Harry comment tonight..

[vblockranger]

[B]Redknapp said on Thursday night: "It's very disappointing because I felt there was a deal to be done there but maybe this is a lesson learned for us.You have to get transfers like this done quickly and get them over the line. If you take your time you are always open to the risk of somebody else coming in and that seems to be what's happened with Gary Hooper.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/norwich-city/10201734/Norwich-set-to-leave-Harry-Redknapp-and-QPR-hanging-with-late-swoop-for-Celtics-Gary-Hooper.html

That count as a pop at the board and the way they handle transfers? We do seem to do these things a bit slowly.

[Mattyqpr]

It's Beard, he's useless!

[Youvebeenrangered]

I don't think Phil Beard adds a huge amount of value, what experience does he have and what does he really know about football? Nothing.

[NW9_RANGER]

Don't like Beard at all. Not because of this, I'm sure Hooper was holding out for a prem club but just never liked his character from the moment we were introduced to him.

[nasser95]

I think Beard is a nice enough guy, I have friends who see him on a few occasions and they say he is a great chap. The definite issue is that (much like everyone says on this forum) he is not a football man and he likely never will be. What we have needed and will always need is a Director of Football to take care of these negotiations, It has to be someone close to the manager so the targets are matching and someone who has had football experience. I think this is the only way the club can go if they want to make good signings in the future

[MYU]

Bring back GP?

[Del]

It cracks me up when people blame Beard and say he's not a football man etc.... He's a CEO, not a manager. How many in such roles are "football men", and please define the requirements to be such a person....?

As for being close to the manager, why? Surely when dealing with transfers and club finances, it's far more relevant to be close to the powers that be on the board who'll entrust you to negotiate with their money and within their parameters.......?

Deals like Hooper go belly up because they / their agents have an agenda all along. He clearly waited around until a prem club came up with the fee Celtic would accept and that was that.. He strung us along. It's got nothing to do with the board of Phil Beard ffs.

We got loads of signings last summer and fans lapped it up... didnt see many moaning then. However, since have moaned he gave stupid contracts and deals etc, but it's not him sanctioning such things.

Some people need a reality check.

[nasser95]

It cracks me up when people blame Beard and say he's not a football man etc.... He's a CEO, not a manager. How many in such roles are "football men", and please define the requirements to be such a person....?

As for being close to the manager, why? Surely when dealing with transfers and club finances, it's far more relevant to be close to the powers that be on the board who'll entrust you to negotiate with their money and within their parameters.......?

Deals like Hooper go belly up because they / their agents have an agenda all along. He clearly waited around until a prem club came up with the fee Celtic would accept and that was that.. He strung us along. It's got nothing to do with the board of Phil Beard ffs.

We got loads of signings last summer and fans lapped it up... didnt see many moaning then. However, since have moaned he gave stupid contracts and deals etc, but it's not him sanctioning such things.

Some people need a reality check.

We all know redknapp isn't a negotiator, it isn't his job, nor is it Beard's which is why it confuses me when he gets involved. Regarding being close to the manager, it is so we don't have a Kinnear-Pardew issue. Also it might not be him sanctioning it but he tends to over-negotiate a contract's wage deal from what we have heard. I feel bad that he will get the flak for this deal despite this not being his preferred role

[Felt]

Deals like Hooper go belly up because they / their agents have an agenda all along. He clearly waited around until a prem club came up with the fee Celtic would accept and that was that.. He strung us along. It's got nothing to do with the board of Phil Beard ffs.

I'm not so sure. It's negotiation. Why did the deal drag on for so long? We should have said to Hooper, look this is the deal, you've 48 hours to take it or we walk away and tell the press we're not interested. Does it means we would have signed him? No. But it demonstrates we're not going to be messed around, we wouldn't have looked like Norwich have mugged us off and the time saved could have been spent perusing other targets and our position would have been stronger with them. Only at this club do transfers seem to sometimes drag on for multiple windows at times!

[Felt]

Not to mention this is clearly a frustration of Harry's, as it's not the first time he's mentioned the length of time it seems to take for deals to get done at QPR.

[brightonr]

It cracks me up when people blame Beard and say he's not a football man etc.... He's a CEO, not a manager. How many in such roles are "football men", and please define the requirements to be such a person....?

As for being close to the manager, why? Surely when dealing with transfers and club finances, it's far more relevant to be close to the powers that be on the board who'll entrust you to negotiate with their money and within their parameters.......?

Deals like Hooper go belly up because they / their agents have an agenda all along. He clearly waited around until a prem club came up with the fee Celtic would accept and that was that.. He strung us along. It's got nothing to do with the board of Phil Beard ffs.

We got loads of signings last summer and fans lapped it up... didnt see many moaning then. However, since have moaned he gave stupid contracts and deals etc, but it's not him sanctioning such things.

Some people need a reality check.

My thoughts too.

I may be being a bit naive here, but surely all Beard or the board can do in transfer situations is ensure that when a manager wants a player, they:

A) Make the necessary funds available to make the purchase, which in this case we know for certain that they did,

and

B) Agree to meet the player's salary demands, which many reports say we did.

You see if Harry had been keen on Hooper for a while, he should have said that he is the player he wants and ask the board if they can sanction both of the above. On the assumption that they could, the next step would have been to tell Hooper that he needs to sign prior to us leaving for Austria, or we will move on to someone who does want to come.

Might not have got him, but we wouldn't have been a week away from the start of the season, having completely messed up yet again.

[TW7R]

It cracks me up when people blame Beard and say he's not a football man etc.... He's a CEO, not a manager. How many in such roles are "football men", and please define the requirements to be such a person....?

As for being close to the manager, why? Surely when dealing with transfers and club finances, it's far more relevant to be close to the powers that be on the board who'll entrust you to negotiate with their money and within their parameters.......?

Deals like Hooper go belly up because they / their agents have an agenda all along. He clearly waited around until a prem club came up with the fee Celtic would accept and that was that.. He strung us along. It's got nothing to do with the board of Phil Beard ffs.

We got loads of signings last summer and fans lapped it up... didnt see many moaning then. However, since have moaned he gave stupid contracts and deals etc, but it's not him sanctioning such things.

Some people need a reality check.

Good post Del.

Still not sure what exactly a "football person" is to be honest, and still don't see how that would attract a player to us like in this instance. If a player wants to sign for a premier league club, then how can PB be held responsible? Offer more money to make us more attractive so were dig an even deeper hole?

It realy does make me laugh that we have no experience of running a football club, yet all of a sudden post men, builders & bus drivers off here know better than a chairman and CEO.

[Ric-Roc]

Player wanted PL football simple as.

Nothing to do with beard. Fee was agreed & wages too it seems so not sure why Harry is saying nonsense like that. Soon as a PL side showed an interest he was gone. Says it all.

[TW7R]

Agree Ric. Also, I'mactually happy the guy was just interested in premier league football.

If he had of come to us it would have been for 1 reason at the moment, and no one on here seriously wants that.

Good player and its a shame were not as attractive as Norwich but that's how it is. Move on to another target.

[QPR Richard]

Seems to me that Hooper's agent has done his job well. Everyone in the game knows we need strikers and he's encouraged us all along to believe his man would come to us. When there is a bit of competition around it forces clubs to make better offers for players. If there's only one club bidding it cuts your negotiating position.

Hooper's agent has created that competition and brought a prem club into the equation, which is what Hooper wanted all along.

It should be remembered that Norwich had a lower bid turned down. We came in with a bid that forced Norwich to increase there's. Then we made a good contract offer which Norwich had to match if they wanted the player.

Without any competition, Celtic may have been forced to accept a lower bid rather than lose a player for nothing in less than a year's time, and Hooper may not have got the type of contract he probably now has.

This kind of stuff happens all the time in football. We've done it to other clubs over the last few years so time to forget it and move on.