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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Gregory on No Ziegler and on Possible QPR Player Loan & Danny Cullip on Joining QPR (Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times)

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Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - 06 February 2007 Loan arrangement may suit Gregory
John Gregory plans to dip into the transfer market again when the loan window opens today after missing out on Tottenham wide man Reto Ziegler, writes Ben Kosky.
QPR attempted to loan the Swiss international on transfer deadline day last week, but their bid was scuppered when the player was offered a move to Genoese giants Sampdoria instead.
That left Gregory short of options on either flank for his preferred 3-5-2 formation, especially with the versatile Marcus Bignot still sidelined by a medial ligament injury.
The Rangers boss admitted: "We're still a little lop-sided on the left and Ziegler or someone of that ilk would have been perfect.
"We were never really close with Ziegler - we tried to bring him across but he had the choice of playing in Serie A and if I was him I'd have gone there too.
"I'd love to have done a bit more business, but the loan window opens again this week, so there's still the prospect of maybe bringing in one or two more people.
"We've got to be careful financially, though - the club's made mistakes in the past. We looked at one or two other players, but they might have meant stepping outside our wage structure and we can't do that."...
Kilburn Times

Rs boosted by extra Dan power - Danny Cullip: Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times 06 February 2007
DANNY Cullip's brand of defending can best be described as 'no frills' - and first impressions suggest he certainly represents value for money.
In terms of a transfer fee, Cullip cost QPR nothing at all when he moved from Nottingham Forest, but the club jettisoned eight players in order to finance his arrival, along with those of Sampsa Timoska and Adam Bolder.
On the pitch, the big defender has already shown he pulls no punches - and his approach is exactly the same when asked to outline his role at Loftus Road.
"My job's to upset strikers and make it as uncomfortable an afternoon as I can," explains Cullip, who made his Rangers debut at the heart of a three-man defence in Saturday's 3-1 win over Burnley.
"First and foremost in football you've got to be committed and do the ugly things. Every 50-50 tackle that was made, we came out on top and that speaks volumes.
"We'll need that to get clear but, never mind the last 16 games, we need that through the whole season. This is one result, a fantastic performance and we've now got to replicate it, showing the same desire."
The 30-year-old centre-back first gained his reputation as a no-nonsense player just down the road at Fulham, where he helped to initiate their rise from Division Three under Micky Adams.
Cullip followed Adams to Brentford and then Brighton, where the pair repeated their promotion success in 2001 and, even after the manager departed, the Seagulls moved on up to the Championship.
Playing as part of a defensive trio was something that Cullip became accustomed to at the Withdean Stadium and again with Forest, who he joined in 2005 after a spell with Sheffield United.
"I've played the system at a lot of my clubs and the manager's asked me to go in middle of a three, which is handy - I've got two whippets either side of me and I can get them to do all the running!" Cullip observes.
"All credit to the players, we had two days' training with this system and we came out 3-1 winners."
Cullip has no regrets about trading Forest's promotion quest for the fight to stay in the Championship - and his previous spells at Craven Cottage and Griffin Park mean that he can now list three of west London's four professional clubs on his CV.
But Rangers fans will be relieved - and probably not surprised - to hear that he does not expect Chelsea to complete the set!
"I can't see the other one coming in my direction - and I'm happy here," Cullip insists. "A lot of my friends and family are QPR fans and, as soon as I knew of the club's interest, it wasn't a hard decision. Kilburn Times

Also: on Sionn Royce Returning to Southend Roycey returns to his Roots - Ben Kosky
Kilburn Times06 February 2007

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