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Wherever you look at the moment everyone is trotting out the reviews of the season. If they are starting now then the season has ended early. For most of us the season has fizzled out long before the death or glory of a final day. For QPR fans the season ended the day Paolo Sousa was sacked, sorry, we don’t sack folk…the day Sousa was ‘disappeared’!

Writing a blog has been hard this year, not just because it’s the first year I’ve had to combine it with a rapidly growing child, but to be frank I’ve just not felt like bothering with the club. If a word can sum up a season then I’d go for embarrassment. Looking through my meagre contributions this season its easy to see how disillusioned I got, and how quickly too!

In August I was faintly excited but worried by our lack of signings to really build on a squad. I was prepared to challenge people who were already getting on Dowie’s back but by September I was taking the micky out of Garath Ainsworth and his role as chief cheerleader…how little I knew!

October exploded with Dowie’s sacking, sorry self-combustion or whatever he did. I thought we’d reached a low point. By November I’d given up only to have my hopes raised by the surprising baby-Mourinho Paulo Sousa. Had we accidentally stumbled on a messiah? No, my only blog since February was a half-hearted whine at Sousa’s removal. Not my finest year to be honest.

If I had any interest in soaps then this would have been a season to savour, but I don’t and it wasn’t. Five years ago I checked the Internet everyday expecting to see that we’d gone belly up or, and I never believed it could happen; a millionaire had bailed us out. Then it happened, everything we wished for had come true and in spades. Not just one millionaire, but three and the last one spelt million with a b! Would I have changed any of that if I’d known what I know now? On balance no, but it’s a close call.

Without investment I don’t believe we could have continued the way we were, bouts of administration and a tumble down the league(s) were inevitable and while our core support was galvanised the last time it happened, you can’t keep collapsing and expect the loyal fans to keep bailing you out.

With investment we appear to be at the mercy of a Gucci-fat megalomaniac with a 1960’s comic book idea of how a football club is run. It can only be the fact that he cant see his feet that stops him lacing up a pair of footy boots (do they still lace up?) and turning out at centre forward…actually now I’ve typed that I can’t help but think his scoring record would be comparable to most of our forwards!

If he and the others removed their backing then rather than a roll down the gentle slopes of the football pyramid, we’d take a straight leap of the cliff edge.

So where are we and where can it end…well here’s the view from my armchair.

For any owner to come in and ever hoped to be remembered as a positive influence at a club, short of buying success like Abramovich, the best way of achieving it is to bring everyone together. Most club buy-outs are fire sales and there’s usually a lot fences to re-build. Our three wise men seem hell bent on destroying everything. It wouldn’t have been difficult to meld us into one unstoppable force. Ray Jones, the depths we had sunk and ten long years of desperate struggle had forged a deep intensity to our faith, yet they appear to want to tear this down.

If Flavio et al are in this for the long haul then he should start at the bottom. Who, Ray Jones aside, was the last player to go through our youth set up and really establish themselves? Richard Langley probably. It’s not exactly a conveyor belt is it? I accept it doesn’t help when Tottenham take our best prospect in years, but if we want to build a solid foundation and crucially become less reliant on our sugar daddies wallets then here is where it must start.

The club must be a club from head to toe; it must be aware of its history but not bound by it. Fortunately our highs are relatively sparse so there’s no weight of expectation from that quarter. Successful clubs try to do the right thing, they treat all who visit as welcome guests and the good feeling this generates is all positive energy to be used to build a feeling that the club is going places. I don’t think our present board understands this, I don’t think the Derby fans being charged £40 to sit in a cramped, restricted pan felt any positive thoughts towards us.

I’m fairly confident that every season ticket holder being asked to fork more and more money to watch less and less entertainment would struggle to muster much positivity.
Over the past few years the turn over in personnel behind the scenes has been alarming, so any change in how the club is run must be made at the top and trickled through every corner of the operation. Hands up if you think Gianni Paladini’s first priority is his own security or the well being of the club? Do I know Mr Paladini personally? No! Do I know the inner workings of the club intimately? No! Do I think my wild speculation is too far from the mark? No!

The only reason he retains such a prominent role is his ability to say ‘si’. If that was all he did then fine, someone’s got to lick Flavio’s arse, who better? But if only half the rumours of his interest in our transfer affairs is true then it is imperative that he is removed as soon as possible.

A year ago we sat in exactly the same place, but with real optimism about what lay ahead, of course it was disappointing that De Canio had gone, but what a foundation to build on. A few judicious signings could’ve launched the season. What transpired was another confused pre-season, a handful of hopeful loan signings and no real quality brought in. We’ve started again this year. No sign of a manager and we are fighting tooth and nail to give Dele Adebola a contract? It makes you want to cry!

Obviously the need for a decent striker is blatantly obvious. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen us really compete for premiership quality, I don’t think our owners, rich as they are, ever will dig that deep. I do however think that there are good options if you look for the disaffected and undervalued. Portsmouth are not holding the funds they once had, unless Tottenham are continuing to launder cash through them? Could David Nugent be a viable target? How many minutes has David Healy managed at Sunderland this year? Both have pedigree at our level; both would be gettable for an ambitious championship team.

Under the same principle I think Danny Shittu would welcome a move from Bolton. I’m glad Damion Stewart was recognised for his efforts, but I’d love to see big Dan back.

If we could get Buszacky and Rowlands fit, retain Blackstock and have the Lee Cook we all remembered, then two out of my three targets would make a pretty formidable squad.

The big question is which three managers do you want in charge next year and in what order?

The club and possibly you would say ‘what right have you to question anything’? Other than I’ve taken the time to compose this blog, no right whatsoever. Other than the 35 years I’ve spent following the club I can cite nothing to suppose anyone should take my views seriously. Indeed there is a fairly persuasive argument that says the vocal Internet interest is an insignificant minority and that the vast majority of fans couldn’t care less if Pol Pot, Fred West and the Cheeky Girls were in charge as long as we were winning.
If that is the case then I’m simply pissing in the wind here. I do honestly believe that we ‘the underwhelmed’ are merely the tip of the iceberg. The steady erosion of the club, if left unchecked, will get to a point where there is nothing left to salvage.

I don’t think it has to be this way. If all our millionaire owners want to do is bleed us dry, then they could manage it with a lot less hassle than the current situation. We are football fans, sheep, happy to go to slaughter. We’ll shell out thousands of pounds, especially if we think we are loved. Flavio and friends, I’m appealing to your greedy, avaricious, self-promoting and self regarding nature. Run the club properly and we’ll happily bend over. Otherwise the only way you’ll be rid of this incessant irritating chatter of discontent is when the last one of us leaves and turns the light off.

May our summer be long, hot and preferably full of good news.

The team is managerless, the players appear to not give a rat’s arse and the supporters are divided about whether or not our superrich owners are up to the job.  Hmmm… can we sink any lower?

About the only positive from that lot is the word superrich.  Take that away and we are doomed (feel free to assume a dodgy Scottish maritime accent at this point if it makes you feel better).  What worries me is that by frightening off Briatore and co, we could really screw this club up, as in this financial climate, who is going to want to buy a football club that’s got £20M in debts?  Briatore has his faults, but at least he is prepared to keep the club going.  Is it a case of better the devil you know?  To me this next season is the crucial one; mistakes have been made – will they be corrected or will we continue along the same path?  There is so much potential at the club, but the current path leads to oblivion rather than the Premier League.

So I have a three step plan.  Some of it might be obvious, but sometimes the obvious is also the most difficult to see:

1 – Appoint a manager and stick with him for the whole season.  If he doesn’t improve the club’s league position, then fine, sack him; but lets base this on results, not style of play, personality or what appear to be petty legal squabbles.

2 – Try and bridge the widening gap between club and supporters.  The POTY was a PR disaster, the season ticket prices have been a PR disaster.  More spin comes out of the club than No.10 when Pete Best has come along for a sing song.  Now I appreciate that the days of full openness are gone (Bill Power was a one off), but lets get a few basics right  - be honest, give a little more information on things going on at the club and actually give an honest opinion on goings on – i.e. explain why.  Otherwise the internet message boards will go into overdrive on rumour and speculation, which only makes things worse.

3 – Get a scouting team together.  We are only one or two players off really challenging – and that deserves a hell of a lot of credit.  We’ve come a long way in 2 years.  But we need professional help identifying players, as our current method seems a little hit or miss.  We need another striker and depth at full back, plus perhaps another keeper.  That’s probably only 2 first team players away from challenging.  But a proper scouting team will do a better job in the long run than doing things via friends and colleagues say so.  Even the great Brian Clough had Peter Taylor to do the scouting for him.

So that’s it – 3 steps from becoming a team we can all get behind, enjoy and rediscover our love of football and all things hoppy in a blue and white way.  Most of these don’t require a huge amount of money either, but will provide value for money.

I know a lot of the folk on the board are parents and I’m sure you’ve all had that same knot of fear every time you remember that some one depends on you not doing something stupid.

It could be something small like drifting off on the sofa after a long day at work to find that junior is happily trying to pull something twice his size off the nearest table or maybe it’s a something seriously idiotic like trying to adjust his seat whilst flying down a motorway.

So it’s with a sense of real shame that I admit to you all that I’ve done something really, really stupid. I did it with full comprehension of what the consequences might be. I deserve everything that is coming to me.

My son was one last week; I bought him a Queens Park Rangers Football kit.

Why would I, who would walk in front of a bus for him, wish such misery on my son? Why would I think he’d want to have anything to do with a Football Club that is the mere plaything of fat dictators and desperate hangers on?

I can’t change my colours now, but is it right to put this on his shoulders?

Depressed, embarrassed and resigned…it’s no fun being the second richest club in the world!

In a season with much to complain about it is hard sometimes to think of positives, but I managed to find a little one and that’s the form of our much maligned goalkeeper, Radek Cerny.

We’ve had some disappointing results lately of course and whilst the nil nil home draw with Sheffield United was one of them it marked a small milestone for Cerny when he became one of only twelve Rangers custodians to keep fifteen clean sheets in a season, joining Chris Woods (1979-80) and Charlie Shaw (1907-08).

The last time an R’s goalie did better was seventeen years ago when Jan Stejskal kept sixteen clean sheets in the 1991-92 campaign, a level matched by several others over the years including greats like Phil Parkes (1976-77), Reg Allen (1947-48) and Ron Springett (1967-68). .

Considering the seasons those three were involved in at the time it perhaps makes it even more impressive that Cerny has done this in a time of mediocrity rather than one that will go down in history. .

Radek will have to go some to beat the club record though which is currently shared between Parkes (1971-72) and Shaw (1909-10) and stands at 23 clean sheets and with only nine games left this season he’ll have to not concede again this season to beat that. Get another couple before May though and he’ll shoot up the list. .

For the record Parkes and Shaw are the only two ‘keepers to keep over twenty clean sheets in season with Parkes also achieving the same feat in 1972-73 (22 clean sheets) and 1975-76 (21 clean sheets). Whilst three others have kept exactly twenty clean sheets in a single campaign Peter Springett (1966-67), Peter Hucker (1982-83), and Leonard Hill (1920-21). .

Maybe next year Radek.

The booing of Gavin Mahon has been the hot topic of the week and you won’t find any arguments here, abusing your own players during the game is pretty pointless. However there was something else during Saturday’s game that bothered me even more.

Mahon had a shocker, I’m sure if you asked him he’d be the first to admit it but he wasn’t the only one, Lee Camp was shaky, Fitz Hall unconvincing, Lee Cook ineffective but it was Sousa himself made some strange decisions.

I’ll start with the formation. I like the 4-1-4-1 away from home, it’s solid, does it job and Mahon shines in it on our travels. At Loftus Road though it’s restrictive and doesn’t make use of our best options.

How many times over the last few years have we watched managers force players into wide positions they aren’t suited to simply to employ a 4-4-2. We’ve seen players like Mikele Leigertwood, Martin Rowlands, Kevin Gallen, Stefan Moore and even Matthew Rose employed as wingers because we just didn’t have the personnel to play there.

The most frustrating thing about the current situation is we have two wingers who couldn’t be more suited to playing a straight 4-4-2, surely Cook and Routledge if given license to get wide would cut full backs to pieces at home and those two feeding two strikers should prove deadly no?

Paulo’s changes were also poor, his decision to switch to three at the back so early on cost us in the end, however had we nicked a goal rather than leaked one we’d be hailing his bravery much like the Preston win earlier this season. It’s a funny old game, as someone once said.

To get back to the original paragraph it wasn’t the Mahon booing that annoyed me the most on Saturday.  “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang around Loftus Road as Paulo Sousa refused to remove his skipper from the game. Are we turning on another manager now? Give me strength.

Honestly what was all that about? The guy made a rick or three granted and, like Mahon, I bet he knows it too. He’s a young manager who is learning all the time, the key thing will be does he learn from it? Only time will tell but in the meantime do we really want to start giving him stick now?

So far he’s done a pretty solid job, he’s given us good results and decent performances and the club looks to be slowly heading in the right direction with him at helm.

Frankly we’d have to plummet into freefall for me to want shot of yet another manager right now. Briatore doesn’t need any encouragement to flex his trigger finger and another change at the top would make us a laughing stock.

Sousa has to be given time to do things his way and, like the booing of Mahon, surely getting on his back will help no one in the long run?

“I’m delighted to have been given a second chance at QPR and I’ll be doing everything I can to hang onto the number spot”

That’s what Lee Camp should have said when asked about his future by local Nottingham journalists. Instead it came out as

“If Forest want to do something, fantastic it would certainly interest me, but the ball is in Forest’s court.”

And with that sentence his QPR career should be over, ring Forest see what they’ll pay, ship him out there, done deal.  

If a player wants away that much, let him go, it’ll do nothing but harm to keep him hanging around. Especially as this all came out after he spent half of Saturday’s game waving at the Forest fans as if he’d found his parents in the crowd.

Clearly Camp is unhappy with not being first choice anymore as he makes obvious with these comments, which rather than highlight his problems to the people that matter will only ensure Cerny comes straight back into the side at the first opportunity.

“I went back and I trained with the youth team. I was left out of squads and the reason I have been brought back in is because Radek`s injured. I played today, I played the last couple but Radek`s still injured so we`ll see what happens when Radek`s fit and available for selection.”

It seems that he simply does not like competition. It happened at Derby and now it’s happened at Rangers. He wants to be an undisputed number one goalkeeper at the football club. That can be achieved easily enough but he won’t have much of a career because he’ll end up having to go and play in Leagues One or Two. No major side from the top two divisions is going to leave them themselves in that position.

I don’t know why he’s been training with the youth team but if he’s that fed up and prepared to kick up this much of a fuss maybe it’s simple, keep him away from the pro’s, don’t let his negativity spread.

At 24 years old and some six years off your peak as a ‘keeper I guess there’s two ways you can go. You can look at the situation and decide - right I’m going to stay here and fight for my place and whilst I’m here I’m going to learn everything I can off this seasoned international I’ve got ahead of me and when I do come back into the side I’ll be the better player for it.

Or you can sulk and demand to leave.

So Camp will doubtless move on soon, he’ll get his move and I’ve no doubt he’ll do very well. He’ll look fantastic, make great saves and the fans will love him. Then in a year or two he’ll get injured, or run a little off form. His new club will have the temerity to bring in another goalkeeper and this whole saga will start again. Before you know it he’ll be the number one choice at Southend or such like.

The play-offs remain a distinct possibility. The stark mathematics of it are that we are 3 points behind Preston with a game in hand with an equal goal difference with 16 games to go for us. Although in reality we have to face the fact that it’s a damn site more complicated than a two horse race. So lets look at the play-off runners and riders shall we?The pedigreesLets face it – Wolves Reading and Birmingham have a significant advantage. I would be shocked if anyone other than these three made up the two promotion places. Birmingham are seven points ahead of Preston in sixth, so I would also be shocked if the one that missed out on promotion lost out on the play-offs as well. So in my mind, that leaves only 3 play-off spots left.

The incumbents

Sheffield Utd, Cardiff and Preston are the teams that currently hold the cherished spots. These three have been there or there abouts all season. They have also been there before in recent times having experienced the play-offs in seasons past. That implies they have the mental strength to see the job through.

The challengers

Us, Burnley, Bristol City and Palace have also been in the top 10 in the league for a while now, but haven’t quite cracked the top 6. All four are clubs that have been through some bad times and are on an up-swing. But how high does that up extend?

The form teams

Swansea and Ipswich are in form and have gate-crashed the top ten in recent weeks as a result. I for one was pleased that we didn’t play Swansea the other day as it gives them longer to lose that good form and confidence (hopefully). Ipswich too are on a run having lost only once since Xmas – and that was to Birmingham on Boxing Day. We all remember how Dowie’s palace went from relegation fodder to the Premiership on a good run – so these teams need to be watched.

The Rest

Being honest I don’t see any other teams coming late on the rails. Sheffield Wednesday is the next team and they are 10 points behind Preston. Coventry a further 2 points adrift. I have a theory that once you need to catch up more than a point a game, then you may as well forget it. Let’s see if I’m right.

So who is going to make it?

Those of you that read my predictions blog will see that I’m pretty bad. I said we’d have a new manager and just miss out on the play-offs. Those were two of my better predictions! I said “Birmingham and Palace to go up”, so that’s one out of two there possibly? Sheffield Utd to be in the playoffs also pretty good – but I said Charlton and Derby would also be there… Hmmmm. So I’m going to stay out of that game, and just hope that come 3rd May, that Preston game means something, even if that is resting a few players before the next game…

The transfer window has closed, the sense of frustration amongst R’s fans is as palpable as it was at the end of August. The project is still not finished.

At the end of last season, before the disappearance of De Canio admittedly, there was, for the first time in ages, a sense of contentment. In the space of a few months we had gone from the edge of the abyss to the beginnings of a bright new future. Talk of new stadiums, a 5-year plan and an era of stability allowed us to think of a return to the top flight.

For most the realisation of this once distant dream was not to be an overnight affair, patient building secured by a stable financial base was to be our path. The days of knee jerk reactions and pointless spending to be thrown away.

The team, whilst obviously weak in some areas, had shown an ability and durability through the back half of the season and with a few judicious signings thrown into the mix it looked like De Canio was able to build a team of contenders around the energy of Rowlands and the class of Buzsaky.

Before the season had started that dream was in tatters. De Canio gone and all our squad building hopes seemingly heaped onto the shoulders of a young Spaniard who had no idea as to what he was letting himself in for. To compound this the clubs saviours, once hailed as astute sporting businessmen had seemingly gone mad, intent on alienating the long suffering fan base and suddenly in a rush to achieve their premiership dream.

By Christmas the club was back to its comedic best, only with more money. The Mad Italian owner (think Nero fiddling away) had installed himself as emperor and had the equivalent of an over-enthusiastic red setter in charge of team affairs. Eventually they saw through the madness and appointed what appears to be a decent coach and despite the shenanigans so far the club is sat just outside the play offs.

So here we are, some twelve players better off, yet we are where we were in August, still needing decent full back cover and a finisher! At least three different managers (four if you include Nero) and still the feeling remains that Rowland and Buszacy are the key. Only now you sense that if we fall short it’ll be because both their seasons ended early rather than madness behind the scenes.

Generally, most R’s are happy with the season so far. It would have been lovely to build on the football that De Cano hinted at, but Sousa appears to be a manager who wants to play the right way and there is every chance that we’ll go to Preston in May with something to play for. I’m happy with that.

So why the frustration? Maybe it’s the nagging feeling that our cabal of Million and billionaires haven’t finished meddling. Maybe the softly softly approach in the transfer market is merely a smokescreen. Maybe they are playing at running a football club, something to do in-between Formula one seasons?

Whatever their plans, if what has gone on this season is any indicator, there’s no pandering to the faithful and they’ll not be asking our opinion.

Now I’m not talking to you Mr Arsenal, Mr Man Utd, Mr Liverpool or Mr Chelsea.  You won’t be listening, but I am talking to the rest of you.

Have you noticed which three clubs are currently bottom of the Championship (today being 30^th January 2009)?  Probably not, as you are too wrapped up in your own little Premiership bubble, so I will have to tell you; Charlton, Southampton and Derby.

I expect many of you are now confused… what does this have to do with us?

Do you notice a common theme between the three of them?  There is more than one answer to this by the way…  That’s right; they all have large financial difficulties and big debts.  But have you noticed something else?  No?  OK I will tell you.  Recently they were part of your little gang – premiership clubs that didn’t stand a snowball in hells chance of winning the Premiership, but were quite happy to gobble up the millions of pounds on offer, without much thought about how it could go wrong.

This is, therefore, a cautionary tale, and yes it could happen to you.  Charlton were widely considered to be one of the best run clubs.  Southampton had been in the Premiership since the start – and were in the FA Cup final not so long ago.  Derby were only in the Premiership one year, but they still emphasise the main problem.  Substitute them with supposed big clubs like Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds if you prefer.  Still think it can’t happen to you Mr Tottenham, Blackburn or Middlesbrough?  Have you not seen the league table recently?

The way football is currently run is unsustainable.  Your club will be ruined for a long, long time unless you realise that Premiership earnings need to be spread more evenly across all four professional divisions.  All it takes is one bad year and the slippery slope will grab you.  Parachute payments are not enough to cover large squads on Premiership wages.  You have to sell your best players and the disgruntled ones who think they are too good for the Championship (even though they got you there in the first place).  Others will want to hang around getting big cash while they line their pockets.  Before long you will be in the position that Southampton, Charlton and Derby find themselves in – broke and facing relegation to the Third division.

The time has come to realise that in this credit crunch era that paying players £100k per week is obscene.  The money raised by the Sky deal will never bee seen again and that you are already putting the future of your club in jeopardy.  Football is better off with 92 well run clubs producing an interesting product that everyone want to see and can afford) rather than £1000+ season tickets that only attracts banker boys and an aging spectator profile.

Think about the future of your team – not this season but for the next 20 years.  Act now and save football as an entity.

The trouble is I still don’t think you’ve got it.  Perhaps I’ll need to write another letter next week with fewer syllables…

Have we fallen out of love with the FA Cup?  I’m not just talking about us as Rangers fans – although the pathetic 8k crowd says a lot (and no I wasn’t among them), I’m talking about football fans and clubs in general.

I remember back in the 80’s and 90’s getting genuinely excited about the cup draw.  Of course, we were in the top division then (under both guises), but I always thought we had an outside chance of winning it, even though we weren’t one of the “big 5” as was – Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal (so things have changed a little).  I still recall to this day the BBC pundits predicting who was going to win the cup and one year Gerald Sinstadt (sp?) making the comment that “to win the cup it is best to look at a team that isn’t challenging for the league or at risk of relegation”.  OK he then laughingly went on to predict Luton, but they had won the league cup the year before.  Things really have changed in that respect. 

Until Portsmouth’s “shock” win last year the new big 4 had a monopoly on the cup.  And yet these are the teams that don’t want the cup – they see it as a distraction from their very important Champions League matches.  We have already seen the endless replays distilled down to one replay and penalties.  The Cup is also sponsored.  And no-one has a real chance of winning it unless you are in the top echelons of the premiership. 

You already see the teams at the bottom of the division putting out weakened teams so that they can concentrate on the league.  Cup shocks are fewer and farther between and the number of league/cup doubles has increased rapidly.  I’ve even read reports on our match whereby people were hoping we were knocked out as the cup “isn’t a priority”.  But who is it a priority for anymore?  That cup run back in 82 was a catalyst for 13 years in the top division.  Heck we’ve even been drawn against West Brom again if we beat Burnley (if we can be bothered?).  Cardiff got lucky and made it to Wembley.  Lets get back in love with the cup and get some excitement back in our humdrum lives.