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One Year Ago Today: Mark Hughes Resigns as Manager of Fulham: Various Articles and Assessments
- Leon Jeanne Joins Carmathen - WalesonLine
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QPR Summer Calendar
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The Football League - CHAIRMEN CALL FOR SPORTSMANSHIP
- Premiership Finances and Wages...Deloitte Annual Report Released...
- Football League Cup (Milk Cup/Carling Cup) becomes "The Capital One Cup"
- Q& A With Four Year Plan Director, Mat Hodgsonl
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QPR Kit Sponsorship Package
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Reselling Your QPR Ticket
MARK HUGHES/DAILY MAIL - England are short of options in midfield... why was Scholes not called?
England have lost so many players to injury. They will miss talent and experience so I wonder if they thought about a call to Paul Scholes.
He came out of retirement for Manchester United and was fantastic. He doesn’t give the ball away. I know Paul drew a line under his international career, but it would have been a call worth making. Just in case.
All these injuries are a consequence of the league we play in. When players get to the end of a long season, you have to be careful with them. How much have they got left in the tank? The Premier League is becoming more intense.
Missed opportunity: Paul Scholes has been in fine form for Manchester United
Sports scientists are essential. They collate information based on the physiology, fitness, strength and condition of your players. They help a manager to understand the exertion capability of each player, which in turn enables the coaching staff to set appropriate training sessions . You are studying trends and trying to eradicate fatigue, which results in injuries.
Different players can cope with different demands. Some are more fragile than others. Every Premier League club takes this seriously now. We are no different at QPR, but it’s an area we are working on and developing.
Every manager is looking for an edge. At QPR, we have Damian Roden as head of performance. He is recognised as one of the best in the industry and has been with me for some time. He is top class. He knows the information I consider to be valuable. I wrote in my last column about what I learned from my time at Bayern Munich and performance preparation is one of those things. Narrow margins can make a huge difference in the modern game.
I’m looking forward to seeing Eden Hazard play at Wembley. I’ve known about him for some time and he is very skilled with a football. It’s not easy to be a young player coming from France. He is the two-times footballer of the year there but it will take him time to adjust in England, I suspect. If you haven’t seen much of him before, he likes to get on the ball in the final third. Chelsea have signed an exciting talent, although one goal in 26 caps shows he is still learning the game. He can really play, though, and thrives in space. England may be in for a difficult test.
Pass master: Belgium's midfield maestro Eden Hazard is highly rated
Pass master: Belgium's midfield maestro Eden Hazard is highly rated
It seems everyone wants a Belgian. This generation of Belgians is very strong. I brought both Vincent Kompany and Mousa Dembele to the Premier League and they have thrived. I can imagine a few scouts will be watching for others today.
Brendan Rodgers has not managed at the top level for very long. But what he has done is very impressive. He inherited a Swansea team who already played a certain style of football and developed that further to earn himself a big reputation. He’s a very bright guy and I enjoy his company, but now he has to get his message across to the Liverpool players quickly and cope with the demands and expectations of a massive club.
It’s been an interesting week for managers. There is plenty of activity. One thing I have learned is this: move when your star is high.
Chance to shine: Brendan Rodgers has been named the new Liverpool boss
Chance to shine: Brendan Rodgers has been named the new Liverpool boss
The summer is flashing by. Before we know it, clubs will be back in pre-season training and we will start all over again. I want to improve my squad at QPR and we are making progress. I have been using the time to get in front of agents and players to try to show them what we are planning at QPR. I’ve been working closely with our technical director Mike Rigg. He joined the club from Manchester City towards the end of the season and is already proving to be a great asset to QPR.
I won’t be scouting at the Euros. We know about the players we want and tournament football can give you a false impression of a player’s capabilities.
England will do well to get out of the group. Midfield is such an important area of international football. England go into the finals without Jack Wilshere, Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard. And I now read that Scott Parker isn’t fully fit, either. But they have good players still and if they get up a head of steam...
Mark Hughes’ fee for this column has been donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital. Daily Mail
EVENING STANDARD/JAMES OLLEY -
EXCLUSIVE: I won't play with Joey Barton, says Adel Taarabt
Queens Park Rangers are today under increasing pressure to offload Joey Barton after it emerged Adel Taarabt has told the club he will not play in the same team as the controversial midfielder.
Rangers are expected to conclude an internal investigation into Barton’s behaviour within the next seven days after the 29-year-old was handed a 12-game suspension and £75,000 fine following his red card at Manchester City on the final day of last season.
Barton was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez, before kicking Sergio Aguero and attempting to headbutt Vincent Kompany as he had to be dragged from the field, to the fury of manager Mark Hughes.
Standard Sport revealed last week that the club have been told they are unlikely to find sufficient legal grounds to terminate Barton’s contract and so they will have to pay his contract in full, worth nearly £11million, if they wish to sack him.
The Rangers hierarchy are fully aware Barton has become a disruptive presence in the squad. Rumours of a dressing room rift persisted throughout last season and it is understood that Barton and Taarabt have not been on speaking terms for several months following two separate training ground incidents.
Barton is believed to have launched into rash tackles on the Moroccan international after becoming irritated by his relaxed attitude towards training. It is understood that Taarabt’s lawyers contacted the club to warn them they would sue Barton if he injured their client in training.
Taarabt is now thought to have indicated his unwillingness to play with Barton in the future and it is possible he could leave the club regardless of the decision Rangers take with his team-mate.
The 23-year-old is hugely talented but failed to make a consistent impact in the Premier League and is no stranger to controversy himself, having been pictured at a bus stop after storming out of the ground following his half-time substitution in October’s 6-0 defeat against Fulham.
Barton hinted at tension with Taarabt following that match by claiming afterwards: “I came here and was told he was a genius but I’m yet to see it. I don’t know whether that is because he doesn’t work hard enough or that he tends to sulk.”
Taarabt has attracted interest from a number of clubs and has just one year remaining on his contract at Loftus Road. He has made it clear he will depart if Barton does not move on.
The problem for Rangers is that they are struggling to find a buyer for a player who is now ineligible until November. West Ham are thought to have registered an interest but Barton would have to take a considerable pay cut from his £70,000-a-week deal, which has three years left to run.
Rangers could force Barton to train with the reserves and then sell him in January and are continuing to assess their options. Hughes will also consult other members of the squad to assess how they feel about Barton continuing his career at the club
Standard
Also From Bushman's Archives! England 2-0 Belgium January 19th 1946.
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Flashback 11 Years: Article Comparing QPR, Chelsea and Fulham
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Flashback II: 11 Years Ago Several Articles re QPR in Crisis...Proposed QPR-Wimbledon Merger...Birth of QPR1st
Q & nd A With Brentford CEO (and ex-QPR CEO) Mark Devlin including re QPR
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Holocaust Survivor Talking to England Team...Avram Grant's Annual Return to Auschwitz
