Utterly underwhelmed.
Monday, May 11th, 2009Wherever 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.