You are correct Staines, I was there but having lost to Coventry the week before we were pretty much doomed. We then got spanked at forest in the last game. Yes of course it's horrible being relegated, but this time it's slightly different. Back in '96 we were doomed due to the selling of all out best players. When we went down it didn't look like we would get back for a very long time, although Richard wright came in and tried to rescue us, unfortunately it wasn't to be. But if, and it is still if we go down, at least we have owners who have already shown they are backing us. I see some are still talking about are thy here for the long term? What about the debts? Have you not read the TF interview in the guardian? We have no debt! The money being spent us the owners! Will they be here forever? No if course not, but at the moment with them spending their own money we don't have to worry. If they sell, it is their money we have lost and the club will still be debt free. So if we go down, we go down. It will hurt, grown men will cry, but we've been there before and we'll be back again. If we are relegated! But if you are a true qpr fan, you'll keep supporting them, get behind the players and owners and know that we will be back. If the club had had better owners in the past 16 years we wouldn't have struggled the way we have. It's not TF or the boards fault. It's not even totally Hughes fault, it's the fact we've been just about the worst run club for years and just weren't ready to be promoted. No academy, no proper youth set up, no training ground, no scouts and not one person who knew how to run a football club. But these things are changing. If we stay up I think next year will be different as these things are coming together. If we are relegated, again these things are coming and with it we will be in a stronger position and do a lot better.
I could frame that post mate, and read it every night before i go to bed............. Just been thinking and i do now remember that Coventry game the week before (I think). Didn't we take thousands up there and it got pretty nasty outside ??
The only problem with relegation is the TV money otherwise it's the best thing that could happen probably. I disagree about Fernandes though, he's massively responsible for our situation this season. Hughes should have been sacked at least a month earlier. It was perhaps excusable to hire him but to keep him on with the club going down the toilet was not. The brutal truth is that we aren't really a big enough club to survive at this level in the football of 2013. Swansea invested and planned for the future (I can't ****ing stand them btw) we could not and did not and we will pay the price. Ifs and buts aside how big a club are we really? Looking at our average attendances in our Championship and League 1 years gives a fairly good idea: Bristol City or Cardiff before they got the new stadium. Sorry but it's the truth.
Bur Imaz....How many were saying that he sacked Warnock TOO EARLY !!! Surely a case of 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't'
TF is keeping us hanging in there by funding us, but all his decisions with his football manager choices have been disastrous, until bringing in Harry way too late.
This. I do not doubt TF's sincerity and desire to make us into decent club that will prosper and compete at the highest levels. However mistakes have been made all the way. And sadly they were the obvious ones that so many small clubs made when they went up. The bar was set too high and TF fell to the spin of the men with ambition who made sure they were going to be alright and do well out of it. The model for us was Fulham, West Brom, Stoke, Sunderland. Get in. Survive. Spend wisely. Invest. Build up. Too many owners want the success immediately and think they can buy it. FFS we did precisely that for all 4 years of the 4 year plan and by luck and the neutering of Flavio at the critical time, we got there. Once we had a pot of money, I would have set aside no more than 40% of the windfall towards buying a couple of useful additions. The rest would have been saved for January and to develop the club. The target for the season would have been 17th place. The aim would have been to get to mid-table within 3 years and to touching distance of European qualification within 5. Above all I would have aimed to improve the squad bit by bit. Instead, I gather that at yesterday's game we gave our 50th PL debut to a player. Not bad for 16 months. Many of them bought at exorbitant prices or exorbitant contract terms and several moved on since but the money not recouped.
Fernandes has the value of LR to balance the financial risks he claims to be taking for us poor souls. The accountant isn't the naive one here, we are. Yes it could be a Portsmouth but only far worse as they at least were the only club in town. We have two others just down the road plus others a tube ride away. Whether we stay up or go down I want Fernandes out in the summer before we are left without a stadium and without a club. Would rather be back in League 1 than risk the club's existence as is happening right now. Well pissed off.
Mate, I'm feeling the hurt too, but after years of spending my money to watch crap, then finally getting to the prem..I really cant agree with a word of that. i dont pretend to know whats going on in the background and most of what we post / read is just speculation. TF may be a great self publicist ala Richard Branson, but, I personally believe he genuinely wants whats best for the club. Imaz, you are obviously entitled to your opinion but i for one would be very unhappy if he was forced out by these views from large sections of our fans. Each to thier own i suppose.
Well, I have been concerned for quite a while but I'm keeping the faith until it is mathematically impossible for us ............... hope we don't get to that stage. You may want to re-word your description about your feeling towards, Samba ............ we don't want to put him off!
Kiwi, I'm not saying its wrong to believe we can stay up. Far from it. As you say, we did it last year when I thought we were gone (although we're in a much worse position this time round). What I have a problem with is there's three guys at the top of this thread who say they're not even worried! I'm sorry mate but that, to me, is just head in the sand stuff.
