| Boro Post Mortem 10:50 - Mar 9 with 3132 views | ScottPurdue8 |
Long time reader, first time contributor.
So many questions need answering… where do I even start?
I’ve stayed largely silent throughout most of this season. When the appointment was made, I wasn’t particularly excited, but I wasn’t completely against it either. Like most Rangers fans, I backed him because that’s what we do.
However, aside from the home victory against Leicester City, I’ve struggled to see any real progress in either performances or results compared to what we were seeing under Martí Cifuentes. If anything, we seem to have regressed.
The manager’s personality also doesn’t appear to suit the club. QPR is a place where character matters, where the connection between players, fans and the club identity is important. Right now that connection feels completely absent. There also appear to be issues within the squad itself.
Paul Nardi has been completely frozen out despite being our number one last season. Rayan Kolli has barely been given any meaningful minutes, and Ilias Chair has essentially been missing in action since a mysterious injury in December.
Then there’s the past week which, quite frankly, has been humiliating.
Whether Stephan tried to be clever tactically against Middlesbrough or whether he was forced into changes due to personnel, the outcome was a complete failure.
We lined up in what looked like a 4-5-1 system, but the players clearly didn’t understand their roles or assignments. Koki Saito was pressing Luke Ayling when Ayling had shifted into a centre-back role, leaving our entire left side exposed. RND was constantly being dragged into 2-v-1 situations and left completely vulnerable.
In midfield, Jonathan Varane and Isaac Hayden looked unsure of how to deal with their structure. There was no cohesion, no control, and no clear plan. Kieran Morgan worked tirelessly and the same can be said for Kone.
Right now the squad looks completely devoid of confidence. The players look checked out, unsure of themselves, and unsure of what they’re being asked to do.
Beyond Jimmy Dunne and Ronnie Edwards, I struggle to see real leaders in this team. There’s a lack of fighters, a lack of characters, and a lack of players with genuine Championship experience who understand what it takes to compete in this league week in, week out.
When we won the the league in 2010–11, it showed exactly what was required. We had experienced Championship players like Clint Hill, Paddy Kenny and Shaun Derry. We supplemented that with hungry lower-league signings like Jamie Mackie, and genuine foreign quality such as Faurlín and Adel Taarabt.
That blend gave us leadership, fight, and quality.
Right now, we simply don’t have enough of those ingredients. Yes, there is experience in players like Jimmy Dunne and Ilias Chair, but beyond that the squad lacks the leaders and characters needed to drive standards and drag the team through difficult moments.
It’s always easy to blame the manager when results go against you, and supporters are often guilty of reacting emotionally after defeats. But the truth is this poor form hasn’t just appeared overnight. Since the win against Leicester City the overall level of performance has been nothing short of abysmal.
Yes, there have been a handful of wins along the way, but even in those games the performances have been flat, uninspiring and, at times, completely devoid of identity.
Something has to change. And right now, the direction of travel points firmly towards the manager. |  | | |  |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:08 - Mar 9 with 2188 views | numptydumpty |
Great first post Scott.
Its been a disappointing demise and injuries have been the main issue and then relying on youngsters who are not ready for championship football.
I think Stephan is OK myself, but I honestly question what control he has on games and what he is allowed to do by the hierarchy.
All these new footballing positions such as head of methodology with people not versed in playing, managing or coaching the game is nuts.
Until Nourry, Williams et al are ousted, I fear, yes we will get in a new manager, but the same issues will happen and carry on regardless and relegation then will become more of a likelihood than otherwise.
"Control Freak" is the term, that comes into my mind !!!! [Post edited 9 Mar 11:10]
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| Boro Post Mortem on 11:14 - Mar 9 with 2141 views | Hunterhoop |
Scott, the direction of travel points firmly towards the CEO. He binned off the previous guy. He hired this guy. And he employs someone else to oversee the players fitness, conditioning and availability. Oh, and he’s the one who’s done the squad building.
Fanbase needs to not let itself be conned here.
I have no doubt Nourry and Williams will try to put the blame at Stephan’s door, just like they did with Cifuentes. You’ll see stuff on social media attempting this misdirection.
No head coach will succeed here with these guys above and around him. |  | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:19 - Mar 9 with 2113 views | daveB |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:14 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
Scott, the direction of travel points firmly towards the CEO. He binned off the previous guy. He hired this guy. And he employs someone else to oversee the players fitness, conditioning and availability. Oh, and he’s the one who’s done the squad building.
Fanbase needs to not let itself be conned here.
I have no doubt Nourry and Williams will try to put the blame at Stephan’s door, just like they did with Cifuentes. You’ll see stuff on social media attempting this misdirection.
No head coach will succeed here with these guys above and around him. |
I think he'll throw Ben WIlliams under the bus along with the manager |  | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:21 - Mar 9 with 2097 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:08 - Mar 9 by numptydumpty |
Great first post Scott.
Its been a disappointing demise and injuries have been the main issue and then relying on youngsters who are not ready for championship football.
I think Stephan is OK myself, but I honestly question what control he has on games and what he is allowed to do by the hierarchy.
All these new footballing positions such as head of methodology with people not versed in playing, managing or coaching the game is nuts.
Until Nourry, Williams et al are ousted, I fear, yes we will get in a new manager, but the same issues will happen and carry on regardless and relegation then will become more of a likelihood than otherwise.
"Control Freak" is the term, that comes into my mind !!!! [Post edited 9 Mar 11:10]
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I'm certainly not defending Nourry here... And he absolutely DOES need to do something about our fitness for next season... But irrespective of your insinuations here that Stephan's being forced to play certain players (you can only be referring to Saito and Walsh surely), there have been major tactical / motivation issues that Stephan is directly accountable for.
Even if we had a full squad to choose from yesterday we'd have gotten soundly beat with that little energy and organisation.
Look at what Marti did away at Preston in his first week on the job. He had an identical squad of players to choose from that had previously consistently performed at an unacceptable level in unacceptable means. He had them on the front foot, pressing, working for each other etc etc. That's what good managers are able to do. The standard set by Stephan this season at best is that they turn up in an orderly and functional fashion maybe one in three or four.
That squad had 8 days to prepare for that game yesterday. And they performed like it was the 15th game of the week.
Yes there are plenty of questions that absolutely have to be answered above Stephan but what he is getting from the players that he does have available is completely unacceptable at the moment. There is never an excuse to completely cede the centre of the pitch. Never an excuse to consistently allow overloads in wide areas. Never an excuse to afford Hackney, Ayling and Browne the time and space INSIDE THE FCKING PENALTY AREA they had for the goals yesterday. A well coached team gets beat in a game like that with blood left on the pitch and there's no shame in that. We didn't even fcking try. |  | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 11:33 - Mar 9 with 2023 views | ted_hendrix |
Lose 4-0 and you'll get a reaction, lose 4-0 at home late on a Sunday afternoon and quite rightly you'll get a bigger reaction.
Don't worry about It, we'll do what we've always done just ''bob along'' hoping we can burgle another two wins and this dreadful season will come to a close.
For me personally If I was head coach, I'd start training this morning by getting our players to Introduce themselves to each other as I'm not sure they know each other all that well, I only mention this as our players have a tendency to pass the ball to the opposition players quite a lot.
I'd also put our players on a crash course on the French language and Insist they travel to training sessions on bicycles with strings of onions hanging from the handle bars, I might even get them to grow silly moustache's.
Nous sommes bien pires que ce que j'imaginais au départ.
au revoir...................... |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 11:54 - Mar 9 with 1928 views | Logman |
Lots of good points in this thread, particularly from the first time poster. I think it's fair to say that both at boardroom level and at management level mistakes have been made. I can actually sympathise with Nourry to a degree because he is trying to make us more sustainable and to put the foundations in at youth level and build up from there. It is not easy when probably more than two thirds of the division are trying to buy their way to success (the last three teams that we have played being perfect examples of this).
I do agree with the concern regarding Stephan's connection and more importantly his strategy. We need a stronger willed character in the hot seat who will refuse to ply the 'hard-done-by' line in his pressers and demand that we keep pace with the top half teams and find ways to deal with them. The excuses don't rub with me.
Additionally, tactically he is really poor at reacting to what other teams are doing and grinding out results. Once again yesterday the midfield wasn't fit to nullify Boro and it was only a matter of time before they scored 2 or 3 goals. [Post edited 9 Mar 11:55]
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| Boro Post Mortem on 12:03 - Mar 9 with 1871 views | colinallcars |
Spot on Scott, don't tell 'em what cheese you like.... |  | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:14 - Mar 9 with 1790 views | TK1 |
Nourry bots on X already firing off plenty of 'talk to me about possible Stephan replacements' posts, there's never any suggestion that management setup, squad assembly or, heaven forbid, Nourry may be at fault there... | | | |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 12:22 - Mar 9 with 1740 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:14 - Mar 9 by TK1 |
Nourry bots on X already firing off plenty of 'talk to me about possible Stephan replacements' posts, there's never any suggestion that management setup, squad assembly or, heaven forbid, Nourry may be at fault there... |
The most obvious and expected social media play from a CEO who set up his own small advisory business about social media for 16-24 yr olds. Control the narrative. All about what’s best for him, not the club.
How many decent football coaches are going to look at what’s happened to Cifuentes here, and what is likely to happen to Stephan, and think “I’ll work at that club”?? The talent pool who would consider it will be so small, and by definition, weak. A modern day Warnock, for example, would never come into this set up. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:23 - Mar 9 with 1726 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:22 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
The most obvious and expected social media play from a CEO who set up his own small advisory business about social media for 16-24 yr olds. Control the narrative. All about what’s best for him, not the club.
How many decent football coaches are going to look at what’s happened to Cifuentes here, and what is likely to happen to Stephan, and think “I’ll work at that club”?? The talent pool who would consider it will be so small, and by definition, weak. A modern day Warnock, for example, would never come into this set up. |
We 100% definitely said that about our set up just before Warnock came into it. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:23 - Mar 9 with 1725 views | bosh67 |
I think in theory Nourry has got a lot of things right but theory is different to reality, especially here.
Poku is potentially a huge talent but he came here, probably on the fee we paid, having had several significant hamstring injuries, which has continued here.
Dembele is a big talent but again had injury issues, which have continued here.
Saito I always thought was brought in as a central running midfielder to replace Chair eventually. He's been out of form and played anywhere to fill a gap so far. (by the way it's fine to be angry for him for laughing and smiling on the bench when someone is talking to him, even if we are losing. Do we expect him to be throwing himself on a Samurai sword?) He's not laughing at us.
Madsen has been the stand out player this season, so a very good buy in the end, but he's now probably out for most of the rest of the season.
Kone will be a good buy. He's only 22 and as yet we haven't found a proper way to service him as a 9.
Burrell... well, a fantastic buy all told and would we be in this mess if he hadn't got injured? Probably not.
Edwards is still only 22 for a few weeks and we know he will be good for us.
Mbengue has been pretty good generally and he's only just 24.
Hayden was brought in to add experience and was great last season but has struggled a bit this term. But essentially a player who should add to the team.
RND bar a few games has been pretty solid as a loan.
So you look at this lot and you think it's not a bad few windows or so. But half of them have been blighted by injuries and in a couple of cases, we bought them knowing there was a big injury risk to them.
So I think some of Nourry's business hasn't been bad and has been ambitious but what he hasn't done, that of course Warnock was all over, is bring in enough Generals who know this division and could steer us through things and keep the younger players (Adel etc) in line. |  |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 12:30 - Mar 9 with 1679 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:23 - Mar 9 by Padulas_Shampoo |
We 100% definitely said that about our set up just before Warnock came into it. |
But it changed before he came in to enable that, remember. Amit took over. And Amit gave Warnock complete control.
We would need a change again for a Warnock type to come in. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:34 - Mar 9 with 1650 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:23 - Mar 9 by bosh67 |
I think in theory Nourry has got a lot of things right but theory is different to reality, especially here.
Poku is potentially a huge talent but he came here, probably on the fee we paid, having had several significant hamstring injuries, which has continued here.
Dembele is a big talent but again had injury issues, which have continued here.
Saito I always thought was brought in as a central running midfielder to replace Chair eventually. He's been out of form and played anywhere to fill a gap so far. (by the way it's fine to be angry for him for laughing and smiling on the bench when someone is talking to him, even if we are losing. Do we expect him to be throwing himself on a Samurai sword?) He's not laughing at us.
Madsen has been the stand out player this season, so a very good buy in the end, but he's now probably out for most of the rest of the season.
Kone will be a good buy. He's only 22 and as yet we haven't found a proper way to service him as a 9.
Burrell... well, a fantastic buy all told and would we be in this mess if he hadn't got injured? Probably not.
Edwards is still only 22 for a few weeks and we know he will be good for us.
Mbengue has been pretty good generally and he's only just 24.
Hayden was brought in to add experience and was great last season but has struggled a bit this term. But essentially a player who should add to the team.
RND bar a few games has been pretty solid as a loan.
So you look at this lot and you think it's not a bad few windows or so. But half of them have been blighted by injuries and in a couple of cases, we bought them knowing there was a big injury risk to them.
So I think some of Nourry's business hasn't been bad and has been ambitious but what he hasn't done, that of course Warnock was all over, is bring in enough Generals who know this division and could steer us through things and keep the younger players (Adel etc) in line. |
Good post.
On paper the transfer dealings for a couple of years now have probably been the most sane we've been for a decade at least.
But the net position is an unbalanced squad both in terms of positional depth but also in terms of character, know-how and guile managed by a coach that seemingly is incapable of preparing them for what will be in front of them.
Then on top of that we've had literally half the squad in a hospital wing whilst an army of performance staff sit there looking an iPads with quizzical expressions on their faces.
Basically all the things everyone feared and dreaded when we appointed a 26 year old CEO that had a questionable (at best) CV in terms of football experience have come to fruition.
It really shouldn't be a shock. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:35 - Mar 9 with 1638 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:30 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
But it changed before he came in to enable that, remember. Amit took over. And Amit gave Warnock complete control.
We would need a change again for a Warnock type to come in. |
Agreed but I'm just pointing out that environment could change in a single afternoon. Just like it did all those years ago. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:36 - Mar 9 with 1636 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:35 - Mar 9 by Padulas_Shampoo |
Agreed but I'm just pointing out that environment could change in a single afternoon. Just like it did all those years ago. |
Here’s hoping… | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:38 - Mar 9 with 1615 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:23 - Mar 9 by bosh67 |
I think in theory Nourry has got a lot of things right but theory is different to reality, especially here.
Poku is potentially a huge talent but he came here, probably on the fee we paid, having had several significant hamstring injuries, which has continued here.
Dembele is a big talent but again had injury issues, which have continued here.
Saito I always thought was brought in as a central running midfielder to replace Chair eventually. He's been out of form and played anywhere to fill a gap so far. (by the way it's fine to be angry for him for laughing and smiling on the bench when someone is talking to him, even if we are losing. Do we expect him to be throwing himself on a Samurai sword?) He's not laughing at us.
Madsen has been the stand out player this season, so a very good buy in the end, but he's now probably out for most of the rest of the season.
Kone will be a good buy. He's only 22 and as yet we haven't found a proper way to service him as a 9.
Burrell... well, a fantastic buy all told and would we be in this mess if he hadn't got injured? Probably not.
Edwards is still only 22 for a few weeks and we know he will be good for us.
Mbengue has been pretty good generally and he's only just 24.
Hayden was brought in to add experience and was great last season but has struggled a bit this term. But essentially a player who should add to the team.
RND bar a few games has been pretty solid as a loan.
So you look at this lot and you think it's not a bad few windows or so. But half of them have been blighted by injuries and in a couple of cases, we bought them knowing there was a big injury risk to them.
So I think some of Nourry's business hasn't been bad and has been ambitious but what he hasn't done, that of course Warnock was all over, is bring in enough Generals who know this division and could steer us through things and keep the younger players (Adel etc) in line. |
Bosh, all due respect, I think you’re missing the point, mate. Player trading is just one part of running a successful football club. You can sign the best talent in the world, but put them into a bad environment, don’t get them fit, don’t keep them available, treat their colleagues badly…it’s not going to be conducive to success or them maximising their potential.
That is the problem. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:48 - Mar 9 with 1546 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:38 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
Bosh, all due respect, I think you’re missing the point, mate. Player trading is just one part of running a successful football club. You can sign the best talent in the world, but put them into a bad environment, don’t get them fit, don’t keep them available, treat their colleagues badly…it’s not going to be conducive to success or them maximising their potential.
That is the problem. |
I think that IS the exact point Bosh is making. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:51 - Mar 9 with 1527 views | bosh67 |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:38 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
Bosh, all due respect, I think you’re missing the point, mate. Player trading is just one part of running a successful football club. You can sign the best talent in the world, but put them into a bad environment, don’t get them fit, don’t keep them available, treat their colleagues badly…it’s not going to be conducive to success or them maximising their potential.
That is the problem. |
Yes I get your point Hunter and it's well made. There is of course exactly what you are saying as well to factor in.
I just thought perhaps a low cost fix would be to have Stephan armed with an app that translates everything he says into the voice of Neil Warnock? I think it's called the 'Muck and Nettles' app? | |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 12:59 - Mar 9 with 1470 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:51 - Mar 9 by bosh67 |
Yes I get your point Hunter and it's well made. There is of course exactly what you are saying as well to factor in.
I just thought perhaps a low cost fix would be to have Stephan armed with an app that translates everything he says into the voice of Neil Warnock? I think it's called the 'Muck and Nettles' app? |
Probably need to change his appearance a little to really sell it to the players too potentially. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 13:00 - Mar 9 with 1460 views | Hunterhoop |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:48 - Mar 9 by Padulas_Shampoo |
I think that IS the exact point Bosh is making. |
I don’t think it was. Bosh has posted purely about the player trading being okay, but not enough generals being signed.
There is a lot more to it than just signing the right players. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 13:02 - Mar 9 with 1433 views | EuroRanger |
Have to agree with Hunter here. Stephan is a coach that has succeeded elsewhere so he's clearly not a moron, and we have played some good football this season (hell, even Hull a couple of weeks back, even if they are sh*t), so I find the idea that he's the problem to be unconvincing.
To me it again comes down to injuries. Given that we're missing so many key players I don't know what Stephan is supposed to do? People were asking for subs yesterday but the bench was full of untested kids, two of whom came on to simply get minutes after the game was long gone.
To me it's clear that something is drastically wrong with the performance team. We've looked unfit all season and now we're reduced to throwing untested kids to the wolves. The buck stops with Ben Williams, so he has to go.
I have no doubt that Stephan will be thrown under the nearest Routemaster and Williams will escape unscathed yet again, however. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 13:20 - Mar 9 with 1312 views | loftboy |
Cheese man, don’t forget the cheese. Oh and welcome, great first post. |  |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 13:58 - Mar 9 with 1132 views | TheChef |
| Boro Post Mortem on 12:30 - Mar 9 by Hunterhoop |
But it changed before he came in to enable that, remember. Amit took over. And Amit gave Warnock complete control.
We would need a change again for a Warnock type to come in. |
Yeah but as mentioned above I don't think the squad is actually that bad, it's just been stymied by injuries. Managers tend to have big egos and will think "I can definitely work with that". And if being dictated to by Nourry they'll still think they'll find a solution. And in the end if it doesn't work out they'll get a nice pay out and just claim "oh well that QPR is a total basket case".
Anyway as we know changing the manager is not going to make any fkin difference. |  |
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| Boro Post Mortem on 14:34 - Mar 9 with 1049 views | charmr |
It’s player recruitment as simple as that. The toughest and most challenging part from a football club’s perspective. | | | |
| Boro Post Mortem on 14:58 - Mar 9 with 980 views | themodfather |
boro were good we were awful but time to stop bemoaning injuries , pitch whatever
get on with it, all clubs have issues during a season, why are we so mentally fragile?
so much talk of the need for poku, based on what?
where is chair? people recover from heart surgery quicker! we have to be stronger | | | |
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