One Year Ago: Questions to the Chairman...and some of the Answers

-
November 28, 2005: QPR Official Site - LAST CHANCE
Today is your last chance to send in a question to be asked to the Chairman.
Gianni Paladini will sit down this week and answer questions sent in from fans.
Paladini said "I hope to put the record straight on a number of issues.
Just this weekend I had journalists phoning me asking me if we were going into administration. I just want to reassure fans that there is no chance of anything like that happening." Over 200 questions have already been received ....QPR

Among the Questions Asked & Answered by Chairman Paladini - Posted on the Official Site, December 2005

Q: Do you think that Ian Holloway has taken the club as far as he can, and do we need a manager that will be able to take us to the next level?
A: I think Ian is the man to take us forward, that's why we gave him a three year contract. Ian is a very good manager and I think he is the man to take us forward. Our relationship is very good, we speak everyday. I have commented on our relationship very often. I love Ian.

Q: How much truth was there in the rumour of Ramon Diaz coming to Rangers?
A: When I first joined I didn't know Ian Holloway. My friend Ramon Diaz came to watch our matches but he couldn't work for us anyway due to work permits. But once I got to know Ian then I knew he was the man for the job.

Q: Where do you see QPR in three years time?
A: First of all we need to clear our debts; we only took over from the October 1 and we found out we owed more than we originally thought. You need solid foundations, I'd love us to go up this year or next year, but we have to be realistic and budget accordingly.
When we first took over there was a big outstanding tax bill and Caliendo and I had to go down to Brighton to stop us going into Liquidation. We had to give our personal guarantee that the bill would be paid.
When we found out you can imagine our panic. The first thing you have to do as a company is pay the tax man as they can wind you up.

Q: Regarding the loan - it appears to me very easy and without access to the financial side at QPR, I guess I can only make assumptions. Are there negotiations taking place with solicitors, lenders and ABC in order to either re-negotiate with ABC or a high street lender?
A: We are arranging a new loan with the Lloyds TSB. The directors will give their personal guarantee on the loan. We hope to get an interest rate between 5.75% to 6%. Depending on the final interest rate we will save between £400-425k per year.

Q: What is the truth behind the stories that you signed players over the head of Holloway?
My background is an agent and I know many players. We couldn't afford many players in England so we looked abroad. I brought over Milanese, Nygaard and Ukah. Ian Holloway was able to look at them before they were signed.

Q: An awful lot of people seem to have left the Rangers behind the scenes staff. Are you sure that the club can function with so few behind the scenes?
A: We have reduced the staff wage bill. You need to balance your income with your overheads. QPR is a great club but it is not a massive one. We only have 20 odd big events a year - our home games. During the week we have a small number of staff working very hard. Much of what we do now is online anyway, such as ticket sales.


Q: Are there firm plans to invest more money in QPR so that we can be more of a challenge in this Division?
A: Firstly none of the investors are a new Roman Abramovich. We need to raise more revenue by improving on current deals, for example we want to increase the amount we get from sponsorship. We are bringing the loss down every year and within a few years we hope to break even. Then we can really move forward.

Q: Is it true we are behind with our payments?
A: We are paying people. In October we paid out £1.2 million. When we took over we found that many of our suppliers hadn't been paid since May. There is a backlog but we are putting a new structure in place. Instead of writing cheques out every day of the week, we will pay our suppliers on the 30th of every month. Therefore they know when they will get paid and we can also budget better.

COMPLETE Q&A to Paladini as posted online can be read here
Paladini Q&A