Our potential for underdog, fighting spirit has been dashed. Let me explain. Anyone who at all notices my posts will see that I'm always pretty optimistic and waiting to see how things go but, unless things change, I'm not feeling so great about how things stand. Firstly, we've already washed the confidence from promotion down the drain. We should have built upon it but it's gone now so we need to build confidence from scratch again. I was positive before because I still do believe that our signings have been top class. The club seemed to have learned from the errors of previous signings. I'm very pleased with the incoming players. But what I see as the big mistake we're making again is in how we introduce new players into the fold. I believe that the single greatest weapon for a new premier league team is underdog fighting spirit. Look at any team that has stabilised in the past ten years. Have they done it by throwing money at players and changing the team core? No. I don't think you'll find one example of that. Cast your mind back to our last promotion. We were in turmoil with the ownership of the club and we hadn't been allowed by the Italians to bring in one player. Taarabt was dropped and we found ourselves relying on players like Tommy Smith and Buzsacky. And my god, wasn't that first win against Everton one of the best feelings for a while? It wasn't a pretty win but it was a win. We won by hard work and determination only. And that determination was there because there was an underdog spirit that was there because the group of players was basically the same group that worked so hard to get promoted. The thing about keeping a promoted team is that they have just experienced the hard work of the last campaign and now they can really feel that they're in a bigger league and are going to play with the big boys. They have a real sense of the task at hand and they really want to have a crack at it, which is exactly why they worked so hard in the previous campaign. That level of seriousness and balls to the wall, backs against the wall feeling drives them on. They want to learn the new ways of the new league. What happened soon after Tony took over was an influx of players and a changing of the core. The same happened in the next season under Hughes. It's happening again this season. I think it doesn't work for the following reasons: Firstly, if you throw a bunch of new players in to the team and thus destabilise the core, the fighting spirit goes. Those new players didn't work for the team to be in this league. Secondly, if those new players are players who've played in the premier league a lot in the past, especially in more stable teams, they will not have a good idea about the challenge at hand and may take it too lightly. They won't see that QPR is a smaller club and it's going to be real hard work to stay in the league. Thirdly, (this is the main mistake we're making at the moment) if you bring new players in who have been rated highly and put them straight into the team, without making them fight for the place, they will have an attitude. They'll be billy big bollocks and won't have the same kind of respect for the players who got promoted. They'll take their position for granted and will not have as much respect for the club or manager, either. I'm not saying this happens with every player but the potential is definitely there and the process sends out the wrong signals: hard work is not rewarded. Linked with the above, if players, who are on a high after promotion and are willing to work hard, are replaced for no good reason, they will start having negative feelings about being part of the whole project. All of this is tied in with the fact that our coaching staff cannot seem to see which players are in form and which are not. During pre-season, Hoilett, Onuoha and Karl Henry were on fire. What happened to them when the season started? Dropped. I think form is a secret weapon that not enough managers use. Forget how big a player's name is. Pick your team based on form and effort. You will always have success this way. If you simply try to make players fit simply because you want them to, it's going to end in disjointedness. I think we don't need any more players unless we lose some before the window shuts. I really think we can survive and we have all of the ingredients present now. But it needs to be managed in the right way. Players need to be rightfully rewarded and the management need to use in form players in a system where everyone knows what to do. And a fighting spirit needs to be instilled. I'm annoyed that Harry has been saying we want to get more players in. Use the f**ing ones who got you promoted, with a few good additions fighting for spots. It's so foolish.
Sorry mate, but I thought I was long winded in my prose, I will certainly re-read what I write in future before posting. One thing - Hoillett, Onouha and Henry on fire in pre-season - are you sure? Playing OK, well maybe, but on fire?
A bit long winded but these are my accumulated thoughts over the past week. Well, everything is relative, isn't it? So, when I say that Hoilett and Henry were on fire, I'm not comparing them to players in the top 4 teams. I mean relatively, they looked to be playing at the top of their personal abilities, which is good.
awjm. I share a LOT of your concerns. Someone has already started a thread on this, but for me, tomorrow IS a must win game.
You make some good points, awjm. Particularly that new players have to fight for their place. The only thing I would say is that I don't think there'll be any Billy Big Bollocks in the squad. I don't sense that there are, and Redknapp wouldn't tolerate it. Hard work and a bit of humility go a long way with him, hence previous problems with the likes of Taarabt, Bosingwa, and Cisse. But I agree the more changes we make, ins and outs, the more team spirit will suffer.
AAAAAARGH..... I'm struggling to get my head around how this club is being run and trying not to rant on Fernandes again but where does the buck stop? Post Wembley was a golden opportunity to learn from the past and go forward. From there to here I'm guessing it went something like.... Teflon Tone: So Harry where do we go from here? Phil ("dunno wtf I'm here for but the money's good) Beard: LOL. Harry ("not a ****ing wheeler dealer") Redknapp: Well I've bin finkin and we need a crap pre-season on sub-standard pitches against sub-standard opposition for a start. I'll even play SWP. TT: OK. PB: LOL. HR: No really. TT: OK. PB: LOL. HR: Then we'll move a few in an' out pre-season. Usual malarkey ya know woof! TT: Woof! PB: Bark! LOL. HR: Fort I'd try a new system too. Not sure wot yet but I'll 'ave a butchers at the Wold Cup and see what eveyone else likes. Dr Pepper? Spurs away second game. If it ain't worked out by then I'll ditch it in a meaningless game. I'll even play SWP. TT: OK. PB: LOL. HR: No really. TT: OK. PB: LOL. HR. Then we wait 'til two days before the winder shuts and start sellin'. TT: Isn't that going to leave us short on players? I mean we'll have 48 hours to get replacements. We'd get bent over by every chancer from here to kingdom come knowing we're desperate. PB: LOL. HR: It's brilliant. You've dunnit the last few windows. Who'd fink you'd be stupid enough do it again? TT: OK. Sounds like a plan. I'll start tweeting. PB: LOL. HR: Now the boy Crouchie. Couldn't get holda Sparky but spoke to 'is agent. Triffic bird called Kira and she reckons if we cough up.... TT: OK. PB: LOL. Fernandes has to stop acting like a low self-esteem groupie hanging around backstage looking for a validation shag. No vision or joined up thinking anywhere at this club of ours. It has to come from the top. Flying By The Seat Of Our Pants.
I'm starting to think that any mistakes we've made in the past don't necessarily have to remain there and can be trotted out time and time again. No one player is bigger than the club so when Liverpool rejected Remy, we should have called his bluff and pushed him to re sign then and there or piss off. That way, we could of planned better for the club and not get to this current stage of being bent over at the last minute.
Harry has essentially been saying lately and today that he blames the players and they need to perform. I resent this. Firstly, it's his job to get them to perform and secondly it's his job to set the team up really well and get them well drilled. I resent this!
