A Letter from Santa's Friend

Queens Park Rangers 3 Sunderland 1

Dearest Emily,

I bet you are surprised to hear from me, the Easter Bunny. I know you didn't write to me. You don't think quite so highly of me, as you do of Santa. But one thing you maybe didn't know is that Santa and I live next door to each other. And when you wrote to him back in December he told me all about your story and the things he had arranged for the Chelsea win. I became fascinated by your story, and I've been following the Rs ever since.

It hasn't all been great for Rangers since then I suppose. A missed penalty against Norwich seemed to be a turning point for the worse. And the 4-1 drubbing at Swansea was like a nail in the coffin in some ways. I know you felt that way anyway, because your blogs were so bloody depressing I was quite close to slitting my chocolate wrists on a couple of occasions. It's a good thing Mrs Bunny had caught me close to the act, and reminded me that life wasn't all about football and your blog and that I had a duty to several children every Easter that required my utmost commitment.

However, as Santa had pointed out to you in his letter to you, you do have this tendency to be extremely pessimistic about things. I realise it isn't as if QPR have been winning regularly, but did you ever expect to get anything out of Swansea away and United at home? I think you were jumping to a quick conclusion without considering the next potential run of winnable matches. In addition to that, I must tell you off for promising people at Yates's bar in Southampton last week that you would write a cheerful blog. You really do have to keep your promises young lady, or was that a promise made under the influence of one pint too many? Dear dear dear.

To be fair, though. I think I can understand where you are coming from. From what I've observed over the last couple of months, supporting a football team like QPR is a little like an illicit love affair: it's lots of ups, but plenty of downs, with passionate fights as well as big fat snogs, it's sometimes good for you..but very often it's terribly bad for you...you can't live with it, yet you can't live without it. I had no idea that it was quite so charged. And amazingly, the QPR fans keep coming back for more. Over 3,000 fans went to Southampton last week off the back of two lacklustre performances by their team. Just what were they hoping for? Well, I suppose it is all about the magic of football. The very thought that anything could happen and the mere possibility of a win keeps people coming back.

So I was shooting hoops last night with Santa (as you can imagine, I have a bit of a 'hopping' advantage', but hey, he gets to ride a sleigh in the sky every year). And he reminded me that the boys were playing Sunderland today. I rang up Mythical Character Satellite TV company to find out whether the game was on. Would you believe, they were going to charge me a special fee to get it on my TV, even after I had delivered several bespoke chocolate Easter eggs to their office last year? Once I had stern words with the CEO they finally acceded to sorting it out for me FOC. As I settled in to my settee I must say I did think QPR had a fantastic chance of winning, but I didn't think it would be with 3 goals, two of which could be contenders for goal of the month! (Wasn't Townsend fab?). And much as it pains me to say it, perhaps the Arctic training camp that Santa sent Bosingwa on has turned him a little. He's actually playing quite well now, but I admit once in a while we still get the sulks from him - a sort of languid stomping motion which I saw a couple of times at Loftus Road today (don't worry, he is not getting any chocolates this Easter). He really does have this odd manner about him, but I think that's also the case off the pitch. I saw the photos of him 'hanging out' by the pool in Dubai and he was looking extremely out of place wrapped in a towel both by the bar and his sun lounger. And who was that blond girl standing opposite him, surely she should have been standing closer to some of the more 'ripped' looking players who had their swimmers and no top on...As you people on twitter say #fail.

Anyway, you must be pleased with such a comprehensive win today? And I heard that QPR, for the second week in a row, will be making it on to Match of the Day first. Surely, you might start to believe that now it might just be possible for QPR to survive? I really do feel for you though, as on this current form and what with the battles around you, it really looks set to be another tumultuous end of season. It certainly isn't going to be settled early, either way. However, thank God you have got back to back wins, and a couple of away wins under Harry. It's such a unique little run for you. Looking back on Hughes, he really was awful wasn't he? What a complete mess he made of the team.

On another note before I sign off I'd like to remind you of what makes supporting QPR so great. Today you met @rafafernande82 (who flew all the way from the USA) and @julieqpr as well as @g_a_zz at the Springbok before the match, along with many other amazing friends you have made at QPR through that twitter world. Admittedly, there are several weirdos on it, and there are several people you'd rather not follow due to the plethora of swear words as well as the abuse they hurl at other QPR fans (not to mention a few idiots intent on bashing Koreans for 'taking their seats' in language that is purely racist). But for the most part, when you meet many of them it must remind you of what is special about being a Rangers fan: that sense of family, togetherness and a welcoming nature.

My one wish for you regardless of whether the Rangers stay up or not, is that the owners never lose sight of this and make sure they nurture it as much as possible. Looking around at all the other Premier League clubs this makes QPR truly unique.

And I wish you, and all the QPR fans an enjoyable last 9 games, whatever happens.

With much love,

The Easter Bunny

Encl. Blue and white hooped Easter eggs

Emily, Gary, Rafae, Sandy

Laura, Emily, Gemma

Julie, Emily, Gary, Sandy

'Hard done by'

Sunderland 3 Queens Park Rangers 1

That's exactly how some of the Queens Park Rangers players feel right now. They earn tens of thousands of pounds a week, have a more than comfortable lifestyle, and yet, they are playing terrible football as well as suffering from indicipline. And still they get to keep their jobs.

On the other side of the coin, you have a frustrated Owner and Chairman who have done all they promised to do, and thousands of fans who not only spend their hard-earned money on a Season Ticket but spends hundreds of pounds a week and countless hours supporting the Rangers away from home.

It is frustrating that we haven't yet had any kind of winning streak so far this season. But what is more frustrating is that we have players who don't appear to feel or behave as if this predicament we are in is in any way their responsiblitity. This, I must say, is what angers me the most.

The online Urban Dictionary  site  has this definition for the phrase 'Hard done by'

'This wonderful ironic phrase is used to describe someone who is acting as if Fate has just dealt him or her a terrible blow, when they have, in reality, suffered a minor inconvenience and should just get on with it.
On the other hand, "hard done by" should NEVER be used to describe someone who is trying to recover from a genuinely tragic event.'

Firstly, we have our infamous captain Joey Barton. He admits he played badly last Wednesday. Credit to him for admitting it. I respect someone who can admit when he's s***. But be prepared to take the backlash from fans once you've done that. You can't expect people not to react to you, whether they are right or not. Humans simply aren't like that, and when you decide to make your life and thoughts so public you of course have a right to respond, but you probably don't have a right to constantly kick off and feel so 'hard done by'. And if you are a man like Joey Barton, who lives a wonderfully luxurious lifestyle, you will get little sympathy from others, including those who support you. So when he says there 'nothing he can do' because he is sitting on the bench, you just think to yourself, really? Is that his attitude? Does he actually think that in his current form he would have made a difference and that the world has been so bad to him for not giving him the opportunity? This attitude just isn't good enough. I would expect a captain to be completely behind his team and any selections made, and would expect that through admitting he isn't good enough to play right now, provide the right kind of support for everyone at least emotionally if not physically, instead of sitting there yawning  for all to see on MOTD and having a giggle when Taiwo scores the only goal for the Rs. 

And secondly, we have Cisse. First time he was sent off earlier this year, most of us tended to forgive him. After all, it was an emotional reaction based on his feelings on two horrific injuries he has had. But this time around, not only is there no excuse, but his reaction on the pitch - like a little boy who tried to pretend he hasn't done anything wrong when he knows full well he has- comes from the same ilk as Joey Barton's behaviour. It just smacks of being 'unsportsmalike' and I am quite sick of players wearing the QPR badge acting as if the world has been conspiring aginst them. 

Contrast this with the way that Bolton have come together since last week's terrible event at White Hart Lane. While I don't want to belittle in any way, what happened to Fabrice Muamba by comparing it to the troubles of a load of spoiled football players at Loftus Road, what we have seen with how Bolton have come back is players with real heart, playing well because they have something to prove. And I have no doubt that they will survive in the Premier League. We have players who think they have nothing to prove and therefore I feel no ounce of a competitive streak in them. 

Last week Fate dealt Fabrice Muamba, and Botlon, a terrible blow. But QPR has everything going for it, and the players are pissing it away disrepectfully for everyone to see.

I am not saying this of all the QPR players, but a few bad eggs make it worse for everyone else. And something has to be done to either shake these guys up, or take them out of the first team completely to salvage our pride as a football club more than anything else.

A new QPR dawn

22 years after my first visit to Loftus Road, it's about time I started a blog about the team that I love. I must say I am excited, yet apprehensive at the same time.

Finally, in this media age of blogs, twitter, facebook, everyone's got a potential outlet where they can live and breathe their obsessions in public.

But, on the other hand, I risk being criticised for my terrible grammar, spelling mistakes? Or even any  inaccurate information I might accidentally type about QPR's history or the games that I watch.

Who knows? All I know is that I've sat through thick & thin with this team since 1990. Some of that time I was still living in the Far East, but I had all the programmes sent in the post to me on a weekly basis. As I fan, my glory days were in the early 90s when we were one of the top London clubs. And in our tumble right down to the depths of League One I would wonder how did I get to be sitting here, on a Tuesday night, watching us play THAT team in the pouring rain and bitter cold?

In fact I actually felt almost the same at the Sunderland game just before Christmas 2011- we were so bad, so lacking in pace and urgency in the first half, that I had a similar feeling for just a moment. For a moment I thought 'Have I ever seen worse?'. I sit here, Saturday morning prior to the MK Dons game and think with hindsight, of course I have. Did I really think prior to our 'billionaire' buyout, that we would have quality players like Shaun Wright-Phillips, Faurlin and Barton in the team? Give over. This has been such an exciting period in my QPR life that I truly have been and have to enjoy this time.

I was out till 7am on the evening of the 30th. I also had a ticket to the game at the Emirates the next day. With 3 hours of sleep and the biggest hangover in the world, I still went because there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity of a life-time. Much as I have high hopes for our team this season and the future of QPR, I'm not holding my breath about QPR survival and it could have been the last opportunity I would get to see us play at that stadium.

Let's hope not though. Because I am loving it right now.

Onwards and upwards as they say.

You Rssss