QPR REPORT

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Converting Smith-to-QPR Transfer Into Loan - After QPR Supposedly Failed to Complete Registration Before Deadline

To any and all Jewish Supporters of QPR, along with any former or current QPR players or officials: Shana Tova! (Happy New Year)!

For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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Evening Standard/Julian Bennetts - Tommy Smith set to become loan Ranger after window pain
- Tommy Smith is expected to join Queens Park Rangers in an emergency loan deal after his permanent move from Portsmouth collapsed.
- The Football League received the paperwork for the £1.5million deal at 6.02pm last Tuesday — two minutes after the transfer window closed.
And they have rejected the transfer, meaning Smith has been training with the Championship leaders for a week despite not officially being a Rangers player. Both clubs still want the switch to go ahead and are expected to agree a loan, which will become permanent when the transfer window reopens in January.
- Portsmouth could request Smith returns to Fratton Park but that is unlikely after they signed Stoke frontman Dave Kitson as his replacement.
- Both sides are understood to be frustrated at the delay, with QPR thought to have started faxing over the documents before the 6pm deadline, only to finish sending them too late.
- By law multi-million pound transfers must still be completed using fax machines rather than e-mail. However, it seems unfair that Tottenham were given extra time to sign Rafael van der Vaart last week, when QPR were not given the same allowance for Smith.
- The striker is expected to be available for Saturday's clash at home to promotion favourites Middlesbrough. This is London

FULHAM CHRONICLE/Jacob Murtagh - Clever QPR restructure Tommy Smith deal
- QPR will sign Tommy Smith on three separate one-month loan deals in a bid to keep him at Loftus Road until January.
- Rangers have turned to a temporary move for the Portsmouth midfielder after the Football League ruled the clubs failed to complete the transfer by last Tuesday's 6pm deadline.
- However, a club can only loan a player for a maximum of 93 days outside the transfer window, which would take Smith up to Watford game on December 11.
- But rather than sign the player for a consecutive period, clever Rangers will create gaps between the three loans to ensure he can play in SIX fixtures over the festive period before completing a permanent move in January. Fulham Chronicle

Portsmouth News/Neil Allen -QPR to take Smith on loan
- QPR are looking to take Tommy Smith on an emergency loan after the Football League refused to grant a permanent deal.
- The Championship high-fliers failed to meet the 6pm transfer window deadline to register the Pompey forward in a £1.5m deal.
- It means he is still effectively a Blues player.
-However, QPR are now seeking to take him on an emergency loan to ensure he can feature in Saturday's match against Middlesbrough.
- They will then attempt to turn it into a permanent deal in the January transfer window. Portsmouth News

- QPR's Three Deadline Transfers :- All Three Experienced "Delays:" Rob Hulse and Tommy Smith (incoming) and Lee Brown (outgoing) - (The Hulse Deal of course went through)

- Ex-QPR Youth Coach Kevin Ryan's Football Perspective

- Mark Bircham Podcast

- QPR Reserves Lost to Spurs Reserves: QPR & Spurs Reports

- Championship Manager of Month (Warnock?) and Player of the Month (Taarabt?)

- Flashback: Recalling the QPR-Chelsea "Thriving Relationship"

- From QPR Photographer to Rabbi (Reposted)

- Four Year Flashback: Ian Holloway Speaking (Angrily) re QPR

- Hayes and Yeading Offering Half-Price Admission for Games for Current Holders of Other Club Season Ticket Holders

- Next: QPR vs Middlesbrough (September 11) - Ref is M P Russell...Video From Last Season's Crushing Home Defeat

QPR Official Site - PLAY AT LOFTUS ROAD

QPR have once again joined forces with Football Aid, allowing football fans the opportunity to play on the hallowed turf at Loftus Road in 2011, while raising vital funds for charity at the same time.

Football Aid offers fans the opportunity to Live the Dream of an authentic match day experience; to gain exclusive access to the pitch and tunnel areas, pull on their own personalised shirt in the official changing rooms, walk down the tunnel to the sound of a cheering crowd and ultimately to step out onto their Field of Dreams and represent their club in a never to be forgotten 90 minute match.

The matches have been supported by a host of QPR personalities down the years, with the likes of Rufus Brevett, Marc Bircham, Steve Gallen and Steve Palmer all lending their valuable experience, by playing alongside or managing the supporters in the hugely enjoyable matches at Loftus Road.

Booking your position couldn't be easier, just visit www.footballaid.com and choose your club, then you'll have two ways to secure your Fixed Price position: Option 1: 'Buy Now' - Our quickest and most popular option, or Option 2: 'Sponsored to Play' - Pay a non-refundable £100 deposit to secure your position and then simply pay off the remaining balance anytime before 14th December.

So if you're keen to secure your place on your Field of Dreams early this season, why not visit www.footballaid.com today to make sure you're ahead of the crowd! Alternatively if you'd like any additional information, you can call Football Aid on 0131 220 5999 or email info@footballaid.com.

Football Aid celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2010 and have allowed over 11,000 football fans the chance to Live the Dream in more than 420 matches.

They are a groundbreaking organisation which generates funds annually by hosting charity football matches at iconic stadiums all over the UK.

The unique concept was the brainchild of businessman and Football Aid Chairman Craig Paterson and funds raised from the event will benefit the work of a charitable project nominated by the club, as well as projects nominated by Football Aid's parent charity Field of Dreams. QPR

CLICK Football Aid -

- Past Video: QPR vs Oldham (1983)

- Flashback: QPR's Chief Scout Franco Ceravolo

- QPR Chants: The Collection - App

QPR Report Wednesday Update: Warnock Thanks The Board Over Transfers...Announced Tomorrow: Championship Manager of Month & Player of Month

- Available from the club shop

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- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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A day after the Tommy Smith no-permanent-transfer-went-through....

QPR OFFICIAL SITE: QPR Official Site - WARNOCK: 'THANKS TO THE BOARD'
- Neil Warnock has expressed his gratitude to the Club's Board of Directors following the closure of the summer transfer window.
- The Rangers gaffer has added eight new faces to his squad over the summer months, including the deadline day swoop for Rob Hulse, and speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Warnock said: "It's been one of the most difficult summers of my career, but all the hard work has paid off.
- "I've got to thank Amit (Bhatia) and his fellow Directors for their wonderful support over the summer.
- "They've supported me every step of the way and now it's up to me to repay their faith with the right results on the pitch." QPR

- QPR's Three Deadline Transfers :- All Three Experienced "Delays:" Rob Hulse and Tommy Smith (incoming) and Lee Brown (outgoing) - (The Hulse Deal of course went through)

Mirror/James Nursey - QPR trying to snap up Cypriot midfielder
- QPR have given a trial to Cypriot midfielder Giorgos Tofas.
The attacking midfielder, 21, left Anorthosis on a free transfer this summer.
- He was offered a scholarship as a youngster by both Man City and Fulham but opted to stay in Cyprus.
- Rangers, managed by Neil Warnock, top the Championship and are unbeaten.
- Warnock has got Tofas lined up to play in a behind-closed-doors game Mirror

- Mark Bircham Podcast

- QPR Reserves Lost to Spurs Reserves: QPR & Spurs Reports

- Championship Manager of Month (Warnock?) and Player of the Month (Taarabt?)

- Flashback: Recalling the QPR-Chelsea "Thriving Relationship"

- From QPR Photographer to Rabbi (Reposted)

- Four Year Flashback: Ian Holloway Speaking (Angrily) re QPR

- Hayes and Yeading Offering Half-Price Admission for Games for Current Holders of Other Club Season Ticket Holders

- Next: QPR vs Middlesbrough (September 11) - Ref is M P Russell...Video From Last Season's Crushing Home Defeat

- Past Video: QPR vs Oldham (1983)

- Flashback: QPR's Chief Scout Franco Ceravolo

- QPR Chants: The Collection - App

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

No Tommy Smith Transfer to QPR: Clubs Working on Loan Before January Transfer

QPR Report Tuesday: Tommy Smith Problem: Deal Completed Post-Deadline?...Taarabt Successor to Marsh and Bowles?

- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- The Loan Windon Reopens Today: Will Tommy Smith be announced as a QPR Loan? And if so, will there be an explanation for why he's a loan? (Or will his permanent transfer just be announced as having gone through?)
- For what it's worth: Portsmouth Administrator Comment re Tommy Smith "...The authorities also reckon the Tommy Smith deal to QPR was completed at 6.02pm or something like that."

- Rob Hulse is Officially #20 for QPR

- Next: QPR vs Middlesbrough (September 11) - Ref is M P Russell

- Past Video: QPR vs Oldham (1983)

- Six Months Ago, QPR's Accounts Were "Published" (Have yet to be Officially Announced by QPR)

- Flashback: QPR's Chief Scout Franco Ceravolo

- Article on Clubs' New Crests/Badges

- Non-League Day a Success

- Saracens May be Looking for a New Home. Loftus Road one of those Considered

- Coventry City Have a Youth Academy and playing clubs such as Chelsea. (QPR of course, do not)

- QPR Chants: The Collection - App

- Nine Year Flashback: The Brian Melzac Effort to Take Over QPR

- Marking Six Months of Neil Warnock at QPR: Great Appointment!

RODNEY MARSH...STAN BOWLES...ADEL TAARABT?
- Fulham Chronicle/Yann Tear - Adel Taarabt wants to become a QPR legend
ADEL Taarabt wants to follow in the footsteps of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles and become a QPR legend.
The duo have made more than 500 appearances between them in the famous blue and white hoops.
And Taarabt, who has now moved to Loftus Road on a permanent basis following a loan stint last season, wants to become a hit in W12.
He said: “I don't really know them because I have never seen them play - I grew up in France. But there are people here that tell me about Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles.
“They're legends here and I also hope one day to be a legend at QPR.” Fulham Chronicle

QPR Reserves vs Spurs Reserves Today (CLOSED DOOR)

QPR Official Site - RESSIES TAKE ON SPURS
- QPR Reserves are in action against their Tottenham counterparts this afternoon at the Club's Spurs Lodge training ground.
- Reserve Team Manager Ronnie Jepson has another strong squad at his disposal for the behind-closed-doors friendly, following last Tuesday's 2-0 win over Ipswich Town at Harlington.
- Martin Rowlands will again get vital match minutes under his belt after a 65-minute appearance against the Tractor Boys while Radek Cerny, Peter Ramage, Gary Borrowdale, Mikele Leigertwood and Akos Buzsaky are also expected to feature.
- QPR Reserve Squad: Radek Cerny, Josh Parker, Peter Ramage, Danny Fitzsimmons, Gary Borrowdale, Mikele Leigertwood, Martin Rowlands, Akos Buzsaky, Romone Rose, Antonio German, Joe Oastler, Lee Brown, Jordan Hibbert, Michael Doughty, Max Ehmer, Niki-Lee Bulmer. QPR

VIDEOS:

- VIDEO: Trevor Francis QPR Hatrick and also: (Video of Venables, Bridges and Hollins Playing for Chelsea!)
- VIDEO: QPR Beating Chelsea 4-2 With Les Ferdinand Scoring his First Goals for QPR after Don Howe Replaced Trevor Francis
- VIDEO: Terry Venables' QPR Beat Newcastle

- The QPR Accounts in the days of Blackburn and Davies

Monday, September 06, 2010

QPR Report Monday Update: Smith Deal Paperwork Problems...Blackwell on Managing QPR..."QPR Chants: The Collection"...Mark Lazarus

Sunday, September 05, 2010

QPR Report Sunday Update and Flashbacks: Marking Six Months of Neil Warnock at Loftus Road...Les Allen Turns Seventy-Three

- Turning Seventy-Three: Les Allen
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- QPR Take Part in Masters Football Tonight in Birmingham

- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- Marking Six Months of Neil Warnock at QPR: Great Appointment!

- Les Allen Turns Seventy-Three

- Tonight Sunday September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships QPR Squad: Simon Royce, Tim Breaker, Matthew Rose, Marcus Bignot, Wayne Fereday (c), Michael Meaker, Tony Thorpe, Karl Connolly.

- Decade Flashback: First Meeting of the QPR Supporters Club

- Past QPR-Related Petitions

- The QPR Accounts in the days of Blackburn and Davies

- The Rise and Rise of AFC Wimbledon

- Pellicori Played for Torino yesterday

MARK LAZARUS:

- On Monday, September 5, Mark Lazarus is being interviewed on JnetRadio - Call in/Email

- See Also: Mark Lazarus - Fifty Years Since Joined QPR (Video, Photos, Interviews)

- QPR Women's New Sponsor: Tribune Magazine

- QPR Attendance Stats Over Past Few Years

- Comparing QPR Starts Over Past Few Seasons

- QPR Need to Submit (or have already submitted) the Names of 22-Man Squad (Names of players Over the age of 21) to the Football League. Only those players eligible to play for QPR

- 1989 Video: QPR Beating Chelsea With Les Ferdinand Scoring his First Goals for QPR after Don Howe Replaced Trevor Francis

- Nine QPR Players Ranked in Championship's Top 60 Players
- On This Day (September 4): Clive Clark and Frank Sibley Made QPR Debuts

- On This Day: Fourteen Years ago- Ray Wilkins Exits QPR (and Terry Venables and Alan Curbishley the names linked as Replacement)

Saturday, September 04, 2010

QPR Report Saturday Update: Mark Lazarus Fifty Years Later

- Eleven Glasgow Rangers Fans Jailed for Rampage

- The Poor Chairman-Managerial Relationship at Nottingham Forest

- Tomorrow, Sunday September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships QPR Squad: Simon Royce, Tim Breaker, Matthew Rose, Marcus Bignot, Wayne Fereday (c), Michael Meaker, Tony Thorpe, Karl Connolly.

- Neil Warnock and Adel Taarabt Shortlisted for Awards

- QPR Women's New Sponsor: Tribune Magazine

- QPR Attendance Stats Over Past Few Years

- Comparing QPR Starts Over Past Few Seasons

- QPR Need to Submit (or have already submitted) the Names of 22-Man Squad (Names of players Over the age of 21) to the Football League. Only those players eligible to play for QPR

Friday, September 03, 2010

QPR Women to be Sponsored By Tribune Magazine

- QPR Attendance Stats Over Past Few Years

- Comparing QPR Starts Over Past Few Seasons

- September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships QPR Squad: Simon Royce, Tim Breaker, Matthew Rose, Marcus Bignot, Wayne Fereday (c), Michael Meaker, Tony Thorpe, Karl Connolly.

QPR's Neil Warnock and QPR's Adel Taarabt Shortlisted for Awards

Hulse to QPR Now All Complete

NINE QPR Players in Championship Top 100...Kingfisher QPR Doubt?...QPR (Presumably) Submit 22 Man Squad List to Football League

- That and photos of the various Individual QPR Players of 2010/11 Available for Purchase from QPR
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- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- QPR Need to Submit (or have already submitted) the Names of 22-Man Squad (Names of playes Over the age of 21) to the Football League. Only those players eligible to play for QPR

- QPR Attendance Stats Over Past Few Years

- Comparing QPR Starts Over Past Few Seasons

- September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships QPR Squad: Simon Royce, Tim Breaker, Matthew Rose, Marcus Bignot, Wayne Fereday (c), Michael Meaker, Tony Thorpe, Karl Connolly.

- Snippets: Ciprianni to US for MLS Trial?...Brian Glanville on European Football and Racism...Capello Unhappy

- Video Flashback: Terry Venable's QPR Crushing Middlebrough 6-1

Paul Warburton/Fulham Chronicle - Kingfisher's £20m QPR deal in doubt
- A MASSIVE £20million deal that would make the Kingfisher Beer company QPR’s biggest shareholder was under threat last night.
- The stalemate over the massive investment concerns Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone’s asking price for their stake as the former QPR chairman and his millionaire pal prepare to sever ties with the club once and for all.
- The pair from the world of motor racing took a back seat at Rangers when the billionaire Mittal family came to the fore in February.
- Lakshmi Mittal and son-in-law Amit Bhatia, who already own a 20 per cent stake, appointed business associate Ishan Saksena as managing director - and their brokering of a deal with India’s best-selling beer now demands that Briatore and Ecclestone play ball.
- The pair invested about £15m in loans and shares back in September 2007. But after a promising start, Briatore was accused of interfering with team selection as well as appointing 10 different managers - two of them twice - with no tangible reward.
- But last night, the Italian former head of Renault was expecting to make a profit on his time at Rangers that casts doubt on the Kingfisher deal. Fulham Chronicle

QPR PLAYERS HIGHLY RANKED: NINE QPR PLAYES in ACTIM CHAMPIONSHIP TOP 100 PLAYERS RANKING

- In the latest Actim Index Rankings: Nine QPR Players in top 100 Rankings (NOT Buzsaky or Faurlin) + Several ex-QPR players.

Jamie Mackie #2
Adel Taarabt #5
Heidar Helguson #9
Hogan Ephraim #13
Bradley Orr #24
Kaspars Gorkss #35
Patrick Kenny #38
Fitz Hall #53
Shaun Derry #56

- See Actim Index: Top 100 Player

- Top Five Goalies: Kenny #1

- Top Five Strikers (Mackie and Helguson!)

- Top Five Midfielders (Taarabt)

- Top Five Defenders

- Mark Lazarus Interview, September 6 on JNetRadio

Thursday, September 02, 2010

QPR & Derby Statements re "Transfers": Still Waiting From the Football League

QPR Report Thursday Update - Derby Defend Hulse Sale...(QPR Fans Still Waiting for Hulse/Smith News)

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- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- Still Waiting for an Official Announcement re Hulse and Smith (even as the club slightly "modifies" the wording its original announcement. (Switching from: "The deal is subject to clearance and approval from the Football League. The Club will provide an update on this deal tomorrow (Wednesday)." to "...The deal is subject to clearance and approval from the Football League. The Club will provide an update on this deal in due course."

Paul Warburton/Fulham Chronicle - QPR wait on deadline day duo
- QPR are still waiting for the FA to rubber-stamp the deadline-day signings of Rob Hulse and Tommy Smith.
- Manager Neil Warnock worked flat out to try and bring the pair to Loftus Road on an exhausting Tuesday that saw him start out chasing four.
- Rangers are understood to have got striker Hulse from Derby County at a knockdown £500,000 and winger Smith from Portsmouth for £1.1m, but lost out on Jason Roberts from Blackburn and another unnamed player when wages and transfer fees proved beyond Warnock’s means.
- But the deals for the duo didn't go through until the final minutes of Tuesday's transfer window, along with a whole pile of faxes arriving at FA headquarters just before the 6pm deadline.
- However, the loan switch of youngster Lee Brown to Hayes & Yeading has already fallen through because the paperwork wasn't completed in time.
- Warnock said: "I’ve never had a transfer deadline day like it in 30 years of management. I was on my knees by the end." Fulham Chronicle

- Jason Roberts Sounds Settled/Resigned in Blackburn

- QPR Youngster, Elliot Cox Loaned to Tooting

- Danny Shittu, now available on a Free Transfer, Turns 30

- Bad Start for QPR Women

- "Home Grown" Rule Gives English Youth a Chance

- Portsmouth Concerned by 21-year Old Student's Takeover Bid!

- Journalist Suspended for Deliberately Faking Tweet as an experiment to see who would pick up his posts

- The Travails of Being a Free Agent - List of Free Agents Available

- Vuvuzleas Banned from European Games

- Spurs Transfer Deal Allowed to Go Through

- Lower Transfer Spending - Deloitte

- Nostalgia Post: Forty Years Ago Today, Phil Parkes Won His First Game With QPR!

Evening Telegraph - Glicks defends club's decision to accept deadline day Hulse offer
- CHIEF executive Tom Glick has defended the sale of Derby County striker Rob Hulse.
Hulse's move to Queen's Park Rangers, where he will sign a three-year deal, was still to be ratified by the Football League late last night.
The fee for the 30-year-old is undisclosed.

Derby have dismissed reports coming out of London that the fee is £400,000 rising to £800,000 and I understand they will receive around £750,000 rising to well over £1m depending on how the player and Rangers fare this season.

Hulse and Luke Varney, who has joined Blackpool on a season-long loan, have left Pride Park in the past week and Glick has confirmed that the Rams' wage bill is about where they want it to be at just below £10m.

But he says it remains one of the highest in the Championship.

The decision to sell Hulse, who has been the club's leading scorer in the past two seasons, has not gone down well with some fans who believe the club's owners should loosen the purse strings and show more ambition when it comes to signing players.

On Hulse, Glick said: "We had an offer for Rob that came in late.
"We presented it to the manager (Nigel Clough) and coaching staff and they made the judgement from a football stand-point that this was an offer that was right to accept.

"We are conscious he has been our leading scorer in the past two seasons but the things Nigel and his team would be thinking about is that Rob will be 31 in a few weeks and has got nine months to go on his contract.
"All this would have been taken into account in terms of whether Rob would be a player for the future of the club or whether it was right to make a change.

"The decision has been made that somebody else is going to be the target man to take us to that next step and this is the right time to part ways.
"Of course, we expected a backlash to the sale but, ultimately, we have the same objectives as the supporters – to compete for the play-offs, for promotion, to win promotion and to stay up in the Premier League.

"We owe it to them to have the discipline and strength of our convictions, and the manager, the coaching staff and the scouting team are more than capable of making the right recruiting decisions.
"We have the same objectives as the supporters and all the decisions we are making are being based on those objectives.
"But we have to have some budget discipline and that is where you get the separation, because some supporters would rather you spare no expense, gamble and go for it.
"I think there are too many examples showing that strategy doesn't work."
Glick said Derby will do business when the window for emergency loans opens on Tuesday.
"There are going to be more and better players available, because of the Premier League's 25-man squad rule," added Glick.
"We are after a couple of specific targets.
"I think if we had a fit squad, questions about loosening the purse strings would not be coming up.
"The question is more apt when we have a number of guys carrying injuries but they are not serious injuries, apart from Steven Davies.
"We have a temporary injury problem but the squad is not as lean as it seems at the moment.
"Nigel wants to run a tight squad. He wants to have all the players engaged and with a chance of getting in the side.
"I think we have shown a willingness to invest in the squad.
"We continue to run one of the highest wage bills in the League. We have brought in eight players this summer, investment has been made in this window and we have spent quite a bit of money on Alberto Bueno. He is not an inexpensive player."
Glick said Derby had made offers for other players during the transfer window, including Scunthorpe United striker Gary Hooper, who signed for Celtic.
"If Hooper had come for what we bid for him, it would have been a big fee but he chose to go somewhere else and part of that was to do with wages," said Glick.
"And you have to, as you would in any deal, walk away from the table when you feel it has gone past what good value would be."
Derby bid "well over" £1m for Hooper but Celtic got their man by splashing out £2.5m.
Glick dismissed reports that the Rams had bid for Notts County's attacking midfielder Ben Davies but confirmed that the player is one the manager is keen on." The Rams

And the Derby Fans' View - Evening Telegraph Opinion is split over big Rob's departure but time will tell if it is right move

The sale of Rob Hulse was always going to split opinion.

That is not surprising, because there are two very different trains of thought as the Rams' leading scorer in the past two seasons heads for Queens Park Rangers.

Thirty one goals in 96 appearances for Derby, a strike ratio of one in three, is proof that a fit Hulse is a formidable centre forward at Championship level.
He has been Derby's arch goal threat by some distance since he signed from Sheffield United for £1.75m two years ago and his goals played a significant part in steering the Rams clear of deep trouble in the Championship.

His winning goals brought crucial points and he certainly enjoyed playing against Nottingham Forest.
Forest found it difficult to handle Hulse, who scored four goals in six appearances against the Reds.
He found the net in both wins at the City Ground in 2009 and his winning header at Pride Park in January put the skids under Forest's promotion push.
He showed his value in the game against Leeds United at Elland Road on the opening day of this season when his fine finish set up a 2-1 victory.

There is bound to be disappointment when a recognised player departs and Hulse's exit leaves the squad short of attacking options but there are other considerations in this case.
Hulse turns 31 next month and, of greater significance, he had entered the final 12 months of his contract.
Like it or not, Derby have been trimming their wage bill and many clubs are doing the same in the current tough economic climate.
Wage bills, not just at Derby but at clubs generally, have been far too high, just like ticket prices (but that is an argument for another day).
Football needs to return to the real world when it comes to finances and so greater prudence should be applauded.
Derby had said for some time they were not in a position to offer Hulse a new deal to match the one he was on, believed to be in excess of £15,000 per week.
His contract situation meant that, by December, he could start talking to possible new suitors and walk away on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Whatever you might think about the deal that has taken Hulse to QPR, being left without a bean for the striker in nine months' time would have been very poor business.
In the past, clubs had too much of a hold over players. Now, due to the Bosman ruling, players tend to hold all the cards.
How nice it would be to find a happy medium.
QPR have handed Hulse a three-year deal, which will take him close to the end of his career.
I might be proved wrong but I feel Derby fans saw the best of Hulse in 2008-9.
In the February of that season, he was the top striker in the Championship.
Niggling injuries and loss of form restricted his impact last season but, to his credit, he still scored a dozen goals.
As I said, there are two sides to this case.
In football, it is very often about what happens next – the next match, the next result and, in this case, the next arrival(s) through the door at Pride Park.
Young Spanish forward Alberto Bueno has come in on a season-long loan from Real Valladoild and looks an exciting addition but a the squad still needs bolstering with at least two more new faces to give manager Nigel Clough more options than he currently has at his disposal. The Rams

QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: EPHRAIM PENS EXTENSION
In-form R's midfielder Hogan Ephraim has penned a one year contract extension, tying him to the Club until the summer of 2012.
The 22 year-old, who has enjoyed a fine start to the 2010/11 npower Championship campaign, initially joined QPR on loan from West Ham United in August 2007.
That move was made permanent in January 2008 and the wide-man has since gone on to flourish in the Blue and White Hoops, making 90 appearances in all competitions and scoring six goals. QPR

- The Last Survivor From the 1930 World Cup Dies

- Charging to Be A Mascot

- Swindon Warns Clubs Off Charlie Austin (Updated)

- Mark Lazarus Interview, September 6 on JNetRadio

- September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships

- Kiyan Prince's Father Effort to Reform Offenders

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

QPR Report Update...QPR's Loan Out Falls Through (Not Done in Time)...Prison Coaching

QPR Report Wednesday Update

- On This Day: The First Game on Plastic: QPR vs Luton Town

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- For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully always improving!) QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog. Either offer your own perspectives on any of the topics (QPR and football only). Or of course, feel free to simply read the various QPR and football-only discussions. -- The QPR Report Messageboard
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- The Hulse/Smith Transfer Announcements/ Reports - Supposedly: Smith 1.5 Million Pounds & Hulse 1 Million Pounds

- Adel Taarabt: Glowing Profile

Jamie Mackie's Gracious Act
Oliver Holt/The Mirror re Jamie Mackie
"...I was pleased for Jamie Mackie when he scored a last-gasp equaliser for QPR against Derby County at the weekend.
- Mackie devoted his only day off in the last three weeks to make the long journey to the West Country and back so he could attend the funeral of former Exeter City team-mate Adam Stansfield.
- Nice to see another footballer with a touch of class" Mirror

- QPR Reserves Beat Ipswich Reserves 2-0 (in closed Door Game. - Buzsaky and Ramage scored for QPR. Radek Cerny, Josh Parker, Peter Ramage, Fitz Hall, Gary Borrowdale, Akos Buzsaky, Mikele Leigertwood, Martin Rowlands, Patrick Agyemang, Antonio German, Leon Clarke. Subs: Romone Rose, Joe Oastler, Lee Brown, Michael Doughty, Jordan Hibbert, Trialist, Trialist

- On This Day: The First Game on Plastic...Bill Power Officially Resigns...Wilkins's Last Game in Charge of QPR...

- Three Years Ago Today: The Takeover Officially Announced

- Nick Ward Joins Wellington Phoenix

- England Call up Arsenal Youth Goalkeeper

- Marlon King Set for Coventry (ongoing)

- Charging for Being a Mascot (Scunthorpe)

- Manchester City's Insane Spending

- Swindon Warns Clubs Off Charlie Austin (Updated)

- Mark Lazarus Interview, September 6 on JNetRadio

- September 5: QPR Masters Play in National Masters Championships

- No QPR Players in Championship Team of The Week! (First time this season)

Ownership Changes at Loftus Road?
Excerpt from Mihir Bose/Standard Article re Warnock
- "...Warnock has spent around £900,000 although he says: “My budget is a lot more than that.- “But I doubt if I will spend a lot before the transfer window closes. I think we're going to have to use the loan market until Christmas and then look at exactly what we need.”- So why has he not spent more? “There are one or two things that are going on behind the scenes which should come to fruition shortly,” he adds in reference to the impending takeover of the club by Bhatia.
“It is a subject Warnock is somewhat reticent about but admits that it has cost him a couple of players..." QPR

- Kiyan Prince's Father Effort to Reform Offenders

- Terry Mancini Today

- A Virtual Tour of Loftus Road: The Stands...The Trophy Room...The Changing Room (A couple of years old)

- Updated Championship Promotion Odds

- QPR Charity Shield Participant...1908
-

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

QPR's Adel Taarabt: A Glowing Profile

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Gulf Weekly - TAARABT'S TANTALISING TALENT SHINES

PLAYMAKER Adel Taarabt has been earning rave reviews this season as he has been at the forefront of QPR's march to the head of the NPower Championship table, just one step away from the promised land of the English Premiership.

In the season opener Taarabt was proclaimed as the difference between the teams by his manager, Neil Warnock, as QPR sent a strong message to the competition with a 4-0 demolition of Barnsley.

Arriving at QPR's Harlington training ground, shared with Imperial College, I received a warm welcome at this family-orientated club.

The car park is like a well-stocked car showroom with Audi, Mercedes and Range Rover marques well represented, although the privacy-affording blacked-out windows is betrayed by the personalised number plates identifying the owners.

The opportunity to supervise training is destroyed by the vagaries of the English weather, although the gap was quickly filled by the willingness of the QPR media managers who provided access to some of the injured stars, namely Fitz Hall and Patrick Agyemang.

As the West Ham reserves arrived for a behind-closed-doors match against the QPR reserves, 'One size' Fitz Hall spoke freely of the origins of the unofficial best nickname in English football (If his name is said with this as a prefix then the following can be heard ... 'One Size Fits All').

Once Adel had finished training we were ushered into a long hall next to the players' dining area where the names of Imperial College's past sporting captains reminded us of half a century of amateur glories.

A devout Muslim, Taarabt emerged earlier than his colleagues from training and benefits during Ramadan from having an understanding manager in Neil Warnock who has invited Adel to manage his own training during the Holy Month and advise him of any required rest.

Taarabt only breaks his fast on match days but ensures he catches up on these after the official end of Ramadan.

I had been warned prior to the interview that Adel claimed to speak little English but I found little evidence of this.

He had a warm greeting and welcoming smile although I could hardly fail to notice the full moon of diamonds gleaming from his pink-strapped watch-face. He speaks softly yet confidently with a strong French accent.

I asked Adel whether the rigours of fasting had a negative impact on his performance. On the contrary, he claimed to feel a much heightened sense of awareness due to "his closer proximity to God." Indeed Taarabt stated a stronger commitment to work harder on the pitch to prove his beliefs.

While he was born in Morocco, Taarabt moved to France at the age of nine months. He learned his football at a variety of small clubs yet his special talent was still recognised at an early age and he first represented France at U-15 level.

His progression continued and his performances during the European Championships, in which he was likened to his boyhood idol, Zinedine Zidane, led to him being offered a variety of professional contracts.

He rejected offers from larger clubs like Marseille and Lyon in favour of Lens, believing that he would have more of an opportunity to develop and prove himself. This he did with his flair and trickery bringing him to the attention of a number of English premier clubs.

On crossing the Channel he was lined up to sign for Arsenal yet, against the advice of several 'Gooner' friends, decided to follow Director of Football, Damien Comolli, across North London to bitter rivals, Spurs.

Taarabt openly admits that he had a number of difficulties while at Tottenham Hotspur and struggled particularly under former coach Juande Ramos who, at one stage, failed to even provide him with a squad number.

This changed once Harry Rednapp took charge. While he reveled in training regularly with world 'greats' such as Berbatov and Robbie Keane, due to his inexperience of English conditions and the precarious position that faced Spurs at the time, Adel was twice sent out on loan to Queens Park Rangers.

Rather than reflect on the difficulties faced as a player on loan, Taarabt prefers to focus on the positives of having signed permanently for QPR, knowing he is wanted and feeling the pressure to ensure his own side wins.

Neil Warnock, an experienced set of hands who has revolutionised the club and installed a sense of stability since taking over the reigns, has had a positive impact on Taarabt.

Several times during the interview Adel spoke warmly of the difference he has made, not only on him but on the club as a whole. He spoke of Warnock's 'love' for him and his desire to ensure he is able to use his silky skills for the benefit of the team. However, this is not just a one-way relationship - Taarabt chose Warnock and QPR despite offers from Malaga and Villareal.

It has been reported that Warnock has claimed that if Taarabt spends a "few seasons learning under me he will be one of the best players in the world and will get his big money move to Barcelona or Real Madrid."

I took the opportunity to press this future star on what he is learning.

Warnock has impressed upon him the need to be patient during matches. In the past he admits to having been frustrated as the 'game passed him by'although he now sees that he can still win the game for his team with just the one opportunity.

More specifically, Warnock is working hard with Adel on his positional play and tactics. The coach has apparently admitted that he can bring nothing to Taarabt's technical flair and is therefore focusing on the mental aspects.

Taarabt also spoke of his need to weather the ugly side of the game and ensure that, even if he is 'kicked hard several times' he does not over-react, simply channel his aggression for the benefit of the team.

I feel as though, in talking to Adel, I was given an insight to the famed man-management skills of one of the English game's longest serving and successful managers.

Warnock seems to have recognised the need to make Taarabt feel wanted and is building a side around him that harnesses his match-winning skills.

In the season to date he has succeeded with devastating effect with Adel currently leading the side with goals, assists and shots on goal.

On the back of his exceptional performances Warnock has backed Taarabt further by awarding him the captain's armband, despite his relative youth.

Aged only 21, Taarabt spoke of his honour at this award and 'gratitude at being included in the manager's project'. While English is neither his first or second language, the words chosen and the intent reveal a strong desire and hints that the R's have a special bond and focus this season.

There is also a sense that individually Adel Taarabt is destined for greater achievements. I asked about his reasons for his change in national focus, switching from the junior teams of France for that of his birthplace, Morocco.

At this stage Adel leans forward slightly and a warm smile spreads across his face. "My parents' are from Morocco, my whole family is from Morocco and I am from Morocco and feel more Moroccan," he states.

"I knew that this would make them happy and proud of me."

This is obviously a question that has been posed several times before, as he continued to explain: "I know that I had a better opportunity to play at a higher level with France and achieve more, however, you can still be a great player and have a wonderful career with a smaller nation - just look at Ryan Giggs with Wales and Didier Drogba with the Cote D'Ivoire".

On the day of my interview there were two other TV crews there to interview Taarabt, such is the profile his performances have generated in driving QPR to the top of the table. I learned from them that recently there was a poll conducted in Morocco looking at overall levels of popularity.

Despite having only played a handful of games for the national team, Taarabt apparently polled second behind the King, and in the words of one interviewer, "at this rate even he is likely to lose top spot soon."

The reason for this, it transpires, is that Moroccans love a player with flair and fleet-footed magic - the ability to win the game with one touch, or one pass. They - and the Loftus Road crowd brought up during the glory years with the talents of former stars Rodney Marsh and Stanley Bowles (amongst the most creative players to grace the English stage) - 'love street tricks'.

At one point we were discussing the role of the Middle East in world football and Adel felt that this is a trait the Moroccan's share with locals and expats living in Bahrain and the neighbouring Gulf states, some of whom are his friends.

He admits to receiving regular messages and texts of support from the region with some begging him to join a 'big club' like Barcelona or Real Madrid, names which crop up several times during the interview.

We discussed the growing influence the Middle East has on global football. Despite being positive for the region Taarabt cannot see himself playing in the Middle East until the end of his career, despite there being many Moroccans currently plying their trade at teams in the UAE and Qatar leagues.

Morocco is clearly where his heart is and his close ties are evident from the efforts he makes to visit his family when he returns for international duty.

"It's always great to go home and relax with my family and friends while enjoying the fresh air," he said.

In many respects Taarabt is well suited to QPR - the club also places great emphasis on families, while both are hugely ambitious and yet still have 'loftier' ambitions. There is a strong feeling amoung pundits that they're both on the way up.

Fact file

Favourite Goal: For Morocco vs Togo.

Proudest moment: Signing his first professional contract and calling his father to tell him that he did not need to work any more.

Favourite players: Zinedine Zidane (who was from the same city he grew up in - Marseille) and Eric Cantona.

Charitable work: Establishing a football school with his brother in Morocco to help develop talent and ensure it gets noticed in Europe.

Advice to Children: Work hard to develop the talent that God gave you (and for children in the Middle East - make sure you get noticed by a club in Europe).

What do you listen to? Readings from the Koran

Best friends in football: Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Spurs) and Armand Traore (Arsenal).

Current car: Audi Q7

UK likes: Football

UK dislikes: Weather - Gulf Week

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