New CEO

Jesus, it shows what we were starting to think about FFP was true - we must be tight to the limit.

If QPR do not sign anybody this month we go down. The group have been terrible for the majority of the last 15 months and are going down without reinforcements.

Lee Hoos has sounded like a beaten man for about 2 years and has been too defensive to ideas etc, so I think this change is good in terms of CEO, but goodness me the outlook is bleak.

It’s admitting defeat
They’ve no intention of trying to keep us up
Our club has sunk to a new low
And the supporters are the ones that suffer at the end of the day

I agree. If Lee Hoos was doing CEO and Chairman roles OK before, why the change - and extra expense! Mind you, now I know why the requested interview was postponed until the end of the month. I think this negates my planned chat....

Hoos has retired, he told the club he was leaving the CEO role last summer so this is the end of that recruitment process

I get that Dave but I just question the timing. Now is when we need continuity and to focus upon survival. All else should take a back seat.

Evening all, apologies for having been away for a protracted period. Had a lot of things going on family wise that I’ve had to settle and participate in, most of it not so good. Don’t need to go into it any further than that, not after or wanting anybody’s sympathies either. (We’ve all got shit going on). But just thought I’d explain the absence, and to let you know I’ve not just abandoned ship.

Re the New CEO. Does a 26 y/o worry me? Well not in principle. If a 26 y/o has a track record of successful pursuits that would warrant being employed at this level, then fine. Age isn’t a barrier. I’m 26 myself, I’d believe in my capacities to do that job, albeit without anything on my record to suggest I can do this role.

Do I have concerns about Nourry? Well some, yeah. Actually a few. I did a little bit of digging after this appointment just to try and get some info on the bloke. All you can find is a half-arsed LinkedIn, an Oxford University booklet showing he does indeed have a degree from there, and a few PR appearances on footballing podcasts to evidence anything of his career. That worries me. Very, very opaque. The fact his degree, the quality of it, and subject matter aren’t listed makes me question the opaqueness further. northwesthoop describes him as smug and I’d concur on that. Typical of his education background. And, given his diverse background ethnicity wise, coupled with my experience of lads of our age who go to those types of schools, Nourry appears to be little more than a typical, cosmopolitan, upper middle-class child of a very wealthy couple who probably work either in financial services or a global logistics firm that requires them to travel the globe and park their children at very expensive schools. Assuming this, he exudes the air of a man who has had to compete for very little in his life and has landed in positive positions as much due to his upbringing and background as his capabilities. Acknowledge that that is an assumption. I’ve met lots of lads like him, the ‘I’ve got money and I know it’ brigade, both at school and at university. Just to note, I didn’t go privately but had lots of interactions with privately educated through a debating society I was part of. I would also add here, that people like Nourry are an ever growing entity in the game. The commercialising of the game has enormously pushed out working class kids. And the data arrival has benefitted wealthy kids with parents in financial services who have insight to using mathematical databases to simplify and explain otherwise unquantifiable industries. There of equal existence in the media world too. Many of you will know the News Broadcaster Alistair Stewart (formerly of ITV). His son is the brains behind Tifo, which is excellent on all things football, but has been massively advantaged by daddy’s connections and money. Their (Tifo) relationship with The Athletic, from what I can gather, has also been helped by these private-education connections. And also helps explain how the likes of Nourry have appeared on the podcast ahead of other companies working in this field.

What other concerns do I have? Firstly Retexo. Like Nourry, this is another opaque with very little content online. Their webpage is basic and rudimentary which leaves me worried about their credibility. Please note I’m saying they are no good at their job, I’m just questioning how credible they are as an entity. It lists very little beyond a series of images of clubs they work with as well as a bland biography about the owner Charles Gould, who also belongs to this preppy private school brigade (Radley College then Durham Uni). Its LinkedIn lists that it employs less than 10 people, which in itself is not a problem, but it does bring into question the statement of ‘success’ that Nourry has had in his career. If this company was globally successful, as you would expect if you’re being appointed a CEO at 26 on the back of it, then why is it only employing 10 people? It also doesnt even list Nourry as an employee. The page is also very opaque and limited upon what exactly they do, what their reach is and how the perform. Equally, as one fan has pointed out on Twitter, the auditing company have concluded that the best people to employ is themselves… that to me looks fishy. This is not to say they won’t be a positive addition, but I have reservations. I’d also have questions to be asked how the club arrived at these guys. My gut would say that their if family link somewhere (someone’s son having gone to school with one of these guys). But I await to find evidence of this.

What else? As singlespeed has pointed out, Nourry’s comments are essentially prepare yourselves for League One. Not only is the anathema to us as fans. But I’d question what Martí is thinking about this along with the comments about FFP and not singing anybody in this transfer window. Very doom and gloom. I would suggest this has dangerous long-term implications as well. Retexo are US based and are likely to covet US investment for the club should a buy-out be on its way; this idea is given extra credence by Richard Reilly’s presence on the board. With US investors preferential ownership model multi-club then there is a real danger that, as a League One side, we end up becoming nothing more than a feeder club who exist to fatten up other peoples pigs for markets. There’s an even worse danger we end up like Charlton under Roland Duchatelet and end up with an excess of loan players that are surplus to requirements from other clubs within the model. So, on this front I’d be worried. I’d wonder whether the US investor could prove to be the guy at Palace who seems to be keen on selling his shares after falling out with Parish. But again, that’s me drawing dots in places where there are no truths.

The last decade plus has taught us to be sceptical. I’d advise fans on being this at all times because it keeps your antenna up and means you aren’t easily fooled, and unlikely to be mugged off by any PR crap that the club spunks out. But it also means you keep asking questions. And questions are exactly what need to be asked here because this is an opaque group of people getting involved here. Echoes of Wigan Athletic? Maybe. But the future is as bleak as it was before, not brighter, with these guys onboard.

I’ll see you all next year at Shrewsbury and Port Vale.