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The team is managerless, the players appear to not give a rat’s arse and the supporters are divided about whether or not our superrich owners are up to the job.  Hmmm… can we sink any lower?

About the only positive from that lot is the word superrich.  Take that away and we are doomed (feel free to assume a dodgy Scottish maritime accent at this point if it makes you feel better).  What worries me is that by frightening off Briatore and co, we could really screw this club up, as in this financial climate, who is going to want to buy a football club that’s got £20M in debts?  Briatore has his faults, but at least he is prepared to keep the club going.  Is it a case of better the devil you know?  To me this next season is the crucial one; mistakes have been made – will they be corrected or will we continue along the same path?  There is so much potential at the club, but the current path leads to oblivion rather than the Premier League.

So I have a three step plan.  Some of it might be obvious, but sometimes the obvious is also the most difficult to see:

1 – Appoint a manager and stick with him for the whole season.  If he doesn’t improve the club’s league position, then fine, sack him; but lets base this on results, not style of play, personality or what appear to be petty legal squabbles.

2 – Try and bridge the widening gap between club and supporters.  The POTY was a PR disaster, the season ticket prices have been a PR disaster.  More spin comes out of the club than No.10 when Pete Best has come along for a sing song.  Now I appreciate that the days of full openness are gone (Bill Power was a one off), but lets get a few basics right  - be honest, give a little more information on things going on at the club and actually give an honest opinion on goings on – i.e. explain why.  Otherwise the internet message boards will go into overdrive on rumour and speculation, which only makes things worse.

3 – Get a scouting team together.  We are only one or two players off really challenging – and that deserves a hell of a lot of credit.  We’ve come a long way in 2 years.  But we need professional help identifying players, as our current method seems a little hit or miss.  We need another striker and depth at full back, plus perhaps another keeper.  That’s probably only 2 first team players away from challenging.  But a proper scouting team will do a better job in the long run than doing things via friends and colleagues say so.  Even the great Brian Clough had Peter Taylor to do the scouting for him.

So that’s it – 3 steps from becoming a team we can all get behind, enjoy and rediscover our love of football and all things hoppy in a blue and white way.  Most of these don’t require a huge amount of money either, but will provide value for money.

The play-offs remain a distinct possibility. The stark mathematics of it are that we are 3 points behind Preston with a game in hand with an equal goal difference with 16 games to go for us. Although in reality we have to face the fact that it’s a damn site more complicated than a two horse race. So lets look at the play-off runners and riders shall we?The pedigreesLets face it – Wolves Reading and Birmingham have a significant advantage. I would be shocked if anyone other than these three made up the two promotion places. Birmingham are seven points ahead of Preston in sixth, so I would also be shocked if the one that missed out on promotion lost out on the play-offs as well. So in my mind, that leaves only 3 play-off spots left.

The incumbents

Sheffield Utd, Cardiff and Preston are the teams that currently hold the cherished spots. These three have been there or there abouts all season. They have also been there before in recent times having experienced the play-offs in seasons past. That implies they have the mental strength to see the job through.

The challengers

Us, Burnley, Bristol City and Palace have also been in the top 10 in the league for a while now, but haven’t quite cracked the top 6. All four are clubs that have been through some bad times and are on an up-swing. But how high does that up extend?

The form teams

Swansea and Ipswich are in form and have gate-crashed the top ten in recent weeks as a result. I for one was pleased that we didn’t play Swansea the other day as it gives them longer to lose that good form and confidence (hopefully). Ipswich too are on a run having lost only once since Xmas – and that was to Birmingham on Boxing Day. We all remember how Dowie’s palace went from relegation fodder to the Premiership on a good run – so these teams need to be watched.

The Rest

Being honest I don’t see any other teams coming late on the rails. Sheffield Wednesday is the next team and they are 10 points behind Preston. Coventry a further 2 points adrift. I have a theory that once you need to catch up more than a point a game, then you may as well forget it. Let’s see if I’m right.

So who is going to make it?

Those of you that read my predictions blog will see that I’m pretty bad. I said we’d have a new manager and just miss out on the play-offs. Those were two of my better predictions! I said “Birmingham and Palace to go up”, so that’s one out of two there possibly? Sheffield Utd to be in the playoffs also pretty good – but I said Charlton and Derby would also be there… Hmmmm. So I’m going to stay out of that game, and just hope that come 3rd May, that Preston game means something, even if that is resting a few players before the next game…

Now I’m not talking to you Mr Arsenal, Mr Man Utd, Mr Liverpool or Mr Chelsea.  You won’t be listening, but I am talking to the rest of you.

Have you noticed which three clubs are currently bottom of the Championship (today being 30^th January 2009)?  Probably not, as you are too wrapped up in your own little Premiership bubble, so I will have to tell you; Charlton, Southampton and Derby.

I expect many of you are now confused… what does this have to do with us?

Do you notice a common theme between the three of them?  There is more than one answer to this by the way…  That’s right; they all have large financial difficulties and big debts.  But have you noticed something else?  No?  OK I will tell you.  Recently they were part of your little gang – premiership clubs that didn’t stand a snowball in hells chance of winning the Premiership, but were quite happy to gobble up the millions of pounds on offer, without much thought about how it could go wrong.

This is, therefore, a cautionary tale, and yes it could happen to you.  Charlton were widely considered to be one of the best run clubs.  Southampton had been in the Premiership since the start – and were in the FA Cup final not so long ago.  Derby were only in the Premiership one year, but they still emphasise the main problem.  Substitute them with supposed big clubs like Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds if you prefer.  Still think it can’t happen to you Mr Tottenham, Blackburn or Middlesbrough?  Have you not seen the league table recently?

The way football is currently run is unsustainable.  Your club will be ruined for a long, long time unless you realise that Premiership earnings need to be spread more evenly across all four professional divisions.  All it takes is one bad year and the slippery slope will grab you.  Parachute payments are not enough to cover large squads on Premiership wages.  You have to sell your best players and the disgruntled ones who think they are too good for the Championship (even though they got you there in the first place).  Others will want to hang around getting big cash while they line their pockets.  Before long you will be in the position that Southampton, Charlton and Derby find themselves in – broke and facing relegation to the Third division.

The time has come to realise that in this credit crunch era that paying players £100k per week is obscene.  The money raised by the Sky deal will never bee seen again and that you are already putting the future of your club in jeopardy.  Football is better off with 92 well run clubs producing an interesting product that everyone want to see and can afford) rather than £1000+ season tickets that only attracts banker boys and an aging spectator profile.

Think about the future of your team – not this season but for the next 20 years.  Act now and save football as an entity.

The trouble is I still don’t think you’ve got it.  Perhaps I’ll need to write another letter next week with fewer syllables…

Have we fallen out of love with the FA Cup?  I’m not just talking about us as Rangers fans – although the pathetic 8k crowd says a lot (and no I wasn’t among them), I’m talking about football fans and clubs in general.

I remember back in the 80’s and 90’s getting genuinely excited about the cup draw.  Of course, we were in the top division then (under both guises), but I always thought we had an outside chance of winning it, even though we weren’t one of the “big 5” as was – Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal (so things have changed a little).  I still recall to this day the BBC pundits predicting who was going to win the cup and one year Gerald Sinstadt (sp?) making the comment that “to win the cup it is best to look at a team that isn’t challenging for the league or at risk of relegation”.  OK he then laughingly went on to predict Luton, but they had won the league cup the year before.  Things really have changed in that respect. 

Until Portsmouth’s “shock” win last year the new big 4 had a monopoly on the cup.  And yet these are the teams that don’t want the cup – they see it as a distraction from their very important Champions League matches.  We have already seen the endless replays distilled down to one replay and penalties.  The Cup is also sponsored.  And no-one has a real chance of winning it unless you are in the top echelons of the premiership. 

You already see the teams at the bottom of the division putting out weakened teams so that they can concentrate on the league.  Cup shocks are fewer and farther between and the number of league/cup doubles has increased rapidly.  I’ve even read reports on our match whereby people were hoping we were knocked out as the cup “isn’t a priority”.  But who is it a priority for anymore?  That cup run back in 82 was a catalyst for 13 years in the top division.  Heck we’ve even been drawn against West Brom again if we beat Burnley (if we can be bothered?).  Cardiff got lucky and made it to Wembley.  Lets get back in love with the cup and get some excitement back in our humdrum lives.

A quick summary of our season to date: 28 points ,19 Games, 3 managers, 0 loaned players (OK maybe a half for Helguson…).  Sound like a good time for a team report blog… 

Goalkeepers:

After a slow start Cerny has proved to be a capable keeper.  His catching of crosses and control of the penalty box has improved, and whilst his still punches too much for my liking, he gets good distance.  Whilst I feel sorry for Lee Camp, I’ve not really missed him.  What worries me though is lack of depth if Camp goes permanently. 

Full backs:

For me this is the area of greatest concern.  Delany hasn’t lived up to last years level of play, Ramage is adequate at defending but poor going forward.  There is no depth so Matt Connolly usually ends up covering, which isn’t his best position.  I did think Legs was a revelation at right back the game and a half he played there, but we need to get competition for places. 

Centre backs:

OK hands up who thought Damion Stewart would be our best central defender this year?  He and hall have developed a good partnership and with Gorkss and Connolly as back ups, I am more than happy with our centre back squad. 

Midfield:

I’ve lumped this lot together, as Im not sure on what formation we are playing and, therefore how to split them up.  We have three defensive midfielders, which seems one too many, but they are at least decent enough.  We have lots of wingers, but not enough crosses, Rowly looks jaded, Cook looks like he needs more games under his belt, Ladesma has gone off the boil and Parejo never got there.  The injury to Buzz is a great concern.  So much for the “best midfield in the league” chant… 

Forwards:

I feel sorry for Dex, he gets so much jip, yet he is on target to be a 20 goal a season striker (despite everyone banging on about how we need one – we already do FFS!!!!).  His biggest problem is that he hasn’t had a settled partner, he often plays on his own, and the service from the wings he thrives upon (look back at how he scores his goals) hasn’t been coming.  Di Camine could come good, but needs to get more strength from somewhere and maybe some pace?  Dave is a useful impact sub but doesn’t do it for 90 mins.  We need a striker to partner Dex IMO. 

So with the January transfer window approaching I would suggest we need to go out and get 2 full backs, a striker and Ben Watson.  If we do that we can easily make the playoffs.  We are only 1 point off them now – and yet it feels like we’ve been in turmoil all season.  This has been an improvement on last season but we need stability right now.  Im just not sure that is guaranteed.

 We have just taken 6 points off two clubs that are in the promotion and play off spots on our last two home games.  We are in 7^th place, only goal difference separating us from the play-off place.  And yet, if you read some of the comments on here and other message boards you’d think we were worse off than this time last year (think back and try not to shudder). 

Was Saturday’s game a good one?  No, but let’s consider two things before we criticise.  Firstly the weather was pretty awful; the field was and the wind was howling around the stadium greasy which makes passing difficult.  Secondly, lets give some credit to Cardiff.  They went down to 10 men but organised themselves very well.  When we got points against Birmingham, Norwich and Brizzle C after going down to ten men, we congratulated ourselves on a job well done.  But because the shoe is on the other foot, it’s all doom and gloom from our supporters. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have a few issues about Saturdays game – I didn’t like the way we effectively “declared” at 1-0 as opposed to going for a second.  I didn’t like the way that neither winger got past the opposing full back on the outside and put a cross in.  I didn’t like the way that Buzz was left on the bench, but then again I like it even less if is forced to play on the wing.  I don’t like the way we have an unsettled side (its noticeable the most impressive section of our team – the defence – is the most settled with Hall, Cerny and Stewart regulars.  So yes I have complaints, but I find it odd that words like pathetic, awful and shower of sh… are the first things I read when I get home after we’ve won. 

Where’s our sense of perspective gone?

As supporters are we ever happy?  Reading this and a couple of other message boards, it appears we are only truly happy when we have something to whinge about.  This was most in evidence on Saturday, where several people around me were moaning and groaning about players, management and owners, despite the team winning, the sun shining and, as far as I’m aware, they were all season ticket holders and thus not affected by the recent ticket price rises.

Now I know that when it comes to my team I am probably a glass half full person, rather than a glass half empty person, so I had a tendency to disagree with much of what was being shouted out by these guys.  But what effected me was the vitriol and hatred that went along with it.  This wasn’t just “geddim off” (although that was shouted about 10 times by one bloke at Peter Ramage even though I thought he had a half decent game), it was the full spittle at the corner of the mouth anger.   

I thought the Paladini regime had divided supporters and that our new mega rich owners (even if they are slightly less rich than they were last month) would help reunite us – our future being secure, money being spent on and off the pitch and for the first time in years there was optimism about.  It has taken less than 2 months of the new season for that to change. 

We seem to be very divided supporters, and that division is obviously coming across to the players as Ainsworth and Rowly as the two senior players have both called for us to get behind the team, and more recently Tim Flowers has repeated that call.  As supporters we have to take some of the blame for ruining Zesh Rehman’s career.  Are we now trying to do the same with Ramage and Cerny?  3 minutes into the latter’s is all it took for some morons to chant Lee Camp’s name.  To my mind we should 100% support the players in hoops (or proxy hoops in the case of the keeper) once they cross the white line.  Others seem to go with the attitude that our new found wealth means we should be playing the Champions League in 18 months time or it’s a failure, and we’ll boo loudly if we don’t get there. 

Don’t get me wrong – Im not denying our right to boo – especially at the odious Cashley Hole, but the events of Saturday were not like that.  Was it a great performance? No, but it certainly wasn’t bad either, and not one player deserved booing, and yet that’s what we got from some sections of the crowd. 

Like them or loathe them, you can’t deny that teams like Liverpool have a 12^th man in the stands – they get behind their team, sometimes even more so if they have just conceded.  Our bunch tend to react to what is on the field rather than influence it.  Then whinge about it on the message boards when they get home…

I really don’t know what to make about the ticket fiasco, other than to recognise it as a big one.  I really really want to believe that everything in the QPR garden is rosy and that Dennis Wise and his mates won’t mistake ours for the BBC’s garden down the road and try to dig it up.  But right now, I’m bordering between confused, worried and angry.

When the season tickets went up, I was pissed off, but could see the logic.  I’m in the Upper Loft, so I had to take the brunt of the largest percentage rise, but I figured that the £400 I had paid out in 2007/8 was quite cheap for what I consider a bloody good seat; I’m just to the right of the goal and in row E, and my view of the adverts on the big screen is second to none.  £600 is expensive, but compared to not watching what I hope to be an exciting season, was well worth it, even if I tend to miss 3-4 games a season due to family/holiday commitments (did I tell you I had a good seat?).

Now I’m lucky – I have a good job, I’m pretty well paid and Mrs Tonto’s income helps a bit too.  The £200 extra I had to find was a little difficult, but that’s because I’ve just done up my house and over spent on that.  But what seriously worries me is that these new increases will be reflected in next year’s season ticket.  Yes I could probably afford it, but the value for money element has diminished even further (even though I have a good seat).  If the season ticket goes up above £700, that’s it – I’m a lost customer.  And they say to bring in a new customer costs 10 times more than keeping your old ones.

Sport in general has got too expensive.  They were asking £75 to go to the test match this year – god knows how much that will be for the ashes next year.  Tickets for Wimbledon, The Derby and the British Grand Prix can cost over £100 (hmmmm I wonder where the idea cam from). It costs £49 per month to have the Sports channels on Sky and now, thanks to the EC I have to pay an extra £7.50ish to get Setanta to watch the games I used to be able to.  In the old days sport was run by rich people and enjoyed by the masses.  Now only the rich can be involved at all.

I haven’t given up hope yet – maybe the owners will realise after this fiasco that the supporters are the life and soul of the club.  Without us, you don’t have a club. From being saviours, the new owners are now being questioned, not just mild gripes either, but large out loud complaints.  I don’t have another club to support, and the owners know that, but I do have limits, and I’m reaching mine.

I believe the current owners have just passed their one year anniversary of getting involved with the club.  I say getting involved rather than bought, because the official announcement didn’t happen for another couple of weeks, but the £1m we paid for Legs just before last year’s transfer deadline had to come from somewhere, so lets not nit pick this time.  So waddya think of it so far then?

Firstly let’s start with the positives.  

• The main one is that we are still here, a definite big tick for the F1 boys and Mittal jnr there.  
• On the subject of money, it is obvious that they have got their little black books out and got some seriously good money from their connections in the form of sponsorship deals, kit manufacturer and “financial partner” what ever that is.
• The £5m spent in January (on top of the £1m for Legs) turned our team from a bottom half team struggling to compete into a top half team with some style and flair.
• The ground improvements have generally been well received.  Ok there have been some niggles like the removal of the bar in one part of the ground, and the betting shops from all of them.  Also not everyone can see the telly, but I’m in the Upper Loft with a perfect view and I think it is great, although I do keep forgetting to check it after we have scored for the replay.

But there are some negatives:

• The away kits are pretty awful, of the shelf numbers with very little thought.  However, the home kit looks great so maybe we shouldn’t complain too much.
• The season ticket price rises were spintastically bad.  I expected a price rise, but not 50% of my ticket.  Then they tell us sales are unprecedented, but attendances in the two league matches to date have been poor (both less than 14k).
• Some people will point to few signings in the off season.  We have spent less money on transfers than last year (although I suspect we are paying a few bob for Parejo).
• The loss of LDC was regrettable, and Dowie isn’t everyone’s first choice as a replacement

Generally speaking, the positives have outweighed the negatives.  Most of the negatives are either associated with “running the club as a business” rather than a toy thing like Chel$ki, one that I don’t mind as its keeps us as a real football club rather than a fantasy one.  Some of the other things can be learnt from – more supporter input into kit designs would be a good start, and don’t put the season ticket prices up even mope next year, or at least cut the spin and treat us like adults, informing us of how things are going rather than presenting a fait accompli.

There is more positivity about HQ than for many a year – expectations are sky high, perhaps too high, but with these guys on board we have a potentially positive future, even if some of the “Champions League” statements are pretty crass.  I’ld settle for promotion.

So that’s four games played, four man of the match awards and four goals and perfect symmetry.  In the short time he has been with the club, he has gone from unknown (even Seb hadn’t heard of him) to Crown Prince with his skills wowing everyone except Clive Walker and the Bristol City fans allegedly.  Already people are commenting that the transfer fee should be handed over now rather than next summer.

I truly hope we have our new genius to follow in the footsteps of Rodney, Stan and Les.  By heck have we needed one, as the number 10 shirt has looked less than magical on some of the recent incumbents.  However, I want to offer a word of caution before we start rolling out the red (blue?) carpet and beginning the coronation; it is only four matches!

Now yes, he has been impressive, but there are still a few wrinkles to sort out:

1 – lets cut out the diving for starters.  We don’t like it in this country, and its part of the reason the Wurzels are less than impressed.  What is more, its likely to get you a reputation, which means when you are really fouled, refs wont give them.

2 – While you are at it, please stop the rolling around on the floor.  This is a football match not an opera.  Its plain embarrassing.

3 – Let us not forget he is playing in a foreign country.  The weather is still (relatively) nice, but it’ll be different when we play Blackpool on a Tuesday night in January.  We can all remember many a Juan Foreigner going from hero to zero over the winter months as the temperatures drop and the pitches get heavy.

For the moment lets celebrate the fantastic start he has made, and let hope that my cautions are just that, and don’t become real life pains.  The potential is certainly there, keep our fingers crossed it becomes a reality.