Snippets: QPR Player Interest...Further Swindon Reports...Lee Cook Talks...Versatile Ex-QPR Player Retires...QPR XI at Harrow

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QPR Interest in Davide Succi? BBC Gossip - "QPR are preparing a bid for 26-year-old Italian striker Davide Succi who currently plays for Ravenna in the Italian third division. (Daily Star)" - BBC Gossip --- Daily Mirror "QPR chasing Davide Succi "QPR are preparing a bid for Italian striker Davide Succi, who plays for Italian Serie C Ravenna. Succi has scored 32 goals in 84 games." Mirror
[The supposed QPR interest in the 26-year old Serie C player was noted yesterday in QPR Report re Italian press comment report re David Succi]


QPR's Swindon Victory:

[Note: "Carling Cup Second Round - The draw for the second round of the Carling Cup will take place tonight. You can watch the draw live on Sky Sports after the Wycombe Wanderers vs Birmingham City game. Matches for the second round will take place on the week commencing 25th August." Announcement



Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - Rangers deservedly go through
I came to Swindon tonight half-expecting to see the annual QPR League Cup debacle.
Rangers are deservedly through to the next round though, having won 3-2 after goals from Angelo Balanta, Dexter Blackstock and Damien Delaney and a great display from Emmanuel Ledesma, although he did miss several chances.
But at the back, Rangers were poor at times and both Swindon's goals were the result of defensive lapses as well as good finishing.
Thanks for your e-company tonight and all your comments. I’m off to hear what Iain Dowie thought about it – the game I mean, not this thread.
Am also hoping to get the very shy Angelo Balanta to talk on the record, because I thought he did really well tonight, deserved his goal and will need to get used to dealing with the media because he’s developing into a player who'll make a name for himself.
I look forward to reading your views either tonight or when I’m back in the office tomorrow. Cheers BBC 606

Mirror - Kid Parejo lifts Hoops
Swindon 2 QPR 3
Qpr manager Iain Dowie hailed the contribution of on-loan Real Madrid 19-year-old Daniel Parejo.
Dowie said: "I think Daniel has already made himself a fan favourite with that performance.
"He should have scored the goal when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the first half, but his all-round performance was absolute quality and you don't come from a team like Real Madrid without being a fantastic player. I'm delighted we've got him." Goals from Angelo Balanta, Dexter Blackstock and Damien Delaney gave QPR victory, with Swindon netting through Simon Cox and Billy Paynter, whose goal put Swindon 2-1 up.
Mirror

Sporting Life - SPANISH STAR DELIGHTS DOWIE
QPR manager Iain Dowie hailed the performance of on-loan Real Madrid youngster Daniel Parejo as his side won 3-2 at Swindon in the first round of the Carling Cup.
Parejo did not get on the scoresheet and missed a decent chance in the first half, but his performance was bright and confirmed Madrid's belief that he has a promising future in the game.
Goals from Angelo Balanta, Dexter Blackstock and Damien Delaney gave QPR victory, with Swindon netting through Simon Cox and Billy Paynter, whose goal had put the home side 2-1 up.
Dowie said: "I thought it was a really good game of football. We had 12 gilt-edged chances in the first half but only ended up taking the scrappiest one out of the lot.
"I'm really pleased with the way the whole team performed and some of the football we played was fantastic.
"I thought Daniel Parejo had already made himself a fan favourite with that performance.
"He should have scored the goal when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the first half and I was surprised when he missed it, but his all-round performance was absolute quality and you don't come from a team like Real Madrid without being a fantastic player. I'm delighted we've got him."
Swindon manager Maurice Malpas praised the performance of his Coca-Cola League One team against the Championship side.
Malpas said: "Apart from their third goal going in, which was a bit of a shocker defensively, I thought we acquitted ourselves really well.
"We competed with a Championship team and showed that we can play football against the best of them.
"I was pleased with the whole team tonight and hopefully we can carry that sort of form into the rest of our league matches.
"It's always disappointing to concede three goals, but I was pleased with the chances we created and the way we set about the game." Sporting Life

See Also: Earlier compilation of QPR-Swindon Reports and Comments


Ealing Gazette/Yann Tear - Cook gets a chance to make dream come true
LEE COOK has promised to give his agent a big kiss for getting him back to Loftus Road after a dead-end spell down the road at Fulham.
Unlike many players who have turned up at Loftus Road in the past professing to love the club, Cook really means it.
He was prepared to pass on his signing-on fee at Craven Cottage back to Rangers a year ago - at a time when they were in financial purgatory.
And when it became clear it was not going to work out at the Cottage, Rangers were the only club he wanted to play for.
"I didn't want to go anywhere else," he told the Gazette this week.
"I told my agent I don't want to go up north or play for any other team in this league and if you can make that possible, I'll give you a big kiss.
"I was getting the vibes from the management that I wasn't in their plans and I was telling my agent that if things don't happen down here, there's only one place I want to go. That's what he did and it's happened."
Cook had little luck at Fulham. He missed the first half of the season with a knee injury - an initial cartilage operation having failed to do the trick.
Then when he was ready to come back, he found the man who took him there, Lawrie Sanchez, was no longer in charge. An unremarkable loan spell at Charlton followed.
"The whole year at Fulham, I don't think I was even on the training pitch. It was pretty much a write-off season down there," Cook admitted.
"I was still two months away from playing when Lawrie Sanchez was given the sack and when Roy Hodgson came in, he signed seven or eight players so it was always going to be difficult for the players signed by Sanchez to get into the team.
Cook continued: "I was disappointed I didn't get a chance to show what I can do at Fulham but the ultimate dream has always been to play here [at QPR] in the Premier League.
"It was always going to be difficult for me going back after Charlton to break into the Fulham team. No matter how well I'd done in pre-season - and I was training well and playing well - I couldn't do any more really.
"It was a case of he's got his players down there and I wasn't going to be given a chance.
"Now I want to consistently perform, like the season I was here before I left. You've got to be consistent home and away because it's such a tough division.
"If I can put the performances in and the gaffer's happy with me, that's all I can do and if my other team-mates can do it too, we'll be up there!"
Fans will be delighted Cook is back. They took to him during his first spell and were impressed with his signing-on gesture.
He received a rapturous reception on his return to Loftus Road with Charlton in April and was mobbed when he joined Rs fans in the stands for QPR's FA Cup tie at Chelsea last season.
"When I came here with Charlton, the reception I got when I came off left my grandad and dad up in the stands with a tear in their eye," he said.
"It was so emotional with 17 or 18 thousand chanting my name. It was mad.
"I've got a special relationship with the fans and I'm hoping to entertain them this year.
"I'm so happy to be back down here and it's exciting times. I've come here on loan with a view to a permanent move and in my eyes, I'm here for the next three years."
Cook added: "You've got to believe you will play in the Premier League or it's not going to happen. Before I used to think it, but now it's closer to that dream with these owners. The club deserves another crack at the big time and hopefully I'm part of that.
"I expected changes here because Bernie and Flavio [Ecclestone and Briatore] don't muck about, but when you see it for yourself, it's quite amazing." Ealing Gazette


Ned Zelic Retires -- Goal.com Zelic Officially Retires After Georgia Scare
The war in Georgia has left former Australia skipper Ned Zelic hanging up his boots for good.
As Russia and Georgia declared a ceasefire on Tuesday, the effects of the war has left ex-Socceroo Ned Zelic pondering what could have happen if he had stayed on in Tbilisi.
Zelic, 37, had plied his trade in Georgia for the past 18 months and admitted he could feel the onset of war, which prompted him to leave the country.
In an interview with The Australian, the ex-Borussia Dortmund defender admitted it would not make a wise decision to stay, even though he helped Dinamo Tibilisi to the domestic title last season.
"I enjoyed every minute of my time at Dinamo. I was asked to stay on for another season, and while the contract was very tempting, I just had this sense that it was best I didn't stay," said Zelic, who has played 40 times for Australia.
For the moment, Zelic still keeps in touch with his team-mates and monitors the situation in Georgia from his home in Frankfurt.
"I've still got a lot of good friends in the city who I've been in touch with on a daily basis,” the ex-Queens Park Rangers player revealed.
"The phones into the city, for now, are still working and I've also been able to send text messages to a few of the team.
"I was told just this morning that while the Russian soldiers haven't reached the capital yet, it could be only a matter of time. The players at Dinamo have told me they can see and hear the bombs going off in the mountains above Tbilisi.
"There is a military airport very close to the stadium and an army base, as well. My former team-mates say the situation is worsening by the hour."
Zelic, who returned to the A-League in 2005 to play for the Newcastle Jets, now lives in Germany with his family, and insists he is “officially retired” after his experience in Georgia.
He said: "The tension between Georgia and Russia had been coming for some time.”
"I've got a wife (Irena) and two kids, a daughter aged nine (Victoria) and a two-year-old son (Matteo) to think about.
"But I thought enough is enough. It was time for me to give the game away and start concentrating on other things.
"Tell the folks back home I'm now officially retired." Goal.com


Ex-QPR Goalie Sean Thomas signs for Wealdstone
"Wealdstone have signed goalkeeper Sean Thomas and midfielder Gary Burrell ahead of the new Ryman Premier season this weekend. Manager Gordon Bartlett moved to sign 21-year-old former QPR shot stopper Thomas after Richard Barnard was snapped up by Weymouth....The pair are likely to be involved on Saturday when Wealdstone play Tonbridge Angels in their first league match at Grosvenor Vale. Harrow Times


Ex-QPRs Last Night:

Penalty Save by Lee Harper:
"Setanta -...Grays 1 Kettering 1
Kettering goalkeeper Lee Harper saved Danny Kedwell’s last-gasp penalty to maintain The Poppies' unbeaten record. The former QPR keeper was equal to Kedwell’s spot-kick in injury-time after Guy Branston had fouled Jamie Taylor...
." - Roundup


Luton 2 Plymouth 0 - Managerial team of Harford and Neil beat Plymouth team with Walton and Barker Report

Yeovil team with Forbes defeated Charlton 1-0 - Report

Tony Roberts' Dagenham lost 1-2 to Reading - Report

Marcus Bean sent off for Brentford against Swansea - Report

Gillingham with Miller and Oli lost to Colchester - Report

Kevin Gallen stayed on the bench as MK Dons beat Norwich - Report


Reminder: QPR XI at Harrow Tonight - "Harrow complete their pre-season programme with the prestige visit of Championship side QPR to Earlsmead on Wednesday 13th August. Kick off is 7.45pm."
Admission prices are £10 adults, £5 senior citizens and students (upon production of current student ID card) and £1 for under 16s accompanied by an adult." Harrow

[Clive Whittingham/Loft for Words, back in July wrote this about the importance to Harrow QPR-Harrow game