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Reply | WLS podcast
at 21:22 2 Oct 2026
Harry Murphy was tiny, and if you are tiny, you have to be exceptional. He was not. I watched Murphy play repeatedly and he never impressed me. Didn’t have a position, the biggest issue. Not a 10 and not an 8. Too Powerpuff. But scored some goals.
If you had a penny for this type of player, you’d be a rich man. The game is littered with them at youth team level.
Most watchers of youth team football are not wearing a scouting hat, and/or understanding what it takes to make it at championship level. And go all hot and heavy.
They massively overestimate what is required to make it at this level.
Keen football analysts who understand levels, know that those that will/do make it (Kolli, Eze, Chair) stand out like a sore thumb.
If they don’t hit that bar, simple rule of thumb is, they’ll never make it at this level. And for all the nonsense around “we found them another club”, the first team at QPR is all that matters. [Post edited 2 Oct 21:24]
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Reply | Devs v Swansea
at 19:34 29 Sep 2026
Agreed as posted further up. Kennedy has been very unfortunate with injury, missed all of last season with an ACL. He’s now 19 and needs his injury troubles to subside and crack on. But picked up another recent injury and was out again until returning in this game from the bench. No doubting his talent. He was being fast-tracked 2 years back as one of the youngest starters for the Dev squad at 16-17. Very exiting winger with a lot of natural ability. |
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Reply | Devs v Swansea
at 20:59 28 Sep 2026
He was excellent. Worked his socks off. And two top quality strikes
Rico Kennedy (been injured again recently) on at HT also made a big difference. Highly talented winger with explosive pace.
Some pretty average performances elsewhere, and 3 big mistakes ad the back proving costly. Much better second half though. |
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Reply | Preston Reflection
at 15:30 20 Sep 2026
Saito had two efforts on goal. One which he put wide, and he simply had to hit the target having worked his way into position. And the second, he was put through on goal, but hit the keepers legs. And then he was flagged offsite.
He’s looking more positive and lively, but I see no end product. It’s a recurring theme since he joined the club. Into his third season at this level now. Needs to step it up. I’d be trying to get my money back on him if I were the club, if that’s even possible which I doubt, and reinvest and bet on something else. |
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Reply | Vale
at 15:25 20 Sep 2026
That’s not correct.
Varane directly replaced Vale, and operated in the number 10 position for the first half. Kamara and Madsen were the two 6’s sitting. It was extremely odd.
At half time, Julian on record says switched to a diamond, and Kamara moved to the tip of that diamond in the 10 position, with Madsen as a singular 6 behind him. |
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Reply | The Sending Off
at 11:58 20 Sep 2026
That clip quite clearly shows a rebound of the ball off Preston players leg. And that rebound and the angle of it, comes directly from Cirkin touching the ball first. It’s extremely clear.
No idea how anyone can see otherwise. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 07:33 19 Sep 2026
That’s a very weak counter point in the context of average points posted per manager. It’s evidently clear who did a good job with the same squad, and who didn’t.
And who really posted the points that kept us up (Beale) and who posted the points that took us to the brink of relegation over the course of the season (Critchley, Ainsworth).
It’s literally there in black and white. The data does not lie. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 21:10 18 Sep 2026
You’ve clearly missed the point.
I don’t need to be a Beale fan to acknowledge he did a good job. It’s not an opinion that his good work at QPR that season is the primary reason we stayed up. It’s a fact.
When Michael Beale left QPR in November 2022, QPR had 31 points from 21 Championship games. 1.46 points per game.
Critchley added a paltry 8 points in 12 games. (0.67 PPG; 30.7 points for the season extrapolated out)
Ainsworth added a paltry 11 points in 13 games. (0.85 PPG; 38.9 points extrapolated out)
Reading went down on 44 points. So we were on course for relegation under both Critchley and Ainsworth. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 20:54 18 Sep 2026
Critchley was dreadful, as was Ainsworth. Both should be compared to Beale in fact, because Beale proved what was possible with the same squad, in the same season. That’s the key point.
Ainsworth and Critchley average points per game haul both delivered relegation form across the course of the season.
Only Beale with 1.46 points per game was a success, and those points were absolutely key to us staying up, which counters your point that everyone was crap. They weren’t. Beales game time and form directly kept us up, as both Critchley and Ainsworth posted relegation form. [Post edited 18 Sep 21:11]
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 12:31 18 Sep 2026
The squad stayed the same. And that’s the key data point. If everything is equal, what did each manager deliver with the same squad?
So the real comparison is to Beale, and the last 5 games are somewhat irrelevant. Could have just been a temporary dip and we will never know. Happens all the time with the form guide.
So how does Ainsworth compare to Beales record, of the same season and same squad, including his 5 game poor form finish?
And it’s not true that everyone was crap. Beale wasn’t.
Edit: Ainsworth’s average points total of 0.85 over 46 games would have you yielded 39 points. The 3rd placed relegation finish was Reading with 44. 39 points equals relegation over Ainsworth’s average points haul. We stayed up because of Beales record, not Ainsworth’s. [Post edited 18 Sep 12:39]
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 11:31 18 Sep 2026
Ainsworth’s record was absolutely dreadful across both seasons. You can either take the view that he “kept us up” first season.
Or you can take the view he directly helped drive us to the brink of relegation in that first season.
The evidence and form guide supports the latter, since he made zero improvements upon taking over and actually made us worse. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 11:21 18 Sep 2026
Yes but even if the dressing room wasn’t toxic, that’s just Ainsworth’s style of management and more importantly, it’s ingrained in his belief system. He did the exact same at Wycombe. Stephan is running to the same core principles.
Again, whether that’s agreeable to some or not, is completely a matter of personal opinion and management style. Warnock did not do that, for instance. Neither did Marti. Both of which are on record for their love of flair players. So, unlike Stephan and Ainsworth, they see flair players in a different light, and are willing to make sacrifices, for the benefit of the team in other ways. [Post edited 18 Sep 11:22]
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 11:14 18 Sep 2026
Ainsworth repeatedly said the bar for him was about working hard and if players didn’t hit that, they wouldn’t be picked. Much like Stephan. It was not directly at Willock, but it was indirect, as he wasn’t getting selected.
The point is that Kolli is in a similar position. We have a similar “work hard at all costs” manager in Stephan. Flair players must do their running. Whether you agree with the fact every single player, regardless of their role in the team, should be held to the same work hard bar is a matter of opinion.
For me personally, I’d be happy to select players on their strengths not weaknesses, like Marti did with Willock. And even Warnock did with Adel in the extreme. In my opinion, there is an in between, and not all players have to be held to a black and white work your nuts off philosophy or you don’t play. But again, it’s all about personal preference and one’s own decision making. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 21:29 17 Sep 2026
I am a big believer in Kolli’s talent and potential. But I also like Alfie Lloyd for different reasons, and not only his work rate. Lloyd definitely has something and his all round game against Cardiff he was outstanding.
That game in particular made a mockery of those who say he has not touch or technique. He is streets ahead of Sinclair Armstrong on both of those counts. And he has clearly improved a lot of areas of his game in general, to add to his pace, power, and strength.
Moreover, he’s been unlucky not to have more goals to his name in a QPR shirt. If he can get 1-2, a few more will follow. I view him as a very useful option. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 21:09 17 Sep 2026
That was not my point.
Exceptions were made for Adel, clearly. As a true one off, and only Warnock could deal with him.
But both Eze and Willock (and many other flair players) did not run their ass off for us when they played for us. However, they were selected anyway, because their strengths outweighed their weaknesses.
So it’s nothing to do with comparable talent and who is better than who. It’s eveything to do with flair players not typical excelling in the work rate part of the game, and different managers having different opinions.
At the end of the day it’s a managers choice, in terms of what he demands. Kolli, for example, wouldn’t have played under Ainsworth, like Willock. But would have likely done for others, as his strengths are viewed differently than his weaknesses.
What it doesn’t automatically mean is that Kolli has a bad attitude or is a bad egg, much like Eze and Willock weren’t either. What it does mean is he knows exactly what he needs to do walk through the door that Julian says is still open. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 20:14 17 Sep 2026
It’s not just Taraabt. It’s a litany of flair players going back years.
Eze also wouldn’t have made this squad, as based on his work rate alone, wouldn’t have hit the standards seemingly demanded and required.
Ainsworth wouldn’t pick Willock for the same reason. Marti did and the rest is history. [Post edited 17 Sep 20:18]
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 11:18 17 Sep 2026
How does that explain the opportunities he did get last season then?
It doesn’t.
Clearly, and evidentially, he DID work hard as otherwise he wouldn’t have been picked at all.
But he certainly did not get the same opportunities as afforded to Kone. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 11:11 17 Sep 2026
You’d think so.
But you also have an asset in Kone that you spent a lot of money on and need to work out and be flipped for profit.
End of the day both can’t play, especially as Burrell is #1. So a decision has to be made. And has been made, certainly last season. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 08:27 17 Sep 2026
As for the Kone v Kolli comparison.
Kone “carried the forward line last year” because he was given game after game after game opportunities despite being very poor in many of those games. And not deserving to be kept in the side.
That’s exactly what Kolli’s argument to the club in the review would have been. Why wasn’t Kolli afforded those same opportunities?
You are also comparing after the fact. Saying Kone got goals etc and has delivered at champ level, whereas Kolli has Dev Squad experience. Again, because Kone was afforded multiple full games, game after games, and could rack up 40 odd appearances and 10 goals.
Kolli’s argument would have been that he could have scored more goals. I would agree with him. He could have got 15 goals last season in 40 games, based on his goals to game hit rate. And be worth a lot more than Kone. Much higher ceiling and natural talent.
The unwritten part of the story, is that the club (Nourry) is prioritizing Kone because he cost a lot of money. And it needs to work out. You see the pattern consistently. Madsen (who admittedly later came good, but typically the exception not the norm starting from such a low point), Varane, Saito, all get far too much game time that what they actually deserve. Because they cost money.
That in of itself can cause squad challenges as opportunities are not equal. And if I can see that, I’m pretty sure players who it affects can can. (Ie those vying for the same position.). |
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