Successful chairmen and money men all know that patience is required if you are going to build a club capable of success
Without wanting to blow smoke up anyone's backside, there are some great examples of how to run a club.
One of the best is Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough. He is fantastic at what he does – patient, loyal to his managers and doing things in the best interest of the club and not himself. Darragh MacAnthony has been a godsend to Peterborough. They have done ridiculously well.
Unfortunately, not all are as good as that, which is why I will wait with bated breath to see what happens at QPR.
I know what Neil Warnock is going through at the moment. I was in charge at Loftus Road when Gianni Paladini arrived as chairman and I ended up going because they wanted their own man. That's the problem when someone buys a club. They tend to arrive with an idea of what they want and who they want to do it. For a manager that's not good news.
You either have to do a really good job and make it impossible for them to get rid of you – which I hope Neil does and think he will do – or you have to be so powerful they can't take you on. That's why Sir Alex Ferguson has survived. He is too good. No one would dare try to get the better of him.
I hope Tony Fernandes, the new owner at QPR, is a sensible bloke who does things the right way because it is a club I hold dear. I was in charge for five years up until 2006 and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I am proud I played a part in them not going bust, because they had all sorts of financial problems. At least with this new investment, the club's longevity is guaranteed.
Who knows, Mr Fernandes could be one of the good guys. There are plenty out there – contrary to popular belief, a chairman or owner can understand football and do things correctly. What the sensible owners realise is that all clubs have their ups and downs. It goes in cycles and during the bad times you have to be patient. Changing things every five minutes only breeds instability.
It is not as simple as chucking money at it and buying players left, right and centre. Infrastructure is important and you have to get that right. The first thing you do is build behind the scenes, starting with the youth system. That is what Ferguson did at Manchester United. That requires patience from an owner. Unfortunately a lot of these super-rich people don't have enough patience.
I'm still astounded that last year the two other managers who had got their clubs promoted to the Premier League were sacked during the season. Chris Hughton had led Newcastle to the Championship title by a country mile and Roberto Di Matteo had done a fantastic job at West Bromwich. They won promotion way before I did at Blackpool and they did it in more style. Yet I was the only one who kept his job. I was also the only one that got relegated, which is bloody stupid if you think about it.
I guess it sums up why I have a lot of respect for my chairman, Karl Oyston. I don't always see eye to eye with him but no matter what the result on a Saturday, or if I sign an absolute duffer, he sees the long-term picture and isn't prone to knee-jerk reactions.
I hope Fernandes has half the understanding and patience my chairman does because Neil is going to need his total backing. QPR's manager has enough on his plate trying to make sure he keeps his team in the Premier League. The owner's best chance of helping that is to back Neil because no one will have a better chance of leading the team to safety.
That isn't sticking up for a colleague, it's a fact. There is no one better equipped to keep QPR up and if the new board think otherwise they are making a huge mistake.
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