Kevin Gallen & Karl Ready Talk About QPR (Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times)

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Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times
Gallen: we were never out of trouble
Kevin Gallen has dismissed the notion that QPR are back in a relegation battle - because he believes they were never out of it in the first place....
The club captain (pictured) admitted: "A couple of weeks ago, some people thought we were going to get in the play-offs. To be honest, I never thought that - and even if we won the next three in a row, I wouldn't say we were going to make the play-offs. "I don't think you go from being bottom of the league to being in the top six. We're in a relegation dogfight, there's no doubt about it and we have been most of the season - that's why the previous manager got sacked.
"Crystal Palace have spent a lot of money and they might have only just gone above us in the table, but they're the ones that should be talking about getting promotion.
"Maybe we had an opportunity in the summer, when we had a few bob and a lot of it was wasted on players that are not even going to play for this club."It is certainly worth noting that, even with several midfield players out injured at the moment, summer arrivals such as Egutu Oliseh and Armel Tchakounte are apparently nowhere near the first team.
Instead, Gallen was pressed into service as a central midfielder at Selhurst Park and may be asked to fill a similar role when Rangers travel to Stoke this Saturday.
Gallen, who reached the 400-game mark for QPR against Palace, added: "I've played in midfield before, so it's no problem and I'll gladly play anywhere for this club.
"Stoke are another team pushing for the play-offs - they've brought in a few players on loan from the Premiership and they'll be very tough. But we need to get something out of that game and find some consistency."
Rangers have won on their last three visits to the Britannia Stadium, in 2002, 2004 - when Gallen scored the only goal - and last season, when Paul Furlong and Richard Langley, with a penalty, secured a 2-1 victory." BenKosky


'Karl[Ready] offers case for the defence" -Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times
EX-QPR centre-back Karl Ready feels Zesh Rehman and Damion Stewart should not have to shoulder the blame for the team's defensive woes.
Ready, who spent a decade as a member of Rangers' first-team squad, is still a regular spectator at Loftus Road and believes the current side must all take responsibility for their run of three straight defeats.
He told the Times: "It's a bit unfair to point the finger at your two centre-backs when goals are going in from everywhere - it's about the team rather than digging out individuals.
"They're having a tough time, but maybe you've got to look at whether they're getting enough protection from the front, or whether the team are too cavalier in general. Only the manager knows that.
"Also, it's a new environment for both those lads and I don't think QPR's the easiest place to come and play - the fans can be quite tough on you.
"I know I wasn't the greatest player, but I won Player of the Year twice, scored two goals in the first month of the season and by the end of that month they were booing me!"
Ready, now 34 and retired, pulled his boots on again to play in Sunday's charity match at Aldershot, between a celebrity XI representing sports equipment manufacturers NOMIS and an Army team.
The ex-Wales international helped put together the celebrity side, which also included several other former QPR players - Andy Sinton, Kenny Sansom, Dennis Bailey, Alex Bonnot and Lee Charles - in a match to raise funds for the Saving Faces charity.
Sinton netted with a trademark finish, but the Army triumphed 5-3 - even though the Celebrities fielded 17 outfield players at one stage!
Event organiser Brian Melzack is planning a similar event on a larger scale next summer and also intends to launch a QPR Legends XI, of which Ready hopes to be part.
He said: "It's something I'd like to be involved in - and also something to try and get fit for. Having spent two years doing more socialising than anything, playing again was a right lung-burner!
"These Army boys are all as fit as butchers' dogs and the two up front were very lively. But it was for a very good cause and I'm sure there will be a next time."
Ready, who now runs his own property development business, admits he quit professional football because his departure from QPR in 2001 sapped his enthusiasm for the game.
One of several players released when the club entered administration, he then moved north with Motherwell - only to encounter a similar situation - and soon dropped into non-league football with Aldershot Town and Crawley.
"I'm a QPR fan, still a member of the LSA [Loyal Supporters' Association], and that was part of the problem with pulling on a different shirt," Ready admitted. "After leaving QPR my heart wasn't really in it.
"I did well in Scotland and played almost every game that season, but then Motherwell went into administration and sacked 10 of us to save the club.
"But they held onto our registrations, so it turned into a legal wrangle for about 10 months. By then I couldn't get my form back, knew I wasn't going to achieve what I had before and it was time to look at doing other things.
Ben Kosky