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Post by Macmoish on May 14, 2012 13:09:15 GMT
A week shy of 3 Years ago
Ian Taylor Tweets
32s IanJTaylor IanJTaylor @ijtaylor81
QPR FC are delighted to announce details of a new state-of-the-art training ground facility at the Warren Farm site. @officialqpr #QPR
IanJTaylor @ijtaylor81
The Club is the preferred bidder to a 200-year lease on the land, subject to the successful planning application. #QPR Expand
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Post by Macmoish on May 14, 2012 13:10:55 GMT
QPR Official Site
EXCLUSIVE: R'S WIN WARREN FARM BID Posted on: Mon 14 May 2012 Queens Park Rangers Football Club are delighted to announce details of a new state-of-the-art training ground facility, following a successful bid to purchase land at the Warren Farm site. The Club is the preferred bidder to a 200-year lease on the land, subject to the successful planning application. The new 63 acre site in the borough of Ealing will play host to the R's ahead of the start of the 2013/14 season. The site will be developed into a full multi-purpose Elite Training Facility and Community Sports Complex. QPR Chairman, Tony Fernandes, expressed his delight at the successful bid, commenting: "We are absolutely ecstatic and must thank everyone involved in the process, especially David Leed (CYD Projects Ltd) who oversaw the bid, for their tremendous support. "This decision means we are now in a position to build a new state-of-the-art facility which will enable us to attract, retain and train world class talent. "The community package that will accompany this facility will additionally deliver great benefits for those in our local boroughs." He added: "We said when we arrived here that we wanted to build this Club for the future and this is another huge step in the right direction. "We already have a first class senior management team in place, with Mark Hughes at the helm, and the recent appointment of our new Technical Director, Mike Rigg, is further testament to what we are striving to achieve here. "Clearly though, to achieve such goals, a new training ground facility is paramount so we are absolutely delighted." The Elite Training Facility will house the entire football department, including our thriving Academy. It will provide: First Team and Academy natural pitches, a Covered Dome and outdoor 3G Artificial Pitches; rehabilitation areas, grid layouts and goalkeeper training areas; Ground keeping management facilities and security cabins. The Community Sports Complex will use the power and vision of QPR in the Community Trust to forge stronger and deeper connections within our local community. QPR in the Community Trust will create progressive, vibrant hubs for sporting and social activities, leading to enhanced life experiences for Ealing residents and its neighbourhoods. The facility will encourage participation in sport and promote healthy, active lifestyles in a safe and healthy environment available to all sectors of the Community, including existing users of Warren Farm, and deal with social issues and provide community support, social inclusion, community cohesion and education opportunities. QPR CEO, Philip Beard, added: "This will be a long-term benefit to the Football Club and QPR in the Community Trust. "It will enable us to compete and attract the best players, and that applies equally to the young Academy players. "It will mean that we can offer the best training, coaching and fitness facilities, to the benefit of both the Club and the local community." Design work and site investigations will begin almost immediately. *The Club will be making no further comment at this stage. www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2771614,00.html
QPR OFFICIAL SITE - THE NEW TRAINING GROUND
The Warren Farm site will be developed into a full multi-purpose First Class Professional Elite Training Facility and Community Sports Complex, which will have state-of-the-art facilities that are second to none. These facilities will be used by both our professional and academy footballers, as well as the community, and echo our ethos of being 'more than just a Football Club.' The land will be designed for the Club's professional training requirements, which will be designed to the Premier Leagues Academy Category 1 and Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), with a layout of natural and artificial training pitches and grids. These facilities will provide a platform for the development of local home grown talent and inspiration for the local community to aspire. Community facilities will be developed with the equal exacting standards and high performance specification qualities, which meet with Sport England and National Governing Bodies standards. The community facilities and community development programme will be managed by QPR in the Community Trust. We see this element of the proposal as a true partnership with the council, local sports clubs and wider community users. The Community will have some of the best facilities for people of all ages and levels of ability to engage and participate in a wide variety of sports including football, rugby, cricket, basketball, tennis, netball and potentially hockey, with fully developed sporting programmes and activities with professionally qualified coaches, including input and appearances from professional players from QPR within their contracted voluntary and Community services. Transport is a key issue for the site. There will be safe secure parking assessed to following transports assessment and planning requirements. There will be a shuttle bus service from strategic pick up points around Ealing at underground and rail stations. The design will incorporate recommendations by Secured by Design, provide a secure base for public service and meet with the Council's Sports Strategy and increase public participation in sport with the delivery of professional sports and community development programmes. Car parking will be provided for staff and players, including cycle park and electric car charging QPR
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 14, 2012 13:11:07 GMT
Fantastic news!!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2012 13:31:07 GMT
Great news SWP will be home on the farm
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Post by beanofire on May 14, 2012 13:36:40 GMT
Excellent news. We will need this to attract a better quality of player to the club. Fernandes and team have promised and so far, are delivering.
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NZ Ranger
Neil Warnock
www.songsforblake.com
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Post by NZ Ranger on May 14, 2012 13:45:44 GMT
Wahooo! The start of many many good things to come! A fantastic time to be a Rangers fan!
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obk
Dave Sexton
Posts: 1,516
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Post by obk on May 14, 2012 14:45:50 GMT
Excellent news, mostly because it shows long term commitment and planning for the future!
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Post by hitman34 on May 14, 2012 14:47:54 GMT
sounds great and all but one question, with gates of 18.000 a week how is this financially viable? who is funding all this? will it be loans taken out against the club or is the money coming from tony and amits pocket? will it be funded from an increased stadium attendance? if so, surley we need to be in that stadium and filling 30.000 seats each week. who is funding the proposed stadum? ? sounds great but. but but but but but but
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Post by Zamoraaaah on May 14, 2012 14:50:01 GMT
Great news.
The future is looking very bright.
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Post by FloridaR on May 14, 2012 14:52:50 GMT
Good news .. good comments also.
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Post by scubahoop on May 14, 2012 15:07:36 GMT
Think we might be looking forward to a few exciting years ahead. (Although last season was pretty exciting Fingers crossed.
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manta
Gordon Jago
Posts: 945
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Post by manta on May 14, 2012 15:39:33 GMT
Fantastic news. Proves Tony wants to take this club onwards and upwards.
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Post by alfaranger on May 14, 2012 15:43:39 GMT
Great news SWP will be home on the farm Looking for that glove he lost on his bike.
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 14, 2012 16:18:18 GMT
sounds great and all but one question, with gates of 18.000 a week how is this financially viable? who is funding all this? will it be loans taken out against the club or is the money coming from tony and amits pocket? will it be funded from an increased stadium attendance? if so, surley we need to be in that stadium and filling 30.000 seats each week. who is funding the proposed stadum? ? sounds great but. but but but but but but No-one on here or any other forum will know.
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Post by cpr on May 14, 2012 16:18:34 GMT
Stay up on Sunday, this announced on Monday, what a win double. ;D
Great news, let's hope it gets permission and moves along speedilly.
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Post by eusebio13 on May 14, 2012 19:52:35 GMT
Two days...two bits of great news...I think we've moved up a tier in the Prem into the midtablers
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Post by blatantfowl on May 14, 2012 20:01:06 GMT
Good news...
but with a 63 acre site isn't that big enough to fit a 30k seater stadium on it as well?
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Post by Lonegunmen on May 14, 2012 22:13:35 GMT
It isd excellent news and the facilities are long overdue. I do however have to agree with Hitman on this occassion. Who is funding it? Be nice to have the cards on the table. Even if it is a debt out against the club, at least we would know where we stand.
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Post by Macmoish on May 15, 2012 10:22:39 GMT
Anyone know how much money this is costing? Getting the ground...And then the improvements?
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Post by haqpr1963 on May 15, 2012 11:35:28 GMT
Great news.
Great to see that the owners are building an academy that we can be proud of, who knows at this rate we might even see some youngsters coming through in the future....
Once again, great news....
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Post by Macmoish on May 15, 2012 12:06:01 GMT
Can you imagine a Home Grown player Captain of QPR
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 18, 2014 18:21:37 GMT
Bump a couple years
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 18, 2014 19:16:21 GMT
And then various articles...about the importance
SKY Championship: QPR gain planning permission for training ground on Warren Farm
Last Updated: 02/01/14 1:21pm Up To £30 Free Matched Bet
QPR have been granted planning permission to build a new training complex on Warren Farm in Southall.
Ealing Council have signed a development agreement with the Sky Bet Championship club, resulting in planning permission for a new multi-purpose community sports complex that will provide a base for both the Hoops first team and academy.
QPR chairman Tony Fernandes said: "We are committed to building the club in the right way and putting in place the foundations for future success.
"The academy is an important part of this, and this agreement is the next step in strengthening the long-term prospects of QPR.
"We are delighted to partner Ealing Council and are particularly excited about playing our part in providing fantastic new sporting facilities for local residents, and to build on the excellent work of our Community Trust to strengthen our ties with the community and provide opportunities for all."
Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, added: "Warren Farm is in dire need of redevelopment, so it is fantastic that QPR has committed to such a huge investment into the site.
"Signing this deal is the next step towards bringing Warren Farm back into use and transforming it into a thriving hub of community activity and sport. QPR's plans have a strong focus on community involvement and I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together."
Work on the facility is expected to be completed in time for 2016.
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 19, 2014 5:31:38 GMT
There are various other threads on this board re Warren Farm May 11, 2013 at 7:59am by @officialqpr Co-owner reveals the crucial role R’s supporters played in their takeover two years ago … This is something we are going to be involved in for a very long time" Ruben Emir Gnanalingam ALONG WITH Chairman Tony Fernandes, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam and Kamarudin Bin Meranun bought into QPR in August 2011, and Gnanalingam has revealed what a crucial role the R’s supporters played in that decision. “I like the fact that our fans are truly behind the club, no matter what,” he told www.qpr.co.uk. “That’s one of the best foundations we have at this club. When me and Tony first stepped into Loftus Road, one of the key aspects which helped us make our decision was the fact the fans were so passionate. “We really liked that. Going forward, it’s one of the best assets we have. I have great admiration for them. Even at recent games when things have not been going well, they are still shouting, cheering, singing. It has been fantastic. I don’t see many clubs with fans doing that.” Like Fernandes and the R’s supporters, Gnanalingam is dealing with the disappointment of relegation from the top flight. “The reality of going down set in quite a few weeks ago,” he admitted. “I have come to terms with it and now we are just focusing on how we can come back up. “It has been extremely difficult to accept. The season we have had has been really, really tough. There have been so many disappointments, even from day one, but we are just focusing now on how to rebuild and come back stronger.” R’s Chairman Fernandes recently admitted mistakes had been made and the club would learn from them moving forward. His fellow shareholder Gnanalingam echoes those views. “We have learnt a lot over the last two years,” he said. “It has been a very, very steep learning experience. I always say that people are a company’s greatest asset. And that is definitely the case in football, more so than any other business in the world. And I don’t just mean the players, I mean the management, the fans, all of our people here. “Going forward, we know there are some things we should not do from experience, and of course we have also learnt what we should do. We will try to apply that.” Gnanalingam also has a word of caution for anyone who feels an immediate return to the Premier League will be achieved with ease. “The Championship is a really, really tough league,” he added. “We are not kidding ourselves that we are going to come back up easily. It is going to be really tough but we are going to try and do some things right to see if we can return sooner rather than later.” Last month, with QPR on the brink of relegation, the shareholders committed to the development of a multi-million-pound training complex at Warren Farm. Gnanalingam took the opportunity to e-mail the club’s staff, telling them ‘This is a great milestone and a really important one in our long journey to rebuild this club. I am just glad to be a part of it’. He explains his use of the word ‘rebuild’ was key. “The club we inherited unfortunately did not have very good foundations in terms of the facilities,” he said. “The training complex is nowhere near Premier League standard, or even Championship standard. “If you want to go far you have to have good foundations, and we don’t have that now. That’s what we need to build going forward. Warren Farm will be the first step in that direction. We will have a training ground which will at least be able to compare with some of the Championship clubs and maybe even compare to some Premier League clubs. If we want to challenge in the big league we should have at least that.”With some predicting Fernandes and Co would walk away following relegation, Gnanalingam was keen to point out this couldn’t be further from their thinking. “We don’t have a short-term ambition, we only have a long-term ambition,” he said. “This is not a five-year involvement or a ten-year involvement. This is something we are going to be involved in for a very long time. My family, Tony’s family, Din’s family, we are going to be involved in this business for a very long time and involved with this club for a very long time. “We don’t see us moving away from this anytime soon. It has always been long-term for us, from day one. “When we came in we knew about the club. We made sure we studied a lot about the club before we came in but our passion has grown tremendously. I now know a lot more and I don’t think I will support another club after this.” Read more at www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/110513-ruben-fans-our-greatest-asset-814170.aspx#lgdV3tetsBtPgrWV.99Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/36031/ruben-fans-greatest-asset#ixzz37tCt4JGQ
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 19, 2014 5:35:01 GMT
19, 2012 at 9:09am WMIPSFSQuote Edit like Post Options Post by Macmoish on Nov 19, 2012 at 9:09am London 24 Phil Beard QPR chief executive QPR Q&A: Chief executive on transfers, Hughes, Green and the future Ian Cooper Wednesday, September 5, 2012 12:00 PM Phil Beard answers questions on Rangers’ summer of spending, and tells London24 that the focus must now be on developing the club’s own youth policy Q: With the transfer window now closed, do you feel that QPR have done good business? What we have done in the last three transfer windows is hopefully send some very serious messages to the fans that we’re serious about trying to build and strengthen the squad. This summer there was a lot more time as soon as the season finished to sit down and understand how Mark wanted to go about developing the team, and to make sure that what he ended up with was a squad which he felt was his own. It takes two or three windows to bring in a squad which can compete in the Premier League. It was an evolutionary process. We moved a significant number of players out, over the last two windows in particular, that Mark felt were not able to compete in the Premier League. Mark has had the chance to bring in 12 players overall this summer. I think he has a 25-man squad that he can look at, at any given time, and see that any of those players can do a job. Q: A number of high-profile players have arrived at the club. Has the wage bill become a concern? I wouldn’t say that should be a concern to the fans, because we have got very successful businessmen who own this club. The figures will back me up when I say that a lot of the players who have come in have done so on free transfers rather than a significant cost. Some clubs have spent £12 million or £15m on one player. You would struggle to get that sort of number for all the players we have signed. What we have done is strike a balance. I have looked at it long and hard, and there are some very talented young players we have brought to the club who I think will be available for a long time to come. Mark has brought in players who have significant Premier League experience, like Ryan Nelsen and Andy Johnson. If I were the fans I would back the fact that the owners really know what they are trying to achieve here. Q: So is the cycle of regeneration we have seen during the last three windows now at an end? You have to have two or three cycles in order to really bring a squad together that you feel can create stability in the Premier League. I think we are looking forward and thinking that if there is more activity it will be on the basis of moving one or two players out who would command their own figure in the market. We’ll be a club which does less activity, which moves players out as well as bringing them in. Until now, some of the players who have gone out have not commanded the same fees as those who were brought in. Q: QPR’s owners have spoken of ambition. What is a realistic target for QPR this season? We have owners who are very ambitious and want to compete at the highest level. It would be wrong to try to explain what that means, but we haven’t made the investment of this summer to simply compete at the same level as last season. We had a squad which kept the club in the Premier League, but the investment has been made so that we feel we are a club which can compete against – and beat – every club we play. We all believe that the squad we have now should be able to get stability in the Premier League – not fighting for survival. However, it’s a fact that three clubs go down and every club will be doing all it can to make sure it isn’t down near the bottom. The investment has been made in order to progress from last season. Q: Rob Green signed in July yet already looks set to lose the jersey to Julio Cesar. Does this reflect badly on the scouting system which identified him as a signing? It doesn’t raise questions over the scouting policy – if anything, I think the opposite is true. The club now has two very strong goalkeepers, and Mark will decide which one plays when. The opportunity came up, it wasn’t something in his mind, that Julio Cesar could come to the club for a very sensible way, and we decided to take that opportunity. The best teams have strength in every position. Q: How important is Mark Hughes to the club’s long-term future? The power of Mark Hughes in getting players to come to this club should not be under-estimated. Mark takes us to another level. I have sat in meetings where had Mark not been the manager here we might not have persuaded some of the players to come to the club. I look at Mark and see that what he’s good at is getting the best out of these players. Q: Does the fact that you have spent so little in transfer fees suggest that you have signed players who are past their best that no other clubs want? What Mark has tried to do is have a balance. Watching Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora play against Manchester City, I thought they dove-tailed really well. Andy, who has maybe one or two seasons left in the top flight, really wants to succeed. There are three or four who are still young; Junior Hoilett is a fantastic talent and could very well become a superstar. At the other end of the scale Ryan Nelsen arguably was the best player against City. That’s what Mark has tried to do. I look at the bench, and the challenge we had last season was that our bench looked frail. Against City, you saw enough talent. I look at the likes of Norwich and Southampton, and for me their benches look a bit weak. You need to see what you need in order to compete. It is important we compete at the highest level. I hope the young players who we signed on long-term contracts will stay for a long time, but if they don’t then they will have a significant re-sale value. We have renewed the contracts of players who we believe are the future of the club. Adel staying is fantastic news for any QPR fan who has watched him progress over the last few years. Q: Going forward, would the club be better to look at signing the best young players from the lower divisions, rather than established names? Possibly, but that’s a risky strategy. Jordan Rhodes, for example, who scored goals for fun last season for Huddersfield. No-one went in for him, so £8 million for a move to Blackburn Rovers is a massive amount of money. They now need to come back up. He might score 20 or 30 this season, but it’s a massively risky strategy. We let Raheem Sterling go a few years ago because we simply could not hold on to him, there was no-one to say ‘stick around because we are going places’. That’s what we want to do; the most important thing we are doing is building Warren Farm, because ultimately we want to bring through young kids. The one thing you can’t put a price on is nurturing talent at a young age.
Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/34000/qprs-ceo-sept#ixzz37tE45loV
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 19, 2014 5:37:39 GMT
July 20 2012 Post by Guest on Jul 20, 2012 at 3:41am QPR chief executive Phil Beard admits a move to the club’s new training ground is behind schedule. Rangers had hoped to move to a new state-of-the-art elite training facility at Warren Farm on a 63-acre site by July next year. But last night the CEO revealed significant improvements to the current training set-up at Harlington has reined in the urgency. The club is the preferred bidder to a 200-year lease on the land on Windmill Lane that borders Southall and Osterley, subject to planning permission, but it could be 2014 before they set up shop there. Beard told the Chronicle: "I’ve slightly changed my opinion now [about the timescale]. "We’ve made significant changes to Harlington and by doing that there’s less of an urgency to get out. "I don’t think it can still be seen as a Premier League training facility, so the plan is still to get Warren Farm up and running as fast as possible and the community project as well. "But I don’t think there’s this urgency to get in there even if we haven’t finished because Harlington is in a position now where Mark [Hughes] feels it delivers what he needs. "However, for the medium to long term we’ve got to move to the new facilities as soon as possible. We need to get it absolutely right." QPR are in the process of submitting initial plans to Ealing Council, which include a covered dome and an outdoor 3G artificial pitch. And Beard believes the project will take around a year to build once they are given the green light by the authorities. "We’re working very closely with the council to make sure we deliver on what we promised on the community side," added Beard, who helped spearhead the successful bid for the London 2012 Olympics. "I would rather we get it absolutely right than try to move as quickly as possible then realise it’s not how we want it. "I don’t want to find ourselves opening our new training ground and then people regretting we didn’t spend more time on it. "The key to it is to get it right for the first-team and the academy as well." Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest QPR news. www.ealinggazette.co.uk/sport/qpr-ealing/2012/07/20/64767-31432025/?Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/32363/ago-new-training-ground-delayed#ixzz37tEg06rn
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 19, 2014 6:58:30 GMT
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 19, 2014 9:17:17 GMT
Dave McIntyre Blog piece a few months ago davidmcintyre.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/huge-losses-is-old-news-what-happens-next-is-important/ Huge losses is old news – what happens next is important The publishing of QPR’s accounts, which show an annual loss of £65.4m, taking the net debt to just over £177m, tells its own story about the state of the club under its Malaysian owners, fronted by Tony Fernandes. Fernandes, belatedly, has his fair share of detractors, and they’ll have their pound of flesh today, mostly with the benefit of hindsight, as was the case when it eventually became trendy to poke fun at the previously lauded Flavio Briatore. Anyone unfortunate enough to follow me on Twitter, or worse know me personally, will know what my thoughts have been since the early days of Fernandes’ chairmanship. That debate is done and dusted. Things have moved on. There has been plenty of speculation about the financial picture at Rangers and the owners’ motives. Last April, I suggested this could be explained by the fact that even the huge losses being incurred would be dwarfed by the potential income from moving QPR to a Canary Wharf-style redevelopment, and the club subsequently revealed their plans for a move to Old Oak. For me the real issue is now not the losses, which are and will continue to be huge. The key question at this stage is I think this: Can those who have presided over such a debacle, who made Rangers a template for how not to run a Premier League club, be trusted with something as important as the sale of QPR’s home, and the creation of a new one while safeguarding Rangers’ long-term interests and integrity? For some, probably the majority, the answer will be yes. And I suspect that further down the line anyone within the various fans groups who dares express any misgivings will be shouted down. But all objective, rational evidence based on the last two and a half years suggests alarm bells should be ringing out there. In fact, given what’s occurred before now, and the massive difference between Fernandes’ fluffy rhetoric and what has actually happened, I’m always surprised at the absolute certainty with which many talk about a new stadium and training ground – often as if they already exist. The words ‘Warren Farm’ seem to have taken on almost mythical significance as the answer to all QPR’s problems. And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen and heard Warren Farm and the planned new stadium offered as enough proof that Rangers are in good hands. I saw a message on a Rangers forum a while ago, where what seemed like a very fair-minded poster said they’d feel better once the first brick is laid at Warren Farm or a new stadium. I think that’s a very balanced and well advised position to take. Of course, any criticism of Fernandes provokes an angry reaction from some and this will probably be no different. A common, and totally inaccurate, perception is that Fernandes put his money where his mouth is and was simply let down by the villain of the piece, Mark Hughes. It just didn’t happen like that. Fernandes was the driver, not the nervous passenger, and the great irony is that the popular notion that he in some way had his ‘pants taken down’ – a term coined by Harry Redknapp – would actually be a better way of describing what’s occurred under the current manager than the previous one. More recently, Fernandes has found himself between a rock and a hard place. Having listened to Redknapp’s view that another relegation loomed (a view I absolutely shared and would stand by) unless the board piped down and let him steer the ship, what was Fernandes to do when the manager and short-term strategy he was tied to demanded yet more players be brought in? Stop backing him mid-season? And so the nonsense, in the shape of Yossi Benayoun and others, has continued, and Rangers, as many fans have observed, don’t look that much different to the overpaid rabble that shamed the club last season. The bottom line though is that Fernandes, as chairman, is responsible for this. I’ve always believed his unwavering popularity meant he’d have to get through a few managers and maybe one or two CEOs before this became the accepted view, though. There is an alternative view to the one that says Fernandes has put his money in, backed the club to the hilt, and is basically a fantastic chairman the club are incredibly lucky to have. It goes like this… QPR were promoted to the Premier League – the culmination of a lot of factors and hard work that preceded the then owners and even the owners before them. This included fans collecting money in buckets to help the club. Tony Fernandes inherited that promoted club. He wasn’t involved in the process of getting Rangers to that stage. With promotion comes a massive financial reward – a huge influx of money clubs can still benefit from even if they go down. In QPR’s case, that money has gone – and then some, because Rangers are actually worse off for their spell in the top division. That money, that hard-earned potentially once-in-a-generation (at best) opportunity, was the club’s. It belonged to QPR. And it’s gone. It was wasted by someone with no previous involvement in the Rangers story. That’s the harsh reality. I know that alternative version won’t go down well with some, especially those who simply blame Hughes. It should also be acknowledged that although Fernandes inherited a promoted club, it wasn’t a strong one in terms of infrastructure, and many of the issues his board have faced would be a challenge for anyone. And it could be argued that the pot of gold isn’t gone forever, because an immediate return to the Premier League is still possible. But for Rangers, having spent so obscenely, to be banking on Charlie Austin’s return and a team largely of loan signings to save them from the financial implications of failing to get promoted, is inexcusable. Questions must surely be asked even if they end up scraping home. Fernandes insisted he’d be “the first to go” – his own words – if his appointment of Hughes ended in failure. It did. But he didn’t go, largely because the fans didn’t want him to. Will that change in light of the new financial figures, or even if Rangers fail to go back up? Probably not. That shows just how effective Fernandes’ interaction with fans on Twitter and in person has been, because that’s what’s sustaining him in terms of support – he certainly can’t rely on his record as chairman. And while it’s easy to be cynical about this, the so-called ‘£20 fans’ dismissed by Briatore are entitled to cut what is a very decent man some serious slack when he is seen to treat them with respect. That said, the most important way of respecting the fans isn’t by holding court on Twitter or in the pubs of Shepherd’s Bush, it’s by running their club properly and carefully. If that principle is applied, Fernandes’ position arguably became untenable long ago.
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 20, 2014 8:40:27 GMT
And a year ago, we had this tweet which some found "interesting" on a number of levels
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 20, 2014 8:41:27 GMT
And a couple days earlier...
Jul 17, 2013 at 3:16amWMIPSFSQuote Edit like (Dont think I realized it was THAT expensive) McLaren beats rivals to £25m QPR training ground www.constructionenquirer.com/2013/07/17/mclaren-beats-rivals-to-25m-qpr-training-ground/Grant Prior | Wed 17th July | 7:24 McLaren Construction is believed to have won the race to build a new £25m training ground for Queens Park Rangers. The Enquirer understands that McLaren was given the good news this week. The club is hoping to start work shortly but is facing a legal challenge from local residents over the plans. The Elite Training Facility and Community Sports Complex will be built on the Warren Farm site in Southall and is due to be ready ahead of the 2015/16 season. The training centre will provide: grass pitches for the first team and academy, an indoor 3G pitch, an outdoor 3G artificial pitch, extensive gym, sports science and rehabilitation areas, Academy classrooms, a large number of changing rooms, media, catering and grounds maintenance facilities. Populous is architect for the scheme. McLaren’s win comes after its successful delivery of Tottenham Hotspur’s new £45m training ground in Enfield. The contractor is also working on the first phase of Spurs’ stadium redevelopment plans. Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/36587/warren-farm-built-mcclaren-construction#ixzz37zpWdVM5
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