"Lesema Can become Next Messi or Maradona"

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Yann Tear/Ealing Gazette - Lesesma can become next Messi or Maradona

ASSISTANT boss Tim Flowers did his best to talk up a good defensive display and deflect from what was on everyone's mind after Tuesday night's Carling Cup rout of Carlisle.

Fat chance.

Keeping the lid on the unleashed brilliance of Emmanuel Ledesma may prove to be impossible here on in.A hat-trick on home soil against a League One team really should be no cause for getting carried away, but the manner in which the kid from Quilmes, Argentina, set pulses racing should leave no-one in any doubt that a very special talent has descended on Loftus Road.

Not for nothing did Rangers fans launch into chants of "sign him up" - a reference to the club's option to buy him when his year-long loan spell from Genoa expires.

Team-mate Peter Ramage was moved to observe that the 20-yearold has it in him to follow the most famous of all left-foot wizards from his country.

"Because he's Argentinian, there are going to be comparisons with Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Riquelme and people like that," Ramage told the Gazette.

"But rightly so, because he can be like that if he wants to be. Hopefully he'll go on and be a superstar. He's got the potential to be one."

Ramage enthused: "I thought he was magnificent tonight and so exciting to watch. Players like that put bums on seats. They fill a stadium.

"He's the type of player you do love to play with because you know there's going to be an end-product from him.

"And you know when you give him the ball that he's going to do something special."

Ledesma was simply irrepressible. He served notice of his intentions with a stinging drive in the first half that Carlisle keeper BenWilliams did well to turn aside, but that was just a taste of things to come.

After delivering the corner to Damion Stewart's head which eased Rangers in front three minutes into the second half, Ledesma went into overdrive.

Seven minutes later, he collected a ball on the edge of the area and found a sliver of space to drill a low shot perfectly inside Williams' left hand post.

Eight minutes more and he was exchanging passes with Dani Parejo to carve open United through the centre before curling the ball wide of Williams' left hand.

But even that dazzling piece of surgery paled in comparison to the masterful coup-de-grace six minutes from time.

He linked up with first Lee Cook, then Angelo Balanta, before racing onto a return pass and clipping the ball over the onrushing Williams with the outside of his left peg.

It was pure poetry.

Added to his fine cameo in the first round of this competition against Swindon, it may not be long before someone pens a Rangers equivalent of Ossie's Dream - the ditty for another famous Argentinian, Oswaldo Ardiles, who made a visit to a Wembley final a personal crusade when he was at Tottenham.

"The thing for him now is to keep his feet on the ground because he's still very young," Ramage said. "But hopefully he can keep progressing the way he is.

"The sky's the limit for him if he keeps going the way he is.

"It's up to us older heads to keep his feet on the ground and to not let the praise and furore around him get to his head. But he's not the kind of kid that will.

"He's the kind of kid that will want to keep improving."

Ramage added: "We've got a team set up to do what he wants basically but he's got to do his job coming back and to be fair, he does.

"He got a bit of criticism recently after the defeat at Sheffield United, but he's taken that on board and he's produced the goods."

Once Flowers had paid lip-service to the defence and midfield which did indeed lay the platform for the 4-0 win, he was happy to admit to the management's admiration.

"I think the fans who came to watch us will have been very very pleased with his performance tonight," Flowers said.

"He's got no restraint on him at all. He's just a young man who wants to go out and play football.

"He's a very gifted kid. He pops up on places that hurt people. He plays wide right but turns up in pockets where defenders don't want to go and pick him up and he's got a decent left peg. His dead ball deliveries and shooting are very very good.

"There might be times this year when he starts to feel the pace but he's doing great and he's a lovely kid.

"It is a surprise how quickly he has settled in, but from minute one he's let it be known that he wants to take corners, penalties, throw-ins, everything. He's a very confident kid but he's lovable with it, so you don't mind.

"We've had to tell him to calm down at times but he listens to you and I think he'll be a very very good footballer." Ealing Gazette


Dave McIntyre and Chris Bevan- Ealing Gazette
Rs won't rush into any long-term Deal

QPR do not have to wait until the summer to buy Emmanuel Ledesma but will nevertheless wait to seal the Argentine's permanent signing.

The club has the option of signing Ledesma for around £2.2m at the end of his season-long loan from Genoa but are free to complete the deal before then.

And they would have been forgiven for looking to do just that after his midweek master-class.

Ledesma is already a fans' favourite at Loftus Road and has netted four goals in two matches having also scored in Saturday's 2-0 win over Doncaster.

But QPR sporting director Gianni Paladini said: "We just want to give him time to settle in and enjoy his football.

"We don't have to wait until the summer to sign him but we have him for a year and don't have to worry about anyone else signing him. There's no need to rush.

"We have a few young players we just want to gel together and be happy here. We're focused on that for now."

Ledesma's devastating performance on Tuesday was no real surprise given some of his earlier displays.

He was also excellent against Doncaster, scoring his first goal for the club after Dexter Blackstock had given Rangers the lead by nudging home Dani Parejo's free-kick.

Blackstock said: "It was a good all-round performance from us against a good Doncasterside, so we're very happy with that.

"At Sheffield United we got caught cold and conceded two early goals. This time that happened to Doncaster and they couldn't get back into the game, which was exactly what happened to us at Bramall Lane."

The goal was Blackstock's second of the season and the forward's confidence seems to be returning after a difficult spell last term.

But individual glory looks like coming second for whoever plays up front for Rangers this season given the number of attacking midfielders the club has.

The role is likely to be about creating space for the likes of Parejo, Ledesma and Lee Cook to get into dangerous areas and Martin Rowlands is also back in the reckoning, coming on as a substitute against Doncaster following a threematch ban.

With Akos Buzsaky on the way back from injury with Rowan Vine eyeing a return from a broken leg later in the season, Rangers will eventually have even more attacking midfield options and the lone striker role Blackstock performed at the weekend is probably a sign of things to come.

That will allow the Parejo, who is adjusting well, and Ledesma, who has made such a big impact, to carry on doing what they do best.

"The Rangers fans aren't stupid - they know a good player when they see one so it's no surprise the fans have taken to them," Blackstock added.

"It could have taken time for them to settle in a foreign country but they've come in - the boys here have helped them along the way - played well and they're going to be a great asset for us this season.

"It's a hard shift on your own up front, everyone knows that, but if I can do the job of two people up there it allows people from midfield to get on the ball more and dictate the game.

"It's for the team. If we can win games with me playing up front on my own, then so be it.

"It's a tough position but I got great support from Dani Parejo, Emmanuel Ledesma and Lee Cook, so at times it was like we had three or four up front. It wasn't like I was isolated.

"Everyone's in the team for their attributes. Some might be more creative than others and some might just be destroyers. It all combines for the team performance.

"The target is promotion and everyone at the club believes we can do it."
Ealing Gazette