Snippets Friday...Pellicori Signing?...QPR Squad vs Oxford...Magilton on QPR and His Oxford Origins...Jim Smith on His Time at QPR

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UPDATES

Sky Sports - QPR set to land Italian: Pellicori poised for Loftus Road move
- Skysports.com understands that Queens Park Rangers are poised to sign striker Alessandro Pellicori.
- New manager Jim Magilton is working hard to strengthen his squad and QPR's scouting network have identified Pellicori as a key target.
- The 27-year-old currently plies his trade with Avellino in Serie B and has produced consistently impressive performances in recent seasons.
- He now looks set to head to England this summer after QPR agreed a fee with their Italian counterparts.
- A transfer is expected to be finalised in the near future as the club's preparations for the new Championship campaign continue" Skysports

- Vital Football QPR - Season Preview - QPR Report


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- Flashback: Dunga Leaves QPR and Takes Over Brazil!

- Terry Venables Q&A - Including Venables' View of Importance of Pre-Season Games

- Flashback II: Lee Cook Departure Saved QPR

- Jake Cole Starts for Barnet

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- BBC (and QPR Supporter) Chris Charles Blog Update

- Opening Today "Visit London Football Expo" (including QPR Exhibit) (July 24-26)


QPR squad to play Oxford
QPR squad: Ainsworth, Alberti, Agyemang, Balanta, Borrowdale, Cerny, Connolly, Ephraim, Gorkss, Hall, Mahon, Marshall, Pellicori, Ramage, Routledge, Rowlands, Stewart, Taarabt, Vine. - QPR


Oxford Official Site - Manor Legend Returns
- One of the finest midfielders in Oxford United's history comes home tonight as Jim Magilton brings his QPR side for a pre-season friendly. Jim will bring a full strength Rangers side and admits that Oxford is still a club close to his heart:
- "I was just a young boy at Liverpool and it was a big decision on my part to come to Oxford, but Brian Horton made me feel really at home and told me what a great club it was. He didn't let me down and I had a fantastic time there. My confidence grew, the players around me helped and Brian gave me that confidence, but more importantly the supporters were outstanding with me. It's still one of the results I look out for first on a Saturday night.
- "I was devastated and it broke my heart to see them go down. But they have the right sort of people at the club now and are very ambitious. They have a young and ambitious manager who is destined to do well. It's important that they get out of that league and they are making sure that the foundations they are setting there are sound ones to build on for the future."
- Rangers are expected to challenge at the top of the Championship this season, but Jim believes a game at his former club will be a great pre-season examination:
- "I'm expecting a very tough test. There were many, many nights when I was at the Manor when we welcomed teams from the Premier League and we relished the chance to go head to head against them. Chris will have his team ready. Both of us will have an eye on the season itself but we will go there with a full strength team and I expect a real tempo to the game. The last time I was there I was embarrassingly poor in Peter Rhoades-Brown's testimonial! It will still be nice to go back there though."
- The new Rangers boss is hoping for success over the coming months with his new side:
- "It's a big challenge. I had a grounding at a fantastic club in Ipswich Town. It was a steep learning curve to go straight from playing to managing, one I relished. I am coming to terms with the job although it is a still a day by day learning curve. But I have a fantastic staff here and a fantastic group of players who are willing to learn, and I think everything is right for success."
- Tickets are just £10 adults and £1 for under 16s (accompanied by a paying adult) tonight. Come along and welcome Jim and his Rangers side back." Oxford United


Oxford United Official Site - Jim Smith looks forward to QPR
- Wed 22 Jul 2009
- If one man is looking forward to Friday night's game against Queen's Park Rangers more than most then it is Jim Smith. Jim, of course, managed both sides, taking United into the top flight before guiding QPR to Wembley in 1986 and to a place at the very top of the old First Division. Yellow World caught up with Jim and asked where the twenty four years since he moved between the two clubs had gone?
- "It feels like 124 years sometimes! The time has flown past but I'm looking forward to seeing the two line up again on Friday night."

How different were the two clubs back then?
- "QPR was very different because we had a plastic pitch at the time and that secured a lot of victories. It went well in the first year and we got to Wembley, but that didn't really compensate for the disappointment of leaving Oxford. The biggest regret I have in football terms was not managing Oxford United at the top level. We had done unbelievably well to get there, and not to manage them in the first games in the First Division has always been a big disappointment to me because we had such spirit and it was such a great club to be at."
- "QPR was a very different club and the chairman, Jim Gregory was very hands on, while Robert Maxwell wasn't. Mr Maxwell was involved in controlling the money and doing things like the kit, but he was never involved in the football, while Jim Gregory wanted to be a football manager. He was a good judge of a player to be fair, but very hands on which made it harder to manage. I have very fond memories of QPR and even fonder of Oxford so it will be nice to see them meet again."

- Fans who watched games between the two clubs back then will remember that plastic pitch at Loftus Road...
- "You had to play a certain way. I hated it in all honesty but it did give us wins and took us to Wembley when we beat Liverpool 1-0. You had to have players who could keep it on the floor and pass it. Byrne, Bannister, Fereday and the likes. We used to give other teams the facility to come and train on it before games, on the Thursday and Friday and the only ones who came on both days were West Ham under John Lyall and they beat us every time!
- "Teams would come on a Friday and I would sit in my office and watch them train. That helped! I watched one team lump balls from half way for defenders to handle the bounce. I watched it and was thinking to myself that it's not all about the bounce, it's about keeping the ball on the floor; we beat them 6-0 the next day!"

- Jim is still in love with the game he served so well and is looking forward to pre-season. He is also quick to give praise where it is due:
- "With Peterborough coming down and then Villa there will be plenty of good football and it is great preparations for Chris and the team. He has worked very, very hard and built a very correct squad with strength in all areas and competition in all areas. I think Kelvin has worked tremendously hard as well and supported Chris. They have done a great job and we look very well set for the challenge ahead..." Oxford United


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