Epicaricacy. Now there's a word.

.Will DQPR regret their transfer splurge?
Date: 16th March 2012 at 3:31 pm
Written by Jak Penny


Desperation drives people into committing acts of mind boggling lunacy. In it’s most extreme form it can range from robbing a bank to scrimping for lost pennies that have fallen down the back of the sofa cushions. In football terms it equates to paying £6 million for Bobby Zamora. Or maybe it’s plying Joey Barton with £70,000-a-week to quote famous philosophers and become embroiled in twitter wars with everyones favourite former news editor Piers Morgan. QPR are guilty of both. The R’s have navigated the last two transfer windows like a 12-year-old would on a fresh Championship Manager save. Keeping your finger pressed on transfer fee until the offer is irresistible. Contract negotiations operate with a similar surrendering mentality. Every players’ demands are met without dispute to ensure they sign on the dotted line. No strategy is employed whatsoever. However it’s a naive blueprint that could come back to haunt the R’s should they fail to secure Premier League football next season.

Like every team promoted from the Championship QPR had only one objective; to survive. At the beginning of the campaign they were the favourites to achieve that goal ahead of rivals Norwich and Swansea who were perceived to have weaker squads. The arrival of owner Tony Fernandes at the backend of August was followed by an influx of signings concluded before the summer deadline snapped shut. Seasoned top flight performers Barton, Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Luke Young all arrived at Loftus Road to offer strength to the belief that the Hoops would achieve their survival goal. It never transpired and ultimately cost Neil Warnock his job with replacement Mark Hughes adopting a similar panic buying philosophy. Djibril Cisse, Nedum Onuoha and Zamora all joined the club during the final week of January but have failed in their mission to lift Rangers out of the relegation zone. However with the prospect of a return to the Championship now very real with 10 games to play their guileless recruitment system could cripple them financially.

It was revealed during the week that the club have reportedly failed to insert relegation clauses into the contracts of their recent purchases with a majority of them earning between £50,000 and £60,000-per-week. Should the club find themselves back in England’s second tier all the players signed to those deals would still be entitled to that sum putting Rangers in a very precarious position. Usually the custom for a club in their position is to stipulate that in the event of relegation wages be sliced by between 33 to 50 percent. DQPR’s reported failure to implement that would see them take on the burden of paying around £3 million-per-year to six or seven players they’d find difficult to move on.

Could you see a Premier League club matching the demands of Barton or 30-somethings like Wright-Phillips and Zamora who have performed way below expectations?

The outlook does look bleak. Ever since taking over from Bernie Ecclestone as chairman in August Fernandes has been signing cheques like it’s going out of fashion in attempt to preserve the clubs top flight status. Newcastle are the most recent example of a club failing to insert relegation clauses into the contracts of their players. When they suffered the torment of demotion it left their finances in an apparent state of disrepair. Luckily for them they were able to move on a majority of their squad whilst also having the infrastructure to soften the substantial blow their accounts took. Unfortunately for DQPR they don’t have a 52,000 capacity stadium that would contribute to a major part of their revenue. Whilst £18 million worth of parachute payments will be forthcoming it isn’t enough to sustain a wage bill that pales in comparison to that of Norwich and Swansea. Losses in TV money will also hit them hard in the pocket. To cut a long story short the club could follow a path tread by Leeds United and Portsmouth – two clubs who have paid the price for over spending.

All the signs point towards an apocalyptic financial meltdown that would take the R’s years to recover from. The sustainability of their current squad would make it difficult for them to operate in an economy that now prides itself on prudent spending. The arrival or Fernandes was expected to herald a bright to new era at Loftus Road. However quite the opposite now appears to be on the horizon with a badly organised transfer master plan owing heavily to their demise. Should relegation occur supporters should be very worried. In fact they should be on tenterhooks fretting over whether their club can survive outside of the Premier League as they continue to burn money at a rate of knots.

 

great word. shows you how close we were to the precipice without the intervention of the Allam family. I do not derive satisfaction from the misfortunes of others. This is a condemnation on how football is run in the top echelons of the game. I actually do hope we see a meltdown and a return of the game to those who truly love it.

 

why why WHY don't clubs learn from the experience of others......... including ourselves!!! the only reason I can think of is fear that players won't come unless they're given certain terms, but why would you want players with that kind of mercenary attitude,? (Great word by the way)

 

They won't get relegated.

You heard it here first.

This does sound very familiar but at least they signed decent players (on paper) and not a load of old guff like we did.

 

I think they will go down, Hughes has not done any better than Warnock, & something just seems very wrong. Still, should make the close season interesting with them trying to off load all these over paid & over rated players!

 

True but I still think they have the players to get out of it. Wigan and Wolves are doomed IMO, sacking Mick and appointing his assistant coach was never going to work. I like Roberto Martinez but that team is so awful, he should have jumped ship to Villa when he had the chance.

Given what's just happened with Muamba it seems harsh but I think Bolton will go down. They're seriously missing Sturridge and Holden. I hope I'm wrong because I like Coyle but it's the way I see it.

 

QPR have a shocking run in with Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs all still to play. On paper they're good enough to stay up but that's a tough run of fixtures in anyone's book. Things look tough for them, I can see them joining Wolves in next season's championship. Last spot will probably be between Bolton and Wigan as I can see Blackburn getting out of it.

 

I reckon Wolves and Wigan are gone.

Blackburn will definitely stay up because they can score goals and they have the easiest run in.

The last relegation place is between DQPR and Bolton.

Before the weekend I would have said the Lancashire side would win that battle, but now I'm not so sure, it's down to Coyle's management now.

 

I hope QPR don't come down, they'll struggle to offload most those players and they would rip the championship to shreds. That's provided we're still in this league. This will go either of 2 ways for Bolton it's their make or break stage now, either their heads will drop or they'll really turn it on to honour Fab.

 

I've seen it mentioned that we are all a football family given the horrible events with Muamba at the weekend, I kind of feel this incident has put things in perspective, the way everybody has come together because of it. I feel for the fans of teams who are destroyed by bad management and ownership, it nearly happened to us not so long ago.

 

DQPR will get what they deserve at the end of the season. But with a fixture list from hell i also expect them to go down with Wolves. IMO, the last spot is between Wigan and Bolton.

 

I think everyone would agree with that but it's been the case all season, they should be mid-table with that squad.
Newcastle got relegated with an extremely strong squad, so you never know.

 

Steve Kean has just been on SSN saying he thinks teams above the bottom 5 could get sucked into the relegation scrap.

What a clown he really is.

 

Difficult question, im going to stick my neck out and say Tickler?

 

Interesting, one of their players disagrees.

http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/lo...3/02/qpr-stars-face-wage-cuts-64767-30445025/