Size of Championship Squads: QPR Have Smallest?...Sousa Talks to Briatore and Meets The Players

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This is London - Hello, I'm your new manager . . .
Queens Park Rangers manager Paulo Sousa met his players for the first time at the club's new training ground in Harlington today.
The former Portugal midfielder spoke with co-owner Flavio Briatore before addressing the players in their dining hall. This is London


Very surprising snippet, if accurate:
South Wales Echo - Steve Tucker Cardiff City in promotion contention despite their small squad
Cardiff City in promotion contention despite their small squad
IT’S official – Cardiff City have the smallest squad in the Championship.
A look at the number of players available to managers in the division shows Bluebirds boss Dave Jones has the fewest bodies at his disposal, yet City are still in a creditable sixth place in the table.
However, with a major injury crisis hitting Ninian Park the question inevitably arises: how much more time can the club keep punching above its weight?
Cardiff have just 20 players officially within their squad, with two out on loan and three in the Welsh capital from other sides, including goal-scoring ace Michael Chopra from Sunderland.
Only Queens Park Rangers, who named former Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa as their new first team coach yesterday, have fewer players on their books or on loan.
But they overtake the Bluebirds when players out on loan from the west London club are taken into consideration.
With a vital South Wales derby at the end of the month and a busy festive schedule the Bluebirds currently have six potential first-teamers in the treatment room.
Injuries to strikers Ross McCormack and Jay Bothroyd, midfielders Peter Whittingham, Joe Ledley, Riccy Scinmeca and Tony Capaldi mean Jones’ diminished stocks have been hit even further.

The Bluebirds travel to Plymouth on Saturday then entertain high-flying Reading on Tuesday and could yet be tempted into the loan market in a bid to bolster their numbers.

But Cardiff skipper Darren Purse believes there are positives to be taken from having such a limited number of players at the club.
“Cardiff City is a great place to be at the moment. A big part of that is down to our team spirit. It ´s fantastic here. What helps is that we’ve got such a small squad,” Purse wrote on his official website site.
“There are only about 22 pros here. Three or four of them are 18 or 19-year-old, first-year pros, but no-one ever gets left out. Everyone is fighting for places and everyone travels to games. No-one gets left behind to train on their own. It works well because we are together, the whole time.
“We socialise together a lot as well. It ´s hard at the moment with the amount of games we are playing, but we always find time.”
The Bluebirds are not the only team defying the size of their squad to keep pace at the top.
Burnley, who also saw off Chelsea in the Carling Cup last week, are in fourth place in the table despite manager Owen Coyle having a mere 24 players in his squad with one in on loan and one out on loan....
There are only about 22 pros here. Three or four of them are 18 or 19-year-old, first-year pros, but no-one ever gets left out. Everyone is fighting for places and everyone travels to games. No-one gets left behind to train on their own. It works well because we are together, the whole time.
It is perhaps Birmingham who provide the biggest surprise.
During the summer it seemed manager Alex McLeish was signing up half the players in Britain as he looked to secure promotion.
The snaffling of Marcus Bent from under the noses of Cardiff was a case in point as Birmingham tied up an impressive roster of striking talent.
Indeed McLeish’s side now sit in second place in the table, but surprisingly they have only the 19th biggest squad in the Championship.
McLeish has just 22 players in his squad, plus two currently on loan.
But, unsurprisingly, the clubs with the Championship’s two biggest squad are well positioned in the top three.
Wolves, six points clear at the top, have the division’s second biggest squad, and boss Mick McCarthy has 32 pros at his disposal, currently more than anyone else.
Reading, who are third, have the biggest squad in numbers in the whole Championship with boss Steve Coppell having 28 players to chose from, while the Royals have an incredible further 12 pros out on loan at other clubs.
But, on the whole in the table, so far, a number of sides are seemingly over-achieving or under-achieving in relation to the number of players they have in their squads.
The operative phrase within that is, of course, so far. As the season wears on and injuries and suspensions start to kick-in further, it is the players waiting in the wings that should make a big difference.
In the end the argument boils down to the fact of which does one value more: quality or quantity?
For some in the Championship on that front it seems to be a case of having one’s cake and eating it.
When Wolves beat Cardiff at the start of this month, highly-rated Wales international Sam Vokes did not even make the 16, a luxury the majority of mangers in the division can only dream of.
What seems obvious is that from a Cardiff City perspective, as recent mishaps have proven, the squad the club is running with now is way too small.
It is a problem Jones has had to try to work around in the past with little success.
How often in recent campaigns have City flattered to deceive with decent runs, a brush with the promotion places, only to fade away when the going gets tough?
It is no exaggeration to say Jones is currently performing miracles with the smallest squad in the Championship
The big question is as injuries take their toll can he possibly keep things going over the rest of a gruelling season? Wales on Line


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