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Throughout the day, updates, comments and perspectives re QPR and football in general are posted and discussed on the QPR Report Messageboard...Also Follow: QPR REPORT ON TWITTER
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- Queens Park Rangers have been crowned as Goal.com UK's Team of the Month for February.
- Player of Year Dinner: 150 Tickets Left
- On this Day in Football, March 1
- Aston Villa and Arsenal Finances...Panamanian Player Kicks Owl on Pitch
- The Cole Shooting...The Chelsea Reaction
- Richard Langley to Abderdeen
Harrow Official Site on Troy Hewitt (Still Not announced by QPR)
"AFC Hornchurch 2-0 Harrow - A changed Harrow side, missing striker Troy Hewitt who signed for Queens Park Rangers, as well the injured Ryan Watts and the ill David Ijaha, went down to a goal in each half at AFC Hornchurch." Harrow
Helguson Makes Team of the Week....Praised by Warnock
- Standard/Ian Gibb - Knacker's yard? Helguson is Neil Warnock's QPR thoroughbred
- Neil Warnock spent £1million on bringing Rob Hulse to Loftus Road in the summer but it is veteran striker Heidar Helguson who has been banging in the goals for Queens Park Rangers this season.
- While Hulse has managed just one goal, Helguson is on 12, including two in the 3-0 win at Middlesbrough. And the former Watford man was denied a hat-trick as captain Adel Taarabt stepped up to score the third goal from the penalty spot, much to the delight of Warnock.
- The QPR boss said: "If Heidar had taken it and missed, I would have battered him. They tell me he was ready for the knacker's yard last season when he couldn't do three games in seven days like he does now but he uses his intelligence with great movement and he causes problems."
Standard - Championship Team of Week
Marking One Year of Neil Warnock as QPR Manager
Warnock's Managerial Record (including cup): 50 games 23 wins 18 draws 9 losses
- Year Flashback and quite a contrast!: QPR: 21 Games WITHOUT a clean sheet: Worst in all four divisions!
- Year Ago, Pre-Warnock: QPR's Form and Relegation Stats: After 32 Games, 37 points (After 24 games, had 33 points)
- Two Year Flashback (April 2009): QPR Torn Over Warnock Appointment!
March 1, 2010 - Neil Warnock to QPR
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QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: WARNOCK CONFIRMED
- Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Neil Warnock as First Team Manager with immediate effect.- Warnock has today signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at Loftus Road after a compensation agreement was reached with his former club, Crystal Palace FC.
- Warnock, who guided Sheffield United to the Premier League in 2006, said: "I am delighted to be joining a club with the history that QPR has.
- "As a manager, Loftus Road is always a place I loved because of the fantastic atmosphere there.
- "Looking from afar I believe this is the perfect time for me to come in, with the new structure and chairman in place.
- "Together we can give the club the stability that it needs.
- "I am really looking forward to the challenge that's in front of me."
- QPR Chairman Ishan Saksena said: "Neil was always our number one target and so we are delighted to announce him as our manager.
- "He has great experience in English football and a phenomenal track record. I believe he is the right man to help QPR achieve its ambitions.
- "Neil will be given the full support of the Board, and I know our fans will give him their full backing as well."
- Caretaker manager Mick Harford and his assistant Tony Coton have stepped down from their respective roles.
- Harford said: "I was more than happy to help the club out when they asked me, and I did the best I could during my time in caretaker charge.
- "The club needs an experienced manager in order to move forward, and I wish Neil every success.
- "He has joined a fantastic football club with brilliant supporters, and I sincerely hope he does well.
- "The club is in good hands now with the new structure, Ishan Saksena and Gianni Paladini, and I believe QPR has a very bright future." QPR
Crystal Palace official Site - Warnock Departs
- Crystal Palace Football Club announce that manager Neil Warnock has left the club with immediate effect.
- The 61 year old joined Palace in October 2007 and immediately took the club to the play offs, just failing to gain a final place at Wembley after a defeat over two legs against Bristol City.
- He managed the club in 129 games, winning 47 of those during his tenure in SE25
- Further information from the administrator, Brendan Guilfoyle will follow on www.cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace
Independent - Neil Warnock: Leaving Palace for QPR was really tough
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
- You will know by now I am making the short trip (only about two hours by car) across London from Crystal Palace to QPR.
- Leaving a club in administration for one with huge potential must look an easy decision but it has been one of the most difficult of my career, and there's been a few. The reason I am sad, as well as excited, is that of all the clubs I have been at the fans at Crystal Palace have been the best.
- It's easy to say, but I'm not just saying it because I'm leaving. The support they have given me and the players during a very difficult few months, and beforehand, has been fantastic and it is something I will never forget. As everyone knows, I'm a northerner, and we all think that's the only hotbed of football, but after managing Palace I know better.
- It is hardly a secret that QPR have been after me for a while. It's nice to be wanted and they made it clear I was their only choice which is a fantastic vote of confidence. They would not take "no" for an answer. But although I had been advised I could have just walked out on Palace I did not want to sell them short and the reason this has gone on so long is that I wanted both clubs to be in agreement before I moved.
- I owe a lot to Palace. They have rekindled my enthusiasm for management. If it was not for Simon Jordan there is no way I would have come to London (and realised it's not such a bad place after all) and regained my desire to get back in to the Premier League.
- QPR is a great challenge, the type I revel in. It has been a poisoned chalice for many managers recently but with new people taking over I feel I can give them the stability I know the fans and players have been craving. It is a club with a great tradition and a ground I’ve always enjoyed going to. All I can promise is all I ever promise: I’ll do my best. Independent
Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - Warnock is Perfect for QPR-
The appointment of a manager should be - and usually is - a reflection of a board’s aims and objectives.
- And in Neil Warnock, QPR’s owners have installed someone whose targets match theirs perfectly.
- It’s a quick fix. And at any other club, it would be considered a short-term move.
- Not so at QPR, where only one manager has lasted a year since Ian Holloway left in 2006, and none have lasted longer than seven months since the Flavio Briatore-led takeover.
- Warnock should easily buck that trend, but to all intents and purposes his is a short-term appointment by a board hell-bent on short-term success.
- Amit Bhatia has taken the baton from Briatore when it comes to talking about long-term planning and building sensibly.
- Bhatia is very different in terms of style, and may turn out to be different in terms of substance too.
- But after the recent ’takeover’ or moving of chairs on deck, depending on how you see it, it seems there will still be a big difference between the owners’ words and actions.
- It also seems that the general ethos of the club will remain unchanged.
- The ‘new’ regime’s first managerial appointment - its first real statement of intent - suggests they are still focused on little more than trying to get into the Premier League as quickly as possible.
- Forget the immediate task of keeping QPR up. Warnock’s arrival is all about trying to win promotion from the Championship next season.
- The threat of relegation is real. But the perception that Briatore has departed will have increased the managerial options open to the board, so finding someone else to keep Rangers up would not have been difficult.
- Warnock, who is 61 and admits he is approaching retirement, wants another crack at the Premier League. He is, like QPR’s owners, driven by short-term ambition. It’s a perfect match.
- In the week when Rangers - for the third time in three years and second time since Briatore’s takeover - lost a promising youngster before he even made a first-team appearance, the hiring of Warnock speaks volumes.
- Raheem Sterling's move to Liverpool is yet another consequence of QPR not having Academy status.
- Restoring it, which would be an expensive and meaningful sign of the owners’ long-term commitment, may well be on their radar.
- But no board looks to Neil Warnock at this stage of his career if long-term improvements to the club’s infrastructure are in any way a priority.
- After brief spells in the top flight with Notts County and Sheffield United, he wants to get back there before he retires. It’s that simple.
- He was quietly confident of doing so with Crystal Palace before they went into administration and were deducted 10 points.
- At Palace, his reputation has been further enhanced.
- But there he benefited from a good youth system; something he won’t have at QPR.
- Instead he will be able to spend on players, and he certainly signed plenty of them in order to get Sheffield United promoted.
- It’s a great job for Warnock; a cash-rich club chasing immediate success, that can’t stop signing players and is now likely to give a manager total control having been criticised for not doing so previously.
- A manager in Warnock’s position may not want his transfer budget affected by things like spending on a youth set-up he is unlikely to be at the club long enough to benefit from.
- After all, Gerry Francis felt the academy system was uneconomical when he was in charge and championed the switch to a centre of excellence.
- And an improved scouting system that builds a squad for the future by picking up potential gems is of little use to Warnock’s specific short-term ambition.
- If longer-term foundations were the name of the game, the likes of Gary Johnson and George Burley would have at least been considered.
- These are managers who, as well as producing attractive, promotion-winning teams, have shown at more than one club that they can actually build something.
- With the players and money at his disposal, Warnock is easily capable of getting QPR to at least the play-offs next season if he is allowed to do his job, although I believe the same is true of many managers - including most of those Rangers have had since 2007.
- But for what the Rangers board want, Warnock is a very good choice.
- He is underrated, has got better with age, and deserves another go at the Premier League, where lesser managers than him have carved out a reputation.
- He knows the game inside out and despite his no-nonsense approach, there is no reason to think he won’t also get the best out of Rangers' most talented players.
- Despite his reputation, Warnock has tended to accommodate matchwinners. He did so at Palace and at previous clubs he nurtured the likes of Michael Tonge and Tommy Johnson.
- Warnock will also galvanise players and fans alike, which is desperately needed at such a fractured and troubled club.
- With his ‘them and us’ mentality, he could restore unity and pride at QPR in the way Holloway did so successfully.
- But his ability to do that will largely depend on season ticket and admission prices for next season.
- That will be the second major test of the board and another important statement of its intent. BBC606
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Premature Jubiliation! Crystal Palace Say Warnock Not Yet Done Deal
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Crystal Palace Official Site - Statement From Administrator.Posted on: Tue 02 Mar 2010
- The club is aware of the statement issued by Queens Park Rangers last night. The club believes that this is somewhat premature.
- Discussions are ongoing regarding the release of Neil Warnock and members of his management team but these remain subject to agreement of relevant documentation.
- A further announcement will be made in due course." Crystal Palace
South London Press
Palace administrator "disappointed" at Warnock's QPR switch
Tuesday, 02 March 2010
- CRYSTAL Palace administrator Brendan Guilfoyle has expressed his "great disappointment" that Neil Warnock has left the club.
- The 61-year-old manager ended his three-year spell in charge of the Eagles yesterday when he joined QPR.
- And Guilfoyle has released the following statement: "It is with great disappointment that I have to confirm that Neil Warnock, Keith Curle and Mick Jones have left Crystal Palace FC to join QPR.
- "I can assure all members of the red and blue army as well as all of the club's stakeholders that I did everything I could to persuade Neil to stay. However, further to an approach from QPR, Neil expressed his desire to leave and explained his focus was no longer on securing the club's status in the Championship.
- "At this point, along with my legal advisors, DLA Piper, a compensation package was agreed with QPR." South London Press
Crystal Palace Official Site - Trio Join QPR
-It is with great disappointment that I have to confirm that Neil Warnock, Keith Curle and Mick Jones have today left Crystal Palace FC to join QPR. I can assure all members of the Red and Blue Army as well as all of the Club's stakeholders that I did everything I could to persuade Neil to stay.
- However, further to an approach from QPR, Neil expressed his desire to leave and explained his focus was no longer on securing the Club's status in the Championship. At this point, along with my legal advisors, DLA Piper, a compensation package was agreed with QPR.- Brendan Guilfoyle - Administrator. Crystal Palace
QPR Official Site - JONES & CURLE JOIN
- Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to confirm that Mick Jones and Keith Curle have joined the club as part of Neil Warnock's backroom team.
- Following last night's announcement confirming Warnock as the Club's new First Team Manager, Jones has joined as Assistant Manager, while Curle has been confirmed as First Team Coach.
- Jones initially teamed up with Warnock in 1989, when he worked as his No.2 at Notts. County, before also joining him at Huddersfield, Plymouth, Sheffield United and Palace.
- Meanwhile, Curle played under the new QPR Manager for two years at Sheffield United from 2000, before joining his backroom team at Selhurst Park. QPR
Evening Standard/Simon Johnson - Neil Warnock is looking up, not down, as he moves in at QPR-
Neil Warnock today vowed he will not only keep Queens Park Rangers in the Championship this season but aims to have them in the Premier League next year.
Warnock has become QPR's fifth manager this term after a compensation deal was finally agreed with cash-strapped Crystal Palace.
He has swapped one relegation fight for another as Rangers sit just three points ahead of his former club in the table, who themselves are only out of the drop zone on goal difference.
The 61-year-old took his first training session with his new squad yesterday and saw enough quality to be convinced they will stay in the second tier of English football come May.
But Warnock is adamant that with the right signings in the summer, he can fulfil his ambition to manage in the top flight again having experienced just two years of it at Notts County and Sheffield United.
He said: “It is a big, big club and I am really excited about it. I want to manage in the Premier League sooner rather than later and my aim is to achieve that ambition before the end of my contract, irrespective of clubs who still have the parachute payments or any of the decent sides coming down.
“I am looking to be there next year. If I was in a normal situation I would usually say it would take two full seasons, but at my age I don't want it to take that long.
“I enjoyed meeting with the chairman Ishan Saksena and the vice-chairman Amit Bhatia. I believed in what they were talking about, what their views are and how they see the future for the club.”
Warnock's QPR reign begins with the visit of second-placed West Brom and in the following four games they face play-off hopefuls Sheffield United and Swansea and relegation rivals Plymouth and Reading.
“The first priority is to get enough points to stay up,” said Warnock. “I know it will be tight at the bottom end, we have some tough fixtures. Without question, the players have a lot of ability. I am hoping to put a bit of steel in certain positions and get a happy blend.
“The first day of training went well yesterday. It went as I expected, nice and bright. I had a good talk with all of the players and it is a case of getting to know them now. I told them that if we are to get out of this relegation battle then they need to show a lot of commitment and desire. But they shouldn't worry about the position in the table, they should just go out and enjoy the games, although we can't have a much tougher start than on Saturday.
“I hope to create the same team spirit as I did at Palace, but that didn't come overnight. You have to work on that over a long time, it took me nearly 12 months to do it there.”
His departure from Palace ended in acrimony after he fell out with administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, who has run the club since it went into administration in January.
Guilfoyle issued a statement yesterday claiming he did everything to keep Warnock at Selhurst Park, but that his focus was no longer on securing the club's status in the Championship'.
Warnock has dismissed Guilfoyle's version of events and insists he still has regrets over the way his time at Palace was cut short.
He added: “I saw the statement put out and there is only so much I can say at the moment but I don't think the Palace fans are daft. When they see what I will say about it, they will realise what really happened.
“I'm having my first QPR press conference tomorrow so I will make one or two comments but Palace want to gag me from saying anything so I have to be careful.
“But I want to make it clear that Palace is the best club I have ever been at in terms of the supporters. I'm hoping to have the same thing at QPR.”
Warnock spent just under two-and-a-half-years at Palace and he has promised not to make a move for any of his former players on loan so that the club have a better chance of staying up.
“I don't want to do anything that will disrupt their challenge,” said Warnock, who will face his old side at Selhurst Park on 10 April.
“I want both clubs to stay up this season. It is my dream scenario. There are a good bunch of lads at Palace. I know them inside out. They definitely have enough mettle and commitment to stay up. I'm going to try and install the same qualities in the players I have now.”
Meanwhile, Paul Hart, Warnock's replacement at Palace, is optimistic he can keep them up in the same way he succeeded at Portsmouth in the Premier league 12 months ago.
“I get some comfort in seeing the names in the squad, experienced players and strong characters,” said Hart.
“It's very similar to Portsmouth last year, where there were strong characters who just needed a little shove.” Standard
Sporting Life - Sporting Life - WARNOCK AIMS FOR PREMIER LEAGUE By Andy Sims, Press Association Sport
-Neil Warnock has set his sights on reaching the Premier League with QPR after being unveiled as the new manager at Loftus Road.
- Warnock quit Crystal Palace on Monday to move from south to west London with Rangers in danger of being sucked into the relegation battle.
- The 61-year-old becomes the club's fifth manager of the season but, following Flavio Briatore's departure as chairman, is hoping his arrival will herald a new era of stability.
- Warnock, who has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal, said: "It's something I didn't envisage over the last couple of years but this has always been a great football club.
- "Although I thought the contract was three and a half weeks!
- "Stability has not been around this club for a while but it's the right challenge at the right time for me. All I want is a chance.
- "I want to stabilise this season and then take the club on. Everyone knows I want to manage in the Premier League and I don't think there are many clubs coming in for me."
- New chairman Ishan Saksena is keen to steer the club away from the revolving door of managers under Briatore.
- "QPR has a history of being a family club so I want to welcome Neil as the latest member of the QPR family," he said.
- "It is important to bring back stability - he will bring that back and lead the way in a bright future for the club.
- "He is the complete package as a manager and was always our number one choice."Sporting Life
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK CONFERENCE SOUND BITES-
After QPR Manager Neil Warnock met the press this afternoon (Thursday) for the very first time, www.qpr.co.uk brings you up to speed with what the new gaffer had to say to the local, national and international media at the Club's Harlington Training Complex.
NW on Crystal Palace departure...
"It was a special time for me at Crystal Palace, but it's another challenge for me now.
"We were very unfortunate at Palace, only one administrator came is as everybody else turned it down.
"They've got a very good compensation fee for me. There comes a time when you have to put your family first."
NW on becoming Manager of QPR...
"Becoming Manager of QPR is something that I've never envisaged over the past few years. It's always been a great, traditional Football Club.
"I wanted to come to somewhere steady, which was most important for me and my family. I've got three-and-a-half years to try and build the Club and move forward.
"It had all the ingredients for me."
NW on Loftus Road and the QPR fans...
"I've always loved the ground, the fans are right on top of you. It's my type of atmosphere and my teams seem to thrive on it.
"I'm looking forward to working with the QPR fans, whenever I've come down it's been a fantastic atmosphere at Loftus Road."
NW on the challenge ahead...
"It's an exciting prospect. When I met Ishan Saksena and Amit Bhatia, right from the start I believed these two guys knew what they wanted.
"I want to get my whole life now geared into taking the Club forward, stabilising this season and then take the Club on as best as I can - everyone knows I want to manage in the Premier League before I retire.
"It's not what's happened in the past, it's what happens in the future." QPR
- Ealing Gazette/Paul Warburton - I call the shots, says new QPR boss Neil Warnock
- NEIL Warnock has insisted he – and he alone – will choose new recruits at Loftus Road.
- As part of the three-and-a-half year contract that brings the 61-year-old to west London, Warnock has dispensed with the services of sporting director Gianni Paladini, who last night quit the defunct role to become chairman of QPR Co Ltd.
- Paladini played the major role in signing the 100-plus players that pulled on the hoops during the last six years – but admitted he was glad to hand the reins over to Warnock.
- He said: "Neil wanted it that way, and I believe it will be good for QPR. There will be not one moment of interference from the board who have allowed him free rein to do as he wishes.
- "The buck stops with the manager, and that’s as it should be."
- Paladini was heavily criticised by fans for bringing in players that sees Rangers hovering just above the Championship drop-zone – but also took flak for being closely associated with the former regime headed by chairman Flavio Briatore that got through 11 changes of management since John Gregory was sacked in October 2007.
Ealing Gazette
PFA/Give Me Football Taylor questions wisdom of Warnock’s London switch
Neil Warnock has made a career out of proving people wrong
By Mark Shail March 04, 2010
Former England manager Graham Taylor believes Neil Warnock has ‘jumped straight out of one fire and into another’ by leaving Crystal Palace to join QPR.
A compensation package with the cash-strapped Eagles was agreed earlier this week and the 61-year-old has signed a three-and-a-half year deal at Loftus Road.
But Taylor wrote in his newspaper column in the Daily Express: “What is it with Neil Warnock? He is no fool but why Queens Park Rangers, who don’t have a manager’s office, more a revolving door?
“He is the 10th manager in two-and-a-half years. I like Neil and I get on with him. That will surprise a few people but it’s been the case ever since his days of manager of Burton Albion and he sold me a young Richard Jobson during my first spell at Watford some 25 years ago.
“What I did learn about him, though, was to keep out of his way when our teams met. Talk about a changed personality on match days. On match days I did put Neil on the top of my list marked – ‘Opposing managers to avoid’.
“So I ask again, why join QPR? Obviously his position at Crystal Palace has to be under threat due to the club being placed in administration. But he seems to have jumped straight out of one fire and into another.
“Neil is good at fighting a cause. In fact, I think he relishes the kind of challenge that many other managers fear in case it has an adverse effect on their CV. He reads it the other way round. That he will sort it – and the affect on his career will be a positive one.
“I read that he has signed a three-and-a-half year contract. Bearing in mind the average stay for a manager at QPR since John Gregory was dismissed in October 2007 is just short of four months, those three-and-a-half years look like an eternity.”
Find out what Neil Warnock has to say about the latest chapter in his colourful career later here on Givemefootball. Give Me Football
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK: LET’S STICK TOGETHER
Posted on: Thu 04 Mar 2010
Neil Warnock is relishing taking his place in the home dug-out at Loftus Road this Saturday afternoon and believes the R's fans willl play a pivotal role between now and the end of the season.
Speaking exclusively to 'Hoops' - in a must-read matchday programme column this weekend - the new Rangers boss issued a rallying cry to the QPR faithful.
"I know fans either love me or hate me, but all I ask of you - the QPR fan-base - is that you get behind me and the team and help make Loftus Road a fortress once again," he said.
"You really can be our twelfth man and the support of the Super Hoops will play a massive role in my time here.
"Even when the chips are down, you need to stick with us and show your undying support.
"After the turbulent times, let's try and look to the future and get everybody singing off the same hymn sheet."
*You can read more of Neil Warnock's exclusive thoughts in Saturday's Mike Keen tribute programme. Available in and around the ground for just £3, 'Hoops' really is a must-read on matchdays. QPR
South London Press - Palace boss Hart: My QPR spell has helped Warnock
Thursday, 04 March 2010 By Richard Cawley
NEW Crystal Palace boss Paul Hart says that his 28-day spell in charge at QPR has helped new Loftus Road boss Neil Warnock.
Warnock quit the Eagles on Monday to accept a three-and-a-half-year deal at Loftus Road.
And in an ironic twist, Hart has accepted a short-term deal at Palace to replace him.
"My leaving QPR has finally allowed them to develop a structure which is conducive to proper management,” said Hart, who was at the west London club for just five matches.
"I blame myself because I knew before I went in what the story was - but you always think it’s going to be different.
“I’ve had difficulties at the clubs I’ve been at but I’ve still got the desire and I’m enthusiastic. I’m not as in your face as some people might like but I work hard where it counts - out on the training pitch. I try and prepare teams properly and I like winning."
Don't miss the full interview with Hart in tomorrow's South London Press. South London Press
The Sun/Tony Little - I’d never have signed for Flav
- Neil says that he would have snubbed QPR if Flavio Briatore had still been at the club.
- Controversial Italian Briatore allegedly interfered with team selection and tactics as he hired and fired SIX managers in just under two-and-a-half years as chairman.
- But after he quit his post last month, new chairman Ishan Saksena convinced Warnock to leave Crystal Palace for west London.
- And Warnock claims it is his way or nothing after admitting he was convinced to move to Loftus Road by wife Sharon.
- He said: "There is no chance that I'd have come here if that (Briatore's influence) had still been going on.
- "But when I met Ishan and Amit (Bhatia, the vice-chairman), right from the word go I thought they were genuine people.
- "Yorkshire people have a feeling and my missus' gut instinct isn't normally wrong - she liked them right from the start.
- "I took to them and Sharon thought the same as me, which was important."
- Saksena is adamant he will not try to interfere as Warnock attempts to save the club from relegation.
- His new manager could hardly have a tougher start with high-flying West Brom visiting a QPR side who have won just one of their last 11 matches.
- And Saksena said: "Neil is an expert in football, and as such he will be in charge of the football side of the business.
- "I'll be in charge of the overall business, such as the financial side of things, but we'll work together to try to bring stability to the club and achieve our goals."
The Sun
Independent - Neil Warnock: Leaving Palace was hard but in the last few weeks I was being slowly poisoned
- What I Learnt This Week
It has been a sad week, but also an exciting one, traumatic too.
Last Saturday I was managing Crystal Palace at Doncaster, today I'm managing Queen's Park Rangers against West Bromwich Albion. The new job is a challenge I'm really looking forward to, but it has been a wrench leaving Palace. That was underlined at Doncaster when the players did fantastically well to come back and get a point after a woeful first half. Where they got the energy from I'll never know. It was difficult leaving such a great set of lads.
It was just as hard leaving the fans and Simon Jordan, the chairman who brought me in. But in the end I felt I had no choice. The last few weeks have been very difficult. Since Simon had to surrender control it's been like being slowly poisoned.
For example, the day before we played Aston Villa in our FA Cup replay, Neil Danns rang me to say his agent had told him he was going to Swansea. Then he'd had a call from Shefki Kuqi, our former player, who's now at Swansea, saying how pleased he was Neil was joining them. Danns wanted to know if it was true. It was news to me so I rang the agent that the administrator was using. He informed me they were planning to loan Neil with a view to a permanent move but had not made a final decision. I told them there was no way we could afford to lose another player with the transfer embargo on us.
Then there was a situation where the cook and masseur, who are self-employed, and not on big wages, were not going to get paid the money they were owed. But, I was told, the agent who negotiated Victor Moses' transfer had been paid his fee in full. I argued the case for the cook and masseur and they were paid.
There are other things, which I cannot tell you at this time, but the legal advice provided by the League Managers' Association, who are very good for us managers in these situations, was that I had a decent case for constructive dismissal. On that basis I could have just walked out when QPR enquired, but I made it plain to the administrator I would only go if Palace were compensated satisfactorily. I think that is the only way you should leave a club. He seemed very confident the clubs would come to an agreement, so I suggested somebody to take over who I felt would do a good job, but he was informed they already had somebody in mind.
On Monday, the parties were still talking but I felt we needed a firm decision one way or the other, so I told them both that if an agreement was not reached by lunchtime I was going to stay put until the end of the season. An hour before the deadline, I was told I was free to talk to QPR. Palace received a substantial amount of compensation, far more than they were considering selling Neil Danns for.
Obviously Simon was disappointed at the timing but I think it might work out best for everyone. We had taken only one point from 12. Maybe Palace needed a change. I think with Dougie Freedman and John Pemberton coming in on Paul Hart's staff, with their Palace backgrounds, it might just be the shot in the arm the club needs.
I did see the quote from the administrator suggesting I had told him I didn't have the stomach for the fight. I can only imagine he thought that after I told him I could not guarantee the club staying up if I remained in the job, but that applies to any club in the bottom half. Only Rafael Benitez guarantees a finishing position. Of course, the administration took the wind out of our sails, we seemed to have one blow after another, but I don't think I could have worked any harder over my period at Selhurst Park, I don't think I've worked harder at any time in my career.
There was also the uncertainty over the future. Palace are for sale and, although the deadline keeps being extended, I could have ended up with an owner that didn't want me. Against that, QPR were offering me a three-and-a-half-year contract. I loved the club, but in the end I didn't think I could take the risk. If you asked 100 people what they would do in the situation, 99 of them would take the security of a contract.
2. I'd never dream of a Selhurst Park player raid
You can imagine my disappointment when I was told I would be barred if I came to the club on Wednesday morning to say goodbye to the players. I don't know what they thought I could have done. I do believe you should be able to say goodbye to a group of players who have given everything, and also the staff behind the scenes. I will have to save it until 10 April when QPR play there.
Obviously I've read about how many players I'm supposedly taking with me in the next few days, but I'd never dream of taking anybody this season while the battle at the bottom is on and I am surprised anybody would think I would, especially with the embargo Palace are under. It was the best club I have been at in terms of fan support, which was constant from day one.
To this day, I still cannot understand why Simon was forced into administration. It does not make sense to me. I am convinced he would have been able to do a deal with the transfer money he would have received in January and that would have got the hedge fund its money back. Instead, even though Victor Moses was sold in January, the fund won't be paid until the club is sold, and that may not be before the end of the season. So why not let us have a go at promotion, which would have solved everybody's financial problems?
3. I still get butterflies meeting a new squad
Last Tuesday I met the new major shareholder and the chairman at Rangers, and we soon reached agreement on the contract details. Speaking to them, it was clear to see the vision they had for the club and, I admit, it was nice to be wanted.
The first meeting with a new squad is always strange, even at my age, and with my experience, you have the butterflies. I said to them, "No doubt you are used to this, meeting the new manager..." It was obvious to me the players need to know who they are working with and it can only be better for them having stability. In fairness, to Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, I know they have been criticised for what has happened over the last few years, but let's not forget they saved the club when they came in. Flavio's a massive fan. I'm sure he'll enjoy watching the games now without so much responsibility.
I told the players I expect them to work hard, but I also expect them to smile a lot. I love the dressing-room atmosphere when players want to come to training and don't feel it is a chore. That banter is one thing I will miss when I pack it in. Then we set to work. I began with my usual "robust" first session. Anyone who's ever been at a club when I've taken over will know what that was like. I've not got long to assess them and it's a good way to judge character. I don't know if they were surprised. The skipper, Mikele Leigertwood, was with me at Sheffield United so he may have tipped a few off, I'm sure they've been bending his ear.
I know most of the players but I also looked at some videos and I've learnt a lot already, even if injuries and international duty meant I was not able to work with the full squad. Today's game is against a team who will be in the Premier League next season – and what a good example West Brom set for everyone on how to run a club financially well and still be able to compete. They will also help me assess what we've got in the locker. I do know some good players – Wayne Routledge, Heidar Helguson, Fitz Hall – have gone. Some people clearly expect me to start replacing them. I've been getting lots of calls from agents offering players. For some reason they never rang me in the last year at Palace. There's also been the family stuff to look at, new home, new schools, there's a lot of upheaval in a move even though both clubs are in the capital.
Being manager at Palace gave me a new lease of life and I'll be eternally grateful for the time I spent there. I think QPR is a similar club, with another atmospheric ground crammed into the streets. It can be quite hostile, and has been to me at times – I hope that's going to change.
4. I'll miss the gentle giant Keith Alexander
After all the upheaval of this week, you still have to keep things in perspective and remember the important things in life. The passing of Keith Alexander on Tuesday night after Macclesfield's game with Notts County was a bombshell to me. I spoke to Keith a few years ago about becoming my assistant. He thought seriously about it, but was then offered another job as a No 1. He was a big, gentle giant who always had a good word for people. I think I speak on behalf of every manager in the country in offering our condolences to his wife and family at this difficult time. Independent
Mirror - Simon Jordan: 'Warnock only went to QPR for the money'
Published 23:00 05/03/10 By Neil McLeman
Simon Jordan last night said he felt "let down" by Neil Warnock quitting Crystal Palace and claimed there was "no morality" in his former manager's decision.
Warnock was unveiled as the new QPR boss this week after cash-strapped Palace received nearly £600,000 in compensation. The Selhurst Park club went into administration in January and were docked ten points to leave them fighting relegation along with Rangers.
Warnock claimed he had left Palace because administrator Brendan Guilfoyle could not guarantee his future at the club.
But Jordan, the former owner who appointed Warnock in October 2007, has now broken his silence to claim his former friend only left for the money at Loftus Road.
"I feel let down," he said. "I feel that he has shown no loyalty. There is a lack of decency. He was a very dear friend and I looked after him for two-and-a-half years both professionally and personally.
"If you are close to a guy who has lost the club he has owned for ten years, his reputation is damaged and he has lost a shedload of money and he needs you to stay in there to help the club to survive, you would do it, wouldn't you?
"I am disappointed for myself, the club and the fans.
“There is not one iota of morality about Neil's decision. I feel foolish to be disappointed but I am an optimist and I always believe in the best in people. I don't feel that Neil had any moral justification for doing it. He had the security of his contract.
"There is one reason and one reason only that Neil Warnock went to QPR. It is nothing to do with the administrator.
"It is outrageous to say he was not given any assurances by the administrator.
"To claim he was forced out of the door is not true. Neil wanted to go."
Warnock told Jordan he was leaving Selhurst Park on Monday.
"He said he wanted security but when he signed for me, he only wanted two-and-a-half years more," Jordan continued. "Now he wants three years. I told him he had a football club that desperately needed him. And he had to do the right thing.
"Neil spent a fair amount of time wrestling with his conscious trying to find a way to tell me. And when he did tell me, he was not greeted with a barrage of abuse. I told him: 'I think you are wrong Neil and I think you owe me more than that. I don't think it has been done for the right reasons. At least if you are going to go, have the courage of your convictions and say I am going to QPR because they are offering me a three-year contract on a lot of money and I want the security. Tell the truth'.
"I said to Neil that I was silly because I still get disappointed. I told him: 'All you are to me is just another football manager who has let me down'." Mirror
Karen Brady Diary/The Sun -
"... HAD a long chat with Neil Warnock a few days ago. Maybe he's jumping out of the fire into the frying pan, joining manager-a-month club QPR from Crystal Palace, but I don't think so because there will be less interference from the boardroom now Flavio Briatore has gone. Briatore had more loose ends than a bowl of spaghetti.
Warnock's first responsibility has to be to his family and that means he needs to be paid. Poor Palace, though. They needed to lose his leadership like a sinking ship needs to lose the skipper. The Sun
UPDATE: ONE YEAR
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK'S 'AMAZING' FIRST YEAR
Posted on: Tue 01 Mar 2011
- Neil Warnock celebrates his first anniversary as QPR Manager today (Tuesday) - and what a 12 months it's been!
- When the 62 year-old took over at Loftus Road last March, Rangers were languishing towards the foot of the Championship table.
- Twelve months on and the R's sit five points clear at the summit of the second tier, leaving Rangers fans dreaming of a return to the top-flight of English football for the first time in 15 years.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk about his anniversary, Warnock said: "When I look back at the day I took over and compare what we had then to what we've got now, it's an amazing turnaround in 12 months.
- "I'm really proud of what we've achieved."
- Warnock added: "It's probably been one of the toughest 12 months I've had in the game, but the most rewarding too.
- "For example, I never once thought I'd manage a player like Adel (Taarabt). I love watching him play.
- "But it gives me as much satisfaction watching Paddy (Kenny) making a great save, or one of my defenders clearing the ball off the line.
- "Seeing the team that we've built come of age has been remarkable. This is the best team I've ever had - by a mile.
- "That's not being disrespectful to the other teams I've managed, but we've got all the ingredients here that I've been searching for throughout my career.
- "It's so rewarding, but I think there's so much more to come." QPR Official Site
- OTHER MATERIAL
When Saturday Comes (WSC) - Andy Ryan - QPR take the modern route to success
28 February ~ I should be delighted. After years of failure and mediocrity, my club are top of the league. This is the most talented squad we've had in ages and we're playing some wonderful stuff. And yet something is dimming my good mood. It's a little voice inside my head: “We are only here because of a pint-sized motorsport entrepreneur, a dubious Italian and an Indian steel magnate.” “So what?” I hear plenty of my fellow QPR fans say. After all, we've had to wait. Since our departure from the Premier League, we've sunk to the third tier, flirted with oblivion and got through approximately a thousand managers (including Ian Dowie). It's about time our luck turned and I am enjoying the good times. Just not as much as I should be.
It was the Roman Abramovich effect which brought the problem to my attention. All my Chelsea-supporting friends greeted his arrival with delight. They rubbed their hands in glee at the flood of expensive new recruits and loved the fact that they were now title contenders. Soon they had silverware to celebrate. I remember one, however, who couldn't quite bring himself to gloat. “It's not like we earned it. We had it bought for us.” He didn't like the fact that success was the result of a financial transaction.
Yet in a world of £100,000 weekly salaries and £50 million transfers, what other path to success is there? When we try to spot the teams that are likely to move forward, we look to the bank balances. The top four has become such a financial elite that even relatively big-spending Spurs don't believe that they have a chance of staying there.
Permit me, for just a couple of paragraphs, to descend into complete idealism. If we ignore the way things are, what would be the “right” way for a team to achieve success? The team would have a core of club-grown players because there is a difference between building a team and purchasing one. The patient development of youth players into first team stars is an achievement; buying everyone in sight is not. Such a team also has a much stronger sense of identity. These players who have come up through the ranks feel much closer ties to the club. I believe fans find it easier to get behind such a team.
Secondly, a team would achieve success without any intrinsic advantage over its rivals. Every single sport relies on competitors having an equal chance of success. Winning a game of football in which your team had twice as many players as the other side would be underwhelming. Yes, you won but the contest was so flawed as to be irrelevant. At what point do financial inequalities between clubs render the contest void? Perhaps, the only upside is that when teams do defy the odds, the triumph is even sweeter. Witness the excitement around Blackpool.
If we do take the pragmatic approach and accept that money is the surest route to footballing success, we as football fans are left in an unusual spot. Our focus is turned away from the battles of the pitch to the intrigues of the boardroom. Fans who want to see their club progress are left waiting for a billionaire (millionaires won't cut it). That is why the sport pages have as much on takeovers as they do on tactics. Suddenly we are following a stock market rather than a sport.
I am not a killjoy. If QPR do get promoted at the end of this year, I'll be dancing as much as the next man. It is a shame though that football's cash addiction has soured even the sweet taste of success. Andy Ryan reversesweptradio
http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/6652/38/
- June 2011 "race for Life, Herne Bay): "Neil Roberts Dying Wish for More Runners"
- Caliendo Payday? (Unless already paid) "A £2,000,000 interest free loan owing to Mr. A Caliendo is repayabale on 28 February 2011 and redeemable at any time prior to that date at the sole discretion of QPR..." QPR Annual Report, July 2009
- Pre-Season Champiosnhip Previews/Predictions
FLASHBACKS...
- Year Flashback: A Sad Day - Raheem Sterling Joins Liverpool
- Year Flashback: The Amit Bhatia Interviews
- Ten Years Ago: Article "Rangers disease has fans reaching for the pills"
- Ten Years Ago (Yesterday): Ian Holloway Appointed Manager of Queen's Park Rangers!
