QPR, The next big super power team?

AckwelFoley

Their owners are wealthier than chelsea's and at the moment they are doing pretty well in the npower championship at the top of the table.

They have to date not spent an aweful amount of money on the team which seems to be good, but if they make it to the Premiership i think they could buy bigger players as they have the backing there to do it

I dont know, im old enough to remember when QPR played in the top flight, but im pretty confident they will be back there next season..

Maybe ive lost my marbles

GavRedKing

Maybe ive lost my marbles

Here you go :pac:

Joking aside, I agree, they have a decent squad and should come up, and with the financial backing they have behind them they could stay up too. Time will tell.

Edit : They have a better chance of staying up if they make it up next year then some of the current teams.

dartsfan

Don't think they're wealthy enough to become a super power. If they were they'd have splashed the cash to get out of the Championship already.

I think consolodating themselves in the Premiership should be their aim. Loftus Road doesn't hold much more than 20000 so they're not quite big enough to become a force yet.

Like them as a club though

BigBenRoeth

Thread title-no

gimmick

^ The owners said day one they would try do it as sensibly as possible and not go spending crazy money after crazy money to get ptomoted. They have gone about their ways effieciently and this year seems to be the year they will go back up.

As for them not affording it, well as mentioned already in the thread, they are the richest club in that particular corner of London.

Jigga

QPR became a much better club when that clown Flavio Briatore stopped interfering. He is recently in the news again for saying he wants Lippi as manager if they get promoted, this despite Neil Warnock leading them to the top of the Championship and still unbeaten after 12 games. Idiot knows nothing about the sport.

IvySlayer

Neil Warnock is doing quite well with them.

Warper

They are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world but their owners aren't interested in pumping their money into the club. The F1 guy is part owner, is it Slavio Briatore, the guy that always has supermodels hanging off his arm.

Superbus

Warper wrote: »

They are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world but their owners aren't interested in pumping their money into the club. The F1 guy is part owner, is it Slavio Briatore, the guy that always has supermodels hanging off his arm.

Flavio.

He was banned from F1 forever for ordering one of his drivers to crash on purpose. Not a particularly stand-up guy, would definitely be for the best if he had pretty much nothing to do with the club.

The Volt

They've not got the support to sustain that I don't think. Loftus Road is falling apart but they can barely fill that as it is.

dreamers75

They are boutique club, i know some of their fans :eek: and they had to move from their season ticket spots as supermodels etc were given those seats.

Check out the price list for restaurant in the main stand its mental.

Helix

i hope not

feckers cost me an accumulator on tuesday

thegen

QPR are afaik the second richest club behind City. Their owners are Flavio Briatore, Bernie Ecclestone and the Indian steel man who I believe is wealthier than Abramovich!!! Doing it the right way and hopefully go up as Champions.

Rooney to London???? Only two clubs can afford him and Arsenal are not one of them!!!!

Third_Echelon

Always liked QPR as my best mate in school at the time supported them... Would love to see them back in the premier league..

ollaetta

While the new owners have been slow to spend big on players and Briatore interfered way too much the most important thing they did was to clear the club's debt.

They have finally got the right man to manage (in this division) and have assembled a decent squad of good Championship players who should be good enough to get them up. After that who knows?

(A QPR supporter since the days of Don Givens etc.)

Qprmeath

Still top after 12 games but Im not sure we have the strength in depth to last a full season at the top. Could sneak second place but should make playoffs at the very least which would be a vast improvement on recent efforts. Warnock knows the division well and is not going to get over excited after 12 games. By the way we have a young full bak on loan from Spurs and he is as good as Ive seen at his age. Kyle Walker is his name. Was easily the best player on the pitch last Saturday against Norwich.

OPENROAD

dreamers75 wrote: »

They are boutique club, i know some of their fans :eek: and they had to move from their season ticket spots as supermodels etc were given those seats.

Check out the price list for restaurant in the main stand its mental.

Do you have a link?

Gillington

At the minute they have a squad capable of getting promoted but when/if they do they will struggle in the top flight unless they bring in a brand new XI. Imo Taarabt would be the only one who could hold his own in the top flight,maybe Hogan Ephraim but I aint seen that much of him(hopefully that'll change soon....Trap I'm looking at you)

Mars Bar

Wow, didn't realise that at all. Quietly going about their business which is good!

I only know one QPR fan...

OPENROAD

mars bar wrote: »

Wow, didn't realise that at all. Quietly going about their business which is good!

I only know one QPR fan...

I have always had a soft spot for them, being a West London team would love to see them back in the big time, they have had some good players over the years.

Het-Field

Strange when you consider how long QPR have been outside of the top flight. Much like Norwich City, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Middlesborough, and one of the Sheffield teams, QPR are arguably a team, who's status and historical precedents merit a place in the top flight. It is beyond debate to suggest that the aformentioned teams would be far more welcome in the top flight then some of the plastic teams which have invaded the Premiership in the past ten years.

While I would consider Bolton Wanderers, Fulham and Wolves to have a pedigree and historical significance, it is undeniable that the likesf Wigan Athletic (the most probative example of what I am talking about), and to a lesser extent Reading, Stoke City, Hull City, are plastic teams, which have lived off bandwagon support, which plummets during times of depression. Football is a competitive game, and money talks, but I would be fine with it if QPR were to gain promotion and were replaced in the Championship by Wigan.

Zaph

Het-Field wrote: »

QPR are arguably a team, who's status and historical precedents merit a place in the top flight

While I've nothing against QPR and it's good to see them do well, I'd have to disagree with this statement. Only 20 top-flight seasons from the last 50, spread over 3 separate periods, and 7 of those 50 seasons in division 3. 1 league runners-up spot nearly 35 years ago, 1 losing FA Cup final nearly 30 years ago and a League Cup win over 40 years ago is hardly much of a historical precedent. Their past record shows that they are very much a second division club, but it's not to say that with a decent bit of investment they can't change that. Their fans deserve it for having had to put up with uncertainty caused by administration and a club crippled by huge debts for most of its recent past.

Morf

My uncle is a R's fan. They're his local club. I went to see them play Plymouth Argyle at Loftus Road quite a few years ago.

Lakshmi Mittal is the other owner. He's the head of a family who own the biggest steel company in the world.

Irish Wolf

Jigga wrote: »

QPR became a much better club when that clown Flavio Briatore stopped interfering. He is recently in the news again for saying he wants Lippi as manager if they get promoted, this despite Neil Warnock leading them to the top of the Championship and still unbeaten after 12 games. Idiot knows nothing about the sport.

Agreed, and I hope the club are good to their word and they are 100% behind Warnock now and into the future.

As a long suffering QPR supporter, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that the 12 game streak turns to 13, then 14, 15, 16..... etc.

Next big super power team? I'm not so sure. Fingers and toes crossed for the rest of this season and then into the next -

1. Promotion
2. Celebration
3. Another 12 game unbeaten streak
4. ??????
5. Profit

Degag

I have a bit of respect for them because they haven't tried buying Premiership status really. If they do go up though, i could easily see them spending 50m + on players. Coincedently, on SSN tonight there were reports that the chairman was looking to make Marcelo Lippi manager if they made the top tier.

Beefy78

QPR aren't a rich Club they are just owned by some rich people. Whether those owners would pur a lot of money into the Club if they got promoted remains to be seen. I have my doubts. They should have the freedom to sign some big contracts safe in the knowledge that they will not be dependent on parachute payments if they do go down but I wouldn't expect them to throw a lot of money away on transfer fees.

ShamoBuc

I would like to see them back where they belong - in the top floght. They are a club on the up and do play some nice football. There are a couple of teams in the premier lge I wouldn't mind swopping places with the R's. I went to one match at Loftus Road ( V Leicester ) a number of years ago and it was in need of renovation, I would presume that has happened sinec. Small enough capacity but with their fan base a full house doesn't happen that often- I'm sure that will change if they go up.

pickarooney

dreamers75 wrote: »

They are boutique club, i know some of their fans :eek: and they had to move from their season ticket spots as supermodels etc were given those seats.

Could they not sit on his lap?

Check out the price list for restaurant in the main stand its mental.

Well the new clientele is unlikely to be doing much eating so that's a bit of a rookie mistake.

grenache

As it currently stands, Rangers haven't the proper depth in their squad to maintain an automatic promotion challenge. I put this to a R's supporting friend of mine and he agreed. Mackie and Taraabt are their two outstanding players; if either were to suffer lenghty absences from the first team through injury, there are no readymade replacements of equal quality. However, if Briatore and co give Warnock adequate funds to strengthen during January's transfer window, they would be well capable of finishing in the top three, and with a bit of luck in the top two.

v3ttel

Not sure about anyone else, but I always like to see the clubs back in the Premier league that were there when I was growing up.

QPR, Oldham, Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Norwich, Ipswich. My biggest memory of QPR is that goal that Giggs scored against them at Loftus Road (think United won 2-3). I'd like to see them back up there anyways, but Loftus Road would need some serious investment.

Beefy78

The QPR fans I speak to don't seem too impressed with Mackie. His goalscoring masks some limited ability. They have Leon Clarke there who will score goals if played.

Taraabt is different class though.

AckwelFoley

Promoted now and clearly the best team in the Championship..

Wonder how will they do next season, they need to buy some players to survive though.

Neil Warnock good manager in my opinion

Chardee MacDennis

he's on his way out from what i've heard, Ranieri to come in...

AckwelFoley

BastardPrince wrote: »

he's on his way out from what i've heard, Ranieri to come in...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/22/neil-warnock-qpr-bernie-ecclestone

Neil Warnock will stay at QPR, says Bernie Ecclestone• QPR's majority shareholder Ecclestone dismisses speculation
'He's staying – 100%. We've never discussed him leaving'

Bernie Ecclestone has reaffirmed QPR's commitment to Neil Warnock. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA
Bernie Ecclestone has claimed that Neil Warnock will lead Queens Park Rangers into the Premier League next season.

Marcello Lippi, Claudio Ranieri, Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin Jol have all been linked with the Rangers job, even though Warnock has just led the team to promotion and the Championship title.

However Ecclestone, the majority shareholder at QPR, has made it clear that Warnock is not leaving. Speaking in the paddock at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, the 80-year-old said: "He's staying – 100%. We've never discussed anything about him leaving. He's never wanted to leave and we don't want to get rid of him. He's absolutely taking the club into the Premier League."

Ecclestone has also dismissed suggestions of a potential takeover by another shareholder, the Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. It has been claimed Mittal will launch a bid for the club on Monday

stovelid

I'll beliieve it when I see the mass outbreak of defensive I've always supported Blackburn/Chelsea/City/Madrid/Barca prefaces to forum posts.

Paully D

They'll stay up next season and will go on to become an established Premier League side over the next few seasons, IMO.

They have the location to attract players (players who have the choice will generally always go to London ahead of the north-east, the midlands etc), they have the money if the want to spend it, and they'll have a decent wage structure in terms of attracting players too. They'll give Warnock a go, but if they're not going well come Christmas they'll sack him and get in a very good manager to replace him.

I can see them in the Premier League for quite a while.

tommyhaas

Paully D wrote: »

They'll stay up next season and will go on to become an established Premier League side over the next few seasons, IMO.

They have the location to attract players (players who have the choice will generally always go to London ahead of the north-east, the midlands etc), they have the money if the want to spend it, and they'll have a decent wage structure in terms of attracting players too. They'll give Warnock a go, but if they're not going well come Christmas they'll sack him and get in a very good manager to replace him.

I can see them in the Premier League for quite a while.

Statistically (I heard this on the radio, think these are the figures they quoted) , you're far more likely to go down with a British Manager. Of the last 33 managers to be relegated from the EPL, only one was foreign, Avram Grant. Twice. So providing you don't appoint a British manager or Avram Grant, you are statistically more likely to stay up

chopperbyrne

Their one major problem is their stadium.

If they really want to challenge, they'll have to move elsewhere or have Loftus Road massively redeveloped.

Beefy78

tommyhaas wrote: »

Statistically (I heard this on the radio, think these are the figures they quoted) , you're far more likely to go down with a British Manager. Of the last 33 managers to be relegated from the EPL, only one was foreign, Avram Grant. Twice. So providing you don't appoint a British manager or Avram Grant, you are statistically more likely to stay up

That's slightly misleading because there haven't been too many foreign managers at Clubs outside the big four and often the ones who have been around (Zola, Di Matteo, Venglos, Santini, Ramos) have been removed before the business end of the season with a Brit being put in charge to try to keep them up.

tommyhaas

Beefy78 wrote: »

That's slightly misleading because there haven't been too many foreign managers at Clubs outside the big four and often the ones who have been around (Zola, Di Matteo, Venglos, Santini, Ramos) have been removed before the business end of the season with a Brit being put in charge to try to keep them up.

That's true to an extent, however I don't for a second believe that Santini or Ramos would have gone down, and as for Venglos, well that must have been about 20 odd years ago now. But yea certainly the statistics are flawed as it's generally the clubs at the upper end of the table that have foreign managers

Beefy78

Well Venglos was a stretch because I coudln't think of too many other foreign managers, which kind of proves my point. Guillet and Jol had some success but again were at Clubs where they were in the upper midtable rather than being expected to fight relegation battles.

As for Ramos... well if you listen to Harry Redknapp he had practically taken Spurs down when he was sacked!

OhNoYouDidn't

The penny really hasn't dropped with you England fans.

By 2013 all clubs have to be living within their means, debt free and not reliant on sugar daddies to buy success. That chapter in English football is over.

Paully D

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

The penny really hasn't dropped with you England fans.

By 2013 all clubs have to be living within their means, debt free and not reliant on sugar daddies to buy success. That chapter in English football is over.

Completely wrong.

Clubs will be allowed to absorb aggregate losses (so-called "acceptable deviations") of €45 million (£39 million), initially over two years and then over a three-year monitoring period, as long as they are willing to cover the deficit by making equity contributions. The maximum permitted loss then falls to €30 million (£26 million) from 2015/16 and will be further reduced from 2018/19 (to an unspecified amount), so don't let your anti-Premier League agenda get in the way of the facts.

tommyhaas

Beefy78 wrote: »

Well Venglos was a stretch because I coudln't think of too many other foreign managers, which kind of proves my point. Guillet and Jol had some success but again were at Clubs where they were in the upper midtable rather than being expected to fight relegation battles.

As for Ramos... well if you listen to Harry Redknapp he had practically taken Spurs down when he was sacked!

Yea the point when I heard it related to West Ham appointing Grant. Apparently they had initially wanted a British Manager to keep them up but instead choose Grant, the one foreign manager who had actually managed to take a club down. I think it's more a statistical consistence then anything else, thought it was interesting all the same

Wrt Arry, yea clearly if it were not for the miracle he has performed on a shoe string budget, Spurs would be languishing in the lower reaches of the Championship and probably wouldn't be playing the fluid attacking football Arry has them playing, or at least claims to (Both Newcastle and WBA scored more this season then Spurs)

OhNoYouDidn't

Paully D wrote: »

Completely wrong.

Clubs will be allowed to absorb aggregate losses (so-called "acceptable deviations") of €45 million (£39 million), initially over two years and then over a three-year monitoring period, as long as they are willing to cover the deficit by making equity contributions. The maximum permitted loss then falls to €30 million (£26 million) from 2015/16 and will be further reduced from 2018/19 (to an unspecified amount), so don't let your anti-Premier League agenda get in the way of the facts.

'Anti-Premier League Agenda'? Behave.

The point is the most important rule change in football since Bosman is here in less than two years. And 99% of the barstoolers are oblivious to it. Some are asking will QPR be rivalling Man City? Man City won't be rivalling Man City in 2013.

My issue is with the lack of basic understanding of broader football culture amongst so called Irish football fans.

Beefy78

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

'Anti-Premier League Agenda'? Behave.

The point is the most important rule change in football since Bosman is here in less than two years. And 99% of the barstoolers are oblivious to it. Some are asking will QPR be rivalling Man City? Man City won't be rivalling Man City in 2013.

My issue is with the lack of basic understanding of broader football culture amongst so called Irish football fans.

I just don't see Financial Fair Play sticking. The likes of Chelsea and Man City seem to be making some vague movement towards being compliant with the new rules (investing heavily in youth development, committing marquee signings to six year contracts to spread the cost of transfers in the accounts over the maximum amount of time) but the first time they're denied entry into Europe there will be the biggest legal ****storm of all time. I don't see how the FFP rules can possibly be legal under any fair trade or company law.

busyliving

With the new financial fairplay coming in soon, its hard to see how QPR could become a super power. With the likes of Chelsea and Man City they both have a fairly sizable following and this can be seen by their average attendances this season

Chelsea - 41,435
Man City - 45,778
QPR - 19,128

Now you'll say that QPR were playing in the championship, but they had the 3rd lowest average attendance in the league, so if they want to spend big they'll need to generate a lot more money from gate receipts to at least make an attempt to be in line with the FFP regulations.

Now I know you'll say that the QPR averaged nearly a full house each week, but how long will it take to upgrade the stadium or even build a new stadium. And considering its in London they could be a lot of delays with planning and other legal issues.

But correct me if I’m wrong here, but doesn't the FFP only account for the previous 3 seasons, so if QPR spend big this summer and then keep the losses in the acceptable range for the next 3 seasons then would that mean they be in compliance with the FFP rule by the end of 4 seasons from now?

Also there are a lot of rumbles about this FFP not even sticking...But one thing is for sure if QPR want to become the next super power I think they'll need to get a few more fans in on match day.


QPR may have a lot of money and may be able to match a lot of top clubs with wages on the table, but with so much money still floating around football a clubs history could very easily be the major deciding factor for players, and QPR don't have a whole lot of history when compared to a lot of the other English clubs.

Helix

busyliving wrote: »

if they want to spend big they'll need to generate a lot more money from gate receipts

wrong

they can spend as big as they want, they just wont be allowed to play in europe til theyve got their books balanced in the future

for newly promoted teams spending huge amounts in their first summer will probably become common enough, it'll allow them to get up to a similar level to other established teams, and they'll have 3 years to get everything sorted out, while the established teams will already be well into the cycle of the new rules and potentially worried about loss of income if not allowed to play in europe

L'prof

busyliving wrote: »

With the new financial fairplay coming in soon, its hard to see how QPR could become a super power. With the likes of Chelsea and Man City they both have a fairly sizable following and this can be seen by their average attendances this season

Chelsea - 41,435
Man City - 45,778
QPR - 19,128

Loftus Road only holds 18,360, but fans follow success. If a London club like QPR spent a bit of their money and in the next few years were challenging for the European places and relocated to a new stadium/expanded their existing one, their attendances would soar.

With the FFP rules coming, I'm not sure if they'll have the opportunity/enough time to bring in the right players to do so though. It's also worth noting that stadium expansions and youth investment are excluded from monitoring.

busyliving

Helix wrote: »

wrong

they can spend as big as they want, they just wont be allowed to play in europe til theyve got their books balanced in the future

for newly promoted teams spending huge amounts in their first summer will probably become common enough, it'll allow them to get up to a similar level to other established teams, and they'll have 3 years to get everything sorted out, while the established teams will already be well into the cycle of the new rules and potentially worried about loss of income if not allowed to play in europe

Well you didn't read what i wrote in full now did you?

but doesn't the FFP only account for the previous 3 seasons, so if QPR spend big this summer and then keep the losses in the acceptable range for the next 3 seasons then would that mean they be in compliance with the FFP rule by the end of 4 seasons from now?

If they are spending big, then logically they will be spending big on wages as well. And if they aren't generating enough off gate receipts then they'll need to find different revenue streams. So there first summer transfers won't count but the wages will, for the next three seasons.

Gate Receipts for a club like QPR would be one biggest incomes, unlike the likes of Utd and Liverpool they can't really depend on shirt sales in Asia and the rest of the world.

For clubs who don't have a lot of different revenue streams, gate receipts should roughly cover the wage bill and unless QPR are going to start charging £100 a ticket then I can't see them cover their wages with gate receipts if they are to become a super power.

busyliving

L'prof wrote: »

Loftus Road only holds 18,360, but fans follow success. If a London club like QPR spent a bit of their money and in the next few years were challenging for the European places and relocated to a new stadium/expanded their existing one, their attendances would soar.

With the FFP rules coming, I'm not sure if they'll have the opportunity/enough time to bring in the right players to do so though. It's also worth noting that stadium expansions and youth investment are excluded from monitoring.

Yeah I got there attandance wrong it 15,635

I'm not saying them getting a following is an issue long term, but short term with the stadium size its getting them into the ground is the problem. I know they can upgrade, move but both those options take a lot of time.

Upgrading and building a new stadium would likely suffer delays with legal issues such as objections and planning permission. I'm sure money won't be an issue, but time will be.