Cook's Return...Parejo's Arrival...Connolly Mild Injury...Delaney Attacking Style Encouraged

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Dave McIntyre in the Ealing Gazette and on his BBC 606 Blog

Dave McIntyre/BBC 606 Blog What a week
Lee Cook is back at QPR, the signing of Kaspars’ Gorkss has finally gone through and Daniel Parejo will join on loan from Real Madrid on Monday assuming Rangers don’t go one better and agree a deal to sign him outright.
Suddenly the squad looks a lot stronger ahead of the start of the season and the signings have of course raised excitement among fans.
Ordinarily, the apparent end of the now infamous ABC loan and confirmation that Matt Connolly’s ankle injury is not serious would be considered significant news.
But this has been no ordinary week.
Connolly will miss the Barnsley game but a scan on his ankle revealed no serious damage and he could be fit for the match at Sheffield United on the 16th.
That spares Iain Dowie having to make a choice between Connolly and Peter Ramage for the opening day of the season and is a shame for Connolly because he looked in good form in pre-season before getting injured.
It could have been a lot worse, though. Certainly the initial feeling after Connolly was taken off on a stretcher at Falkirk was that it was a nasty injury. Only later in the evening did concern for him ease.
By the time the squad arrived back in London the news on Connolly was expected to be relatively good, so confirmation he won’t be out for long is no surprise.
What was a surprise was news that Zesh Rehman moved to Blackpool apparently after posing as Stefan Bailey.
Many of you saw the initial picture used on our news pages regarding Rehman and Danny Nardiello’s move to Blackpool with Gorkss’ transfer being rubber-stamped.
This kind of mistake can happen occasionally. It’s usually caused by photos on agency wires or library files being tagged wrongly.
That means each time a search is then made for a photo of that player, the rogue picture crops up. If the person using the picture doesn’t recognise the player in question, you have an embarrassing mistake on your hands.
Years ago I worked for a fledgling football website that sometimes got photos all wrong... BBC


Dave McIntyre/Ealing Gazette - Keep attacking Damien
DAMIEN Delaney has been told not to change his attacking style by QPR boss Iain Dowie as exciting young Real Madrid midfielder Daniel Parejo looks set to join the squad.
Delaney played some of the best football of his career following his move from Hull last season and was rewarded with his first caps for the Republic of Ireland.
The left-back puts that down to ex-coach Luigi De Canio's emphasis on free-flowing football and the good news for Delaney is that Dowie wants the same.
"He's massively in favour of that," Delaney revealed.
"He's spoken to me about it and is huge on getting full-backs forward. He wants me outside and wants me attacking.
"In one-on-one talks he's made it clear his full-backs are very important to him. He wants the same as Gigi De Canio but hopefully we can be a bit more organised when we need to defend.
"At Hull it was a different scenario, where the emphasis wasn't really on that. I knew that quality was always in me and I think I can show it again this year.
"I knew I had the ability. A lot depends on the way the team plays and Gigi wanted that free-flowing football with overlapping full-backs and that suited me. Fortunately, the new gaffer wants that too."
Delaney has played in all of Rangers' pre-season friendlies so far and admits some of their defending from set-pieces has been "unacceptable."
After conceding a goal from a set-piece during Saturday's 2-0 loss to Falkirk, Rangers were again caught nap-ping when Manuel Pascali headed home from a 33rd minute corner to give Kilmarnock a 1-0 victory over Dowie's side on Tuesday.
Patrick Agyemang missed two good chances for Rangers, who gave a debut to keeper Radek Cerny after he was given the all-clear following a hamstring strain.
"There were a lot of positives to take from the game," Delaney insisted.
"The lads worked hard and Pat Agyemang looked sharp up front. I know he missed a couple of chances but he can finish so we know the goals will come for him."
Meanwhile, Rangers are stepping up their attempts to add to their squad.
They are chasing highly-rated Real Madrid midfielder Daniel Parejo and look set to land the 19-year-old on a long-term loan unless they can go one better and agree a deal to sign him for around £8m - a deal that would smash the club's transfer record.
A left-winger is also a priority with former Rs star Lee Cook, his Fulham team-mate Hameur Bouazza and Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson among those targeted.
And the saga of Kaspars Gorkss' move from Blackpool appears to have finally ended, with Rangers preparing to announce his signing as the Gazette went to press.
Gorkss featured as a half-time substitute at Kilmarnock after Blackpool gave permission for him to play following a long dispute over his transfer.
Blackpool, who claimed an illegal approach had been made for the Latvian defender, were due to complete the signing of striker Daniel Nardiello from QPR yesterday (Thursday) in what is effectively an exchange deal.
Zesh Rehman was also set to join Blackpool on loan. Ealing Gazette