Snippets: Ex-QPR's Ray Wilkins Back at Chelsea...Ex-Chairman Chris Wright Update....Year Flashback: QPR in Relegation Mire

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Update: Now Officially Announced: Ray Wilkins back at Chelsea. - Chelsea Official Site: "Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Ray Wilkins as assistant first team coach...."
Chelsea Official Site

This is London/Chris Hatherall - Wilkins goes back to Chelsea as new coach
Ray Wilkins is set to make a dramatic and emotional return to Chelsea as a replacement for Steve Clarke – just in time to face his old club Manchester United.
The Chelsea great is in talks with the club over a role as assistant manager to Luiz Felipe Scolari and an announcement could be made as early as today.
Wilkins, who joined the club as a schoolboy and became their youngest ever captain when given the armband aged 18 in 1975, is seen as the perfect man to replace Clarke given his popularity with fans and his long-time links with the club.
Not only did he make 198 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 34 goals, but he was also coach under Gianluca Vialli before departing along with the Italian in 2000.
Since then he has been an assistant to Dennis Wise at Millwall and worked alongside Peter Taylor with England Under 21s. But he has also maintained his links with the Blues – even playing regularly in the Chelsea Old Boys team.
Now the former England midfielder, who was 52 last week, is set to return to his spiritual home and will be seen a crucial part of Scolari's back-room team.
The Brazilian has always said he was keen to keep a British presence in his staff, especially as he saw Clarke as a vital link between himself and the players.
Wilkins, who won 84 England caps, was unable to confirm or deny the appointment last night and indicated nothing had yet been completed. But Chelsea hope to have him in place in time for Sunday's match against United at Stamford Bridge.
By coincidence, Wilkins is also a former United player, appearing 160 times for the club between 1979 and 1984.
His return to Chelsea will be a boost for Scolari who was shocked by Clarke's move to West Ham having formed a close bond with the Scotsman in a short space of time.
In a bid to keep Clarke, he offered him more responsibility but had to admit defeat when the coach resigned and Chelsea and West Ham agreed compensation after a brief row. This is London


The Sun - WILKINS IN ... Ray's back at the Bridge
RAY WILKINS joins Chelsea today as shock replacement for Steve Clarke.
Boss Phil Scolari was left reeling by coach Clarke’s exit to West Ham on Monday and has moved quickly to snap up another former Blues player.
Wilkins, 52, had six years with Chelsea back in the 1970s and also spent time at Stamford Bridge as a coach under Gianluca Vialli from 1998 to 2000.
But it is his overall experience that persuaded Scolari to take him on board.
Wilkins won 84 caps for England and enjoyed successful spells with Manchester United and AC Milan.
He has also bossed QPR and Fulham and worked alongside Peter Taylor with England Under-21s.
Wilkins also has great knowledge of the English and European game from time working as a pundit on television.
He will link up with Chelsea in the build-up to Sunday’s mammoth encounter with United. The Sun


"Where Are They Now?....Ex-QPR Chairman, Chris Wright
The Times/Amanda Andrews - Business big shot: Chris Wright
Chris Wright, the chairman and founder of Chrysalis, said last year that the music publishing group was “a jewel of a business”, although he was sceptical about his prospects of receiving an attractive offer in a difficult climate. Interestingly, the market is now a lot tougher and the group says that it has received approaches from interested parties.
Talks with EMI broke down this year, but after a share price jump yesterday, Chrysalis was forced to announce that it had received a number of “very tentative” approaches. The Times has learnt that the group has held talks with Bug Music, the United States-based music company, about buying Chrysalis. Another interested party is understood to be Primary Wave, a small American label, with sources suggesting the possibility of a merger. It is understood that big labels, including EMI, Warner Music and Universal, are not involved, although interest may come from Sony/ATV.
The roots of Chrysalis stretch back to a flat in West London in 1967, when former university social secretaries Chris Wright, then 22, and Terry Ellis, 23, linked their flair for managing and booking bands to form the Ellis Wright Agency.
Mr Wright's career in the music industry began at Manchester University in the 1960s, where he booked acts such as the Yardbirds and Cream. Among the duo's early management clients were a Blackpool soul band that evolved into Jethro Tull. In 1968 the duo signed a licensing deal with Island Records with the promise that, should Wright Ellis's acts log an agreed number of hits, it would be awarded a label in its own right. Within a year Chrysalis was formed. It was one of the first independent music businesses, with artists such as Blondie, Leo Sayer, Huey Lewis and the News and Spandau Ballet.
In 1985, Mr Ellis sold his share of the company to Mr Wright. After a reverse takeover that year, Chrysalis was listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 1989 Mr Wright was forced to sell half the record label to Thorn EMI, which bought the other half two years later.
He retained the music publishing arm and then built a wider media business with assets in TV and radio, both of which have been sold. That left him with the publishing operation behind David Bowie and OutKast, so now he can focus on the business he knows best.
Mr Wright, who owned Queens Park Rangers for a spell, owns Wasps rugby union club, which is just about profitable, and Stratford Place Stud in Gloucestershire. The Times


A little better than a year ago: September 19, 2007: QPR 0 Plymouth 2 - After that Playmouth loss, last September QPR has 2 points from 5 games. (On the following Saturday, QPR tnen drew at home to Watford, and had 3 points from 6 games,,and then after Gregory's final game a 5-1 loss at WBA, leaving QPR with 3 points from 7 games. By contrast, this season, QPR currently have 13 points from 6 games. In fact last season, QPR had 11 points after 13 games and 15 points after 15 games, after a mini-QPR "surge" under Mick Harford.)
QPR vs Plymouth: Teams: QPR Camp, Rehman (Bignot 59), Cullip, Stewart, Barker,Rowlands, Nardiello (Sahar 81), Bolder, Leigertwood,Moore (Ephraim 59), Blackstock.
Subs Not Used: Cole, Curtis.
Plymouth McCormick, Connolly, Seip, Timar, Sawyer, Norris,Buzsaky, Nalis, Halmosi, Hayles (Hodges 90), Ebanks-Blake.
Subs Not Used: Larrieu, Chadwick, Doumbe, Fallon. Ian Holloway's Plymouth victory


Ex-QPR Birthday: Dean Coney, Turns 45 - Born September 18, 1963.
Forward, Dean Coney was signed from Fulham by Jim Smith in the summer of 1987 (along with Paul Parker) after the Bulstrode takeover. Was sold to Norwich in March 1989.
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