Assesing QPR's New Spending Plans....Ainsworth on QPR's Need for Youth Develpment...Nardiello on His Season With Injuries

-
Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Don't go crazy in January sales
HEARING that one of the world's richest men has decided to invest in your club is never going to be viewed as bad news.
In fact, most QPR fans will have been pinching themselves after realising that several years of poverty and flirting with administration are apparently now consigned to history.
Having two mega-rich owners in Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone seemed incredible enough - but their fortunes are dwarfed by that of steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal.
Kensington-based Mittal, who has bought a 20 per cent stake in Rangers, is said to be worth £25bn, and will be represented on the board by his son-in-law, financier Amit Bhatia.
Their arrival has given rise to frenzied talk of Rs boss Luigi de Canio being handed the biggest kitty in the club's history by far when the transfer window opens next week.
"Obviously I won't have unlimited resources," de Canio admitted. "Everyone has a budget to stick to and when the time comes we will sit down and discuss the budget.
"I can foresee a bright future. We will work hard to get things right and do it in the right manner and we will do it by trying to utilise all our finances."
In those circumstances, it's easy for supporters to be totally carried away and assume that all QPR's on-field problems will be resolved by lavish spending on players next month - 10, maybe, or 12?
But one look at the kind of players and prices being touted in the tabloids at the moment should fill Rangers fans with concern.
Why, they might ask, are the club keen to sign a left-back and a right-sided midfielder from Sheffield Wednesday? Are Tommy Spurr and Jermaine Johnson any better than the players filling those positions at the moment?
Should Adam Bolder or Mikele Leigertwood make way for Watford defensive midfielder Gavin Mahon? Is Sunderland forward Daryl Murphy really worth £2m on the strength of half a decent season?
There is NO POINT in buying players just for the sake of it. QPR have already agreed deals to sign Rowan Vine and Akos Buzsaky on a permanent basis, but otherwise de Canio's shopping list should comprise four players.
A centre-back, a right-back, a left-sided midfielder and another forward to compete with the likes of Vine, Dexter Blackstock and Marc Nygaard should be sufficient to lift the team towards the top half of the table.
The high turnover of players under a succession of managers in the last few years is one of the reasons Rangers have struggled in the Championship. De Canio has spoken of the need for continuity, now his transfer policy needs to reflect a common-sense approach.
These are exciting times for QPR. Let's just remember that the worst thing a starving man can do is gorge immediately on an enormous meal. Kilburn Times


Gareth Ainsworth/Kilburn Times25 December 2007
EXCITING times lie ahead for QPR, without a doubt - but nobody should assume that money earns automatic promotion.
This league is notorious as one of the hardest in Europe to get out of. It's difficult to just buy your way out of it unless you make sure strong foundations are in place.
The investment that's just come in has given us the foundations - now we need to build a structure on top of them and that means not just developing the first-team squad, but the youth section as well.
If you look at Arsenal and Manchester United, bringing young talent through is key to their success and that's what needs to happen here.
Kevin Gallen was one of the last to come through the ranks at QPR and he went on to become a legend. Jake Cole and Angelo Balanta are the only two who are really involved at the moment.
Of course we need a few new players as well and, in one sense, nobody will be totally confident of keeping his place when the transfer window opens.
The way I look at it is that I don't care who comes in, I'll continue to give my all and it's up to the manager who he wants to pick. But it's a brave manager who drops a player in form.
At the moment, we are in decent form and I think the best team won when we beat Colchester last weekend.
Akos Buzsaky's definitely got his shooting boots on at the moment - he scores many a goal in training - but credit too to the nine or 10 lads who were behind him towards the end of the game.
I don't think there can be any complaints about the red card. Damo went in hard, he caught a leg and, by the letter of the law, he had to go.
But the referee also got it right on the penalty decision at the end. If Bob Malcolm caught Kevin Lisbie, it was outside the penalty area and Kevin did himself no favours by diving into the box.
Obviously we need to keep picking up points and we've got two difficult games over the New Year.
Watford were flying not so long ago, but they've shown that they can be vulnerable at home in recent weeks.
As for Leicester, all the talk will be about Ollie, and he'll be desperate to get his new team firing at Loftus Road.
There's no time to rest or sit back - let's hope we begin 2008 as we mean to carry on. Kilburn Times


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Nardiello's new goals for the new year
HE'S hardly played, he hasn't scored and his team are scratching around at the bottom of the league instead of building a play-off challenge.
But QPR striker Danny Nardiello has no regrets about turning his back on both Barnsley and hometown club Coventry to move to Loftus Road last summer.
Hamstring and calf injuries have restricted 25-year-old Nardiello to just four starts for Rangers - and only two substitute appearances in the last two months.
Asked if, with hindsight, he should have signed a new deal with Barnsley or headed for the Ricoh Arena instead, Nardiello replied emphatically: "Not at all. This club's going places.
"I'm happy with everything at QPR. Although we're bottom of the league, we've got some good players and I think the owners are going to bring in a lot more in January.
"All that needs to change now is the football, which is the most important thing. If we string a few results together, we can push ourselves right up the table."
Nardiello, who has yet to register a senior goal for the Rs, rediscovered his shooting boots last week as he bagged both goals in the reserve team's 2-0 victory at Wycombe.
Not that the lack of goals has been confined to Nardiello this season - the whole team have found it something of a problem.
In fact, midfielder Akos Buzsaky - who only signed for Rangers in November - is the club's top scorer on five, followed by Rowan Vine and centre-back Damion Stewart on just three each.
"Even though I've been injured, I've still been watching the games and we've created a lot of chances to put the ball in the back of the net," said Nardiello. "It just hasn't seemed to go our way so far.
"I've had a bit of a nightmare with injuries - I haven't really had a chance to prove myself as yet, but it was good to get some football under my belt and score some goals.
"I'm fit now and I know if I get a chance, I can do the same as I did in the reserve game. I'm going to work hard and try to get in the team and prove myself.
"In a sense, the new year is a clean slate and I'm always confident in what I do. All I need is the opportunity to go out and do it and obviously if I don't do it, then fair enough."
And the Wales international's optimistic outlook on the future was further strengthened by last week's announcement that billionaire Lakshmi Mittal had bought a 20 per cent stake in QPR.
"We were already a rich club before he joined, with Flavio [Briatore] and Bernie [Ecclestone], but now it looks as though we're one of the richest clubs in the world," observed Nardiello.
"Obviously it's a good move for QPR, a very positive one for the fans and hopefully it'll turn out to be a successful one. Kilburn Times