flatfoot Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Hi all, QPR fan in peace here. I read your comments on QPR with interest, and while all is fair in love and war I wonder if you would allow me the time to address a couple of general assumptions about my club. While I can fully understand why it is considered fair game to not like us for our recent history, and that there is a tendency for QPR fans to do little to quash the assumptions, I must take issue with the fact that it seems perfectly to consider us to be "arrogant" and "Chelsea-like" and "all that is wrong in football". I, and the majority of QPR fans who have followed the club through thick and very, very thin all our lives, would beg to differ. The thick end of the wedge is there for all to see. We have had very, very rich owners of various backgrounds for the last seven years. In that time we have gone from being a second and, briefly, a third-tier club down on its knees to a club with the level of investment required to be an established Premier League club. But the context is in the thin edge of the wedge - and it is this that sometimes (rightly or wrongly) comes across as arrogance or aloofness. Unlike our neighbours, Chelsea and Fulham, we are a club from a poor background: QPR started as an outlet for the boys in and around Queen's Park, which was one of the poorest areas in the UK. Despite common myth, London does poor - and not just in the East End, which is prosperous compared to some of the areas QPR takes its traditional support from (Willesden, Harlesden, Kensal Rise, Brent etc..). We moved around a lot out of necessity (derelict ground being reconstituted, Army barracks being built, a Guinness brewery turfing us out) - a total of 17 different moves in our history, the most of any football club by far. Which has given the club a natural siege mentality. In 1987, when there was a plan to merge the club with Fulham we fought back hard - sitting in on the plastic (I know, I know) of Loftus Road, forcing games to be cancelled. Fulham, meanwhile, sort of umm-ed and ahh-ed a bit and eventually invaded their pitch at the end of a game once we had made the merger untenable. In 2002, we were passing round the buckets after years of mismanagement, which included being tacked on to Wasps rugby club by our owner Chris Wright. Wright left the club but only after forcing us into administration and then saddling us with a crippling £10m loan from a Panama-based company. They mooted the merger thing again - this time with Wimbledon - and we told them where they could stick it. It is a shame for football that the FA did not do the same. And then came the Italians: Paladini who brought in the moneymen who rode roughshod over the fans before it was made clear to them that they were not welcome (see "The Four Year Plan" for more details). So, it is little surprise that as fans of QPR, we have an underlying sense of being pistol-whipped by the footballing gods. We weren't even allowed to celebrate winning the Championship three seasons ago properly. Despite having the points we arrived for our final home game not knowing whether we were going to be allowed to keep a well-deserved title - or even be granted promotion. Europe hasn't helped. In 1967 when we became the first and only third-tier club to win the League Cup. We were barred from playing in Europe because we were not a First Division club. When we did get to Europe after finishing runner-up to Liverpool (who were allowed to play their final title-winning game AFTER the season had ended for the first and only time in the league's history) in 1976, we got to the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup only to lose on penalties. A couple of players, including Stan Bowles were held in jail the night before the game on unsubstantiated charges. When we finished fifth in 1988, we missed out on Europe because of the Heysel ban - as we did in 1993. As for the present, our owner, Tony Fernandes, has been handicapped by timing, circumstance, a ****** of a Welshman and his own enthusiasm and naivety. We bought stupidly in the first transfer window on our return to the Premier League because the sale of the club to Fernandes did not go through until the middle of August. It was a case of pay now, regret later because - barring Joey Barton (and that has been a hell of a long Road to Damascus) - none of those players were worthy of the money we have been giving them. Mark Hughes then pulled his pants down further by bringing in the most toxic group of players imaginable. Ask your manager about our dressing room when he first walked into it in August. Since then we have been a little smarter, though it may not appear so from a distance. Chris Samba (on nowhere near £100m a week btw) was sold back to the club from whence he came at a profit. Young players have been bought (Matt Phillips for example) or genuine talent that could be sold for a profit (Loic Remy). But mud sticks in this game, and we are seen as moneybags with £117m debt. Meanwhile, clubs like Atletico Madrid (have a look at their finances, how much they owe the taxman, I dare you) are lauded for doing things the right way. The club has done many things wrong, but it is our club and on Monday night we saw a whole outpouring of emotion from what has been a very difficult lifetime supporting our team. We are looking forward to Wembley because the only other play-off final we went to was in Cardiff - against Cardiff - and was the first play-off final not to feature the national anthem before the game. --The journey home was no fun either: every bridge on the M4 had signs saying "**** off, English scum" all the way to the toll booth where you have to pay to leave Wales (free to get in, btw).--- Look, this may seem all a little moany to many of you, but it is difficult to be riled in the press and by all fans of football when you feel that all you have done is the best you can for the club that you love. Looking forward to playing you next week, you are a good club and I know you have not been without your dark days. Let's make Wembley a stadium of light next Saturday. PS. If you want a good QPR forum, try qprdot.org. And don't call us cockneys, we are as close to being cockneys as you are to being from Nottingham... You Rs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srg Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Stopped reading after something about Panama based debt. Been there, done that, got the locked up previous owners. Bore off with the poor me nonsense. We have seen that documentary with some of the owners you've had recently, and you've done nothing but buy success and have a wage bill higher than that of this years Champions League Finalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoollyJumper Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Stopped reading after something about Panama based debt. Been there, done that, got the locked up previous owners. Bore off with the poor me nonsense. We have seen that documentary with some of the owners you've had recently, and you've done nothing but buy success and have a wage bill higher than that of this years Champions League Finalists. Not a QPR fan then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfoot Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Not a QPR fan then? Stopped reading after something about Panama based debt. Been there, done that, got the locked up previous owners. Bore off with the poor me nonsense. We have seen that documentary with some of the owners you've had recently, and you've done nothing but buy success and have a wage bill higher than that of this years Champions League Finalists. Another myth: we don't have a higher wage bill than Atletico Madrid. The six uber wage earners: Chris Samba, Loic Remy, Jose Bosingwa, Esteban Granero, Park ji Sung and Julio Cesar are no longer at the club. I think you would probably be glad of at least one of those no longer being at the club on Saturday week. I'll leave you to decide which one... Clue: it's not Bosw***er Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaave Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Bosingwa for me, always looked right up for it in a QPR shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlsonDerby Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Nothing against QPR except how arrogant your fans seemed on a forum but fxcking hate that odious little wheeler dealer manager of yours. "It's not my fault that our wage bill is higher than Dorrmund and Atletis, the chairman buys the players not me... Oh he's triffic let's see if we can sort something out..." **** off Redknapp and shove your rich dog up your arse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafiabob Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I think it's just the one forum where there knuckle draggers.... The rest seem ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srg Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 No coincidence that it seems to happen wherever he goes. Portsmouth anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydrakin Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Used to feel quite ok towards QPR - liked them when they had the likes of Ferdninand and Sinclair there. Really don't care for them with Harry and the huge amounts of money being thrown about though... I feel for the fans having to pay hugely over the odds to watch their side though... but I do wish them all the worst in their next game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StockholmRam Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Joey Barton... Stubbed cigar out on a junior players eyelids... He beat up one of his Man City colleagues so badly that the retina became detached and the players career ended... He recieved a 7 month suspended prison sentence.. He then beat two guys ( one of them a teenage boy) unconcious early one morning in Liverpool... He recieves an actuall prison sentence. Comes out..gets suspended numerous times for headbutts, stamping etc... QPR fans chant his name..treat him as a hero.... Feck off QPR fans. FECK OFF big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfoot Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 No coincidence that it seems to happen wherever he goes. Portsmouth anyone? And, er, Bournemouth, West Ham. Spurs didn't fare too badly money-wise while he was in charge either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyinLiverpool Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 And, er, Bournemouth, West Ham. Spurs didn't fare too badly money-wise while he was in charge either... Southampton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam the Ram Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 World's most overrated manager A wage bill 4 or 5 times bigger than most other Championship clubs Spent 10 times more on players than most other Championship clubs this season 90% of your fans were already talking about who to sign in the Prem 10 or 11 games into the season after you went 7/8 games without conceding a goal The majority of your players think they're better than they actually are (Mainly Barton) 'If Austin didn't get injured we'd be challenging for top 2' Ermmmm, no Just a few reasons I dislike you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsbottom Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 TBF I didn't mind you boys until Warnock was installed as manager, any club associated with him is automatically disliked on principle. Couple that with your current manager being a tax dodging nearly man, your midfield general being a complete c**t and the fact all the cretins on wearerangersboys have been calling us stuck up, norfen monkeys & caaaants... I hope we smash you!!!Having said that, you've got a few players that can punish us if they're up for it so I can see you sneaking it by a goal... Maybe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambitious Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I don't buy this... You came down and still spent money, Charlie Austin for example is more expensive than any signing we have made in our history. You're by far and away the most expensively assembled squad in the league. Although I do agree it's nowhere near as bad as the press are saying, because of what you said about players being at other clubs, you're still signing ludicrously expensive players. Danny Simpson, Richard Dunne, Charlie Austin, Matt Phillips, Niko Kranjcar, Yossi Benayoun, Assou-Ekotto and Ravel Morrison - you think these are players that are reasonable budget players for this division? the fact a few of them may be dross is by the by, I know Charlie Austin's (rumoured) weekly wage is twice that of the whole Yeovil Town football club (not just the players) I get many QPR fans may not come from arrogant backgrounds, but on the other hand you can't argue that mentalities change with money. It would happen at every club. I don't begrudge QPR success, but they haven't done things 'the right way' neither have Forest, Bolton and a few others. It's not an excuse or a dig, it's just an observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Willems Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Think that's a decent post from the QPR fan, don't forget our shared history, that 'Panamanian company' was the same one we were unfortunate to be involved with. I know a few hoops fans and they don't strike me as arrogant, there are always a few bad apples, we have them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Spalding Ram Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Tony Fernandes owns 66%, (estimated 200m in the piggy bank), the Mittal family own 34%, (worth about 11 billion and have appeared in the Times rich list every year since the groat) .......crocodile tears! ..........you ever heard of Robert Maxwell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I'm not too bothered by the majority of QPR fans, many of whom don't deserve what is going to happen to them eventually. However, that QPR forum contains the single largest group of arrogant, chavvy Chelsea wannabes I have ever seen. I check every forum of our rivals before and after a match, and some forums are better than others. For example, Brighton had a better than average knowledge of our game and seemed to be very fair on the opposition. Birmingham seemed the most stroppy in the league. But QPR, bloody hell, that wearetherangersboys website really is something else. Apparently we're not meant to be excited about beating a team 4-1 to reach Wembley, and now we're c*cky, inbred northern c*nts who need our gobs shut by god's own football team. And by the way, it's totally okay to strut about after beating Wigan narrowly in extra time. They talk exactly like the fans did on the Chelsea forum I looked at before the cup match. They also seem to think that our poor deprived area of third world England doesn't deserve investment, because, you know...those affluent West-London types really could do with Premier League football. And as for bringing up the Philpott case? I don't think Forest stooped that low on LTLF in the build up the game in March. Those fans aren't a fair sample of the QPR fan base so it would be harsh to judge the whole club based on them, but I really want to beat them just to shut that forum up. But then again, if we do beat them, it would be because of our cynical tactics and because they failed to turn up. The other lot on qprdot,org seem like a much better bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfoot Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 I don't buy this... You came down and still spent money, Charlie Austin for example is more expensive than any signing we have made in our history. You're by far and away the most expensively assembled squad in the league. Although I do agree it's nowhere near as bad as the press are saying, because of what you said about players being at other clubs, you're still signing ludicrously expensive players. Danny Simpson, Richard Dunne, Charlie Austin, Matt Phillips, Niko Kranjcar, Yossi Benayoun, Assou-Ekotto and Ravel Morrison - you think these are players that are reasonable budget players for this division? the fact a few of them may be dross is by the by, I know Charlie Austin's (rumoured) weekly wage is twice that of the whole Yeovil Town football club (not just the players) I get many QPR fans may not come from arrogant backgrounds, but on the other hand you can't argue that mentalities change with money. It would happen at every club. I don't begrudge QPR success, but they haven't done things 'the right way' neither have Forest, Bolton and a few others. It's not an excuse or a dig, it's just an observation. You won't find many QPR fans that disagree with you about the wages we are spending on players. It has got better, and it will get better. I will say that your view may change when you make it up to the Premier League - if it isn't this season then I am sure it will be the following season. It is a horrible world up there and it takes a very brave chairman to stand up against the kind of money players are asking for. Just ask Norwich. They have spent a lot of time being holier than thou, and yet they spent £26m last season and still believe they needed to spend more to stay up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfoot Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 I'm not too bothered by the majority of QPR fans, many of whom don't deserve what is going to happen to them eventually. However, that QPR forum contains the single largest group of arrogant, chavvy Chelsea wannabes I have ever seen. I check every forum of our rivals before and after a match, and some forums are better than others. For example, Brighton had a better than average knowledge of our game and seemed to be very fair on the opposition. Birmingham seemed the most stroppy in the league. But QPR, bloody hell, that wearetherangersboys website really is something else. Apparently we're not meant to be excited about beating a team 4-1 to reach Wembley, and now we're c*cky, inbred northern c*nts who deserve to need our mouths shut. And by the way, it's totally okay to strut about after beating Wigan narrowly in extra time. They talk exactly like the fans did on the Chelsea forum I looked at before the cup match. They also seem to think that our poor deprived area of third world England doesn't deserve investment, because, you know...those affluent West-London types really could do with Premier League football. And as for bringing up the Philpott case? I don't think Forest stooped that low on LTLF in the build up the game in March. Those fans aren't a fair sample of the QPR fan base so it would be harsh to judge the whole club based on them, but I really want to beat them just to shut that forum up. But then again, if we do beat them, it would be because of our cynical tactics and because they failed to turn up. The other lot on qprdot,org seem like a much better bunch. The wearetherangersboys site is an embarrassment. We would like to shut it down ourselves. I am surprised that they have the required brain capacity to work a computer, let alone write (or right as they might type..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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