League Requirement re "Home Grown" Players'?...A Comment on Today's Mirror/Briatore Story...Sousa's Coaching Goals....Hogan's Hopes for Club Stability

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Visit the QPR Report Messageboard for other articles and views -- Football League to Consider Home Grown Rule "...The new rule would require at least four players from clubs' sixteen man matchday squads to have been registered domestically, for a minimum of three seasons, prior to their 21st birthday...."


- Football 365 Media Watch comments on today's Mirror article by Oliver Holt re Briatore [Oliver Holt's original Mirror Story Highlighted


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Sousa sets out to instill confidence- NEW QPR coach Paulo Sousa intends to focus on improving the players at his disposal rather than seeking to replace them in January.
Sousa watched from the stands at Vicarage Road as Rangers slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat, but he stated afterwards: "I know what I need to do and I know the results are coming.
"I believe in the players. The changes are coming with these players - I think they don't have confidence in themselves and they need to work very hard.
"I'm here with a medium to long-term project, to build a solid base and get us to the Premier League. When you go to the Premier League, without a base you go down."
Sousa's plans to work with his current players rather than seeking yet more changes to the squad is highly admirable - yet the sad reality is that he, like his predecessors, will have little or no say on those issues.
The former Portugal midfielder has appointed countryman Bruno Oliveira - who is only 30 - as his assistant, with Tim Flowers, who had been number two to Iain Dowie, departing Loftus Road last week.
Gareth Ainsworth, who acted as caretaker manager following Dowie's sacking, has reverted to his original roles as player-coach and reserve team boss.
Sousa added: "My thanks to Gareth for his hard work in those three weeks, he received me very well and worked very hard to give me the best reports."
Chief scout Filippo Orlando, who was appointed just over a year ago, has also left the club following Sousa's arrival. Kilburn Times


Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Hogan Ephraim Now stick with him!
HOGAN Ephraim is pleading for stability at QPR following the arrival of Paulo Sousa - the SIXTH boss he has played for in just over a year.
The Portuguese picked up his first win as Rangers coach on Tuesday night - a fortuitous 2-1 victory over strugglers Charlton at Loftus Road, courtesy of a Dexter Blackstock double.
Ephraim, whose cross set up Blackstock's winner 11 minutes from time, told the Times: "Including my loan here, I've had six different managers. To be quite honest, that's crazy.
"You want stability at the club - you don't want to be walking into the changing room and no-one knows what's happening from one day to the next.
"We keep saying 'it's a tight unit, a family' and then it breaks up every so often because the manager's gone. So we definitely need to make it happen now and concentrate on pushing for the play-offs and higher.
"Hopefully we can now have stability on and off the pitch. All we know is that Paulo Sousa's the manager at the present time and hopefully he'll be here for two and a half years, if not longer.
"I think with his character he'll be here for a while. He's very assertive and wants it done his way - he demands respect and, being the sort of player he was, you have to give him that respect.
"Watford was a disgrace. We knew from the fans' reaction that we had to put in a good performance, the manager demanded that and we showed amazing character."
Despite Ephraim's assertion, it was hard to escape the conclusion that Blackstock's brace got Rangers out of jail after they had toiled lamely against a managerless Charlton side.
The ex-Southampton striker has netted almost half of QPR's league goals this season - underlining the sheer lunacy of Flavio Briatore's plans to sell him in January. Kilburn Times