After a few days oop north in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales followed by the Lake District I have had time to contemplate last week's amazing win over the 'mighty' Chelsea. The overwhelming thing to emerge from the results last week were the lack of good grace with which not only Chelsea, but also Man U supporters greeted the results. You would think it were a crime for them to lose a game to opposition they have derided for more years than you'd care to mention. In Man U's case, it is something they are gonna have to get used to as City are certainly here to stay and are enjoying the general popularity bonus of being the new 'big kid on the block', enjoy it while they can I'd suggest as they'll be as loathed as the other 'Big Four' sides before too long. Yesterday was another day to smile about with our arrogant neighbours led by their odious captain falling flat on their faces, literally, with another chronic display in front of the Stamford Bridge 'library'. What has annoyed me, and I'm sure, you as well is the overwhelming sense of entitlement the supporters of all the 'big' clubs have, as though they should always be above the 'little' clubs like QPR regardless of their performances on the pitch. We had it in bucketsfull last season from Leeds in particular and Forest as well. In the Premier League it is even worse as last Sunday showed. We've had it from Liverpool for a couple of years before Dalglish returned to 'save' them. All through the summer we had the Fabregas/Nasri saga at Arsenal and the wailing from their fans who have been potless for six long years in the wilderness, now it could be Chelsea's turn as the winning side of many years has become an ageing liability as yesterday's defensive 'masterclass' proved. The question is do we want to be like them? A winning machine that rattles in 4, 5, 6 every week in one-sided bores. To be honest our win as an underdog gave me more of a buzz than I can remember for a long time, the three defeats we have had all hurt this season as they were games we needed to win but Sunday was the type of day us 'proper' supporters live for, I wouldn't change that for anything. Bring on the Spurs...
Good post Superhoop, some nice holiday reflections. I guess for me, when thinking about my friends who support Arsenal, Man Utd, and more recently Chelsea and Man City, the difference is that they don't seem to remember times when their club wasn't in the top four every year. Granted I'm only 25, so most of my friends don't remember that far back. I guess what I think will always keep current QPR fans grounded is the not so distant memories of games against, and no disrespect meant, but Vauxhall Motors, Oldham and the like. I can't remember a time that QPR were a top club...which for me makes the prospect of us being in and around the top VERY exciting, and hopefully it happens that excitement won't fade into an arrogant expectation that we should or 'deserve' to be in the top 10 every year. One to remember in years to come though.
Agree, good post. In my opinion, we'll always be viewed as some annoying irritant that requires the application of some ointment to make it go away by that lot up the road! But that's what makes last Sunday's result all the sweeter. But again, it will always be remembered as the game they finished with 9 men, & that's why we won. I remember only too well that cup defeat to Vauxhall motors, possibly our all time low. Hopefully, we'll never return to those depths of despair.
Interesting thoughts. I am one the guys old enough to remember when we were one of the top clubs (briefly) and I really believe it meant more then than it does now. The playing field was much more level and managerial skill in finding and using talent was the critical difference between teams. Now the critical difference is money. Thats why Clough was a better manager than Ferguson. I would be delighted if we become an established EPL team which regularly upsets the big teams. Beating Chelsea and starting today Spurs (their thin skinned fans are immensely irritating) means more to me than losing to Bolton or Wigan once in a while. One thing I would love us to do is qualify for Europe. European night games away are an incredible experience. I live near Birmingham and some generous Blues supporting mates took my R's supporting son to their game in Bruges. 12,000 Blues fans went, most without tickets. My boy came back buzzing and I want him to have the same experience with us. I know all the arguments about burnout and of course Birmingham are an example of where it can go wrong. But I was lucky enough to live in Milan for 4 years and be a season ticket holder for AC Milan - Van Basten years - going to 2 European Cup finals in the process. Don't expect R's to emulate this, but believe me, those Euro match nights were always special. Sorry for the ramble, but you got me thinking - great post.
