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Throughout the day, updates, comments and perspectives re QPR and football in general are posted and discussed on the QPR Report Messageboard...Also Follow: QPR REPORT ON TWITTER
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- Orient's Future as Spurs and West Ham "compete" over a New Stadium
- QPR/Rudolph Austin reportedly Rejected
- Update re Former QPR Youth Player, Jacob Child
- QPR Ladies Lose..to Cardiff and are now bottom
- Flashback: January 26, 2009: Club-Fan Group Meeting Report
Southwark News/Jim Lucas - EASTMOND HEADING TO THE DEN, BUT SHITTU DEPARTS 25 January 2011
- MILLWALL ARE set to sign Arsenal midfielder Craig Eastmond on loan until the end of the season, but defender Danny Shittu has left the club.....
- Meanwhile, defender Danny Shittu has left the club after his short-term contract expired over the weekend.
- Shittu said publically that he wanted to stay at the club less than a fortnight ago, but opted against signing a deal to keep him at Millwall until the end of the season despite having his wage demands being met by club chiefs.
- Lions boss Kenny Jackett said that keeping Shittu may have required the club to break their wage structure given his previous deal had been subsidised by his former owners Bolton Wanderers.
- "We tried our very best to keep him, but I'm not going to break the wage scale," said Jackett. "We want to keep some structure to what we're doing."
- The Nigerian international joined Millwall in October on a 93-day contract following his departure from the Reebok Stadium the previous month.
- He made 10 appearances for the Lions, though he has played only once since Christmas after picking up a troublesome hamstring injury.
- Shittu, who is still expected to be out until February, is now set to join former club Queen's Park Rangers. Southwark News
Bettor.com Harry Redknapp determined to keep Jonathan Woodgate
- Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said he would not let defender Jonathan Woodgate join London rivals Arsenal after rumours were heard that the Gunners were keen on signing the 31-year-old. Arsene Wenger’s target list was topped by Woodgate following defensive problems at the Emirates. He said, “No, not a chance. We wouldn’t let him go. We want to keep him.” It seems like Redknapp has a case of if-I-can’t-have-him-no-one-else-can, especially bitter rivals Arsenal.
- Woodgate was out with an injury for over a season. He recently returned in the Spurs XI squad against Queens Park Rangers reserves, which ended in a 9-2 win for the Spurs. Redknapp admitted the game was not too much of a challenge for the defender and said he was willing to give the former England international some time to prove himself. Redknapp said, “Jonathan’s been out of the team for two years but played 45 minutes against a QPR team Neil Warnock sent although I think they were waiters from the Shepherd’s Bush area. It wasn’t a great test but Jonathan’s doing well. He’s coming back and when he’s fit, he’s a top, top centre half.”
- Redknapp’s attempt at being humorous and insulting the QPR reserves side did nothing more than insulting his own side and their “impressive” 9-2 win over them. For now, Redknapp seems to have made up his mind about Woodgate, but if the right price is offered by the right club then the 31-year-old might be on his way out, since he does not seem to have a future with the Spurs. Blog
QPR's Frankie Sutherland Nominated for U-17 International Irish Player of Year
- Irish Times - Player of the Year nominees
- KEVIN DOYLE, Richard Dunne and John O’Shea have been short-listed for the 3/FAI Senior International Player of the Year award which will be presented on February 6th in an event televised live by RTÉ from their headquarters at Montrose.
- Selected Nominees :
- Senior International player of the Year: Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), John O’Shea (Manchester Utd);
- Young Player of the Year: Greg Cunningham (Manchester City), Darron Gibson (Manchester Utd), Shane Long (Reading);
- International Goal of the Year: Kevin Doyle v Andorra (07/09/10), Robbie Keane v Algeria (28/05/10), Liam Lawrence v Paraguay (25/05/10);
- Under 21 Player of the Year: Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Séamus Coleman (Everton), Anthony Stokes (Celtic);
- Airtricity League Player of the Year: Joseph Ndo, Richie Ryan (both Sligo Rovers), Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers);
- Under 19 International Player of the Year: Robbie Brady (Manchester Utd), Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City);
- Under 17 International Player of the Year: Shane Byrne (Leicester City), Sean McGinty (Man United), Frankie Sutherland (QPR);
Senior Women’s International Player of the Year: Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant (both Arsenal), Fiona OSullivan (AIK Stokholm);
- Under 19 Women’s International Player of the Year: Karen Duggan (UL), Cherelle Khassell (Benfica), Becky Walsh (Salthill Devon).
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0126/1224288326761.html
Standard/Mihir Bose - Neil Warnock's like a dad - I'm desperate to get QPR promoted, says Adel Taarabt
Adel Taarabt hated life in England so much when he moved here that he wanted to go back to France only two weeks after joining Tottenham.
Fast forward four years and the Queens Park Rangers captain has no thoughts of leaving this country.
The reason for the dramatic transformation in Taarabt's attitude is thanks, largely, to Neil Warnock.
It was Warnock - the sixth manager Taarabt has played under at Loftus Road - who finally turned his loans into a permanent move and then made him captain, with both decisions paying off handsomely.
On Sunday, the 21-year-old scored his 13th goal of the season - another wonder strike - in a 2-1 win over Coventry, which left Rangers top of the Championship by five points.
"Neil is the first manager who really knows how to treat me," he says. "He's like a dad. Sometimes I make a mistake on the pitch and he says to the other players, 'Don't shout at him. If somebody has to speak to him it's me'.
"This year has been fantastic for me. I hope to get in the Premier League because Neil deserves it."
Less than a year after being born in Morocco, Taarabt and his family emigrated to France, growing up in Marseilles. He started his football career with Lens' youth team but was only 17 when he moved to London, where he was given a rude awakening in life both on and off the pitch.
"I arrived to find that, at three o'clock in the afternoon, it was already night. I played for the Tottenham reserves against Chelsea and I could not understand how the English played. Somebody put me on the floor but there were no free-kicks, nothing. The referee just played on. When you play in France it's quiet, the players do not talk. In England I hear players saying, 'F**k off. Man on. Come on'. Players in my team, they are shouting at me. I think they're insulting me."
It did not help that he did not know a word of English.
"I was at the training ground and somebody said, 'Adel, do you want water?' I said to my friend Benoit [Assou-Ekotto] who was with me at Lens, 'What is water?' He said, 'You don't understand? You didn't do English at school?' I said, 'No, I didn't'."
All this had such a disastrous effect on Taarabt's football that his brother, who had accompanied him to north London, got extremely worried. For a player who felt he had a "natural, God-given ability", this was shattering.
"Tottenham put us up in a hotel and, after two weeks, I said to my brother, 'I want to go back to France.' My brother said, 'No chance - you've signed for five years, you can't go back'."
Things did improve. At least he had many French-speaking player friends at Spurs and he soon learned an easy way to improve his English.
"Tottenham had a teacher for us: every day one hour to teach us English. He would tell me this is how we say in English the wheel of a car. I said, 'I don't need this. A car wheel doesn't help me. Tell me how I call for food delivery'."
Taarabt is far more complimentary about Martin Jol, who signed him for Spurs, even if things did go awry under his successor.
"Martin Jol gave me time, but Juande Ramos really killed me," he says. "He didn't like me at all. He was treating me like a man. I was only 18 or 19. Even if he doesn't play me he could have come and given me advice. He never spoke to me. Just put me away in the reserves and said, 'I don't like him and I don't want to play him'."
Taarabt did not figure in Harry Redknapp's plans either and, within months of him taking over, Taarabt was loaned to QPR in March 2009.
"Even though Harry didn't play me a lot, he was good to me," Taarabt says. "He is one of the best English managers because he gave me advice, all the time. He told me, 'You can do unbelievable things. You have to keep working. This is England. You have to defend if you want to be a good player'.
"He told me: 'You've got the same ability as Luka Modric. But you have to work if you want to be like him'."
Last summer, Taarabt was planning a move to Spain but Redknapp convinced the Moroccan to stay in London.
"'Your football is in England, believe me', he said. 'Don't move to Spain because you're not going to enjoy that. England is the best'. I am very grateful to Harry for his advice."
Friends and fellow players warned Taarabt that a permanent move to the Championship would do no good. Even his agent advised against it but he was won over by Warnock.
"Last summer, Neil rang me and said: 'I want to make you the star. Come and you will have freedom to play'. Neil said, 'Even if you lose the ball, I will have some players behind you to do the job for you defensively'.
"When a manager tells you, 'I want to play the team around you,' then you think, 'This manager loves me'. At half-time against Preston [in November], I wasn't playing so well. Neil knows I don't like it when the other players shout at me. So he took me to the showers and said, 'What's wrong?' And in the second half I scored two goals."
Such is Warnock's faith in Taarabt that he was appointed captain when Fitz Hall injured his hamstring just a week into the season and he has held on to the armband despite the defender returning to the side in November.
"Everyone knows I'm not a leader who speaks," he says. "I don't shout at the players. I lead by example. In the dressing room, I see some players before the match, they feel pressure, they throw up, they go to the toilet. I am very relaxed. I laugh, stay cool until the game starts, then I play. Even at half-time I sit down, put my towel on my head and I don't speak. Very often I go for the second half without saying a word."
If his play has brought something special to QPR, he acknowledges he has learned team ethics from Warnock.
"Before I played just for enjoyment. I went on the pitch for 90 minutes and, if I win, I'm happy. If I don't, I go home. Now, with Neil, every game matters. Sometimes, even if I play not good but the team win, then I'm a winner."
His success has made Redknapp wonder if he was right to offload him.
"I saw him last week and Harry had a laugh with me and told me, 'I'm going to get sacked now because of you. I sell you for £1million and now you're worth I don't know how much'."
Taarabt still has lots of friends at Tottenham, so is it possible, having got QPR to the Premier League, that he would move back to White Hart Lane?
"I don't know because this club have given me a lot. I'm enjoying my time here. At the moment, I just want to take QPR into the Premier League. And if I do, I will feel I did my job. But I've got ambition. So, if I've got a good opportunity, then maybe I'll take it."
Despite playing for Tottenham his real English love has always been the other north London club, one he could have joined back in 2007.
"The man who took me to Tottenham was Damien Comolli, now at Liverpool," he says. "He was at Arsenal then. But, when I was going to go to Arsenal, he moved to Tottenham. He told me: 'Come to Tottenham. We want to do like they do at Arsenal and take the best young players in the world. You're going to have a better chance there.' I believed him. This was a mistake and I regret it.
"Tottenham tried to do it like Arsenal but it's a different culture. I would have had a better chance at Arsenal. I would progress with Arsene Wenger. He is a legend in France, one of the best managers in the world."
Taarabt's closest friend is Marouane Chamakh, the Morocco captain now at Arsenal: "I see him all the time. I sleep at his house. He's like a big brother."
Taarabt has never spoken to Wenger, only said hello. But, should the Frenchman decide in the summer that he wants to do more than say hello, he will find Taarabt an eager listener.
"I like the way Arsenal play. If Arsenal come, of course, I'll be very happy." Standard
SKY SPORTS - Cook catches Owls' eyeIrvine keen to land midfielder on loan
Last updated: 25th January 2011 ..Skysports.com understands Sheffield Wednesday are to make a move to take Queens Park Rangers' Lee Cook on loan.
The midfielder returned to Loftus Road for a third spell in January 2009, but has gradually tumbled down the pecking order since then.
Injuries have severely hampered his efforts, with regular spells on the sidelines preventing him from staking a claim for a regular starting berth.
He is, however, determined to prove his worth to Rangers boss Neil Warnock and recently expressed a willingness to go out on loan in order to rebuild his fitness.
QPR are believed to be open to such an agreement, with a short spell somewhere else likely to be beneficial to all concerned.
Wednesday are understood to be the first to make a move, with Alan Irvine keen to add experience to his options in the middle of the park.
The Owls have slipped off the pace in League One promotion race and feel fresh faces are required in order to inject new life into their bid to return to the second tier
SkySports
QPR INTERNATIONAL CALL UPS
QPR Official Site - PVM CALLED UP
R's recent recruit Petter Vaagan Moen has been called in to the latest Norway squad.
The left-sided midfielder has been named in the squad for a friendly international against Poland at the Algarve Stadium in Portugal on Wednesday 9th February
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2275687,00.html
QPR Official Site - HARRIMAN SELECTED
Young R's defender Michael Harriman has been called up to the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad.
Harriman - who was unused substitute in our FA Cup third round tie against Blackburn Rovers earlier this month - has been selected for Eire's fixtures versus Croatia, which will take place in UMAG (Istria peninsula) on February 8th and 10th.
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2275693,00.html
TAARATBT reportedly in Morocco Roster to play Libyahttp://www.goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2011/01/25/2322007/moroccan-roster-for-libya-friendly-report
Ealing Gazette - QPR pledge to be 'inclusive and active'Jan 25 2011
QPR have signed up to the Inclusive and Active 2 strategy in a bid to encourage more sport amongst disabled people.
The scheme created by a partnership between the greater London Authority, NHS London and the association Interactive aims to make sport and physical activity a major part of provision for London’s disabled.
QPR in the community will aim to make provision of sport more inclusive and to provide employment opportunities within sport for disabled people.
Matthew Lock, Inclusion and Diversity Manager of QPR in the Community Trust said: "By adopting Inclusive and Active 2 QPR in the Community Trust has taken another step forward in becoming one of the most progressive and inclusive community sports trusts in the country Ealing Gazette
QPR Official Site - MAHON SIGNS ONE MONTH DEALNeil Warnock has strengthened his midfield options by handing Gavin Mahon a short term contract at Loftus Road.
Mahon - who is currently nursing a minor hamstring injury - has penned a deal until February 20th.
Warnock told www.qpr.co.uk: "Gavin is a good pro and I am pleased we've managed to extend his contract by a further month.
"He's an important member of the squad, who I believe has been instrumental in Shaun Derry having such a good season, with the knowledge that Gavin is weighting in the wings."
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2276023,00.html
QPR Official Site - OASTLER PENS EXTENSIONPosted on: Tue 25 Jan 2011
Joe Oastler has extended his loan deal with Torquay United until the end of the season.
The combative midfielder has made 15 appearances since joining the Gulls earlier this season and is expected to feature in their FA Cup fourth round tie against Crawley Town on Saturday.
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2276101,00.html
- Thirteen Years Ago: QPR Announce Trevor Sinclair Moves to West Ham. QPR bring in Dowie, Rowland and Mark Kennedy
- Eleven Years Ago: The New QPR Official Site Chat Board Launched
- Four Year Flashback: Paying The St Johns Ambulance Brigade
- Year Ago: Matt Hill Joins QPR on Loan
- Taarabt Makes Championship Team of the Week...In League Two, Gareth Ainsworth Makes Team of the Week
- Next: Hull Stats & Details
- Reposted Article from last year re Club, Owners, Fans "It’s time for the fans to fight back
- Sheffield Wednesday Call in the Police over Fan Hoax
- Old QPR Video Snippets vs Swindon, Swansea (Cup Humiliation), Newcastle
