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- Millwall 2 QPR 0
1 QPR 36 35 70
2 Swansea 36 17 63
3 Norwich 36 13 63
4 Cardiff 36 14 61
5 Leeds 36 11 60
6 Nott'm Forest 36 14 59
7 Burnley 34 12 56
8 Reading 36 17 54
9 Hull 36 3 52
10 Leicester 36 -2 52
Yann Tear/Fulham Chronicle - Radek Cerny and Heidar Helguson set to be offered new QPR contracts
RADEK Cerny and Heidar Helguson will be offered contracts to keep them at Loftus Road next season.
Neil Warnock is delighted with the contribution of both this season – even Paddy Kenny understudy Cerny, who has not even played for the first team this term.
"I love them both," said the QPR boss. "They are great pros.
"I've already said to Heidar we'll give him a contract along with Rady.
"I haven't had time [to sort out the details yet] but they know I'll look after them anyhow. They've both got a part to play next year, whatever division we're in.
"If anything happened to Paddy, it wouldn't worry me at all. Rady's been outstanding in training and with the reserves.
"I think he's quite instrumental in how Paddy's doing and I think the competition's fabulous for us.
"You don't normally get that at a club, or at least I've never had it before, where I'm as confident in my number two as my number one."
Warnock said of Helguson, who has 10 goals to his name this season: "He never surprises me.
"He could be the top goalscorer in the division if we could keep him fit. He's a great pro and I've got a lot of time for him.
"I hope he stays fit. It would be a major boost for us for the rest of the season Fulham Chronicle
Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Duo to stay at QPR next season
QPR will reward striker Heidar Helguson for his improved form with a new contract next season – whether they win promotion or not.
The Icelandic frontman, whose current deal runs out in the summer, will be offered the chance to stay at the club after playing an important role in their charge towards the Premier League.
Helguson, who played in the top flight with Watford, Fulham and Bolton, has netted 12 times this season and Rangers boss Neil Warnock is keen to retain the 33-year-old’s experience.
Warnock has also promised a new contract to veteran goalkeeper Radek Cerny – even though the former Tottenham player has been restricted to the substitutes’ bench all season.
“Heidar’s never surprised me – he’s a great pro and he could be the top goalscorer in the division if we could keep him fit,” Warnock told the Times.
“I’ve a lot of time for him, I always have done and I hope he stays fit because that’d be a major boost for the rest of this season. I’ve already said to him I’ll give him a contract – him and Radek Cerny.
“They know I’ll look after them anyhow, but they’ll both have a part to play next year, whatever division we’re in. If anything happened to Paddy [Kenny] it wouldn’t worry me at all putting Radek in.
“He’s been outstanding in training and I think he’s been instrumental in how well Paddy’s doing. The competition’s fabulous for the club.”
Cerny, who turned 37 last month, displaced Lee Camp as Rangers’ first choice keeper after joining them in 2008 and has played 79 first-team games, but none since Kenny’s arrival at Loftus Road last summer.
Helguson’s fortunes, on the other hand, have turned around significantly under Warnock’s management after he spent the majority of last season on loan to former club Watford.
Having failed to hold down a regular place at Rangers since his £750,000 switch from Bolton, the striker then scored 11 goals for the Hornets, who attempted to bring him back to Vicarage Road on a permanent basis.
But Warnock opted to give Helguson a second chance and the striker has responded with better displays and an ample tally of goals, earning him a place on the Championship’s Player of the Month shortlist for February.
As well as securing the services of Helguson and Cerny for next season, the QPR manager has also confirmed that he would like to make Wayne Routledge’s return from Newcastle permanent.
The winger, who joined the promotion-bound Magpies in January 2010, has thrived since rejoining his old club on loan until the end of the season to replace the injured Jamie Mackie.
“Sometimes it’s difficult coming back to a club, but I told him it’s very different now,” Warnock added. “I felt the club was geared up to let him play his best and we need players like Wayne to win games.
“I was delighted to get him and we’d like to sign him next season, whatever the situation. I think he’s enjoying it at the moment because of the way he’s playing.
“But I don’t think there’s any rush and I imagine it depends where we end up. Wayne would like to play in the Premier League, so if things went wrong for us he’d probably go back.”
http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/qpr/duo_to_stay_at_qpr_next_season_1_823544
MILLWALL 2 QPR 0
- QPR: "What The Papers Say"
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK'S MILLWALL VERDICT
Posted on: Tue 08 Mar 2011
Neil Warnock refused to be too downbeat, despite seeing his QPR side succumb to a 2-0 defeat at Millwall.
Goals from Steve Morison and Liam Trotter condemned the R's to only their fourth defeat of the season and Warnock told www.qpr.co.uk: "It just took a defensive lapse for their first goal.
"It was an elementary mistake.
"The first goal was always going to be key, but it was a Sunday League goal from my point of view.
"I've not seen Clint make an error like that for ages, but he's been magnificent for us this season, so I won't be too harsh on him."
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Warnock added: "We've just got to get on with it.
"It's only our fourth defeat of the season and it's another game chalked off.
"I'd have taken from seven points from the last 12, and we've got nine, so I can't be too disappointed.
"There's going to be hiccups along the way, but the rest of the teams will drop points too, as tonight has proved.
"Who's to say who's going to go up - there's still such a long way to go." QPR
QPR Official.
Second-half goals from Steve Morison and Liam Trotter condemned the ten-man R's to only their fourth defeat of the npower Championship season at the New Den.
Despite this being a typically tight London derby in the first half, QPR - in truth - never really got going after the break, with Millwall probably doing enough to secure all three points.
The Lions were in front on 63 minutes, after Morison raced clear of the Rangers defence before blasting his shot past Paddy Kenny.
And, after the R's were reduced to ten men when last man Danny Shittu unjustly hauled Morison to ground in the box just 10 minutes later, Trotter stepped up to double the Lions' advantage from the spot.
Neil Warnock made one change to his R's side for the trip to South London, with Kaspars Gorkss coming in to replace the injured Fitz Hall (hamstring).
Kenny was in goal for QPR in an accustomed 4-2-3-1 formation.
Bradley Orr, Shittu, Gorkss and Clint Hill lined up in defence.
Shaun Derry and Alejandro Faurlin were in defensive midfield, behind attacking trio Wayne Routledge, Adel Taarabt and Akos Buzsaky.
Heidar Helguson spearheaded the R's attack.
Roared on by a buoyant, sell-out away following, the R's came out of the blocks fastest in this highly-charged London derby.
Taarabt won a free-kick out on the left and, when he dusted himself down to deliver a beautifully struck, in-swinging cross to the back post, Gorkss' bullet header was superbly tipped around the post by David Forde.
From the resultant corner, Taarabt was again in the thick of the play, with his out-swinging centre this time finding the head of Hill, whose nodded effort sailed just wide of the left-hand post.
Play soon switched to the other end.
Lions debutant Andros Townsend - on loan from Tottenham Hotspur - played the architect, with his pinpoint cross from a corner nodded just over the bar by Millwall skipper Paul Robinson from six-yards out.
But QPR continued to threaten.
Orr and Tamika Mkandawire tussled for possession out on the right-hand channel before the ball was deflected into the path of Routledge.
The diminutive wide-man played a square pass to Buzsaky, with the Magical Magyar blasting his effort inches wide of the left-hand post.
Although the R's had made the greater inroads in the final third, this was - in truth - a half of very few clear-cut chances, as both sides battled for supremacy.
Lovely football - but again little end product to show for it - saw Rangers go close just before the half-time interval.
A neat interchange of passes led to Routledge teeing up Faurlin on the edge of the Millwall box, but the Argentine midfield man's drive flew over the bar.
The Lions had a chance of their own to go into the break a goal to the good.
Morison out-powered Routledge on the left, before his shot from 12-yards out - albeit it from an acute angle - forced a fine block from Kenny, with the R's keeper's smart stop deflecting off his legs and up field to safety.
The R's went close early on in the second half.
Routledge breezed past his marker down the left, before his cross was met by Orr at the back post, whose header went straight into the hands of Lions keeper Forde.
Moments later, Millwall could - and probably should - have taken the lead with the best chance of the match to date.
Townsend's devastating corner from the right was met by Robinson who, with the goal at his mercy, could only head an effort over the bar from close range.
But this soon slipped back into a midfield slogging match, with both sides offering very little in the final third.
That was, of course, until the Lions took a 63rd minute lead.
It came from a direct passage of play but the hosts weren't to care.
A ball from deep cleared both Shittu and Gorkss, before Morison raced clear of the two R's centre-halves.
The former Stevenage front-man made no mistake thereafter, as his stinging low drive from 18-yards out sailed past Kenny into the back of the net.
And, just 10 minutes later, the R's evening went from bad to worse, with Millwall doubling their advantage from the spot after Rangers were reduced to ten men.
The move that led to the penalty was very similar to the build-up to the Lions' first goal, as a long ball from defence put Morison in the clear.
This time Shittu managed to catch up with the Millwall striker, before he unfairly hauled Morison to the ground in the box and, as the last man, was shown a straight red card.
Trotter stepped up and was coolness personified on the spot, as he sent Kenny the wrong way and tucked his effort into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Robinson, Trotter, Harris (Lisbie 66), Henry, Craig, Mkandawire, Ward, Morison, Townsend.
Subs: Mildenhall, Eastmond, Schofield, Hackett, Barron, McQuoid.
Scorers: Morison (63), Trotter (73)
QPR: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry, Taarabt (Smith 71), Helguson, Buzsaky (Miller 71), Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge, Shittu.
Subs: Cerny, Hulse, Smith, Vaagan-Moen, Ephraim, Chimbonda.
Red Cards: Shittu (72)
Referee: Mr S Tanner
Attendance: 14, 104 (2186)
Guardian - Millwall exact revenge on Danny Shittu in defeat of QPR
Millwall 2 Morison 63, Trotter (pen) 73
QPR 0
Arindam Rej at the Den
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 March 2011 21.51 GMT
Millwall's Liam Trotter heads at goal but is denied by the Queens Park Rangers' goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. Photograph: Stephen Pond/EMPICS Sport
This was never going to be a quiet evening for Danny Shittu. Being the main culprit in this shock defeat for the Championship leaders, Queens Park Rangers, was not what he needed.
Shittu was returning to Millwall for the first time since snubbing the club's offer of a new contract in order to join QPR. The booing and barracking had been merciless from a Den crowd that was under the spotlight after unsavoury reports of missile-throwing against Watford and Middlesbrough.
But the home fans' mood was too good to cause trouble when, with the score at 1-0 to Millwall, Shittu conceded a penalty and was sent off in the 72nd minute. Liam Trotter scored from the spot and QPR were on their way to their first defeat in 12 Championship matches.
Kenny Jackett's recently goal-shy side were probably not too pleased to see QPR – boasting the best defensive record in the country – in town. Millwall pressed hard initially, though. Shittu quickly clattered the Millwall legend Neil Harris, doing little to ease tensions, and James Henry swung in a free-kick that zipped past the far post.
Despite their impressive record this season, QPR can occasionally start games slowly but they are never easily unsettled. So it was no surprise when Neil Warnock's men quickly created a chance of their own as Adel Taarabt floated in a free-kick from the left that Kaspars Gorkss met with a header that David Forde tipped over.
Back came Millwall, though, as the on-loan Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend delivered a corner that was headed wide by the captain, Paul Robinson. Next it was Steve Morison's turn to threaten as he turned sharply and struck a 30-yard effort that Paddy Kenny gathered.
That was followed by an exchange of long-range shots, midway through the first half, as QPR's Akos Buzsaky and Millwall's Harris tried their luck with speculative strikes that flew off-target. Both sides were showing intent but, with the game being played at a high tempo, there was a need for more cool-headedness in the final third.
Millwall managed to finish the first half strongly. Harris's angled, 30-yard volley narrowly cleared the crossbar and Morison then cut in from the left before producing a low shot that Kenny thwarted.
The intensity of the game stayed high after half-time and the best chance came Millwall's way. It is a mystery how Robinson managed to waste it, as he headed over from a couple of yards after Townsend's corner. Townsend was impressing on his first appearance and soon tested Kenny with a well-stuck drive.
Taarabt, supremely talented but sometimes too confident for his own good, then watched his audacious 40-yard, skidding shot trickle embarrassingly off target.
Millwall seized the initiative again, though, when Harris came close, on the hour mark, with a shot that was blocked by some desperate QPR defending. And the home side soon took the lead when Morison collected the ball neatly and surged down the middle before unleashing a shot, from just outside the area, that travelled with too much pace and power for Kenny to get close to it.
The ineffective Taarabt was then substituted by Warnock before Millwall doubled their lead when Shittu dragged down Morison and Trotter stroked in his spot-kick.
After that, Millwall controlled the closing stages, with a weak effort from Tommy Smith being the best that 10-man QPR could manage. As their players came off, their pain was visible on their faces. But it could have been worse. They could have been in Shittu's position.
QPR1st Statement - Club in Takeover talks
Responding to media speculation about the sell of a 67 % stake in QPR Holdings to a consortium of American and Asian businessmen, the Club has issued a statement confirming that it has entered into preliminary discussions which may or may not result in an offer being made.
It would appear that these discussions relate to Bernie Eccelstone selling his 62 % stake in QPR Holdings with Flavio Briatore maybe also giving up his nominal share. In a press interview, Amit Bhatia denied that the Mittals were not part of these negotiations and did not intend to sell their 33 % stake. He stated that, "We remain passionate about QPR and are working to achieve our immediate goal of providing Premier League football to our loyal supporters next season."
It is interesting to note that Lakshmi Mittal made a rare appearance at Loftus Road to see us increase our lead at the top of the league.
Meanwhile accounts for the 2009-10 season revealed that the club made a pre-tax loss of £13.7m and had a net debt of £37m.
We very much regret that whilst the Club decided to confirm that negotations had taken place it did not reassure fans that any take-over would be postponed until our campaign to return to the Premiership had been resolved.
QPR1st Supporters Trust would urge both current and potential new owners to appreciate that the foundation of that success has been stability and consistency. The last thing the Club needs at this critical stage is major upheavals or disruption. This is in no ones interest, least of all the players and the fans. QPR1st
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