 | Forum
Reply | Saturday - forget the negativity, let's just turn up and roar
at 17:38 14 Apr 2024
We're not a loud crowd, unless we're given something to cheer, and we haven't been given much to cheer for any sustained period for a long time – the best season we had for ages, we hardly saw any of it because of Covid. But getting behind the team does make a difference - you can't tell me the atmosphere at Loftus Road didn't make a difference in those five wins that kept us in the Premier League (Roseanne Cash daughter of Johnny, singer herself – went to the game against Arsenal, having been to the Emirates the week before, and said we were much louder than they had been, even in our tiny ground).
And getting behind the team is also more fun.
All that said, the reason for the atmosphere in those five wins was that the only one of those games we went behind in was the first one, against Liverpool, when the atmosphere was getting poisonous until the miracle comeback (remember Barton getting booed off the pitch?). But then we had ten minutes of the greatest atmosphere ever, and it never really let up. Clive was suggesting the other week that no one remembers the 3-0 win against Swansea. I do – not the specifics of the game, but us playing them off the park, and the atmosphere being one of jovial delight and no anxiety. I remember Ted Kessler tweeting after: "Tiki-taka that, you smug bastards."
So the team do need to not go 1-0 behind after 10 minutes and then spend the rest of the game playing as though the concept of the sphere has suddenly been erased from their mind, and understand that this nameless thing that travels towards them is subject to the laws of physics, and can be tamed. No one in their right mind is going to keep up the noise if they play like they are wont to do at times of maximum need and expectation. But if, and let me not be cursing us all, they can take the lead themselves and stay on the front foot, then they'll get the crowd behind them. I hope. [Post edited 14 Apr 18:21]
|
| Forum
Thread | QPR dynasties
at 19:13 9 Mar 2024
On the way to Loftus Road today, my son expressed the certainty that the ball would come to him in the crowd (we sit in the front row) and he would volley it back onto the pitch first time from a seated position. And lo, it came to pass. He manifested it. A decade ago, I also volleyed a ball back on to pitch first time from a seated position. Now I need to find out if we are the first father-and-son duo to have both first-time volleyed a ball back onto the pitch from their seats. I think this might make us a QPR dynasty to match Les, Clive and Bradley Allen. |
| Forum
Reply | West London Sport
at 13:48 1 Mar 2024
Not speaking for you. I'm speaking for newspaper consumption patterns. Which are more important than any individual's reasons in assessing why people buy or don't buy. And it is that simple: circulation figures started falling off a cliff when people got used to information being free.
The reason you can curate your own news feed is because you don't have to pay for the information any longer. QED. [Post edited 1 Mar 13:49]
|
| Forum
Reply | West London Sport
at 22:31 29 Feb 2024
I can tell you very easily why people stopped paying for mainstream media. And it's nothing to do with deep states.
It's because people got used to getting things for free. Simple as that. Nothing more. |
| Forum
Reply | West London Sport
at 09:22 29 Feb 2024
That demand is almost impossible to monetise, because the bottom fell out of the digital ad market when the social media sites stopped prioritising stories from publications. Literally, entire business models went down the dumper overnight. Digital ad rates are low for publications with millions of viewers. They are minuscule for niche sites. I'm amazed WLS – a site from which journalists expect to earn a living by catering to a small and local audience – has lasted this long tbh. |
| Forum
Reply | Frey
at 11:55 26 Feb 2024
It was not a good game, and we were dreadful for large parts of the first half. But I thought Frey was pretty good. Obviously, he's no Les Ferdinand, but he worked hard defensively, he had a very adept touch at times – there were a couple of times where he created space for himself to play midfielders in behind the defence, in circumstances you wouldn't have backed him to. Honestly, he looks a lot better than Dykes to me. |
| Forum
Reply | Lucas Andersen SIGNED ???
at 16:30 5 Feb 2024
I don't know which is worse.
"He's a terrific lad, great character, great sense of humour. He'll bring a smile to the place. I worked with him at Scunthorpe, and he was a bit unlucky with injuries, and we had the other lad doing well. But it's such a thrill to have him here."
or
“He performed above the median as a line-breaking 10 specifically for our possession-based 4-3-3 conceptual shape in data screening and was crucially, given our situation managing profitability and sustainability regulations, available on a free transfer owing to his former club’s relegation." |
| Forum
Reply | Development Squad at Cardiff
at 00:36 31 Jan 2024
I hadn't seen him for ages till he was warming up when he was on the bench against Bournemouth. I thought he'd be too short for the professional game. As a little kid he spent time with Reading, and I think they didn't bother with him because of his height. But my lad – who's 6'4" – reckons Matteo is just about as tall as him. That seems optimistic to me, but he is a good bit over six feet. Not a giant, but not small.
EDIT I see upthread that he is indeed 6'4". Well, I would never have predicted that. [Post edited 31 Jan 0:41]
|
| Forum
Reply | Development Squad at Cardiff
at 14:24 30 Jan 2024
Matteo's a family friend. He used to keep goal for my son's team at Market Road and Regent's Park. Even as a little kid he was absolutely incredible. The team once won the league despite being the lowest scorers, because he just never conceded anything. |
| Forum
Reply | Marti's Post Match Thoughts.
at 19:45 21 Jan 2024
Straw man, there. No one is expecting us to play like we could beat Pep’s Barça 6-0. But you could be forgiven for reading comments here and elsewhere and come away thinking it was a really good performance with several outstanding individuals, and neither of those things are true. |
| Forum
Reply | Marti's Post Match Thoughts.
at 11:42 21 Jan 2024
Very glad we won, but does anyone really think we actually played well? That was a very poor game between two poor sides. The ball was given away constantly, by both sides. Yes, our defenders got to lots of things, but so often the ball went straight up in the air, forcing a second attempt to clear. The passing around the back and then back to Begovic often ended up in a long hoof, surrendering possession yet again. Millwall were just awful – we didn't need to be great to win. Good job, too. |
| Forum
Reply | Ilias Chair
at 15:28 19 Jan 2024
Very few British journalists in Belgium, I would have thought. We're not in the EU any longer, so all Brussels bureaux will be either smaller or non-existent. Doubt many who are there care much about second tier football players. But it will get picked up sooner or later. |
| Forum
Reply | Ilias Chair
at 14:21 19 Jan 2024
It's being reported in *a lot* of Belgian papers. It's plainly a real story. |
| Forum
Reply | Sinclair Armstrong: a bright spot.
at 16:14 15 Jan 2024
He manages to make things happen in the final third, and it's been a minute since we had anyone who could do that, and he does it on his own, so everyone notices. The other thing to remember is his finishing is getting better – a year ago he wouldn't have been forcing the keeper to make saves, and now he is. Sooner or later more of them are going to start going over or under or to the side of the keeper. With Armstrong, there's the excitement of knowing something is going to happen, and people like that. Especially when there's nothing else to get excited about. |
| Forum
Reply | Sinclair Armstrong
at 17:48 29 Dec 2023
I don’t think £500k is too low an estimate. Who do you think is going to spend £500k on him? Can’t see why any Championship club would buy him, given he’s never been a regular starter for one of the worst teams in the division. And £500k is a lot for a lower team to gamble on someone completely unproven and very raw. |
| Forum
Reply | Sinclair Armstrong
at 16:20 29 Dec 2023
I’ve got more chance of hitting a six to win the T20 World Cup for England than Armstrong has of getting £18k a week out of QPR. |
| Forum
Reply | Sinclair Armstrong
at 10:15 29 Dec 2023
Can't imagine Armstrong would be leaving for much more than peanuts regardless of his contract situation. It's not like his performances and record suggest he'd move for a big fee. TBH, if we got cashews instead of peanuts, I'd be happy.
And this is a player *I like*. God, this club. |
| Forum
Reply | Our corners?
at 05:11 27 Dec 2023
The percentage of corners that result in goals is usually around 3 or 4 percent. So from one in every 25 corners to one in every 33 corners. It'll be a bit higher for teams who actually practise and are good it. Take them out and the average comes down a little lower. We don't score many goals full stop, so it wouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn we're crap at scoring from corners, too – but then most other teams are, too. |
| | NW5Hoop
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 937 | | Comment Votes: | 3 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 940 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.