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Meant to post this as a new thread. Apologies.
have been very silent for most of this calendar year. I have generally become more despondent in the last few months. It’s no secret I am a huge Steve McClaren fan and thought he was a great fit for us long-term. I didn’t think Warburton was a bad appointment at all and the way he tries to play and stays with his philosophy is to be admired I think. However I think the behaviour around the time of the suspension of the league in March and subsequent restart in June started the worry for me. It was still mathematically possible to make the play-offs. We had been playing well but the negativity about restarting with no real forewarning from the FA and timeframe was strange. This was a QPR team that was safe and anything we could achieve between the restart and the end of the season, a real bonus when it looked like at one stage the season might not be completed at all. I don’t understand this stance from Mark, it sent a negativity through the club and I think we’ve been on a downward spiral since then if I’m honest. This coupled with a recruitment issue. I look back to the chance we gave McClaren and he was operating under FFP and Embargo in the January and I was looking forward to seeing what he would have done with the squad in summer 2019, it felt like a big time with Freeman, Bidwell, Furlong, Lynch, Baptiste, Cousins, Pav all leaving in terms of an overhaul and I’m not convinced we have got it right. It must be said a lot players can be linked to Warburton as he has worked with them in the past, Liam Kelly, Yohan Barbet, Lee Wallace, Dom Ball have all worked with Mark in the past namely at Rangers. Some of the other signings were extensions of the McClaren era. Wells, Rangel and Cameron and Hugill (who we wanted ahead of Hemed in summer 2018) all in then there’s been Todd Kane, Ramkilde, Marc Pugh, the little Matt Smith who I don’t think have progressed us. I think recruitment simply hasn’t worked and obviously we’ve lost Eze and I’m really worried about our Championship status now. I was happy to give Mark until the end of the season with a hopefully comfortable league finish and review the situation at the end of his current two year contact but we are plummeting towards the drop zone and whilst it would cost the club money, you have to wonder if we don’t change, the consequences could be more alarming. Interesting to see McClaren going in at Derby alongside Rooney and I think he’s had a huge part to play in their recent unbeaten run. I know the run he went on from when we were 8th on NYD after the 2-2 at Aston Villa was very poor but imagine if we hadn’t have had an embargo and could have made a couple of McClaren signings to try for play-offs. Imagine if Bidwell, Pav, Lynch, Cousins could have been rewarded for the great league form with new deals to help them settle instead of knowing they were probably leaving in June 2019 despite being 8th in the league. We were as good as safe when we sacked McClaren with 7 games to go on April 1st 2019 so should we afford Warburton more time when teams are 4 points behind us now with a game in hand in the relegation zone and breathing down our necks with current form?
have been very silent for most of this calendar year. I have generally become more despondent in the last few months. It’s no secret I am a huge Steve McClaren fan and thought he was a great fit for us long-term. I didn’t think Warburton was a bad appointment at all and the way he tries to play and stays with his philosophy is to be admired I think. However I think the behaviour around the time of the suspension of the league in March and subsequent restart in June started the worry for me. It was still mathematically possible to make the play-offs. We had been playing well but the negativity about restarting with no real forewarning from the FA and timeframe was strange. This was a QPR team that was safe and anything we could achieve between the restart and the end of the season, a real bonus when it looked like at one stage the season might not be completed at all. I don’t understand this stance from Mark, it sent a negativity through the club and I think we’ve been on a downward spiral since then if I’m honest. This coupled with a recruitment issue. I look back to the chance we gave McClaren and he was operating under FFP and Embargo in the January and I was looking forward to seeing what he would have done with the squad in summer 2019, it felt like a big time with Freeman, Bidwell, Furlong, Lynch, Baptiste, Cousins, Pav all leaving in terms of an overhaul and I’m not convinced we have got it right. It must be said a lot players can be linked to Warburton as he has worked with them in the past, Liam Kelly, Yohan Barbet, Lee Wallace, Dom Ball have all worked with Mark in the past namely at Rangers. Some of the other signings were extensions of the McClaren era. Wells, Rangel and Cameron and Hugill (who we wanted ahead of Hemed in summer 2018) all in then there’s been Todd Kane, Ramkilde, Marc Pugh, the little Matt Smith who I don’t think have progressed us. I think recruitment simply hasn’t worked and obviously we’ve lost Eze and I’m really worried about our Championship status now. I was happy to give Mark until the end of the season with a hopefully comfortable league finish and review the situation at the end of his current two year contact but we are plummeting towards the drop zone and whilst it would cost the club money, you have to wonder if we don’t change, the consequences could be more alarming. Interesting to see McClaren going in at Derby alongside Rooney and I think he’s had a huge part to play in their recent unbeaten run. I know the run he went on from when we were 8th on NYD after the 2-2 at Aston Villa was very poor but imagine if we hadn’t have had an embargo and could have made a couple of McClaren signings to try for play-offs. Imagine if Bidwell, Pav, Lynch, Cousins could have been rewarded for the great league form with new deals to help them settle instead of knowing they were probably leaving in June 2019 despite being 8th in the league. We were as good as safe when we sacked McClaren with 7 games to go on April 1st 2019 so should we afford Warburton more time when teams are 4 points behind us now with a game in hand in the relegation zone and breathing down our necks with current form?