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Post by harlowranger on May 9, 2011 8:18:22 GMT
There was some nice pictures in the Times on Saturday , which a friend told me about .4 old pictures. Comments from Stan Bowles etc , where these ones posted Mac ?
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Post by Macmoish on May 9, 2011 8:22:21 GMT
No not posted. The Times is Subscription which I don't have
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Post by froggyranger on May 9, 2011 9:14:59 GMT
Here you go:
Stan Bowles Last updated May 6 2011 9:37PM I started going to watch games at Queens Park Rangers again this season because there is stylish football back at Loftus Road just like I remember. The team have been a joy to watch, with Adel Taarabt exactly the sort of player I can identify with. People might see some similarities.
The team have been brilliant, so what is happening to the club with the FA inquiry is ridiculous, a shambles.
I was at Loftus Road yesterday as the club laid out blue flags for fans to celebrate the Championship title today. It will be one of the most joyous occasions in the club’s history and I will see the players parade the trophy, but on Monday morning every ounce of euphoria could be stripped away if the club are docked points and the triumph taken away from them. Like all fans present today, I believe it’s scandalous and totally unfair.
The FA have known for some time about these supposed problems, so why couldn’t they have sorted things earlier in the season? To let things drift on until the day before the season ends, then postpone the decision, smacks of incompetence. It seems to me the club could be fined heavily, but docking points could lead to chaos.
The cloud hanging over Loftus Road is in keeping with the turbulence the club have experienced since being relegated from the Premier League in the mid-1990s.
QPR are rightly remembered fondly for entertaining football, but it’s often forgotten by many people that the club finished fifth in the inaugural Premier League, the highest of any London club. It’s been agony since, but we have emerged stronger and ready to remind people of our identity.
The club are special, have wonderful history and are proudly warm. I’d go as far to say they could become a significant force if the billionaire owners spent on players. If an average Manchester United team can be on the verge of winning the title this season, then what can we do with the right players?
We will more than hold our own next season. We are miles better than Fulham, our local rivals, and teams such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United, if they survive. Neil Warnock, for me, is the cleverest manager I have known apart from Sir Alex Ferguson. I know people don’t like Neil, but he is very down to earth and tells it straight, like any good northerner. Being a Mancunian, I admire that and it clearly works for him. No one seems to argue with him.
Loftus Road will be an intimidating ground, if too small for the support, next season. A packed Loftus Road boasts a special atmosphere, better than the Nou Camp, where I played with Nottingham Forest. The crowd used to be closer to the pitch, so close that I could shake their hands and ask fans with radios who won the Grand National because I’d put a bet on.
I could get away with it as there were few TV cameras. No sooner had I moved to Nottingham Forest, I wanted to return to QPR because of that atmosphere, but couldn’t afford to as I’d gambled away the signing-on fee.
QPR’s style, and in particular, Taarabt, was why I returned to watching football after more than four years. He reminds me of me. It’s free the way that he plays the game. Something happens when he is on the ball. He has the tricks and flicks and frankly takes the p*** out of defenders, just like I used to do. Players don’t like it, but football needs entertainers, showmen, that little bit of arrogance to get fans on the edge of their seats.
I was a maverick. I never used to go to the dressing room until ten minutes before kick-off as the betting shop was by the ground. I think they put it there for me! It’s still there and I’ve been gone for more than 30 years.
Going this season reminds me that even young fans recognise me because they have been brought up on the club’s tradition.
I saw a man ask his young son who I was as I walked to the ground. The boy never knew and was clipped around the ear. That heritage is what makes QPR special as everyone (hopefully) will see next season.
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Post by harlowranger on May 9, 2011 11:53:31 GMT
The 4 pictures werer great , one of Stan , one of Francis, League cup one and Currie gives hoddle the runs from 1982 ! Classic
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Post by harlowranger on May 9, 2011 11:54:24 GMT
OOPS my manners , thankyou Eskey !
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Post by Lonegunmen on May 10, 2011 7:30:13 GMT
Good read.
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