The birth of a beautiful club

We return to the subject of "Money versus God" and the concurrent rebirths of both AC Ancona and QPR. You may recall from previous blogs setting up the contest where QPR got Briatore and Ecclestone and Ancona got the Pope. At that point as a veteran fan of the Hoops, I thought that disaster loomed and that Ancona would take the divine intervention and streak away. Money in football is no guarantee of success. Whereas Maradona proved that God can often come in at the most helpful times to save a sinner.

Now nearing the end of the season the picture is fast evolving where money is shifting into the final furlong a length or two to the good. Admittedly Ancona seem set for promotion and Serie B but they were in that slot from the day they kissed the Pope's ring. They have continued in a steady vein since the takeover. QPR on the other hand have dramatically stemmed form that would have guaranteed them a dip into the 3rd Division [old habits sorry] and are now developing a neck complaint looking up the table. All well and good but the true joy of this Lazarus like comeback [Mark, not the biblical one] has been the ability for Briatore to transform the whole fabric of the club, to turn them from a gun toting laughing stock of an operation, to a slick and sensitive club that is going places.

To me it's all marketing but it is just the kind of marketing that a club like QPR needs. The tradition of QPR is very glamorous. Since 1965 QPR have enjoyed some heady times and laced through that recent history have been players of immense skill and personality. The list is endless. No other club can boast a series of number 10's like it. Briatore and his sidekick Amit Bhatia can constantly be heard preaching the gospel of the club traditions and the power and passion of the support. QPR appear rich but they are using their heads not their wallets to build a sustainable viable club. "We are not Chelsea". is the mantra. Who wants to be? You only have to look at the likes of Terry and Lampard and their pay packets to see the poisoness route Chelsea have chosen. Pay packets that appear to all of us as indecent and obscene, but to Frank and John the slip is always half full.

The new kids in Hammersmith will build something unique and precious because that is what that have bought in it's rawest form in the very first place. Exciting days lie ahead. Briatore made Benetton Shops and F1 success out of thin air and just watch him create the greatest football club in the world. You read it hear first.