QPR Snippets

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- With no QPR game this weekend, take the time to scroll through the QPR Report Messageboard - for football articles and discussion only on QPR football-related topics. ALL perspectives welcomed! Not interested in engaging in additional board posting? Nonetheless visit! You'll find it makes a great 'cutting-edge' football informational resource! - [Posting/Registration]

- Simon Walton Joins Blackpool
- QPR's Transfer Deadline Dealing - A Decade Ago
- Nostalgia: 41 Yrs Ago Yesterday - Rodney Marsh's Home Debut/Scored
- Fifty "Best-Ever" Defenders in England
- Football League Awards Shortlist


Danny Maguire at Yeovil - Somerset County Gazette/Steve Sowden
QPR young gun Maguire wants to "concentrate on football" at Yeovil Town
- TEENAGED midfielder Danny Maguire has admitted that the bright lights of London seem a long way away now that he has arrived in sleepy South Somerset.
- Maguire, 19, yesterday moved to Yeovil Town until the end of the season on loan from Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers.
- I'm still a boy really, but coming here could turn me into a man
- Midfielder Danny Maguire"I came down to Yeovil last night and the centre of town is very different to London!" he said.
- "But it is nice and quiet and I will be able to just think about football.
- "Getting away from London might be the best thing for me so I can just concentrate totally on football - it won't do me any harm being here."
- Maguire has not really had much of a look-in at QPR, but he is highly-rated and Crystal Palace have been sniffing after the central midfielder. - - And he is already looking forward to helping Yeovil pull away from the relegation zone in the Coca-Cola League One.
- "It is going to be a learning curve for me," he said. "I've been playing in the reserves at QPR, but there is nothing better than playing in front of a crowd at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. I want to play football and enjoy it.
- "There's no reason why Yeovil can't stay up - they are a great club.
- "It is in our own hands because the majority of the games left are at home. If we play well there is no reason why we shouldn't be staying up."
- He said that he was looking forward to getting into a relegation scrap with the Glovers.
- "It is going to be brilliant for me," he said. "I'm still a boy really, but coming here could turn me into a man."
- Maguire has described himself as an "all-round" midfielder who likes to get on the ball and go from "box to box."
- But he added that passing was his strength.
- He met his new team-mates earlier today and at lunchtime he had to "enjoy" the traditional welcome gift - he could sing a song of his choice in front of the players.
- "I'm a massive Oasis fan and so I sang Wonderwall," he said. "I know all the words, but I'm not really a very good singer."
- Maguire will no doubt be hoping that the Yeovil fans will be singing his name from the terraces between now and the end of the season. Gazette


- Bradford Telegraph and Argus/Simon Parker - Rehman chooses club over country
-Zesh Rehman has knocked back an international tournament to aid City’s play-off push.
- Rehman had been selected by Pakistan for three Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup qualifiers in Sri Lanka, starting next Saturday.
- But the on-loan QPR defender is staying put at Valley Parade for the season’s run-in.
- He said: “I had the call-up but I’ve put Bradford first. I’m out of contract in the summer and I’m playing regularly.
- “There’s no way I would jump ship now. Although it’s always an honour to play for your country, right now this is my bread and butter.
- “The next month is the most important of my life.
- “We’ve got a flexible agreement and the (Pakistan football) federation understand that.”
- Rehman has played in City’s last three defeats but believes a top-seven spot is still well within their grasp despite the untimely slump.
- He added: “If you look back at the stats against Port Vale we dominated the whole game. We just need that little bit of luck to change things.
- “We’ve had teams on the back foot and if we keep doing that, it will drop for us soon.
- “Being away tomorrow might suit us more because we’ve got players who can hurt teams on the counter-attack. I’m hoping that it does.
- “There are highs and lows in football and you’ve got to keep that middle ground.
- “Nobody gets carried away when we’re winning games and now is not the time to have your heads dragging on the floor.
- “We’re not that far off it. Every day we come in everyone’s positive and that starts with the manager.”
- And Rehman insisted Stuart McCall’s threat to quit if they missed the play-offs has not affected the dressing room.
- “As players, you just focus on your own job. You listen to what the manager wants in a game and concentrate on that.
-“The gaffer has been in football a long time, playing over 600 games, so he knows what it’s all about.
- “He’ll keep believing and we know nobody becomes a bad team overnight.
- “There’s always going to be pressure in football.
- “I’ve played in relegation battles and now I’m pushing for a play-off place and you always go out there with the same attitude to win matches.” Bradford Telegraph and Argus


Herts Advertiser - Kieron St. Aimie Update
City make trip to Thurrock
Thurrock v St Albans City Blue Square South - Saturday, March 28, 2009
- NEXT up for Steve Castle's side is a trip to lowly Thurrock, a team who have only won four games at home all season. - The home side are in desperate need of the points as they try and escape relegation from the Blue Square South but will be faced with a City team that's unbeaten in seven games.
- Players to Watch - Kieron St Amie will be keen to show Steve Castle what he missed out on when City visit on Saturday. The 19-year old failed to agree a deal with City earlier this month after he failed to show for training. The former QPR and Barnet man has since moved to Ship Lane and scored his first goal for the club in the 2-2 draw with Havant & Waterlooville...." Herts Advertizer


QPR Official Site - Martin Allen Remembers the birth of his child!
QPR Official Site - BLAST FROM THE PAST - MARTIN ALLEN
- The most talked about episode from Martin Allen's career at Queens Park Rangers was not a match he played in … but one that he missed!
It was 20 years ago this month - on March 11th 1989. Rangers travelled north for a First Division fixture at Newcastle United and our squad stayed in a hotel overnight before the game.
- Allen said: "I was sharing a room with our goalkeeper David Seaman. At two o'clock in the morning, David took a phone call from my dad saying that my wife Gabriella was about to give birth.
- "I found out there was a flight back to London at 7.30am and I told our Assistant Manager Peter Shreeves. He said 'Before you leave, check that she's still in labour. And if you are going to go, then get on the plane and good luck. But check first.'
"I rang from the hotel at 6.00am and Gabriella was settling in at the Royal Berks Hospital. So I got the plane from Newcastle Airport and arrived at Heathrow about 8.30am. From there, I was in the hospital at 9.30am and our baby George was born at 12.15pm.
- "I'll never forget the following Monday. I was just leaving for home after training when QPR Manager Trevor Francis handed me an envelope while I was getting in my car. I thought it was going to be a note of congratulations for having the baby. But it was a two week wages fine!
"It was quite shocking and disappointing. After that, my working relationship with Trevor broke down. I was eventually sold to West Ham a few months later.
"But I have no regrets about what happened. It was only human that I wanted to see the birth of my first child. Everyone has the right if they wish to do that - whether you are a footballer or whether you are a banker or a politician. It doesn't matter what you work as. You have that right.
- "I still get phone calls from newspapers about the incident - even now. My name always crops up when any top sportsman chooses to attend the birth of a child. Or even when they opt to stay and perform in their chosen sport when the wife is in labour.
"My famous - or infamous - son George is now 20 years-old. As I am talking to you on the phone for this interview, I am just driving him down to Bristol University where he is studying Maths & Philosophy. George is doing very well and enjoying his own life now."
'Mad Dog' originally came up through the youth ranks at Rangers. A total of 167 appearances followed for the First Team with 19 goals. His tenacious midfield play is fondly remembered at Loftus Road.
"We had a very strong youth policy when I first joined the R's," said Allen. "Chris Gieler was the Youth Development Officer and he was really ahead of all the other Clubs when finding young players. Chris invited me in for schoolboy training when I was 12 years-old after I had played for Reading Boys away to Oxford Boys one Tuesday afternoon.
"Then when I left school, I was delighted to be given an apprenticeship at the Club on a two year contract. I worked under a QPR Youth Team Manager called George Graham!
"I was surrounded in the R's set-up at that point by some of the best England Youth players. People like Dougie McClure, Gary Cooper and David Kerslake. They were all getting games for the Reserves and I wasn't. So I was probably at the bottom of the whole group and it really was a difficult time.
"Everyone knew the football name of 'Allen' and it was a bit of a hindrance for me as it brought high expectations and added pressures. My cousins Clive and Paul Allen were both doing very well in the game as teenagers but I was struggling and I wasn't quite ready to make the grade. I was a leggy youth player and I needed to fill out.
"So I did a lot of hard work with my father Dennis at Reading Athletic Club and Reading Boxing Club for seven weeks one summer. It was my dad's drive and determination that pushed me and worked me.
"When I went back for pre-season with the R's, I was much fitter, stronger and faster. The rest is history. But it wasn't easy as I didn't really come through and develop until I was 19.
"After that, there were two occasions with Queens Park Rangers that I will never forget and one that I have always wanted to forget!
"The first big memory was my full League debut away to Newcastle in April 1985. In the very first couple of minutes of that game, Glenn Roeder - the Geordies' defender - moved into midfield with the ball at his feet and was about five yards away from me when he did one of his famous step-overs. I went one way and Glenn went the other way. Rather than letting him go by, I stuck my leg out and got booked.
"All my family had travelled up to the North-East to see me play. So there were about eight of the Allen's sitting up at the back of the stand in St James' Park dreading my next tackle in case I got sent-off in my first game! But I managed to stay on the pitch and it really was an absolutely magical day for me.
"Another match I love to recall was the 1986 Milk Cup Semi-Final Second Leg away to Liverpool when we faced such a brilliant team.
"I still get reminded by many QPR supporters about the famous tackle I did on Liverpool's Alan Hansen. He was much quicker than me and he was dribbling back towards his own goal. But I lifted him about six feet in the air on the edge of their 18 yard box in front of a packed end of R's fans! Needless to say, I got another booking!
"In a dramatic finish, Liverpool scored two own goals to send us through to the Final. We got a standing ovation from the whole Anfield crowd at the end. That night was probably the highlight of my whole career.
"But we went on to lose 3-0 to Oxford United at Wembley Stadium and it was certainly the one game I've always wanted to wipe out. Going into that showpiece event, I felt on top of the world and on top of my game. Everyone - me included - just expected us to win the Cup.
"In the end, it was a massive letdown. I still don't feel great about it now as I didn't perform on the day. So I've always wanted to bury the memory of it."
Allen is now 43 years-old and has been Manager of Cheltenham Town FC in League One since September. But like all of our former players, he takes a keen interest in events here at Rangers.
"I absolutely love being a Manager. It is quite a challenge at Cheltenham, although one I am enjoying actually. Wages have been slashed here and we have had to make a lot of cut-backs, just like most companies in the outside world. So you are not going to be as efficient as before.
"However, this summer I will get the chance to wheel and deal in the transfer market. So I will have a very competitive team next season without a shadow of a doubt.
"Incidentally, since I've been a football Manager I've had several occasions when players' wives have been expecting babies. In fact, I've got one at the moment. So I sat the player down and asked him what he would like to do. He said he would prefer to be at the birth and I replied 'Well, you deserve that right.'
"Away from Cheltenham Town, I obviously still have a soft spot for QPR. I invariably get very well looked after when I want to go back to watch a match at Loftus Road. It's also nice that the Rangers supporters I bump into in the street are always very kind to me.
"The R's have moved up to a different level financially with their current backers and have a bright future. Although I believe you have to get the right 'chemistry' in the dressing room and within the Club from top to bottom.
"It's not just about having good players. The 'chemistry' I mentioned is so important - it can go a long way to making a successful squad and a good team. But that will all take time and patience as there have been a lot of changes at Loftus Road."
And what about the situation back in 1989 with Trevor Francis and the birth of baby George? Did that ever resolve itself?
Allen said: "Several years later, I played for West Ham away to Sheffield Wednesday - when Trevor Francis was Manager at Hillsborough. I got badly injured in the game, with cracked ribs and a punctured lung.
"I was rushed away in an ambulance as I was struggling to breathe and in a pretty bad way. About 10.30pm that night, there was a phone call to my ward at the hospital in Sheffield.
"The nurse came over and said 'Trevor Francis from Sheffield Wednesday just rang. He enquired how you are and if you are healthy.'
"Well at that point, I had to pinch myself to see if I was still alive. Because it was the first time that Trevor had communicated with me since I left the QPR team hotel at Newcastle!" QPR