| Forum Reply | Eze for England! at 19:23 6 Jun 2024
I like the selection and bravery - especially in midfield, we are only a few years from Henderson and Phillips, so to go full out with youth and ball players is admirable. If I'm nitpicking I'd have also taken Grealish, probably over Toney or Bowen, and Dunk wouldn't have made my 33 let alone the 26, but lots to be positive about. The youth of that team is really really exciting - most of them could still be eligible for the U21s. Foden just turned 24, Bellingham just 20, Wharton 20, Mainoo 19, Palmer 22, Guehi 23, Saka 22... Southgate might have stuck with some of his favourites for a bit too long, and I'm not sure why he doesn't seem to rate anyone playing in Italy, but he's promoted a lot of youth and made some ballsy decisions here - let's hope that carries into the actual games |
| Forum Reply | What is your second sport. at 13:18 5 Jun 2024
NFL. I've always had a passing interest and used to watch the late night channel 5 highlights back in the day, but the last 5 or so years I've got heavily involved - I think it's incredible. With the modern game the way it is, I'd go as far to say that I prefer watching the NFL to PL football... I'd take a live NFL game over anything outside of QPR. |
| Forum Reply | Begovic - Best QPR Goalie in Years at 16:09 2 Jun 2024
Cifuentes won't be the one handing out contracts, but if Begovic is here next year as anything other than a relatively cheap experienced backup, it will be devastating for what we're hoping to achieve. Apart from being generally shit, he's a million miles off being able to play a progressive style, and we shouldn't continue to make compromises to cover his vast limitations. |
| Forum Reply | Begovic - Best QPR Goalie in Years at 18:54 1 Jun 2024
He's been crap. The eye test, the data, the finances. On every metric he was a terrible signing. You're either contrary or clueless. |
| Forum Reply | Begovic - Best QPR Goalie in Years at 18:46 1 Jun 2024
Some of the chat here is incredible, surely there's no actual match attending fans that have seen his contributions over nearly 50 games and think we can't and shouldn't do better... |
| Forum Reply | QPR Barnet XI at 15:51 30 May 2024
We really haven't had pace at QPR for 20 years |
| Forum Reply | MUSICAL TOP FIVES - You HATE!!! at 11:37 25 May 2024
It's extreme levels of ignorance to not like rap on the assumption that it's all the same. I would say there's probably more variation in Hip-Hop than any other style of music.... Bruce Springsteen made me miss a train once. Prick. |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Midfield (plus part two of the Patreon pod) at 19:09 24 May 2024
I get all of that and of course agree in the main, but there's been a losing mentality throughout the club for a long time, and it's shown up too often. Eustace said as much to Warburton when he joined, then Ainsworth doubled down by making out that we should be grateful just to be here, and a lot of the interview stuff with Marti felt refreshing because he seemed to be addressing exactly that - football is not about what you deserve, etc. There's definitely signs that we're correcting things, and installing a proper culture to raise the bar. The Coventry win last day was so important for exactly that reason - it's a game that should matter, and it did - a massive step in the right direction, one of many since Marti was appointed. |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Midfield (plus part two of the Patreon pod) at 15:21 24 May 2024
I've said this a few times already, but I think as a club and fanbase we have to start raising our standards. I know in the context of the first half of the season that the ending was brilliant, but we've been so mired in this losing/survival/ grateful to be invited mentality that we start to celebrate mediocrity. I'm not saying we shouldn't actively support the team if they're underperforming, but I think it's right to expect better and hold players to account. There's a lot to be optimistic about now but in the grand scheme of things this season was a failure - snatching survival shouldn't excuse that. |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Midfield (plus part two of the Patreon pod) at 14:46 24 May 2024
With so much nuance it's hard to settle fairly on a single mark, but I also wanted to avoid fence sitting by giving too many C/D D/E type scores. Most people did get a D or below, but then, it's not been a very good season... The last third we were a solid team making the most of limited opportunities and in the end did enough - but we were in a relegation fight all year, had multiple weekends where results went for us, and the first part of this season was the worst football I've ever seen - to hand out A's and B's in that context felt a little generous... That said, it's hard to argue that there were pretty good and consistent performers amongst the wreckage. Once you go through with the scores, you also have to start comparing marks and making adjustments accordingly. I thought Paal was decent - slightly more consistent that Dunne, who struggled for a lot of the season, but not quite as good as Field, who was playing to his strengths under Ainsworth and adapted by the end for Marti. So Field B, Paal B/C, Dunne C, etc. A - Cook B - JCS, Chair, Field, Andersen B/C - Colback, Paal C - Dunne, Hayden, Willock C/D - Smyth D - Cannon, Elijah D-B, Dykes, Armstrong, Hodge, Kolli D/E - Larkeche, Fox E - Adomah, Kakay, Begovic, Frey F - Dozzell U - Richards We were 2 games from relegation, and I'd be interested to hear if anyone would have pushed back about low scores if that had played out... |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Defenders at 14:23 21 May 2024
With end of season awards I really feel Chair suffers from his own high consistency. When he falls below his usual excellent standards, he's having an 'off day' - even though that off day is just about better than most of the rest manage at their best. Meanwhile when he is carrying the team as our only attacking outlet, running himself into the ground, popping up with a goal or assist - it's a 'business as usual' performance. 15 g/a's this season, in a team that had no scoring strikers or creativity generally - and his metrics are off the charts everywhere. The POTY might as well be the 'exceeded expectations award' |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Defenders at 14:40 20 May 2024
The missed games, especially for those in the building for the Ainsworth period, was part of why I was really reticent to give an outright A to anybody. In the end though our entire defence bar Paal missed about 10-15 starts - which made it easier to directly compare them. Imo only Cook, JCS and Chair got close to an A grade, but all have areas to improve for next season. |
| Forum Reply | Which will be strongest at 16:29 17 May 2024
Luton have done it exactly right - kept the better players that got them promoted and added realistic signings that would easily be top Championship players. Doughty, Ogbene, Chong, Giles, Campbell, Adebayo, Morris, Brown etc are all proven players at this level, and you'd imagine they will splash a little more money for similar if any of those move on. Will def be a top 6 favourite next season. |
| Forum Reply | End of Term Report 23/24 – Goalkeepers at 15:56 17 May 2024
'We had good conversations in my time here' 3 years worth of wages and the overriding positive is that he's nice to bump into. |
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