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I never liked Harry Redknapp. In fact, before his appointment at QPR, I hated him. My view was always the same; a fraud of a manager, a master of media manipulation, a managerial dinosaur blessed with a remarkable ability to deflect blame. I used to think if he were caught red-handed funding terrorists he'd come out with something like 'nah just thought they were triffic, passionate lads to be honest. Couldn't tell they was terrorists, they was wearing balaclavas'. Then there was his footballing record, all that money spent and just a single FA Cup to his name. Two clubs left in financial ruin. Excuses, excuses, excuses. The undisputed lord of BS.
Despite my reservations about his appointment after Hughes' calamitous spell, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Something within me thought 'Arry might work his magic and engineer a miraculous escape. Perhaps I was brainwashed by the genuflection of the media, which involved cheesy headlines like 'king Harry returns', 'Harry Houdini' being plastered over the back pages. Sure, there were moments when I was optimistic; the home win over Fulham, SWP's winner at Chelsea, the January big-money signings, Remy, Samba, those 'top, top pros'. We'd be OK, wouldn't we? Yet the promises of change on the pitch, the big-money signings and Fernandes' PR campaign weren't enough. In reality, the performances actually deteriorated. We finished bottom, despite 'Arry having told a journalist a few weeks before the end of the season 'we won't finish bottom, stick that in your notepad'. Whoops.
Never mind, it wasn't Redknapp's fault, was it? It was Hughes' squad, after all. Nah, 'Arry would get us back up, he's a '####ing brilliant manager', remember. And, sure, that's what he ended up doing. To his credit he bought well in the summer and got rid of a lot of the rubbish, Mbia, Granero, Diakite, to name but a few. He assembled a perfect Championship squad, blending experience with youth, brawn with flair. I thought we'd walk the league in the same way Newcastle did. Yet it wasn't to be. Leicester and Burnley surged ahead, despite having much smaller wage budgets. Plus, the football was bad. Really bad. Admittedly we won lots of games, which of course was satisfying, but it was possibly the most tedious campaign I've ever experienced in many years of supporting the Rs. The football was unimaginative, one-paced, uninspiring and frustrating. The result was a passionless atmosphere - people around me in the Ellerslie Road Stand seemed more interested in getting up for a mid-half pie and chips than watching the game and, at times, I couldn't blame them. Without wishing to sound like a negative misery guts, the truth was there were only a couple of moments that got me truly excited across that whole season, both of which came in the play-offs (I'm sure you can guess which events they were).
In the end, I felt we were tremendously lucky to end up in the Premiership. For me, promotion was achieved in spite of rather than because of Redknapp. Indeed, it was Clint Hill who made the critical tactical decision which got us into the Premiership. It was Gary O'Neil who chose to get himself sent off and 'take one for the team'. Not Redknapp, who by the end was looking a tired, frail old man who had run out of ideas. In fact, prior to that Play-Off Final I thought to myself - 'you know what, if we lose, at least Redknapp can go and we can start afresh'. I bet I wasn't the only one who had similar thoughts.
But of course we did win that match thanks to King Bobby's outstanding finish - and, caught up in the elation of that moment, I was once again prepared to give Redknapp another chance. Now he's got the opportunity to prepare his own Premiership squad, I thought to myself. Build solid foundations, establish QPR as a PL club. Invest in young, hungry players, play a bit of attractive, entertaining football. I was pleased with the signings of Mutch, Fer and Caulker. In fact, when I looked at the back of the matchday programme on the opening day of the campaign, I thought 'we've actually got a decent side here'.
Yet the performances this season, on the most part, have been poor. Yes, OK, we've secured a few wins at home, but the away form has been absolutely diabolical - frankly, inexcusable. If we hadn't invested in the squad I would have perhaps understood, but I believe we do have quality, certainly compared to the likes of Palace, Hull, West Brom, Burnley and Aston Villa. The team is underperforming, and I blame Redknapp. He's an old-style manager who relies on motivational skills rather than tactical astuteness. I'm afraid football has moved on. He seems incapable of coaching players to be 'better'. Instead, every transfer window he'll sign one of his ageing Pompey/Spurs favourites who'll subsequently get injured, providing him with another excuse in his post-match press conferences. With Redknapp, it's like a never-ending cycle of excuses, dodgy deals, mind-numbing football, unimaginative tactics and injured, ageing 'top, top pros'. Unless it stops, we will go down. TF needs to be brave and get rid of him before it's too late.
Tonight just about summed him up. 2-0 down at half-time and he decides to leave it as it is. We go 3-0 down and only then does he make attacking substitutions. To put the icing on the cake, he claims that 'we played well' in the post-match interview! Everton were poor, yet brushed us aside with ease!
The fact is that Redknapp's PL win percentage with QPR is below 20%. I'm sorry, but that is dreadful. I can sort of understand where the 'pro-Redknappers' are coming from - 'we need stability' etc - but it's obvious that he doesn't have what it takes to save us from relegation. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but Redknapp must go.
Despite my reservations about his appointment after Hughes' calamitous spell, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Something within me thought 'Arry might work his magic and engineer a miraculous escape. Perhaps I was brainwashed by the genuflection of the media, which involved cheesy headlines like 'king Harry returns', 'Harry Houdini' being plastered over the back pages. Sure, there were moments when I was optimistic; the home win over Fulham, SWP's winner at Chelsea, the January big-money signings, Remy, Samba, those 'top, top pros'. We'd be OK, wouldn't we? Yet the promises of change on the pitch, the big-money signings and Fernandes' PR campaign weren't enough. In reality, the performances actually deteriorated. We finished bottom, despite 'Arry having told a journalist a few weeks before the end of the season 'we won't finish bottom, stick that in your notepad'. Whoops.
Never mind, it wasn't Redknapp's fault, was it? It was Hughes' squad, after all. Nah, 'Arry would get us back up, he's a '####ing brilliant manager', remember. And, sure, that's what he ended up doing. To his credit he bought well in the summer and got rid of a lot of the rubbish, Mbia, Granero, Diakite, to name but a few. He assembled a perfect Championship squad, blending experience with youth, brawn with flair. I thought we'd walk the league in the same way Newcastle did. Yet it wasn't to be. Leicester and Burnley surged ahead, despite having much smaller wage budgets. Plus, the football was bad. Really bad. Admittedly we won lots of games, which of course was satisfying, but it was possibly the most tedious campaign I've ever experienced in many years of supporting the Rs. The football was unimaginative, one-paced, uninspiring and frustrating. The result was a passionless atmosphere - people around me in the Ellerslie Road Stand seemed more interested in getting up for a mid-half pie and chips than watching the game and, at times, I couldn't blame them. Without wishing to sound like a negative misery guts, the truth was there were only a couple of moments that got me truly excited across that whole season, both of which came in the play-offs (I'm sure you can guess which events they were).
In the end, I felt we were tremendously lucky to end up in the Premiership. For me, promotion was achieved in spite of rather than because of Redknapp. Indeed, it was Clint Hill who made the critical tactical decision which got us into the Premiership. It was Gary O'Neil who chose to get himself sent off and 'take one for the team'. Not Redknapp, who by the end was looking a tired, frail old man who had run out of ideas. In fact, prior to that Play-Off Final I thought to myself - 'you know what, if we lose, at least Redknapp can go and we can start afresh'. I bet I wasn't the only one who had similar thoughts.
But of course we did win that match thanks to King Bobby's outstanding finish - and, caught up in the elation of that moment, I was once again prepared to give Redknapp another chance. Now he's got the opportunity to prepare his own Premiership squad, I thought to myself. Build solid foundations, establish QPR as a PL club. Invest in young, hungry players, play a bit of attractive, entertaining football. I was pleased with the signings of Mutch, Fer and Caulker. In fact, when I looked at the back of the matchday programme on the opening day of the campaign, I thought 'we've actually got a decent side here'.
Yet the performances this season, on the most part, have been poor. Yes, OK, we've secured a few wins at home, but the away form has been absolutely diabolical - frankly, inexcusable. If we hadn't invested in the squad I would have perhaps understood, but I believe we do have quality, certainly compared to the likes of Palace, Hull, West Brom, Burnley and Aston Villa. The team is underperforming, and I blame Redknapp. He's an old-style manager who relies on motivational skills rather than tactical astuteness. I'm afraid football has moved on. He seems incapable of coaching players to be 'better'. Instead, every transfer window he'll sign one of his ageing Pompey/Spurs favourites who'll subsequently get injured, providing him with another excuse in his post-match press conferences. With Redknapp, it's like a never-ending cycle of excuses, dodgy deals, mind-numbing football, unimaginative tactics and injured, ageing 'top, top pros'. Unless it stops, we will go down. TF needs to be brave and get rid of him before it's too late.
Tonight just about summed him up. 2-0 down at half-time and he decides to leave it as it is. We go 3-0 down and only then does he make attacking substitutions. To put the icing on the cake, he claims that 'we played well' in the post-match interview! Everton were poor, yet brushed us aside with ease!
The fact is that Redknapp's PL win percentage with QPR is below 20%. I'm sorry, but that is dreadful. I can sort of understand where the 'pro-Redknappers' are coming from - 'we need stability' etc - but it's obvious that he doesn't have what it takes to save us from relegation. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but Redknapp must go.
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