| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity 21:18 - Jun 10 with 9137 views | DylanP |
Let’s stop kidding ourselves about "building momentum" or pushing for the top six under the current setup. The harsh reality is that QPR is structurally trapped in mediocrity, and until we fix the foundation, the ceiling isn't moving.
We are stuck in a vicious cycle, and it all boils down to simple math and the size of Loftus Road. As much as we love the history and the tight, hostile atmosphere of Loftus Road, it is actively suffocating our ability to compete. With a capacity under 18,000, we literally cannot dream of breaking even season-to-season in the modern Championship. Look at the hard numbers from our recent financial accounts:
• 2022/23 Season: Lost £24.2 Million after tax.
• 2023/24 Season: Lost £13.5 Million after tax.
• 2024/25 Season: Lost £20.1 Million after tax.
Our matchday revenue sits flat at around £6.8m. We can cut transfer spends to zero, we can operate with one of the lowest wage bills in the league (which we do, just to stay within FFP rules), and we still bleed nearly £20 million a year just to keep the lights on.
The only reason we still have a club to support is because our owners and the Chairman continue to write the checks, converting millions in shareholder loans into equity just to plug the structural deficit. Over the last five years alone, ownership has had to inject over £100 million into the club.
Every single season, the absolute best we can hope for is to navigate mediocrity without getting relegated. And every single season, we stand precisely one bad day away from absolute catastrophe.
What happens if the Chairman decides he’s finally tired of flushing £20 million down a west London drain? We aren't just flirting with mid-table safety; we are flirting with existential ruin if the money stops.
Until QPR finds the collective energy, the political backing, and the massive financing required to build a modern, larger stadium that can actually generate non-matchday and high-volume commercial revenue, we will remain completely stuck.
No manager, no clever scouting network, and no loan signing can outrun the basic economics of our current ground. We are surviving on the goodwill of billionaires, and until we have a stadium that lets us stand on our own two feet, mediocrity is our absolute ceiling.
Am I being too cynical, or is it time we face the music?
|  |
| |  |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 22:58 - Jun 11 with 2643 views | R_from_afar |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 09:34 - Jun 11 by Northernr |
Sunderland, with an enormous new stadium that regularly hosts massive concerts, with 40,000+ through the gates every week, with revenues in excess of £40m last season (said to be a record for a non-parachute payment Championship side), with gate receipts approaching £14m, and winning a second promotion in three years, lost £46.1m in their last season in the Championship.
Except, they didn't. They lost £300,000. And they lost only that because they turned a £45.8m profit in player trading.
It's one of the things Nourry is right about. A new stadium, or an extension of the existing one, is increasingly vital. We have to do better commercially, do better with ticket sales, do better with sponsorships, and increase our revenues across the board. But we could build a world class 50,000 stadium on the Scrubs and fill it every week with fcking Coldplay doing a sold out residency there every time we're away from home and we would still lose money.
The best/only way out of the cycle is regularly selling players for big profit.
OR, spend commensurate with our income/revenue (we lose money currently because we have too many footballers earning far more money than we bring in) but, sadly, that would likely land us in League One fairly swiftly.
Sunderland''s 24/25 accounts... https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws
This post has been edited by an administrator |
"The best/only way out of the cycle is regularly selling players for big profit".
The trouble is, those players we want to sell for a healthy profit may not be noticed unless they are playing in a team which is in serious contention for promotion.
In my humble opinion, this is why we can't just rely on young "ballers" we're fattening up for market. We also need some grit, experience and physicality, not to mention a few players who are willing to commit to achieve something meaningful
*at QPR* not just at a bigger club later in their careers.
Or something. Kicking on isn't easy, I bet Bristol City fans, as an example, have this same soul-searching debate even more often than us. |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
| |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 23:41 - Jun 11 with 2570 views | ted_hendrix |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 22:58 - Jun 11 by R_from_afar |
"The best/only way out of the cycle is regularly selling players for big profit".
The trouble is, those players we want to sell for a healthy profit may not be noticed unless they are playing in a team which is in serious contention for promotion.
In my humble opinion, this is why we can't just rely on young "ballers" we're fattening up for market. We also need some grit, experience and physicality, not to mention a few players who are willing to commit to achieve something meaningful
*at QPR* not just at a bigger club later in their careers.
Or something. Kicking on isn't easy, I bet Bristol City fans, as an example, have this same soul-searching debate even more often than us. |
**Promotion to the Premier League is worth at least £140 million to £200 million in guaranteed extra revenue across the subsequent three seasons, depending on broadcast distributions. If a promoted club successfully avoids relegation in its first season, that financial windfall can skyrocket to over £300 million.**
Broadcast and Commercial Revenue: The vast majority of the money comes from central broadcasting deals. A promoted club will typically earn around £84 million in their first season from equal share payments, international TV rights, and central commercial fees.
Parachute Payments: If a promoted team is relegated after just one season, they receive parachute payments over the following three years (amounting to around £100+ million) to help ease the financial drop back to the Championship.
 |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
| |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 00:18 - Jun 12 with 2511 views | numptydumpty |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 23:41 - Jun 11 by ted_hendrix |
**Promotion to the Premier League is worth at least £140 million to £200 million in guaranteed extra revenue across the subsequent three seasons, depending on broadcast distributions. If a promoted club successfully avoids relegation in its first season, that financial windfall can skyrocket to over £300 million.**
Broadcast and Commercial Revenue: The vast majority of the money comes from central broadcasting deals. A promoted club will typically earn around £84 million in their first season from equal share payments, international TV rights, and central commercial fees.
Parachute Payments: If a promoted team is relegated after just one season, they receive parachute payments over the following three years (amounting to around £100+ million) to help ease the financial drop back to the Championship.
|
Hence why some seasons this must be the aim.
Kone, Burrel, Vale, Chair, Madsen, Smyth, Edwards if all stay here this season, next season is the one to aim for the play offs.
If we get there and just miss out, our better players would have their likeliest high ceiling sale price reached and we sell to rinse and repeat, but if most are kept this season ahead then we try our best this season.
And totally key, if thats then the aim, you dont give a goalkeeper another whole season learning on the job.
i seriously believe the real proof as to how the clubs hierarchy could be judged this season ahead, primarily on how the goalkeeper situation is handled. If Walsh plays and he is much improved - fantastic. If its believed he is not improving and we do believe the season ahead could be a chance of progression, how the goalkeeper situation is handled and who plays there and also whoever plays there, the standard of performance has to be better.
Our goals conceded was 73, only Sheff Weds were worse. But our xGA was 57. Which suggests shots taken and the quality of them, our goalkeeper should have kept 16 of them out of the net. Thats the difference between 15th and getting in the top eight.
For me, this is such a key decision to make, because the wrong call and the impact is huge. [Post edited 12 Jun 0:19]
|  |
| |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 08:01 - Jun 12 with 2390 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 00:18 - Jun 12 by numptydumpty |
Hence why some seasons this must be the aim.
Kone, Burrel, Vale, Chair, Madsen, Smyth, Edwards if all stay here this season, next season is the one to aim for the play offs.
If we get there and just miss out, our better players would have their likeliest high ceiling sale price reached and we sell to rinse and repeat, but if most are kept this season ahead then we try our best this season.
And totally key, if thats then the aim, you dont give a goalkeeper another whole season learning on the job.
i seriously believe the real proof as to how the clubs hierarchy could be judged this season ahead, primarily on how the goalkeeper situation is handled. If Walsh plays and he is much improved - fantastic. If its believed he is not improving and we do believe the season ahead could be a chance of progression, how the goalkeeper situation is handled and who plays there and also whoever plays there, the standard of performance has to be better.
Our goals conceded was 73, only Sheff Weds were worse. But our xGA was 57. Which suggests shots taken and the quality of them, our goalkeeper should have kept 16 of them out of the net. Thats the difference between 15th and getting in the top eight.
For me, this is such a key decision to make, because the wrong call and the impact is huge. [Post edited 12 Jun 0:19]
|
Last season people were saying *this* season is the one where we target the play-offs. |  | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 09:29 - Jun 12 with 2302 views | SpongeParr |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 16:25 - Jun 11 by dutch |
Brentford and Bournemouth both put paid to that idea. As do all the teams who have built new stadia and failed; Derby, Reading, Milton Keynes etc.
What we need is a well run football club. |
Disagree with this to be honest.
Brentford - new stadium, whilst small, has tons of corportate and brings in lots of extra money. It also costs less to run.
Bournemouth have a small ground and doing very well but they are being held back by it and have plans to expand it. If it wasn't holding them back, why would they bother?
Derby - bigger budget than us, have had success in their ground.
Reading - managed to get to the prem in their stadium. They still average around 12k so whilst looks empty, that isn't too shabby for a club that averaged what, 6k before moving? Imagine how low they would be without it.
MK - can't use that club ffs. | | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 10:00 - Jun 12 with 2272 views | headhoops |
We just need to change one word in our team name and become Kings Park Rangers. Backed by a Sovereign monarch a la Man City, PSG, Newcastle, build a new stadium with taxpayers money ( West Ham) and we can do just the fuc£ we want (Chelscum).
There is no quick fix to the sh1t show we have got ourselves into.
Jack Walker buying the title for Blackburn set the ball rolling (pun intended).
Have renewed for another season of knee scraping, inadequate facilities, inept owners in the expectation that we have a squad with the same honesty, professionalism and commitment as Jimmy D. |  |
| |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 15:43 - Jun 12 with 2112 views | terryb |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 10:00 - Jun 12 by headhoops |
We just need to change one word in our team name and become Kings Park Rangers. Backed by a Sovereign monarch a la Man City, PSG, Newcastle, build a new stadium with taxpayers money ( West Ham) and we can do just the fuc£ we want (Chelscum).
There is no quick fix to the sh1t show we have got ourselves into.
Jack Walker buying the title for Blackburn set the ball rolling (pun intended).
Have renewed for another season of knee scraping, inadequate facilities, inept owners in the expectation that we have a squad with the same honesty, professionalism and commitment as Jimmy D. |
Last season Kings Park Rangers, under he management of Jamie Cureton won the Eastern Counties League One North.
Will they be in the Premier this season? Of course not! Rather than have a season without success, they decided to dissolve the club, so the name is now available! [Post edited 13 Jun 11:36]
| | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 23:43 - Jun 13 with 1832 views | CateLeBonR |
Loftus Road calling you mean. I can’t wait to go back there for a proper match. That stadium is going to be a hard act to follow. |  | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 00:23 - Jun 14 with 1798 views | Northernr |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 22:58 - Jun 11 by R_from_afar |
"The best/only way out of the cycle is regularly selling players for big profit".
The trouble is, those players we want to sell for a healthy profit may not be noticed unless they are playing in a team which is in serious contention for promotion.
In my humble opinion, this is why we can't just rely on young "ballers" we're fattening up for market. We also need some grit, experience and physicality, not to mention a few players who are willing to commit to achieve something meaningful
*at QPR* not just at a bigger club later in their careers.
Or something. Kicking on isn't easy, I bet Bristol City fans, as an example, have this same soul-searching debate even more often than us. |
Totally agree. |  | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 17:29 - Jun 14 with 1558 views | BushRanger82 |
We could have a 60,000 capacity stadium, but if we, as a football club have no pride, not in cup games, not in London derbies, not in playing sides in the bottom three, nada, zilch, keep ending up losing those games on an embarrassingly regular basis, we are stuffed and on a journey, no matter how long it's taking, to an inevitable end, dropping into non-league football.
The road the club's currently on, can only lead there.
The one and only ambition of taking a place in the premier league, then just hanging on to it by our fingernails every season, just isn't going to cut it, if we are to be a top club one day, with the help of God.
Before anyone comes on and says, how dare you dream of such a thing? I will just say this, someone has to, and if it hadn't been for the someone back in the mists of time at Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, etc, who dared to dream exactly that dream, they wouldn't be who they are today.
I know Spurs have had a rough time lately, but I would love the Rangers to have half the honours list they have.
Ah, well. Almost getting used to supporting a mediocre football club now, unfortunately. |  | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 12:28 - Jun 15 with 1358 views | uwontbegrinningsoon |
Stop 70 plus goals against. Is it defence or midfield mostly at fault? get that sorted as a priority !! | | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 20:15 - Jun 16 with 1174 views | NewBee |
Very interesting debate.
But it should all be conducted within the context of a remark by Matthew Benham after (I think) Brentford got promoted out of League One. Namely that is is simply impossible for a club to be consistently competitive in the Championship and break even, never mind make a profit.
This is because the players of a standard needed to be competitive command higher wages than clubs can sustain (unless they have parachute payments, that is). Which explains why it's costing your owners £20m a year just to keep you mid-table. They cannot spend more (Profit & Sustainability Rules), and if they spent less, you'd risk getting relegated.
What's the answer? A lot of posters are suggesting an enlarged LR, or a new ground. But even if you got to 30k and regularly sold out the extra 12k at a generous £50 a pop, over 25 games a season that would only raise an extra £15m a season, which still wouldn't get you to break even, never mind produce the revenue for better i.e. more expensive players to go from mid-table to play-off level. (Yes, I know there might be extra commercial/hospitality revenues, but costs would go up, too.) And all that is before you consider the need to repay the £100m+ it would take to expand or build.
There is only one solution, promotion to the PL. Which in turn needs better, more expensive players. And since your owners aren't allowed to spend more than they already do, and increased stadium revenues won't do the trick, either, means it has to be player trading.
Which means consistently clever recruitment and development whereby you buy players for £2m and sell for £5m, then buy at £5m and sell for £10m, then buy for £10m and sell for £20m, so that you can eventually be able to buy and keep enough £10m-£20m players at the club for long enough to get promoted.
Of course some clubs have engaged in a dash for promotion by spending money on players which they don't actually have, and/or shouldn't be allowed to spend, but even if it gets you promotion, it will usually come back to bite you, esp if you come back down early. And as often as not, you won't get promotion anyhow.
And before you think this is some Brentford know-all coming on here to gloat etc (genuinely don't mean to), the examples of Brentford, Brighton and (to an extent) Bournemouth show that it can be done, with the right vision, direction, management and (esp) recruitment. | | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 23:05 - Jun 16 with 1055 views | Stainrod |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 20:15 - Jun 16 by NewBee |
Very interesting debate.
But it should all be conducted within the context of a remark by Matthew Benham after (I think) Brentford got promoted out of League One. Namely that is is simply impossible for a club to be consistently competitive in the Championship and break even, never mind make a profit.
This is because the players of a standard needed to be competitive command higher wages than clubs can sustain (unless they have parachute payments, that is). Which explains why it's costing your owners £20m a year just to keep you mid-table. They cannot spend more (Profit & Sustainability Rules), and if they spent less, you'd risk getting relegated.
What's the answer? A lot of posters are suggesting an enlarged LR, or a new ground. But even if you got to 30k and regularly sold out the extra 12k at a generous £50 a pop, over 25 games a season that would only raise an extra £15m a season, which still wouldn't get you to break even, never mind produce the revenue for better i.e. more expensive players to go from mid-table to play-off level. (Yes, I know there might be extra commercial/hospitality revenues, but costs would go up, too.) And all that is before you consider the need to repay the £100m+ it would take to expand or build.
There is only one solution, promotion to the PL. Which in turn needs better, more expensive players. And since your owners aren't allowed to spend more than they already do, and increased stadium revenues won't do the trick, either, means it has to be player trading.
Which means consistently clever recruitment and development whereby you buy players for £2m and sell for £5m, then buy at £5m and sell for £10m, then buy for £10m and sell for £20m, so that you can eventually be able to buy and keep enough £10m-£20m players at the club for long enough to get promoted.
Of course some clubs have engaged in a dash for promotion by spending money on players which they don't actually have, and/or shouldn't be allowed to spend, but even if it gets you promotion, it will usually come back to bite you, esp if you come back down early. And as often as not, you won't get promotion anyhow.
And before you think this is some Brentford know-all coming on here to gloat etc (genuinely don't mean to), the examples of Brentford, Brighton and (to an extent) Bournemouth show that it can be done, with the right vision, direction, management and (esp) recruitment. |
Some good points here.
Given the cost of a new London stadium, wouldn’t it be cheaper for the owners to buy a club in, say, Greece; get that to buy lots of good players and loan them to us. Some clubs seem to get away with it? Or maybe we have missed the boat there too? | | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 08:46 - Jun 17 with 956 views | Bluce_Ree |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 19:32 - Jun 11 by PunteR |
We need better owners. |
We need better witchdoctors because our shit is CURSED. |  |
| Stefan Moore, Stefan Moore running down the wing. Stefan Moore, Stefan Moore running down the wing. He runs like a cheetah, his crosses couldn't be sweeter. Stefan Moore. Stefan Moore. Stefan Moore. |
| |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 14:39 - Jun 17 with 890 views | NewBee |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 23:05 - Jun 16 by Stainrod |
Some good points here.
Given the cost of a new London stadium, wouldn’t it be cheaper for the owners to buy a club in, say, Greece; get that to buy lots of good players and loan them to us. Some clubs seem to get away with it? Or maybe we have missed the boat there too? |
Re your overseas (Greek?) suggestion, that could certainly make a contribution. At Brentford, Benham bought a middling Danish team, FC Mittjelland and a relatively short time later, they were Champions for the first time and playing in Europe etc.
But the benefit was not really in signing/loaning players - very few actually moved between the two. Rather it meant the people at BFC were exposed to a new culture and new methods, which could be applied/modified for use at home. (One apparent example was in Danish players being far more receptive to new training ideas than at English clubs, where players preferred to stick with what they knew, whether it still worked or not.)
While the other advantage was exposure to the transfer market both in Denmark and more widely in Scandinavia, from where Bees successfully recruited for a good few years. But I use the past tense, since not only did Benham sell up after a few years, but other English clubs began to exploit the Scandi market in turn, leaving it more crowded.
However, they didn't stand still, first exploiting other, less obvious markets (eg Ukraine), while also upping their efforts post-Brexit in Scot/Wales/NI, plus English lower leagues. And a little while back they announced that they were now establishing recruitment links in South America - a "Bus Stop in (Belo) Horizonte"!
Then consider that they've been progressively upgrading the Training Ground, while opening an Academy which recently became the fastest ever to achieve Category A status from scratch.
All of which only concerns getting players in - you then need to develop them after they've arrived if you're to get the best from them before selling them for a profit.
Which brings us back to what I said in my initial post. That is, you need the Vision to see where you might/should be going; the Direction to set you on the right road towards that goal; the Management to control the process; and the Recruitment to give them all the players needed.
Which being so much easier said than done, is why the majority of clubs fail to achieve anything like what they ought to. | | | |
| The Loftus Road Ceiling: Why We Are Trapped in Infinite Mediocrity on 13:17 - Jun 18 with 715 views | TacticalR |
A good visionary is hard to find. |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.