QPR Bigger Than Chelsea

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That's the aim of QPR!
MIRROR/John Cross - BATTLE OF THE BI££IONAIRES
The FA CUP e-on 3rd Round: Chelsea v QPR, tomorrow, KO 3pm De Canio: We are aiming high - we dream of the day when we tackle Chelsea as equals
Luigi De Canio is already dreaming of the day QPR become a bigger club than Chelsea ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup battle of the billionaires.
The Rangers boss can proudly boast that his Championship strugglers are richer than Chelsea after Formula One tycoons Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal bought the club in a £14million takeover.
Mittal, who has a £20billion fortune, is the richest man in Britain and the world's fifth wealthiest man and has even more cash at his disposal than Blues owner Roman Abramovich, whose fortune is an estimated £10bn.
Ecclestone, Briatore and Mittal will all fly into London for the third-round tie and will be personal guests of Russian tycoon Abramovich.
But QPR's long-term goal is to get the club back on a level footing with Chelsea on the pitch and they are already considering plans to redevelop their stadium and training ground.
De Canio, 50, the former Udinese, Napoli and Reggina boss, said: "At this time for QPR to be bigger than Chelsea on the pitch is a dream. There is no law against having dreams - so please let me do it!
"The comparison on the pitch between the two is almost impossible to make. But with a long road ahead we hope we can get stronger and stronger.
"As for the board and the books and how much money the club have, I don't have the knowledge.
"The comparison alone honours me and makes me very happy. QPR are still a club who are getting together.
"The owners are very important men, very important entrepreneurs and they have made a lot of money for themselves and know how to invest that money. They will know how to take this team to the level they are aiming for.
It's not so important that the owners give assurances to me or to the club.
"What is important is that we try to meet every small objective one at a time. But the first thing QPR need to do is solidify our position within this division."
De Canio is succeeding in building up the club's foundations as he gradually guides them away from relegation danger.
They have also got big spending power with six new arrivals - Hogan Ephraim from West Ham, Arsenal's £1m defender Matt Connolly, Manchester United loanee Kieran Lee, Watford's Gavin Mahon and Preston striker Patrick Agyemang.
The sixth new arrival is Plymouth's Akos Buzsaky, who has been on loan but is now joining permanently.
The Hungarian (left) played under ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at Porto and was also once signed by Blues coach Henk Ten Cate.
Buzsaky said: "Mourinho helped me a lot in my career and I really appreciate that.
"We are going to Chelsea with the mentality that we are going to get a result.
"You want to win every single game, no matter who you are playing against."
Mirror

QPR OFFICIAL SITE DE CANIO - MY DREAM
Luigi De Canio has a dream - and it starts against Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the R's First Team coach gave us his thoughts ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup third round, sponsored by E.ON.
"The FA Cup is very important to us," he told www.qpr.co.uk.
"The tradition and history of the competition demands that we take it seriously and that is exactly what we will do.
"We have a very good group of players here now and although Chelsea will provide a very tough test, it is a very exciting time to be going to Stamford Bridge.
"Even though they have limited numbers at the moment, they are still a team of champions, while we are a Championship team."
Indeed, Chelsea will be without injured quartet Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba tomorrow, while Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien also miss out owing to suspension.
Yet despite the current crisis at Stamford Bridge, De Canio isn't about to get embroiled in 'unrealistic' comparisons between the two Clubs, commenting: "It makes me proud and happy that people are comparing QPR to Chelsea, but, at the moment, those comparisons are impossible.
"For QPR to be bigger than Chelsea is just a dream for me - but there is no law against having nice dreams."
QPR


And ironically exactly a year ago, QPR's manager John Gregory was thanking and praising Chelsea!
Clubcall - January 4, 2007 - Gregory hails Chelsea union
John Gregory is hopeful Queens Park Rangers can maintain their union with Premiership champions Chelsea after picking up Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne.
The on-loan Blues pair have shone for Rangers this term despite an inconsistent season and Gregory has constantly sung the pair's praises.
And the R's boss is hopeful the arrival of the pair is the first step of a developing relationship.
"The relationship we have with Chelsea is a thriving one," said Gregory.
"They conduct themselves particularly well with us and have shown us tremendous respect.
"Chelsea have a representative watching Jimmy and Michael at every one of our games.
"Jimmy and Michael play with so much passion for Rangers. They are not even our players, which proves that they are fantastic professionals." Clubcall