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- For comprehensive and latest QPR news-related pieces and discussion, visit the football-only, somewhat-different QPR Report Messageboard. All QPR Perspectives genuinely welcomed! Or comment on any of the articles posted below - QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!
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- Two Year Flashback: Tony Coton Appointed QPR Assistant Manager
- Ex-QPR Great (albeit not "Goalkeeper!") Alan McDonald: QPR Players Have to Focus on Survival (Click to Listen)
- On This Day in Football History
- QPR will Play Newcastle United (Away) in the Fifth Round of the FA Youth Cup
- Championship Rejects...Chelsea Manager now talking about Premiership Clubs having Feeder Clubs/B Teams in the Championship
- Three Days From Now: The Asian Football Awards: Nominees Include Tony Fernandes and Lakshmi Mittal...Also a couple of other QPR Nominations
- Max Ehmer Returns to QPR (on his own initiative)
- Four Year Flashback: Profile of/Interview With Amit Bhatia
- Antonio German Trialing at Brentford
- "Where are they Now?" The QPR (and West Ham) Youth Cup Teams Two Years Ago
- The Current Bottom Six Premiership Clubs: Their Remaining Fixtures
- Latest QPR Player Signing Reports/Gossip
- Recent QPR Transfer Gossip: Player-by-Player
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- For comprehensive and latest QPR news-related pieces and discussion, visit the football-only, somewhat-different QPR Report Messageboard. All QPR Perspectives genuinely welcomed! Or comment on any of the articles posted below - QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!
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MaudesFishnchips Interviews Wigan Fan, Kieran from pieeatersfootie.com
Many thanks to both interviewer and interviewee
How long have you supported Wigan?
All my life since I was eight and my dad took me to my first game, never looked back since.
Who are Wigan�s biggest Rival and why?
I have to go with Preston local club and the game are always competitive yet not a nasty one, just a bit of a grudge.
Are you happy with your team and how things are to date? � summer spending/selling so far?
Yeah the squad is a good one, well balanced and have some quality players, its the lack of performances that annoy the fans half the time there is no effort.
What do you think of your current Owner? WHY is he/she involved? What do you expect from him?
I am a huge Dave whelan support, picked us up from the gutter nd has built a well established club with a really good infrastructure, and a great financial system.
The clubs future is bright because of him.
How do you think Wigan treats its fans? Appreciates them? Listens to them? Screws them?
Yeah they are brilliant when it come down to it, it a family club and remains like that. Best examplee of this is that every season martines holds a fan forum for the fansites. Top notch for galvanizing the fans.
Who are you Dangermen/Most valued/most overrated/most underrated players?
Danger man has to be victor Moses.The overrated man is Gary caldwell.
The underratted is Emerson boyce top quality defender
Are you happy with your youth set up? Is your club doing enough to bring young/local talent through the ranks? .
Yeah we do a lot to try and promote youth at this club, always have and always will do, especially under martinez.
He has changed the system and now the lads focus on technical ability and being able to play rather than physical attributes.
Who would you say was the greatest Wigan player that you yourself personally saw? And past player? (You can name more than one if it's that close!)
For me it has to.be Andy liddle he was one player I use to always love watching at the club never stopped and scored loads for us down the years.
What is your prediction for Wigan this season?
Just surviving by the skin of our teeth with a last day win.
Are you aware of any player or manager links between our two clubs past and present?
No I'm not, due to my own ignorance.
What is your view and the general Wigan view of QPR (If we even feature in your consciousness)
One of well done last year, its hard to get into the premier league and of how lucky you have been to get in such wealthy owners.
Who(if any) is your most memorable/favourite QPR Player over the years?
Adel tarrabet sticks out for me as one player his ability last year was amazing and I use to watch you a lot. Yet he has failed to do it this year but I'm surprised as to why. He is a quality player.
Any memorable matches between our two clubs that stand out for you? And the reasons why?
In wigans last season in the championship when three point would have more or less seen us up. Was a tense and nervous game and you had us on the back foot for periods but we got an important point.
Your score prediction for QPR v Wigan?
2-1 wigan win via a late winner from callum mcmanaman
What, realistically, do you think Wigan are capable of achieving in the next five years?
Midtable obscurity has to be the current aim, but who knows.
Again, Many thanks MaudesFishnchips Interviews Wigan Fan, Kieran from pieeatersfootie.com
INDEPENDENT
Neil Warnock: Free cups of tea and a gym pass. Now I know I'm out of work!
What I Learnt This Week
NEIL WARNOCK SATURDAY 21 JANUARY 2012
It's been a weird week for me. Football is a precarious profession but I've actually had very few periods of unemployment since I started in the game in 1968. I'd forgotten what it was like and didn't know what to do with myself to start with. But after a bad week last week, when I felt a bit down, I perked up this week and relaxed. I realised I should look at things the way I did Adel Taarabt. You have to look at what he's good at – if you focus on what he's bad at, you wouldn't touch him. Life's like that. If you concentrate on what's wrong it'll consume you. So I have been appreciating how lucky I am. I've got a lovely family, my health, and I know you'll not believe it, but I've quite a few friends as well.
It was also very soothing being in Cornwall. One gorgeous morning we had the beach at Looe to ourselves apart from one guy digging in the sand. We went and sat on the rocks but Will, who can't resist anything, went over to him. The next minute he's digging away with his hands. It turns out the guy was looking for lugworms for bait. William must have helped him for an hour. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.
Everybody's been rallying round. I went to a café in our village in Cornwall and had lunch which I paid for at the time of ordering. Then I had a cup of tea. When I went to pay for that the lady said, "No, not in your situation, that's on the house". I said: "I've only lost my job, not my wallet." Then the next-door-neighbour said if I wanted to have a workout she had some free passes for her gym. I've missed not being able to use the gym at the training ground of an afternoon, so I decided to take her up on the offer. She didn't tell me they were OAP passes for the YMCA! As it happens it was a fabulous place and the staff were so friendly. It was good to have a blowout.
Even the Football Association have taken pity. I had received a letter from the Compliance Unit asking for my observations after I made some comments on the inconsistency of refereeing, in the light of Joey Barton being dismissed against Norwich while Frank Lampard was not sent off for that tackle against Wolves. The FA wrote this week saying I won't be charged. They must have felt sorry for me. Of course, now I'm unattached, I'll be able to say what I want.
2 Disappointed at Joey but I'm still a QPR fan
I'm told Joey Barton had a few things to say about me on twitter last night. Obviously, I'm disappointed with the comments, but I don't feel there's any need to respond. I don't have a problem with anybody at QPR and when I tuned in on Sunday to watch their at Newcastle I was cheering them on.
That might surprise people since I was sacked but most of the QPR players I brought to the club, many of them are the same players who did me so proud in winning the Championship last season, so obviously I want them to do well. Then there's the fans, who've been so wonderful to me, both when I was at the club and since. Many of the staff and people involved with the club are good friends. And finally, after all the hard work we put into getting the club into the Premier League, the last thing people like myself, Mick Jones and Keith Curle want is for it all to be undone by relegation. We want the club to sign the players they want, stay up, and then progress just as we'd planned.
I'm not at all bitter towards Tony Fernandes and I was disappointed at the way some comments I made on TV this week were sensationalised in the tabloids. I was asked about tweeting and said it was a dangerous path to go down, when players and fans are tweeting the chairman, as one person's opinion could get undue weight, and it is hard to have much context in 140 characters. Then I pick up the papers and read I was "poisoned", which wasn't what I meant at all.
I did think QPR could win last Sunday. We had highlighted the match as the first of a series of winnable games. I know we (I'll be saying "we" for a while yet) were without a couple of players but, with Demba Ba and Cheick Tioté missing, we thought it was a real chance of a fourth away win. It was not to be, but I'm sure that first league win will come today, against Wigan.
3 Managing my weekly fix of blood and guts
When you lose your job initially you try and occupy yourself and keep your mind busy. So last Saturday, rather than follow all the scores coming in, we went into Plymouth, to the cinema to see War Horse. As we took our seats I thought, "This'll be good, I can forget about football for a couple of hours". Then, and this won't spoil the story for you, when the little horse is born the young boy who is going to look after it is asked by his dad: "What will you call it?" The boy said: "I'm going to call it Joey." I thought: "I can't even get away from thinking about QPR at the movies. Why couldn't he have called it Black Bess or something?"
I thought the film was super for all the family. Or almost all. At one stage Sharon went out with William and I thought he wanted to go to the toilet. They were away a while. When he came back I was told he had to leave as he was feeling sick with all the blood on the battlefield. Amy thought it was a great film, but if you have younger children it might be an idea to warn them of what to expect.
It was nice not having my mood on a Saturday night dictated by the result of a football match, but I did realise I'll have to do a bit more planning if going out on a Saturday. We got to the cinema in time to get something to eat but the restaurants nearby were all chock-a-block. We ended up having a hot dog standing in the foyer, with me trying to hide behind Will every time I had a bite as mustard and ketchup kept going all over my nose.
4 I've no immediate plans to be a Pilgrim
You'll have gathered I didn't go to Plymouth Argyle v Burton Albion. One of the tricky aspects of being an out-of-work football manager is that while you need to go to matches to keep up to date on players and so on, whenever you turn up at a ground people start jumping to the wrong conclusions. There'd been a lot of talk about a mentor for Carl Fletcher, the Argyle manager who's also one of my former players. Sean O'Driscoll's name was talked about, then mine. I didn't think it right to embarrass Carl or his staff by turning up and having the papers taking my picture and making the wrong assumptions.
Having said all that, I'll be at Molineux this afternoon for Wolves v Aston Villa. However, I should point out I'll be there as a guest on Football Focus, and when I agreed to do it I assumed it would be in the studio. I'm sure I'll speak to Mick McCarthy, who I've known since he was an apprentice at Barnsley, beforehand. He got a great result last week at Spurs, a real coupon-buster.
5 Straight red for Roberto over imaginary cards
When I saw Roberto Mancini waving that imaginary card again I thought: "I hope someone at Manchester City will have a word with him and say it doesn't happen in this country." I must admit I did the same when cards were first introduced, but I immediately knew it was not right.
6 Best of luck to Luton boys but it's a man's game
Congratulations to the three young brothers from Luton who have signed for Chelsea. Chelsea have not pulled up any trees with their youth system, especially when you look at how much they have invested in it. Maybe these lads will be an exception, and I hope so for their sakes, but I always feel at that age it is a huge gamble. Throughout my career I've seen world-beaters at 12 and 13 who, by the age of 16, 17, have become average players, and at 20, 21 are out of the game.
7 Give Coleman chance to prove he's mustard
I think Chris Coleman is a great appointment for Wales, just the right man to follow on from Gary Speed. Chris spoke very well at what must have been a difficult press conference. It's an exciting time for Wales, with all those young players they have coming through, and I'm pleased for Chris, who has been through the wringer in recent years.
8 Thanks again... we will get back to all of you
Finally, can I thank everybody who's written to me again? I've had more than 4,000 emails now. We will be responding, but goodness knows how long it will take us Independent
YESTERDAY's TWEETS OF JOEY BARTON
Off now people, big game tomo to focus on. 1st of 17 cup finals. Premier league survival is a must.......
Not a big fan of people that try to make scapegoats out of others. If u live by the sword, u die by it.
A wise man once told me to not argue with fools, people from a distance can't tell who is who.......
Lost his job and the guy is blaming everyone but himself! Embarrassing, time to look in the mirror mate. Last thing we need right. Big week
Looking forward to the game against Wigan tomo. 1st time in a while we actually have a plan and seem organised. #3ptsneeded
If I talked about Neil, he'd do well to get another job. Twitter cost him his job???? I can think of a million other things! #shutitwarnock
Neil Warnock saying I talk to much. Now that is funny #mikebassett
- Joey Barton
- Year Update to " "QPR Thugs in New Riot Shame...Trash Pub..." Three Bristol City Fans Jailed
- Four Year Flashback: The QPR Squad of January 2008
- Year Flashback: Three Part David Conn/Guardian Series on "The Super Agents"
- Year Flashback: Benni McCarthy Trialing for QPR in Reserve Game. QPR lose 2-9!
- Two Year Flashback: Chairman Briatore on all he's done for QPR; Saved the Club; Axed only One Manager; Views of 20 Pound Fans
When Saturday Comes (WSC) Anthony Hobbys - The more things change the more QPR remain strange - Anthony Hobbs/When Saturday Comes
- A 2007 Interview with Mark Hughes: Why "Sparky"
