One Year Ago: Power and Devlin Survive...Shittu Departs...Opening Day Defeat ...Paladini's Enemy Within

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One year ago...
BBC - Football officials on crash plane

Three senior officials of a football club were among six people on board a light aircraft that crashed on a golf course in Buckinghamshire.
The Cessna 310 came down in woods close to Denham Golf Course on Saturday.

The pilot, aged 57, was seriously injured. He was taken to hospital with four other men and a boy.

Swindon Town Football Club confirmed three officials were injured in the crash as they flew back from the first match of the season at Hartlepool.

'Sealed off'

The passengers, aged 53, 52, 45 and 43 and a 10-year-old boy, are all said to be in a stable condition.

All six injured people were taken to Wexham Park Hospital.

A Denham Airfield spokesman said the plane crashed near the airfield at about 1900 BST on Saturday.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said members of the public had reported a twin-engine aircraft going down in a wooded area of the golf course.

Air accident investigators have been examining the wreckage of the aircraft and the site remained sealed off on Sunday BBC

Other Reports from the time

BURNLEY 2 QPR 0The Sunday Times August 06, 2006

Burnley 2 QPR 0: Jones double sinks QPR
Neil Johnston at Turf Moor

IT HAS BEEN a summer of change at Queens Park Rangers but it already looks like being a winter of discontent after Gary Waddock’s reign began with a comprehensive defeat.
Steve Jones, Burnley’s summer signing from Crewe, left Waddock wondering whether he was right to accept the manager’s job last month after capping a fine debut with two excellent second-half finishes. It completed a bad day for Waddock, who revealed afterwards that he tried to sign Jones but failed to lure the Northern Ireland international because he did not want to uproot his family from Cheshire.

“Jones is someone I wanted and he showed his quality with the goals he scored,” Waddock said. “A lot of clubs were after him and we were one of them. We got as far as talking but that was it.”

Since losing to champions Reading on the final day of last season, Rangers have appointed a new manager, brought in a new backroom team and signed five players. Yet it was the same old story as Rangers fell victim to Jones’s outstanding performance. He side-footed his team into a 59th-minute lead before unleashing a left-footed finish 10 minutes later to send Burnley, tipped for a season of struggle, to the top of the table.

“I’m going to go home and freeze Teletext,” Steve Cotterill, the Burnley manager, said after his side’s thoroughly deserved victory. “Jones does hit the ball well and his second goal was fantastic.”

Star Man: Steve Jones (Burnley)

Player ratings: Burnley: Jensen 7, Sinclair 7, Thomas 7, Duff 7, Harley 7, S Jones 8, McCann 7, J O'Connor 7 (Elliott 62mins, 6), Mahon 8 (O’Connor 90min, 5), Gray 6, Lafferty 6 (Hyde 62min, 6)

QPR: P Jones 6, Bignot 5, Rose 5, Stewart 5, Milanese 5, Lomas 5 (R Jones 66min, 5), Ainsworth 5, Rowlands 6 (Donnelly 79min, 5), Ward 5, Cook 5, Czerkas 5 (Bircham 71mins, 5)
Scorers: Burnley: S Jones 59, 69
Referee: M Clattenburg
Attendance: 12,190 Sunday Times


August 6, 2006 - QPR Official Site - SHITTU HORNETTED

Dan Shittu has signed for Watford after the Hornets made an improved offer for the Rangers defender.

The verbal agreement QPR had previously reached with West Bromwich Albion on Thursday was sidelined after Watford presented an offer which couldn't be ignored.

QPR will now see an improved sum up front as soon as Shittu makes the short journey to Hertfordshire, plus further potential earnings subject to various criteria being fulfilled.

The terms and conditions of further revenue generators, which incorporate appearances and future Watford success, were also an improvement on the initial offer that the Baggies had put on the table.

The lure of Premiership football and the fact Shittu would now no longer have to relocate was also too tempting for the defender to turn down.

Shittu's contract will see him stay at Vicarage Road for the next three seasons and he will be eligible to play in Tuesday night's game against Inter Milan.

Shittu signed for QPR in January 2001 from Charlton Athletic for an initial fee of £250,000, after spending two months on loan at Loftus Road.

Since his move to Loftus Road, Shittu made 172 appearances and netted 16 goals for the Superhoops. QPR


WATFORD OFFICIAL SITE - DANNY DEAL CONFIRMED

WATFORD have today (Sunday) completed the signing of central defender Danny Shittu from Queens Park Rangers for an initial fee of £1.6

The 25-year-old completed formalities late last night, penning a deal that will see him stay at Vicarage Road for the next three seasons.

Shittu sat out the Hoops' seasonal opener at Burnley yesterday having previously made nearly 200 appearances for the Loftus Road outfit.

And a delighted Hornets' boss Aidy Boothroyd hailed the signing of Shittu as a major stepping-stone in his Premiership preparations.

"In Danny we're signing another player who fits the Watford way - hungry to learn, and eager to prove his worth at the very, very top level against the best.

"He is somebody that we have been chasing for some time and I'm pleased that he will now have the chance to fight for a place along with the other excellent centre-halves we have at the club."

Shittu will now link up with his new team mates and will be available for Tuesday night's high-profile friendly with Inter Milan.

The Hornets could pay up to a further £1.4m for the Nigerian international depending on appearances and further Watford successes.

Shittu was subject to a £1.5m bid earlier this week by Championship side West Bromwich Albion, but Watford subsequently had there slightly improved offer accepted by QPR Chairman Gianni Paladini.


Sunday Mirror 6 August 2006 - LIVING IN FEAR
Contract killer threat forces QPR chairman to wear a bullet-proof vest GIANNI PALADINI EXCLUSIVE - Anthony Clavane

QPR chairman Gianni Paladini is living in fear after a contract was legedly put out on his life.

Following advice by the police, the controversial Rangers chief now has to wear a bullet-proof vest.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Mirror Sport, Paladini hit out at fans opposed to his regime at Loftus Road, calling them the "enemy within".

Paladini said: "I find it incredible what's going on here. You have to fight against so many things. This must be the only club where the fans love to put s**t on their own club on the website."

Two weeks ago, a group of men were cleared of forcing Paladini to resign at gunpoint during a match against Sheffield United.

The Italian tycoon claimed he was surrounded by hired thugs, punched and slapped, and then warned he'd be killed if he refused to sign a letter of resignation.

But a judge threw out the case against the men. There is no suggestion that any of those men are involved in the alleged contract on Paladini.

Former agent Paladini invested £600,000 in the West London outfit in March 2004 and was initially employed as a consultant to bring in players.

Last year he ousted Bill Power as QPR chairman, removed chief executive Mark Devlin and claimed victory in a bitter struggle for control of the club.

But one of his strongest allies, former Brazil skipper Carlos Dunga, resigned from the board last week after his shock appointment as his country's new national coach.

Ever since Paladini became a director of the debt-ridden Championship club he has faced hostile criticism from a section of supporters.

The Italian tycoon was furious to discover an attempt to sabotage an interview with him on the QPR website after he returned from the R's pre-season tour of his home country.

He said: "I went mad. It's been cancelled now. They're trying to wind me up. I give up, I really do. I nearly got a heart attack when I saw it.


"They put the face of a fan up there, somebody is stirring things up.


"Sometimes I wonder why I got myself involved in this situation. Whatever you do, you can't win. Even if you win the league and get promoted, you'll still have people who criticise.

"I feel like a dartboard. People are always throwing darts at me.

"We have an enemy within. What kind of people do these things? How can you be a QPR fan when you put this s**t in?"

Paladini also suspected foul play when one newspaper reported last week that Rangers players were turned away from their training ground because the rent had not been paid.

He blasted: "This did not happen. I have a statement showing we paid Imperial College, who we rent the ground from, £32,250 on 18 July. How can they shut it for non-payment two weeks after paying the rent? It's insane.

"There were people from a QPR fan group outside the training ground at 7.20am, putting it out that the players had been locked out.

"But people were asleep at that time. The players didn't go in until 10am.

"They put out so much s**t, so much rubbish, that I just give up.

"Since I've come here there's been problem after problem after problem but now, thank God, it's all left behind. Now we will only concentrate on the football and take this club forward.

"With the players we've brought in and the new manager, Gary Waddock, we're looking forward to an exciting season.

"We've reduced the average age of the team and we've brought in players to give us stability for the next two or three years.

"It's been a very difficult time. But it's business as usual. I just carry on doing my job.

"In this game you need a lot of money. When I came here we were losing more than £500,000 a year but, by the end of next season, we should be out of debt.

"I'm lucky that the people with me they are prepared to put in money. This month, to pay the wages, they had to put in more money."

"When I came here we got promoted and we've been two years in the Championship. Look at clubs like Birmingham, who spend eight or nine million, or Wolves, Coventry, Leeds.

"They spend a fortune every year. They are on a very different level to us.

"Fortunately I've been involved in foot ball for the last 30 years and it's helped me a lot, because I1 can get certain players in." Sunday Mirror