Snippets: QPR After Non-Leaguer?....QPR's Promotion Prospects....Vine's Recovery...Burnley Prepare for QPR...Richard Langley at Bristol Rovers

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- See Also: "Flashback to QPR-at-Year's End: One, Two and Three Years Ago"
- QPR's at Year's End and in Previous Years and End-of-Season Points Totals
- Loftus Road Ranked at #42 in "Greatest Stadiums for Atmosphere"


North Devon Journal - QPR keep an eye on Appledore's Downing
- APPLEDORE youngster Sean Downing is a target for championship heavyweights Queens Park Rangers.
- Scouts were spotted watching the 17-year-old during Saturday's Peninsula League clash with Okehampton Argyle, in which he was a second-half substitute.
- But Appledore manager Geoff Copp is not prepared to lose the forward without a fight.
- He said: "He is a great prospect and we will do our best to keep hold of him.
"I think everybody can see that it is definitely in him, but he still has a lot of growing and developing to do before he becomes the player that he could be.
- If he gets the chance at a bigger club as a YTS trainee then he would learn his proper trade with quality coaches and better people around him so he would only improve as a player.
- "I will just ask the club to do their best to keep my players." Copp, however, insists that he will not stand in Downing's way if any move develops.
He said: "It will come down to money and how can I be hypocritical and tell him not to go if money is being chucked at him?" North Devon Journal


Telegraph/Sandy Macaskill/Telegraph - Joining or leaving the Premier League? - We look at who is likely to swap the Premier League for the Championship, and vice-versa, in 2009.
Going Down?....
Coming Up?
Despite his side being seven points clear of Birmingham City and Reading at the top, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has issued a prohibition on the ‘P’ word in the dressing room and set his players a target of 92 points to guarantee promotion.
Their chances of doing so have been helped by the fact that their superb right winger, Michael Kightly, seems happy to stay at the club despite attracting interest from Bolton and now Newcastle.
McCarthy has also extended Chelsea and England defender Michael Mancienne’s loan deal until Jan 29. Wolves would have hoped for more than two draws over the festive period, however.
Tied with Birmingham on 51 points, Reading are currently in second place on goal difference. They knocked the Blues out of the top two for the first time since mid-September a fortnight ago, but have failed to capitalise since.
Yet talk of a three-horse race could be pre-emptive, as Cardiff City are steadily advancing, although they are still some way off with 44 points.
Burnley, on 43 points, and Sheffield United, on 41, also look likely to be competing for play-off places.
Queens Park Rangers ought not to be discounted. With 38 points, they are some way off, yet considering their owners’ deep pockets, the club have the ability to bring in new blood this January. Telegraph


Virginia Media - Vine on road to recovery
- QPR striker Rowan Vine is hoping for a happier 2009 after recently undergoing successful surgery on the leg he broke last season.
- The 26-year-old sustained the injury in a freak training-ground collision back in April, and cut a frustrated figure in the treatment room following a recent setback in his recovery which forced him to go back under the knife.
- However, following a scan of the leg Vine has been given the green light to step up his rehabilitation.
- "The second operation has gone very well," said Rangers physio Paul Hunter.
- "The surgeon is very happy with the outcome and the fracture itself is showing great signs of recovery.
- "We've had the green light to increase the intensity of Rowan's training programme which is a massive boost for everyone connected with the club - Virginia Media


Burnley Express/Chris Boden - Cup king Coyle shifts focus
- CUP king Owen Coyle Owen Coyle has his sights set on a run in the world's premier knockout competition.
- Carling Cup semi-finalists Burnley travel to QPR in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, just seven weeks after winning 2-1 in the league at Loftus Road. - Two titanic clashes with Spurs await, but Coyle doesn't see extra cup commitments as a bind, and would love nothing more than to win a place in the hat for the fourth round.
- Coyle said: "QPR are probably the same, they would have loved to have been playing a team from another division, whether it was higher or lower, because there is a freshness about it, rather than another Championship side.
- "We've been there on a few occasions and we'll go there again, looking to be positive.
"We've enjoyed the Carling Cup, and it would be nice to have a run in the FA Cup as well.
- "But it's going to be a difficult game.
- "They are a quality side."
The Clarets will be without skipper Steven Caldwell and Stephen Jordan through suspension, with Caldwell also missing the Carling Cup semi-final first leg at White Hart Lane after his second sending-off of the season at Doncaster.
- Coyle, meanwhile, is looking forward to locking horns with two-time Champions League winner Paulo Sousa, the new man at the helm at QPR: "Paulo has come in and made an impression.
"He's a very nice man.
"I met him a few months ago at Gleneagles when we were both on a coaching thing.
- "He won the Champions League twice, back-to-back, so that shows you what a good player he was, and I'm sure he'll look to transfer that into management.
- "It will be tough, but we're looking forward to it.
- "Home or away we go and try and win, and that's what we'll look to do."
Indeed, Sousa, a member of Portugal's "Golden Generation" alongside the likes of Rui Costa, Joao Pinto and Paulo Futre, is the only player to win the Champions League in back-to-back seasons, helping Juventus beat Ajax in 1996, before starring for Borussia Dortmund against Juve the following year.
- The 38-year-old was appointed as Carlos Queiroz's assistant with the Portugal national side in the summer, before taking over from caretaker Gareth Ainsworth in November.
- After taking his seat in the stands at Watford, where the Rs lost 3-0, he has only presided over one defeat in eight games at the helm, taking Rangers up to ninth, three points off the play-off places.
- Come tomorrow, the transfer window will reopen, and Coyle is already aware he will have to wheel and deal to bolster his squad - with Bristol City right back Bradley Orr believed to be on his wish list.
Chairman Barry Kilby admits: "Things are tight. Let's see.
"The Carling Cup money has just gone to mitigate our loss really.
"I can't promise anything on that and I'm not going to."
There has been speculation linking Chris McCann and Chris Eagles with Premier League clubs, and while Kilby admits: "I'd never say (we don't have to sell)," the club certainly want to add to their squad, not weaken it.
Burnley have had a reputation as a selling club in the past, but Kilby feels that isn't as clear-cut: "We've been no mugs on the block in transfers I don't think.
"I'd challenge our record in selling players.
"When you buy players, it's your manager's judgement. But if one of your players goes, it's not always your doing, as it would be in business.
"If you've got a player involved, there's an element that's in there that if he's not happy, you have some judgements to make.
"You might say 'we can't sell anybody', you can turn the offer down but sometimes, in this triangle you have – player, buying club, yourselves – it's not just your own decision, and sometimes you have to make a really hard decision with the hand you're dealt in terms of the best thing to do.
"Would we have wanted to get rid of Andy Gray or Kyle Lafferty? No. But you'd have had a player sulking in a corner, so sometimes you have to sell even though, in your own judgement, you sooner wouldn't.
"I'd challenge anyone to look at our record in transfer dealings, and getting top dollar for players as well."
"We have a lot of experience." Burnley Express


Richard Langley Staying on at Burnley
This is Bristol RoversRichard Langley will be staying with Bristol Rovers for another month.
And coach Paul Trollope is hopeful that the experienced Jamaican international can overcome niggling injury worries and prove he has a longer-term future with the Pirates.
The 29-year-old midfielder, who previously had spells with QPR, Cardiff City and Luton Town, had an extended trial spell with Rovers before signing a short-term deal for December.
He was on the bench for recent games against Hartlepool, Stockport and MK Dons but is still waiting to taste first-team action and was not included in the squad for the 0-0 draw at Northampton last Sunday.
"Richard is with us for another month until the end of January and trying to prove his fitness," said Trollope.
"We are pleased with what we have seen from him in training but he has experienced some tightness with his muscles, and that's the reason he wasn't involved on the bench at Northampton.
"It's a difficult time for him because he is desperate to prove his fitness and show his quality, but at the moment he is just being hampered by a bit of soreness.
"We are working hard to eradicate the problems and hopefully he will be available for the game at Crewe next Tuesday."
This week's sub-zero temperatures mean Rovers have had to tweak their training schedule during a nine-day break from competitive action.
But Trollope said the facilities at their Army base HQ in Colerne are a help when it comes to keeping the players busy.
"I would imagine most teams in the country will be finding it difficult this week, but at Colerne we have a great indoor facility and a swimming pool, which we will be using," said Trollope.
"We can get out and do some straight-line running even though the grass is frozen, but the size of the indoor facility means we can do a lot of ball work inside to keep the lads right.
"The fact there is a sprung floor as well means it's not too hard on the legs, which is good This is Burnley