Mark Bircham's Frank Talk

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Wednesday 21st February 2007

Pulling together is the key to safety

We have 13 games between now and the end of the season and what we need is for an end to all the negative stuff surrounding the club and for everybody to pull in the same direction.

There seems to be nothing but bad stuff in the media about QPR and it's been like that for a while now. In the end things like that can disrupt the players and when we are battling to stay in the Championship that is the last thing we need.

The latest stories have been those surrounding John Gregory, and rumours that Joe Kinnear might be brought in. As far as I know John Gregory has been given until the end of the season to keep the club up.

We need to turn Loftus Road into a fortress.

I'm sure the boss believes that if he does keep QPR in the Championship he will be given the opportunity to build on that next year. But it is the same with the players who are out of contract at the end of the season. If we help keep QPR up, maybe we will be a part of the future plans. Who knows?

I've obviously been out with the back injury and I saw the incident involving the Chinese Olympic team on the TV. Of course I couldn't believe what I was seeing and it's a shame because it's just another bad incident for people to associate with QPR. It just created another media circus.

Any more negative vibes between now and the end of the season simply won't help the club. We have to be a happy unit. All the things that have happened away from our fight to stay up have to be forgotten.

I know the fans are disappointed in the team, but as a QPR fan myself I've been a bit disappointed with the support. This is when we need it the most and there have been times when it hasn't been there as much as we'd like.

The attendance is down at a time when we really need to turn Loftus Road into a fortress. Last year the supporters were tremendous both home and away and they often gave us a real lift on the road.

I think we should look at lowering the admission price for the rest of the season so that we really pack the place out and make it very difficult for visiting teams. I really believe the supporters can be a big factor in the run in.

Our form has taken a dip again recently after we'd worked hard to pull away from the bottom. It's been tough for me to be out with this injury and not able to do anything to help.

I'd just had the operation when we played Southend last week and I was lying in my hospital bed. Every time Southend scored I gave a bit of a boost to my morphine pump and by the end of the match I was like Pete Doherty.

But I love the game and I can't keep away. I'll be kicking every ball along with them.

I believe that the most important thing is to get our home record right and then whatever we pick up on the road is a bonus. Every game is massive, but we can't start thinking that it's all over if we lose one.

There are plenty of teams slugging it out around the bottom quarter of the table and if we get a result at home to Plymouth on Saturday our position could look a lot healthier.

I've been back training on the bike and cross trainer and I'll be doing a lot of swimming over the next couple of weeks. I have a bit of swelling in my back, which is usual after an operation, but I feel good. I hope to be in a position to play some part for the team from the first week of April and I can't wait to help keep QPR in this league. Icons