What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Queens Park Rangers can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Paul Morris has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Queens Park Rangers have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simon Dixon and Queens Park Rangers agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hayden McGhan and Queens Park Rangers agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Queens Park Rangers will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maksim Pavlov and Queens Park Rangers agree another 3 years.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Queens Park Rangers will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ronnie Edwards is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Chances created: 7. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Ipswich Town the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Queens Park Rangers will enjoy reviewing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Apr 2034
Ronnie Edwards was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Queens Park Rangers scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings10 Apr 2034
A brace, and Koki Saito takes the afternoon — 8.39
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Koki Saito provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ronnie Edwards scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jimmy Dunne is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Queens Park Rangers are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2034
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Bolton Wanderers held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Queens Park Rangers answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
519 appearances across 16 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Chances created: 8. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Feb 2034
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over Huddersfield Town, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.78 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Middlesbrough held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Queens Park Rangers answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
It needed Ronnie Edwards to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Middlesbrough, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Joe Brayson has agreed terms with Brentford for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Jan 2034
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Queens Park Rangers have had the benefit of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ronnie Edwards is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ronnie Edwards provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad26 Dec 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Charlton Athletic tried to reorganise, Queens Park Rangers did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Derby County the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Queens Park Rangers will enjoy reviewing.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1 for Nicolas Madsen, marked 7.71, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ipswich Town will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Queens Park Rangers were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.87, and 2 involvements.
Squad12 Dec 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Queens Park Rangers know it.
A brace, and Justin Obikwu takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Justin Obikwu provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Queens Park Rangers and Reading in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Varane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Nov 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Nicolas Madsen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Baptiste Macon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Out, 0‑1 to Manchester United, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.87, and 2 involvements.
Squad14 Nov 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Baptiste Macon has agreed terms with Crystal Palace for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Darryl Ombang is living that version at Queens Park Rangers, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Varane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ronnie Edwards scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ted Cann and Queens Park Rangers agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.98, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dilane Bakwa. 2‑0 against Huddersfield Town, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Oct 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 goals in one match, Dilane Bakwa on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Queens Park Rangers and Wolverhampton.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The deal that would have taken Joe Brayson to Preston has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Queens Park Rangers with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jimmy Dunne and Queens Park Rangers agree another 2 years.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Huddersfield Town moved on, Szymon Terenowicz reports back to Queens Park Rangers, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings22 Aug 2033
Up for the corner, and Kieran Morgan delivers — 7.25
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kieran Morgan scored, was marked 7.25, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Aug 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Koki Saito. 2‑1 against Bristol City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Harry Butler has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Queens Park Rangers and Charlton Athletic, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadDilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Queens Park Rangers will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilias Chair and Queens Park Rangers agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Preston will make the call about George Murphy this week. Queens Park Rangers have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Queens Park Rangers, another week without a signature from Ted Cann.
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ted Cann is living that version at Queens Park Rangers, and it tends to show in the first month.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Queens Park Rangers heard it as anything else.
140 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
147 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 May 2033
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Queens Park Rangers can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolas Madsen and Queens Park Rangers agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Two goals and a mark of 8.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
14 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danylo Sydorenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Mar 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dilane Bakwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Queens Park Rangers heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Varane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
13 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
427 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2033
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2033
Dilane Bakwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Richard Walker has just signed for Queens Park Rangers, and for once the answer mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Position 18 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Queens Park Rangers they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2033
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jake Rooney will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Queens Park Rangers has been clear about where Baptiste Macon stands, which is more than many ever get.
Queens Park Rangers interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ronnie Edwards scored, was marked 7.88, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Murphy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Queens Park Rangers know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
12 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
24 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Queens Park Rangers lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 11 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Nottingham Forest kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Queens Park Rangers will be asked about the last half hour all week.
1 for Ronnie Edwards, marked 7.70, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Sunderland the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Queens Park Rangers will enjoy reviewing.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2032
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Position 18 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
475 appearances across 15 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Varane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rumarn Burrell is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Maksim Pavlov arrives at Queens Park Rangers with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Dilane Bakwa
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1 for Ronnie Edwards, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
0‑3 to Manchester City, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
Ilias Chair was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.34 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Queens Park Rangers is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Daniel Souček has just signed for Queens Park Rangers, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Daniel Souček is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Queens Park Rangers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. George Murphy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Queens Park Rangers has to find a result from somewhere.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
412 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Queens Park Rangers heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Varane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Esteban Pourcher is living that version at Queens Park Rangers, and it tends to show in the first month.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Queens Park Rangers can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Isak Alemayehu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jason Collins has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. McCartney Woodhouse has just signed for Queens Park Rangers, and for once the answer mattered.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. McCartney Woodhouse is a Queens Park Rangers player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Queens Park Rangers is running low.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ronnie Edwards is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Isak Alemayehu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadIsaac Moran is a better footballer than he was
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Queens Park Rangers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and George Murphy reports back to Queens Park Rangers with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Chair is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Queens Park Rangers, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gianluca Rossi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Queens Park Rangers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koki Saito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Ilias Chair falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.