QPR Report Tuesday Snippets...Plymouth Tonight...Volz and Tiger Clubs

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- Tonight: Plymouth at Loftus Road - Stats and Past Results

- LSA Statement re new Manager and New Owner and QPR

- Best Football League Programmes Shortlist

- Congratulations to Mathew Connolly and Alejandro Faurlin for making Championship Team of the Week - Team of The Week

- Q&A With Damion Stewart

- Paul Furlong Eye Injury Update

- QPR Fan and Could-have-been QPR Owner, Andrew Ellis set for Glasgow Rangers

- FA Chairman Supports Fan-Run Clubs

- Football League's Shortlist for "Family Club" Awards

- A Chairman Takes Over (Temporarily) as Manager

- Total Tax Debt for All Four Divisions

- Britain's Least Successful Club: 28 Straight Losses

- A Fan's Extensive Interview with QPR FC Chairman, Gianni Paladini(originally posted on WATRB and QPRdot.org)

- Last night: Gianni Paladini was a Guest on Monday's JNetRadio

2010/2011 KEY DATES
-FIXTURE RELEASE: Thursday 17th June 2010
- FIRST DAY: Saturday 7th August 2010
- LAST DAY: League 1 & League 2 - Saturday 7th May 2011; Championship - Sunday 8th May 2011- Football League

David McIntyre BBC606 - An update on Volz
- Moritz Volz will shortly find out whether he will be given the chance to resurrect his career at QPR.

Volz joined Rangers on trial a few weeks ago and was as surprised as I was by subsequent reports that he was about to be offered a contract.

That was never likely to be the case as Volz was always going to need time to get back to anything like full fitness.

He has been without a club since being released by Fulham at the end of last season following a series of injury problems.

But there was also the small matter of the managerial position at Rangers, which Volz was waiting to be filled before discovering whether he had a future at the club.

Neil Warnock barely had a chance to speak to Volz before taking charge of his first game, but he is aware of his situation.

Warnock’s assistants Keith Curle and Mick Jones watched Volz in action in a reserve match against Millwall at Dartford last Tuesday night.

That was Volz’s third appearance for the team and the first time he has completed 90 minutes.

His progress has been hampered by a lack of chances to play for the reserves, largely because of the recent weather conditions.

The game against Millwall was his first outing for three weeks – hardly ideal for a player in his situation.

And in truth, his lack of fitness showed. He was caught out several times and had he been your average trialist, he would probably have been shown the door.

But Volz is not your average trialist, and commonsense suggests Rangers must give him time to get up to speed.

Despite QPR’s latest accounts showing an annual loss of almost £19m, Warnock will be given a sizeable budget this summer in order to try and get Rangers promoted next season.

But the chance to pick up a player of Volz’s proven quality for free looks like a good opportunity.

On the evidence of the little I’ve seen of him, he’s a long way short of his best. But that’s to be expected.

More positively for Volz, who is still only 27, he got better late in the game against Millwall – an encouraging sign for any player trying to rediscover fitness and form.

Another good sign is that since resuming training shortly after Christmas, he has not missed a single session.

Most players on the way back from long-term injury suffer at least some kind of setback, so the fact that Volz hasn’t bodes well for him.

Volz’s career seemed to have stalled last year, and it’s nearly 12 months since he last made a first-team appearance.

So, what happened to a player of obvious ability who has played in the top flight?

It seems the answer is that his underlying injury problem was not spotted.

Volz was diagnosed with a condition called Osteitis Pubis, which in layman’s terms is inflammation of the pubic bone.

He seemed unable to fully recover. But a full six months later, it transpired that he also had an adductor tear – a groin injury that causes many players problems.

This had initially not shown up on any scans, so the real problem affecting Volz went untreated.

As a result, he embarked on a more recent course of treatment which appears to have been much more successful.

The reserves have at least three more scheduled matches to play this month.

That should give Warnock a decent opportunity to assess him, unless the new manager makes a quick decision.

On a very different note, a few months ago a couple of colleagues – one of them being the venerable Chris Charles – suggested the three of us do something to raise money for the QPR Tiger Cubs.

The initial idea was to run from Loftus Road to Selhurst Park when Rangers play there on 10 April.

Fortunately for me, after Chris contacted The QPR Community Trust, it was decided it should be a walk so that more people could get involved.

So, I'll be joining Chris and a few others to raise money for what I'm sure you'll all agree is a great cause.

If you'd like to sponsor us, details on how to do so are included at the end of Chris’ blog.

You'll also see why it's a cause that's close to Chris' heart. I hope lots of people get behind it. BBC606

- See also other article re QPR Tiger Cubs

Plymouth Herald - Pilgrims take fight for survival onto the road

ARGYLE'S continuing fight for Championship survival will see them play four of their next five matches away from Home Park.

The clash against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road this evening will be followed by a trip to Coventry City on Saturday.

The Pilgrims will then host Bristol City next Tuesday, before playing two more away games, at Sc*n*horpe United on March 20 and Ipswich Town three days later.

It is a crucial stage of the season for relegation-threatened Argyle, who are desperate for wins to try to claw their way out of the bottom three.

Head coach Paul Mariner believes his players are capable of picking up a decent haul of points from the four away games over the next fortnight.


And he is convinced all the travelling involved will not pose problems for the Argyle squad.

Mariner said: "I take my hat off to the board. They allow us to fly to most venues, which is easier on the players.

"We are also cautious on the amount of legwork we give the players.

"But they have been around the block before and they know how to take care of themselves and what it's going to take to get in the best possible condition for the games."

He added: "We have obviously got to keep an eye on it, but we also respect the fact the players are very good professionals."

QPR will be playing for the second time tonight since the appointment of former Argyle boss Neil Warnock as their new manager.

He started his reign at Rangers with a 3-1 victory over promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion at Loftus Road on Saturday.

QPR took a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes, with goals from on-loan Arsenal striker Jay Simpson (see One to Watch) and right-back Matt Connolly.

Chris Brunt replied for West Brom before half-time, but former Argyle midfielder Akos Buzsaky made it 3-1 in the 67th minute.

Buzsaky, on as a substitute for Hogan Ephraim, curled a free-kick into the penalty area which deceived everyone, including West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson, and the ball bounced into the net off a post.

The win moved QPR up four places to 16th in the Championship, three points clear of the relegation zone.

Rangers had five loan signings in their team against West Brom, including 'keeper Carl Ikeme and left-back Matt Hill from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The others were Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Adel Taarabt, Ipswich Town forward Tamas Priskin and Simpson.

Striker Marcus Bent has also been borrowed from Birmingham City.

But he was not involved against West Brom because only five loan players can be included in a match-day squad.

Warnock was appointed by QPR last week, on a three-and-a-half-year contract, after they agreed a compensation settlement with his former club, Crystal Palace.

The 61-year-old quit Palace because they are in administration and their future is far from certain.

Warnock is Rangers' fifth manager of the season, and the eighth permanent boss since the departure of Ian Holloway in February 2006.

Jim Magilton was appointed as the successor to Paulo Sousa last summer, but was sacked in December.

Centre of excellence bosses Steve Gallen and Marc Bircham had one match as caretaker bosses, before Paul Hart took over.

He quit Rangers after only five matches and Mick Harford took temporary charge for seven games, with QPR losing six times, before Warnock moved across London.

Warnock was last in opposition against Argyle in January, when Palace won 1-0 at Home Park.

Now he has been charged with the task of leading Rangers out of relegation trouble.

Mariner said: "I don't think Neil is going to change the way he plays the game, but obviously the personnel are different.

"They rose to the challenge on Saturday (by beating West Brom) and we are under no illusions this is a tough game.

"If we had played them 10 days ago, it might have been a different story.

"But with a new manager coming in, especially Neil with all his experience, he will get them fired up" Plymouth Herald