QPR club correspondent Will Holden provides an insight to his passion for the beautiful game and his beloved QPR ahead of their promotion push in the Championship.
Supporting a football team is both exhilarating and heart wrenching. As fans, we can experience the worst of our sport yet we stay loyal, always with hope of future success. Many would consider success as a trophy or promotion. This idea stems from the financial benefits that such a triumph would bring to club. As an investor or employee this would make sense.
However, as a fan our motives are strikingly different. Season tickets are not purchased to sell for profit. Jerseys are not means to solely capture autographs. And games are not watched every weekend just to witness the result of our latest bet. These things are done because we love football. It excites us. It consumes us. It helps define us.
When supporting a club, we do so believing they share this same belief. Unfortunately, history tells us this is often untrue. Huge wages, managerial mismanagement and lazy player performances have blighted countless clubs.
One of those is mine.
Playing Premier League yo-yo over the past several years, Queens Park Rangers have made nearly every bad decision a club could. Historically, QPR have been a family club, full of tradition and integrity. However, the sacking of manager Neil Warnock in early 2012 gave birth to a footballing atrocity. Warnock’s firing lead to the arrival of Mark Hughes. Alongside Hughes came several big name signings on even bigger wages. The likes of Park Ji-Sung and Julio Cesar failed to live up to their reputations, while both sitting on deals worth millions.
Money also caused attitude issues with the squad. Harry Redknapp, who took over from Hughes in late 2012, described the effect stating:
“Big wages made the players very arrogant and contemptuous. They would rather come in late every day and just pay the fine than behave in a professional manner,” Redknapp said.
Sluggish personalities on and off the pitch were commonplace. Jose Bosingwa and highly talented Moroccan Adel Taarabt, were often mentioned with regard to their lack of professionalism. The entire club seemed rife with pessimism. Redknapp was often quoted as being distressed while managing the club. Nevertheless, he allowed insanity to continue, with QPR spending over £40m between January and August of 2014.
Only the likes of Clint Hill, Richard Dunne and Charlie Austin gave the fans some indication they cared about more than money.
It was a boiling pot with the lid held shut – something had to give.
This something came in the form of a new coach. QPR owner Tony Fernandes finally made a shrewd decision by appointing Chris Ramsey as interim coach. Ramsey’s attitude and determination gave QPR new life and he was promoted to head coach in May. He set about overhauling the club through a mass exodus of over paid underachievers. This helped relieve financial pressure and pave the way for young, eager players. In fact, for the first time in several years, fans saw first team appearances from products of their own academy – something many had forgotten existed.
This trend has extended to the recent acquisition of many youthful prospects such Ben Gladwin, Tyler Blackwood and Massimo Luongo. Most notably, the new signings have also agreed relatively small pay packets, whereas big earners like Steven Caulker have been loaned out.
With the mercenaries moved on, QPR once again looks like a place where football is the main priority. An entity where money doesn’t talk so loud. It appears to be a club where heart, passion and a desire to play might define the club, and in doing so, its supporters. For it is the supporters to which football means the most.
Many have tipped QPR for an immediate return to Premier League and given the talent they possess this is a genuine possibility. What the fans deserve after an infuriating few years is a team who simply give 100% each week.
On the whole, any QPR fan would be happy with that.
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