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Reply | Marti on today's defeat
at 15:22 22 Apr 2025
I just think on the balance of probabilities a new manager would do either the same or worse, at least initially (and in football, "initially" is the only time you sometimes get).
If you take this season:
1) A different manager would have had the same injuries more or less (I think Marti over-played Cook, albeit with limited alternatives)
2) A different manager would have had a similar squad, with the same questionable summer signings, seeing as transfers are decided by committee
3) A different manager couldn't have done much more to blood youth players (bar Kolli early season, but that might have been more due to contractual reasons above his pay-grade).
Possibly Marti could be criticised for not solving our perennial problem of being unable to progress the ball through the midfield, with the repetitive and reductive passing backwards, but maybe that's more about the limitations of the players? An open question perhaps.
With the possible exception of Danny Rohl am struggling to think of another manager we have come across this season where I've come away thinking "if only we had him, he would transform our team." And even then there is very little in it. Ironically Swansea were perhaps such a team who played as Marti would like us to play, but their manager has yet to prove himself over a longer period. |
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Reply | Marti on today's defeat
at 14:20 22 Apr 2025
OK thanks for clarification mate. Yes not sure any of us were in the finest mood after that display.
If Marti gets a better offer then fair enough.
But think it would be a massive call for Nourry to sack Marti. Nourry doesn't seem very sure-footed about PR, but he is no idiot and he'll know how popular Marti is with fans, and also that he (Christian) hasn't achieved enough yet to make his own position 100% secure. Unless there has been some catastrophic bust up behind the scenes (and I guess it is a bit like the marriages of friends: often fairly grim private mysteries that are hard to read from the outside) I think tactically it would be a terrible move by Nourry.
The next managerial failure would all be on him. Plus I just think between Nourry and Marti, a lot of institutional knowledge (apologies for the horrendous management-speak phrase) has been built up. Think it would be a major self-inflicted wound to lose a lot of that and start the old QPR merry-go-round again. |
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Reply | Marti on today's defeat
at 13:58 22 Apr 2025
That is a bold statement coming from someone who, as the guy who runs the biggest QPR fans forum, presumably has contacts at the club, despite the lack of official interviews under this regime.
Given that you have made such a statement - and the way de-stabilising rumours can grow as wildly as late night Trump X tirades - it would be really helpful, please, to know if this is based on anything not in the public domain? Obvs if it is based on private conversations I would not expect you to reveal your source (naturally), but I hope its not unreasonable to ask if this is actually based on a source, whoever that is, or if it is simply your impression. If the latter, can you point me please to the instances that give rise to that impression?
If based on purely "out there" information it seems a very categorical statement given what we (or at least I) know. I wouldn't claim to follow the nuance of every press conference or fans forum as closely as you no doubt do. So it could well be that I am missing some important hints/ tensions, but as just another regular, averagely informed fan I would count it as a major shock in Marti left (unless he were poached which is of course possible).
He has the best rapport with fans of any manager since at least as far back as Warnock IMHO (which is remarkable given results). No doubt there are frustrations about budgets, some transfer decisions etc (is there a club where there aren't such tensions?). But Marti was Nourry's appointment and, broadly speaking, seems in his image in a way that an Ainsworth type manager could never be.
Marti appears to be one of our most intelligent managers since El Tel so presumably understood FFP restrictions, the decision-making process for transfers etc before he arrived? I get the injury issue must be absolutely infuriating for him (as it is for fans) but if this is about the Ben Williams role, better medical facilities, more data science etc etc, surely a practical solution could be found there? I imagine someone as analytical and science-driven as Nourry would want improvements in this area as much as Marti as whatever it would cost would surely be lower than what it costs to keep a bloated squad expected to cope with 8/9 first team players being out for long stretches of the season.
But maybe the above is all very naive and I am missing some major undercurrent. |
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Reply | The Madsen rehabilitation thread
at 23:03 20 Apr 2025
Some good points here but the crucial one you don’t address, surely, is attitude: you say he “struggled”, suggesting we should be understanding and patient.
But where was the effort? The fight? The sense of responsibility? Even if no one told him the Championship was a pretty tough, physical league, surely after he had spent his first 10 or 20 games as a virtual spectator watching often technically inferior players brush past him with contempt, it surely must have dawned on him that he needed to pull his finger out just a bit?
I’m delighted he has shown some improvement but I won’t easily forget the lack of application for 90% of the season. Nothing you have said gives him a get out of jail free card for that in my view.
He is a long way short of the flair players mentioned like Mike Fillery, let alone the Weagerles, Wilkins and Curries. And in the current age of fitness and application we are not a strong enough team to carry someone who won’t track back or close down.
I would genuinely be delighted to eat humble pie about Madsen but so far I don’t feel obliged to take it out of the fridge, let alone eat any of it |
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Reply | Easter Bunny PNE Match Thread
at 14:40 19 Apr 2025
A good post and injuries and injuries go a huge way to explaining our season.
What I do suspect (don’t have stats to back this up) is that we must be one of the most extreme teams in terms of form, going back to the Warbs era. Periods of ten games - or even half a season - of absolute horror either followed or preceded by brilliant runs.
Would be surprised if the form of many other teams have swung quite as violently as ours, but maybe I just don’t study rival teams closely enough |
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Reply | Players that left the club and it hurt as a fan
at 14:29 19 Apr 2025
Surprised how many say Les.
For me he stayed a season or two longer than he might have and his departure was fairly inevitable.
The heartache was how we squandered the proceeds and everything that flowed from that. Previously we had a real talent (which we probably only appreciate in retrospect now we know how hard it is) to pick up great replacements, but that came to an end with Les.
Suspect a lot of our choices reflect our age. When Stainrod left I was a teenager and that’s the age to have idols. As you get older you realise having heroes is a fool’s game, plus football no longer matters quite as much |
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Reply | Players that left the club and it hurt as a fan
at 10:54 19 Apr 2025
Simon Stainrod - epitomised Rangers of that era, such swagger. And all over a silly row with Mullers on a plane from memory. Bumped into him years later and he said being at Rangers were definitely the highlight of his career |
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Reply | Dunne off?
at 14:12 1 Feb 2025
"Lets just sort it out FFS!"
If only any negotiation were that easy.
If you have ever bought a house, you will know the dance.
Low-ball offer rejected, maybe a second offer rejected, but the third offer comes in, do you accept even though its less than you hoped for, fearing the buyer will walk away?
If the agent is any good he will be playing one club off against the other: "Well, we would have accepted x thousand a week, but now Sunderland have upped their offer to y thousand a week. Can you better it?" And so on.
Given where we are, the club don't have a massively strong hand because there is only one buyer and we can't let Jimmy walk for free in the summer.
Where the club were culpable IMHO is not getting him tied down much earlier, pre Sunderland interest, when Jimmy was waxing lyrical about his love of QPR, how it was his club, how he loved its Irish connection, London etc. Even if Marti didn't see him as part of his long-term Cruyffian future, it was clear after the second half of last season he was an asset of value. |
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Reply | Kelman?
at 19:04 31 Jan 2025
How old is Kelman v how old is Kohli? Yet the latter arguably more accomplished already. Maybe he has transformed at Orient but was completely ineffective for us. Nourry clear players have to at least be knocking on the first team door a lot earlier than Kelman has. |
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Reply | Dunne off?
at 19:00 31 Jan 2025
If so that just says to me that the club has messed up again as you describe with BOS and Manning.
It was clear as day from that interview that he WOULD have renewed if offered a reasonable contract then. The fact that he hasn’t signed in the interval suggests to me that the club was slow to get him tied down.
Unless Sheffield Utd have been tapping him up on the QT - possible I guess as in last year of contract - his head has only presumably been turned very recently. |
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Reply | Dunne off?
at 12:46 31 Jan 2025
Well as I intimated in my earlier post, the evidence would seem to point to the latter.
Someone posted on here an excellent interview with Jimmy from an Irish newspaper which (from memory) said no new contract had been agreed (or poss even discussed) but that Jimmy was incredibly happy, saw it as his club, no intention to leave etc.
The narrative here seems to be that if someone offers 2m we have to accept.
I get we must avoid a Bright/ Manning scenario at all costs.
But if we could get him to re-sign, and he continues to play as he does, who is to say he wouldn't be worth more than £2m in the summer? |
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Reply | Dunne off?
at 11:22 31 Jan 2025
So sad that even if we did get 2m it would be less than we reportedly paid for Madsen.
Unless we are already over our 3 yr FFP limit arguably we only need to sell if he refuses to renew (which isn’t clear to me - indeed he has gone above and beyond to say how much he loves it here).
The argument we would be better with a specialist right back if only we could replace his aerial strength is a bit odd: what specialist right back would likely have that power in the air? To me that extra aerial strength in both boxes combined with his spirit is a massive part of our revival and you underestimate the importance of that at your peril. |
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Reply | New Year transfer window rumours
at 11:56 25 Jan 2025
So many unrealistic demands, particularly in that BBC article.
A left back would be nice but am sure we can muddle thru without.
Sadly we blew our budget on Madsen and Cellar and very much doubt there is money.
As such any incoming for the first team would most likely be a loan, and limiting first team opportunities for the likes of Kolli, Alfie and Morgan would be self-harming with very little likely upside. |
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Reply | If all fit and firing, who's first choice at CB?
at 23:17 22 Jan 2025
Cook first name on team sheet so question is who accompanies him.
Would be JCS as fantastic ability but just too injury prone.
No point being injured for 10 games, coming back for three but not properly match fit then getting injured again. In the Championship just being available for 40 odd games and really wanting it like Jimmy Dunne makes you massively more valuable than some highly technical, accomplished player who is sadly rarely available.
Not sure JCS is sellable due to his injuries but purely on his availability if we could move him on in the summer it might be worth thinking about. Love watching him at his best, but how often do we see that? |
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Reply | Taraabt
at 22:25 22 Jan 2025
I actually struggled with my fellow Rs for a little while after that - it was such a deliberately perverse and frankly wrong decision.
Any other goalkeeper from the Champ that season and Adel -
win the league.
Worlds best goalkeeper and no Adel - we mid table.
Plus the sheer fireworks, skill entertainment value of Adel.
Most skillful QPR player since Tony Currie |
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Reply | Kolli signs new deal!
at 18:01 17 Jan 2025
Thank you for the insights.
Nourry said in his recent talk that moving to Academy 1 status would not stop bigger clubs stealing our players, so I was left wondering at the value of it. If clubs would have to pay more compensation, I understand it more. Nourry said it simply comes down to a cost benefit analysis, and that also makes more sense now - ie how much does it cost extra to get this status v how much more in compensation do we think we would receive assuming bigger clubs come and steal x number of our young players?
BTW, if the system is as you describe it seems very unfair (guess I shouldn't be surprised): I would argue the smaller clubs - mainly not academy 1 - are surely the ones in more need of compensation? |
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Reply | Marti's pre-Plymouth talk
at 17:44 17 Jan 2025
You seem to have missed Gaza's post, my namesake, but its worth reading.
I was mildly frustrated with all the changes myself - given the pre-match talk - but when you break it down as Gaza has done, which specific changes do you object to? I give you Madsen, btw, but apart from that? Given potential fitness issues around Dunne and Smyth in particular, how would you justify not resting them (given what the heavy schedule appears to have done to Cook)? Finally, would you prefer Marti to not even consider all the data that, fairly scientifically now, sets out the fitness and medical wellbeing of individual players? After all, you feel able to condemn Marti's decisions fairly robustly without, I assume, having access to all the information that the head coach surely considers before naming his team |
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Reply | Clive meeting with Nourry
at 10:53 16 Jan 2025
Question I would like answered would be what lessons they learned from last summer's recruitment. Sensible to be more data driven than before, but has it now gone too far towards data? How, moving forwards, when assessing a player from certain mainland European or South American leagues, will they look at those statistics given the often greater physicality and fixture demands of the Championship? Have they factored that in enough to date, does he think? |
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