The Owners, Their Money and Their Ambition

[stockyfox]

In the world of football, very little shocks me anymore.

After today’s bitterly disappointing result at Peterborough, the talk centres on Nigel Pearson – should he go or stay? Or Beckford –his fans and his critics; or the team in general and their inconsistency.

We all have our opinions. Boy, do we have our opinions!

To my mind however, there is only one opinion that is valid. It’s not mine! It is that of Vichai Rakriaksorn. In the same way I await the referee’s decision as to whether he will give a verbal warning, or produce a yellow card or indeed the dreaded red, so I hold my breath to see how the owners will react to this latest reverse.

They have put money into the Club on a scale that most, if not all of us, can only dream of.

They want to be not just in the Premier League, but a highly successful club in the PL.

There is no money or cudos being in the Championship.

In the world of business, there is little if any sentiment or sympathy. Patience is soon replaced by impatience. Words like ‘clinical’ and ‘ruthless’ are quite common.

Given the Club’s present league position, their inconsistencies this season set against the precarious financial background as reported in the last set of accounts, I for one, am very apprehensive about the Club’s future.

[breadandcheese]

Did anyone else read the report on QPR's finances last season in today's Telegraph. It's frightening. I would love to know our wage bill to turnover. Premier League or bust?

"Telegraph Sport can also disclose that, during their Championship-winning season under Neil Warnock last year, QPR’s £29.7 million wage bill amounted to 183 per cent of their £16.2 million turnover.

Since then, the wage burden has been even further increased by the arrival of established Premier League players such as Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand, Djibril Cissé, Bobby Zamora, Luke Young and Nedum Onuoha."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/queens-park-rangers/9177492/Queens-Park-Rangers-count-56-million-cost-of-joining-the-Premier-League-elite.html

[Tuna]

Its all very depressing to contemplate, players on fat wages and big contracts not contributing (Mills, Pantsil), players not performing and a manager who is clueless tactically and can't motivate or get the best out of his players. Pearson's negative tactics and poor results will not endear him to the Thais and I fear they could just say enough is enough and pack in. Putting their faith in Sven and being conned by a manager trading on glories last century and wasting a lot of money would have tested their patience. Pursuing Pearson and getting to results since hiring him could push them over the edge. Worrying times, lets hope they get rid of Pearson and get a proper manager in to build a team for next season.

[jamesmilner]

excellent post , we are paying 8% on our loan too ! we need to get up asap !

[AKCJ]

Did anyone else read the report on QPR's finances last season in today's Telegraph. It's frightening. I would love to know our wage bill to turnover. Premier League or bust?

"Telegraph Sport can also disclose that, during their Championship-winning season under Neil Warnock last year, QPR’s £29.7 million wage bill amounted to 183 per cent of their £16.2 million turnover.

Since then, the wage burden has been even further increased by the arrival of established Premier League players such as Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand, Djibril Cissé, Bobby Zamora, Luke Young and Nedum Onuoha."

http://www.telegraph...ague-elite.html

Our turnover for last season was something like 90%. (based on wages only)

We had a turnover of just shy of 18m and a wage bill of just over 16m

[THEFATBASTARD]

Im sure it is dawning on the owners that in football 2 + 2 does not = 4..... that must be hard to adjust to..this is not like any other business .being generous and paying for so called "quality" can be thrown in your face...these so called quality players should apologise to the owners, but they won't, they have let them down big time. im sure the disappointment for the players is cushioned by the massive salaries they have not earned..

[Kitchandro]

We need to get off to a good start next season. Has Pearson got the balls to make the necessary changes? I don't know, but he should get an opportunity to.

As for the Thais they seem no longer to be winning the popularity contest. I'm more upset about our ticket prices and them never, ever replying to my letters or emails than them sacking Sven.

But I will be livid if they sack Pearson at the end of the season.

[stockyfox]

Seeing one or two other threads pcking up various aspects of the Club's financial position is interesting. However, whilst criticism of the owners, the manager or the players helps to give vent to our feelings and frustration, the fact remains that we need a miracle now just to get into the play-offs, And if we do, that in itself does not guarantee us Premier League football next season.

To some extent, the owners revealed their ambitions when Sven was dismissed. I reckon they were more than disappointed that we failed to be promoted last year. That we seem to have failed again will not be readily welcomed.

I'm not apportioning blame to anyone. I'm looking at the table, our performances, our wage bill, QPR, Portsmouth and Rangers.

And I wondering what is being said behind closed doors!

[breadandcheese]

Our turnover for last season was something like 90%. (based on wages only)

We had a turnover of just shy of 18m and a wage bill of just over 16m

Cheers for the figure, I've never known so appreciate you digging this out. In which case, I cannot understand how QPR paid out that much in wages.

[stockyfox]

And not to put too fine a point on it, where did they get a fair whack of that 16+ milion from? Answer - The bank of 'Fan Tender'!

[cc_star]

Keep in mind that was last season (i think) since, halfway through the season Wellens, Gally & King & others got new deals, so we'll see an uplift there as a full year with those wages is reported & of course we signed 12 or so players in the summer who could possibly be on Yuki Abe style £40k/wk wages (which his new club said) along with millions in transfer fees, signing fees & agents fees (unless I missed something & all this is already included in known figures, which is possible.

Could be why Abe & Fernandes were let go without a fight & Ball, Johnson followed along with others on the edge like Berner & Oakley were paid off & January we didn't go mad despite us up to that point not being good enough. Perhaps the 'support'/loans have slowed down & the summer will see a reduction in the wage bill as the Thai's try to do it in a more sustainable manner, although just a thought not what I think.

[ozleicester]

That damn american lottery plan of mine didnt pay off, so, sorry lads and ladettes but i wont be buying the club this month.

However, i have heard there is a big euro lottery coming up again soon so ...

Dont worry, every little things, gonna be allright.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/mACqcZZwG0k

(by the way....This is still my ring tone thanks to last years half time sing along in Cardiff )

[BNET]

In the world of football, very little shocks me anymore.

After today’s bitterly disappointing result at Peterborough, the talk centres on Nigel Pearson – should he go or stay? Or Beckford –his fans and his critics; or the team in general and their inconsistency.

We all have our opinions. Boy, do we have our opinions!

To my mind however, there is only one opinion that is valid. It’s not mine! It is that of Vichai Rakriaksorn. In the same way I await the referee’s decision as to whether he will give a verbal warning, or produce a yellow card or indeed the dreaded red, so I hold my breath to see how the owners will react to this latest reverse.

They have put money into the Club on a scale that most, if not all of us, can only dream of.

They want to be not just in the Premier League, but a highly successful club in the PL.

There is no money or cudos being in the Championship.

In the world of business, there is little if any sentiment or sympathy. Patience is soon replaced by impatience. Words like ‘clinical’ and ‘ruthless’ are quite common.

Given the Club’s present league position, their inconsistencies this season set against the precarious financial background as reported in the last set of accounts, I for one, am very apprehensive about the Club’s future.

Stocky, the one important thing regarding our current position is that it is all the owners fault 100%. They employed the wrong managers to run their business, they trusted their managers judgements in the transfer market. You can put your life on it that they know this. They will make decisions at any giving moment that will be best for their own financial future. l'm sure they have factored into their business plan a worst case scenario, which is what we are in now, failure to get promoted. Plan B (which Pearson wouldn't understand at any level) will be in place now. Plan B will be replacing Pearson, trimming overheads and going again.

[Happy Fox]

Stocky, the one important thing regarding our current position is that it is all the owners fault 100%. They employed the wrong managers to run their business, they trusted their managers judgements in the transfer market. You can put your life on it that they know this. They will make decisions at any giving moment that will be best for their own financial future. l'm sure they have factored into their business plan a worst case scenario, which is what we are in now, failure to get promoted. Plan B (which Pearson wouldn't understand at any level) will be in place now. Plan B will be replacing Pearson, trimming overheads and going again.

The first two points you make are contradictory or haven't been explained more clearly, when you say it is the owners fault are you implying their football knowledge or advise given to them? think about it if the Birch or Neville who were advising in recruiting managers you can't you see the problems?

If they do sack NP they would have to do so by this week give him the rest of the season to evaluate the squad philosophy to impose etc, then have the summer to work the players ready for an arduous season ahead.

[paulsherwood1]

The first two points you make are contradictory or haven't been explained more clearly, when you say it is the owners fault are you implying their football knowledge or advise given to them? think about it if the Birch or Neville who were advising in recruiting managers you can't you see the problems?

If they do sack NP they would have to do so by this week give him the rest of the season to evaluate the squad philosophy to impose etc, then have the summer to work the players ready for an arduous season ahead.

From what I know the owners listened to people inside the club when appointing NP, there was a wave of support from a lot of people inside the Walkers for NP. Doesn`t look like it did much good though!

[harpendenfox]

Ironically, if the Thais throw rather less money at the Club, we might do a bit better. I think there's little doubt we need players with a bit of hunger in their bones, a hunger to succeed rather than pick up a fat weekly pay cheque. From what I've seen guys like Nugent, Marshall, Danns and Konchesky do have that hunger. Others, like Gallagher, Wellens, Beckford, don't.

[Babylon]

"Telegraph Sport can also disclose that, during their Championship-winning season under Neil Warnock last year, QPR’s £29.7 million wage bill amounted to 183 per cent of their £16.2 million turnover.

How the hell was it that high, I didn't even think individually the players were that good except for a couple. They just seemed like a good unit.

[Babylon]

Stocky, the one important thing regarding our current position is that it is all the owners fault 100%. They employed the wrong managers to run their business, they trusted their managers judgements in the transfer market. You can put your life on it that they know this. They will make decisions at any giving moment that will be best for their own financial future. l'm sure they have factored into their business plan a worst case scenario, which is what we are in now, failure to get promoted. Plan B (which Pearson wouldn't understand at any level) will be in place now. Plan B will be replacing Pearson, trimming overheads and going again.

Perhaps they already had one eye on plan B with the appointment of Pearson. After all, Pearson has the rep of dealing in frees and young players and increasing their value.

[James.]

It amazes me (well actually it doesn't) that there's not even 20 replies to this thread since Saturday night yet the forum is clogged full of shit like the Pearson Out thread.

I actually just came on to start a thread about the owners as I was baffled as to why the focus is on Pearson, Wellens, Beckford, Sven, Mills even bloody Paolo Sousa yet the one thing that connects all these has been largely overlooked.

I think the owners have made an absolutely shambolic start to their ownership of the club. When people blame managers and players they should look at the overall strategy the club has taken, and that strategy is dictated by the board. Blaming Sven is a bit silly, blaming Pearson is just moronic - it was the owners who sanctioned a strategy that essentially said throw loads of money at a problem, buy over-expensive players on big salaries and then just hope that everything works well and we get promoted.

For me that is a deeply flawed strategy. At best it's naive, at worst it is just reckless.

I don't worry about the club because we lost to Peterborough. I don't worry because Pearson is in charge - for me he's actually our only hope of longer term success and stability. I worry because the owners have gambled the future of the club with a strategy that gives the impression they don't know what they are doing.

People seem reluctant to question the owners, sometimes it seems like they are beyond criticism. To me that is completely wrong - just because you can run a decent business in Thailand doesn't, in any way, qualify you to run a football club. I sincerely hope the focus shifts from the manager, which is an argument that completely misses the point, to the owners where the real future of the club will be decided.

[surrifox]

How the hell was it that high, I didn't even think individually the players were that good except for a couple. They just seemed like a good unit.

exactly what I was thinking- presumably Taraabt, Faurlin and Routledge would have cost a bit but why would you pay Shittu, Kenny , Derry, Hall, Hill & Co millions?

[Captain...]

Im sure it is dawning on the owners that in football 2 + 2 does not = 4..... that must be hard to adjust to..this is not like any other business .being generous and paying for so called "quality" can be thrown in your face...these so called quality players should apologise to the owners, but they won't, they have let them down big time. im sure the disappointment for the players is cushioned by the massive salaries they have not earned..

Then you clearly no fvck all about business, the same thing happens in business, people pay huge amounts of money for top quality personnel and the best software system, but it can still be managed poorly or be undermined by market forces and lead to "succesful" businesses going under, look at Game. In fact in business you will normally spend years and a lot of money on implementing something new successfully and rushing it can often be costly. What the Thai's won't be used to is fan power. We can make it very easy for them, or very difficult for them, lets hope we make it easy for them by supporting them, without them we are screwed and in my eyes they have done nothing wrong.

As for the original post, I hope the Thai's afford NP the same amount of time as Sven, it is still not his team and he has been hampered by some long term injuries, some dressing room bust ups, some below par performances and some serious ill-discipline which has normally proved costly, not only in the game where it occurs, but also in the subsequent games where they are suspended. To be honest getting promoted now would just lead to an ill-prepared team getting humiliated every week in the prem. We need to build on this season, by making a few quality aquisitions in the summer, get rid of disruptive players and get promotion the correct by playing good football with a good work ethic and a good team spirit, we should be trying to emulate Norwich and Swansea not QPR, to do that we need stability, if we are showing no progress by October/November next season then it could be time to say good-bye to Pearson.

Lets not forget we tore Norwich apart and Southampton and Cardiff,

[Happy Fox]

All the owners care about is promotion, it really is a results business in our situation Sven failed in that regard, and NP looks like doing so, playoffs are now out of sight, NP really needs some wins and some momentum towards the end of the season otherwise he will getting the trigger soon. This may be new information or complete bullshit but TartanFox off Bentleys said something of the idea that their is a clause in his contract.

http://fansonline.ne...w.php?id=506135

TartanFox Posted on 02/04/2012 07:39

Pearson Out Brigade

Rob it was £100 to Loros.

Re: clauses - have a think about it. When we re-employed Pearson there was a big deal made of the bonus Pearson would receive for taking us up. Well it has been suggested to me that there me a non promotion clause in favour of the owners is also floating around.

Not everything is stacked in managers favour despite what the LMA want. |

[davieG]

It amazes me (well actually it doesn't) that there's not even 20 replies to this thread since Saturday night yet the forum is clogged full of shit like the Pearson Out thread.

I actually just came on to start a thread about the owners as I was baffled as to why the focus is on Pearson, Wellens, Beckford, Sven, Mills even bloody Paolo Sousa yet the one thing that connects all these has been largely overlooked.

I think the owners have made an absolutely shambolic start to their ownership of the club. When people blame managers and players they should look at the overall strategy the club has taken, and that strategy is dictated by the board. Blaming Sven is a bit silly, blaming Pearson is just moronic - it was the owners who sanctioned a strategy that essentially said throw loads of money at a problem, buy over-expensive players on big salaries and then just hope that everything works well and we get promoted.

For me that is a deeply flawed strategy. At best it's naive, at worst it is just reckless.

I don't worry about the club because we lost to Peterborough. I don't worry because Pearson is in charge - for me he's actually our only hope of longer term success and stability. I worry because the owners have gambled the future of the club with a strategy that gives the impression they don't know what they are doing.

People seem reluctant to question the owners, sometimes it seems like they are beyond criticism. To me that is completely wrong - just because you can run a decent business in Thailand doesn't, in any way, qualify you to run a football club. I sincerely hope the focus shifts from the manager, which is an argument that completely misses the point, to the owners where the real future of the club will be decided.

...and the silliest thing they did was to swap Sven for Pearson because they have a completely different football philosophy to each other on how to manage players, how to play the game tactically, even the type of players they like to manage..

Is it any wonder that players are not the right fit and people are calling for a massive turnover of players again.

[cc_star]

It amazes me (well actually it doesn't) that there's not even 20 replies to this thread since Saturday night yet the forum is clogged full of shit like the Pearson Out thread.

I actually just came on to start a thread about the owners as I was baffled as to why the focus is on Pearson, Wellens, Beckford, Sven, Mills even bloody Paolo Sousa yet the one thing that connects all these has been largely overlooked.

I think the owners have made an absolutely shambolic start to their ownership of the club. When people blame managers and players they should look at the overall strategy the club has taken, and that strategy is dictated by the board. Blaming Sven is a bit silly, blaming Pearson is just moronic - it was the owners who sanctioned a strategy that essentially said throw loads of money at a problem, buy over-expensive players on big salaries and then just hope that everything works well and we get promoted.

For me that is a deeply flawed strategy. At best it's naive, at worst it is just reckless.

I don't worry about the club because we lost to Peterborough. I don't worry because Pearson is in charge - for me he's actually our only hope of longer term success and stability. I worry because the owners have gambled the future of the club with a strategy that gives the impression they don't know what they are doing.

People seem reluctant to question the owners, sometimes it seems like they are beyond criticism. To me that is completely wrong - just because you can run a decent business in Thailand doesn't, in any way, qualify you to run a football club. I sincerely hope the focus shifts from the manager, which is an argument that completely misses the point, to the owners where the real future of the club will be decided.

You're spot on, unless we get in the Prem sooner rather than later, the club will be using future earnings to be paying off the loan racked up unsustainably since their arrival. The fact they appointed Pearson who can deal in younger players, gives me hope that they rather expensively (for the club) learned their lesson, but if they were to sack him I'd fear for our very future again.

I don't know if they're naive or reckless, but I'm bamboozled that people on here love them for simply spending our future income all at once.

Still, there's bugger all we can do about it other than support

[James.]

We can make it very easy for them, or very difficult for them, lets hope we make it easy for them by supporting them, without them we are screwed and in my eyes they have done nothing wrong.

Can I flip that around and ask what you think they have done right?

...and the silliest thing they did was to swap Sven for Pearson because they have a completely different football philosophy to each other on how to manage players, how to play the game tactically, even the type of players they like to manage..

Is it any wonder that players are not the right fit and people are calling for a massive turnover of players again.

Exactly. Another example of naive decision making. They absolutely have to give Pearson time to create the team he wants. I don't understand why some people can't see that.

I'm really concerned about the club and the way it is being run and I see too many occasions where people on here defend them with the argument that they're spending loads of money. It's exactly that willingness to spend without thought that has landed us in the position we're in.