Vital QPR continues to ask the fans the questions. Next in line is Nomar
Vital QPR continues to ask the fans the questions. Next in line is Nomar
1. We have just been promoted to the premier league. Are you excited about the coming season?
Yes I’m very excited about the coming season.
If my circumstances would have allowed me to attend home games on a regular basis I’d be getting a season ticket without thinking twice about it.
After 15 years we’ve come home and we should all be excited about that.
2. Prices have gone up by a lot and hit a lot of people hard. Do you still fell it is worth it?
I continue to maintain that the price rise on season tickets was unjustifiable.
But football clubs the world over know that they can fleece their fans be it with high ticket prices, multiple expensive replica kits or other merchandise. Us mugs (the fans) will always find a way to pay it.
So the question is pretty much moot, really.
3. We have adopted a transfer policy with a very strict wage structure and will not be spending a lot on transfers. What do you think about QPR employing this transfer policy?
I think the transfer policy can work, but its hard to comment on it because there are so many conflicting different things that you hear.
One minute we’ve got no money to spend the next we’re bidding £6m for Carlton Cole or Peter Crouch, allegedly.
My own personal take here is that the board is prepared to pay quite significant transfer fees but only for the players Flavio approves of.
There are a lot of good free agents out there though, so I don’t necessarily follow the train of thought that you absolutely MUST spend lots of money in order to stay up. You certainly don’t need to spend money just for spending money’s sake.
One of the best buys last season was West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie. It’s understood that he cost West Brom just £1m and he was hardly a marquee signing. Yet compare his value and production with the £50m Chelsea paid for Torres or the £27m Man City paid for Edin Dzeko.
The secret, then, is to invest wisely and I trust Neil Warnock to be able to do that.
4. Being promoted as Champions, we have a strong squad, do you feel it needs to be strengthened?
However, I think a lot of QPR fans actually don’t appreciate how good this team was last season. This is one of the best teams to come up from the Championship in the last decade and arguably the best defence from that period too.
I don’t believe wholesale changes are necessary and I think a large number of our regular first teamers are good enough to play in the Premier League. They certainly deserve a chance.
Then a team proves over 46 games that they are hands down better than every other team in their division, as QPR did last season, that’s a pretty logical indicator that the players you have are actually already ready for the next tier of football.
5. We have finally had our first 2 signings in Bothroyd and Dyer. How do you feel about these signings?
Answered before the Gabbidon signing
I absolutely love the Bothroyd signing.
I said last season that if we’d have had Bothroyd we’d have won the Championship with the all time record number of points. I can see anywhere between 12-15 goals from him in the Prem if he stays healthy.
I agree with NW about Dyer. If he stays fit he could be an absolute steal. A fit and in form Dyer is still a player you’d pay several millions to have in your team. If he breaks down again at least there’s no long and expensive contract to have to eat.
I have a feeling he’s going to surprise a lot of people this season, Dyer.
6. We have been linked to a lot of players over the summer. Is there anyone in particular you would like to see in the Blue and White hoops?
Realistic answers only? I’d love Upson, Naughton and DJ Campbell. I think if we could get 2 of those then a top half of the table finish is not out of the question.
7. There is a lot of uncertainty about Adel Tarabt staying at W12. Do you think he will stay?
I thought Taarabt would stay but it appears I will be wrong about that one.
Its a shame as I would have loved to have seen him in the Prem.
I think PSG is a really bad career move for him because I think it will shut the door to the Prem forever for him if he goes. If I was a player then the Premier League is really where I’d want to be.
Big teams like Chelsea and Arsenal will question why he left when he was on the cusp of playing in the Premier League to go and play in what is, frankly, a very weak Ligue 1.
Coupled with his already suspect temperament I think it will basically tell the ‘big boys’ that he doesn’t have what it takes mentally to play amongst footballs elite. I think the message this move sends out to those clubs he covets playing for is one that will do irreparable harm to his reputation.
As for the club, we’ll move on. You don’t replace a player like Adel but you do change direction and we will certainly change our style of play if he goes. And we’ll survive, you know.
8. There has been a lot of speculation regarding the boardroom. What are your opinions of the current board?
As long as the board supports Neil Warnock and they provide enough funds for us to improve the playing squad and give us the best chance to succeed in the Premier League then I really don’t have much of an issue with them.
Sorry I’m not spitting feathers and wishing all kinds of horrific tragedies to befall them. But as long as they let Neil do his job and back him then they’re tolerable as far as I’m concerned.
9. Neil Warnock got us our first trophy in years. Do you think he will last all season?
I sincerely hope so, and for many years to come too. If the board do what I ask for in (8) above then there’s no reason why he would need to go either, is there?
10. How do you think we will fare for our first season back?
I genuinely don’t see this team anywhere as bad as the doom mongers say they are.
The stats actually tell you that, since the 2000/1 season, of the 33 teams that have come up only 13 went straight back down.
Another stat for the doom mongers to chew on: Only once (1997/8) have all 3 promoted teams ever gone straight back down.
Vancy one more? Well, in the 18 seasons of the Premier League there have only been 7 seasons when more than 1 promoted club failed to survive.
Stats like that are pretty revealing and they are not just happy coincidences. They tell you that, before a ball has even been kicked in anger yet, QPR’s odds of staying up are already pretty damn good and much better than you’d think.
I’ll say we finish 14th or 15th. 
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