QPR Year in Review - December 2006

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DECEMBER 2006

[To be updated!]

ON THE FIELD:
Crystal Palace (A) 0-3...0-1 defeat away to Stoke...0-1 defeat at home to Wolves...
1-0 home win over Barnsley ...1-0 Boxing Day defeat at Birmingham...Norwich!

PLAYERS
Jimmy Smith staying with QPR till the end of the season,with Michael Mancienne hopefully following. QPR reportedly fail to sign a third Chelsea player, Lassana Diarra. Press references to QPR signing of Israeli forward, Omer Golan.
Moore, Doherty and Munday return from their loans.
More rumours about Lee Cook attracting Premiership interest with Chairman Paladini declaring not a penny less than 10 million. Ray Jones refusing to sign a new contract and press say Newcastle, Charlton, Liverpool among the interested clubs. Bircham talking about moving on, since has yet to be offered new contract.
Gary Waddock/Gianni Paladini's Summer Signing, Adam Czerkas was released. Two new players reported Officially signing in January window: Defenders: Sampsa Timoska and Avery John. John Gregory talks about the club being in [relegation] trouble.

OFF THE FIELD:
Daily Express Story re QPR Finances - eliciting response from QPR.
AKUTRS has yet to publish the promised/demanded-Paladini response.

QPR RESPONSE TO DAILY EXPRESS
QPR Official Site: Official Club statement by Antonio Caliendo and Gianni Paladini.
We owe it to QPR fans to respond to the allegations made in the Daily Express on Saturday in an article entitled "Are Rangers Going bust?"
The article was misleading in many respects and we can assure our many supporters that there is no possibility of QPR going bust whilst we remain on board.
We have seen too many attacks on QPR in the press that simply don't reflect the reality of today's situation. It seems there is always someone who wants to discredit our club.
Our goal remains the same as always: to take QPR to the highest position in English football. Despite injuries and recent results, we believe John Gregory will be able to take QPR back to the position it was in when he played for the Club.
We accept that talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. We will only ever prove our critics wrong by taking the Club forward, and we are 100 per-cent committed to continuing with that.
Finally, we would also like to take this opportunity to wish all of the staff and fans of QPR a very happy Christmas and a successful New Year.
Antonio Caliendo - Chairman of QPR Holdings
Gianni Paladini - Chairman of QPR FC QPR Official Site QPR

Daily Express- Saturday, December 16 - By Tony Yorke
Are Rangers going bust?; -Even Club's Accountants Have Fears for Future
Accountants at debt-ridden Queens Park Rangers have warned the club that they may ha ve broken the law in their desperate attempt to avoid going bust.
The Daily Express has discovered the amazing confession in financial documents filed last month at Companies House - the government agency reporting directly to the Department of Trade and Industry.
Recording debts to the tune of GBP 19million, an annual income of just GBP 8.5m and losses that are running at GBP 4.32m, auditors Rothman Pantall & Co have chosen to paint a very bleak future picture of the struggling Championship club, who are run by colourful chairman Gianni Paladini.
They expose the current accounts of Queens Park Rangers Football & Athletic Co - the company who run the football side of the QPR business - as being worthless because there is no "evidence" to back up the club's claims.
And they say the club's financial statements - lodged with the DTI an incredible 16 months late - may have been prepared improperly. If true, this would be a clear breach of the Companies Act and regarded as a criminal offence.
"We have had problems and the accounts have been a mess, " Paladini said yesterday. "But the issues we have faced have not been of my making.
"They are the results of the actions of the club's former directors. I am simply the man who has been left to pick up the pieces - which has included raising 6m [pounds[ since September 2005 so we can pay our way.
"Without that money, we would have been forced to call in the administrators because our losses have simply been so great. But we have not been insolvent, I guarantee that." But Paladini's reassurances may not have the desired effect on officials from the Football League and the DTI.
They will be very concerned by the claim that evidence provided by the club's board - including current and past directors - cannot not be relied upon, particularly over the club's assertion that they are a "going concern" and have not traded while bust.
And their own accountants have delivered a damning indictment on the business credentials of the club's board.
"We planned our audit so as to obtain all of the information and explanations considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable reassurance that the financial statements are free of material mis-statement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error, " say the accountancy firm.
"But the evidence available to us to confirm appropriateness of preparing the financial statements on the going concern basis was limited. This is because the company have not prepared any profit or cash flow projections for the appropriate period subsequent to the balance sheet date." As a result, they say, they have been "unable to form a view" as to whether the club are a going concern. They also could not offer an opinion as to whether the statements gave a true and fair state of the company's affairs or if they had been properly prepared.
Senior sources within the game's top brass and the DTI suggest they may be forced to act. "We are monitoring the QPR situation very closely and have spoken to the club about the restructuring of their debts, " said a Football League spokesman. "If we find out that Rangers have broken the rules then we will act." It is difficult to assess just how bad Rangers' financial affairs are because the figures released by the club on November 15 relate to the period ending May 31 2004 and are hopelessly out of date.
However, a well-placed finance director at a Premiership club who has seen the Rangers accounts, said:
"There is a golden rule when it comes to football finances - you must avoid getting in over your heads at all costs.
"It goes to another level when your own accountant reports publicly that there is no evidence to back up important financial claims - and that the club may have breached the Companies Act.
"If that was to happen at my club, we would expect to be under formal investigation by the DTI and the League." Regardless of what might happen with the League and the DTI, Paladini has pledged to ensure things are done by the book in future.
"I have had professional people around me and relied on them to do things properly and on time, " he said. "That hasn't always happened. But you have my word that it will do now. From now on our accounts will be sorted out on time." (Daily Express, December 16)

GREGORY PRAISE FOR PALADINI
From an interview with Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times
"...The chairman's been fantastic - he's allowed me to get on with it, but I have to look at the financial side of things as well and there won't be any transfer fees spent by us unless someone comes along and offers us huge money for Lee Cook or Ray Jones.
"Gianni Paladini's supported the two previous managers that have been under him far more than a lot of chairmen would have done and I don't think he ever turned them down with a request for a new signing or another member of staff in some capacity.
"He works his nuts off for this club, he's given me tremendous support since the day I got here and I hope we can get to 50 points and give him Championship football again next season (Kilburn Times)

SNIPPETS:
QPR Reserves played US Generation Adidas team (and lost).

Complete QPR Report - December 2006 - QPR Report