Update re Bosnich Training at QPR and Seeking Return to Football

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As mentioned earlier today, Bosnich being interviewed on Australian TV

Bosnich ready to return - Australian Telegraph :By David Davutovic

FORMER Socceroos keeper Mark Bosnich has declared that he is ready to return to professional football.

Bosnich, 35, played his first game in six years last week, for Queens Park Rangers' reserves, and kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.

After battling drug addiction, the former Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa keeper has revealed the reasons for his attempted return.

"I woke up and I was sick of the way I was living," Bosnich told Fox Sports' Total Football last night. "I owed a lot to the people I let down who were close to me but also owing it to myself.

"I just wanted to get healthy and into super shape and I'm well on the way. I didn't realise I would get this far this quickly. I'm fit, I'm healthy and I am ready to play if that be my destiny."

Bosnich contacted QPR boss John Gregory (who has since left the club) to ask whether he could start training with the Championship side.

"I had been in touch with him at Christmas but I wasn't ready health-wise then, but by July I was ready and I asked if I could come down and he gladly accepted," Bosnich said.

"For quite a while I didn't miss football at all. I was a bit fed up after what happened and so forth but I realised how much I did miss it.

"Just being outside, living a healthy lifestyle and being around the boys, and also seeing some old faces like my goalkeeping coach Ed de Goey, who I was at Chelsea with. The best remedy for anything that I had was to come out and train and be healthy.

"I think I'm ready to play now, but whether or not staying here or going somewhere else or playing at all, I haven't really looked that far ahead. That's in others' hands."

Bosnich has been a recluse in recent years and revealed he had barely tuned into the Premiership since testing positive to drugs in 2002.

But he has renewed optimism for a potential return since joining QPR.

"I haven't really in the last four years watched much football," he said. "It's only in the last few months that I have started taking an interest, since I have been training.

"What I've noticed is that the majority of the best keepers in the Premiership and the Championship are older.

"With the exception of Peter Cech, the ones who are performing consistently are people like Edwin van der Sar and David James, who are all around my age, so age is no barrier.

"If I can get back to anywhere near the shape I was in then I'm confident I can play in any league."

De Goey, who was on Chelsea's books when Bosnich received his ban, said he had been staggered by the Australian's progress.

"The first day he came in I thought, 'Oh my God, what's happening around here?'," he said. "He was much overweight and fat but as soon as he came in, he worked very hard and he has lost two stone (almost 13kg) and is looking more fitter by the day."

Bosnich also revealed in the interview that he would soon return to Australia.

"I haven't been back to Australia for four or five years but I will be back soon," he said. Report

Australian Four Four Two
Australia News - Bosnich: 'I Can Play In Any League'

SHAMED Socceroo Mark Bosnich has talked for the first time about his fight to get back to fitness and into top-flight football after years in the wilderness.
Once hailed as one of the top goalkeepers in the world, Bosnich fell from grace after a drugs scandal ended his career with clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea.

He binged on coke and booze - but has now tried to revive his career in the reserves of UK Championship club Queens Park Rangers.

Now he has set his sights on getting into the big time once more.

"The majority of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and the Championship are older goalkeepers, with the exception of Peter Cech," Bosnich told Fox Sports' Total Football.

"And the ones who are performing week in week out consistently are people like Edwin Van Der Sar and David James. People like that are all around my age, so age is no barrier.

"If I can get back to anywhere near the shape I was in, then I'm confident I can play in any league.”

Bosnich decided to make a bid to get back into the game after finally realising how far he'd allowed himself to slide.

"I woke up and I was sick of the way I was living," he said.

"Sometimes you don't miss something or you don't know how much you are going to miss something until it's gone. For quite a while I didn't miss football at all.

"I was a little bit fed up in view of what happened but towards the end I realised how much I did miss it, just being outside living a healthy lifestyle and being around the boys.

"The best remedy for anything that I had was to come out and train and be healthy."

Bosnich has now shed 12kg since joining the training sessions at QPR and is now just 4kg heavier than his old playing weight.

He's back training under his former Chelsea goalkeeping coach Ed de Goey at QPR who has been impressed by the one-time star's new-found dedication.

"The first day he came in I thought ‘Oh my God, what's happening around here?' said De Goey.

"He was overweight and fat but as soon as he came in he worked very hard and he has lost two stone and is looking fitter by the day."

With one reserves match under his belt, Bosnich is now hoping it could lead him back to a first team appearance.

He told Fox Sports: "I owed a lot to the people I let down who were close to me but also perhaps owing it to myself.

"I just wanted to get healthy and get into super shape and I am well on the way to that. I didn't realise I would get this far this quickly.” Australian FourFourTwo