Fans Forum Report

Tonight saw the second fans forum of the season held at Loftus Road which gave the fans a chance to ask questions about the current goings on at the club. The evening was rather different to usual as it was very positive with most of the questions based on the team rather than the finances, which made it more enjoyable.

The evening started with Tom Watt waffling about the Champions league and Shrewsbury as he tried to make a point about thanking the fans for their support for making a huge difference in recent weeks. He lost me at AC Milan to be honest but he then introduced the panel, which was made up of chairmen Gianni Paladini, manager John Gregory and club captain Marcus Bignot.

Tom Watt began by asking about the out of contract players including Bignot himself and how it had affected them.

Bignot said the priority has been staying up so none of the players have talked about a new deal they have just been looking at keeping us up and worry about it at the end of the season. Gregory said the players had been very unselfish and none of the out of contact players have been asking about a new deal just concentrating on keeping the club up.

Gregory went on to say that fans are great judges as they have seen so many players over the years and managers, they know who has ability and who is not trying. He said fans know when players are cheating and not giving there all and when they are giving their best. The players have been given a standing ovation in virtually every home game since Southampton which says it all as fans can only ask the players to give their best.

Gregory also said that the team spirit is the best he's ever known as a player and manager and that is what has kept us up. The end of recent games has felt like promotion rather than just staying up.

The questions then went onto new players and if we could keep the loan signings.

Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne could be back on loan next season. Gregory said that Chelsea wanted them to come to us as they can still follow them closely, Chelsea have a scout at every QPR match to watch them and they have sometimes gone back to Chelsea to train and be assessed. They won't get into the Chelsea first team at the moment for a year or so, there is an opportunity they could come back on loan next season. They have been great servants to the club and they have really enjoyed being part of the set up at QPR and playing in front of proper crowds rather than the reserves at Chelsea so he is hopeful they will be back.

Lee Camp situation is not so clear-cut, he's gone back to Derby due to Stephen Bywater being suspended. Gregory said that Camp gave everyone so much confidence at the back, he's been unbelievable, it is no coincidence we've had more clean sheets and disappointed he's gone back.

He has one more year on his contract and the ball in Derby's court. If they want him to go we'll be at the front of the queue and we'll do everything in our power to get him back. Lee has a clause in is contract that if Derby go up his salary goes up significantly, same would have happened to Adam Bolder but he was prepared to forgo that clause so Camp is obviously waiting to see what happens. If they don't go up it's a simple decision, if they go up it's a tough financial decision for him that two clubs might have to come to an agreement over.

Onto the one question I think most fans would ask and that was is Lee Cook going and if so will the money be used to strengthen the squad.

Gianni said we put a £10miillion price tag on Cook's head to let everyone know how much we want to keep him. We did get offers for him, Rowlands and Blackstock but they were not good enough so were turned down. If silly money is bid to him then he will go and Gregory can use the money to build a new side. He did emphasise though that we want to build a side around Cook and Blackstock rather than sell them and everyone on the panel seemed certain he would still be a QPR player next season. They said it would be simple for us to sell these players to solve financial problems but we want to keep them.

Gregory said if Liverpool offer £2million for Cook it's not enough money but you have to think about if the player would want to go and it would be hard to deny him the opportunity to go to a top club. If it's a championship side who wants him then Cook probably won't want to make a sideways step even if it means higher wages. It's a delicate situation, when big clubs come in, a few years ago he had Dwight Yorke at Villa going to Man United, tough to stop him going to a club like Man Utd but needed to get the right money for him and it turned nasty in the end. Gregory then said that he doesn't anticipate Cook going and thinks he'll play for us next season.

Tom Watt said he sees Stuart Downing play for England and thinks Cook is a better player. Gregory said if Downing was right footed he'd be playing in league one, Cook is a far better player.

Continuing to talk on Lee Cook it was left to Marcus Bignot who said it's been comical at times to see what Cook does to full backs, he's glad to be on the same team as him. From a selfish point of view he hopes the bid doesn't come, he's a QPR man through and through and a great bloke.

Gianni said if it's a different situation to Shittu. Dan Shittu told the club he did not want to play for us anymore and wanted to go to the Premiership so we had to sell, with Cook he said he wants to stay so he'll stay unless the money is too good.

Next question was on Ray Jones and what has happened to him as he has hardly played since signing a new contract.

Gregory said he has to pick a team to win each game whether he signed them, inherited the player, the player is his best mate or whatever and they are picked for a reason not for being a favourite. "If I don't get on with a player it doesn't alter my opinion over whether I pick them or if I paid a big feel I don't have to pick that player."

That's why Ray Jones hasn't figured because Gregory said he picked other people ahead of him as he thought those players could do a better job at this time. He went on to say: I've looked at his reaction as I always do when I leave players out, after the 5-0 at Southend I looked at every player and said what are you going to do about it and they reacted well.

With Ray I left him out and I'm still waiting for his reaction. Jimmy Smith was left out and I looked to see what he'd do about it, he sulked for a few days then was the best trainer for a few weeks then as soon as I brought him back he got the winner at Coventry. Ray Jones will come back again but this is a massive learning curve for him, I get nervous when players sign a new contract as they get a bit more money, he'll need to get his act together for next season otherwise he'll get left behind.

In recent weeks Nygaard, Furlong and Blackstock have been the first choice, even Stefan Moore has jumped ahead of him so he is waiting for the reaction to see if he can fight his way back. Gregory said he till rates him and he scored two for the reserves and he is sure by next season he'll be banging on the door for a first team place.

A few questions for the chairmen now. First up the number of kit changes we have which Gianni said is down to the kit manufactures and it will be changing again next season.

A question was asked about if we will move to a new stadium or expand Loftus Road. Gianni said we have enquired about going higher on Ellerlise road but that was refused. There is nowhere else around the area to move so we will stay and if we go up then we'll just have work with what money comes in. He then spoke about atmosphere over last four games how good it was etc

Gregory then made a passionate and very impressive answer to the question about if the side can push for promotion next season.

He said we are a long way off where he would like to be, there is lots of rebuilding to be done to the squad we need concrete in the foundations, which was not there when he took over.

The club have had a difficult period since the end of last season and all this season. From day one the players have been under pressure with backs against the wall and to get out of trouble in the way we've done is incredible. The infrastructure needs to be right, the gap between the youth team and the first team is massive and there has been a lack of a back up/reserve side that is full of 8/9 quality kids and a few senior players, which is what they are trying to build.

This sounds like the same problem Ian Holloway always had with the reserves and we really need to get in a league where the reserves play more regularly rather than go several months without a game.

Gregory went on to say that every department of the club needs a kick up the backside, so much to do but the most important thing was keeping the team up. He wants to improve every aspect of the club.

Dave Whelan of Wigan had a dream when they were at Springfield Park to get Wigan to the premiership and people laughed at him but he never let go and he's made it, they build a new stadium and a fantastic football club. There is no reason we can't believe we can get back to the premiership. In Gregory's Words: "I say bring it on".

He said the initial aim was to stay up. We've done that now so next season the pressure is on and we can dream and push for a playoff place.

Players have gone beyond the call of duty in recent weeks. At the Preston game he looked in their eyes at half time and knew we would win the game. He knew they would never give up and can't praise them enough. We need to add new players and improve certain areas but the nucleus of the team and spirit is there for us to push on next season. If we get the right players in no reason why we can't push on.

Bignot backed his manager and said when he came back pre season it wasn't a happy dressing room, pre season was poor and we knew we were nose diving, we had a losing mentality. Now things have changed and although a lot of players are out of contract we believe we have good times ahead and we know with this manager we have a bright future at this club. We will not struggle next season. He said he can smell it in the dressing room we can build on this and in the last two games he doesn't want it to drop we want the momentum going into next season. Half of the squad might not be here next season but we all know this football club has a bright future. One of the players said today that don't come back pre season if you are not prepared to get promoted and that is the attitude they have.

On that bloody positive note it was time for drinks and half time of the forum. After a short break the second half began with questions from the floor.

The first one asked how many of the side that beat Cardiff will start the first game of next season.

Gregory said that about 60% of the side that played Saturday will be here next season and can take us forward. Gregory said he is the only person who knows who is staying or going, the first people who will know is the players and everyone will know before we play Stoke City.

Asked about loan players Gregory said ideally wouldn't have any loan players but even the best like Man United have to do it when they brought Larsson in this season. It becomes difficult if you replace a player with a loan player then they get recalled and you have to go back to the original player after telling him he is not good enough. In his opinion though the players brought in on loan were better than the ones we already had so they should have no argument. It's worked out ok this season, would love to have enough quality at the club so we don't need loan players.

The next question was which positions was Gregory looking to strengthen and he responded by saying 40% of them.

Gregory said looking at players all over the team, if he finds a better goalkeeper he'd sign him etc. Full back area we are a little light, Bignot is more of a right back but has done an amazing job on the left for us. Mancienne has played there, as has Rehmann who is a centre half (cue much laughter from crowd) Kanyuka and Timoska are also central defenders and have played right back so that's a position to fill if we don't get Mancienne back.

He always tells players don't pigeon hole yourselves, if you are a left back and say you can only play there and we sign someone better your in trouble so it's better to be versatile and be able to fit in other positions. Any players who come in will need to be better than we already have, we've done that this year with Bolder, Cullip and Camp and we have to do the same this summer.

Looking ahead to pre season they said the only definite friendly is Brentford away on 4th August. Gregory likes to do pre season in England. He doesn't like a tour as you have to baby sit players, as they get bored. Prefer to do pre season at home so they can go home to their families after work then come back in after work. Would like the idea of a weekend of games in Ireland as we have a big fan base in Ireland but the timing has to be right. Pre season is so important if you have a good pre season you normally have a good season.

Season Ticket Prices were mentioned as to if the club will lose money through the reductions and how it would affect the playing budget. Gianni said we have lost 3,000 season ticket holders in the last 2 years so the plan is to get them back and possibly more, if we lose money on that then the board will make up the shortfall but we need fans back in the stadium.

The number of mistakes made in the programme was then mentioned. This is a particular annoyance for me as well so I was glad this was brought up, I can't really talk considering the number of mistakes made on this site (Cook fired a fierce shit rather than Cook fired a fierce shot is one of my best typos I've managed on this site and I expect I've got plenty more in this report) but when you pay £3 for a programme you expect the basics to be right.

Wrong scores have been put in the anniversary section as well as Terry Venables having his name spelt wrong, it's very frustrating to see so many basic mistakes. The programme editor was on hand to answer and sounded a little embarrassed but said they only have two staff doing the media side of the club including QPR world so mistakes do happen but they would work hard to eradicate them in the future.

Gregory was then asked about the youth team and the future of Warren Neil and Prav Mathema.

Basically Prav is leaving and it's a big career move for him, financially far more rewarding. He's been a great servant to the club and they are going to give him a big send off. The club wanted him to stay but he felt it was a good career move and he wanted a change of scenery. Gregory said that Prav lost his best customer in Matthew Rose and his work has been reduced by 98% since he left so he's bored now.

As for Warren Neil the manager said that he had done a tremendous job, very unassuming character, great player and QPR through and through. He is a black cabbie now by night and coach by day and works so hard at both jobs. We had a reserve game the other week, after the game he got changed and got in the cab and went to work for a few hours. Gregory wants Warren to stay next season if he wants to stay. "He is a grafter and I want him around the dressing room, he'll go that extra mile for the club. His contribution has been massive."

On the current youth team he said some of them are starting to show quality that can come through in the next few years but hasn't had a great deal of time to get involved in the youth set up. He wants to get more involved in the youth set up and overhaul the school of excellence. He had to leave Joe Gallen on his own, as we couldn't afford to get in more staff due to paying players off. When we get to the summer we'll have a little bit more financial resource to put into the youth side of the club.

When he was a player the youth set up was vibrant with Warren Neil came through and later Kevin Gallen etc and wants to get back in that position again. At QPR we've always had a good youth set up and produced our own players and then are able to sell them on. Kids like Dean Parrot wanted to be at QPR rather than get lost in the system at Chelsea.

Marcus Bignot then spoke about how he hated John Gregory when he was Villa manager as he is a big Birmingham fan and Villa were always top six under him. He said any idiot can do what Steve Bruce has and spend millions to get promoted but to come into QPR in the state we were in was a very different job and that Gregory was the best signing we made all season. He also said his team Birmingham would be promoted and praised Gary Mcsheffrey saying he's better than Cook as he scores more goals.

They spoke a bit about where we look for players. Gregory said we look at Premiership cast offs such as Lee Hendrie who could be attracted to Loftus Road due to our history and the atmosphere at Loftus Road. He said they look at clubs in our division and below. Players that are not doing well at the moment could come to QPR and turn it around. Danny Cullip and Adam Bolder two prime examples, neither could get a game at former clubs and now look at them

Marcus Bignot then spoke on the late Kiyan Prince and said that he and Ainsworth were working on doing a documentary on Kiyan and the situation surrounding his death. They are trying to get Rio Ferdinand and several other top players involved.

The final question was on the refinancing of the ABC loan. Gianni said there was very little to update on, they are working on refinancing the loan every day but it's not easy. They hope something will be done by the start of next season and they also expect to have a new investor on board who can take the club forward but understandably couldn't offer any more details.

Finally Tracy Stent thanked club for lowering season ticket prices two years after she came to a fans forum with a petition against the price rises. Gianni said he should thank Tracy and the fans groups who have been talking to the club and working with them to help lower the prices.

After that Tom Watt wrapped the evening up and enjoyable evening had come to an end.

The cynics will point to very little being asked of the financial picture of the club but it was nice to listen and find out more of the football side which is a million times more promising than it looked this time last year.