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Sunday, October 21, 2007

QPR Snippets: Scott Sinclair...Rose...Dichio...Morrow vs Spencer ...Waddock...Glover Sale...Thomas Debut

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Hopefully not! The People - Sheffield United boss Bryan Robson wants to take Chelsea's flying winger Scott Sinclair on loan for his struggling side.
Sinclair is also wanted by Roy Keane's Sunderland but they have to wait until January - so Robson hopes to step in first. Robson is desperate to bring in fresh talent and he is still being backed by the Blades money men. The People

Matt Rose Scores for Yeovil - Yeovil official Site - 1-1 vs Bristol Rovers. (Forbes and Cochrane also played for Yeovil
For the third time this season Yeovil Town conceded a late goal that cost them valuable points in their quest for a second shot at promotion.
Yeovil had been leading through a 62nd. minute Matty Rose goal and looking comfortable for another away victory, after a somewhat stuttering first half performance....
The Glovers were finding it hard to mount a really worth while attack as the midfield tried in vain to wrestle control of the midfield, but the defence was looking as solid as ever with Terrell Forbes and Scott Guyett in outstanding form at the moment.
Slowly, though very slowly, Yeovil were beginning to get into a few more attacking positions and on the half hour point it was clear that Warne and Barry in particular were beginning to gain a foothold.
In the 39th. minute Rose had a good effort from 20 yards and then Yeovil had a gilt edged chance to go ahead when a Scott Guyett header seemed goalbound only to be cleared off the line.
Yeovil were at last showing a bit of intent but just before half time they had a let off when Walker volleyed over...
Rovers were still having their moments but the pressure was nothing like as intent as in the first half and just after the hour Yeovil went in front with a rare Matty Rose goal.
Betsy broke down the right and crossed for Rose to run in and side foot home
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Two minutes later though and there was more injury woe for Slade when Peltier limped off after another superb display to be replaced by Mark Lynch as Yeovil started to look far more comfortable....
All in all though a draw was probably a fair result in the light of Rovers first half performance, although it doesn't help the frustration felt by all Glovers tonight. Yeovil
Yeovil: Larrieu, Rose, Forbes, Guyett, Nathan Jones, Betsy, Peltier (Lynch 65), Barry, Cochrane (Dempsey 87), Warne, Owusu. Subs Not Used: Ritchie Jones, Alcock, Walker. - BBC

Yeovil Marc Bircham Injury Update
"...On Monday [Yeovil Physiotherapist Jim Joyce]was in London with Marc Bircham discussing his progress with the consultant who is carrying out his ham string injections. He has already started to run and is anticipated to be back in Yeovil to start ball work in the next 10-14 days. Yeovil

Danny Dichio Returns and Scores
Dichio dazzles TFC fans in finale Striker's goal lifts club to a 2-2 tie in their inaugural season's final match By Mark Polishuk / MLSnet.com Staff
TORONTO -- Returning from an injury, entering the game and scoring a last-minute goal against a dominant rival. Just another day at the office for Danny Dichio, Toronto's first soccer folk hero, and an exciting conclusion to Toronto FC's inaugural season.
Playing in his first game since August 25 due to a torn foot muscle, Danny Dichio took the field at half-time on Saturday as a substitute and ended up scoring the game-tying goal in stoppage time to cap off TFC's biggest comeback of the season. Down 2-0 after 58 minutes, the Reds rebounded to end their season with a point after a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution.
Dichio's goal finished off a furious second-half rally by the Reds that began with Collin Samuel's goal in the 59th minute. Toronto collected six of their 11 total shots in the game after that point and simply wore down the New England defense.
"I was more overjoyed that we scored as a team because I felt the boys really pressed hard the second half," Dichio said. "Of course the adulation is going to go to me but I was more proud that we scored as a team today and against New England, who are a very good team."
Dichio made his initial mark on TFC history by scoring the first goal in team history last May 12 in Chicago. His physical play and scoring prowess (a team-leading six goals) made him an instant favorite of the BMO Field faithful. His name routinely elicited the loudest cheers during the pregame introductions, and the fans even sang tribute songs when he touched the ball.
What slowed the big forward down, however, was the injury bug. A hip flexor, sore back and the foot injury kept Dichio out of nine out of TFC's previous 11 games. Dichio said the long layoff had an impact on his overall play.
"The foot felt really good ... but fitness-wise I wasn't up to scratch," he said. "I was happy to get involved and Mo put me in at halftime when the team called on me, but I don't think I put a good performance in. But the goal kind of smudges all that out at the end of it."
The goal in the face of injury will only make the forward's legend grow, according to Toronto coach Mo Johnston.
"The way we finished it off, I think next year we'll be calling it Dichio Stadium," Johnston joked. "You see what happens when Danny is healthy. You can't handle him. He's someone that will keep them pinned back because he flicks things on. He's just a monster to play against."
Perhaps enhancing Dichio's burgeoning legend is the fact that his goal wasn't even one of his signature strikes from in front of the net. Instead, Dichio sent a hooking volley just outside the penalty area that snuck past Revs 'keeper Matt Reis.
"I just thought 'I'm going to try and hook this and try and aim for the goal and try to keep the 'keeper off guard,'" Dichio said. "I didn't know where the 'keeper was -- I didn't see him and I just thought if I hooked it and tried to get it onside it might have a chance of going in. I didn't catch it as cleanly as I wanted to catch it, but maybe that was a good thing because I think it would've gone over if I had caught it cleanly."
Dichio's goal didn't just save the day for the Reds, it may also have saved goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos from an offseason of wearing goat horns. The 'keeper was victimized by New England defender Michael Parkhurst on a long shot that found the back of the net from near midfield in first-half stoppage time. Stamatopoulos had left his net to throw the ball down the field, but a quick turnover near the center spot left the 'keeper out of position for Parkhurst's shot.
"I played the counterattack, they caught me out of my net," Stamatopoulos said. "In fairness to [Parkhurst], it was a very good shot."
Stamatopoulos might be forced to watch that goal on MLS highlight reels for years to come, but he was proud his club didn't get discouraged.
"I wish it would've come out earlier, the heart we put into this game," he added. "You're two goals down and you come back to tie the game ... we needed that all year. It was a good feeling."
It was a heartening win for Toronto FC, especially in the light of their two previous matches with New England. TFC had been totally outplayed by the Revolution to the tune of a 4-0 loss on April 14 and a 3-0 defeat on June 23.
It was close to a playoff-type atmosphere at BMO Field on Saturday as the Toronto fans cheered both for their club's comeback draw and the overall experience of Major League Soccer in 2007. The players, coaches and several members of the TFC organization stayed on the pitch after the game for several minutes to salute the fans, even culminating in a victory lap.
"I hate doing a lap of honour when we haven't won anything, but we had to because the fans deserved it," Johnston said. "The way they came and showed up each week, and for me we'll go out and try to be the best possible to make them happy, because they are the best fans in MLS, easily."
Though Toronto FC will have to wait at least another season to make their first trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs, the club has to feel satisfied by a year that established themselves as a major player in North American soccer. TFC outpaced every other club in terms of ticket sales, merchandise and fan support, and on the field, the club finished collected at least one point against every team in MLS except league-leaders D.C. United and Chivas USA.
The future is bright, says the team's most recognizable star.
"We didn't make the playoffs and we're a bit upset with that but it's a franchise year and now we can put that to bed now," Dichio said. "We move on to next year where we know we have a squad capable of pushing. We've played against playoff contenders and maybe MLS champions of this year and we can play against them, so we know we have quality there."
Just another day at Dichio Stadium. MLS


It's going to be Ex-QPR's competing against Each Other!: Steve Morrow's FC Dallas vs John Spencer's Houston Dynamos
At Steve Morrow's FC Dallas - FCD fail to match Wizards' intensity
Regular season ends in 'disappointing' fashion By Steve Hunt / MLSnet.com Staff

FRISCO, Texas -- All week, the theme for the FC Dallas players and coaches was that Saturday night's game between the Hoops and Kansas City Wizards was far from meaningless. The Wizards came to Pizza Hut Park needing a win to clinch a spot in the playoffs while FCD was locked in as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and saw the game as a mere tuneup.
In the end, it was the Wizards who showed up in a 2-0 victory, thanks to a pair of goals from Scott Sealy. All night, K.C. was the better team as the Hoops failed to string any sort of possession together and were able only to muster a handful of serious scoring chances.
"It was a disappointing way to finish the season," said FCD head coach Steve Morrow. "I don't think that we played well tonight. I thought that too many guys had a bad game and we can't afford that."
Morrow added that the result illustrated a big difference between the Hoops and Wizards.
"The game meant something different to two teams tonight," he said. "It meant a lot to Kansas City and not so much to us. I think that showed in the two performances. We're going to remain very positive. We're going to have a good week of training and going to be ready come playoff time next week."...
With the shutout, FCD has now failed to score in a club-record 11 games and in their last 10 regular-season matches, the Hoops were a paltry 2-6-2. But Morrow wasn't in the mood to discuss any regular-season trends.
"I don't want to look back or be negative in any way," Morrow said. "You can throw any stats you want at me but I don't care. We're not going to look back. We're going to look forward. We're going to be positive this week and be ready come playoff time."
Still, even after issuing that statement, the FCD boss saw plenty that his side needs to improve on before they start their first-round playoff series with Houston next week.
"I don't think we played through the middle of the field enough," Morrow said. "We didn't get into any sort of rhythm with our passing all night. When you don't keep the ball long enough, you're going to be under pressure because you keep giving the ball away."
Returning to the field against Kansas City were a pair of FCD starters who have missed games recently because of injury -- center back Clarence Goodson and Pablo Ricchetti.
"I thought [Ricchetti] did OK," he said. "Like everybody else, he gave the ball away a few times. For his first game in a few weeks, I thought he did OK."
Noticeably absent from the Hoops lineup was designated player Denilson, who had played in the last eight games. The World Cup-winning Brazilian midfielder has just one goal since joining the team in late August and has been a disappointment since his arrival.
"I went for four guys across the middle of the field who I thought would get the job done," Morrow said when asked about Denilson's absence. "It's as simple as that."
Also returning after serving a two-game suspension was captain Carlos Ruiz, who played the final 14 minutes of the match. The Guatemalan international knows that the result wasn't what FCD had hoped for but his side has time to right the ship.
"That's true [it was disappointing]," Ruiz said. "I think we have time to talk about it, the true importance of the playoffs. I believe in my team and my teammates. Everybody is the same in the playoffs. If you play well in two games, you go to the next round. We have to understand that and play better."
One other change that Morrow made to the lineup was giving Michael Dello-Russo his MLS debut at right back.
"I thought he did some things well and some things, not so well," Morrow said about Dello-Russo's performance. "I wanted to give him his opportunity. We had Bobby Rhine suspended and I wanted to keep Drew [Moor] in the middle with Clarence [Goodson] and let those two play together. I thought for his first start, he did well."
Morrow knows that before FCD starts the playoffs, they need to get their heads right.
"We just need to make sure our mentality is right going into next week," Morrow said. "We will certainly get that right. When it comes playoff time, you have to have the right mentality because it's all about how much you want to win. I'm going to make sure we get that into this team this week."
But for the Hoops to be successful in this year's playoffs, Moor knows that his team needs to be ready for another match like the one with the Wizards.
"It's funny because the last two years in the playoffs, the games have been very similar," Moor said. "They have been boring with not a lot of excitement where teams are keeping it tight because you don't want a lot of goals and you don't want to go behind early. But that's how games are going to be played.
"We did a little better last week against Chivas but this is a team that's going to come at us like any team in the playoffs is going to come at us. We need to keep the ball better, particularly at home, because that's where we hope to do some damage."

Should Chicago beat the LA Galaxy on Sunday, then the Hoops will open the playoffs next Saturday against Houston Dynamo at Pizza Hut Park. If the Galaxy win, then FCD will face Dynamo on Thursday in Frisco.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs. MLS

Meanwhile at John Spencer's Houston Dynamo... 'Dynamo cap regular season with tie
Despite man advantage, Houston can't find winner By Danny Bueno / MLSnet.com Staff
CARSON, Calif. -- Houston Dynamo were unable to capitalize on a man advantage during the final 50 minutes of the match and were held to a scoreless draw by Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
The result was costly for Dynamo as it cost them the top seed in the Western Conference -- and guaranteed home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The result sets up a first-round playoff match up against interstate rival FC Dallas for Dynamo, who finished in second place in the Western Conference standings, one point behind Chivas....
...With the tie, Dynamo now look ahead to their playoff opener, a road game against FC Dallas.
Chivas, meanwhile, must wait until the conclusion of Sunday's LA Galaxy-Chicago Fire match up to learn their first round opponent. If the Galaxy win, they will meet Chivas in the playoffs. A Chicago win will setup a Chivas-Kansas City Wizards matchup, while a tie would see Chicago as Chivas' first-round opponent.
Danny Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs. MLS

The Two Ians: Two Other Ex-QPR Compete: Ian Holloway vs Ian Dowie: Holloway's Plymouth beat Dowie's Coventry, 1-0. Report


Gary Waddock's Aldershot return to the top
BBC Aldershot 1-0 Halifax A Jonny Dixon goal in the dying moments moved Aldershot to the top of the table against 10-man Halifax...." BBC


Ex-QPR, Alan Glover Turns 57...
Alan Glover - Born October 21, 1950: Glover made only seven appearances for QPR - all in our 1968/69 Relegation Trauma. After our relegation, teenager Glover joined West Bromwich Albion for 70,000 pounds (including ex-QPR winger Clive Clark in part exchange) (The same fee QPR for Terry Venables a few months later). This a time when the record English transfer fee was just 150,000 pounds. Basically Glover sadly disappeared from the scene: in and out of the WBA team; and I believe ending up at Orient.

Thirty-Five Years ago today, QPR wonder winger, Dave Thomas made his QPR Debut after his record transfer signing. More on Dave Thomas

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