alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
After a month of deadlines and exams I have finally got some free time on my hands and decided to start up a career that will hopefully keep me interested over summer. My friend recommended starting unemployed so I started a game with professional reputation with the intention of taking over a club in a relegation battle. I turned down a number of offers such as Swansea, Bolton, Leicester and Birmingham but decided to wait for the right club, I ended up being unemployed the entire first season until Queens Park Rangers were relegated on the last day of the season.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/79/QPR_Logo.png/220px-QPR_Logo.png


I have the January update so Redknapp was in charge who has been sacked, they finished on 41 points but still went down in one of the strangest Premier League tables I’ve ever seen which also saw Liverpool and Fulham get Champions League football and Alex Ferguson be under pressure the entire second half of the season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/leaguetable_zps04ad5580.jpg

I didn’t realise quite how many players were on such huge wages and a lot will have to go, the board have set initial budgets giving me just £1,000,000 to spend on players and set a wage budget which is £200,000 less than what they are currently spending. The only changes to the squad from the start of the season were Stuart Holden joined and Jamie Mackie and Clint Hill left.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/initialbudgets_zps31d5f3ac.jpg

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/startsquad_zpsc9d494b6.jpg

Also, a number of the reserves will have to go once they return from loans, there is around £300,000 in wages being spent on players such as Barton, Ciise and Ferdinand.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/reserves_zpscaa1c470.jpg

I’m going to wait until a few of the big money players have left before looking at who to bring in, so expect a lot of changes as I look to send QPR back up at the first time of asking!
K3V0
16 years ago
1 year ago
5,966
Tbh you could bite the bullet and use your transfer budget to increase your wages, keep most of those players and you should be able to just about walk into the playoff places in the Championship with that team.

Either way, good luck with this!!
born-to-win
12 years ago
7 years ago
365
Good luck with this, if you can keep most of the squad together then you should walk this league, and it also good to see someone going with somebody different.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
By KH89 | Permalink | On 30 May 2013 - 23:28 PM
Tbh you could bite the bullet and use your transfer budget to increase your wages, keep most of those players and you should be able to just about walk into the playoff places in the Championship with that team.

Either way, good luck with this!!


By born-to-win | Permalink | On 30 May 2013 - 23:37 PM
Good luck with this, if you can keep most of the squad together then you should walk this league, and it also good to see someone going with somebody different.


Thanks guys! That wasn't my plan though... my intention was to take over a club that'd been relegated and build my own side, there was at least 6 players who requested transfers as well. I want to get rid of quite a few of the high earners anyway and rebuild the squad, I'm glad I got the opportunity to manage QPR over some of the other jobs I could have taken because they have the resources for me to build my own side, I will post another update later today.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’m excited about the challenge ahead, I particularly like it because I am essentially doing what Harry Redknapp will have to do this summer and look forward to getting rid of the overpaid mercenaries he and Mark Hughes bought into the club. There is at least ten players I want to get rid of, the board have given me a generous wage budget but and I could probably keep a couple of the high earners, but judging from the responses from clubs so far I may be stuck with a few.

It is currently 1st July on the game so a number of transfers have just gone through, I have already sold Christopher Samba, Esteban Granero, Park Ji-Sung, Samba Diakite, Jose Bosingwa and Stephane Mbia for a total of around £40M, I also sent Junior Hoilett out for the season to Stoke as no one would take him permanently and have released Rob Hulse and DJ Campbell. That’s a large chunk of the squad gone but with the likes of Djibril Cisse, Joey Barton, Hogan Ephraim and Anton Ferdinand returning from loans there is still a way to go.

I want to bring in the right players, and ones that are only requesting £20-30k rather than the £60-70k previously being paid, the first signing was Danny Guthrie who I think could become an important player this season and only cost £550k. With me looking to get rid of Julio Cesar and Rob Green who were taking over £100k of the wage budget I bought in Kasper Schmeichel who is a quality keeper at this level and cost me £3.2M, just a fraction of the money I have bought in. Matt Phillips’ contract was expiring and I beat off competition from Celtic to sign him on a bosman deal costing £1.2M compensation.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/GUTHRIE_zps5b1c5d11.jpg

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/SCHMEICHEL_zps0bea5d3e.jpg

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/PHILLIPS_zps9890c48a.jpg

A decent start to the summer window, I’m hoping this is just a start to my revamp of the squad, I’m sure a few of you will still say I could have kept the high earners and gone straight back up, but to be honest I really do not like the QPR squad at the minute, I’ll be keeping a few of the high earners, I intend to hold onto Bobby Zamora who bagged 18 Premier League goals last season along with a few of the others, but I do have a few quality championship players on my radar at the minute, expect many more moves in the next update and I hope you enjoy reading!
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I thought I’d wait until the end of the window to produce a full update of the rest of my summer movements as there has been a lot of changes at the club. I said all along I wanted to transform the squad, get rid of the players earning twice as much as they deserve (the likes of Zamora, Andy Johnson and Robert Green earning up to 60k per week) and make it a more stable squad, but one that I am certain will contend for a promotion place at the first time of asking.


SUMMER TRANSFERS


Firstly I’ll go with who’s departed, I’m happy with how the window went and a lot of dead weight has been removed from the club, a high number of youth players have also been on the move but here are the most notable departures. As you can see almost all the high earners have left, this may seem a bad move to some but I feel I’ll enjoy the game more if I’m playing with a side I can call my own and actually has a squad feel to it, as opposed to a bunch of big names thrown on a team sheet.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/summerout_zps1fa7d191.jpg


Fifty million was bought in on these sales and I spent almost exactly half of that on rebuilding the squad, as mentioned previously I bought in Schmeichel, Phillips and Guthrie who I believe will have important roles but I have also bought in experienced players like Kris Commons, Matt Kilgallon and Greg Halford. Lee Camp was bought in purely because he was a free agent and I needed a no.2, while Doyley came in purely because I needed an extra back up defender and he had been released.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/SUMMERIN_zps8e6c881a.jpg


As you can see it got very quiet after 9th July and was sure that the 25 man squad I had would be the one I went into the season with, however on the last day of the window I checked who was transfer listed and saw both Cox and Delfouneso who I had previously scouted, with those two arriving I had to get rid of a striker and let Bothroyd leave and finally managed to get rid of Bobby Zamora who was on £60k.


STARTING 11


I would say this is my ideal starting 11, while this may change dependant on the level opponent, competition and circumstances I would consider this my strongest squad, while I also expect players like Adel Taarabt and Gabriel Obertan to make a good contribution. I still have players like Loic Remy and Alejandro Faurlin who are far too good for this division.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/new11_zps5df846fb.jpg


SQUAD ANALYSIS


Goalkeepers


I think Schmeichel will prove to be a quality goalkeeper this season and was my first choice when I looked for a replacement in the summer, Lee Camp and Brian Murphy are decent enough to provide cover unless something drastic happens.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/GK_zpsf3d67936.jpg

Defenders


I’m happy with my defence, left back always seems to be an issue and with Fabio returning to Man Utd from his loan they didn’t really have anyone to begin with, I’m hoping Jack Robinson is up to the challenge. Central defense is very strong, Halford and Kilgallon will be my main men with Ben-Haim and Onuoha to cover while Chris Gunter is a very good right back, particularly at this level.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/DF_zpsbdff4c53.jpg

Midfielders


I almost have too many midfielders, which isn’t the worst problem to have… the likes of Matt Phillips, Adel Taarabt, Alejandro Faurlin and Stuart Holden should be too much for the Championship to handle, and I have no worries about the cover I have in place either.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/MF_zps026924db.jpg

Forwards


Another very strong area of the squad, I think Loic Remy and Simon Cox could prove to be a fantastic partnership, Nathan Delfouneso has the potential to be good at Premier level so I’m hoping he’ll come good and Federico Macheda is also there for back up should I need him.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/ST_zps62be8bf9.jpg

KEY MEN


These are the players I’m hoping will prove to be the difference this season, I think we have the strongest squad in the division and I have also kept around £350,000 below the wage bill, which I’m hoping to save until after promotion, and bring in a couple more key figures to keep us up and build from there rather than what happened to the real QPR.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/SCHMEICHEL_zpse1bd6510.jpg

Quality GK, if he stays fit and I don’t have to use back up very often it could be a very good season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/halford_zpsf5348c59.jpg

A very solid CB, strong going forward to and could prove to be a rock at the back and get a couple of important goals for us.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/FAURLIN_zps7433929e.jpg

Probably the best midfielder in the squad, certainly too good for our current level and I think he could have a very good season, particularly with who he has around him.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/remt_zps05ecc50e.jpg

To be honest I would have got rid of if anyone had taken him, but now he’s here I’m expecting big things from him in the Championship, I’m hoping he lives up to the hype and is one of the leading scorers in the Championship this season. This is not to say I’m not expecting things from Simon Cox too, who if they both hit the ground running will be a lethal partnership.


Well done if you've read all that, I appreciate it was quite a long update! Comments would be appreciated and I'll keep updating soon!
George14brfc
13 years ago
4 years ago
3,912
good luck mate ! great work in the transfer market
born-to-win
12 years ago
7 years ago
365
With that squad I believe you should get back into the Premier League straight away, and you should win the league.

I will be following this and keep up the good work.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
By George14brfc | Permalink | On 05 June 2013 - 21:55 PM
good luck mate ! great work in the transfer market


Thanks mate! I'm happy with the players I've bought in too! I haven't signed a player earning over £30k per week and got rid of almost all the high earners so I think I've put a solid structure in place should we get promoted.

By born-to-win | Permalink | On 05 June 2013 - 22:18 PM
With that squad I believe you should get back into the Premier League straight away, and you should win the league.

I will be following this and keep up the good work.
I'm hoping we can go straight up as well, it certainly would be underachieving if we don't and I'd imagine my head too!
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’ve really been enjoying this game, which is why I got so carried away and the first update is the first half of the season. It’s going pretty well, we are currently 7 points clear at the top of the table after a rocky start which saw us lose 4 in 7 at one point, however now we are currently on a seven game unbeaten streak losing just 1 of the last 13.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/results_zps3cd0b3f0.jpg


There are so many top sides competing for these promotion places this season so I am very happy to be sitting at the top ahead of the likes of Leicester, Palace, Bolton, Villa and Reading, but like I said we’re only half way through the season so I won’t be taking anything for granted just yet.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/23table_zps22baf755.jpg


There have been a few surprises so far, one of which has been the injury crisis I did not anticipate, at one point Holden, Faurlin and Guthrie were all out injured while Loic Remy and Matt Phillips have spent their fair share of time on the side lines. I did mention Greg Halford as a player that I expected to make a big impact and he certainly hasn’t disappointed, netting 7 goals so far and being the clubs second highest goalscorer, behind Simon Cox who has also exceeded expectation, Loic Remy hasn’t been brilliant so far but still has 5 goals from 12 starts. I want to keep the majority of the squad together until the end of the season now, but I have January moves lined up for youngsters Jamaal Lascelles and Mason Bennett, both of which I know can become key players in the future as well as Patrick Van Aanholt, who I’m bringing in on a permanent deal as I’m not too confident with Jack Robinson and has potential to cement a first team place even if we get promotion so three places will need to be vacated. Hopefully those spaces won’t be made up of Alejandro Faurlin or Adel Taarabt, who clubs are sniffing around and I may have to fight them off in January.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/playerstats_zps9161b350.jpg


I always like to have a little tinker with the staff as well, I’ve brought in more scouts to the maximum six including Paul Montgomery who I’m sure most have come across before. The most noteworthy change is in assistant manager, the current one didn’t impress me at all and I can’t even remember his name, but I replaced him with Ricky Sbragia after the Middlesbrough defeat and have only lost three of the eighteen league games since he joined, which speaks for itself.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/SBRAGIA_zps267e31e9.jpg


All in all it’s been a great start, I’m enjoying the game which is always a plus as I know I’ll carry it on and while most of you including myself expected me to be up there come the end of the season I am very happy that we’ve already started to for a gap between ourselves and the chasing pack, which as you can see has 15 teams separated by just 9 points.

Thanks for reading, comments appreciated as always!
FMtillidie
13 years ago
3 days ago
3
Premium
Looking good so far.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
Well, the first season is now complete and while it didn’t go as smoothly as I had anticipated we did still manage to get promoted via the play-offs. At the time of my last update we were 7 points clear at the top of the table and looking certain for one of the two promotion places, but as you can see after that we went on a disastrous run of form winning just one game in eleven, a couple can be blamed on injuries but there is no excuse for a run that poor, we did manage to pull it together a bit before the end of the season and eventually progressed through the play-offs, defeating Reading 4-3 on aggregate and Wolves 1-0 in the final.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/champ1_zpsa00e7518.jpg


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/champ2_zpsae42dadc.jpg


The other two teams joining us in the Premier League next season are Derby County who topped the table and Bolton who trailed 7 points behind them in second. Admittedly I had expected us to be around Derbys position come the end of the season, but the end result is essentially still the same and the QPR fans will get Premier League football again next season, which if not achieved would have certainly resulted in my sacking.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/champtale_zps31814755.png


As you can see Simon Cox proved a fantastic signing, he bagged 23 goals this season and along with the centre back partnership of Matt Kilgallon and Greg Halford, which got a surprising 13 goals between them were without doubt my most influential signings. The major disappointment has been Loic Remy, I wasn’t sure what to expect because he isn’t reported as well as I’d anticipate, and finished with a mediocre 8 goals, injuries could be blamed as part of the problem as I only had him for just over half the season, but still I expected him to get at least 15 goals and leaves me with a difficult decision to make in the summer with me already deciding Simon Cox has earnt his chance in the Premiership.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 13-14/stats_zps075d6984.jpg


There was some worry during the season, at one point the club were in debt and the wage budget was decreased to £600,000 which was £150,000 less than what I was currently spending, however we were able to struggle through and my initial budgets have already been set for next season, with me getting a £12M transfer kitty and £950k to spend on wages, my aim is to bring in just three or four key players early in the transfer market to avoid disrupting the dressing room and give them time to gel in friendlies before the new season, despite the form of Kilgallon and Halford I would say my main targets would be another CB, LAM, RAM and ST, however it looks like Junior Hoilett may be returning, so he could potentially fill the RAM void.

Hopefully I can produce some more updates for next season, I have just been getting very carried away with this season which can only be a good thing for the sustainability of it! However this season was always going to be the quick season, now the rebuilding can begin and I can try not to make the same mistakes of my predecessors!
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I thought I’d do an update mid-way through the transfer window, it’s 5th August and I’ve almost signed all the players I had hoped for. Before anyone had left I made quick moves for two players, Winston Reid signed from recently relegated West Ham for £6.25M, a big money move but I feel one that needed to be made, he’ll be solid this season with either Halford or Kilgallon. The second player to join was Anthony Pilkington for £2.5M, my scout said he would be a good Premiership player but is rated only a decent by my coaches, so I’ll have to give him a chance and see how he goes.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/reid_zps0eadc44d.jpg


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/pilkington_zpsea06e61e.jpg


Before anyone else joined I got rid of a few players I’d already decided were leaving, Lee Camp was the first to leave to Sheffield United for £210k before Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lloyd Doyley were released which freed up about 100k in the wage budget. 1st July saw four players join on bosmans, two were youngsters but the other two were Remi Pillot who will be a very good second choice keeper with potential to challenge Schmeichel and Andi Weimann, who has potential to be a first team striker but for the time being will be very good coming off the bench.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/pillot_zps0138e09b.jpg


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/weimann_zps07f9e59c.jpg


No one else noteworthy has joined since then and I am still looking for that big name striker, I have around £7m but £250k in the wage budget, so I will have to see who is available because it may be worth spending big if I’m bringing someone in who will keep us in the division. There have been a few departures, Gabriel Obertan left after I decided to keep Junior Hoilett, I finally got rid of Onouha who was earning 35k and Brian Murphy has left on a free. I loaned out the majority of my youngsters in the hope they will progress enough to make an impact next season, Lascelles, Ferreira, Forbes, Stafford, Bennett, Balanta and Wilkinson have all left who have high potential.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’m now ten games into the second season and things are going reasonably well finding ourselves 11th with 13 points from our first ten games. Looking at the fixtures there were a couple of game I’m disappointed we didn’t get anything out of, specifically the Southampton and Derby games at home, but an opening day win against Liverpool was a great and unexpected start.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/results_zps84860efe.jpg


I expect u to be in a relegation battle, perhaps not right down there but is going to be a worry until we are mathematically safe, I’d like to think 40 points is achievable and would be enough to keep us up, therefore I’d consider anything above 20 points in the first half of the season a success and considering I only need 7 points from 9 games to reach this target, we should be able to steer clear of the drop zone.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/table_zpsad40d420.jpg


Now to the transfers, I did have a large wage budget at my disposal and decided to use it to my advantage bringing in Kevin GroBkreutz who cost me around £6M and I the highest paid player at the club, but I feel he is also the best player at the club and will prove to be a key asset in our challenge this season.

Kevin GroBkreutz

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/grobkreutz_zpsa9c9dc91.jpg


I did say I was looking for a big name striker and while I admittedly did fail at a few other targets first I managed to convince Andy Carroll to join, who had been transfer listed by Tottenham. He will also be on a big wage but having two players who are undoubtedly Premiership quality will be a huge boost this season, I’m not sure what to expect of Andy and will have to keep his assists in mind when considering if he’s been a success or not, as you’d expect him to line up his partner more than find the net himself.

Andy Carroll

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/carroll_zps8538ecb8.jpg


It has proved a good move so far, I’m a huge fan of having two upfront with a target man and poacher and he’s formed a good partnership with last seasons top goal scorer Simon Cox who has already bagged 7 Premiership goals in 9 starts.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/goals_zpsb8fb84ac.jpg


With these players being bought in I found myself with too many strikers, I was finally able to get rid of Loic Remy on deadline day who just hasn’t done it for us and decided to let Nathan Delfouneso leave on loan hoping a season as a key man elsewhere will speed up his progression. With these two leaving I was only left with Carroll, Cox and Weimann and I always like to have four, so also lined up a loan move for Pierre Webo who is actually a good Premiership player making it a busy deadline day.

Pierre Webo

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/webo_zps69af50f3.jpg


I’m happy with the way the season has started, I’ve signed a player in all the positions I had hoped for while being able to stay loyal to some of the guys that got us promoted, whether or not I’ve been too loyal remains to be seen but I think I’ve signed the right amount of players without jeopardising the harmony in the dressing room. Obviously losing in the cup was a disappointment but I had rested almost the entire squad for that one, I just have to hope the board aren’t too disappointed by this!

Finally a look at the squad going into this season, which I am very happy with.

Goalkeepers

Kasper Schmeichel, Remi Pillot

Defenders

Greg Halford, Chris Gunter, Tal Ben-Haim, Winston Reid, Matt Kilgallon, Patrick Van Aanholt, Yoon Seok-Young

Midfielders

Alejandro Faurlin, Junior Hoilett, Kris Commons, Matt Phillips, Anthony Pilkington, Danny Guthrie, Adel Taarabt, Stuart Holden, Kevin GroBkreutz

Strikers

Andy Carroll, Simon Cox, Andi Weimann, Pierre Webo
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’m now twenty games into the season and its January 1st, things are going reasonably well and I have a decent points tally, I said 20 points from 19 games would be the aim and after a 3-1 win against Swansea I have 21 point from 20 games leaving us 15th in the division and 7 points clear of the drop zone.


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/20table_zps267236df.jpg


I went on a difficult run after my last update, losing five games in a row, taking into account four of those were Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea it wasn’t as drastic as first thought and managed to lose just one in five after that, but that was a real horror show, 5-0 against West Brom giving away two penalties is terrible.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/20results_zps6d3cf27a.jpg


From these results it’s obvious that I need to take advantage of games against the lower teams as the Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham fixtures are ones that getting anything or avoiding a thumping would be considered a good result. There are a lot of poor teams in the Premiership at the minute as well with Derby, Bolton, Hull, Watford and Wigan all experiencing Premiership football, so there are a lot of games we should be winning.

I‘ve had some awful luck with injuries worst of all Simon Cox being out for three months, so I think a couple of changes need to be made, I decided it’s finally time to get rid of Adel Taarabt, he’s a good player but he just doesn’t fit the system I play and rarely gets a game, so I decided to bring in another central midfielder who can challenge Faurlin, Holden and Guthrie and sell him. Kim Kallstrom became available for just £230,000 and at 32 provides an experienced head, with the only other players over 30 being Commons, Kilgallon, Ben-Haim and Webo, all of whom are scheduled to be released at the end of the season.

Kim Kallstrom

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/kallstrom_zps9898089d.jpg
George14brfc
13 years ago
4 years ago
3,912
doing well mate good gap to the bottom 3 !
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
By George14brfc | Permalink | On 15 June 2013 - 13:27 PM
doing well mate good gap to the bottom 3 !
Yeah I'm pleased with the gap! While I'm not doing too fantastic, it's a comfort that there are a few teams doing very poorly this season!
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I wasn’t going to do an update until 30 games in but I’ve had such a busy January window I’ve decided to dedicate an update to it. As mentioned in the previous post my first January move was Kim Kallstrom, who is a fantastic signing particularly for £200k, but with a very leaky defence in the first half of the season I needed to bring someone else in, Winston Reid has been a rock at the back and has been partnered by Greg Halford most of the time, but when I saw this player available I couldn’t say no. That man is Jan Vertonghen, I have no idea why he was listed but I managed to bring him in for £5.25M giving me a real strong centre back partnership, now we’re in the Premiership I only want to bring in quality players that I won’t be looking to replace anytime soon i.e. Carroll, Grobkreutz , Reid and now Vertonghen can be another name to that list.

Jan Vertonghen

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/vertonghen_zpsca06d991.jpg


I did want to keep my trust in Kasper Schmeichel, I have always rated him but he just isn’t good enough for the Premiership, he let in 46 goals in just 19 league games which is just suicidal for a team battling against relegation. I bought in Oscar Ustari, who cost just £1.2M from Boca Juniors, again I don’t know why he was transfer listed because he has played 18 games for them this term, conceding 22. Kasper was eventually loaned out to Aston Villa until the end of the season.

Oscar Ustari

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/ustari_zps3054ee85.jpg


Before anyone else came in I had to get rid of a couple of players, Kris Commons was never going to get a spot on the left wing with GroBkreutz and Pilkington so he was sold to Aston Villa for £875k, while Matt Kilgallon who was out of contract in the summer and now fourth choice centre back was sold to Wolves for £1M.
I was wary about bringing anyone else in, three big name January signings seemed enough but I received a message that Jermain Defoe had been transfer listed by Newcastle and was interested, I had tried to sign Jermain in the Summer, however he demanded I pay him £90k per week and when I declined he signed for Newcastle from Man Utd, he’s been quite a journeyman since the game started. I brought him in for just £180k and I was surprised Newcastle wanted to sell him after he scored 6 league goals in 9 games for them, this lead to Andi Weimann getting a loan move out until the end of the season.

Jermain Defoe

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/defoe_zpsccf321af.jpg


I did eventually manage to sell Adel Taarabt, he completed a £2M move to Norwich, he could have been a good player for us but I always play with two wingers and he isn’t a natural central midfielder, when I have changed the formation to accommodate him he hasn’t been that great either so it was time for him to move on. Anthony Pilkington was demanding a transfer after just six months at the club, I had hoped he’d be a key player but unfortunately for him GroBkreutz has just been so much better so I loaned him out to Sunderland until the end of the season, getting £30k per month and all of his wages being paid.

With Pilkington leaving I had two hours to find another left winger, I was very surprised to see Christian Tello on the loan list, and bought him in for £20k per month and 60% of his wages, he actually works out cheaper than Pilkington!

Cristian Tello

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/tello_zps771e49eb.jpg
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
We’re now 30 games into the season and it has been pretty average, getting 11 points from the last 10 games and being knocked out of the FA Cup, I am disappointed with our cup performances as I felt we had a good enough squad to have a decent run In one, but unfortunately that’s not been the case and I have to focus on keeping QPR in the division.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/30results_zps6b5edad6.jpg


32 points from 30 games is about the minimum I wanted us to be at, I think 2 wins from the last 8 would be enough to see us to stay up as we’re currently 8 points clear of the bottom three but I’m hoping for more than that, Simon Cox has just come back so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs after such an impressive start to the season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/30table_zpsf9a728e7.jpg
born-to-win
12 years ago
7 years ago
365
With eight games left in the Premier League, I hope you can avoid the relegation trap door
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
By born-to-win | Permalink | On 19 June 2013 - 16:57 PM
With eight games left in the Premier League, I hope you can avoid the relegation trap door
I hope so too mate! We're in a pretty good position now and have been lucky enough to not be right down in the bottom three most of the season, will post update later.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’m now at the end of my second season in charge of QPR and I’m very happy with how the season ended, we lost four and won four of the final eight games, with Simon Cox being an absolute revelation in front of goal coming back from injury, making it a total of 16 Premiership goals in 22 starts.

There were no real surprises in the final run of games, we were beaten heavily by Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea but a win against 5th placed Newcastle was a key victory and we finished on 44 points, slightly above my initial target and finished in 13th place, 9 points above the drop zone after an initial media prediction of 18th.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/38results_zpsf5c66eb4.jpg


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/38table_zps3919ad0d.jpg


It’s going to be an interesting transfer window, I’d imagine I’ll be given a similar budget to last season which means I could afford to bring in a couple of key players, with the only player out of contract in the summer being Tal Ben-Haim I certainly have a full squad at my disposal already. I have recently changed my gameplay to view highlights rather than just goal replays and have noticed how many mistakes Patrick Van Aanholt has been making, I think he will be the first to be replaced meaning I need a new LB, other than that I think potentially a RAM and another strong striker to partner Carroll and Cox and that should be about it, I will also obviously look at the upcoming free agents and see if there are any bargains to be had.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
One again I’ve decided to do an update just for the transfer window, it was a busier one than I intended it to be with eight players joining the first team and three youth players signing and immediately being loaned out.

Despite having a transfer budget of around £17m I did get rid of a couple of players before making moves, first to leave was Danny Guthrie, who I wasn’t particularly looking to sell, but Swansea came in with a £1.5m offer, I asked for £2.5m and West Brom met it which I gladly accepted, Tal Ben-Haim was the next to leave on a free transfer after I decided not to offer him a new deal.

My first signing was Isaac Cuenca, who has joined on a free transfer from Barcelona and I’m hoping will prove to be a quality right winger. Following this I made what I believe has been my best signing for a long time on the game, Will Hughes refused a new deal at Derby and I snapped him up on a free, a quality central midfielder and at just 20 is a leading Prem CM and making his way into the England squad. The next major transfer was Kevin Constant, again on a free transfer and gives me another option at left back, which I was looking for this summer making it a very pleasing start to the window, with three key players arriving not costing a penny.

Isaac Cuenca

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/CUENCA_zps29d9c06f.jpg


Will Hughes

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/HUGHES_zps6548926f.jpg


Kevin Constant

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/CONSTANT_zpsbd019cab.jpg


Following these arrivals I got rid of a couple more players, I don’t believe Hoilett is that good and was very surprised when Wigan stumped up £7m for him, this was followed by Angelo Balanta making a £500k move to Ipswich, Schmeichel joining Watford for £2m, Anthony Pilkington leaving for Aston Villa in a £1.5m deal and youngster Max Ehmer signing for Coventry for £120k. At this point in the window I had spent nothing and made £13m in sales.

I want two good players for each position and needed a left winger, once again Cristian Tello found himself on the loan list at P.S.G. and I managed to grab him on another loan deal, this time for the entire season. Nassim Ben Khalifa became my big buy in the summer, I brought him in from Wolfsburg for £11m and I’m hoping he will prove to be a major part of an already strong strike force. I decided I wanted three goalkeepers as well, and brought in Tom Heaton from Swansea for £500k, though I don’t expect him to see much first team action, the same goes for Carl Jenkinson who joins on loan from Arsenal as cover for centre and right back.

Cristian Tello

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 14-15/tello_zps771e49eb.jpg


Nassim Ben Khalifa

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/BENKHALIFA_zps8f3b4a4a.jpg


Tom Heaton

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/HEATON_zpsc199eb17.jpg


Carl Jenkinson

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/JENKINSON_zps0bd17cc2.jpg


The squad seemed rather bulky at this point, and with Khalifa joining I loaned out Weimann and Bennett again for the season, while I also sold Nathan Delfouneso to Stoke for £4m, making a profit on my initial investment after he just wasn’t good enough. Alejandro Faurlin started to get unsettled and was demanding improved contract as well as claiming we will not be matching his expectations, with Will Hughes, Stuart Holden and Kim Kallstrom I let him leave with Everton paying £3.8m. My final signing of the Summer window was Kemy Agustien, who cost £400k and will be good cover for the fellow central midfielders.

Kemy Agustien

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/AGUSTIEN_zps511d20a3.jpg


As I said, there were a few youngsters who joined also, and while they aren’t noteworthy at the moment I have loaned them out for the season and hope they will make an impact next season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/IN_zps70c7daed.jpg


http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/out1_zps4c848576.jpg
George14brfc
13 years ago
4 years ago
3,912
very busy transfer window but alot of good signings and made some money too !
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
By George14brfc | Permalink | On 20 June 2013 - 07:52 AM
very busy transfer window but alot of good signings and made some money too !
Yes I was impressed, especially with the quality of free agents! I actually spent less than what I sold so ended up not touching my £16m transfer budget.
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
After a busy Summer transfer window I was excited to get the season underway, the media have predicted us to finish 15th which is pleasing consider our 18th placed prediction last season and looking at the new signings at the club I am confident I can make it a pleasing season.

The squad had a lot of new faces in it and needed time to gel, unfortunately whoever was in charge of the fixtures decided to give us the worst opening fixtures I have ever seen, playing Everton, Tottenham, Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea back to back. The game against West Brom was particularly depressing, while the other heavy losses weren’t that surprising.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/17results_zps378f9008.jpg


I knew it would be a difficult start and we found ourselves in the relegation zone after these fixtures but we did manage to win a few of the easier games and have 17 points from 17 games, which is slightly less than I expected, but a relief consider our rocky start.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/17table_zps1c4098fd.jpg


We’ve always done poor in the cups and wanted to try and change that this season, I only rested 2-3 of my key players in these games and managed to make it to the quarter final of the Carling Cup, unfortunately being beaten by a Stoke side who have greatly improved over the seasons.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/capitalonecup_zps6a7c97c5.jpg


As you probably noticed from my first update there were a lot of free agents this summer, I scouted the best one but some still refused to join, however when it got to October I noticed two players were still available and managed to get both on one year deals!

Franck Ribery

At 32 I think he still has a lot to offer, whether or not he will prove to be better than GrobKreutz and be my starter remains to be seen, but I’m certainly happy to have him here for the season, and on a reasonably low wage considering what he was on at Bayern last season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/ribery_zpsf7321681.jpg


Samuel Eto’o

This one is a tricky one, he is 34 and whether or not he is still quality I do not know, but I am certain he is still good enough to make an impact in the Premiership even if that’s just coming off the bench, I also received a message saying my shirt sales have increased dramatically since this purchase.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/etoo_zpscb1ba20d.jpg


So a reasonably start with two superstars now in the squad until the end of the season, I’ve made more moves than I’d have liked to but they’re ones I think were necessary. If I’m being honest I didn’t do an update until 17 games in purely because of the poor start, but now I will do updates after 24, 31 and finally 38 games of the season.
born-to-win
12 years ago
7 years ago
365
Great bit of business on signing Ribery and Eto'o, hopefully then can fire you up the league and maybe give you a good run in the FA Cup
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
I’m now 24 games into the season and considering our fixtures I’m quite pleased with our league results, despite this we did again go out in the F.A. Cup early, losing in the third round to Norwich 1-0, I don’t know what it is but we just can’t seem to progress in the cups!

Good wins against Newcastle and Everton were the highlights of the fixtures, as you’ll see both winners were scored in injury time which left both with no chance to respond, however a crushing loss to Southampton was particularly disappointing, with them thrashing us 4-1. The block of fixtures containing all the big teams is here again, and despite losing to Tottenham and Man City I am pleased we managed to get a draw against Arsenal in a thrilling 3-3 encounter.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/24results_zps5981f993.jpg


This leaves us in 14th averaging just over a point a game, I’m reasonably happy because we aren’t really under major threat of relegation however there is starting to be a large gap opening up above us which could make moving much higher quite difficult. I would like to improve on last season’s league position and anything else would be a bonus, I haven’t made any January additions as of yet because I don’t believe we need any, making it a much quieter window than in previous seasons.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/24table_zps0ad2585d.jpg
alexlloyd
13 years ago
4 years ago
54
It’s coming towards the end of the season and we’re now 31 games into the season and still find ourselves in 14th position. I think I must have made a mistake in the last update as we’re currently 31 games into the season however this update contains 8 fixtures, so the results in the last update must’ve only gone up to game 30. Again, very difficult fixtures against Man Utd and Chelsea and I wasn’t too disappointed with how we played, particularly against Chelsea. There are certain teams I don’t expect us to get anything against, however we seem to give stupid losses away to teams below us quite frequently which is frustrating because teams like Fulham and Wigan we should at least be getting something against, which would see us a lot higher up the table

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/31results_zpsaec8c328.jpg


So here we are in 14th position, with 33 points from 31 games and I believe relegation isn’t much of a threat now, the gap above us isn’t as bad as I anticipated however I think we’ll struggle to get any higher than 12th now, though anywhere around mid-table will keep the board happy.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/31table_zps6c88c42f.jpg


We’re currently 11 points off last seasons total which would be disappointing not to hit, however if we can get a higher league position I’d say that would be more pleasing. We have a reasonably easy run in, with Liverpool and Newcastle being the only big threats in there however Newcastle are having a terrible season, while Norwich could also pose a threat after having a great season.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/alexlloyd93/QPR 15-16/31fixtures_zps7baa4a9e.jpg
FMraynor
11 years ago
1 year ago
222
You have a great squad there and if you dont spend anything you will not have to worry about players settling in and you will have a good squad that could demolish the championship, Maybe sell 1 or 2 old players and use players from your reserves and Under 18s and even ask for a higher wage budget to keep these players, players of this calibre would not want to join you in the Championship to be fair.

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