Tottenham Hotspur 4 Queens Park Rangers 0
Queens Park Rangers 1 Sunderland 0
Manchester Utd 4 Queens Park Rangers 0
Everybody says that confidence is critical to success in any field. And we have seen in this world only too often, the more confident but less intelligent people lead highly successful lives, versus the cleverer, quiet, nervous and less confident ones. I certainly wouldn't put QPR quite in the realms of clever in the context of football...but something tells me we're suffering a little from that little problem of giving the 'big teams' a little too much respect.
Confidence. It's a word that's easy to throw away as an excuse for poor performance and it is rarely examined below the surface. As I write this blog post, I am sitting in an Oslo living room with friends (post-traumatic Man U match), watching the Wolf of Wall Street for a second time. We're watching the early part where he trains his friends to sell bad stocks to that rich 1% of America. With a plan, and confidence and rapport building skills over the phone, they manage to propel a dodgy business in to something that makes a lot of dodgy money.
Today's match was a shame. I was hoping for a smaller goal difference at worst, and a draw at best. But if that's what the team was also aiming for that's probably the reason why it was such a woeful performance. Even if on paper United and Spurs are obviously 'better' than us, no team will win any match when they show too much respect for the opposing team. Admittedly, we felt the loss of Mutch and Barton today. Stats are only stats, but stats don't lie either - and it's my understanding that before this weekend Barton had floated around the top of the table for players that had created the most chances in the Premier League. I admit there were glimmers of hope as I saw us try to park the bus a little. But I think we should have had Vargas starting with Charlie up front. Much as I love Clint - was it right to start him in this of all games?
I haven't yet read any post-match reports, or listened to our manager's post-match comments. Will we be able to get an indication of how he instills or has instilled any confidence in the team by the way that he speaks. He certainly hasn't got the same leadership qualities as Van Gaal who has more of a draconian appearance. But if you had a problem that needed sorting out, would you turn to Harry or would you turn to Louis? What would give you more confidence?
I don't know who said 'you're only as good as your last game'. It can't be true in the context of the volatility of life for a team like QPR in the Premier League. And even if it were, it's a pretty hard mantra to live by if you're losing most games, and are simply aiming for survival. And therein lies the issue in a way. Is it right that we've set ourselves a lowly goal? Remember three years ago when we were a bit more 'ambitious' and rose-tinted in our approach? Is it that we should have a more more nuanced approach...is it about saying we'll try to win every game, and concede that to survive would be not an achievement, but the bare minimum requirement? It simply feels odd to be talking in nuances when confidence is surely meant to be just a way to simply be versus something that you learn...right?
We all know how the Wolf of Wall Street ends and as a result I am left thinking that there are different kinds of confidence. And that the first one we naturally think of is the one that is only skin deep.
Queens Park Rangers 1 Sunderland 0
Manchester Utd 4 Queens Park Rangers 0
Everybody says that confidence is critical to success in any field. And we have seen in this world only too often, the more confident but less intelligent people lead highly successful lives, versus the cleverer, quiet, nervous and less confident ones. I certainly wouldn't put QPR quite in the realms of clever in the context of football...but something tells me we're suffering a little from that little problem of giving the 'big teams' a little too much respect.
Confidence. It's a word that's easy to throw away as an excuse for poor performance and it is rarely examined below the surface. As I write this blog post, I am sitting in an Oslo living room with friends (post-traumatic Man U match), watching the Wolf of Wall Street for a second time. We're watching the early part where he trains his friends to sell bad stocks to that rich 1% of America. With a plan, and confidence and rapport building skills over the phone, they manage to propel a dodgy business in to something that makes a lot of dodgy money.
Today's match was a shame. I was hoping for a smaller goal difference at worst, and a draw at best. But if that's what the team was also aiming for that's probably the reason why it was such a woeful performance. Even if on paper United and Spurs are obviously 'better' than us, no team will win any match when they show too much respect for the opposing team. Admittedly, we felt the loss of Mutch and Barton today. Stats are only stats, but stats don't lie either - and it's my understanding that before this weekend Barton had floated around the top of the table for players that had created the most chances in the Premier League. I admit there were glimmers of hope as I saw us try to park the bus a little. But I think we should have had Vargas starting with Charlie up front. Much as I love Clint - was it right to start him in this of all games?
I haven't yet read any post-match reports, or listened to our manager's post-match comments. Will we be able to get an indication of how he instills or has instilled any confidence in the team by the way that he speaks. He certainly hasn't got the same leadership qualities as Van Gaal who has more of a draconian appearance. But if you had a problem that needed sorting out, would you turn to Harry or would you turn to Louis? What would give you more confidence?
I don't know who said 'you're only as good as your last game'. It can't be true in the context of the volatility of life for a team like QPR in the Premier League. And even if it were, it's a pretty hard mantra to live by if you're losing most games, and are simply aiming for survival. And therein lies the issue in a way. Is it right that we've set ourselves a lowly goal? Remember three years ago when we were a bit more 'ambitious' and rose-tinted in our approach? Is it that we should have a more more nuanced approach...is it about saying we'll try to win every game, and concede that to survive would be not an achievement, but the bare minimum requirement? It simply feels odd to be talking in nuances when confidence is surely meant to be just a way to simply be versus something that you learn...right?
We all know how the Wolf of Wall Street ends and as a result I am left thinking that there are different kinds of confidence. And that the first one we naturally think of is the one that is only skin deep.
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