QPR Update re Vignal, Blackstock, Pellicori, Borrowdale, Faurlin, Campbell, Stewart & Leigertwood....Funday Success

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BBC- Vignal keen to secure move to QPR
- Gregory Vignal is hoping to return to English football with QPR.
- The former Liverpool and Portsmouth left-back is on trial at Loftus Road after being told he can leave French club Lens on a free transfer.
- Vignal, 28, said: "I want to come back to England and this is a chance for me to try to do that. I've got to show I've got quality to bring to the team."
- He spent the 2007/08 season on loan at Southampton and had a previous loan spell in Scotland with Rangers.
- The former France Under-21 international is well known to QPR assistant boss John Gorman, who worked at Southampton during Vignal's time at St Mary's.
- "Gregory is a good pro who has been at very big clubs," said Gorman.
- "We spoke and he said he's willing to come here so we can have a look at him, although I don't need to look at him because I know he's a quality player."
- QPR are also giving trials to ex-Coventry and Ipswich keeper Andy Marshall and striker Alessandro Pellicori, who is being assessed ahead of a possible move from Italian club Avellino.
BBC


Dave McIntyre/BBC606- Vignal may fit the bill
- Gregory Vignal will be given another chance to secure a move to QPR.
- Vignal, who is on trial at the club, featured as a second-half substitute at Wycombe and will play in a friendly at Kettering tonight.
- The left-back is well known to assistant boss John Gorman, who was Southampton’s chief scout and later caretaker manager while Vignal was on loan there the season before last.
- Gorman speaks very highly of the player and Jim Magilton is keen to take a longer look at Vignal in action.
- Vignal has plenty of experience of English football, having also had spells with Liverpool and Portsmouth.
- He currently has a year of his contract at Lens left to run, but has been told he can leave on a free transfer.
- The French club are apparently looking to cut costs and Vignal is one of a number of players they are prepared to offload.
- Speaking to Vignal after the Wycombe game, it was clear he misses England and is very keen to return.
- Most trialists fade away pretty quickly but I sense there’s a very good chance Vignal will start the season at Loftus Road.
- He struggled to get into the game after coming on at Wycombe, but should get more time to impress tonight.
- Heidar Helguson, striker Alessandro Pellicori and goalkeeper Andy Marshall will also play at Kettering, and Akos Buzsaky may be involved.
- Buzsaky has been nursing a thigh problem but was due to be assessed on Wednesday morning with a view to giving him a run-out at Rockingham Road, but new signing Alejandro Faurlin is unlikely to make an appearance.
- Marshall is another player on trial at Rangers, while Pellicori is being assessed ahead of a possible move from Italian club Avellino.
- Neither player was involved at Wycombe but both will be playing tonight. BBC 606


Jul 29 2009 London Informer - QPR have the money if Vignal has the form
- GREGORY VIGNAL will soon have a good idea whether he's earned a contract at QPR.
- The French left-back has been trialling with the club and after a cameo in the 2-1 win at Wycombe on Tuesday night, together with being named in the squad to face Kettering last night, boss Jim Magilton will have all the information he needs.
- Vignal has a pedigree back-ground with Liverpool, Glasgow Rangers, Portsmouth and Southampton on his CV, and at 28 is the perfect age to play a key role in the Hoops defence.
- Matt Connolly earned plaudits playing there at the back end of last season, but has always made it clear he would prefer a berth in the centre of defence. And it's clear the other Rs option, Gary Borrowdale, is on, well, borrowed time.
- The former Coventry player hasn't set foot on a QPR pitch as a first-teamer despite Rs shelling out £125,000 to the Sky Blues for him last November.
- Damien Delaney has moved to Ipswich already for close to a £1million, and provided Vignal has done the business at Wycombe and Kettering, the free agent comes at the right price.
- "His wages wouldn't be a problem," an insider said. Ealing Gazette


Ealing Gazette - London Informer/Paul Warburton
Stewart and Leigertwood could stay with QPR until 2012
Jul 29 2009 By Paul Warburton, London Informer
- QPR are ready to offer new deals to both Damion Stewart and Mikele Leigertwood that keeps the pair at the club until 2012.
- The Rangers duo have been coveted by a host of clubs this summer, with the loudest noises coming from Wolves for Leigertwood and Spurs and Newcastle in Jamaican international Stewart.
- Both have only a year left on their contracts, which in effect would be reduced to six months if nothing was sorted by January when the players essentially become free agents.
Wolves were prepared to pay the same near £1million fee for Leigertwood that Rs paid Sheffield United in August 2007 - but boss Jim Magilton doesn't want either player to leave.
- An insider said: "Of course the club doesn't want the double problem of either losing top players in the middle of the season or the transfer fees that go with valuable assets walking out the door for nothing."
- Leigertwood missed out on last night's friendly at Wycombe with a thigh strain, with identical injuries to Akos Buzsaky and new boy Alejandro Faurlin ruling them out of the friendly at Adams Park.
- It's the last of the three that worries the manager most, despite labelling the niggles as only 'minor'.
- Argentinian Alejandro Faurlin, who cost Rangers £3.5m a month ago, is understood to have a tear at the top of his thigh, and will under-go a scan in the next 24 hours.
- Magilton will almost certainly rule the other two out of the only pre-season match at Loftus Road on Saturday as well when Rs take on newly-relegated Southampton....." Ealing Gazette


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Borrowed time... or a second chance?
- FORGOTTEN man Gary Borrowdale is desperate to finally prove his worth after six months of finding the Loftus Road door slammed in his face.
- Borrowdale signed for QPR in a £700,000 move from Coventry midway through last season - only to find himself unwanted by former Rs coach Paulo Sousa.
- Shunted out on loan to Brighton, the left-back's Rangers career appeared over before it had even started - but now he is savouring the opportunity of a fresh start under new boss Jim Magilton.
- "It was a strange one when I came here," Borrowdale told the Times. "I don't really know what happened, but I'm back now and I want to play for QPR and show the fans what I can do.
- "I'm just trying to get my head down - having a new manager is a new chance for me to improve and it's up to me, the same as everyone else, to prove I'm good enough to get in that starting 11.
- "When I went down to Brighton, the objective was to stay up, which we achieved, and it was a good experience. To be playing Saturday-Tuesday, which I hadn't done for about a year and a half, was really enjoyable.
- "A new manager's always got different ideas - certain players might fit, others might not and that's how it always is. Some people like you and some won't think you're their type of player."
- In fairness to 24-year-old Borrowdale, he was by no means the only unsolicited signing foisted onto a QPR boss by the board and sporting director Gianni Paladini last season.
- Having never sought Borrowdale's signature, Sousa was reluctant to hand him a first-team opportunity, preferring to shift Matthew Connolly to left-back to cover for Damien Delaney.
- Delaney's departure to Ipswich earlier this summer left Borrowdale as the only specialist left-back on the Rs' books, but the former Crystal Palace man certainly does not expect that to make him an automatic choice in the side.
-He and Connolly have generally shared the role during Rangers' pre-season programme, while youngster Lee Brown has also been included in the squad at times.
- "Connors played there at the end of last season and did well and I think Fitz [Hall] can go out there if it comes to it, so it's not as if I'm the only one who can play on the left," Borrowdale admitted.
- "If anyone else plays there, I'll give them my support. The way we've been working in training, everyone knows the shape the manager wants to play so, if you're called on, you know exactly what's required of you." Kilbunr Times


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - No Dex and no DJ either
- QPR boss Jim Magilton has ruled out a move for Leicester's DJ Campbell as he searches for a striker to replace Dexter Blackstock.
- Campbell, who was born in west London and played for Rangers at schoolboy level, had been touted for a return to Loftus Road after failing to hold down a regular place at Leicester.
- Blackstock's protracted - and rather controversial - £750,000 sale to Nottingham Forest, which finally went through last week, left Magilton with just three specialist strikers at his disposal.
- Italian trialist Alessandro Pellicori has also featured in the Rs' pre-season games and could yet earn a contract but, asked if his shopping list included Campbell, Magilton replied: "Absolutely not.
- "We're constantly on the lookout - obviously Pellicori's come in as well, which gives me more options up front. At the moment we're just having a wee look at him through the rest of pre-season.
- "Adel Taarabt's come in [on loan from Tottenham] as well and again he gives me another option. If we feel someone can add quality to the squad, we'll try and get them."
- But the Rangers manager has made it clear that 27-year-old Campbell, who spent five years in non-league football before breaking into the Football League with Brentford, does not - in his view - come into that category.
- Ironically, Campbell might have been lining up at Loftus Road on the first day of the new season anyway had Blackpool, where he spent a successful period on loan from Leicester last season, been able to match his salary.
- His best season at Championship level came at Birmingham in 2006-07, when he scored 12 goals - the same number that Blackstock managed at QPR last year despite spending lengthy spells on the bench.
- Magilton made it clear earlier this month that he was happy to keep the former England under-21 striker at Loftus Road, but owner Flavio Briatore had been determined to sell Blackstock for some time.
- The move means that Forest have now benefitted twice this summer from Briatore's whims, having already signed goalkeeper Lee Camp for a nominal fee.
- With Jake Cole joining Barnet and Reece Crowther moving to A-League side Wellington Phoenix, QPR are still seeking fresh competition for number one keeper Radek Cerny.
- Andy Marshall, who spent three seasons as a team-mate of Magilton's at Ipswich, is currently on trial at Rangers and is available on a free transfer after his contract with Coventry expired last season.
- Magilton added: "Andy's having a look at us and we're having a look at him. I've got past experience of working with him and I know what he can bring.
"He's an experienced goalkeeper and a good back-up for Radek, but I'll sit down and have a conversation with him soon and see where we go." Kilburn Times


QPR Official Site - FAMILY FUN DAY SUCCESS
- Our inaugural summer Family Fun Day proved to be a glowing success earlier today (Wednesday).
- Over 1,000 Rangers fans turned out in force at Loftus Road, as the feel-good factor ahead of the new season really gathered pace.
- The R's First Team squad, flanked by the entire backroom staff - including R's gaffer Jim Magilton - spent over two hours signing autographs and posing for photos.
- And with the bouncy castle and face painters also proving a great success, both children and adults alike left the ground in great optimism ahead of the new campaign.
- Marketing Manager, Joe Kyle, told www.qpr.co.uk: "We're really grateful to the fans, who once again showed their true passion and support for the Club.
- "They make events like this thoroughly worthwhile and we're all really looking forward to the start of the season now."
- The Club would also like to place on the record its thanks to members of the Official Supporters Club for their support, both in the build up to the event and throughout the day.
- *We'll bring you further reaction from the Family Fun Day on Thursday. QPR


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