So Willock will be leaving on a free in the summer? How did we manage to let our (so called) star players' contract run down? I don't remember any stories of him refusing to sign a new contract.
There's a clause to extend for a year, it seems. I would actually like him gone, along with all of the easily injured players. We need to come out of the age of injuries. However, if we can extend by a year, that would mean an interested club would have to pay. I'm sure we wouldn't just let him go for free.
Big clear out in the B-team ranks. I wonder if Hammalamadingdong will get a contract extension though https://the72.co.uk/2023/04/26/qpr-...tional-and-ex-newcastle-united-talent-let-go/
It is quite standard clear out at this time of year. Surprised to see da Silva leave. Glad to see Pedder remain
I see Beale has categorically denied his interest in Willock today. So I guess Willock is definitely going then
Rod Liddle, never a great fan of QPR, has been writing in the Sunday Times about Frank Lampard being back at Chelsea: "The problems attending to the Return of the Club Legend are many and various. The first and most obvious is that almost by definition he will find it virtually impossible to be as successful a manager as he was a player and concomitantly that, when things go badly awry, that gilded memory of him will become sullied among the fans, which is always sad to see. The next problem is that while he was a good player, he may be as thick as a plate of mince and lacking the mental capacities to run a whelk stall. Then there is the problem of trying to get rid of a club legend when he is ballsing things up. It is a tricky business, as Queens Park Rangers are finding out, regarding their director of football, 'Sir' Les Ferdinand." All very true, of course. He doesn't mention Gareth...
Ron Liddell re: Frank Lampard: Have no care for Chelsea or particularly Frank Lampard, but that is top-hole sh1tty journalism. The Sunday Times must be proud of that piece of so-called journalism. There’s a way to say things but that’s definitely not it. Ron Liddell is a waste of time.
The dichotomy for owners is, make a no-connection hire and he may lack necessary motivation (Harry Redknapp) or use us as a stepping stone (Michael Beale) - or go for loyalty and risk a drop in quality by hiring for the wrong reasons, or a tendency by the owner to stick with an underperformer due to sentimentality.
Some managers gel and some just don’t. For instance, Chris Wilder was brilliant with Sheffield U - and was a former player for them. He’s been unsuccessful thereafter for Borough and Watford. I think there really is an element of pot luck when selecting a manager over any given team.
Not sure about that. Some clubs seem to get it right and each manager brought in has developed the team. Watford seemed to have the knack a few years ago as did Southampton although both seem to have lost that touch in their more recent appointments. We, on the other hand, have not been successful until Warburton. who did well for a while until the money ran out and he paid the penalty for a Board that liked to gamble financially and on the fitness of the players brought in. Beale did well for a while but seemed to have no answer when the rot set in under his watch. A large part of the problem is managing our owners expectations and FFP
Now that we have secured safety within this division, l wonder out loud if if this changes things with who may or may not be leaving. Would it be fair to say, that maybe, more would’ve left if we’d been relegated! Will any mid to upper management leave now, knowing that we stayed up? I personally think a clean out of DoF and possibly coaching staff of the junior teams may refresh our club, God knows it’s become stagnant.
So who do we keep? Our goals against record is horrific this season. Which led me to thinking of our defenders… do we keep Jimmy Dunne? Dickie? Jake Clarke-Salter is in a 4-yr deal, so I guess he stays - does he play? Is Kakay a squad player, do we need a replacement. I imagine Balogun will go; Laird will go back to Manchester - so two places to fill. Drewe is still a squad player with a way to improve. Gibbons is in the squad but not seen (apparently we are so vested in him we don’t even know his height and weight on the squad office info). Or is it our midfield that needs ripping up and rebuilding to better cover? How are we intending to improve our appalling passing success figures? We’ve got about 50 midfielders (or it seems that way) to sort out. Not enough beans to write through that lot! What’s the plan to achieve forwards/players in the box taking the (many) opportunities to give us a lead? Rumours GA fancies Martin staying another season. Is Dykes a good enough striker to give us the goals we need? Seems we will have Dykes, Armstrong and Martin (don’t shoot the messenger) - with Lowe and Roberts sent off home do we get loanees who don’t seem too bothered, get back Kelman in the squad now (surely has to be better than a loanee after a successful stint with Orient in League 2). Another loanee? Tough time sorting that lot out to get an improvement enough to just be a middle-of-the-table club next season.
To be honest SWR, I think the first thing to sort out is who can we sell for money. Willcox and Dieng and possibly Chair, Dykes and Dickie. Sell some of those 4 because we want to hang onto Field at all costs. I really do not want to sell Dykes either, but he could actually attract a good price. I personally would try and replace Johansen and Dozzell but Amos is also at end of contract...so we may have a very small midfield in the future. I do suspect we will keep Adomeh and Martin ...old heads.....but both might be too expensive. Then we will add with low cost transfers from below...and a couple of loanees...but Ainsworth hasn't got the clout ( or money) Beale had, so we will not be getting English u23 Internationals
I don't think we'll need ball playing midfielders with Ainsworth’s style of play. Hopefully, he'll recruit some real grafters for the midfield next season. A centre forward to replace Dykes who is mobile enough to run the channels and a right back to replace Laird.
With all of his interviews he will certainly be looking for leadership - maybe developing some of our own and possibly bringing in new blood to offer a bit of bite and on-the-field leadership. Interesting point from both yourself Beth ,and Col, Col about what he does with the middle of the field - will it be all direct and bypass the middle or will he surprise us? I’ve no idea what he’s thinking.