After leaving Loftus Road following last Saturday's victory against Newcastle, I thought that was my lot for all things QPR this season. It was only when I got home that evening when all that changed. Mrs Nines kindly informed me that as it was both of my daughters birthdays that week that they would both be having sleepovers on both the Friday and Saturday night. One for each daughter. The Friday wasn't a problem as I was on a night shift. The Saturday night was though. My two daughters plus another ten 12 year old's staying up until all hours of the early hours screaming and shrieking was my idea of hell. Whilst I shook my head in despair, realising that I was going to experience what it would be like spending a night in a woman's prison, Mrs Nines came up with a moment of eureka. '' Why don't you go up to Leicester next week and watch the Ranger's?'' She suggested. '' You can go up on the Saturday night, stay in a hotel and go to the match on Sunday.'' Given the two options, the latter sounded somewhat less painful. Fast forward a week and after a two and a half hour drive I arrived at the Marriott Leicester, which is about five miles south of the city centre. There were two security guards at the entrance to the hotel which I thought slightly odd but never thought much more of it. As I checked in I noticed a few blokes sitting around in the atrium foyer which doubled up as a bar. They had blue shirts on and without taking too much notice as I thought they were Leicester fans. I went off to look for my room. As I got out of the lift I was greeted by two more security guards who were patrolling the corridor. Bizarre. ( I later found out after speaking to them that they were local doormen who were bought in to stop the QPR players getting any harassment from fans and autograph hunters. Six of them were on duty until four am to prevent this.) I threw my bag on the bed and decided to head straight for the bar. When I got back down there I ordered a pint and had a look around my surroundings for the evening. That's when I noticed that one of the blokes in a blue shirt was none other than First team coach Kevin 'Bondy' Bond. He was sitting at a table with Head of fitness Carl Serrant and a few other of QPR's back-room staff. please log in to view this image The foyer/atrium/bar area. I found a table on the other side of the atrium from them and sat down with my pint and sent a text to my missus ... ' You'll never guess who's staying in the same hotel as me?' A couple of minutes later two other QPR staff sat at the table next to me. They were Perry Suckling, Academy Manager and Simon Ireland, Head of Coaching. A more extensive visual search of the area unveiled a table that had five players playing cards. Fer, Henry, Hoilett, McCarthy and Doughty. They were sat at a table to the left ( as seen in the photo above.) of the main entrance, away from any other QPR staff. Twenty minutes later at about 9.30 pm Ramsey appeared, he was about to sit down at the table next to me with Ireland and Suckling when one of his two phones rang. He was up and walking around the bar during his conversation. On the few occasions that he came into my proximity I could only get sound-bites of his conversation. I would've heard a lot more but for the piped music that was coming over the tannoy system. But the gist of his call was that he was giving a list of players that he wanted rid of. I did clearly hear him say '' Yeah, Adel Taarabt, he can go'' and on the other couple of occasions he came close by I could hear him say .. ''I want him gone'' but couldn't hear the name of the player(s) concerned. So in summary, I think he was on the phone to TF or someone else quite high up in the food chain and he was definitely giving a list of players who are off. He then sat down and ordered a large red wine and some food. They were also joined by another man who I didn't recognise. I thought it was Max Ehmer at first but soon realised that it wasn't. This stranger opened up a lap top and it looked like it had a database of players on it. He was also making lots of notes in a brown leather bound thick A5 notebook as CR PS and SI discussed potential targets. Again due to the hotel music I couldn't hear what was being said, and I wasn't actively listening to what they were saying as I was texting and talking to my own family and friends. But it was quite clear that it was about potential player acquisitions and targets. please log in to view this image
Sir Les turned up at around 9.35 and joined the table next to me. He ordered a bottle of Corona beer and joined in the discussions. It now became obvious that this table consisted of the upper echelons of the club's management infrastructure. I noticed Bond looking over his shoulder at their table to see what was going on. He is definitely out of the loop. At 10pm on the dot the players playing cards got up and left for bed. A couple of them said 'goodnight' as they passed but surprisingly there was little response from Ramsey or Les or in fact any members of the table to my left. I didn't see any other players that evening ( Other than Nedum Onouha who popped down for five minutes) in the hotels common area other than those five. There were about twenty management and other back room staff though. At 11 o'clock, Bond and his entourage headed off to bed. Most of them just got up and left but Bond came over and passed their table and wished them goodnight. This was again met with a stony silence from CR and LF. The others may have given a cursory grunt or a 'night' response but nevertheless it felt awkward. Ramsey and Co continued their intense meeting until just before midnight when they also headed off to bed. One of the barmen had to chase Ramsey before he got to the lift to sign the chit for the quite considerable bar bill.
In the morning with a very heavy head I went down for breakfast. There were no QPR personnel in the breakfast area. I'd imagine that they either have room service or they congregate in a private suite and have it together there, away from the prying eyes of Joe Public. At around elevenish the QPR staff began to appear. Now I don't know if it's normal, given that it's not every week that I get to stay in the same hotel as the team I support. But every player of ours that I saw was alone. They would come down to check-out but all as individuals. Again this may well be the norm for professional footballers who spend so much time away together. I hope so anyway. As I waited for a cab to take me from the hotel to the city centre to meet up with Stan I sat and had a coffee. Whilst doing this a few players and coaching staff appeared and seemed more accessible than the previous evening. They were having pictures taken and signing autographs with non football fans who were staying at the hotel but got wind of who they were. I went to check-out myself and found Clint Hill in front of me. I said to him ... '' Clint, please win today, don't let us finish bottom.'' He shook his head and said '' ****ing hell mate... I hope we do ... '' but shook his head again? He seemed in despair as to what has happened. It's difficult to convey into words what was said between us but Clint is feeling the pain of where we are. I also spoke to Richard Dunne. He was sat at the same table as the card players. We spoke of the contrast of a year ago to the day at Wembley to where we were now. How he was man of the match and cleared his lines with everything that was thrown at him. He said he thought today's game would be the decider in who goes down and how his injury couldn't come at a worse time only to get up and leave and get in a people carrier to the ground and not travel with the others on the team coach???
So in an attempt to summarise all of the above, and of course this is my own perception. I was actually very reluctant to post any of this. Firstly, because I didn't think it as that interesting. Secondly, anything seen or heard was played out in a public place, anyone could of observed what I did. I do not claim to be an ITK nor would I wish to paint our club in a worse light than it already is. I just found myself travelling to an away game and happened to be staying in the same hotel as the team that I have followed for 46 years. ( Since the age of two, better make that 47 then. ) I did not intentionally try and listen in to any conversations had by QPR players or staff. It was all pure circumstance. As said earlier my perceptions of a professional football team maybe completely normal to them where it may not be so to the average fan who looks too deeply into it when viewed from an outsider perspective. I'd also like to add that I've tried to give an account of what was witnessed by me prior to the result v Leicester. The result of that game had no prejudice. However ( I hate that word ) what I will say is this. Chris Ramsey comes across nothing like he does in his media interviews. The man is driven. He knows what he wants and he seems ruthless in his endeavour to achieve this. Make no mistake, he is the boss and when he speaks everyone listens. Regardless of whether I think he's the right man for the job or not, I will give him my own personal backing to give him an opportunity to achieve his goals with his own team. ( I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that.) Anyway, after all that I eventually got to the city centre to meet Stan. As I got out of my cab which I had to wait an age for and get through all the traffic, I arrived in the city centre met Stan in the pub and realised that I'd left my match ticket in the glove compartment of my car. Which was back at the hotel! please log in to view this image
A fabulous summary of your perceptions Nines. This guy would be proud! please log in to view this image
Interesting view 9's. I finished uni last year but worked in a local hotel as a part time job until September when I started my current job. Anyway we used to have loads of teams mainly playing Derby and Forest (occasionally Leicester depending where they came from) but also a certain QPR the day before your Burton cup match. I always liked Harry from what I saw on TV etc even though as a manager he was clearly losing it but I changed my views that day. He was one of these click your fingers and have people running round for you people and none of the players were to be seen, it was just Redknapp, Bond and Jordan so the players must have been in their rooms. It did seem less of a close knit group than other clubs who stayed. Seeing your comments about Ramsey you're probably better off letting him build and take a different direction
I can hereby attest and bear witness to the consistency of this account. It tallies perfectly with the version told in Leicester's imaginatively named The Pub circa 12.50 on Sunday, whilst Nines pondered his trip back to the hotel to get his ticket. As it happened he only missed one pub on the mini crawl to the ground. Evidence was also provided in the form of a hideous photograph of Nines flanked by Joseph Barton (prisoner number supplied on request) and Steve 'Pat on the Back, Job Done' Black. You found a ****ing way then Blackie. This club is just weird. And if it was only last Sunday that we made our minds up about Taarabt, we may not be too far forward in preparing for next season.
Nice summary thanks. Sadly for me it comes across as really unprofessional again. I travel a lot with business with regular meetings in hotels. The first thing were told is you discuss nothing in public areas as you don't know who's listening! Eg Adel. He may well not be wanted and on the way out but you don't advertise the fact as it weakens your position in the sale. I despair......
Fantastic read 9s! We should not read too much into snippet's of partially overheard conversations but I lke what you say about Ramsey being firm since one of my reservations is (? was) that he is too nice and not ruthless enough. Great read and I suggest that was a more interesting experience than the game!
Thanks Nines. Excellent piece, nice writing mate. Found it very interesting and it somehow answered many questions I've had. They obviously know what's wrong at the club, that it is rotten to the core. And to cure the club you need a massive clearout, a ruthless approach. I'm glad to hear you get the impression Ramsey and Sir Les is prepared to make it. Make no mistake, these people are not here just for the ride. There have been appointed new people in every key area. They all want the same, succees for the club and themself personally. Our recruitment policy will no longer be agent driven like it's been for years. I'm very excited about the summer, the next couple of months should be very intruiging. I'll let you know if I'm equally excited come September the 1st.
Interesting stuff Nines. I suppose our position and the uncertainty players have about their futures at the club would explain some of the atmosphere. Ramsey only getting the job a week before the rest perhaps (plus a sense of urgency about getting on with sorting things out). Leaving your ticket? Well that reminds me of the time I got to the station to go to Scotland and realised I'd left the train ticket on the coffee table so that it would be close to hand....
Very interesting insight. It must have been an exciting experience. Thank you for sharing it with us. I am very pleased by your comments on Chris Ramsey. As mentioned in recent post on a different thread, let give him time and judge him on his intial result. But he has a hell of a task infont of him, and I sincerely wish him well. But it will take time! As regards the players individual check outs, I presume that the hotel board was paid by the club and the players are reconcilling their "extras".
Interesting reading..... it is not rocket science that we are not the most close knit of teams and we need that back asap and hopefully he will get rid of the bad eggs.......which imo includes Barton (not for his on the field efforts). From your comments it seems everybody has had enough and couldnt wait for game to be over......... To me (although I detest HR) something happened around Xmas....we had just come off 5 wins at home and played Palace........we were flat and never really picked it up for rest of season apart from a couple of games and as Ive posted before with majority of squad being over the hill and out of contract where was the passion and desire ever going to come from in overpaid footballers and staff....
thanks nines, it was a good read but just reminds me that were a million miles away from being the close knit family club that we once were, i hope Ramsey is the driven type as you put it because this club needs a bloody good shake up.
Cheers nines! Didn't imagine I'd be posting on here before we got moved to the championship board but your comments changed my mind. I have no idea about the inner workings of football clubs but from what you say the 'Queens Park Strangers' tag of a couple of years back sounds apt. No wonder they lost on Sunday! Drove through Wembley on Monday and my son and I tried to remember as many details from last year's play off final as we could. What a difference a year makes. Lets hope you're right about Ramsey's resolve and dedication to the cause.
Good stuff 9's...I must say Mrs 9's is a very considerate wife, I take it she was somewhat frazzled at the end of the weekend..... Interesting points and shows how devided the club is, plus how top heavy it is staff wise......strange that the players are so individual and few want to be together.......maybe it is just a football thing? The reason I say that is because the only time I and Mrs TR have stayed in a hotel where a Professional sports team were also staying was a few years ago in South of France where Wakefield Trinity (or whatever they are called now) were staying as they were playing Catalan Dragons in a Rugby League Super League match in Perpignan and what was noticable was that the players and management ate together, socialised together and appeared to enjoy each others company. Maybe it was easier to do this in a nice location, in warm weather etc rather than in a hotel outside Leicester, but maybe it was also down to club ethos, something that appears to be missing with us at the moment....
