| Where’s the progress? 21:07 - May 2 with 14960 views | Jevlar |
Another season done with and another underwhelming season.
Injuries, fitness (thanks Ben), GK choices, and a rigidity to 442.
And I’d also add treating the fanbase with a mild contempt in to that mix.
I wonder when Lee Hoos will stop telling us to be patient?
And Christian Nourry, will go in to a third season (he became CEO in Jan 24 but also there’s that that time auditing our club - what a gravy train that turned out to be!) with hopefully some more pressure from above.
His ChatGPT fueled PowerPoint will be very Emperor’s New Clothes if this time next year we’re 15th again.
25/26 - 15th
24/25 - 15th
23/24 - 18th
22/23 - 20th
21/22 - 11th
20/21 - 9TH! Salad Days
19/20 - 13th
18/19 - 19th
17/18 - 16th
16/17 - 18th
[Post edited 2 May 21:14]
|  | | |  |
| Where’s the progress? on 16:59 - May 6 with 2748 views | NorrisGreen |
I think people are overlooking our managerial appointments. Who was the last manager we got rid of that did anything after leaving us?
I think the last decent-ish manager we had was McClaren but I don't think his heart was ever in the job.
Irrespective of the squad, I reckon the manager can affect the season's points total by plus/minus 10. I think recent managers have delivered "minus points" - I deffo believe the team has not performed to the sum of its parts under JS.
I'm hopeful that the right manager next season could change the trajectory. |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:01 - May 6 with 2736 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
Yeah, because turning an oil tanker is quick. This is 30 years of mismanagement that has to be rectified, yet some expect Noury to turn this around in 18/24 months.
Yeah, OK. | |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:42 - May 6 with 2634 views | Northernr |
Maybe Palace can sell Eze again. Then we’ll really cook. |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:46 - May 6 with 2623 views | lassel |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:01 - May 6 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Yeah, because turning an oil tanker is quick. This is 30 years of mismanagement that has to be rectified, yet some expect Noury to turn this around in 18/24 months.
Yeah, OK. |
Except it’s not 18/24 months, he first came in as a self professed transformation expert nearly 4 years ago and has just finished his third full season in control.
In that time we have gone from 20th to 15th via 18th & 16th. We’ve blown the Eze money, inflated the wage bill massively and under our strategy of buying low and selling high, not actually managed to sell anyone for a big fee.
We’ve gone from an FFP quagmire to another impending FFP quagmire needing at least one, if not two big money sales this summer (or selling everyone of note for whatever we can get) without the ability to replace them to avoid another year in 27-28 of whatever freebies we can rustle up.
We are a confused mess at GK, Cook is still our best CB, we have no serviceable FBs and no central midfield.
I will grant you that this group seem like a nicer bunch of lads we’ve had in past seasons, all of whom undoubtedly love their mums, but that really isn’t a worthy trade off for the past 3 years… | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 18:32 - May 6 with 2522 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:46 - May 6 by lassel |
Except it’s not 18/24 months, he first came in as a self professed transformation expert nearly 4 years ago and has just finished his third full season in control.
In that time we have gone from 20th to 15th via 18th & 16th. We’ve blown the Eze money, inflated the wage bill massively and under our strategy of buying low and selling high, not actually managed to sell anyone for a big fee.
We’ve gone from an FFP quagmire to another impending FFP quagmire needing at least one, if not two big money sales this summer (or selling everyone of note for whatever we can get) without the ability to replace them to avoid another year in 27-28 of whatever freebies we can rustle up.
We are a confused mess at GK, Cook is still our best CB, we have no serviceable FBs and no central midfield.
I will grant you that this group seem like a nicer bunch of lads we’ve had in past seasons, all of whom undoubtedly love their mums, but that really isn’t a worthy trade off for the past 3 years… |
Fortunately we will sell Varane for £25m*.
*a non-disclosed fee but Nourry X bots leak the 'actual' amount. [Post edited 6 May 18:33]
| | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:35 - May 6 with 2424 views | nix |
| Where’s the progress? on 16:59 - May 6 by NorrisGreen |
I think people are overlooking our managerial appointments. Who was the last manager we got rid of that did anything after leaving us?
I think the last decent-ish manager we had was McClaren but I don't think his heart was ever in the job.
Irrespective of the squad, I reckon the manager can affect the season's points total by plus/minus 10. I think recent managers have delivered "minus points" - I deffo believe the team has not performed to the sum of its parts under JS.
I'm hopeful that the right manager next season could change the trajectory. |
Can’t agree with McClaren.
I don’t think I’ve ever cringed so much at a manager as when he was subbing off Pavel Wsolek who was our best player that day to meet with a chorus of boos from our fans who were sick of him by then and turned round and pretended the 4th official had put the wrong number up - no not Pav he shouted.
He promised to bring on all the youngsters but then tore that up after losing the first four? matches and brought in expensive old timers instead.
Not for me. |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:49 - May 6 with 2401 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:46 - May 6 by lassel |
Except it’s not 18/24 months, he first came in as a self professed transformation expert nearly 4 years ago and has just finished his third full season in control.
In that time we have gone from 20th to 15th via 18th & 16th. We’ve blown the Eze money, inflated the wage bill massively and under our strategy of buying low and selling high, not actually managed to sell anyone for a big fee.
We’ve gone from an FFP quagmire to another impending FFP quagmire needing at least one, if not two big money sales this summer (or selling everyone of note for whatever we can get) without the ability to replace them to avoid another year in 27-28 of whatever freebies we can rustle up.
We are a confused mess at GK, Cook is still our best CB, we have no serviceable FBs and no central midfield.
I will grant you that this group seem like a nicer bunch of lads we’ve had in past seasons, all of whom undoubtedly love their mums, but that really isn’t a worthy trade off for the past 3 years… |
Noury joined Jan 2024. 28 months ago, and 2 full seasons.
We have not blown the Eze money. It has been spent, some good, some bad, but we have saleable assets such as Kone, Burrell, Madsen and even Varane and Morgan.
Our wage expenditure is not massively inflated, it's the reverse.
We are not in an FFP quagmire, nor about to breach. We are close, like every team in the Championship.
Personally I hope Noury succeeds as then QPR will succeed. | |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 20:19 - May 6 with 2297 views | WestbourneR |
For me, it goes back to Warburton.
Best manager we've had since Warnock but a country mile.
We should never sacked him. It looked mad at the time and so it has proved since.
He turned us into a play-off contending team on a very limited budget.
Brought in Willock, who for my money has been our best signing in recent years. He brought the best out in BOS.
We looked drilled, professional and coherently coached.
We looked like a proper team. |  |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Where’s the progress? on 20:45 - May 6 with 2250 views | Rsole |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:46 - May 6 by lassel |
Except it’s not 18/24 months, he first came in as a self professed transformation expert nearly 4 years ago and has just finished his third full season in control.
In that time we have gone from 20th to 15th via 18th & 16th. We’ve blown the Eze money, inflated the wage bill massively and under our strategy of buying low and selling high, not actually managed to sell anyone for a big fee.
We’ve gone from an FFP quagmire to another impending FFP quagmire needing at least one, if not two big money sales this summer (or selling everyone of note for whatever we can get) without the ability to replace them to avoid another year in 27-28 of whatever freebies we can rustle up.
We are a confused mess at GK, Cook is still our best CB, we have no serviceable FBs and no central midfield.
I will grant you that this group seem like a nicer bunch of lads we’ve had in past seasons, all of whom undoubtedly love their mums, but that really isn’t a worthy trade off for the past 3 years… |
Other than that….aqueducts, central heating and sewage ? |  |
| Those possessed by devils, try and keep them under control a bit, can't you ?
|
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 21:10 - May 6 with 2213 views | Hunterhoop |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:49 - May 6 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Noury joined Jan 2024. 28 months ago, and 2 full seasons.
We have not blown the Eze money. It has been spent, some good, some bad, but we have saleable assets such as Kone, Burrell, Madsen and even Varane and Morgan.
Our wage expenditure is not massively inflated, it's the reverse.
We are not in an FFP quagmire, nor about to breach. We are close, like every team in the Championship.
Personally I hope Noury succeeds as then QPR will succeed. |
Not quite.
Nourry was appointed CEO in Jan 2024, but, according to the club, he had been working for Retexo as a dedicated consultant for a year prior to that. Les Ferdinand resigned in Spring 2023.
Our wage bill has gone up. It’s in the accounts. And that was for the 24/25 season. We don’t know what the wage bill is for the 25/26 season, but given the increased net spend on transfer fees and signing of players for decent fees coupled with limited number of leavers, it’s a reasonable estimate to suggest it is has stayed the same or increased from 24/25. So it’s almost certainly higher than pre-Nourry. And last year’s accounts show the overall loss has increased. The Eze money might mean we are okay on PSR this coming season given the likely impact it had to the 25/26 accounts. But that was a gift from the previous regime. Without it, Nourry couldn’t have signed some of the players he has without creating major PSR issues.
We all want the club to succeed. And most understand we need to buy low and sell high. And we all understand our wage bill is not top half and will make competing in the league difficult. But many of us also want to the club to be led with principles, people treated in the right way, to have a sense of pride in our club, connection to it, and trust in the leaders running it.
The end can justify the means sometimes. But we need to see much better outcomes to justify the behaviour of Nourry and Williams over the last two seasons. They are 2.5 years into running the club and Nourry is 3.5 years into having direct influence on the club. And the outcomes are not materially different from when they arrived. It might all come home to roost on the pitch next season with play offs or big sales and great reinvestment in the squad. Here’s hoping. But that is why next season is huge. There has to be accountability during next season if the outcomes aren’t improving.
And, personally, if I was Christian, I wouldn’t want my big judgement season relying on Ben Williams keeping my top players and top assets fit and available…even if he is a personal friend. |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 21:19 - May 6 with 2168 views | dm97 |
Same as it has been since 2015 - all talk no results.
For all that I agree with lots of the anti current regime folk on here, it’s emperors new clothes stuff. Ferdinand and Hoos said the same things as Nourry, but were less pigheaded about it.
The wider vitriol for current regime is because how people have been treated, which is totally fair. But they’re making same mistakes the last suits made. It’s not new. Some on here seem to think the QPR world was a rosy, successful place before Nourry… |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 21:24 - May 6 with 2154 views | Hunterhoop |
| Where’s the progress? on 21:19 - May 6 by dm97 |
Same as it has been since 2015 - all talk no results.
For all that I agree with lots of the anti current regime folk on here, it’s emperors new clothes stuff. Ferdinand and Hoos said the same things as Nourry, but were less pigheaded about it.
The wider vitriol for current regime is because how people have been treated, which is totally fair. But they’re making same mistakes the last suits made. It’s not new. Some on here seem to think the QPR world was a rosy, successful place before Nourry… |
It absolutely wasn’t. But it was more forgivable/acceptable and it was nicer because of how they behaved and treated employees and fans, and a variety of stakeholders across the industry.
But also the work done to reduce the wage bill from £70m to £17m without falling through the league was good and important. That shouldn’t go forgotten. It was the few seasons after that which were poor. | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 23:16 - May 6 with 2032 views | PunteR |
my problem is though, after getting rid of Warburton, who steadied the ship and really improved us, we should be looking at the improvements since then, but we massively regressed up to Ainsworth. We get Cifuentes in and start improving again, then stick him on gardening leave. If the club are going out of their way to get rid of a manager that was doing well, then the following season, you need to see improvement. Im not sure we have. Yes its Juliens first season, but as a club we really need to compare next season to Warburtons, not Juliens first. |  |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 07:22 - May 7 with 1772 views | lassel |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:49 - May 6 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Noury joined Jan 2024. 28 months ago, and 2 full seasons.
We have not blown the Eze money. It has been spent, some good, some bad, but we have saleable assets such as Kone, Burrell, Madsen and even Varane and Morgan.
Our wage expenditure is not massively inflated, it's the reverse.
We are not in an FFP quagmire, nor about to breach. We are close, like every team in the Championship.
Personally I hope Noury succeeds as then QPR will succeed. |
Nourry joined the club mid-late 2022 as a consultant, full time transformation role since Jan 23 and CEO since summer 23, announced in early 2024. He’s been CEO three full seasons and leading transformation four seasons. | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 07:32 - May 7 with 1760 views | Jevlar |
| Where’s the progress? on 23:16 - May 6 by PunteR |
my problem is though, after getting rid of Warburton, who steadied the ship and really improved us, we should be looking at the improvements since then, but we massively regressed up to Ainsworth. We get Cifuentes in and start improving again, then stick him on gardening leave. If the club are going out of their way to get rid of a manager that was doing well, then the following season, you need to see improvement. Im not sure we have. Yes its Juliens first season, but as a club we really need to compare next season to Warburtons, not Juliens first. |
Apols, PunteR downvoted because of my fat thumbs, think this is a good point! | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 09:18 - May 7 with 1680 views | nix |
| Where’s the progress? on 23:16 - May 6 by PunteR |
my problem is though, after getting rid of Warburton, who steadied the ship and really improved us, we should be looking at the improvements since then, but we massively regressed up to Ainsworth. We get Cifuentes in and start improving again, then stick him on gardening leave. If the club are going out of their way to get rid of a manager that was doing well, then the following season, you need to see improvement. Im not sure we have. Yes its Juliens first season, but as a club we really need to compare next season to Warburtons, not Juliens first. |
Did he really improve us though? I mean in a legacy sense, not in the sense of the time he was manager. Our top scorer was Andre Gray - expensive, not one for the future and scored less than Kone and Burrell.
We had Lee Wallace, Albert Adomah, Moses Odubajo, Jeff Hendricks, Stefan Johansen. So we didn’t build a lasting squad for the future but yet spent a lot of money. I know you need a blend of youth and experience but it was a lot of cash for players that weren’t at their peak.
I liked Warbs but I don’t think he improved us in any lasting sense and we made our biggest financial loss in the 2021/2022 season in recent years without much to show for it. [Post edited 7 May 9:38]
| | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 09:59 - May 7 with 1626 views | Lblock |
| Where’s the progress? on 09:18 - May 7 by nix |
Did he really improve us though? I mean in a legacy sense, not in the sense of the time he was manager. Our top scorer was Andre Gray - expensive, not one for the future and scored less than Kone and Burrell.
We had Lee Wallace, Albert Adomah, Moses Odubajo, Jeff Hendricks, Stefan Johansen. So we didn’t build a lasting squad for the future but yet spent a lot of money. I know you need a blend of youth and experience but it was a lot of cash for players that weren’t at their peak.
I liked Warbs but I don’t think he improved us in any lasting sense and we made our biggest financial loss in the 2021/2022 season in recent years without much to show for it. [Post edited 7 May 9:38]
|
Warbs is a funny one for me.
I was banging the drum for his appointment way before we went for him.
Liked the cut of his jib initially.
Then I was very voiciferous against him - embarassingly so with a few rants - as he slipped into the old football professional trait of intransignece and I'd heard he was putting his own pride and dogma ahead of club progress (see Andre Gray scenario).
Lookng back at it now you'd have to agree with other posters here that we were fairly well drilled for a while and did play some lovely football at times. We were however well stocked with expensive experienced pro's so you'd like to think we'd be pretty good.
The wider position on progress is that we haven't and I'm not sure we ever will.
It's a simple game.
Set your budget - build your squad with a BLEND of youth, experience, skill and brawn - support them well with fitness, nutrition, people support etc - engage with your customers - give nothing more than 100% - install a respected and gregarious figurehead.
Bingo!
Instead the good ship QPR lurches from any set course with frighteningly regular occurance, pivots one way or the other, is a confused and embarassing mess and carries far too many factions for a club of it's size.
I had to give up my season ticket of 33 long years around 3 years back for a variety of reasons; at first I missed it massively, now looking in with a pragmatic eye I really don't see anything to make me re-engage and jump aboard again apart from everything I loved outside of the 90 minutes.
Sad state of affairs. |  |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 10:02 - May 7 with 1626 views | JamesB1979 |
| Where’s the progress? on 17:46 - May 6 by lassel |
Except it’s not 18/24 months, he first came in as a self professed transformation expert nearly 4 years ago and has just finished his third full season in control.
In that time we have gone from 20th to 15th via 18th & 16th. We’ve blown the Eze money, inflated the wage bill massively and under our strategy of buying low and selling high, not actually managed to sell anyone for a big fee.
We’ve gone from an FFP quagmire to another impending FFP quagmire needing at least one, if not two big money sales this summer (or selling everyone of note for whatever we can get) without the ability to replace them to avoid another year in 27-28 of whatever freebies we can rustle up.
We are a confused mess at GK, Cook is still our best CB, we have no serviceable FBs and no central midfield.
I will grant you that this group seem like a nicer bunch of lads we’ve had in past seasons, all of whom undoubtedly love their mums, but that really isn’t a worthy trade off for the past 3 years… |
I do think we need to sell players like Varane this summer but Why are we heading to another FFP quagmire if we don’t?
Last time we were reportedly close to FFP, we lost £59M for 3 years to 23/24. So with FFP at £39M, we must have had some £20m of allowable over 3 years or 6-7m per year. With FFP increasing by another £3M, we can afford to lose £20M per season. Obviously not ideal but are we really going to go above that given £8m Eze money in next years accounts and the purchase cost being spread over a number of years? Whats important is to see where the wage bill is at next year. | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 11:18 - May 7 with 1561 views | PunteR |
| Where’s the progress? on 09:18 - May 7 by nix |
Did he really improve us though? I mean in a legacy sense, not in the sense of the time he was manager. Our top scorer was Andre Gray - expensive, not one for the future and scored less than Kone and Burrell.
We had Lee Wallace, Albert Adomah, Moses Odubajo, Jeff Hendricks, Stefan Johansen. So we didn’t build a lasting squad for the future but yet spent a lot of money. I know you need a blend of youth and experience but it was a lot of cash for players that weren’t at their peak.
I liked Warbs but I don’t think he improved us in any lasting sense and we made our biggest financial loss in the 2021/2022 season in recent years without much to show for it. [Post edited 7 May 9:38]
|
If you compare Warburtons time with MaClarens, Holloway , Hasslebank, I reckon we improved. Hendricks aside and without knowing wages I thought he improved us. We were pushing for promotion in his third season, which of course, drastically unravelled towards the end.
Beale , Critchley, Ainsworth after him. | |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 14:20 - May 7 with 1463 views | NorthantsHoop |
| Where’s the progress? on 20:19 - May 6 by WestbourneR |
For me, it goes back to Warburton.
Best manager we've had since Warnock but a country mile.
We should never sacked him. It looked mad at the time and so it has proved since.
He turned us into a play-off contending team on a very limited budget.
Brought in Willock, who for my money has been our best signing in recent years. He brought the best out in BOS.
We looked drilled, professional and coherently coached.
We looked like a proper team. |
Agree, always was a Warburton fan, him and Eustace were a great team, and as you said we looked a much more professional outfit. It is a shame it all fell away in 2nd half of the 21/22 season, bad luck with Willock injury and goalkeeping injuries. The Hendrick and Sanderson signings were mistakes and always felt they destabilised the set up within the team. Overall thought Warburton improved us and since he left it has all been a bit of a struggle. |  | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 15:19 - May 7 with 1420 views | kensalriser |
As much as I think Warburton was the best manager we'd had since Warnock, you can't ignore that his tenure coincided with having Wells and Hugill for a substantial portion of his tenure and then throwing some more money at it with Austin and Johansen. Not that Austin scored a lot of goals in his second stint, but Dykes always looked a better player alongside him. Add in Gray and Warburton had far better striker options than the managers since until arguably this season. |  |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 16:22 - May 7 with 1366 views | hoops_legend |
We have 3 strikers who can score goals and the occasional one from midfield... Madsen has become a proper midfielder and lots of potential to run it next year..Thats progress...
Lets not talk about GK
Clarke Salter is ever consistent of playing 1/3rd of a season - the issue is he has also not been great this season... |  |
| |
| Where’s the progress? on 18:42 - May 7 with 1289 views | nix |
| Where’s the progress? on 11:18 - May 7 by PunteR |
If you compare Warburtons time with MaClarens, Holloway , Hasslebank, I reckon we improved. Hendricks aside and without knowing wages I thought he improved us. We were pushing for promotion in his third season, which of course, drastically unravelled towards the end.
Beale , Critchley, Ainsworth after him. |
As I say I think we were better on the pitch during the time he was manager but I don’t think he built anything. There was too much emphasis on expensive loan players and older players and we didn’t bring a squad that would come through for the future in my view. Especially given the money we spent in that last season. I think that’s why he went: we didn’t even get in the play offs, we didn’t have a balanced squad of our own players for the following season and we’d spent a lot of cash. I think that’s why Brentford and him fell out - he’s a good manager but someone else has to hold the purse strings. Being better than Hasslebaink and McClaren is not a big sell for me.
Having said all that I liked Warbs but was disappointed when I heard how he’d blown the budget and who he’d blown it on. | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:02 - May 7 with 1248 views | Northernr |
| Where’s the progress? on 18:42 - May 7 by nix |
As I say I think we were better on the pitch during the time he was manager but I don’t think he built anything. There was too much emphasis on expensive loan players and older players and we didn’t bring a squad that would come through for the future in my view. Especially given the money we spent in that last season. I think that’s why he went: we didn’t even get in the play offs, we didn’t have a balanced squad of our own players for the following season and we’d spent a lot of cash. I think that’s why Brentford and him fell out - he’s a good manager but someone else has to hold the purse strings. Being better than Hasslebaink and McClaren is not a big sell for me.
Having said all that I liked Warbs but was disappointed when I heard how he’d blown the budget and who he’d blown it on. |
Once again, QPR deviated from the plan halfway through.
Warburton was brought in to clear up the monumental mess McClaren had left him - which he did very quickly, 16 in and 16 out first summer, hit the ground running straight away from day one the following season.
He was brought in to do what McClaren hadn't - i.e. get Bright, Manning, Chair et al back in the side and start developing them, which again he did straight away and in a way troo well because then Manning and Bright's contract situations became an issue.
And to improve the performances and style of football, which in that first season with Hugill and Wells supported by Chair, Eze and Bright he certainly did. I loved watching that team. Not every week, far from it, but that was a really fun season, and we stepped it up again in the second half of the year after sadly in lockdown by that point. That's def the best football we've played across the last ten years.
Could he have done better with that strike force? Yeh. But his defence was Lumley, Leistner, Grant Hall, Geoff Cameron, Conor Masterson etc.
Where it went wrong is having got the team and the assets exactly where they needed to be, we went all Bertie Big Bolox giving out silly contracts to Odubajo, Wallace, Johansen, Austin, Gray etc exactly as Nix says. Lee Hoos in interview with me saying "we want the message out there, don't bid for our players, we don't want them unsettled and we're not selling". Totally contrary to the plan, and you had players like Dickie, Dieng, Willock and Chair who have never been at that level of value or performance again who should have gone at that point.
It left, again as Nix says, a sht legacy. Nothing to show for it. I felt he became over cautious in that last season, needlessly. He put faith in people who let him down - Wallace couldn't get fit, Odubajo was never as good once he'd got his contract, Austin I'm afraid to say didn't cover himself in glory, Gray... And he became completely besotted with Jeff Hendrick when Dom Ball was a far more effective player for us. The panic buy of Sanderson when the Cook thing fell through is a real sliding doors moment - we only needed to beat Cardiff, Peterborough and Hull at home and we'd have been in the play offs, Cook probably would have got us there.
Was it the club that changed tack and went for it (that's what I think) or did Warburton insist upon it? Whichever, I did enjoy following us with a bit of ambition. I remember starting the seaosn winning at Hull, winning at Boro, winning at Orient in the cup, genuinely thinking we would be top six minimum. It's the last time I was excited.
Overall that was my favourite time of the last ten years. I liked him, I liked his football, I liked the way he spoke and represented us, I enjoyed watching us, I rated him as a person and as a manager. His legacy is non-existent, it went to sht, but I'd be interested how much of that was him and how much was Les and Lee saying "fck this, let's go for it, imagine..."
This post has been edited by an administrator | | | |
| Where’s the progress? on 20:12 - May 7 with 1191 views | nix |
| Where’s the progress? on 19:02 - May 7 by Northernr |
Once again, QPR deviated from the plan halfway through.
Warburton was brought in to clear up the monumental mess McClaren had left him - which he did very quickly, 16 in and 16 out first summer, hit the ground running straight away from day one the following season.
He was brought in to do what McClaren hadn't - i.e. get Bright, Manning, Chair et al back in the side and start developing them, which again he did straight away and in a way troo well because then Manning and Bright's contract situations became an issue.
And to improve the performances and style of football, which in that first season with Hugill and Wells supported by Chair, Eze and Bright he certainly did. I loved watching that team. Not every week, far from it, but that was a really fun season, and we stepped it up again in the second half of the year after sadly in lockdown by that point. That's def the best football we've played across the last ten years.
Could he have done better with that strike force? Yeh. But his defence was Lumley, Leistner, Grant Hall, Geoff Cameron, Conor Masterson etc.
Where it went wrong is having got the team and the assets exactly where they needed to be, we went all Bertie Big Bolox giving out silly contracts to Odubajo, Wallace, Johansen, Austin, Gray etc exactly as Nix says. Lee Hoos in interview with me saying "we want the message out there, don't bid for our players, we don't want them unsettled and we're not selling". Totally contrary to the plan, and you had players like Dickie, Dieng, Willock and Chair who have never been at that level of value or performance again who should have gone at that point.
It left, again as Nix says, a sht legacy. Nothing to show for it. I felt he became over cautious in that last season, needlessly. He put faith in people who let him down - Wallace couldn't get fit, Odubajo was never as good once he'd got his contract, Austin I'm afraid to say didn't cover himself in glory, Gray... And he became completely besotted with Jeff Hendrick when Dom Ball was a far more effective player for us. The panic buy of Sanderson when the Cook thing fell through is a real sliding doors moment - we only needed to beat Cardiff, Peterborough and Hull at home and we'd have been in the play offs, Cook probably would have got us there.
Was it the club that changed tack and went for it (that's what I think) or did Warburton insist upon it? Whichever, I did enjoy following us with a bit of ambition. I remember starting the seaosn winning at Hull, winning at Boro, winning at Orient in the cup, genuinely thinking we would be top six minimum. It's the last time I was excited.
Overall that was my favourite time of the last ten years. I liked him, I liked his football, I liked the way he spoke and represented us, I enjoyed watching us, I rated him as a person and as a manager. His legacy is non-existent, it went to sht, but I'd be interested how much of that was him and how much was Les and Lee saying "fck this, let's go for it, imagine..."
This post has been edited by an administrator |
Well that’s a good question. I was assuming it was Warbs pushing for it. Maybe it was the club
As with you Clive I liked Warbs a lot and enjoyed a lot of the time he was there. But if we did tear up that plan at some point we’ve got to stick with some kind of plan for at least three years not keep tearing it up. Frustrating though the past is (in terms of the years of disappointment) I’d like to forget that a bit and look to improve year on year. Next season is going to be a key one to see if we’re making genuine progress that we can continue to build on. | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.