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Often seen at LR and always interesing in his match summaries has this to say about Briatore.............Brian Glanville/World Soccer re QPR
- The Sunday Telegraph carried a devastating chronicle of the excesses of Flavio Briatore at Queens Park Rangers, hot on the heels of his disgrace in Formula 1, having been found culpable of encouraging his Renault driver, Nelson Piquet junior, to crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore race, thus enabling his team mate to win.
- It should really be a done and dusted case since the rules of the Football League lay down that any director found guilty of transgressions so serious in any other sport should be automatically kicked out of soccer. But it seems that Briatore, a man adept at finding loopholes; may well find one now, since he resigned so quickly from Renault that F1 were unable to ban him.
- Some years ago, he was found guilty in Italy of fraudulent activity, but took off so fast to a remote island that he escaped punishment and, Italy being Italy, was ultimately able to retain unscathed.
- The word from F1 is that, for all his autocracy, he didn’t really know much about motor racing, though this doesn’t stop his compulsive interfering. Such as, we read in the Telegraph, the time when on November 11 2008, Gareth Ainsworth, the sturdy outside right, was in temporary charge of the team which had to play Manchester United in the League Cup, at Old Trafford, Ainsworth on a rain plagued night decided to leave his cell phone in the dressing room. When he returned at the end of the game, he found Briatore had called him 72 times!
- The previous April during a London derby at home to Crystal Palace, Briatore phoned from Kuala Lumpur, 6500 miles distant, to insist that Lee Cook replace Lee Miller at half time. Manager after manager has come and gone. So for that matter, for no apparent reason, has the loyal, long serving club secretary, Sheila Marson.
- The choice of Iain Dowie seemed a strange one; and Dowie still says he likes the man. But before his appointment, Dowie had walked out on Crystal Palace, insisting he wanted to be with his family up North; then gone just down the road to Charlton Athletic. It would cost him very dear and he didn’t last long at Charlton, being sacked and moving to Coventry City. Again, not for long.
- Paulo Sousa, once such a distinguished Portuguese international, was abruptly booted out for daring to say that the effective young striker, Dexter Blackstock, then leading scorer, was lent to Nottingham Forest, for whom he recently signed a permanent contract, without the manager being told. When Rowan Vine, a fellow striker dared to say the loan didn’t make sense, he was promptly fined two weeks’ wages.
- Oh, for the days of tough little Jim Gregory who may have ruled with a rod of iron but at least knew what he was doing. Such as controversially selling that superb maverick, Rodney Marsh, to Manchester City, though his manager, Gordon Jago, had declared it would happen “only over my dead body.” When the smoke cleared, Rodney had gone – alas, it would never work out at Maine Road, but somehow or other, Gordon was still alive. World Soccer
- The Sunday Telegraph carried a devastating chronicle of the excesses of Flavio Briatore at Queens Park Rangers, hot on the heels of his disgrace in Formula 1, having been found culpable of encouraging his Renault driver, Nelson Piquet junior, to crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore race, thus enabling his team mate to win.
- It should really be a done and dusted case since the rules of the Football League lay down that any director found guilty of transgressions so serious in any other sport should be automatically kicked out of soccer. But it seems that Briatore, a man adept at finding loopholes; may well find one now, since he resigned so quickly from Renault that F1 were unable to ban him.
- Some years ago, he was found guilty in Italy of fraudulent activity, but took off so fast to a remote island that he escaped punishment and, Italy being Italy, was ultimately able to retain unscathed.
- The word from F1 is that, for all his autocracy, he didn’t really know much about motor racing, though this doesn’t stop his compulsive interfering. Such as, we read in the Telegraph, the time when on November 11 2008, Gareth Ainsworth, the sturdy outside right, was in temporary charge of the team which had to play Manchester United in the League Cup, at Old Trafford, Ainsworth on a rain plagued night decided to leave his cell phone in the dressing room. When he returned at the end of the game, he found Briatore had called him 72 times!
- The previous April during a London derby at home to Crystal Palace, Briatore phoned from Kuala Lumpur, 6500 miles distant, to insist that Lee Cook replace Lee Miller at half time. Manager after manager has come and gone. So for that matter, for no apparent reason, has the loyal, long serving club secretary, Sheila Marson.
- The choice of Iain Dowie seemed a strange one; and Dowie still says he likes the man. But before his appointment, Dowie had walked out on Crystal Palace, insisting he wanted to be with his family up North; then gone just down the road to Charlton Athletic. It would cost him very dear and he didn’t last long at Charlton, being sacked and moving to Coventry City. Again, not for long.
- Paulo Sousa, once such a distinguished Portuguese international, was abruptly booted out for daring to say that the effective young striker, Dexter Blackstock, then leading scorer, was lent to Nottingham Forest, for whom he recently signed a permanent contract, without the manager being told. When Rowan Vine, a fellow striker dared to say the loan didn’t make sense, he was promptly fined two weeks’ wages.
- Oh, for the days of tough little Jim Gregory who may have ruled with a rod of iron but at least knew what he was doing. Such as controversially selling that superb maverick, Rodney Marsh, to Manchester City, though his manager, Gordon Jago, had declared it would happen “only over my dead body.” When the smoke cleared, Rodney had gone – alas, it would never work out at Maine Road, but somehow or other, Gordon was still alive. World Soccer
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