The three 50-somethings sit round the table reminiscing. The impish, greying one occasionally stumps himself, grasping for a word, name or phrase that eludes him as he tells another tall tale. He has clearly lived life to the full, with the side effects that entails – but the charisma remains intact for all to see. To his left, a larger figure, relaxed and at ease with himself, loving the memories...and possessor of a mullet that time (and 30 years of changing fashion trends) has ignored. On the far side, the quiet one, seemingly just a tad wary of the greying one, more often addressing himself to mullet man, but crystal clear of both memory and opinion.
They appear to all intents and purposes to be a glam rock band reacquainted for some ‘100 Best 70s something or others’...being singer, lead guitarist and bassist respectively (the drummer presumably having suffered some Spinal Tap-esque grisly fate).
But no...rather, these are three of the most dashing footballers from the decade where flair (and flares) ruled the roost. Greying imp is mercurial maestro Stan Bowles; mullet man is midfield supremo Gerry Francis; and the quiet one is socks round the ankles flying winger Dave Thomas. They have been reunited for Sky Sports’ ‘Time of Our Lives’, a programme that is essential viewing for fans of the club chosen that week...and excruciating viewing for anyone else (just ask my wife – or the other halves of the friends I texted to make sure they weren’t missing the show).
This hooped holy trinity starred in THE QPR team – the moral League Champions of 1975-76, Dave Sexton’s ahead of their time total footballing machine. Like many clubs, QPR has just one team truly deserving of the epithet ‘great’. Like most, we have sporadically had other line ups that, if not great by the standards of bigger clubs, have certainly been great by the average standards of our own club. The ones that spring to mind down the Bush are the classes of 66-67, 82-85 and the early 90s.
Luckily for the current fanbase, most can remember watching at least one, if not all four, of these sides – a fate denied to followers of, say, Huddersfield or Blackpool. It also gives us a certain belief as to where our rightful place in the footballing pyramid is. And despite gates that avearge below halfway in the second tier, many of us think we should at the very least be competing for a place at the rich man’s table that is the modern day Premiership.
We’ve watched first Charlton, then Fulham do what we regularly did – punch above our weight in the top tier top half, bloody plenty of noses, and play some decent stuff along the way. We’re anxious to see our loaded owners’ much-vaunted 4 year plan work. Year one was Championshio survival, ultimately achieved with some ease. Year 2 (08/09) was presumably consolidation - though this wasn’t deemed sexy enough for the club’s spin doctors, whose ‘new era’ pre-season hype, allied to genuinely shocking price rises, sent expectations through the roof. And so, with an 11th place finish, we did consolidate, but at what price? As we enter Year 3, where you’d think a season-long tilt at the Play Offs was the minimum target, it’s hard to know quite where to start....
Well, in Spring last year, in a piece entitled ‘Cash from Chaos’ on this site, I wrote:
“On the surface, this appears to be a takeover like no other…the words tripping off the tongues of the QPR board appear to be different from the rest. Not necessarily better or worse, it’s far too early to judge – but certainly different…
… as hopes and dreams turn into expectations and demands (from fans and owners alike), there’s the potential for it all to get very messy. The aim appears to be to build phoenix-like a London-based football superpower from the ashes of a modest but once much respected club…to do it shrewdly and with business savvy remaining intact…and playing attractive football. It seems an awful lot to ask. However, after a decade that has seen administration, two relegations, the tragic deaths of two of our brightest young prospects, the mass brawl with the Chinese Olympic team, our main fanzine editor threatened with legal action by our Chairman, and the same Chairman being the central figure in an embarrassing court case about alleged guns in the boardroom…well, I for one aim to enjoy that ride…”
Well thus far, yes it has been different…certainly messy…and frankly, not that enjoyable. And numerous events suggest that the four year plan, if it does indeed exist, has not been adhered to.
For instance, when rumours spread shortly before the start of the 08-09 season that Iain Dowie had been appointed solely to get us promoted, and when that goal was achieved, he’d be sent packing with a £1,000,000 thank you bonus, credibility intact, to be replaced by a sexier name…well I could believe that was part of the plan, and I could even see some logic in it.
Dowie sacked by October, Paulo Sousa replacing him in November but out by April….sorry, that simply could not have been in any sane plan. And however each sacking was dressed up, both smacked of nothing more than the knee jerk reaction of an impatient leadership lacking in football savvy.
In addition to the managerial revolving door, the Rs also made headlines (aka had PR disasters) this season for:
- trying, and failing, to charge up to £50 for ‘gold category’ games (£40 for the ropey view from the away end)
- loaning out our top scorer to Championship rivals Nottingham Forest when arguably we still had a shot at the Play Offs (he promptly helped keep Forest up)
- constant rumours of Boardroom interference in team selection, including claims of half time calls to the manager from Flavio Briatore when overseas, rumours given some credence by the choices of Gareth Ainsworth in his two caretaker spells, and hardly put to bed by Flav when, after sacking Sousa, he denied the charge, only to go on to list a number of ‘opinions’ he’d offered Sousa on such minor issues as first choice ‘keeper and preferred formation
- loaning in a Real Madrid whizz kid with much fanfare, only for him to return home in time for Christmas, his spell only half complete
- loaning in a full back from Coventry with an agreement (an agreement, not an option) to buy in January, which we were consequently obliged to exercise even though he hadn’t played a game when on loan (he was subsequently loaned by us to Brighton, and still awaits his QPR debut)
- sacking our Club secretary of 30 odd years without a word of explanation
- and becoming the first club to sack a manager on the basis of internet messageboard innuendo – a decision that briefly interested the tabloids who otherwise had long since abandoned their interest in “the F1 football project”.
So as I said, messy, and not very enjoyable. And such a poisoned chalice has our hot seat become that the best man we could attract to fill the managerial vacancy was the recently departed boss of a similarly-sized rival Championship club, who had been sacked for failing over the course of three years to get his team to exactly where we want to be – in the Play Off spots. In Roy Keane that team, Ipswich Town, made the sort of sexy appointment Rangers fans knew was beyond us given our Board’s reputation. From rumours of Figo & Zidane to Jim Magilton in 18 months.
And yet…and yet…an 11th placed finish was progress, and was achieved with a number of genuinely key players on the treatment table for over half their respective seasons. The fans’ consensus is that we’re a striker and a full back or two away from a very good squad for this division.
And so to season 09-10, which is make or break not so much with regards to whether or not we can get promoted, but more to the credibility of the Briatore & co. backed “project” at Loftus Road. If mid-table mediocrity at best is the result, then their hype really will have been shown up as hot air. If Magilton fails to see out the season as boss, then you would imagine the LMA would be instructing even their more desperate members (hello David O’Leary & Peter Reid) not to touch us with the largest of barge poles out of solidarity with their many sacked comrades.
We’ve got the poshed up corporate areas, the £10k chandeliers in Reception, the big screen and the glossy quarterly club magazine all in place as we (ahem) “prepare for the Premiership”. Now we’d like to see the same attention to detail applied to on pitch matters, please.
No managerial changes, some decent football, the odd sign of just a bit of ambition in the transfer market, and not dropping below, say, 8th all season, and arguably not only would “the plan” be back on track, but most fans, long since doused in realism after the initial takeover euphoria, would probably settle for that. Managerial stability and a higher League position. Doesn’t seem an awful lot to ask for given our owners’ riches…
Just as last season kicked off, Flav kicked off a hell of a debate amongst the fanbase when describing his vision of a “boutique” football club. Many were aghast, citing this as the firmest evidence yet of his evil plan to price out long time fans and replace us all with his global brigade of rich toffs.
Me…I think I could actually see what he was driving at. He doesn’t want to emulate Chelsea. He doesn’t want to “do a Manchester City”. He wants us to be cool in the way Warp is a cool boutique record label that constantly discovers & nurtures the best new talent whilst having a sustainable business model; or, say, Brighton’s Pelirocco is a boutique (but actually not extortionately expensive) hotel.
The much-misquoted ‘Champions League in four years’ comment was actually in answer to an Italian journo asking him what he dreamed of for QPR. It’s not a stated aspiration. Rather, where Fulham are now, but perceived as much cooler both on & off the pitch and with the funding to make a genuine push for the top 6, probably is.
So, a boutique football club. Classy…a bit of flair…a relatively small but hugely atmospheric sporting arena…a good place to go with your mates…indeed a quality of football / atmosphere that fans of bigger clubs may just be a bit jealous of as they sit in their soul-less 60,000 capacity pleasuredomes in a £70 seat from which they can barely recognise the £100k a week prima donna who’s off to La Liga any day now due to preferential tax rates. A quality of football / atmosphere that fans of other medium sized clubs simply cannot match.
It sounds a bit like a modern version of mid-70s vintage QPR. It sounds like it could be ‘Time of Our Lives Part 2’.And we’d love it...just love it...if they could pull it off (and pay through the nose for our season tickets to boot).
But....and isn’t there always a but...it’s going to take some serious re-thinking at Boardroom level. If the admission of monumental cock ups, the taming of egos, happens behind closed doors, no matter as long as we begin to see the results in the day to day running of the club...plus, of course, progress on the pitch. The jury’s still out on “the project”...just.
An interesting season is in store.
click here for goalfood's new stan bowles tee
