Rob Dickie Signed (Confirmed)

[mozo]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Must read if your not of a nervous disposition about new signings!!

Brilliant LFT as always.

FWIW, Dickie seems made for Nige, Curtis and Jason!

Thats a brilliantly written piece. I could actually read that writer's stuff every week and given how terrible QPR could be next season it might be worth it for a laugh! Thanks for sharing 

So... mentally weak, but a player in there. Let's see if Nige, Curtis and Co can get the best out of the lad.

[chinapig]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Must read if your not of a nervous disposition about new signings!!

Brilliant LFT as always.

FWIW, Dickie seems made for Nige, Curtis and Jason!

Thanks Dave, this guy knows his stuff and writes extremely well. As he says, Dickie will benefit from moving to a stable environment and hopefully we will see the benefits of that.

What QPR need is an equivalent of the Pearson/Tinnion/Gould partnership but it looks like it will be more of the same so they will struggle to stay up.

In contrast the hard work we have done over the last 2 years gives us an advantage over them, West Brom and others with financial challenges imo.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Northern Red said:

Good article that, not just about Dickie but about the situation their club finds itself in regarding FFP, transfer strategy, contracts etc, a lot of it sounds very familiar!

Yes, it feels remarkably similar to where we were two summers ago, a terrible run into the end of the season, coupled with losing players below their value.  The only difference is I think Pearson was trying players out (e.g. the kids) to see who was ready for the next season and how drastic he needed to make the cull of senior players to ensure the squad was good enough to do ok.  I think Ainsworth was trying to avoid relegation, so he’s going into the close season a bit blind.

1 hour ago, chinapig said:

Thanks Dave, this guy knows his stuff and writes extremely well. As he says, Dickie will benefit from moving to a stable environment and hopefully we will see the benefits of that.

What QPR need is an equivalent of the Pearson/Tinnion/Gould partnership but it looks like it will be more of the same so they will struggle to stay up.

In contrast the hard work we have done over the last 2 years gives us an advantage over them, West Brom and others with financial challenges imo.

I looked up Clive on LinkedIn, he’s actually a proper journo, that’s not really a surprise is it.

They need exactly what you say.  We will find out whether Ainsworth, Ferdinand, whoever can guide them safely through this season.

If you think QPR are where we were two seasons ago, Two seasons ago, Luton, Millwall, Coventry were where we are now.  If that makes sense?  This ought to be the start of our true uplift.  I do expect more this season.

[Nogbad the Bad]

16 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Must read if your not of a nervous disposition about new signings!!

Brilliant LFT as always.

FWIW, Dickie seems made for Nige, Curtis and Jason!

Well, got to say that's a bit concerning, can't help think of Liam Fontaine.

Assume Nige and the coaches are well aware of any frailties and are confident they can keep his confidence up and get the best out of him.

At AG he'll have the best manager, and probably best behind the scenes support, he's ever had,

Hopefully that'll be enough for him to thrive.

[George Rs]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Yes, it feels remarkably similar to where we were two summers ago, a terrible run into the end of the season, coupled with losing players below their value.  The only difference is I think Pearson was trying players out (e.g. the kids) to see who was ready for the next season and how drastic he needed to make the cull of senior players to ensure the squad was good enough to do ok.  I think Ainsworth was trying to avoid relegation, so he’s going into the close season a bit blind.

I looked up Clive on LinkedIn, he’s actually a proper journo, that’s not really a surprise is it.

They need exactly what you say.  We will find out whether Ainsworth, Ferdinand, whoever can guide them safely through this season.

If you think QPR are where we were two seasons ago, Two seasons ago, Luton, Millwall, Coventry were where we are now.  If that makes sense?  This ought to be the start of our true uplift.  I do expect more this season.

Hopefully we won’t be the millwall of that trio

[Flamin Groovy]

Can’t wait to see a “30 yard shitpinger”

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Flamin Groovy said:

Can’t wait to see a “30 yard shitpinger”

That’s the more finessed version of a thunderbastard!

[Flamin Groovy]

47 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That’s the more finessed version of a thunderbastard!

A Howitzer in the 70’s!

[PHILINFRANCE]

1 hour ago, Flamin Groovy said:

A Howitzer in the 70’s!

Your German reference brings to mind a former Aston Villa defender, the Bavarian, Thomas Hitzlsperger, who had a really fierce shot on him.

After Villa, he went back to Germany, Stuttgart, with whom he won the Bundesliga, and I believe he is still with them in some Director position.

He also spent a few years as a pundit.

I had the pleasure of meeting him socially a few years ago, and he comes across as a really warm and pleasant young man.

[Davefevs]

45 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Your German reference brings to mind a former Aston Villa defender, the Bavarian, Thomas Hitzlsperger, who had a really fierce shot on him.

After Villa, he went back to Germany, Stuttgart, with whom he won the Bundesliga, and I believe he is still with them in some Director position.

He also spent a few years as a pundit.

I had the pleasure of meeting him socially a few years ago, and he comes across as a really warm and pleasant young man.

Isn’t he the player who recently came out as gay?

I thought a howitzer might’ve stemmed from Rainer Bonhof?

[PHILINFRANCE]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Isn’t he the player who recently came out as gay?

I thought a howitzer might’ve stemmed from Rainer Bonhof?

Thomas H did, indeed, come out as Gay quite a few years ago and, at the risk of stereotyping, came across just like most Gay men I have met - very warm, soft spoken and extremely well groomed.

I have no idea from where the ‘Howitzer’ term originated, but you may well be correct - I just seem to recall several free kicks he took whilst playing for Villa.

[CyderInACan]

I hope Dickie turns out to be Mint (one for our older readers, there) 

[elhombrecito]

8 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Your German reference brings to mind a former Aston Villa defender, the Bavarian, Thomas Hitzlsperger, who had a really fierce shot on him.

After Villa, he went back to Germany, Stuttgart, with whom he won the Bundesliga, and I believe he is still with them in some Director position.

He also spent a few years as a pundit.

I had the pleasure of meeting him socially a few years ago, and he comes across as a really warm and pleasant young man.

Hence why he was known as Der Hammer.

[Son of Fred]

On 07/06/2023 at 01:32, Davefevs said:

Must read if your not of a nervous disposition about new signings!!

Brilliant LFT as always.

FWIW, Dickie seems made for Nige, Curtis and Jason!

A very good read as always from Clive Whittingham.

Seems our new boy is very much a confidence player....if things get tough his chin drops & he opts out.

Hopefully the in the new, steadier environment here it will be possible to build up self belief ..

 Apparently struggles badly against the more physical forwards, which suprises me.

Hopefully Nigel can work some magic, Rob gets his mojo back and he flourishes here.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Son of Fred

[PHILINFRANCE]

58 minutes ago, elhombrecito said:

Hence why he was known as Der Hammer.

How interesting.

I have just looked it up, and you are quite correct - not that I doubted you, but I don't recall ever hearing that.

[Davefevs]

Wasn’t Jorg Albertz at Rangers - the Hammer?

[1960maaan]

1 hour ago, elhombrecito said:

Hence why he was known as Der Hammer.

 

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Wasn’t Jorg Albertz at Rangers - the Hammer?

Beat me to it.

[bcfc01]

15 hours ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Well, got to say that's a bit concerning, can't help think of Liam Fontaine.

Assume Nige and the coaches are well aware of any frailties and are confident they can keep his confidence up and get the best out of him.

At AG he'll have the best manager, and probably best behind the scenes support, he's ever had,

Hopefully that'll be enough for him to thrive.

Fontaine was the first thought I had on reading the LFW article.

He was with us for over 8 years and the last couple of years his confidence was totally shot and was not helped by McInnes heaping more pressure on him by making him captain, misplaced amateur psychology by him. 

As with Dickie, he had to leave (he was here too long anyway) to try to restore his confidence. He's still playing in Scotland at 37 I think, which indicates he did.

Lets hope that Dickie gets back to his best, he's a very good player at this level.

 

[Davefevs]

8 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Fontaine was the first thought I had on reading the LFW article.

He was with us for over 8 years and the last couple of years his confidence was totally shot and was not helped by McInnes heaping more pressure on him by making him captain, misplaced amateur psychology by him. 

As with Dickie, he had to leave (he was here too long anyway) to try to restore his confidence. He's still playing in Scotland at 37 I think, which indicates he did.

Lets hope that Dickie gets back to his best, he's a very good player at this level.

 

I guess this is a classic case of deciding whether the player is “shot” or whether the whole team dragged each other down.

There are stories of some bad eggs in the group who weren’t impressed when Critchley replaced Beale and were unprofessional…and it didn’t really get any better under Ainsworth until the whiff (strong whiff of bad eggs - not nice) of relegation became a bit more serious that imagined…and they pulled off a couple of results.

 

[bcfc01]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I guess this is a classic case of deciding whether the player is “shot” or whether the whole team dragged each other down.

There are stories of some bad eggs in the group who weren’t impressed when Critchley replaced Beale and were unprofessional…and it didn’t really get any better under Ainsworth until the whiff (strong whiff of bad eggs - not nice) of relegation became a bit more serious that imagined…and they pulled off a couple of results.

 

Similar situation to City back then, only we went down.

Anyway, lets hope its all behind him as we'll have a bargain if he plays as he did before the last season.

[slartibartfast]

10 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I guess this is a classic case of deciding whether the player is “shot” or whether the whole team dragged each other down.

There are stories of some bad eggs in the group who weren’t impressed when Critchley replaced Beale and were unprofessional…and it didn’t really get any better under Ainsworth until the whiff (strong whiff of bad eggs - not nice) of relegation became a bit more serious that imagined…and they pulled off a couple of results.

 

Let's hope he wasn't one of them ?

[Davefevs]

Just now, slartibartfast said:

Let's hope he wasn't one of them ?

We have some “contacts” in house and outside for character references I guess.

Big Rob, Mark Sykes

Matty Taylor, Chris Martin

[chinapig]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I guess this is a classic case of deciding whether the player is “shot” or whether the whole team dragged each other down.

There are stories of some bad eggs in the group who weren’t impressed when Critchley replaced Beale and were unprofessional…and it didn’t really get any better under Ainsworth until the whiff (strong whiff of bad eggs - not nice) of relegation became a bit more serious that imagined…and they pulled off a couple of results.

 

Yes, moving to a stable, well managed club with the right culture could make all the difference to him.

[beaverface]

2 hours ago, bcfc01 said:

Fontaine was the first thought I had on reading the LFW article.

He was with us for over 8 years and the last couple of years his confidence was totally shot and was not helped by McInnes heaping more pressure on him by making him captain, misplaced amateur psychology by him. 

As with Dickie, he had to leave (he was here too long anyway) to try to restore his confidence. He's still playing in Scotland at 37 I think, which indicates he did.

Lets hope that Dickie gets back to his best, he's a very good player at this level.

 

I started a thread on this a few weeks ago comparing the Fontaine situation with that of Vyner, and how well Vyner has performed in comparison to the beginning of the season. 

My thinking was that NP and the rest of the coaching staff really knew how to push the buttons and get the best out of Vyner. I wonder if they can do the same for Dickie?

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, beaverface said:

I started a thread on this a few weeks ago comparing the Fontaine situation with that of Vyner, and how well Vyner has performed in comparison to the beginning of the season. 

My thinking was that NP and the rest of the coaching staff really knew how to push the buttons and get the best out of Vyner. I wonder if they can do the same for Dickie?

I get the impression they challenge them, push them to find out what their propensity to improve / attitude to driving their own improvement is, too.

We’ve seen a few different examples too, not all have been successes.

[alexukhc]

Drank with a QPR fan last night, he’s fuming about this and thinks they’re going down next year

[beaverface]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I get the impression they challenge them, push them to find out what their propensity to improve / attitude to driving their own improvement is, too.

We’ve seen a few different examples too, not all have been successes.

Yep, I think Bakinson is an example of it going the other way.

[johnbytheriver]

Any news on Haydon Roberts?

[W-S-M Seagull]

23 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I get the impression they challenge them, push them to find out what their propensity to improve / attitude to driving their own improvement is, too.

We’ve seen a few different examples too, not all have been successes.

What I really like is that whilst we champion self improvement, we are very clear that the self improvement is for the benefit of the team. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

On 08/06/2023 at 10:02, bcfc01 said:

Fontaine was the first thought I had on reading the LFW article.

He was with us for over 8 years and the last couple of years his confidence was totally shot and was not helped by McInnes heaping more pressure on him by making him captain, misplaced amateur psychology by him. 

As with Dickie, he had to leave (he was here too long anyway) to try to restore his confidence. He's still playing in Scotland at 37 I think, which indicates he did.

Lets hope that Dickie gets back to his best, he's a very good player at this level.

 

Maybe, but 2 ways of looking at that.

The other scenario is that Fontaine pleaded to remain Captain and play himself back in to form and Del came to the conclusion removing the captaincy from him would have completely shattered a player who on form was one of his best.

It didn't work out but it's a very rare a fairly experienced and formerly reliable player loses confidence to the extent he doesn't recover his form and it would be a tricky situation for any manager to handle.

It may be there was simply no other candidate for the Captaincy or even a team meeting where the players assured Fontaine he had their support. Del must have weighed things up and came to the conclusion a more positive outcome was likely rather than an almost complete collapse.

A failed move to Southampton was deemed to be the catalyst for his loss of confidence/form irrc. though I remember thinking at the time their bid came as something of a surprise because he was already not at his best.