Crystal Palace's Ben Watson Supposedly Spurning QPR for Milddlesbrough...Scott Donnelly Turns 21

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-[As noted on the blog posting below (at the end of the posting), Scott Donnelly Turned 21 today.]

Daily Mail - Ben Watson is ready to stun Queens Park Rangers by joining Middlesbrough next month.
- QPR were convinced the Crystal Palace midfielder would be heading for Loftus Road in the January transfer window, after first registering an interest in him last season, but are set to be pipped by a late move from Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate.
- After reluctantly sanctioning Gary O'Neil's request for a return to Portsmouth in the New Year, Southgate began the search for a suitable replacement and quickly set his sights on England under-21 midfielder Watson.
- The 23-year old is due to become a free agent at the end of the season, after resisting overtures from Palace manager Neil Warnock to sign a new deal, and can be snapped up for a knockdown £1million next month.
- Southgate is willing to meet the asking price after identifying his combative approach as the ideal way of covering for O'Neil's imminent departure.
- Homesick O'Neil is anxious to seal a move back to the south coast and is seen by Portsmouth manager Tony Adams as a ready-made replacement for Lassana Diarra, following his £20million move to Real Madrid.
- QPR had a £1.25million bid for Watson rejected at the end of last season and will be bitterly frustrated if the London-born prospect opts for proving himself in the Barclays Premier League with Middlesbrough ahead of remaining in the Capital.
Watson has had no shortage of admirers and underlined his standing as one of the Coca Cola Championship's outstanding midfielders by scoring both Palace goals in last season's 4-2 aggregate defeat by Bristol City in last season's promotion play-off semi-final. " Mail