Snippets: Chopra Too Expensive for QPR....Dave Bassett Assesses QPR...Bolder to Millwall?..Vine Injury Update...Bhatia's Managerial Comments Picked Up

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Paul Warburnton/London Informer - Chopra too pricey for Hoops
QPR have abandoned a second attempt to get Sunderland striker Michael Chopra on loan.
The Black Cats have demanded his £20,00-a-week wages to be paid in full - a price too high for Rangers, as well as a guaranteed £5m transfer to the west London club in January." London Informer


The Star/South Yorkshire Dave Bassett Assessing Promotion Prospects
"Former Sheffield United boss Dave Bassett has pumped up the pressure on Kevin Blackwell's Blades...I thought Ipswich would do better but didn't agree with the bookies that QPR were favourites. They've got money but who have they bought who's cost anything?
"And it's one of those where the chairman thinks he's Jose Mourinho, thinks he should pick the team. Iain Dowie was always going to get the sack if he couldn't keep them in the top two." The Star


Mirror/Football Spy - Adam Bolder in talks over Millwall switch- - QPR's out-of-favour midfielder Adam Bolder is in talks with Kenny Jackett's promotion chasing Millwall about a move across London. Mirror


London Informer/Paul Warburton - Vine agonises over X-ray
-Rowan Vine's season hangs by a thread as the QPR striker awaits the news from a vital X-ray.
The player signed for £2m in January has had another setback in his bid to recover from a double leg break after he collided with then reserve keeper Matt Pickens in a training ground incident back in April.
The former Birmingham man had hoped to be close to full training by now, but tests a month ago revealed the mending process on both his fibia and tibula had not gone according to plan.
And this week there were fresh fears Vine would need yet another operation after his rehab had all but ground to a halt.
A QPR source said: "It's not looking as good as we hoped.
"The X-ray will tell us more, and if Rowan has to sit out this campaign he's still young enough to bounce back."
Caretaker boss Gareth Ainsworth added his concerns.
He said: "I know what it's like to break just a tib - and it took me around seven months to be fit again - but when you do the fibia as well, there's an awful lot more work to be done."
Meanwhile, Ainsworth denies that every time he sees the name 'Flavio' as his mobile rings he's assuming the worst.
At least 10 names have been dropped into the vacant manager's frame since the sacking of Iain Dowie two weeks ago. But Ainsworth is preparing the team for the visit of Cardiff on Saturday with the backing of chairman Flavio Briatore.
- He said: "Yeah, he called me after the defeat at Ipswich, and we talked. But as far as I know I'll be looking after the team this weekend.
- "A couple of the lads tried to call me gaffer. I told them I'm having none of that. I'm just Gaz like I've always been." London Informer


Sporting Life - BHATIA - AINSWORTH PICKS THE TEAM
QPR vice-chairman Amit Bhatia has offered his backing to caretaker-manager Gareth Ainsworth and insisted the club's hierarchy has no influence on team selection.
Former boss Iain Dowie parted company with the Championship outfit last month amid claims chairman Flavio Briatore is keen to be involved in choosing the starting XI.
Bhatia, though, is adamant that Ainsworth has the final say on his side as the cash-fuelled club look to build on last season's 14th-placed finish.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "A lot has been said about Flavio picking the team. I don't know how involved other owners or other chairmen are, but at our club we care a great deal and as a result we might be more hands-on than most people.
"But we respect the fact that the manager is there to do a job, and the team selected, regardless of what anybody around us says, has to be the manager's. Otherwise, we should be the ones standing on the sidelines in tracksuits.
"Do I have suggestions over what the team should be? Of course I do, like any fan. But when Gareth puts out a team, it is Gareth's team."
Bhatia added: "If Gareth is the best man for the job, then we have to give him a fair shot at it. He may not have much experience of being a manager, but he has the respect of all of the players.
"It is only fair that Gareth gets the chance that he deserves, and for now I am absolutely thrilled.
"Just like any other fan, I wish that we could be promoted this season. But realistically, if we didn't get promoted this year, but were very competitive and made the play-offs, I would define that success." Sporting Life


- [Offer your view on the QPR Report Messageboard of developments - or non-developments - at Loftus Road, some two weeks after Iain Dowie was axed and countless weeks after talk about QPR bringing in a striker.]