QPR REPORT

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

QPR's Greek Cousin...No Cousin. No Kitson. No Folan

QPR Report: Nottingham Forest Loss...Routledge Comments...QPR Want Hulse?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Nottingham Forest Progress...Queens Park Rangers Regress

TEAMS: Nottingham Forest vs QPR

QPR's Routledge Joins Newcastle

Forest Tonight...Blackstock, Hill and Agyemang Speak...Kitson No?...Non-QPR: A Chairman's Refreshing Comments.. The Prime Minister on Football Debts

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- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!

- Also available: The combined messageboard and QPRnews quasi-blog QPR Report Messageboard! Check Back throughout the day for comprehensive QPR-related news snippets. All QPR Perspectives genuinely Welcomed

- Football Support for Haiti

- Next: Nottingham Forest vs QPR: (Stats and Past Results) ---- Fan Site Match Previews

- Stuart Pierce "...If you change managers too often, you are not going to be better off in ten years time. I don't think Queens Park Rangers are better off for all the changes they have made..." Nottingham Evening Post

- "On This Day" - The Last time a QPR Player Scored four goals?

- PRime Minister Gordon Brown on Football Finances and Debts

- "Have agents made shady dealing easier?"

- When Saturday Comes (WSC)Ian Plenderleith - "The Dilemma of a Football Moralist"

- Football Fans in General "It's Time to Fight Back"

- The supposed "Red Nose Protest" at Loftus Road, January 30?

- Flashback: Routledge Joins QPR - And Reports of What Routledge Cost

- Decade Flashback: The "New" QPR Chatboard

- Video Flashback: QPR Under Holloway: Their promotion season

Routledge and Kitson -The Sun
GORDON STRACHAN is closing in on QPR's £1.75million winger Wayne Routledge.
Middlesbrough manager Strachan has been in talks with the Hoops about a deal for the former Crystal Palace, Spurs and Aston Villa wideman, 25. But Boro boss Strachan is keen to sign him as a probable replacement for Adam Johnson, who is being chased by a host of Premier League clubs....
- Stoke striker DAVE KITSON has snubbed QPR
The Sun

Nottingham Evening Post - Hill hoping to make big impact against Forest tonight
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 07:00Comment on this story

MATT Hill is hoping to make a big impression when he makes his QPR debut against Forest tonight.
The defender has signed on loan from Wolves until the end of the season – and hopes to help the Hoops make as big an impact in the Championship as the West Midlands club did last season.
"Every footballer wants to be playing games and unfortunately I wasn't getting that at Wolves," he said.
"QPR have given me the opportunity to do that here, so I am delighted to join.
"We had a great team at Wolves last season and did well to get promoted.
"QPR are also a team that want to push on and go places, so hopefully I can be part of that."
Hill has promised a committed performance if he is given his chance at the City Ground.
"I always give everything when I play. I consider myself to be a good defender and a good organiser," he said.
"Defending is my main strength, but I'll also be looking to get forward when I can." This is Nottingham

Nottingham Evening Post Blackstock hopes Forest can fuel confidence levels against QPR Tuesday, January 26, 2010,

WHEN he swapped the glamorous surrounds of QPR – then regarded as being one of the richest clubs in the country – for a relegation dogfight with Nottingham Forest, there were more than a few eyebrows raised.
Not least those of Hoops manager Paulo Sousa, who was eventually sacked for revealing that Dexter Blackstock's loan move to the City Ground was sanctioned without his knowledge.
But, ten months down the line, the striker's judgment looks to have been profoundly astute.

While the expected revolution under the ownership of super-rich trio Fabio Briatore, Bernie Ecclestone and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has never materialised at Loftus Road, the transformation at Forest has been nothing short of remarkable.
And, when the two sides clash at the City Ground tonight, striker Blackstock will be playing for a club with genuine aspirations.
"I am happy to be at Forest. It has worked out well for me at the moment, there is no question of that," he said.

"I am looking forward to every game at the moment because we are on such a great run.
"But yes, it is a game against my former club and I still know a few of the people there, so it would be nice to get one over on them.
"However, this is still only about three points, it is not about proving a point or anything. We would want to be beating whoever we were up against."

Blackstock says he was always convinced he was making the right move when he signed for Forest permanently in the summer.
But he admits it was not until the season was well underway that he began to feel they were capable of winning promotion.
"At the start, we did not think that we could challenge," said Blackstock. "But, as the season progressed, you quickly realised how good a team we have here.
"When we played teams that were supposed to be challenging and dominated the games, the belief only grew.
"It showed what we are capable of. I believe that, if we are on our game, we can beat anyone in the Championship. I have no doubt about that.

"The West Brom and Newcastle games were massive, but to go to West Brom recently and dominate, live on television, was arguably the biggest of the two.
"That showed what we can do, it was massive for us.
"Nothing changed within the dressing room after that, because we had always been confident in our ability.
"It was just a great stage on which to do it and show everyone else."

On the pitch, Blackstock is an energetic, urgent, physical figure.
Off it, when asked what has made Forest a success, he gets his message across in a quietly spoken, considered manner.
"Team spirit here is second to none. It is a very young squad and everyone gets on," he said.
"That helps. But we also have good players here, people with good ability and good pace throughout the whole side.
"We have a solid defence, an attack that will always nick goals and a balanced midfield to go with it.
"Everything is going for us at the minute. But that is what it is about – everyone pulling together.
"And it is working for us. We all work together as a team.
"We are all ambitious as players, as individuals, but we know that the best way to achieve our ambitions is to pull together as a team.
"It has been a great 12 months for everyone at the club.

"When you get to this stage in the season, the league table tells you a story and we are sitting second in the league for a reason."
Blackstock admits one of the key factors in his move to Forest was the influence of Billy Davies and the ambitions he outlined back in March, when the striker first arrived on loan.
"The manager has to take a lot of credit for how the club has turned around," he said.

"When he came in a year ago, it was nothing like it is now.
"Even though I wasn't here at the start, you can see that things have changed dramatically and very quickly in the time that I have been here.
"We have gone from relegation battlers to promotion contenders and a lot of that is down to the Gaffer."
Forest go into tonight's game against QPR on the back of an 18-match unbeaten run in the Championship.
Meanwhile, the Hoops are in the midst of another period of turmoil – with caretaker-boss Mick Harford the third man to take the managerial reins this season – but do remain in touching distance of the play-off places.

And Blackstock is taking nothing for granted.
"Confidence couldn't be any higher, following our 18-match unbeaten run," he said.
"I can't even remember the last time we lost now and our record at home has been particularly good. It has become something of a fortress for us.
"We have to hang onto that record."
In the meantime, by 10 o'clock tonight, Blackstock will be hoping for another result to enhance his belief that he was right to make that move up the M1. Nottingham Evening Post

ESPN Star - English Championship Review
- Dexter Blackstock maintains he has nothing to prove when Nottingham Forest head to his former club QPR tonight at the start of a "massive week" for the Coca-Cola Championship promotion hopefuls.
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Reds striker Blackstock spent three seasons at Loftus Road, playing more than 100 games, before he was transferred to the City Ground in March 2009 after failing to agree new terms with the Hoops.

The 23-year-old, though, insists that is all water under the bridge as Forest look to extend an 18-match unbeaten run, when victory would put them level with leaders Newcastle, who are not in action until tomorrow night, ahead of a trip to local rivals Derby.

"It is a massive week for us," said Blackstock, "but it is not just about these next two games - we have to go into every match with a positive mind as we aim to take all three points.

"I do not feel I have anything to prove against QPR.

"I had three good years there and scored a lot of important goals for them.

"It will be just another game, and I wish them all the best, but after Tuesday night."

Blackstock told the club's official website, www.nottinghamforest.co.uk: "One thing we cannot do, though, is underestimate QPR because they have got some very good players and on their day are good enough to beat any team."

QPR, themselves still with hopes of gatecrashing the top six, are likely to have former Forest midfielder Nigel Quashie in the squad, along with defender Matt Hill, who has signed from Wolves on loan until the end of the season..." ESPN Star

Bristol Evening Post - Agyemang aims to supply goals for Bristol City
Tuesday, January 26, 2010,

Patrick Agyemang is looking forward to forging one of the Championship's most potent striking partnerships with Bristol City marksman Nicky Maynard.
Signed on loan from Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season, the Ghanaian international forward will go straight into City's team to face Cardiff in tonight's Severnside derby at Ashton Gate (7.45pm).
And he is confident he and 11-goal top scorer Maynard can fire the club's play-off ambitions.
Agyemang trained with his new team-mates for the first time yesterday and immediately hit it off with Maynard, who is expected to partner him in attack against the Bluebirds.
"Nicky is the kind of striker I like to play alongside," said Agyemang. "He is quick, has good movement and scores good goals from just about anywhere.
"I see my role as making goals as well as scoring them and I reckon Nicky and I will do well together.
"We've only trained together the once, but we've already built a good understanding. We seemed to be finding each other all of the time and things just clicked into place.
"Hopefully, we can take that onto the pitch, score goals and help the club get into the play-offs."

Relieved to have escaped a club which has gone through six managers in a little over two years, Agyemang hopes to make his move to Ashton Gate a permanent one.
He said: "It's been difficult at QPR with the managerial situation and me being in the team one week and not the next.
"I felt it was time for a fresh start and I was really pleased when I found out Bristol City wanted me. If the next few months goes well for me and the team, then I'd like to think I can earn a long-term deal."

City manager Gary Johnson hopes Agyemang will have a similar impact to that made by big Dele Adebola two years ago.
Signed from Coventry during the January transfer window in 2008, Adebola proved an instant success and helped City reach the Championship play-off final five months later.
Johnson said: "I'd like to think Patrick can do something similar for us. Dele came in at the same stage of the season and did very well for us and Patrick is another good player with Championship experience.

"Although he is big and tall, he is not exactly the same kind of player as Dele. But we're hoping he has the same effect on us.
"Patrick gives us two or three things we need. He's been there and done it in the Championship, he has great pace, he is a constant threat and he scores goals.
"He scored a couple of times against us when we played at QPR two seasons ago and we were shocked by his pace. But like Dele, he also has a presence, is very direct and good in the air."
Johnson is also expected to hand Jamal Campbell-Ryce a debut tonight and the Jamaica international, signed from Barnsley a week ago, is likely to start on the left wing in a 4-4-2 formation.
Bristol City's manager said: "Jamal and Patrick have every chance (of playing). I'm pleased with both the new signings and I feel they will strengthen us. They give us different options." Bristol Evening Post

Peterbrough Official Site
Statement From Chairman Darragh MacAnthony
Posted on: Tue 26 Jan 2010
Official statement from chairman Darragh MacAnthony reads as follows;

'I have to apologise to all Posh fans for this season up until now and all the events on and off the field. It has been nothing short of a disaster and I can of course understand their frustrations. I am done with defending the players, previous management, current management and everyone else at the football club top to bottom, Nobody has been good enough this season and we have failed our fans in the worst possible way and this has resulted in us being bottom of the league and heading for League One in a hurry. I promise the fans this will be the last time I speak in the press this season, but some home truths need to be told and as always I like to be honest with the fans and as open as possible.

At the moment its all doom and gloom with the following reasons listed inside and outside the club:

'We didn't sign the right players in the summer, we lack experience etc'
It was decided last April when we produced our budget for the Championship that we would keep loyal to the current team that had fought hard to get us promoted and not to bring in loads of players on massive wages that would have created big divisions within our camp. The previous manager made this decision 100% and was given all the players he asked for during the summer. At no point was he told he could not bring in a certain type of player. It was even suggested to him that should we sell one of our main assets, he would get all of those funds to bring in three or four more expensive players on larger wages to help the current squad. He declined this offer and at no point brought this up as an issue until long after he left the club.

'We keep making the same mistakes over and over'
I actually pushed in the summer and again in August for the manager to bring in a specialist Defensive Coach and also a Strikers Coach to help with the workload and for the challenge of the Championship, but again was told this was not needed and would only upset the balance of the coaching team. These are areas that we are looking to improve and recruit for at present.

'DF should never have left'
People need to move on as this was always going to happen and nearly did many times before including when he wanted to speak to other clubs on numerous occasions and I turned it down. I thought a new contract would stop all this in the summer but I was wrong.

'Barry Fry picks the team, I pick the team'
I will say it for the last time as I am tired of this nonsense rumour that keeps coming up, the only person who picks the team is Mark Cooper win or lose and that was same under DF. It is complete madness to suggest anyone else around the club picks the team. Neither me or Barry have been in the dressing room or on the training ground at any time over the last three years and have no desire to be.

'Mark Cooper is out of his depth and was a cheap recruitment'
Mark was given an identical contract to Darren Ferguson and money was never the issue when it came to his recruitment. He was given the job on merit and by me with no influence from anybody else. Nobody has given the bloke a chance since he was appointed 10 games ago and he has had to deal with one fiasco after another. I am of course unhappy that the results have not changed but at the same time I am not ready to throw the towel in as quick as others appear to be.

'Our squad is too big'
It's being addressed and by hook or crook it will be a 22 man squad by next July.

'We play the long ball now'
Blame the players for this and not the manager. They are not told to go out and panic and lump the ball 50 yards and many of our players are used to playing football on the ground so it is time they took responsibility for this criticism.

'The Referees are rubbish'
No argument from me on this, they are the worst standard of Refs I have ever seen in my life at this level and have given our club nothing for most of the season. Before they try and fine me for those comments, they should review the majority of our games by tape and ask themselves if I am actually right?

'We have had no luck'
We haven't but then again you have to make your own luck and we have enough one on ones missed this season to put us in the top ten.

'Barry Fry is the Devil and behind every issue our club has ever had'
If people really think I am the type of person who allows that type of person to be employed in one of my companies, then I shall throw the towel in myself. Our fans need to get over the whole Barry Fry issue as the buck stops with me when things are going wrong and I only try and do what's best for the club. Barry is no different then any other person at the club and will be the first to admit that even he needs to up his game over the last few months of the season. He is not immune to criticism from me or indeed from being asked to leave the club if I felt it would be the right move to make.

'I have not put enough money in this season'
There aren't many other Chairmen in the Championship who has broken his back, to back his managers or his club and I have always paid my staff on time and looked after them and I have never put our club at risk of going bust or into administration and never will do.

'Our football policy is wrong'
Total nonsense, as shown with the 200 goals, entertaining football and back to back promotions over the last two years. We don't always get it right but overall our policy is unrivalled and makes sense for our club for years to come. I asked people to judge me over the seven years I set in motion when I bought the club, and so far we have had more ups than downs.

Truth is that none of this rubbish above matters come kick off as we all expect whichever 11 players are blessed to be chosen to compete for Peterborough United to go out and give it their all, play with passion, endeavour and total commitment to win a football game. The team spirit from the last two years has nearly been destroyed by greed, skullduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within and this has all occurred over the last 120 days or so, non stop and is eating away at our inner core.

Every week brings another drama and it usually involves an ex-manager, a current team member and the promise of bigger wages followed by a derisory £100k bid and all this after the player has been unsettled and offered terms behind our back.

Our club took chances on many of our players when nobody else did and rewarded them all with good long term contracts that included the promotion bonuses and wage rises. They in turn repay the club with below par performances, temper tantrums off the field and making it clear they no longer want to play for our club when the going gets tough. Well it's time for all of these players to grow up and act like professionals and stop letting themselves down and to stop blaming everyone bar themselves and most importantly to stop letting the Club and our fans down. I have never lied to the Posh fans about anything and have always called it the way I see it and this will always continue. I told the fans the kind of policy our club would have and would use during our seven year plan for success and at the same time promised we wouldn't sell the family jewels to which I have not.

I always respected Darren Ferguson before and thank him and Kevin Russell for the success they delivered whilst here, but the nonsense that has gone on since they have gone has left me fuming with him and very sad as well. Ask him why he would take most of our first team out drinking during an important Christmas period when a new manager is trying to establish his own mark on the team. Ask him why in the last seven days he has offered terms to some of our players without agreeing terms with our club for them and of course totally unsettling these players.

Ask him to name all these players we allegedly couldn't bring in to the club in the summer with experience that he wanted and agreed to come to us. Ask him about the five other clubs his representatives have contacted in the last 12 months of his Posh career to engineer a move away from us. Hopefully in time he will be honest and admit to the mistakes he has made recently and start showing some respect for those who gave him his chance when nobody else did . Our football club and its fans deserved better after the the wonderful times we had with him and his staff but they have made their choices and have to live with them.

Tuesday's game gives our club the chance to put the ghost of Darren Ferguson to bed and allow us to move on once and for all. It also gives our players a chance to show some character and most importantly some balls for the challenge ahead. What the club, me and our fans need is to see our football team showing that they care as much as we all do and that they aren't going to lie down and accept relegation with 20 games to go.

Let me say this to our fans for the record, should our players give up and throw the towel in and get us relegated, I will back our football manager with the funds to start again in the summer and rebuild our squad so we can go and deliver some silverware next season and with players who care about wearing the shirt and will break their backs to play for this great club. I promised our fans success when I took over and mapped out where we wanted to go and I shall not let those that matter the most down, I only wish everyone else employed by Peterborough United felt the same.

Everybody thinks we are as good as down and have given up on us already, well I am ready to go down fighting tooth and nail to the final game and if the last two years has taught me anything, maybe its best not to write off this team just yet. Just maybe they will rediscover the team spirit we have had for so long, just maybe they will perform like they are capable of, just maybe they will play with pride and passion, just maybe they will repeat the previous two years Jan - May form and win over 60% of their last 20 games, just maybe our loyal die hard fans will push our team to 10 home wins from 10 before the season is over, just maybe our players will show some guts and play with no fear and some pride, just maybe it all starts again against Preston when DF and his players will feel our pain and our fans will make London Road sound like the nosiest football stadium in England come Tuesday evening.

Just maybe everybody who works for my Football Club has 20 games left to show me and our fans that they are worth keeping here for next season! Peterborough

Monday, January 25, 2010

Former QPR Chairman Antonio Caliendo re QPR and Briatore

Also:

La vendita delle azioni Queens Park Rangers di Briatore bloccate da un azione legale di Caliendo - gennaio 25, 2010 · Lascia un commento
Comunicato stampa.

Rory Smith, giornalista del Daily Telegraph, ha scritto un articolo il 24 gennaio nella sezione sportiva del Sunday Telegraph, nel quale si conferma che Antonio Caliendo ha ingaggiato i noti penalisti inglesi Charles Fussell e Co ed il rinomato Barrister Steven Gee per iniziare una causa verso lo studio legale Mishcon del Reya che, nel 2007, ha curato la vendita delle azioni del club Queens Park Rangers alla società La Sarita, di Flavio Briatore. Secondo il Sunday Telegraph, l‘attuale azione legale intrapresa da Caliendo comprometterà seriamente i tentativi attuali di Briatore di vendere le sue azioni del QPR ad un gruppo americano interessato.

“Dopo due anni e mezzo di inutile attesa, ho dovuto intraprendere questa azione legale per accertare un’eventuale truffa ai miei danni e recuperare i crediti promessi ma mai pagati,” dice Antonio Caliendo. “Mi rallegro che la stampa Inglese si stia interessando nel comportamento di questo signore, il quale non ha mai smentito le sue affermazioni pubbliche di aver rilevato la maggioranza del QPR per 90 milioni di sterline, cosa assolutamente falsa . La dignità è una cosa seria! . Ho totale fiducia nella giustizia Inglese , nei miei avvocati e nella mia causa.”

Antonio Caliendo Blog

Caliendo Blog

The Death of Derek Buxton...Agyemang Off to Bristol City

QPR Report Monday Snippets...Matt Hill Joins on Loan

Sunday, January 24, 2010

QPR on Routledge Sale...Fans Should Fight Back...Fans Vesus Profiteers...Francis and Gregory Still Involved

-
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!

- Also available: The combined messageboard and QPRnews quasi-blog QPR Report Messageboard! Check Back throughout the day for comprehensive QPR-related news snippets. All QPR Perspectives genuinely Welcomed

- Football Support for Haiti

- Next: Nottingham Forest vs QPR on Tuesday(Stats and Past Results)

- Flashback: Routledge Joins QPR - And Reports of What Routledge Cost

- Swansea Chairman Praises Sousa

- Hull's Daniel Cousin: Maybe Not QPR

- Guess The Date that Flavio Briatore Resigns as QPR Chairman

- The Club's Official Site "Vacancies" Page

- The FA Cup Draw is Sunday Night

- Three Year Flashback: A Look at QPR Signings

- West Ham's Karren Brady Suggests a name Change for West Ham United!

re Routledge to Middlesbrough?
Sunday Sun/Steve Brown - Middlesbrough face fight to keep Adam Johnson
MIDDLESBROUGH’S resolve to hang on to Adam Johnson will undergo its sternest test this week when a host of clubs step up their pursuit of the 22-year-old winger.

However, [b]the Teessiders’ hopes of landing a ready-made replacement in Wayne Routledge have received a timely boost after a QPR source described Boro as “an attractive proposition” for the England under-21 international.[/b]

Johnson is out of contract in the summer and, though Boro boss Gordon Strachan has insisted his star player is likely to remain at the Riverside until the end of the season, cash-strapped Boro would find it hard to resist a big-money offer for a player who could leave for free in the close-season.

Strachan said: “I think he will stay in this window. That is my opinion.

“The guy likes playing for this club and he would like to get us back to the top level.”

However, potential suitors have been queuing up for the England under-21 international for some time.

Tottenham Hotspur’s ongoing interest dates back two years, while sources last week alleged Johnson was being shown around Sunderland’s Academy of Light at the same time Boro confirmed an approach from Wolves.

Everton have also been linked with the player, but the real pressure to sell could come from moneybags Manchester City and Chelsea.

- With Johnson’s fellow-wideman Mark Yeates having already exited the Riverside to join Sheffield United[b], Boro bid £500,000 for QPR winger Routledge"
The Londoners laughed that off, demanding £2 million for the 25-year-old, but a Loftus Road insider said: “Middlesbrough are an attractive proposition – and in the end money talks.]

Boro could yet pursue Routledge irrespective of Johnson’s immediate future, after Yeates’ switch to the Blades.

The Republic of Ireland star has revealed his sadness at the manner in which his spell on Teesside transpired.

Yeates said: “I would be lying if I told you I was not disappointed with the way things worked out at Boro.

“When a club of this stature wants you and the one you are at agrees a fee then it is a no-brainer.

“United have shown they have a great chance of going up this season, and there is no reason why they should not be right there in the mix. I cannot wait to get started.

“The fact the manager here seems so enthusiastic about having me is brilliant.

“As a player that is exactly what you want to hear, and I will not let him down.

“It fills you with confidence to know someone has wanted you for a while.”

Meanwhile, Boro midfielder Julio Arca has been linked with a move to Portuguese giants Benfica. Sunday Sun

Two articles of general football interest

The Times/Mick Hume - January 23, 2010 - It’s time for the fans to fight back
- The banner briefly displayed at Old Trafford last weekend, before it was confiscated and the guilty fans evicted, summed it up: “Love United, Hate the Glazers”. They could easily have shipped it to Anfield and changed the slogan to “Love Liverpool, Hate the Yanks”.
- As tensions rise between traditional supporters and the new breed of football proprietor, from Portsmouth to Newcastle, perhaps some enterprising fans might sell a one-size-fits-almost-all version (excluding the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City): “Love the Club, Hate the Owners”.
- Whose clubs are they, anyway? Do they belong to the mass of us fans who claim moral ownership and invest not just time and money but heart and soul? Or to the few plutocrats who hold the legal papers?
Do they exist to fulfil our dreams and generate glory? Or to make money and meet debt repayments?
- Even as a Manchester United season ticket-holder, I could share the exasperation of the Liverpool fan ranting about George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks on a radio phone-in. “They don’t own the club! Well, all right, they do, but . . .”
- It would be historically naive to imagine that these problems began with the arrival of a few foreign freeloaders. It has always been Us and Them. Off-pitch tensions between fans — and, originally, players — who wanted to enjoy football, and owners who wanted to enjoy the rewards, are as old as the professional game.
- The railway workers’ team of Newton Heath were renamed Manchester United after they were bought by a local brewer, who paid off the club’s debts and sold beer to the crowd. The armaments workers’ team of Woolwich Arsenal were rescued from financial ruin when they were bought up by a consortium of businessmen who moved the South London club north to a more commercial site at Highbury. But at least those old burghers put their money into the clubs.
- Over the past 30 years, what originated as a mass working-class sport in Britain’s industrial age has been taken over by new financial capitalism, in which debt-financed buyouts, bond issues, sponsorship, brands and other money-circulating chicanery have become almost more important than “the product”.
- The FA opened the door in 1981, altering its rules to allow club directors to be paid for the first time and shareholders to receive fat dividends. This enabled the likes of Martin Edwards, the chief executive who turned United from an FC into a plc, to take millions out of Old Trafford long before the shareholders sold to the grisly Glazers.
- Now, with the billions from TV contracts sloshing around the Premier League, we have the new class of socca capitalists, borrowing money to buy and sell clubs to which they have no more attachment than a Kraft executive has to a bar of Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut. Like the overleveraged private-equity players in the City, they have been badly burnt in the financial crisis, leaving clubs in peril.
- No doubt some reports of imminent meltdown are scaremongering, but the scale of the problem is clear. United ended last season — having won the Barclays Premier League, the Club World Cup and the Carling Cup, and reached the Champions League final — deeper in debt than ever, the Glazers keeping their charmless heads above water thanks to the £80 million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Faced with mounting debts, rising prices, rumours of ground or player sell-offs, what is the fan in the stand to do? Marches, meetings and protests are being staged and there are even murmurs of solidarity between fans of opposing clubs. Some want the United crowd to start wearing green-and- yellow shirts — the old Newton Heath colours — to show solidarity with the founding spirit of the working men’s football club.
- Whether these prove much more than token protests remains to be seen. In practical terms, fans might be desperate to make the bad owners sell, but to whom? There is talk at some clubs of supporters making a bid. That is fantasy football finances. It was possible for 20-odd thousand people paying £35 each to buy Ebbsfleet United, but a big club are out of our league.
- Suppose you really could persuade, say, 5,000 fans to pay £5,000 a head — that would give you £25 million, or not quite enough to buy Wayne Rooney’s left leg. So is the best we can hope for really to see another sheikh or oligarch lording it over us, as at City and Chelsea, or a more benevolent-looking billionaire, as at Aston Villa – or maybe a local-boy-made-pornbaron, as at West Ham United?
- As an old Red in political as well as football terms, my preference would be for fans to storm the stadium gates and occupy Old Trafford as a sort of supporters’ soviet, but that option seems unlikely, in the short term at least. For now, frustration and impotence grow as fans are reduced to individual “customers”. Worse, the customer in football is not always right. Indeed he has no rights, because the clubs assume that supporters will always keep coming back to be ripped off, even for an inferior product.
- The ultimate sanction is to hit the owners where it hurts, with a boycott of matches. But it is hard to stage a strike against your club and one hand will always be tied behind your back in such a civil war. Yet the editors of Red Issue, the United fanzine for which I write, point out that there are already empty seats and executive boxes at many matches, and believe it would be possible to push the Glazers over the edge, even if it meant taking the team down with them.
- Their latest issue argues for “an acceptance of short-term pain for long-term gain” because to prosper in the future, “the club has to get rid of these leeches”. The question is, how many fans hate the Glazers — or Gillett and Hicks, or Mike Ashley, or whoever — sufficiently to stop loving their clubs for long enough?
- Anybody not entirely blinded by nostalgia would concede that much of the football we watch has been better in the Premier League era — but at a price many now think too high. Short of a people’s revolution, there seems no easy, fan-friendly solution, but at least a debate is starting.
- And as football fans are all dreamers, we can at least dream of all those all-seat stadiums standing together and crying with one voice: can we have our football back, please? The Times

The Times/Tony Barrett - Fans share fears over Premier League profiteers
- “Football needs a Premier League side to go to the wall. I just hope it’s not mine.” These are the words of Ken Malley, a Portsmouth supporter who will march on Fratton Park tomorrow in protest at the club's financial predicament.
- Malley's fears are shared by supporters of a number of British clubs, including two of the biggest. Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been placed in financial peril because of the debts placed on them by Tom Hicks, George Gillett and Malcolm Glazer respectively, who all managed to pass the Premier League’s fit and proper persons test.
- “The two biggest clubs in this country are on the brink of financial meltdown – fit and proper persons test? Don’t make me laugh,” Paul Jones, of Liverpool fans group The Spirit of Shankly, said. “In the past three transfer windows we've made a profit on player transfers; we've recouped more money than we've spent in order to service the debt. If that continues, the quality and size of our squad will deteriorate while other clubs spend and improve.
- “No matter who our manager is, we're going to struggle to remain in that top four. What happens when turnover drops dramatically with no Champions League revenue, but the interest repayments remain the same? It's unsustainable.”
- There is a clear sense of anger amongst supporters that owners like Hicks, Gillett and Glazer have been allowed to pile such gargantuan levels of debt on clubs with little or no intervention from either the Government or Premier League.
- Manchester United recently revealed the scale of their liabilities, causing outrage amongst the more politicised elements of their fan base. “The true horror of the debt now running at over £700 million means that having struggled to equal Liverpool’s 18 league titles it is now doubtful we’ll see 19 in my lifetime," Mark Longden, of the Manchester United Supporters Trust, said. "Still Mr Richard Scudamore and Mr [Richard] Caborn were satisfied with the assurances given by the Glazers that they wouldn’t put my club in jeopardy. Not much comfort now, is it?”
- Like Malley, Graham Harper of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, fears it could be a matter of time before a leading club goes bust – unless a revolution takes place that would see the kind of fan group that he is a part of are able to oust the profiteers.
- "The similarities between the financial meltdown in the banking sector are very similar to the problem of long term unsustainable debt in football,” Harper said. “A failure of regulation; weak governance; too many vested interests; and a complete detachment from reality. The FSA failed tax payers – the FA, PFA etc are failing football clubs.
- “The financial world came tumbling down through a failure of one investment company, Lehman Brothers, which meant tax payers took over banks. Do we really think that the Government will stop the first Premier League club going to the wall? It’s not and the fans are the only constant in the chaos of football finance, so trusts are not just an option, they are a necessity.”
- Steve Powell, of the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), backed the fans groups that are beginning to make their voices heard across the country. "The FSF has been calling for a new deal on football club ownership and debt for years," he said. "The 'fit and proper persons' test isn’t nearly enough. We support all those fans campaigning to save the souls and futures of their clubs.
- "Wherever you look in the game clubs are vulnerable to takeovers by men on the make who don’t care about history and traditions. At the top of the game Liverpool has been turned into a financial basket case by Hicks and Gillett. Manchester United is groaning under the burden of the debts loaded onto the club by the Glazer family.
- "You simply couldn’t make up what’s happening at Portsmouth at the moment, nor lower down the leagues at clubs like Notts County and Chester City. Fans are also expressing concern about debts and/or ownership at clubs like Newcastle United, Cardiff City, Wrexham and even Arsenal. "
- Powell put the blame squarely at the door of the game's authorities and demanded they act. "The Football Association surrendered all control over club ownership in the 1980s," he said. " It’s got to get a grip again. Such rules operate successfully in North America. There’s no reason why they can’t here too." The Times

Ex-QPR's Gerry Francis and Peter Reid Coaching at Stoke
Observer/Louise Taylor - Stoke's Tony Pulis sets old-school test for Arsenal's Le ProfesseurThe Stoke City manager is relying on his veteran lieutenants for the FA Cup battle with Arsène Wenger
- At first glance Tony Pulis, Peter Reid and Gerry Francis can appear a shade old-fashioned. As Stoke City's manager marches around in a shellsuit, his assistant indulges in a spot of sharp scouse banter and the first-team coach switches the conversation from defensive lines to pigeon fancying, the Britannia Stadium briefly seems stuck in the 1970s.
- Not that Arsène Wenger and his Arsenal players should be remotely fooled today. Le Professeur is about to encounter a formidable brains trust responsible for Stoke consistently punching well above their apparent weight.
- With Reid as his assistant and Francis the joint first-team coach, Pulis boasts one of the strongest back rooms in English football. Granted, that trio might make wonderful stars of football-based versions of television's Ashes to Ashes or even New Tricks – (although the three fiftysomethings are all younger than Wenger) – but their at times unashamedly old-school approach masks sharp tactical acumen and a man-management style based on constant, if sometimes uncomfortably honest, communication.
- Equally importantly, Pulis's brave decision to employ two former England midfielders who, as managers, guided Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City to fifth-place finishes in the top flight before subsequently taking Tottenham and Sunderland up to seventh, suggests a refreshing humility on the Stoke manager's part.
- "Tony's very strong and always has the ultimate say," Francis explains. "But we are certainly not afraid to disagree with him."
- He and Reid are helping Pulis mastermind Stoke's gradual evolution from a strictly choreographed, heavily set piece dependent side to a more three dimensional ensemble, and Pulis is suitably delighted with their input.
- "Peter and Gerry are chalk and cheese, a bit like the funny guy and the straight guy in a comedy double act," he says. "While Peter's the joker in the pack, Gerry goes about his business quietly but they complement each other really well.
- "Ultimately, the manager takes decisions but managers should never be afraid to listen. The job is easier if you can sound out the opinions of people like Peter and Gerry who've played and managed at the highest level."
- Mark O'Connor, who shares first-team coaching duties with Francis and helps his colleagues with DVD analysis and laptop downloads, is similarly enthusiastic. "It's brilliant just listening to Gerry and Peter," he says. "Peter's played in World Cups and Gerry's been England captain, they're very good for our players."
- Francis could easily have been in charge of a Premier League club today had he not stepped away from management in 2001. "We'd had two family bereavements, I had three children under eight and it just felt the right thing to do," he explains. "I realised football was not the be all and end all."
- It is hard to imagine Wenger saying anything similar but Francis, like Reid and Pulis, has an intriguing, renaissance-man style hinterland. His eclectic array of interests and investments includes antiques, pigeon fancying, overseas property development, and theatre and film production.
- The latter sphere led to his involvement with Magic Movies, producers of the 2004 Bafta-nominated Road to Damascus in which he played a Los Angeles postman complete with Californian accent before wiping off the greasepaint and returning to tend the treasured pigeons occupying a luxury loft at his Surrey home.
- Pulis, meanwhile, makes weekly escapes to Dorset and the twin sanctuaries of his magnificent family home and local Catholic church, where Stoke's manager – who recently had an old-fashioned fight with his striker James Beattie in Arsenal's away dressing room – is a regular at confession.
- After joining Stoke last September following a stint managing Thailand, Reid serves as a welcome rebuke to a sometimes rather bland soulless, increasingly commercially packaged, Premier League product. "The culture and climate made Thailand a great place to live," he says. "But Tony and I just clicked. I'm here to help Tony improve Stoke, to try and make the club stronger."
- Reid possesses the sort of common touch that once led to his consoling his erstwhile Sunderland left-back, Michael Gray, who had missed a decisive play-off final penalty, by having him to stay at his house for several days. On another occasion he whipped off his Armani shirt and swapped it for a journalist's Marks and Spencer number during a lively dinner.
- Such humanity is unlikely to cut much ice with Wenger. No stranger to crossing swords with Reid, the Frenchman sniffily regards Stoke as a personal, long-throw propelled bete noire.
- "We've got better technically," Francis says. "We're developing a Plan B but you have to make changes gradually. We're exploring different avenues of playing but we're not stupid – it won't stop us continuing doing what we're good at."
- Tuncay Sanli, the Turkey forward, looms large in this evolutionary alternative and is arguably likely to pose Arsenal more problems than Rory Delap's throws. "Our system is quite organised and regimented while Tunny is a free spirit who needs to play off the cuff," Francis says. "But he and Stoke are enjoying learning how to get along with each other. We're all having fun." Guardian

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