If Chris Wright Had Never Bought QPR....

Can't see that it matters much. They have only one basic set of ideas between the lot of them.

Buy shares, strip Club of (1) earnings (2) assets (3) future revenue by means of loans, lose the lot desperately trying to inflate the share price.

Then sell up, leaving any debts they inherited unpaid, as well as the debts they incurred themselves, before passing them on to their successors, who do exactly the same thing.

Eventually resorting to increasing ticket prices, repeatedly revaluing the Ground, and dramatically increasing the loan periods.

So everything the Club had, has and will have, is squandered.

QPR the exception, of course. Until now, no Club has become a brand, a boutique, global, and Champions League without anyone noticing.

And none has charged so much for so little.

This is how I see it, Report.

Big Investor tells me he has complete faith in a horse in the 3.30 at 100-1.

But he asks a supporter to remortgage his house so he, Big Investor, can put the £300,000 on the horse. If you don't, Big Investor says to the supporter, you'll be doing the Club out of £15 million, the Club's share of the winnings.

The horse is bound to win, I am Big Investor, I know.

Now, if you were that supporter, Report, wouldn't you wonder why Big Investor was going to all the trouble of getting you to put up the money when it would have been far simpler to put the bet on himself with his own money?

Wouldn't you also wonder whether he REALLY cares what people like us think of him. Given that he would rather risk someone else's money - and be blamed - than risk his own - and be praised?*

*Would you ask yourself whether he has already reconciled himself to blame, because football clubs have a history of condemning those they once welcomed as saviours?

Would you think he was more worried about losing his money than losing his reputation among QPR supporters?

And wouldn't you wonder WHY he won't risk HIS money if he is really so sure the horse will win? Wouldn't you remind yourself that the gambling world is full of losers who think they will win?

And if bookies can make a living persuading others to lose while they win, perhaps Big Investors do the very same thing.

And if he is so heartless as to risk EVERYTHING you have, when he could shoulder the risk himselfand only jeopardise a fraction of his own wealth, wouldn't you ask yourself whether that is how Big Investors make money after all?

Handsome is as handsome does, wouldn't you say?

Yes, good post londonranger.

If they were running a business, there would be no goals, no points, no goal difference, no league tables, no promotion, no relegation, no victory or defeat, no success or failure, except in a rather vague and largely subjective sense.

So their business would be whatever they said it would be, their achievements would be whatever they pretended they were, the goals they set for their business would be up to them.

In football, it simply doesn't work like that.

Business is subjective, football is objective. You're a winner if you win, and not otherwise. In business, posturing is 'being a winner'. In football, posturing is simply ignored. United aren't what they are because of their merchandising, but because of Busby, the Babes, Best Law and Charlton, and Ferguson.

In football everything is measured down to the last decimal point. And it is competitive in a way conventional businesses simply are not. Your rival doesn't come into your shop and stop you selling your stuff, unless your rival is an organised crime family.

A Club says it has a strike force, so we count the number of strikes they make. Its supporters say Bowles was brilliant, and we know that even the fluid and unpredictable brilliance of an individualist like him was measurable and countable. He wouldn't be considered a great player if he had made 5 great passes and scored 3 useful goals - however good they were - any more than Ferdinand would be remembered as one of our great goalscorers if he managed 12 goals in 4 years.

None of this can be decided by the 'businessmen'. They spend vast sums, and waste enormous sums, as well as time and energy, on PR initiatives calculated to achieve nothing. If they become successful, the supporters will be pleased. If they don't, no amount of PR will persuade us otherwise.

Football is so restrictive. Even the big clubs who can spend tens of millions on player aren't allowed to field more than 11, and they only get the same number of points as the rest if they win. And it's the same old, same old all the time.

This is your point, after all, londonranger. They are secretive in an environment where you can't hide. We may not know precisely what they are up to, but we don't need to. If they can't cut it on the field of play, none of it matters.

In football, the people 'in control' aren't in control. And pleasing themselves won't cut the mustard. They must please us. Maybe that's beneath them, maybe they live in their own world to such an extent that they can't understand that the Club is everything and they are nothing.

They'll do as they please. But our reputations aren't damaged by failure. Perhaps they have a plan. But everyone has a plan. Winning is something else entirely.