| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 17:18 - Oct 30 with 885 views | francisbowles |
| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 17:27 - Oct 29 by stowmarketrange |
But that was a better 3 game week than last week’s.We were away,home and then away,which is the way it should always be.Last week we were home followed by two longish road trips,including a late finish on Wednesday with little time to train before hitting the road again to Derby.
Some teams have more of these ‘perfect’ 3 game weeks than others,which is unfair in my opinion.We have the same next month with a Wednesday trek back from Blackburn and then a trip to Norwich,with little time to recover and train. |
Agree with that SMR. My point is, it's a little early to be accusing the current squad of 'losing mentality'. I personally think fatigue has a lot to do with it and the scheduling is severe. |  | |  |
| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 18:21 - Oct 30 with 780 views | Northernr |
| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 01:46 - Oct 30 by stainrods_elbow |
It's naive merely to speak of mental weakness. It's systemically/culturally managed lowered expectations, with fan buy-in, that makes the space for it. Players and managers in the 70s and 80s and 90s never trotted out this kind of guff. Now they do, and too many supporters swallow it hook, line, and sinker. There's no comeback for players who don't put in a shift, financially or otherwise, and so it goes on and on.
Chat GPT helpfully came up this synopsis, and it's no surprise to learn that it 'top' managers like Wenger, Ferguson, Klopp and Pep, who led with the whining, mainly on 'entitled' commercial grounds. Now it's f*cking endemic.
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Managers have always sometimes had to cope with jammed schedules, but public, frequent complaints about “fixture congestion”, “playing every three days” and the physical/mental fatigue it causes only became common and politically salient from the late 1990s → 2000s onward, and then intensified through the 2010s as Champions League/TV/commercial pressures and sports science awareness grew. Earlier eras had congested calendars (Easter bank-holiday pileups, desperate end-of-season runs) but few recorded public protests.
Key moments & evidence
• 1960s — congested calendars but little public moaning.
The Guardian notes that every Easter in the early 1960s could mean three full days of league football in four days, but “I don't recall anyone moaning about fixture congestion then.” That suggests congestion is old, public complaint is not.
The Guardian
• 1990s → early 2000s — the culture shifts.
As the Premier League, European club competitions and TV money expanded, managers began to air grievances more often in public. By the early 2000s Wenger and Ferguson were sparring with governing bodies and the FA about replays, midweek matches and re-scheduling. (Arsène Wenger had argued for scrapping replays in 2003; both he and Ferguson voiced schedule complaints repeatedly thereafter.)
The Independent
• Mid/late-2000s — regular public complaints from top managers.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger repeatedly criticised the timing between Champions League and league fixtures (2008–2009 coverage). These comments became a regular theme of pre- and post-match interviews.
The Guardian
• 2010–2013 — loud, frequent public language (“one game every three days”, “mentally and physically fatigued”).
Managers such as Arsène Wenger, Roberto Mancini and Rafael Benítez publicly blamed fatigue for poor performances and pleaded for fixture relief. Mancini explicitly used the “one game every three days” phrasing in 2013.
The Guardian
• Late-2010s — modern crescendo (Guardiola, Klopp, etc.).
Pep Guardiola used blunt language — calling the calendar “crazy” and warning it would “kill” players (2018–2019 coverage). Sports science, rotation policies and squad management all became part of the public argument.
Sportsnet.ca
• 2020 (COVID) and after — acute spotlight on congestion.
The pandemic-compressed seasons made fixture congestion and recovery a research topic and a political issue; studies and institutional debate about player welfare and injury risk multiplied.
University of Huddersfield
Why the change happened
More competitions + richer schedules — Champions League group stages, more international fixtures, club friendlies and global tours.
TV and commercial imperatives — midweek matches, Boxing Day/NY windows and re-scheduling to suit broadcasters.
Media & PR culture — managers learned public pressure on governing bodies can influence scheduling; press conferences are a platform.
Sports science awareness — managers and clubs now cite measurable fatigue/injury risk rather than simply “we’re tired”.
Bigger squads but also higher intensity — rotation helps, but top teams still feel the impact of playing many high-intensity matches in short periods. |
My main takeaway from this is the message board's linguist in chief is just getting ChatGPT to do his heavy lifting these days. Appalling.  |  | | |
| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 18:53 - Oct 30 with 711 views | Paddyhoops |
I think were following the wrong club if were expecting great things from QPR.
We’ve been mediocre for years now but attendances are on the up and up .
Another full house on Saturday. Weird club. | | | |
| Ramshackled R’s end three-game week on a bum note at Derby – Report on 01:37 - Oct 31 with 548 views | Jigsore |
haven't we suffered enough without LLM posts on this forum? |  | | |
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