Bircham, Curtis and Paul Parker on Ray Jones (Bircham and Curtis also re Takeover)

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UPDATE: 2:30pm really Nice Act by Arsenal's Robin Van Persie

QPR Official Site -RSENAL'S GESTURE
The Club today received a personal message from Arsenal striker Robin van Persie following the untimely death of Ray Jones.
The Dutchman sent a signed shirt to the Harlington Training Complex this morning, with the note: 'In memory. A sad loss to football.'
Jones, who was tragically killed in a car accident on Saturday morning, was a boyhood fan of the Gunners.
R's skipper Adam Bolder accepted the shirt on behalf of the Club, and told www.qpr.co.uk: "At a difficult time like this, it's nice to see the footballing world come together in the way it has.
"We have all been really heartened by the tributes that continue to flow in, and this shirt and message from van Persie is a lovely gesture."
QPR would like to place on record its thanks to Arsenal Football Club and, in particular, Robin van Persie QPR

Mark Bircham Icons
QPR needs to be taken in a new direction

It was shock to hear about the death of Ray Jones in a car accident. He was a lovely lad and obviously I knew him quite well at QPR. There are some real flash young boys in football but Ray was the opposite of that. He was such a nice lad, relaxed, laid back and really popular.
It's just another terrible tragedy for everyone at QPR and my thoughts are with his family and friends.

As a QPR fan I hope some sort of takeover does happen soon because the club really needs to be taken in a new direction. Of course there has been loads of takeover talk recently, but as with anything at Loftus Road you don't believe it until it happens.
I'm not getting my hopes up until somebody comes in, pays off the £20 million debts and comes up with a plan for the future. At the moment I'm just happy so long as the club keeps its head above water.
QPR deserves to have someone in charge who cares about the club and the fans and I'm hoping that person comes along some time soon. Icons

JOHN CURTIS - ICONS - Subdued Week at QPR

As you can imagine everything is very subdued at QPR this week after the tragic death of young Ray Jones.
The fitness coach and kit man came to our rooms individually before the Burnley game to tell us what had happened and everyone was simply devastated. We all just got straight on the bus and came home.
It was the longest bus journey I've experienced in football. Normally there's loads of banter and laughs, but obviously we were all just very quiet, thinking about what had happened.
As Ray had been injured recently he wasn't training a lot with the rest of us, but he used to get changed opposite me in the locker room and he seemed like a really nice guy. He was quite quiet and was a real gentle giant.
He was a very popular lad with his team mates and it was easy to see why. He was committed and simply a good bloke. He was also a very talented player who had great touch for a big lad.
It's awful that something like this should happen so soon after the death of Kiyan Prince as well. They are two terrible tragedies that have hit young players at this club and we all feel so sorry for their families.
The only thing we can do now is push on. We won't forget these guys and I'm sure they will be everyone's thoughts at QPR, but we know we have games coming up and we have to be prepared.
Southampton come here on Saturday and because the Burnley game was called off we haven't played for two weeks. We need to get back on the pitch and play some football.
We've only had two games and I thought we did really well in our first match against Bristol City. We were really unlucky to come away with only a 2-2 draw from a match we definitely deserved to win.
Cardiff at home was a disappointment. We lost 2-0 and simply didn't play well at all. It was just an off day. We want to put things right against Southampton on Saturday. They may not have had a great start but they are still one of the fancied sides in this league so I'm sure they will be dangerous.
We do want to put the trials of last season behind us and to some extent we feel we are turning a corner. But this is a difficult league and we can't afford to relax for a moment.
There may be talks of takeovers but that isn't something that affects the players at all. There is nothing we can do about it so we don't think about it. If a takeover happens then we hope it will be in the best interests of the club, but all we can do is go out and try to win on the pitch.
I also heard that QPR had been warned about our disciplinary record and that we could be fined if it doesn't improve. But nobody at the club has said anything to us about that and it's not something we are conscious of.
I'm sure nobody here goes out to be dirty. We just get on with trying to play football and win games. I have no idea why we got so many cards next year but it won't affect how we approach the game. We will always go out to compete fairly. Icons

Paul Parker Bromley Times - 30 August 2007
"IT was a terrible shame to hear what happened to young QPR player Ray Jones, who tragically died in a car crash before the club's game against Burnley on Saturday.
I haven't had many experiences of this sort of thing, though I can remember - when I was about 17 - the former QPR keeper Dave Clement took his own life because of depression.
It only came back to me later on in my career when his son Neil, who now plays for West Brom, asked me about his dad when he was an apprentice at Chelsea.
It is always particularly poignant when it happens to someone so young - regardless of the fact it looked like he was going to be a good player - and that he is never going to fulfil his potential in life. Bromley Times