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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Snippets: No Venables...Money and Championship Promotion...Leighterwood: Patience...Waddock's Attacking Philosophy...Ex-Goalie Mike Kelly Birthday

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A one line c/o Teamtalk "Terry Venables has been told there is no job for him at QPR. " (The Mirror) Teamtalk [So whether this is just the Mirror taking Dowie and players statements about QPR and turning it into a declarative "No to Venables"...)


Simon Kendal-Williams, Western Mail
".... Cardiff City return to action today aiming to cement their place near the top of the class. It’s back to school with a bang for Dave Jones’ side after the two-week international break,...
And, with the talk of a foreign takeover, [Charlton will] be buoyant.”
But even with a bottomless pit of money, Jones is sceptical of any club trying to buy their way out of the Championship.
“I haven’t seen anybody in this division go out and spend £5m or £6m on a Premiership striker or defender,” he said. “They just won’t come. Why would they? It just doesn’t happen.
“Clubs can’t afford to pay Premiership wages. It’s a misnomer that clubs have all this money at this level so are going to be successful.

QPR have vast amounts of money, but I haven’t seen them go out and get top players who are supposedly available.
“The Premier League is the only place the top players want to be. And sometimes you can have money, but you can’t spend it.

And it also comes with the burden that you can end up paying over the odds for Championship players – clubs know you’ve got money.
“There’s no magic formula – you’ve just got to find the players who will get you out of this division.”
“.” Walesonline


Virgin Media - Leigertwood calls for calm
QPR midfielder Mikele Leigertwood is calling for patience from the Loftus Road faithful as his side bid to arrest a poor run of results.
Rangers have claimed just one point from their last four Championship matches and currently stand 11th in the table.
The run has led to disquiet from a section of the Rangers fans but 25-year-old Leigertwood claims no-one is more frustrated than the players by their recent dip in form.
He told the Rangers official website: "We want to do as well as we can for the club and ourselves and we know when we're not playing well enough.
"The fans have shown their frustration a bit harshly sometimes but it's only a small minority and we know what we have to do." Virgin Media


Hampshire/Charlie Olive - Waddock on the attack as he stands by his players
IT’S derby day at The Rec on Saturday.
Well, as close as there is to such a thing in League Two, with high-flying Brentford the visitors, from 30 miles or so to the north-east of Aldershot.
The Shots are unbeaten at home in League Two and, indeed, have lost just once at home in league competition since August 2007.
Brentford are third in League Two and have not lost in the league since the opening day, when they were beaten 1-0 at Bury....
Aldershot manager Gary Waddock is certainly looking forward to the test.
“You cannot ask for a better game than playing a big club like Brentford, in front of a big crowd,” he said.
Waddock has watched Brentford twice in the last ten days, first at Luton in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and then at Notts County in Monday night’s 1-1 League Two draw.
That game was live on television but Waddock still made the trip up to Nottingham.
I didn’t just sit in my living room and watch the game,” he said. “You can see so much more — everything — when you are live at a game.
“I know Brentford well and they are a good side, who have made a good start. We know they are going to be a handful — but so are we.”
Waddock’s side has been criticised in some quarters after recent games, in which a cavalier approach has seen seven goals conceded in a 3-3 draw with Bury — The Shots came from 3-0 down to preserve their home record — and last Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Macclesfield, where four goals were shipped in the second half.
But the manager is not for changing and insisted that he will not compromise his attacking philosophy. Moreover, he is adamant that his squad is good enough to cope with life in League Two and that the players have earned the right to learn their trade in the Football League, after winning promotion from the Conference last season.
It’s not as if The Shots are doing badly, either. Tenth place and 14 points from ten games is a more than encouraging return to the Football League.
“We were all bitterly disappointed with what happened at Macclesfield but we won’t dwell on that, just as we never dwell on victories,” said Waddock.
We will bounce back. There is no case of panic stations or anything like that. Everyone seems to think that we are going through a period of disappointment but I don’t see a major problem.
“We lose at the death at Notts County, pick up a fantastic point against Bury and then lose at Macclesfield and there’s doom and gloom. I’m not sure about that at all.”
Waddock admits that ‘it would be nice’ to win a game 1-0 and keep a clean sheet but points out that Aldershot’s title triumph last season was hardly built on a mean defence.
We live dangerously at times, that’s the way we play. And that means we score late goals and let them in too. We certainly do need to tighten up in one or two areas but there is no need for drastic changes.
“We have a really good group of players but many of them are learning at this level. They need a little bit of time to adjust to stepping up a level and we have been punished at times. But these players have earned the right to be at this level.”
That is not to say that Waddock won’t be considering changes for Brentford....
Waddock has demanded more leadership on the pitch from his players but says that it is not something that will change overnight.
“You can’t work on leadership too much, it’s within the person and we’ve just got to coax it out of them, if possible,” he said.
“It can be very hard with young players but we want them to give information on the field of play. It comes with experience
.
“It’s the same with adapting to situations within games. In this last three-game period, the players will be learning. Three games without a win has rarely happened to this squad and when you lose a couple of games, you learn.
“Martin Kuhl and I will learn a lot about our players this week by seeing how they are reacting to this run of games.”
In midfield, Ben Harding is struggling to reach the heights of last season but Scott Donnelly, a possible replacement, had a quiet game in the Reserves’ match against Southampton. Moreover, Harding's in-swinging delivery from wide on the right remains one of Aldershot's key parts to their set-piece armoury, even if he is lacking fluency in open play....
Waddock may yet give Elvins another start, if he believes players deserve a run in the team.
“It’s a case of me making my mind up,” said Waddock. “I have to pick a side that I feel will go out there and win the game.
“After the guys played up front for the Reserves, I know that, whoever gets the call on Saturday, are ready and match fit.
“Some players will have a run in the side, others will have a shorter period. It depends on how they do.”
As for Brentford, they are expected to be unchanged from the 1-1 draw at County, in which they faded after taking the lead and might easily have seen their unbeaten run ended.
While Aldershot have conceded 18 goals in ten games, Brentford have let in just four, ... So, their cautious approach is likely to be in stark contrast to Aldershot’s.
I want us to be a hard-working side but I also want the players to play with a smile on their faces. I want them to relax and enjoy their football,” said Waddock.
The players have to be able to enjoy football and express themselves. We’ve leaked one or two goals recently but we’ve done that for 14 months.
We know what we are about and we don't have the players to change. I didn’t want a boring team, that just sits deep. I want an attacking side, who entertain, and give the crowd something to shout about — and they have done that and will continue to do so.” .” Report


Ex-QPR Goalie,Mike Kelly Turns 66 .
Born Otober 18, 1942. Goalie, Mike Kelly Joined QPR in 1966 (on the same day that Rodney Marsh signed) from non-league Wimbledon. Made his QPR debut in November 1966 (and was the backup to Peter Springett for the League Cup Final). Joined Birmingham in August 1970 (afer QPR signed Phil Parkes from Walsall)


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