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Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Fernandes Strongly Backing Hughes...Mittal/Bhatia QPR Future?...Premiership Table Year Ago..Wicks' Birthday...Zamora on Fulham...India/Football...QPR Snippets

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 - Happy 56th Birthday to Stevie Wicks



- QPR/India: South  Junior Soccer Champions battle it out to make it for the elite QPR Coaching Clinic


- Strange Non-QPR story:  "Football League referee arrested on suspicion of computer hacking• Official is also FA's national referee development manager• Suspect removed from overseeing Barnsley v Peterborough



- Flashback Three Years: Brian Glanville Writing about the Situation at QPR!


- Four Year Flashback: Great Oped applicable to fans of all Football Clubs: You may not own it, but your club belongs to you" -...: Why football fans should care as much about who owns their club as they do who plays for it





  - 15 Years Ago: Then-QPR Chairman Chris Wright:Wright Talking about the Need to Build the QPR Fan Base...14 Years ago, Wright talking about Club Finances - on a QPR Webcast...


- Matt Connolly Makes Championship Team of the Week - as Does Leeds' Ex- Blackburn Striker!



One Year ago after six Games....


(QPR had just dropped points in a 1-1 Home Draw vs Aston Villa, the PM watching - and we were set to get Crushed by Fulham, 6-0)

2011-2012

1 Man Utd 6 17 16
2 Man City 6 14 16
3 Chelsea 6 5 13
4 Newcastle 6 4 12
5 Liverpool 6 0 10
6 Tottenham 5 0 9
7 Stoke 6 -2 9
8 Aston Villa 6 2 8
9 QPR 6 -2 8
10 Everton 5 0 7
11 Wolves 6 -3 7
12 Arsenal 6 -5 7
13 Sunderland 5 2 5
14 Norwich 5 -2 5
15 Wigan 6 -4 5
16 Swansea 6 -5 5
17 Fulham 6 -3 4
18 Blackburn 6 -5 4
19 West Brom 6 -5 4
20 Bolton 6 -8 3


And what it looks like today, after six games

2012-13


Club Pld Pts


Chelsea 6 16

Everton 6 13
Man Utd 6 12
Man City 6 12
Tottenham 6 11
West Brom 6 11
West Ham 6 11
Arsenal 6 9
Fulham 6 9
Newcastle 6 9
Swansea 6 7
Stoke 6 7
Sunderland 5 7
Liverpool 6 5
Aston Villa 6 5
Wigan 6 4
Southampton 6 3
Norwich 6 3
Reading 5 2
QPR 6 2



Soccernet/Harry Harris - Mittal 'reviewing position at QPR'
October 2, 2012


By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent

QPR benefactor Lakshmi Mittal, Britian's wealthiest man, is reviewing his position at Loftus Road, sources have told ESPN.

It is believed the steel magnate could be ready to consider selling his one-third share in the Premier League club before Christmas.

Chairman Tony Fernandes heads the three-strong consortium in charge of Rangers with a 66% stake. He spent Monday night tweeting a defence of under-pressure manager Mark Hughes after the 2-1 home defeat to West Ham.

Hughes is facing a backlash from disgruntled Rangers fans, with Harry Redknapp being touted for the job if he fails to turn results around before the next transfer window - when the big spenders plan to buy even more players.

A source told ESPN that the West London club could be losing as much as £5 million a month, having bought virtually an entire new team during the summer and considerably raising the wage bill in the process.

Air Asia boss Fernandes persuaded Mittal to continue to back the club - but it remains to be seen how long Rangers will continue to back Hughes if rumours about the benefactor leaving turn out to be true.

QPR rely on the support of vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, who looks after the 34% holding owned by Mittal, his father-in-law.

But a Premier League chairman told ESPN on Tuesday: "Mittal wants out is the rumour in the game. It has also been suggested that he tried to get out in late August, but Fernandes begged him to stay in until he found another investor.

"He agreed to stay until October or November at the latest. The club are losing £4 million to £5million a month."

Bhatia tweeted that he had "no plans of going anywhere any time soon" but added: "When the time comes to move on, I will have to. But for now, there's loads still to be done at QPR."

It has already been suggested that the Mittal family had an option to withdraw their backing in the close season, having considered selling their shareholding a year earlier. "We had the conversation when things got very difficult," Bhatia said.

Before the season started, QPR chief executive Philip Beard told ESPN that the club's only concern was to survive in the Premier League, ensuring they would still be around when the hike in TV revenues kicks in next season. Soccernet

Soccernet/John Brewin  - This year's crisis club? First call for QPR

John Brewin is the senior editor of ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter at @johnbrewinespn

Confusion reigns at Queen's Park Rangers but, then again, it often does. It seems unlikely that we are to be let behind the scenes again in the style of The Four-Year Plan, the infamous documentary that laid bare the slings and arrows of their previous ownership, but if we were then scenes of equal chaos might greet the viewer. Mark Hughes may not be as natural a television performer as a Neil Warnock or indeed Brendan Rodgers, but his narrative could be just as compelling.

An internationally famous footballing name facing the deepest crisis of his career, this is the kind of stuff the people want to see from a documentary. Being: QPR is not particularly pleasant at the moment.

The first-half performance that Hughes' team put in against West Ham United was as inept as any outfit have posted so far this season in the Premier League. Hughes, once a bright young thing of management, is in danger of not only a relegation fight but also having his previous body of work discredited. The strong work done once with Wales and Blackburn Rovers has been frittered away by unsatisfactory sojourns at Manchester City and Fulham. A manager who once felt he was in line for jobs at the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool is now rock-bottom, with the name of Harry Redknapp wafting around Loftus Road. A game at West Brom ahead of an international break – often an uncomfortable time for underfire managers – is now vital to Hughes' immediate future. In the boardroom, the expected withdrawal of the Mittal family further points to a lurching ship.

A London club of small means yet over-arching ambitions, incoherence lies at the heart of Rangers' current problems. QPR are wracked by an identity crisis. Any team featuring both Clint Hill and Esteban Granero reveals itself as one of contrasts. Twelve new players arrived in August, more than a full team, and yet the club's standing is worse than it was under Neil Warnock, the face that never fitted the Tony Fernandes regime.

A pick through summer business finds a mix of attempted box-office signings, cronyism and players inexperienced in Premier League football. And none of them is exactly cheap either. Estimates place Rangers' wage bill at 200% of turnover, utterly unsustainable even before any financial fair play controls are enforced.

Ryan Nelsen and Andy Johnson both joined up with Hughes once more, to join Nedum Onouha, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bobby Zamora in Sparky's alumni club. Johnson has already succumbed to injury, while Nelsen was dominated by Carlton Cole on Monday. And that is hardly a good sign.

Rangers' new foreign contingent are similarly to be questioned. Samba Diakite has twice been sent off for impetuous play, which says enough, while Stephane Mbia was as hapless as Nelsen in that fatal first half.

Granero's gifts are obvious, yet his head went down early on Monday. His midfield partnership with the returning Alejandro Faurlin may offer creativity, but there is a soft centre at the heart of Rangers. There is little mystery to how Kevin Nolan plays yet he was granted the freedom to make his trademark surges and he created havoc. Mark Noble could dictate play in a fashion he was last used to in the division below - a another rather telling sign.

The big-name arrivals are still more troubling. Park Ji-Sung seems an unlikely choice of captain, unless you consider his club is owned by the proprietors of Air Asia. Currently, he embodies a team lacking in leadership. Park has been a fine player in European football, but he may just be proof of the adage that Manchester United rarely let go of those who might still be of use to them. A player famed for his energy only sparked a Rangers revival when Adel Taarabt arrived in his stead to provide the drive that Park is surely expected to provide.

If there is a position and player that reveals a lack of clear direction then it is QPR's current goalkeeper. Julio Cesar is the type of big name that an aspirational club covets, and not just for its empire-building connotations. However, Cesar was culpable for the Hammers' second goal. Not the type of performance expected of a highest earner, and all while there is another high earner sat on the bench too.

Estimates of Rob Green's wages point to a possible reason for his grinning on the bench, though Cesar's error for Vaz Te's strike was the more probable cause of his jollity. Such visible schadenfreude is another pointer to impending crisis.

Cesar's arrival at the club is said to be through the work of Kia Joorabchian, the agent who numbers Carlos Tevez and indeed Mark Hughes on his client list. The Iranian former car-dealer has adopted QPR as his latest home, to follow self-appointed tenures at West Ham and Manchester City that ended in rancour. Such a presence, when it skews transfer policy and leads to conflicts of interest, can hardly assist a club fighting for safety.

This already looks a season in which survival might be the limit of QPR's ambitions. Soccernet



   QPR's Chairman Fernandes Reaffirms his Support for Mark Hughes

  This past Sunday (the day before QPR played West Ham), 
after a number of recent QPR messageboard posts (and press reports) raising questions about  the continued tenure of the QPR Manager, and the name on everyone's lips, Harry Redknapp, Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) Chairman Tony Fernandes offered an expression of his support for his manager Mark Hughes:  In a Sunay tweet, the QPR Chairman wrote,"Mark hughes is the best thing to happen to QPR. We have been unlucky with injuries.
Bar swansea we have looked a top top side. Lots to do. But feeling good. Its not all about result on monday. Keep the faith"

Tweeting again, after QPR's latest loss, Monday evening, to West Ham United, Chairman Fernandes again expressed his continued support for and faith in manager Mark Hughes.


"Bad game but I expected it. Need all injured players back. After West Brom. And get everyone to match fitness. Patientce. Keep calm."

"Mark will sort it out. Look at his record. We would have won if we didn't go down to 10. I am relxaed and confident. Let's get all our players back and in form and fit and then let's see. Think of spurs."

"Keep calm. 6 games does not make a season. I have learnt from many wise chairman"

"That's all we had. We have 5 injuries in the back. That's the problem. You fans have to realise. It will come good
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"Correct. Don't worry. I'm calm and want to build stability which is what most fans want. There are many out there who are clueless"
QPR fans don't worry. We have a great manager. New trainning ground , new stadium. Great players. This will make us stronger. Along the way to success there will be bumps. I love what we are building and I love being a RANGER. Just love it.

In buiding our airline from 2 planes to 120 we had so many ups and downs there were many depressing days. But we never stopped believing in oursleves and our people
Thank you. Some sense. We played last night with 4 centrebacks. The most brilliant manager would struggle Tony Fernandes



SportsMole - Ray Wilkins: 'Queens Park Rangers should trust Mark Hughes'
By Matt Cotton, Reporter
Former Queens Park Rangers midfielder Ray Wilkins is adamant that club owner Tony Fernandes needs to trust manager Mark Hughes. 

The Hoops are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and are still looking for their first win of the campaign after losing 2-1 to West Ham United at Loftus Road on Monday. 

Despite the poor start, Wilkins is certain that the Welsh boss will turn the club's fortunes around if given time. 

"When you bring in so many players it is obviously very difficult, especially in defensive areas because a defence needs to play together for a long time to get that understanding in," Wilkins told talkSPORT. 

"It's not quite gelling for them. But I am sure with the talent that Mark has that it will come sooner or later. 

"If the chairman decides to do what I think he shouldn't do, which is relieve Mark of his post, then the incoming manager might not like half of those players [he bought in the summer]. Now do you spend another fistful of money on replacing those guys? He has trusted Mark with that money and he has to trust Mark now. I am sure will he turn it around. He has got a fantastic staff as well." 

QPR travel to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. SportsMole



QPR Official Site


SLEEPING GIANT: AN INDIAN FOOTBALL STORY

Watch the premiere in London tonight
FROM THE team that bought you the ground-breaking feature documentary ‘The Four Year Plan’ comes an unseen insight into a country that FIFA president Sepp Blatter describes as football’s ‘sleeping giant.’

‘Sleeping Giant: An Indian Football story’ is Ad Hoc Films’ follow up to their electrifying film ‘The Four Year Plan.’

Mumbai. India. 2009. In a country often described as Football's last untapped frontier, two children are selected from a possible 1,700 hopefuls for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To be taken under the wing of a famous English football club and be trained like pros.

Shot over two and a half years, this documentary follows the young hopefuls from the backstreets of Mumbai to the green expanse of the Queens Park Rangers youth academy in London, as they embark on an incredible journey to realise their dreams.

With contributions from eminent journalists and football specialists, this intimate, access-all-areas story opens up a wider discussion about why India - a sport-mad nation of 1.2billion people - is still an untapped football market commercially and talent-wise.

Sleeping Giant will make its world premiere during the London Kicking & Screening Festival tonight (Wednesday).

Tickets are still available for tonight's screening, click here
http://www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/031012-sleeping-giant-404823.aspx



FILM INFORMATION

RATING: N/A

RUNNING TIME: 53 mins

CAST LIST: Amit Bhatia, Mihir Bose, Marc Birchum, Steve Gallen, Arunava Chauduri, Praful Patel and Milind Deora

DIRECTOR: Daniel Glynn, Mat Hodgson

GENRE: Sport
SYNOPSIS

Belsize Park, Wednesday 3rd Oct at 9.00pm

Ad Hoc Films follow up their critically acclaimed documentary 'The Four Year Plan' with Sleeping Giant.

Mumbai. India. 2009. In a country often described as Football's last untapped frontier, two children are selected from a possible 1700 hopefuls for a once in a lifetime opportunity. To be taken under the wing of a famous English Football club and be trained like pros.

Shot over two and a half years, this documentary follows the young hopefuls from the backstreets of Mumbai to London, as they embark on an incredible journey to realise their dreams. Soon the age old questions of whether sport success is nature or nurture, talent or opportunity, are brought to the fore.

With contributions from eminent journalists and Football specialists, this intimate, access-all-areas story opens up a wider discussion about why India - a sport-mad nation of 1.2billion people - is still an untapped football market commercially and talent-wise.

After the screening, Mihir Bose and a panel including Steve Gallen and Marc Bircham will try to answer the question why India has yet to produce a top-flight player.

http://www.everymancinema.com/advanced-sales/sleeping-giant

GUARDIAN/Press Association - MOST FULHAM PLAYERS ARE UNHAPPY WITH MARTIN JOL, CLAIMS BOBBY ZAMORA


• Former Fulham striker suggests player exits due to manager
• 'I left because I didn't see eye-to-eye with Martin Jol'
 



Bobby Zamora has claimed "the vast majority" of Fulham's squad do not get on with Martin Jol, suggesting that was partly behind the exodus of players from the club.
Zamora left Craven Cottage in January to join Queens Park Rangers, one of several departures under Jol this year. The striker reportedly fell out with his former manager over a lack of game time and he has now claimed he was not the only one to have a problem with the Dutchman.
Asked whether he felt the trend of high-profile exits was due to an issue in the squad, the 31-year-old told the Evening Standard: "Yes. I left because I didn't see eye-to-eye with Martin Jol.
"I think that is the case with the vast majority of players there now. A lot of the lads aren't happy. But that's that. There were a few bits and pieces but we just didn't see eye-to-eye."
Mousa Dembélé, Dickson Etuhu, Andrew Johnson, Danny Murphy and Clint Dempsey were among the players to leave Fulham this summer and Zamora did not say if any of them had also fallen out with Jol.
Fulham have refused to comment on Zamora's claims. Guardian







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