QPR's Part Owner Loses £16 Billion....Ex-QPR's Gerry Francis Rejecting Newcastle?...Dave Thomas Turns 58...Premiership Ticket Prices

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Times/Steven Swinford - Mittal drops £16bn as crunch bites
"The plummeting stock markets have hit Britain’s richest man and his fellow billionaires hard
Britain's richest man, the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, has also emerged as the country’s biggest loser from the credit crunch with more than £16 billion wiped off his fortune by plummeting stock markets in just four months....
Tim Bouquet, author of a book on Lakshmi Mittal, said the tycoon’s lifestyle was well suited to less ostentatious times. “He’s very careful with money,” Bouquet said. “He likes to joke that on his plane he serves pizza rather than champagne. Mittal’s idea of a good time is to order Chinese takeaway from Zen Central in Mayfair.”
Mittal is also joint owner of Queens Park Rangers with Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula One, and Flavio Briatore, managing director of the Renault F1 team. They sparked protests from fans last weekend after raising prices for some games to £50, the most expensive tickets in the Championship...." The Times


Football Shorts: Gerry Francis ponders Newcastle coaching job
FRANCIS PONDERS NEWCASTLE COACHING JOB
Gerry Francis, the former Tottenham and Queens Park Rangers manager, was last night offered a two-day-a-week coaching role at crisis club Newcastle. The 56-year-old Francis, whose most recent management job was at QPR in 2001, would work alongside interim coach Joe Kinnear. Francis has been helping Stoke City manager Tony Pulis and it is understood that the Potteries club also want to offer him a coaching position. A gifted midfielder, Francis became captain of England in the 1970s under Don Revie but won only 12 caps. His first coaching role was at Exeter before he became player-manager at Bristol Rovers, where he put £20,000 of his own money into the club. He moved to QPR in 1991 but resigned three years later and became boss at Tottenham. He returned to Loftus Road in 1998, taking on the twin role of director of football and manager, but left the post in 2001 - The Times


Telegraph/Duncan White - Gerry Francis set to reject Newcastle coaching offer
In another bizarre twist at Newcastle, interim manager Joe Kinnear has approached Gerry Francis to take a coaching role with the club.
However, Francis is understood to be unhappy at the news leaking out and is likely to turn down the chance to work with Kinnear.
Francis, the former Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham manager, has been out of the game since 2001. He has worked extensively as a television pundit but is understood to be seeking a return to coaching.
He has begun working with Tony Pulis at Stoke City and is expected to extend his relationship with them rather than join up with Newcastle.
Kinnear had revealed earlier in the week, albeit cryptically, that he had approached someone. Francis’s name leaked out yesterday. “I’ve got plans to bring in other people around me but I daren’t even mention it because I know he’d probably be in serious trouble before he got here,” he said.
Kinnear was adamant that Chris Hughton, his assistant, and the rest of the staff at the club were not under threat. Telegraph


Dave Thomas Turns 58
Born October 5, 1950 Gordon Jago signed 21-year old/England U-21 International, Dave Thomas almost exactly thirty-five years ago, (late October 1972) from Burnley for what was then a record fee for a Second Division Club: 165,000 pounds (and a time when the biggest transfer fee paid by an English club was around 250,000 pounds!)
(Thomas had been described as "the best young player in Europe" and seemed a bargain signing. Known for not wearing shin pads/socks down to the ankles)
Thomas was signed to replace QPR midfielder, Martyn Busby who very sadly broke his leg in a game at Fulham. Originally played in midfield, was switched to the wing and was a key player for QPR in their "Championship" season in 1975-1976. Thomas also played 8 times for England. Was crazily transferred to Everton in August 1977 for around 200,000 pounds. Played approaching 200 league games, scoring 28 goals.
See Thomas/Wikipedia - Also a nice Dave Barton QPR profile of Thomas - Also Burnley profile of Thomas - Burnley MAD


Also: Ex-QPR Birthdays: Alan Wilks Turns 62-
Alan Wilks - Born October 5, 1946. Wilks was known as Rodney Marsh's "understudy" which was a big burden to bear. Signed from Chelsea on a free in May 1965. Joined Gillingham in July 1971. Played his most QPR games in 1967/68 and 1968/69. His most famous QPR game was his scoring 5 goals (a QPR record) in QPR's League Cup game vs Oxford Unted almost exactly 40 years ago. (October 10 1967/68) QPR won 5-1. Wilks played in QPR's first ever game in the First Division (home to Leicester). That season, Wilks played 17+3 games, scoring 5 goals.


The Independent/Steve Tongue - Outside the Box: Time for a kick up the Arsenal as £100 ticket looms large
After the unwelcome landmark of the Championship's first £50 ticket, for Queen's Park Rangers' home game with Derby County last weekend, how long before the £100 Premier League match? It will certainly happen in London, where prices have always been highest, and the Emirates Stadium will almost certainly be the venue. Arsenal currently charge £94 for best seats at their biggest games, leaving Tottenham Hotspur (£75) and Chelsea (£65) looking cheap at the price. QPR, incidentally, had designated as "category A" opposition a Derby team that were in the bottom six in the table and had not won an away game for 18 months – until travelling to Loftus Road for a 2-0 success. Their manager Paul Jewell may not have gained many points but he will have won friends with his observation: "We can't keep bleeding fans dry."

Independent