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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Perspectives of Cullip, Ainsworth, Holloway..

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Ben Sahar not to play Saturday, which is Yom Kippur.

QPR Official Site - SAHAR UNAVAILABLE
Ben Sahar will not feature in the QPR squad this weekend.
Saturday marks the Day of Atonement in the Jewish calendar and the Israeli front-man will not be available for selection for the visit of high-flying Watford to Loftus Road QPR Official Site

KILBURN TIMES/BEN KOSKYBen Kosky/Kilburn Times - Cullip close to firing on all cylinders
DANNY Cullip is confident he will be back at full fitness by the time QPR face Watford at Loftus Road on Saturday.
The experienced central defender missed the majority of Rangers' first three league games due to a foot injury, but returned to the starting line-up at Leicester last weekend....
"It felt fantastic to get back, to get another game under my belt and hopefully I'll be up to speed by the end of this week," Cullip told the Times.
"It was pleasing to be part of a good team performance on Saturday. A clean sheet would have been nice, but I felt we were solid and Campy didn't have too many saves to make.
"In the last 15 minutes of both halves we looked really strong and they never opened us up or put us under pressure.
"That's not just about the back four, it's down to us defending from the front, and we need to keep doing that."
Cullip's commanding presence at the back, following his arrival from Nottingham Forest in January, was a key factor in QPR's survival last season.
But an injury in July, during a training ground friendly against Crawley Town, kept the centre-back out of the Rs' entire pre-season programme and the start of the new campaign.
Cullip, who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier this week, admitted: "I kept training with the injury when I should have left it alone. If I had left it, I probably wouldn't have missed the start of the season.
"It was a bit unlucky because I got kicked in the first 20 minutes of the first game back and the top of my right foot was severely bruised.
"But I had an injection last week and everything seems fine. One of the advantages of this league is that there are quite a few international breaks and it gives you a bit of extra time to recover without missing games."
Rs boss John Gregory was relieved to bring Cullip back into the side - not least because Michael Mancienne had been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
"It was good to have Danny back - he made a big difference to us. We had to be careful with him, but he showed he was ready," said Gregory.
Mancienne returned to his parent club, Chelsea, last week, for treatment on the back problem that compelled him to withdraw from the England under-21 squad earlier this month.
He remains doubtful for the Watford game this weekend, while fellow Chelsea loanee Ben Sahar will definitely miss the game as it clashes with the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur.

Ben Kosky Kilburn Times - Triumphant Ollie backs JG
IF anyone knows exactly how John Gregory is feeling right now, that man is Ian Holloway....
"QPR have got lots of things to be optimistic about. They've had a big takeover - it's onwards and upwards," declared Holloway after the game.
"I just feel for John - you don't want to have that sort of unsettling thing, just let him get on with it. John's got a proven track record - he was Aston Villa manager, for heaven's sake!"
The Plymouth boss added: "I thought we looked professional, we looked sharp. We looked like a team that believed they could win."
And, once Peter Halmosi had fired the Pilgrims ahead, that was precisely how Gregory's team did NOT look.
Drained, dejected and devoid of ideas would be a more accurate description - and it will certainly not have impressed QPR's new owners Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, looking on from the directors' box as their new acquisition lost their fourth home match in a row.... Kilburn Times

Gareth Ainsworth - Kilburn Times Step on the Gaz
I'VE said before that a point away from home means nothing if you don't back it up by winning at home - and, unfortunately, that's the position we find ourselves in.
One point from two games is not good enough. We did create a few chances against Plymouth and, if that header from Danny Nardiello or the free-kick from Rowly hadn't hit the bar, it would have been a different story....
I put my head on the block by tipping Watford to win this division - but I haven't seen anything to change my mind.
Watford didn't change a lot when they were playing in the Premiership and they haven't changed a lot since they came down. They know this division and they've got a great crop of players - one of whom is a certain Danny Shittu.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that we sometimes still miss Danny's presence at the back. He was a massive player for us, literally, and a good friend as well.
When Danny was at QPR he was young, still learning, and I think his positional sense and distribution really came on during the year he was in the Premiership.
I'm sure he can expect a good reception from the QPR fans and I'd like to think he won't be too hurt if we win the game - we need the points just as much as they do!
It hurt to hear the fans booing on Tuesday - although I can understand it. We don't want to be in the bottom three any more than the fans do and it's important for us experienced pros to lift the rest of the team in time for Saturday's game. Kilburn Times

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