a hard time, in fact most come on to commiserate with us and wish us well. It strikes me that the smaller clubs fans still have a lot of jealousy about how much we have allegedly spent, wages etc, if you ask me in all honesty i think the majority of the smaller clubs fans have a bit of juvenile "penis envy" going on knowing we have the capability to still grow while they seem to be stagnating and have reached their peak and won't get any better, with the fear that if their bubble bursts they have nothing to fall back on while we will survive and continue to grow. As my old man say's they have a big case of "small man syndrome" and can't bare anybody in the same boat ie size etc doing better than themselves.
Hi 999s Interestingly enough the six guys I spoke to most, comprised of 4 Liverpool fans and two Arsenal fans. We were just sitting around shooting the breeze about all things football before we come to QPR. They all knew that I was a diehard fan. These are good mates since I was in nappies and they weren't doing it to deliberately piss me off. A couple of them were almost apologetic for their comments but they gave their honest opinions. They felt it was difficult to warm to us having 'wasted' so much money and in particularly treating Colin so badly. Many of them felt we would have being fine if we had of stuck with him. After that it was a case of "oh look at who we have bought now" considering that we have the smallest stadium and attendances in the Prem. The purchase of Monsieur Barton was also a major factor. It's hard to describe how many people I have met who can't stand him and that's before I start mentioning QPR fans. The comparison that was given to me was with Fulham. When they came up they had Al Fayed's billions. Although they bought a couple of marquee signings they kept the majority of their team and squad together and didn't attempt to 'buy their Prem status' it was pointed out to me that they have built a solid squad and team over many years that play for each other. Many of the lads thought we were like a school kid in a sweet shop. Look 999s. The opinions of a small group of lads may not represent the general public but I can tell you it definitely caught my attention and got me thinking. Are we really disliked that much? Do we give a f**k what others think of us? or is there any truth in this and that we are perceived by others as London's poor little rich boys.
There are clearly two tiers in the Premier League as has been recognised for a long time. There are the Big Boys such as United, City, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and - if you factor in support - perhaps the likes of Everton and Newcastle too. Then there are the rest. Perhaps many fans of "The Rest" still hold onto the romantic ideal of the underdog, David & Goliath, the plucky minnow, such that when one of their own gives the perception of trying to buy success and compete - at least financially - with The Big Boys there is resentment? That might explain the Schadenfreude.
I think it's go back a long way as QPR were a lot of people's neutral choice to watch good football ... Like the saints during Le God ... Because we have a few bob and have made big claims about our future there is bound to be a hint of negativity .. Also on here we have a very active and entertaining board ... I welcome them all and stand side by side with Swords on this The sign of a man is a man who can take it as well as give it
Very true DT. TBH, If I cared about what others thought, I would be a Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal fan by now. Growing up in the late 70s and 80s in Ireland was difficult enough without being bullied in the playground for being a QPR fan as well. In my own little head I was John Byrne or Alan McDonald and happy as a pig in sh**e.
Uber I think you have made a very valid point here. The big clubs make and spend money. Nobody bats an eyelid at this. The media really tends to latch onto the smaller clubs when they try to punch above their weight. Let's be honest, over the last two years we have bought several players that should realistically be way out of our financial reach. No doubt that this has pissed others off and as Shakespeare wrote 'beware of the green eyed monster'
I couldn't give a toss what other fans thought of us. Lets take our punishment this year, regroup in the Summer and come back stronger next year. As we go back up again, we will pass a few former foes on their way down. He who laughs last and all that......
I think also the fact that we are/were in the press alot brought alot of attention and some claims that we were now the Billy Big Bollox and going to take the league by storm.....no body batted an eyelid when saints splashed the cash in the summer because it did not receive alot of press coverage....in many ways it is because of the savvy use of media outlets that everyone now knows QPR...and that in some ways has caused some resentment....
