QPR Update: Raheem Sterling May Have to Wait - And May Miss Out...Reid Return to Blackburn?...Williams Wants to Stay...Ephraim Loan Extension Wanted?

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Mail - Leo's London - Raheem Sterling
"...Raheem Sterling may have to wait to make his QPR debut after all.
The teenager who celebrated his 15th birthday two weeks’ ago was supposed to be fast-tracked into the first team as part of the club’s plan to convince him to stay.
But the clock is ticking on his chance to break the Football League record as its all-time youngest player after yet another change of regime at Loftus Road.
Reuben Noble-Lazarus is the kid to beat after making his Barnsley debut aged 15 years and 45 days near the beginning of last season. Yet new manager Paul Hart - one of Rangers’ more sensible choices of manager - has got enough on his plate without that too.
Poor weather has disrupted his initial training programme and he has not even seen Sterling in action yet.
Given that Hart only has a contract until the end of the season and is under pressure to deliver at least a play-off place, he could be forgiven if the youngster’s future was not top of his agenda. Mail


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Williams wants to be third Tom lucky
- TOMMY Williams hopes the arrival of his former manager at Loftus Road will help convince QPR to offer him a contract next month.

New Rangers boss Paul Hart signed Williams for Barnsley in 2004 and the left-back, whose loan from Peterborough expires in 10 days' time, is keen to play under him again.

"My goal when I came here was to play as many games as I could and show the coaching staff and the supporters that I'm a good player and worthy of a full-time contract," Williams told the Times.

"We've spoken about a few bits and pieces already, but I know it's all about how I perform on the pitch and I don't want to be distracted from that.

"It's nice to be working with Paul again. He was my manager at Barnsley so he knows me, my background and what I'm about and hopefully that can't hurt my prospects.

"Paul signed me and he built the nucleus of the squad that got promoted a year later. He did some really good things at Barnsley and he's got strong principles which I'm sure he'll bring to QPR as well."

Williams is now in his third spell at Loftus Road, having spent the 2002-03 campaign there on loan from Birmingham and returned for a month at the start of the following campaign.

The 29-year-old, who is resigned to leaving Peterborough after turning down a new contract offer, made only one appearance under former Rs manager Jim Magilton.

But Gary Borrowdale's abdominal injury opened the door for him again in the 2-2 draw at West Brom and he remained in the side for Hart's first match in charge, last Saturday's game with Sheffield United.

Now Williams has just three more opportunities to stake his claim for a permanent move to QPR - the Christmas double-header against Bristol City and Ipswich, followed by the FA Cup third round rematch with the Blades.

"Personally, I was happy with my performance on Saturday, but I'm always thinking about the result as well," he added. "We didn't have hundreds of chances but I felt we dominated.

"We can't think about Ipswich until Saturday evening - Bristol City is a massive game for us and, whether it's scrappy or total football, we want to get that win.

"You don't want the teams that are around you to get away and we need the crowd to get behind us, as they did in the second half on Saturday, and help us get a result on Boxing Day."

Borrowdale could be available for selection again over the Christmas period, but one player who will definitely miss the Boxing Day clash with Bristol City is Damion Stewart.

The Jamaican centre-back collected his fifth booking of the season against Sheffield United and is serving a one-match suspension, with Fitz Hall likely to replace him in the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, former Republic of Ireland international midfielder Steven Reid, who joined Rangers on loan around the same time as Williams, has returned to Blackburn.

Like Williams, Reid featured in the Rs' 2-0 defeat at Doncaster, but an ankle injury restricted him to only a brief substitute appearance after that and his month-long loan agreement has now come to an end. Kilburn Times


BBC - Leeds boss Simon Grayson in talks over loan players- Leeds United manager Simon Grayson has revealed he is keen to extend loan deals for a number of players to keep them at Elland Road beyond January.
- Players including Max Gradel, Hogan Ephraim and Sam Vokes are due to return to their parent clubs in the new year, but Grayson hopes some will stay.
- "Talks are ongoing and we've spoken to a few clubs about what we want to do," Grayson told BBC Radio Leeds.
- "I wouldn't have thought all the loans will go back, some should stay,"
- Grayson added: "We obviously have a few options to consider and we will just address it as the issues come along.
- "We feel we have a good enough squad anyway when everyone is fit but that's not to say that we won't try and do a little bit of business when the window opens."...." BBC


- Nice Southampton Gesture to Fans

- Next: Bristol City at Loftus Road on Boxing Day

- Article Examining Impact of Managerial Changes (Bottom Line: Rarely Improves Results)

- Colchester's CEO Resigns Over Drink/Driving

- Sepp Blatter Beats Out Bernie Ecclestone and Others

- Stockport on the Brink: The (Costly) Financial Costs of Administration

- The Worldwide of Football: "...Players and managers, whose income and lifestyle now placed them in a different world from the fans, came to be seen as fickle mercenaries whose relationship with the club was contractual and transitory. Directors and officials were venal, corrupt or both and clearly inadequate custodians of club identity. Only the fans were faithful to the colours..." [From "The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer" By David Goldblatt, page 803 talking about football ('soccer" in Argentina during the 1990s)]

- Nominate Your Sports Fan of The Year


- Home Office Report: STATISTICS ON FOOTBALL-RELATED ARRESTS & BANNING ORDERS SEASON 2008-09 -


QPR-related figures (QPR: 33 total arrests).
33 Total Arrests: 11 made at Home Matches - 22 Made at Away Matches
- 4 Violent Disorder - 16 Public Disorder - 3 Pitch Incursion - 8 Alcohol Offences
2 Possesion of Offensive Weapons
[Kudos to Charlton, Watford and Reading for having the least arrests in the Championship. And to Yeovil for having absolutely no arrests. Among the worst clubs last season in the Championship: Cardiff! Then, The two Sheffield Clubs, Birmingham, Nott F & Derby & Swansea, Bristol C Burnley, Wolves]

London Informer/Chris Slavin - Vine vows to get QPR career back on track- ROWAN Vine is determined to finally shrug off the injury problems that have dogged his QPR career and become a first-team regular under new manager Paul Hart.
- The 27-year-old has endured an injury-plagued season and only recently returned to action after undergoing a hernia operation last month.
- And after missing virtually the whole of last season with a broken leg, the former Birmingham City forward, who joined QPR in January 2008, is desperate to show the Loftus Road faithful what he is made of by re-launching his career and helping his club compete for a play-off spot.
- "I have been very frustrated with niggling injuries this season. It has been good just to get back out there again," Vine said.
- "Hopefully in the next few weeks I can prove to the new manager that I am worth a place in the team.
- "The past year or so has been very stop-start for me, with the bad injury that I suffered. I hope I can get regular football now and try and help the club get into the Premier League.
- "I don’t think it’s in question whether the ability is there in our squad, it is just a question of us kicking on from here.
- "It will be tough to get into the top six and get into the position we *want, but that is the aim and we are capable of doing it. London Informer


Bristol Evening Post - Bristol City boss struggling to make Boxing Day trip to QPR
- Gary Johnson could be a surprise doubt for Bristol City's big Boxing Day trip to Queens Park Rangers.
Assistant boss Keith Millen revealed the Robins manager has missed training for the last two days.
"He is not well – he is not good at all," admitted the former centre- half. "He has got a chest infection and a cold and the last couple of days he has been in bed.
"He is seeing the doc and hopefully he will be with us to travel down to London on Christmas Day."
If Millen is in charge it will not be the first time he has been at the helm on a matchday.
After Brian Tinnion left the club in 2005, Millen, who was the Geordie's No 2, led City for a 1-1 draw at home to Blackpool and a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
And the following season Johnson was ill when Bristol City went to Rotherham and Millen managed the Reds to another 1-1 draw.
Bristol City, who trained on the artificial pitch at Filton College yesterday because of the snowy conditions, will assess the fitness of central midfielder Marvin Elliott tomorrow. The former Millwall man limped out of the 1-1 draw at home to Reading with a dead leg.
But whoever is representing the Robins at Loftus Road, Millen is underlining the importance of the game and the home fixture with Watford that follows just two days later for a City side that is ninth in the Championship.
"Two games in three days really can turn the tables any way you want to go," said the former Hornets skipper.
"If you win both you are definitely in the play-offs and if you don't get any points you are in the bottom half.
"Last Boxing Day we won at Watford and I think we won something like six on the spin after that. It's a big weekend and we have to get back to winning ways.
"Six points would make me happy. Bristol Evening Post


QPR Official Site - HART'S 'THUMBS UP' FOR FAMILY FUN DAY
- R's boss Paul Hart praised the R's supporters after another successful festive Family Fun Day at Loftus Road.
- Despite the freezing conditions, Rangers fans came out in great numbers to watch their heroes train, as well as taking part in a series of fun activities at the back of the Lower Loft and in the Blue and White Bar.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Hart said: "They braved the elements and they were absolutely frozen stiff, but they looked like they all had a fantastic time.
- "I think they all had a great time - they were brilliant."
- Hart added: "Days like today are really important for the Club.
- "These young fans are the future and I'm delighted we've been able to give them something back, because they deserve it."
- *We'll be bringing you exclusive photos and interviews from the Family Fun Day over the next 24 hours on www.qpr.co.uk! QPR


BBC - Patrick Agyemang targets QPR play-off success
- Agyemang has scored 3 goals in 16 appearances this season
- Queens Park Rangers striker Patrick Agyemang is backing the team and their new manager Paul Hart to achieve promotion this season.
Hart last week replaced Jim Magilton as manager but Agyemang says the team will not be distracted by the change.
Agyemang, 29, told BBC London 94.9: "It doesn't help, but we're professionals and need to get on with it.
"We've been unlucky in the past few seasons, but this season I feel like we can really get there."
The club, who parted company with Magilton after an alleged altercation with midfielder Akos Buzsacky, have not won in six matches but Agyemang is confident that run will come to an end on Saturday.
"We've had a few bad results and a few unlucky results as well, so we're desperate to get a win now to push our season on again," he said.
"The team has been playing well, it's just that the results haven't been going for us. We've been letting in sloppy goals, which happens in every team, but we're trying to get rid of that and get back to winning ways."
Rangers, who are four points off the play-offs in the Championship, held a festive family fun day at Loftus Road on Tuesday to give season ticket holders and members the chance to watch the squad train ahead of the Boxing Day visit of Bristol City. BBC


- Past Chistmas Greetings From The Club