I will add Drewe to that list, who for a youngster really stood up to the plate. He got the wrong end of a career ending tackle, got up and carried on. Not perfection but he has got what it takes
Dykes IS a grafter, and he does care. He remains an enigma though. I think Charlie Austin got him right when he told him to be more selfish around the goal. More goals, with his work rate and would be an ideal player for us (he rescues the defence at times too, which is also an enigma).
I have had varied opinions of Dykes from very poor to good. I now think he could be a good to very good player...in the correct system. We have gone from pass around the back before kicking a hopeless pass forward to hoof upfield early, neither however have included "cross the ball into a striker". If we did I think he could be a 15-20 a season striker. Launching the ball to Dykes head, while facing the wrong way, 40 yards from goal with no other player in their half is pointless.
Loved the Attendance paragraph, we’ve all been there. I suspect he might have bottled it on the ‘what’s going on with Willock, Johansen, Laird, Dickie’ stuff, I’m pretty sure he knows. He knows his demographic too. References to Duncan Goodhew and The Winchester are obviously not aimed at capturing a younger readership. And it makes sense, really struck me leaving the Coventry game how old (and male) our match going fan base is. I’m a pretty good representative of the average. I’m sure it’s similar at most clubs, especially lower down the leagues. I wonder if clubs take this into account when designing websites and thinking about the match day experience etc. QPR obviously has - website that doesn't work to meet expectations of crinkly technophobes, match day experience similar to a city break in Aleppo, to remind us of how tough things were in the good old days, and how lucky the kids of today are. Pricing policy curated to enable maximum blood pressure elevation. Soon season tickets will be made more attractive with free prescriptions for statins, beta blockers and erectile dysfunction medicines. More seriously, it has also struck me how much more willing younger fans are simply to walk away from depressing ****. Possibly because, like my lad, they were originally dragged to Loftus Road by their dads. Not just for QPR of course. These kids simply don’t want to go if it’s no fun, haven’t got this idiotic ‘support the club through thick and thin’ gene, and who can blame them.