Post by stainrodisalegend on Jan 3, 2023 22:27:55 GMT
Tend to be a fairly positive fan but am struggling to be optimistic at the moment about our beloved QPR.
Fulham 7th in the Premier League
Brentford 9th and playing teams off the park
Chelsea 10th (OK so not great by their recent standards but still way above where they were in the 80s when I was most passionate as a teenage fan)
Palace 11th - all those great victories over them a distant memory
That's ignoring Arsenal leading the league, Spurs right up there, West Ham also in the top flight and usually challenging nearer the top with a vast new stadium.
In the Championship Millwall, Luton and Watford all above us.
We've been lower in my lifetime and at least we aren't in the third tier or handing round buckets.
And we seem more sane at least than when we had guns in the boardroom and then Flavio's antics.
But in some ways our problems seem more structural now.
The continued and growing success of all the SW London sides make it so much harder to attract new fans - whereas in previous bleak periods there were plenty of London clubs who were even worse. Who have we got to look down on now? Charlton and Orient. Orient.
Whether its due to FFP or simply lack of funds/ unwillingness to throw more money down a bottomless pit (it amounts to much the same thing) we clearly aren't going to spend any significant money before we sell players.
There are different opinions on this (and don't want to start a whole new FFP argument) but according to some more expert on the club than me, even our current level of expenditure is not sustainable with losses of a million a month and relative to income we now would probably sit more comfortably in the third tier.
Yet there is no Eze in the making and we are light years behind what Brentford were building when they were in the Championship.
Our youth development isn't making up for lack of funds, though I do think our recruitment has generally improved in the last few years given lack of resources.
Clearly the board has no serious interest in pursuing a new stadium.
The eel's treachery has ripped the hearts out of many players and given so many of them are his signings, this damage will take a long time to repair.
Am not sure the board are really left with a strategy. Yet if we were all on the board am not sure we could do any better AS OF NOW. Everton fans sing "sack the board", but first find your bored billionaire who wants to bankroll your club.
The only positive I can take at the moment - other than the much improved performance against Sheffield United and a team with some exciting players on their day - is we as a club seem to thrive in adversity.
We as fans have a big part to play.
It will also be a real test of character among the players - who is up for the fight.
And we do have some fighters - Dunne, Field and Chair among them.
We have had so many bleak periods - guess its almost like religious faith really, you have to hope against all logic that things will turn round.
But I can honestly say even now I don't regret supporting the Rs - but no hiding the fact this is one of the tougher periods to be a fan.
Fulham 7th in the Premier League
Brentford 9th and playing teams off the park
Chelsea 10th (OK so not great by their recent standards but still way above where they were in the 80s when I was most passionate as a teenage fan)
Palace 11th - all those great victories over them a distant memory
That's ignoring Arsenal leading the league, Spurs right up there, West Ham also in the top flight and usually challenging nearer the top with a vast new stadium.
In the Championship Millwall, Luton and Watford all above us.
We've been lower in my lifetime and at least we aren't in the third tier or handing round buckets.
And we seem more sane at least than when we had guns in the boardroom and then Flavio's antics.
But in some ways our problems seem more structural now.
The continued and growing success of all the SW London sides make it so much harder to attract new fans - whereas in previous bleak periods there were plenty of London clubs who were even worse. Who have we got to look down on now? Charlton and Orient. Orient.
Whether its due to FFP or simply lack of funds/ unwillingness to throw more money down a bottomless pit (it amounts to much the same thing) we clearly aren't going to spend any significant money before we sell players.
There are different opinions on this (and don't want to start a whole new FFP argument) but according to some more expert on the club than me, even our current level of expenditure is not sustainable with losses of a million a month and relative to income we now would probably sit more comfortably in the third tier.
Yet there is no Eze in the making and we are light years behind what Brentford were building when they were in the Championship.
Our youth development isn't making up for lack of funds, though I do think our recruitment has generally improved in the last few years given lack of resources.
Clearly the board has no serious interest in pursuing a new stadium.
The eel's treachery has ripped the hearts out of many players and given so many of them are his signings, this damage will take a long time to repair.
Am not sure the board are really left with a strategy. Yet if we were all on the board am not sure we could do any better AS OF NOW. Everton fans sing "sack the board", but first find your bored billionaire who wants to bankroll your club.
The only positive I can take at the moment - other than the much improved performance against Sheffield United and a team with some exciting players on their day - is we as a club seem to thrive in adversity.
We as fans have a big part to play.
It will also be a real test of character among the players - who is up for the fight.
And we do have some fighters - Dunne, Field and Chair among them.
We have had so many bleak periods - guess its almost like religious faith really, you have to hope against all logic that things will turn round.
But I can honestly say even now I don't regret supporting the Rs - but no hiding the fact this is one of the tougher periods to be a fan.
