Flashback: How Far They've Come: QPR Two Years Ago

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With the players now back in training and as one awaits the much-anticipated official announcement of further QPR signings, it's instructive to look back just a couple of years. QPR of course, are still in the same division as they were two years ago, but the squads are very different - as are the circumstances and the team's prospects. Two years ago, the bookies viewed QPR as likely relegation prospects. This season, the bookies regard QPR as one of the favourites for promotion. Looking back, the anguish and controversies have been tempered by time; and it makes the present and future look so much brighter.

Two Years ago (July 7, 2006), a recently-returned-to-training QPR, under the management team of the just-officially-appointed-as-manager team of Waddock, McDonald and Skinner (with a just-signed Nick Ward, watching) drew 1-1 draw at Aldershot. QPR's team(s)(which included Armel Tchakounte):
QPR first half team: Thomas, Bignot, Tonkin, Armel, Tobi, Kanyuka, Ainsworth, Olisen, Moore, Doherty, Baidoo
QPR second half: Thomas, Kanyuka (Tobi), Munday, Cook, Evatt, Lomas, Donnelly, Gallen, Bailey, Trialist, Hislop - Scorers: Doherty


OFFICIAL SITE - Garry Waddock's Comments - SLOW BUT STEADY
Rangers may have been denied a win, but Gary Waddock is happy with the start his side have made.Waddock stressed the importance of peaking too soon during the pre-season warm up games and reiterated the fact that the only game he is concerned about right now is the trip to Burnley.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw at Aldershot, the Rangers manager said: "I'm pleased with what I've seen today, we don't want to peak now, it's all about building our fitness up as we approach our first League game of the new season.
"We have a slow and steady approach so that we peak at that point, not too soon before.
"We've seen a few things that we can go back and work on next week and we'll look forward to cracking on in our next game.
"Most of the players got 45 minutes and that was our aim.
"I was pleased with Armel at the back and there was one particular trialist that I was very pleased with - I'm sure the fans who were here today will know who I'm talking about.
"I want to thank the fans who turned out today as well. They were great as always."
Waddock watched the game from the stands, seated just behind new signing Nick Ward.
"It was great to have him sat there as a QPR player. There had been a lot of talk and speculation leading up to the game and it was great to have it all done and dusted at last." - Further reports and comments Assessments

Also: - Reports, comments and photos

Coaches Comments: Official Site WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
With pre-season training in full swing and the first game under their belts, how do the new look coaching staff think things are going?....
Gary Waddock on performance:
"The Aldershot game was a good fitness test for us and I was pleased with the work-rate of the players. It gave a lot of them the chance to get 45 minutes of action under their belt.
"The result of the game wasn't important to us. We need to make sure we are at our peak when we play Burnley in the first game of the season, that's when results start to matter. Between now and then it is simply a case of building up to that opening fixture."

Alan McDonald on formations:
"It was difficult to take a great deal away from the Aldershot game as we played two different teams either half."We tried a different formation to what we usually play. We hadn't done too much work with it but I felt that it certainly worked well in the first half.
"The changes in the second half saw it not working as well but I was still really pleased with the level of performance."But on the whole, this was more of a chance just to look at the young lads and those on trial, that was the main objective."

Justin Skinner on preparation and approach:
"The preparation for the first game is always a little bit sketchy, we went into the game not really working on set pieces, that wasn't our focus, that will come later."It's always a bit of a trial getting the logistics right when you want to field two different teams, but it went well overall I think."Behind the scenes it's going very well. Mark has been working hard on their fitness and this will be a hard week for them. Their attitude has been first class, from the young kids to the experienced pros.

Reserve team manager Justin Skinner out training
"They have been taking on new ideas that we've all put in. There hasn't been any moaning, we haven't given them a chance. It's been quality rather than quantity and has all been ball and game related."The staff side of things has become very organised, we say what we'll do, do it, then have a de-brief at the end of the day."We set out our session plans, get together and everyone is aware of what their jobs are for the day. All the training is set out, we don't wonder what we're going to do off the cuff. Prav Mathema also has an input, it's very much a joint effort."The boys have reacted to that because it's so well planned. They all have ice baths now after training which was new to them. They are weighed in and out, every detail is looked into and we've addressed a lot of aspects."We have a meeting every Monday morning with the staff to outline what went right and wrong the previous week. Today we spoke about how the game went and what could have gone better."

Tony Roberts on helping to achieve personal goals:
"Over the last ten days I've been getting the keepers back into their prevous good habits and routines. Paul Jones was back late due to international duty and Jake Cole was ill, so I've had a good chance to work one on one with Sean Thomas."I knew he was going to play the full 90 minutes on Saturday so we went over absolutely everything."Jake and Jonah are playing catch up now, so today the three of us worked on the technical side of goalkeeping - catching, distribution kicking and so on.
"It's good to get a structure for them like I do with the Academy keepers, there's a lot of organisation that's going into it."I have six keepers in all, from spring chickens to full internationals. Some are more agile and I need to accommodate all of them. I will do a lot more 'reps' with the younger ones because they can handle it and because they need more practise."You don't need to get Jonah in the gym whereas some of my youngsters may need more upper body strength. With each keeper they need a different plan."

Mark Barry on fitness:
It's a steady progression towards the Burnley game. For the match on Saturday against Aldershot, we were probably at 50% fitness-wise."By the time of the next match, we will be around the 75% mark. For the opening fixture of the season the players will be at 100%, which is our main objective.
"You can train as much as you like but, obviously enough, to be match-fit you need to play matches, so these games are imperative if the players are going to get used to the speed of the game, and so on. "At this stage, the fitness level of the lads is spot-on. We're making sure that we don't peak too early because if we reach 100% a week before the Burnley game, there's only one way to go - and that's down. I've got to make sure that doesn't happen."
Comments

And the Squad Numbers

On the Official Site "Next season's squad numbers have been released .....
1. Simon Royce
2. Marcus Bignot
3. Mauro Milanese
4. Ian Evatt
5. Dan Shittu
6. Tommy Doherty
7. Matthew Rose
8. Marc Bircham
9. Nick Ward
10. Kevin Gallen
11. Gareth Ainsworth
12. Jake Cole
14. Martin Rowlands
15. Dominic Shimmin
16. Steve Lomas
17. Lee Cook
18. Stefan Moore
19. Tchakounte-A
20. Scott Donnelly
21. Paul Jones
22. Shabazz Baidoo
23. Stefan Bailey
24. Pat Kanyuka
25. Damion Stewart
26. Sean Thomas
29. Paul Furlong
30. Marc Nygaard
34. Matthew Hislop
35. John Munday
Squad Numbers