I wasn’t so much disappointed with the section of the Q
block singing ‘There’s only one Neil Warnock’ periodically against Hull.
Rather, when a few of us in the P block tried to drown these morons out with
our own rendition of ‘Hasselbaink’s Blue Army’, surprisingly few seemed to join
in. I understand the boys are playing bad football at the moment, but this is
no reason not to get behind your team. As I say frequently: we are supporters,
not consumers.
However such is the modern consumer mentality, catalysed by
the pervasiveness and sheer abruptness of social media, that owners, journalist
and fans alike, expect instant results, QPR is no exception, with an unhealthy
habit of getting through roughly a manager a season.
When Tango and Cash were still running the show, fans would
become increasingly disgruntled at the rapid turnover in playing and managerial
staff alike, and it was no surprise that when the owners took a step back, and
allowed a manager with a proven track record to get on with his job, imposing
his own ideas, that we went up as champions with relative ease.
Stability is the key here, and it is totally unreasonable to
expect Jimmy to undo the bad habits created by the previous two managers in
under a month. Under both Harry Redknapp and Chris Ramsey, there was never any
attempt to play anything that resembles high-pressing, possession-based
football, so I for one was delighted when a former Dutch international, who has
played with some of the finest players to grace the game, came to Loftus Road.
For me, Jimmy is above all an educator and innovator. He took Burton
Albion; one of the smallest clubs in the football league, out of League 2 and
further still left them at the summit of League 1 when he left early last
month. Now I care little whether he is ‘proven’ at this level like Warnock is…
because what he did with Burton is clearly a massive achievement itself.
But it’s not just the statistical success he had with Albion
that impresses me (a formidable 61% win ratio by the way), but the manner in
which he has achieved it. I often hear from other Rangers fans that we’re
simply not good enough to play the kind of football that progressives demand
but I wholeheartedly reject that argument. I’ve seen Eddie Howe take
Bournemouth up the leagues playing an expansive game. Similarly Brendan
Rodgers and Roberto Martinez before him were hugely successful at Swansea City,
affectionately known by many in Wales as ‘Swansalona’.
Professional footballers play at the level that they do
because they are incredibly talented, and there is no question in my mind that
players like Alejandro Faurlin, Matty Phillips et al are up to the job. QPR’s
problem is that other than a brief period at the start of the 2013-14 season,
we have not had a manager in the last ten years who seems intent on producing
good quality football. Even when Neil Warnock took us out of the Championship,
we were largely reliant on a resilient base and a magician in the 10 who could
win games on his own.
Neil Warnock is a brilliant coach, and we saw once again
when he assumed temporary charge a couple of months ago that his impact was
instantaneous. But I would hasten to add that he has a considerably poorer
record in the Premier League than he has at Championship level, and this I put
down to him only really knowing one way to play football.
As I say, Jimmy is an educator, a student of the game – a man
who knows what he is doing. And coming into a club who have not been accustomed
to playing the right way will take time to fix. Give him a full season, at least a full 2016, so that he can recruit and build in the way that he sees fit.
I know that the sensible majority of QPR fans are prepared to give him that
length of time, but as usual, both on the internet and at Loftus Road, it’s the
stupid minority who are making more noise.
So let's get behind our team. It never was easy being a Rangers fan.
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