Post by Macmoish on Nov 24, 2012 10:47:44 GMT
These various articles about how much QPR are spending: How wages exceed income, etc.
I really don't understand given (Flashback...)
QPR REPORT BLOG - August 2012
QPR's Spending and Transfer Policy Under The Microscope
UPDATE: QPR CHAIRMAN TONY FERNANDES TWEETS...
Tony Fernandes @tonyfernandes
-You know something I don't. Wages are less than last year 15 players already left. And we have spent a net of 1.5 ... m.tmi.me/vRgum
- We have a fantastic team led by our very committed manager mark. There is no panic and no overspending. Very sensible shareholders.
Telegraph/Jeremy WilsonQPRâs owners speculate to accumulate real success
Spend-spend policy stakes Loftus Road future, but at least the Mittal family millions provide safety net
Another day in another transfer window and once again it was not Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City generating the biggest headlines but Queens Park Rangers.
With Jose Bosingwa, a Champions League winner, having already arrived and negotiations ongoing yesterday for Real Madridâs Ricardo Carvalho and England centre-back Michael Dawson, QPRâs back four against Norwich on Saturday could bear no resemblance to the one which lined up in their 5-0 opening-day drubbing against Swansea.
After the additions already this summer of Ji-Sung Park, Robert Green, Junior Hoilett, Ryan Nelsen and Andrew Johnson, it will also represent the continuation of a recruitment pattern at Loftus Road that is certainly ambitious but also extravagant and highly risky. Add in Kieron Dyer, Joey Barton, Luke Young, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand, Nedum Onuoha, Djibril CissĂŠ and Bobby Zamora, all signed since promotion was achieved from the Championship, and Mark Hughes has one of the most experienced squads in the Premier League.
Yet it is also a team with limited resale value and, for a club on QPRâs relatively moderate turnover, an extraordinary wage bill.
In the most recently published accounts, which relate to QPRâs Championship-winning season in 2010-11, the wages to turnover ratio was a whopping 183 per cent. It led to an operating loss of ÂŁ25.7million. The next accounts, expected to be published in April, could be more eye-watering still.
Nobody is pretending that the model is even remotely self-sustainable in the short term but there might still be method in what some might regard as madness. Yes, in the recruitment of seasoned internationals on wages that cannot be covered by their natural resources, there is a possible comparison with Portsmouth or even Leeds. Yet it is equally possible to point to the examples of Manchester City, Chelsea, Wigan, Stoke City, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Bolton as clubs who were successful in establishing themselves at a new level in the Premier League after an initial injection of outside funds. It is about speculating to accumulate.
There is certainly no particular concern at the Premier Leagueâs headquarters in Gloucester Place over QPRâs strategy. In the wake of Portsmouth, tighter sustainability tests were introduced and clubs are required to produce financial information on how they will meet their commitments during the year.
The viability of QPRâs model is underpinned by the vast wealth of the clubâs owners. The 2010-11 accounts with their strategy for growth at every level, should provide considerable reassurance to supporters.
Although net debt as of May 2011 was ÂŁ56.1million, all outstanding loans can be described as âsoftâ in that they are only owed to Tune QPR Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and Ruben Gnanalingam or the Mittal familyâs Sea Dream Limited. Given that the Mittal family, who are 33 per cent owners of QPR, feature regularly in the top 10 of Forbesâ list of the worldâs richest people, the safety net should be considerable.
The focus for the owners stretches well beyond this summerâs investment in the playing squad. Beneath some frantic transfer activity, change at QPR is being implemented from bottom to top. Planning permission has already been secured for a new training ground at Warren Farm that is due to be opened next year.
There has been an overhaul of the technical staff beneath Hughes. Mike Rigg, the technical director, was appointed from Manchester City in April and, in the last 48 hours, Shaun Hallett has come in as the head of academy and football operations, Levin Cruickshank as scouting coordinator and Stuart Webber, Hans Gillhaus and Steve Hitchen have been added to the scouting team.
A longer-term desire to move towards self-sustainability is reflected in negotiations over two west London sites that could house a new 45,000-seat stadium. Phil Beard, QPRâs chief executive, is focused on growing the clubâs fan base over the next five years to the extent that a larger new stadium could be filled. As well as its modest 18,500 capacity, Loftus Road has only 18 executive boxes.
âWhat we desire is an arena for QPR that could have multi-use capabilities,â said Beard. âIf we are serious at QPR about building a club and generating improved income then we have to consider another site.
âWe need to grow our fan base and engage with young people and the community and become a club that is not just known in London and around Europe but further afield.â
Beard realises the dangers: âThe game is so competitive it tempts clubs to push their financial boundaries.â
The lasting commitment of QPRâs owners will decide whether the boundaries have been sensibly stretched in a fascinating first year back among English footballâs elite. Telegraph
The Guardian/Jamie Jackson
Tony Fernandes's QPR continue quest to spend or be damned
QPR's approach to sign players with little re-sale value raises questions over Tony Fernandes's vision for the club
Last September Tony Fernandes, Queens Park Rangers' new owner, told the Guardian: "The message is: 'I don't know where we'll take this club, but we'll give it our best shot.'"
In the first season following promotion the journey would be a haphazard stumble to near-relegation shaped by a scattergun recruitment policy that now stands at two managers, 40 players used and 16 recruited if Michael Dawson's expected move from Tottenham Hotspur goes through.
Factor in the desire of the manager Mark Hughes, who replaced Neil Warnock in January, to add Real Madrid's Ricardo Carvalho (on loan) and Dawson's Spurs colleague Jermain Defoe before 1 September and that is enough for a completely new match-day squad since Fernandes became majority shareholder.
All this would be fine if QPR had kicked-off their first full campaign under Hughes with style and stability, but by 4.50pm on Saturday Michael Laudrup, in his first Premier League match as a manager, had overseen Swansea City's 5-0 hammering of the Hoops at Loftus Road.
Hughes's words following their survival, despite losing 3-2 to Manchester City in that final day championship decider, suddenly convinced a little less. "We will never be in this situation again while I am manager," the Welshman said. Hughes's optimism was probably founded in his knowledge he would never have to select Joey Barton in a QPR XI again.
After witnessing how the midfielder came close to costing the club their Premier League status by being sent off against City in May, and compounding this with further clashes with Sergio AgĂÂźero and Vincent Kompany ââŹâ for which Barton received a 12-match ban ââŹâ Hughes hoped the midfielder's travails and tweeting would soon be someone else's problem.
Barton was the first player to be signed under Fernandes's ownership. Hindsight's wisdom now places this and his appointment as captain by Warnock as a disastrously wrong tone-setting move for the new era, one from which Hughes is still trying to recover the club.
Those 40 players called upon by QPR are five more than any other club in the corresponding period. Norwich City and Swansea City, promoted alongside QPR in 2011, have needed 29 and 28 respectively.
The profiles of the 15 signed so far during Fernandes's time in charge reveal the fault-lines in the club's policy. Only six could be expected to have either a significant sell-on value or have their best years ahead of them.
After Barton, 28-years-old when he arrived in August 2011 and who has been linked with a loan move to Marseille, came Luke Young (32, joined last August), Shaun Wright-Phillips (29, last August), Djibril CissĂŠ (30, January) Bobby Zamora (30, January), Andrew Johnson (31, this summer), Ryan Nelsen (34, this summer), Rob Green (32, this summer), Park Ji-sung (31, this summer) and Dawson, who is 28.
If the 34-year-old Carvalho and Defoe, 29, arrive, then expect the wags at Loftus Road to whistle the theme from Dad's Army whenever QPR play. Hughes's squad also includes Kieron Dyer, 33, and Shaun Derry, 34. Both were named on the bench against Swansea.
Of the 16, only the 22-year-old Junior Hoilett, Anton Ferdinand (27), Armand TraorĂŠ (22), Nedum Onuoha (25), Samba DiakitĂŠ (23) and the Manchester United loanee FĂÂĄbio da Silva (22) have an argument for youth or sell-on value. A source close to Fernandes told the Guardian: "We haven't paid for 95%, many are free transfers and many of these players, for example, Junior Hoilett, have huge value."
In a multi-tweet dispatch following Swansea's 5-0 rout of QPR, Fernandes said: "That was a pretty poor anniversary. Worse than last season. But I remain positive. We haven't gelled yet. Have faith and be optimistic. I always said it takes time to gel this team and know our formation. There are some positives. Ji was great. Hoilett looked good. We dominated the first half. I don't honestly feel that bad. But 5-0 is 5-0.
"[The] defence was very poor today. No excuses. But this is a far better place we are in than last season against Bolton [QPR lost to them 4ââŹâ0 at Loftus Road on the first day]. [There are] many many positives. I feel we are in a much better place, just takes time. At 2-0 we chased the game and lost shape. Its about a season not one game."
Fernandes even offered Hughes the confidence vote not always welcomed by managers. "I have a fantastic relationship with Mark Hughes," he said. "He's as disappointed as me. He will fix this. No one expected this. Better now than later. For all QPR fans we are working overtime. Once we have analysed the game we know what we have to do. Body blow but we are all fighters."
QPR are at Norwich City on Saturday, themselves 5ââŹâ0 losers at Fulham last week, before a challenging three-game run which features a trip to the champions, Manchester City, the visit of Chelsea, the European champions, and the short journey to Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fourth last season. Guardian
qprreport.blogspot.com/2012/08/qpr-report-qprs-transfer-policy-and.html
LONDON 24
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 Rangersâ summer of spending, and tells London24 that the focus must now be on developing the clubâs 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 weâre 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 wouldnât 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 ÂŁ12 million or ÂŁ15m 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.
Weâll 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: QPRâs 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 havenât 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 â and beat â every club we play.
We all believe that the squad we have now should be able to get stability in the Premier League â not fighting for survival.
However, itâs a fact that three clubs go down and every club will be doing all it can to make sure it isnât 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 doesnât raise questions over the scouting policy â 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 wasnât 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 clubâs 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 heâs 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.
Thatâs 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 donât 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 thatâs a risky strategy. Jordan Rhodes, for example, who scored goals for fun last season for Huddersfield.
No-one went in for him, so ÂŁ8 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 itâs 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 âstick around because we are going placesâ.
Thatâs 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 canât put a price on is nurturing talent at a young age.
Follow me on Twitter @qprtimes
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 Rangersâ summer of spending, and tells London24 that the focus must now be on developing the clubâs 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 weâre 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 wouldnât 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 ÂŁ12 million or ÂŁ15m 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.
Weâll 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: QPRâs 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 havenât 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 â and beat â every club we play.
We all believe that the squad we have now should be able to get stability in the Premier League â not fighting for survival.
However, itâs a fact that three clubs go down and every club will be doing all it can to make sure it isnât 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 doesnât raise questions over the scouting policy â 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 wasnât 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 clubâs 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 heâs 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.
Thatâs 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 donât 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 thatâs a risky strategy. Jordan Rhodes, for example, who scored goals for fun last season for Huddersfield.
No-one went in for him, so ÂŁ8 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 itâs 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 âstick around because we are going placesâ.
Thatâs 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 canât put a price on is nurturing talent at a young age.
Follow me on Twitter @qprtimes
I really don't understand given (Flashback...)
QPR REPORT BLOG - August 2012
QPR's Spending and Transfer Policy Under The Microscope
UPDATE: QPR CHAIRMAN TONY FERNANDES TWEETS...
Tony Fernandes @tonyfernandes
-You know something I don't. Wages are less than last year 15 players already left. And we have spent a net of 1.5 ... m.tmi.me/vRgum
- We have a fantastic team led by our very committed manager mark. There is no panic and no overspending. Very sensible shareholders.
Telegraph/Jeremy WilsonQPRâs owners speculate to accumulate real success
Spend-spend policy stakes Loftus Road future, but at least the Mittal family millions provide safety net
Another day in another transfer window and once again it was not Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City generating the biggest headlines but Queens Park Rangers.
With Jose Bosingwa, a Champions League winner, having already arrived and negotiations ongoing yesterday for Real Madridâs Ricardo Carvalho and England centre-back Michael Dawson, QPRâs back four against Norwich on Saturday could bear no resemblance to the one which lined up in their 5-0 opening-day drubbing against Swansea.
After the additions already this summer of Ji-Sung Park, Robert Green, Junior Hoilett, Ryan Nelsen and Andrew Johnson, it will also represent the continuation of a recruitment pattern at Loftus Road that is certainly ambitious but also extravagant and highly risky. Add in Kieron Dyer, Joey Barton, Luke Young, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand, Nedum Onuoha, Djibril CissĂŠ and Bobby Zamora, all signed since promotion was achieved from the Championship, and Mark Hughes has one of the most experienced squads in the Premier League.
Yet it is also a team with limited resale value and, for a club on QPRâs relatively moderate turnover, an extraordinary wage bill.
In the most recently published accounts, which relate to QPRâs Championship-winning season in 2010-11, the wages to turnover ratio was a whopping 183 per cent. It led to an operating loss of ÂŁ25.7million. The next accounts, expected to be published in April, could be more eye-watering still.
Nobody is pretending that the model is even remotely self-sustainable in the short term but there might still be method in what some might regard as madness. Yes, in the recruitment of seasoned internationals on wages that cannot be covered by their natural resources, there is a possible comparison with Portsmouth or even Leeds. Yet it is equally possible to point to the examples of Manchester City, Chelsea, Wigan, Stoke City, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Bolton as clubs who were successful in establishing themselves at a new level in the Premier League after an initial injection of outside funds. It is about speculating to accumulate.
There is certainly no particular concern at the Premier Leagueâs headquarters in Gloucester Place over QPRâs strategy. In the wake of Portsmouth, tighter sustainability tests were introduced and clubs are required to produce financial information on how they will meet their commitments during the year.
The viability of QPRâs model is underpinned by the vast wealth of the clubâs owners. The 2010-11 accounts with their strategy for growth at every level, should provide considerable reassurance to supporters.
Although net debt as of May 2011 was ÂŁ56.1million, all outstanding loans can be described as âsoftâ in that they are only owed to Tune QPR Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and Ruben Gnanalingam or the Mittal familyâs Sea Dream Limited. Given that the Mittal family, who are 33 per cent owners of QPR, feature regularly in the top 10 of Forbesâ list of the worldâs richest people, the safety net should be considerable.
The focus for the owners stretches well beyond this summerâs investment in the playing squad. Beneath some frantic transfer activity, change at QPR is being implemented from bottom to top. Planning permission has already been secured for a new training ground at Warren Farm that is due to be opened next year.
There has been an overhaul of the technical staff beneath Hughes. Mike Rigg, the technical director, was appointed from Manchester City in April and, in the last 48 hours, Shaun Hallett has come in as the head of academy and football operations, Levin Cruickshank as scouting coordinator and Stuart Webber, Hans Gillhaus and Steve Hitchen have been added to the scouting team.
A longer-term desire to move towards self-sustainability is reflected in negotiations over two west London sites that could house a new 45,000-seat stadium. Phil Beard, QPRâs chief executive, is focused on growing the clubâs fan base over the next five years to the extent that a larger new stadium could be filled. As well as its modest 18,500 capacity, Loftus Road has only 18 executive boxes.
âWhat we desire is an arena for QPR that could have multi-use capabilities,â said Beard. âIf we are serious at QPR about building a club and generating improved income then we have to consider another site.
âWe need to grow our fan base and engage with young people and the community and become a club that is not just known in London and around Europe but further afield.â
Beard realises the dangers: âThe game is so competitive it tempts clubs to push their financial boundaries.â
The lasting commitment of QPRâs owners will decide whether the boundaries have been sensibly stretched in a fascinating first year back among English footballâs elite. Telegraph
The Guardian/Jamie Jackson
Tony Fernandes's QPR continue quest to spend or be damned
QPR's approach to sign players with little re-sale value raises questions over Tony Fernandes's vision for the club
Last September Tony Fernandes, Queens Park Rangers' new owner, told the Guardian: "The message is: 'I don't know where we'll take this club, but we'll give it our best shot.'"
In the first season following promotion the journey would be a haphazard stumble to near-relegation shaped by a scattergun recruitment policy that now stands at two managers, 40 players used and 16 recruited if Michael Dawson's expected move from Tottenham Hotspur goes through.
Factor in the desire of the manager Mark Hughes, who replaced Neil Warnock in January, to add Real Madrid's Ricardo Carvalho (on loan) and Dawson's Spurs colleague Jermain Defoe before 1 September and that is enough for a completely new match-day squad since Fernandes became majority shareholder.
All this would be fine if QPR had kicked-off their first full campaign under Hughes with style and stability, but by 4.50pm on Saturday Michael Laudrup, in his first Premier League match as a manager, had overseen Swansea City's 5-0 hammering of the Hoops at Loftus Road.
Hughes's words following their survival, despite losing 3-2 to Manchester City in that final day championship decider, suddenly convinced a little less. "We will never be in this situation again while I am manager," the Welshman said. Hughes's optimism was probably founded in his knowledge he would never have to select Joey Barton in a QPR XI again.
After witnessing how the midfielder came close to costing the club their Premier League status by being sent off against City in May, and compounding this with further clashes with Sergio AgĂÂźero and Vincent Kompany ââŹâ for which Barton received a 12-match ban ââŹâ Hughes hoped the midfielder's travails and tweeting would soon be someone else's problem.
Barton was the first player to be signed under Fernandes's ownership. Hindsight's wisdom now places this and his appointment as captain by Warnock as a disastrously wrong tone-setting move for the new era, one from which Hughes is still trying to recover the club.
Those 40 players called upon by QPR are five more than any other club in the corresponding period. Norwich City and Swansea City, promoted alongside QPR in 2011, have needed 29 and 28 respectively.
The profiles of the 15 signed so far during Fernandes's time in charge reveal the fault-lines in the club's policy. Only six could be expected to have either a significant sell-on value or have their best years ahead of them.
After Barton, 28-years-old when he arrived in August 2011 and who has been linked with a loan move to Marseille, came Luke Young (32, joined last August), Shaun Wright-Phillips (29, last August), Djibril CissĂŠ (30, January) Bobby Zamora (30, January), Andrew Johnson (31, this summer), Ryan Nelsen (34, this summer), Rob Green (32, this summer), Park Ji-sung (31, this summer) and Dawson, who is 28.
If the 34-year-old Carvalho and Defoe, 29, arrive, then expect the wags at Loftus Road to whistle the theme from Dad's Army whenever QPR play. Hughes's squad also includes Kieron Dyer, 33, and Shaun Derry, 34. Both were named on the bench against Swansea.
Of the 16, only the 22-year-old Junior Hoilett, Anton Ferdinand (27), Armand TraorĂŠ (22), Nedum Onuoha (25), Samba DiakitĂŠ (23) and the Manchester United loanee FĂÂĄbio da Silva (22) have an argument for youth or sell-on value. A source close to Fernandes told the Guardian: "We haven't paid for 95%, many are free transfers and many of these players, for example, Junior Hoilett, have huge value."
In a multi-tweet dispatch following Swansea's 5-0 rout of QPR, Fernandes said: "That was a pretty poor anniversary. Worse than last season. But I remain positive. We haven't gelled yet. Have faith and be optimistic. I always said it takes time to gel this team and know our formation. There are some positives. Ji was great. Hoilett looked good. We dominated the first half. I don't honestly feel that bad. But 5-0 is 5-0.
"[The] defence was very poor today. No excuses. But this is a far better place we are in than last season against Bolton [QPR lost to them 4ââŹâ0 at Loftus Road on the first day]. [There are] many many positives. I feel we are in a much better place, just takes time. At 2-0 we chased the game and lost shape. Its about a season not one game."
Fernandes even offered Hughes the confidence vote not always welcomed by managers. "I have a fantastic relationship with Mark Hughes," he said. "He's as disappointed as me. He will fix this. No one expected this. Better now than later. For all QPR fans we are working overtime. Once we have analysed the game we know what we have to do. Body blow but we are all fighters."
QPR are at Norwich City on Saturday, themselves 5ââŹâ0 losers at Fulham last week, before a challenging three-game run which features a trip to the champions, Manchester City, the visit of Chelsea, the European champions, and the short journey to Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fourth last season. Guardian
qprreport.blogspot.com/2012/08/qpr-report-qprs-transfer-policy-and.html
LONDON 24
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 Rangersâ summer of spending, and tells London24 that the focus must now be on developing the clubâs 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 weâre 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 wouldnât 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 ÂŁ12 million or ÂŁ15m 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.
Weâll 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: QPRâs 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 havenât 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 â and beat â every club we play.
We all believe that the squad we have now should be able to get stability in the Premier League â not fighting for survival.
However, itâs a fact that three clubs go down and every club will be doing all it can to make sure it isnât 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 doesnât raise questions over the scouting policy â 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 wasnât 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 clubâs 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 heâs 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.
Thatâs 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 donât 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 thatâs a risky strategy. Jordan Rhodes, for example, who scored goals for fun last season for Huddersfield.
No-one went in for him, so ÂŁ8 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 itâs 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 âstick around because we are going placesâ.
Thatâs 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 canât put a price on is nurturing talent at a young age.
Follow me on Twitter @qprtimes
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 Rangersâ summer of spending, and tells London24 that the focus must now be on developing the clubâs 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 weâre 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 wouldnât 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 ÂŁ12 million or ÂŁ15m 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.
Weâll 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: QPRâs 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 havenât 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 â and beat â every club we play.
We all believe that the squad we have now should be able to get stability in the Premier League â not fighting for survival.
However, itâs a fact that three clubs go down and every club will be doing all it can to make sure it isnât 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 doesnât raise questions over the scouting policy â 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 wasnât 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 clubâs 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 heâs 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.
Thatâs 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 donât 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 thatâs a risky strategy. Jordan Rhodes, for example, who scored goals for fun last season for Huddersfield.
No-one went in for him, so ÂŁ8 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 itâs 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 âstick around because we are going placesâ.
Thatâs 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 canât put a price on is nurturing talent at a young age.
Follow me on Twitter @qprtimes