| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary 10:32 - Jan 27 with 4811 views | thehat |
I believe it’s two years this month since Christian Nourry took over the helm at QPR. I thought it would make an interesting midweek thread on what the thoughts were of progress so far. Personally I am in the cup is half full camp and believe we have turned the ship and are now heading in the right direction below are some main pointers from me:
Positives
Squad - Recruitment has improved and we now have the best squad we have had for years and it seems a good blend of youth and experience and looks a much happier dressing room. For the first time in years we have players who are now worth looking at for teams higher up the food chain. We are not (yet) in a relegation battle and still with an outside chance of the play offs.
Manager - Maybe divides opinion but I’m still happy with the progress we are making under Julien Stephan who was a thoughtful choice and the same profile to continue the work done by Marti.
Academy - Plans to upgrade to Cat 1. Seems to be a positive move although only time will tell on this one.
School End - Removal of away fans from lower tier and having our own fans there seems to have certainly helped improve our home form.
Negatives
Better communication with fans. Good to see we are now communicating better with injuries but maybe more sessions with fan groups.
Performance team - This does need to improve the overall condition of our players compared to other clubs does by the naked eye seems very poor not just the injuries but the overall fitness of the team.
Pitch - God knows what happened there, it would be good if the club could let us know what the problem was and what is being done to fix it.
Finally a big shout out to our owners who continue to write the cheques to keep the lights on. Not only that but then converting the debt to shares so it is not shown on the balance sheet as club debt.
So for me this is still very much work in progress but we are in a much better position now than we were two years ago.
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:08 - Jan 27 with 2351 views | Dorse |
In common with a lot of the fanbase, I was a little wary of Nourry"s appointment. On paper, it seemed a bit left field for us but, to be fair, probably no more of a risk than previous appointees.
Are we better off now? With the usual caveats in mind, in so far as I have no inside knowledge etc, I'd like to think that we are, for all the reasons stated above. Are there areas we could improve? Certainly but, to be honest, that is true of every club in the country. There are some things for which he gets blamed that aren't necessarily his fault; equally, there are probably things he gets right that no-one notices.
Overall, it feels like we're making progress and, let's face it, that hasn't always been the case in these parts. |  |
| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:30 - Jan 27 with 2262 views | TheChef |
Jury still out for me - the good and the bad outweigh each other.
And from what I hear currently the work environment at the club is not great. You need to keep hold of good people who care about the club; losing Paul Furlong and Andy Evans is not a good look. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:33 - Jan 27 with 2240 views | GaryBannister86 |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:08 - Jan 27 by Dorse |
In common with a lot of the fanbase, I was a little wary of Nourry"s appointment. On paper, it seemed a bit left field for us but, to be fair, probably no more of a risk than previous appointees.
Are we better off now? With the usual caveats in mind, in so far as I have no inside knowledge etc, I'd like to think that we are, for all the reasons stated above. Are there areas we could improve? Certainly but, to be honest, that is true of every club in the country. There are some things for which he gets blamed that aren't necessarily his fault; equally, there are probably things he gets right that no-one notices.
Overall, it feels like we're making progress and, let's face it, that hasn't always been the case in these parts. |
There are other things I would give him credit for - the investment in the women's team and in the development squad, for sure, as well as some astute sales and a few promising signings.
But not too sure about saying we have made progress overall under him? Revolving door of managers (again), probably finish lower half of the table (again), out of both cup competitions at the first "attempt" (again), no-one is fit (again), the pitch is far worse than it has ever been, Loftus Road is shrinking and the facilities are getting worse, treatment of stalwarts like Furlong, Cook etc not a good look.
If that's progress, I would hate to see stagnation.
The squad "looks" better indeed but that hasn't translated quite yet into consistent performances. I guess progress is that it is late January and we are not in the relegation fight. But even that could change (or we could show the progress and finish top half). So perhaps we are just the same as we ever were.
Edit - pitch is far worse than for many years, not "ever been" of course! [Post edited 27 Jan 11:35]
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:36 - Jan 27 with 2220 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Other factors:
Eze money - how much of it has gone?
Amortisation - have we mortgaged the club?
P&S - Is Hoos watching this?
Trustworthiness - I don't trust him. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:37 - Jan 27 with 2210 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
Does anyone think we should all chip in and send some flowers and chocolates from Loft For Words?
Maybe a nice bottle of chianti as well. | |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:41 - Jan 27 with 2188 views | PlanetHonneywood |
New broom and all that. Has the feel of a bloke with a laptop full of tricks, applying them to QPR through a reliance on data, data, data.
However, as I never truly rated his predecessor, Nourry has at least made an effort to drag QPR into the 21st century as opposed to the feeling I had that pre-him, it was an old-boys club knows best.
Jury still out, still some key areas where we're poor. Comms, fitness, and injuries management. Sort those out, and it'll start to feel that the effects of Fernandes are behind us.
Last year, 4/10. Now, 6.5/10. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:01 - Jan 27 with 2118 views | Rsole |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:37 - Jan 27 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Does anyone think we should all chip in and send some flowers and chocolates from Loft For Words?
Maybe a nice bottle of chianti as well. |
Only if we get to eat some liver with the Chianti.
H
🍽️ |  |
| Those possessed by devils, try and keep them under control a bit, can't you ?
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:06 - Jan 27 with 2098 views | connell10 |
I'm yet to be convinced. |  |
| AND WHEN I DREAM , I DREAM ABOUT YOU AND WHEN I SCREAM I SCREAM ABOUT YOU!!!!! | | Poll: | best number 10 ever? |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:06 - Jan 27 with 2093 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:33 - Jan 27 by GaryBannister86 |
There are other things I would give him credit for - the investment in the women's team and in the development squad, for sure, as well as some astute sales and a few promising signings.
But not too sure about saying we have made progress overall under him? Revolving door of managers (again), probably finish lower half of the table (again), out of both cup competitions at the first "attempt" (again), no-one is fit (again), the pitch is far worse than it has ever been, Loftus Road is shrinking and the facilities are getting worse, treatment of stalwarts like Furlong, Cook etc not a good look.
If that's progress, I would hate to see stagnation.
The squad "looks" better indeed but that hasn't translated quite yet into consistent performances. I guess progress is that it is late January and we are not in the relegation fight. But even that could change (or we could show the progress and finish top half). So perhaps we are just the same as we ever were.
Edit - pitch is far worse than for many years, not "ever been" of course! [Post edited 27 Jan 11:35]
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Yes, I think his approach to recruitment and (in theory) getting younger players playing rather than hanging around at the club if they're not good enough is a significant improvement on what went before. However, it's no good signing someone like Poku and him then being injured most of the season - he needs to sort out the performance side of things ASAP. Also, it's good to blood young players but reckless to play them just because they're young, as shown by the goalkeeper situation this season (jury still out on Walsh for me).
Ultimately, this season looks like being a missed opportunity - the likes of Southampton and Sheffield United have under-performed after relegation and that won't happen every year. People keep saying next season is the one but being cynical, why will things suddenly improve then? Will our squad be any fitter? Will we go into the season half-cooked again? Will we have a reliable goalkeeper? A left back who can play every week? Cover for the right side? More questions than answers. [Post edited 27 Jan 12:07]
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:28 - Jan 27 with 2015 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:30 - Jan 27 by TheChef |
Jury still out for me - the good and the bad outweigh each other.
And from what I hear currently the work environment at the club is not great. You need to keep hold of good people who care about the club; losing Paul Furlong and Andy Evans is not a good look. |
Andy Evans retired after 35 years of fantastic work for QPR: how can you lump that in with Paul Furlong losing his job? |  | | |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:30 - Jan 27 with 2014 views | derbyhoop |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 11:41 - Jan 27 by PlanetHonneywood |
New broom and all that. Has the feel of a bloke with a laptop full of tricks, applying them to QPR through a reliance on data, data, data.
However, as I never truly rated his predecessor, Nourry has at least made an effort to drag QPR into the 21st century as opposed to the feeling I had that pre-him, it was an old-boys club knows best.
Jury still out, still some key areas where we're poor. Comms, fitness, and injuries management. Sort those out, and it'll start to feel that the effects of Fernandes are behind us.
Last year, 4/10. Now, 6.5/10. |
Pretty fair.
Recruitment does seem better targeted than previously. Compare this season to last, as a good example.
Finding buyers for the likes of Kelman, Dykes and now Frey is a real positive.
Sponsorship is up.
Communications often comes across as robotic.
100 people with Performance in their job titles and we end up with half the first team out for weeks/months. A root and branch review is needed. I dont care if the U16s and below + the Women's team have 98% availability. It's the First Team that counts. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:31 - Jan 27 with 2008 views | loftboy |
Can’t warm to him, reminds me of JD Vance. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:41 - Jan 27 with 1951 views | connell10 |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:31 - Jan 27 by loftboy |
Can’t warm to him, reminds me of JD Vance. |
Always reminds me of a poor man's Richard Thompson but with less charisma. | |
| AND WHEN I DREAM , I DREAM ABOUT YOU AND WHEN I SCREAM I SCREAM ABOUT YOU!!!!! | | Poll: | best number 10 ever? |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:52 - Jan 27 with 1904 views | LowerloftLad |
Season tickets sold out
Attendances are also up. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:59 - Jan 27 with 1847 views | Ned_Kennedys |
I think that the OP’s post was very fair and gave a good balanced view of where we are at.
Injury situation is very bad but if we didn’t have the squad depth we currently enjoy we’d be in a far worse position. | | | |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 13:09 - Jan 27 with 1805 views | OakR |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:06 - Jan 27 by Wegerles_Stairs |
Yes, I think his approach to recruitment and (in theory) getting younger players playing rather than hanging around at the club if they're not good enough is a significant improvement on what went before. However, it's no good signing someone like Poku and him then being injured most of the season - he needs to sort out the performance side of things ASAP. Also, it's good to blood young players but reckless to play them just because they're young, as shown by the goalkeeper situation this season (jury still out on Walsh for me).
Ultimately, this season looks like being a missed opportunity - the likes of Southampton and Sheffield United have under-performed after relegation and that won't happen every year. People keep saying next season is the one but being cynical, why will things suddenly improve then? Will our squad be any fitter? Will we go into the season half-cooked again? Will we have a reliable goalkeeper? A left back who can play every week? Cover for the right side? More questions than answers. [Post edited 27 Jan 12:07]
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I think a push at the playoffs could be possible next season, but I imagine it's a more structured '4 year plan' than our last one. No big bang changes, just incremental improvements each year, selling 'high value' players and replacing. I think the aim is likely to be challenging in 27/28 and if it happens before great, but there should be no relegation type worries.
In terms of transfers I think overall he is doing a good job - getting money for players out for Kelman, Sinclair and Frey doesn't feel like we would have got that money previously. Pleased overall with the players coming in - some notable exceptions like Celar - there will be mistakes, but he was an expensive one.
I think on paper Stephan is a good appointment - will develop young players, has managed well at a higher level, and in Europe etc. I think we can judge him more at the end of the season, and hopefully more so at the end of next season to see how well it's worked in reality.
I don't really care about the secrecy around contract lengths, but clearly lots of people do, so that could be an area to look at. I can't really see it gives us much advantage, all their agents will tell everyone when the contract expires so not sure any supposed gain is worth the backlash. I think general comms have got better, and the last Frey farewell message was very good. Still work to do, but improving after not a great first year.
A proper review of the injury list would be good to see how many are due to bad luck eg awkward falls, challenges, vs being too tired, not having the proper fitness regime etc. We know the likes of JCS will forever be out, but it's the Burrell's of this world that are more concerning. We'll alaways have some injuries, but it does feel high now - bad luck or bad planning?
I think ultimately, he really didn't help himself at the start over comms, annoyed a lot of people, and is rowing back from that slowly.
The less he is talked about, the better we will be doing, so hopefully we won't hear about him too much over the next couple of years. | |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 13:46 - Jan 27 with 1681 views | bosh67 |
Overall I think Nourry has steadied the ship.
Should we have paid £1m for Poku when it appears he arrived on a stretcher? I guess in the days of modern football finance £1m is a gamble for a player that, if he does ever regain working hamstrings, is a player.
I feel far more comfortable with Nourry than I did with Hoos. The job is a bit of a poisoned chalice anyway so I don't envy anyone doing it. It does help, as others have pointed out, that having owners with seemingly deep pockets and the ability to absorb and convert debt is quite a rarity.
We've made some good signings and some not so great signings, but overall we have made ones that will hopefully get us moving forward.
The shame this season is that it will perhaps be looked at as a missed opportunity. Leicester, Southampton and Sheffield Utd being very mediocre and the division being quite mediocre overall. But it what is it is and we still have a much smaller budget than most teams in this league. It is a missed opportunity though when you look at how well Millwall, Preston and Hull have done this season.
Comms seem to be the most trying part of his tenure so far. That has to improve but the pitch is one of those things where you do the research and put in something that should work, that then fails quite spectacularly. It can happen! It has happened. It has caused some of the injuries as well.
His work on the Women's team has been outstanding and it's an important part of this club's identity.
By the way I think the fitness thing is something the powers that be need to review. Going from a full squad, more or less, to bare bones in a matter of weeks is not a good look. I sometimes feel that certain players are over trained and others need to be trained in a different way. With the amount of hamstring injuries it feels obvious that some element of the training isn't accounting for the match day reality. Famously Ledley King didn't train in the week at Spurs. That's not to say he did nothing. He did very light training customised to his longterm injury weaknesses and only actually played full tilt on match days. You look at Poku and JCS and you wonder if an overhaul in the way their particular training is managed would allow them to play more matches without breaking down all the time? |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 13:49 - Jan 27 with 1658 views | TheChef |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:28 - Jan 27 by Ned_Kennedys |
Andy Evans retired after 35 years of fantastic work for QPR: how can you lump that in with Paul Furlong losing his job? |
Fair enough, but could he have been offered some kind of ambassadorial role within the club? Of course if he wanted to just fully retire and spend more time on the golf course, then fair enough too! | |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:05 - Jan 27 with 1591 views | wombat |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 13:09 - Jan 27 by OakR |
I think a push at the playoffs could be possible next season, but I imagine it's a more structured '4 year plan' than our last one. No big bang changes, just incremental improvements each year, selling 'high value' players and replacing. I think the aim is likely to be challenging in 27/28 and if it happens before great, but there should be no relegation type worries.
In terms of transfers I think overall he is doing a good job - getting money for players out for Kelman, Sinclair and Frey doesn't feel like we would have got that money previously. Pleased overall with the players coming in - some notable exceptions like Celar - there will be mistakes, but he was an expensive one.
I think on paper Stephan is a good appointment - will develop young players, has managed well at a higher level, and in Europe etc. I think we can judge him more at the end of the season, and hopefully more so at the end of next season to see how well it's worked in reality.
I don't really care about the secrecy around contract lengths, but clearly lots of people do, so that could be an area to look at. I can't really see it gives us much advantage, all their agents will tell everyone when the contract expires so not sure any supposed gain is worth the backlash. I think general comms have got better, and the last Frey farewell message was very good. Still work to do, but improving after not a great first year.
A proper review of the injury list would be good to see how many are due to bad luck eg awkward falls, challenges, vs being too tired, not having the proper fitness regime etc. We know the likes of JCS will forever be out, but it's the Burrell's of this world that are more concerning. We'll alaways have some injuries, but it does feel high now - bad luck or bad planning?
I think ultimately, he really didn't help himself at the start over comms, annoyed a lot of people, and is rowing back from that slowly.
The less he is talked about, the better we will be doing, so hopefully we won't hear about him too much over the next couple of years. |
Id say time to judge him is next july/august, by then we will have boosted the bank acct with the high value player sales he promised, and have next seasons young bunch of under trained crocks to look forward to not playing till jan
Clark salter will be back on the come back trails by then, eta around oct long as its not that chilly at the training ground,
by that time he will have updated championship manager and we will have found a new stairway to the prem promised land . that stairway will change obv around sept time when once again he hes downloaded the wrong update and is still running the one from 2018.
by august anyones whos been at the club longer than a year is likely to have left replaced by a elon musk robot , aval in all good electrial outlets soon.
A statue of ben williams will have been erected outside the ground by mid oct . something similar to the micehangelo statue of david.
as somebody said a poor mans Richard Thomson for me. with the charm and table waiting skills of GP. |  |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:06 - Jan 27 with 1585 views | KensalT |
I think I agree with most of what thehat has said.
What hasn't been touched on is playing style.
Even before Nourry breezed in we were talking about a set style of play for the club that new managers/coaches would have to play to.
When Nourry arrived he was on message with that and gave an interview where he talked about some variation of 4-3-3 possession-based football being the key to success at this level, and that this was what we would be doing!
Since then every time we have tried this possession-based style it has failed and both Cifuentes and Stephan moved to a completely different and more direct style. Nevertheless we kept reverting back to possession based football under Cifuentes, only for it to keep failing. And then we tried it again and failed again under Stephan.
So the question is have Nourry and the club swallowed their pride and given up on possession based football or will we be trying again at some point in the future? And if we have given up on possession football then what is the new vision that Nourry sees the club adopting as its in-house style?
And I'm not putting that out as a criticism of Nourry. I've got no problem with someone saying we got it wrong but have cut our losses and pivoted to something different. But we haven't had that assessment yet from the club, or any indication of where we go from here. | | | |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:16 - Jan 27 with 1536 views | KensalT |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:05 - Jan 27 by wombat |
Id say time to judge him is next july/august, by then we will have boosted the bank acct with the high value player sales he promised, and have next seasons young bunch of under trained crocks to look forward to not playing till jan
Clark salter will be back on the come back trails by then, eta around oct long as its not that chilly at the training ground,
by that time he will have updated championship manager and we will have found a new stairway to the prem promised land . that stairway will change obv around sept time when once again he hes downloaded the wrong update and is still running the one from 2018.
by august anyones whos been at the club longer than a year is likely to have left replaced by a elon musk robot , aval in all good electrial outlets soon.
A statue of ben williams will have been erected outside the ground by mid oct . something similar to the micehangelo statue of david.
as somebody said a poor mans Richard Thomson for me. with the charm and table waiting skills of GP. |
If we're giving Ben Williams a statue I think we should model it on Sweeney Todd
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:23 - Jan 27 with 1496 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
Put it this way, we are now hacked off that we appear to have blown our playoff chances. So, I'm not sure anyone can say we are in a worse position since Nourry appeared.
Personally, I don't have an issue with him, anyone that can sell Kelman, Dykes, Armstrong and now Frey for a combined fee of circa £7m is Houdini.
The next couple of seasons will see if we really are going in the right direction. Playoffs minimum next season is a must really. | |
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:28 - Jan 27 with 1416 views | stainrods_elbow |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 12:31 - Jan 27 by loftboy |
Can’t warm to him, reminds me of JD Vance. |
Well at least Team Nourry isn't murdering his own fans/citizens! [Post edited 27 Jan 14:29]
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| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:43 - Jan 27 with 1404 views | stevec |
Since Nourry came in, it does feel like we have some direction.
For a man who likes a data base, he might find a quick look at the squad ratings could be the key to success. All the players averaging over 5.7 are big solid bastards aside of Mr Chair who’s a little solid bastard.
Insert the words ‘solid’ and ‘bastard’ into his algorithm and all his dreams can come true. |  | | |
| Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary on 14:46 - Jan 27 with 1397 views | daveB |
He's done really good stuff and some other things I'm a lot less keen on.
I think he talks a good game on the Academy but am still in the have heard it all before position with it, Les Ferdinand made the same noises and after some success that soon died a death, I hope this is different but am skeptical.
We are in a much better place with the squad than 2 years ago but you'd be hard pushed to make it worse when spending as much as we have.
I'm very indifferent towards him at the moment, I can't get my head around those who love and worship him just as much as I don't get why people absolutely hate him. For me he's just another in a long line of CEO's at QPR who are OK but not brilliant.
[Post edited 27 Jan 14:52]
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