I am reminded of a story about a couple in Florida who had their home foreclosed on by their bank even though they either had paid timely or it was paid for. They sued the bank and won a settlement. The bank refused to pay so one day they foreclosed on the bank itself. Showed up with the sheriff and changed locks etc. If I remember correctly they had their settlement check by the end of the day.
Well, if there have been any issues with registration, QPR isn't acting like it: 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗦 💙 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 🤍 𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦Season 2023/24 📸 pic.twitter.com/JxW1CgzcQD— QPR FC (@QPR) September 27, 2023 Maybe my predictions of a looming legal battle are wrong! Wouldn't be the first time.
There are certainly instances of clubs screwing up paperwork etc. but for the most part, when they drop a decent dollar on a player, they do their due dil. Not that British clubs are exactly clean, but in a question over who is more likely to have fairly solid legal advice, I'll go with QPR over Boavista every time.
The problem is that the nature of the registration process gives Boavista a chance to lodge a complaint. If they're lying, they will be admonished for it at some point, but it would hold up Reggie's ability to play regardless. No amount of due diligence can prepare for a president who is possibly willing to misrepresent events to FPF to deny the release of Reggie's ITC. Also, QPR aren't exactly known for following all the rules.
Oh yeah, there are not a lot of legal perfectionists in footie. But it's not really in a club's interest to contract a player that might not be able to play. But I got not real idea. Legal actions will be the tell.
Yeah, I'll be keeping an eye on the QPR team sheet this weekend. If he's on it, it's probably the last we'll hear about his relationship with Boavista. If not, then we're back to waiting for news
Of note, the FFP issues described in those two links took place in 2014 and earlier. American Lee Hoos has been the Chief Executive Officer at QPR since moving from Burnley in summer 2015. Based on the way Hoos operates, I think he is not likely to make a costly mistake here. I guess we'll see. That would be pretty quick. He hasn't had a pre-season. I'd be surprised if he was on the bench this week, though I look forward to him suiting up for the club soon. Edited to add that in his initial video interview, he mentioned that the manager and trainers have a plan for him. "It takes a little bit of time." Discussion starting at 3:24. https://x.com/QPR/status/1706624669653057799?s=20
They've also said something to the effect of "he'll have to fight his way in", so even if he was match fit it sounds like wouldn't be handed a spot on the bench. But, we also won't know his registration status until he makes a team sheet... all of the relevant repositories (the EFL/FA's lists of registered players, FIFAs TMS, etc) are closed to the public as far as I can tell.
Ainsworth did say "he'll have to fight his way in," but when fit he'll certainly have an instant spot on the bench. Our backup at RB right now would be an out-of-position CB or DM. I don't think it'll take him long to take over the starting RB job. The current incumbent at right back is Osman Kakay, a 26-year-old English-born Sierra Leone international (17 caps, captained the side for the first time during the last window). Kakay has been with the club since his teens, went on a couple of loans when he was younger, and has, in recent years, been in the mix. But he's never really won the job -- he's had stretches of 6-10 starts in a row 3 or 4 times over the past four seasons until this year. On a tight budget, we haven't brought in any competition this season, even on loan (as last season), until now. Kakay has started all 8 league games (and our League Cup defeat) thus far. His contract expires this season. Transfermarkt lists Kakay's transfer value at 400K Euros vs. Cannon's 4M. I note that Cannon is tied for 2nd highest value on the club (Ilias Chair, a member of Morocco's WC squad (though his only appearance was in the 3rd place game), is first at 10M). Kakay isn't that bad, but if you asked most QPR supporters about our most glaring weaknesses, they'd probably say right back and depth at striker. As far as the formalities being completed, I note Cannon's squad number has not been announced and he doesn't yet appear on the roster on the website. FYI, for those not familiar with QPR, 21-year-old American forward Charlie Kelman is also on the roster. He was loaned out the last couple of seasons, and isn't getting much time yet this year (1 start, 1 sub appearance), but is often on the bench. https://www.qpr.co.uk/players/charliekelman
I love me some legal drama, but Reggie has been through enough. Let the kid play already... That said, I'm still skeptical by how seamless its been with QPR. If there really is no challenge from Boavista over his registration, then the club's president blatantly lied to the press about legal issues. I wonder what the libel laws are like in Portugal?
Me too. OTOH what's in it for Reggie if he pursues the guy in court? Win or lose, Reggie will waste a lot of time and, especially, energy on organizing the lawyers, making depositions, giving testimony, etc. It's a guaranteed rabbit hole for his psyche, which will affect his performances on the pitch and I highly doubt he joined QPR because he wants to finish his career there. Then there's the financial aspect. Reggie will undoubtedly have to pay his lawyers up front before the case even gets near a court and good lawyers aren't cheap. Then, if he wins his libel suit, the guy will appeal, and appeal, and appeal . . . Even if Reggie prevails, he'll find that the guy's broke as hell. Just collect his back pay from Boavista, tear it up on the pitch and get a Top 5 contract in the next year or two. Then the fans will take out their frustrations on the president for him.
Oh, yeah, it 1000% wouldn't be worth going after him, my question was more like "are there England-esque libel laws in Portugal, and if yes, why would the president put himself at risk like that?" Not that a poorly run club needs an excuse to do something stupid, but that's a new level of stupid.
Hot off the presses from today's QPR program! If I'd sourced some clip art I could have been like the guy who traveled 1200 miles to not see Messi.
Well, Reggie can't make things any worse. If you ignore the part where Coventry scored all their goals it was a pretty even game. Fans around me directed their ire towards the ref more than the team.
Yesterday, Boavista cancelled their pre-game training after the medical staff refused to attend, citing unpaid wages.Today, they had another training session canceled due to unpaid wages with stadium staff deciding not to open the club's facilities. [@zerozeropt] pic.twitter.com/UOSxpKgysl— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) October 1, 2023
Looks like things are going swimmingly at Boavista. Surely, Cannon had no legitimate beef with them, no sir.
where that Chess_Panther guy now?.... LOL Would love to see you explain away all this other stuff. Go ahead and try and blame it on Reggie. Haha!
I was wondering the same thing. We all have favorite teams and are homers but if my team did this I would be so embarrassed to the point of taking a break and hoping they fix it.
I think their argument would be the same: The Portuguese league require clubs to show proof of payment to the league once every financial quarter. Reggie never alleged missing payments, just late payments, but how could they be late if the club is still in good standing with the league? The problem is that he's using the relationship between the club and the league as proof that the club never violated the agreement that defines the relationship between the club and Reggie. Maybe the club was paying Reggie 4 months salary every 4 months, but if Reggie's contract stipulated that he gets paid weekly or monthly, then what does that even matter? They never even addressed the other allegations / controversies. Their argument was very narrowly about Reggie's late-payment claims.
Where is the chess master to explain all of these latest developments? edit: d’oh. Someone above beat me to this request!
If I wasn’t so lazy I’d search this thread and tag our local expert so he at least he’d know he’s getting dunked on.