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The Malaysian Insider
Fernandes says football’s era of ‘silly money’ over
By Shannon Teoh
September 16, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — AirAsia boss Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has declared that his RM220 million purchase of London football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) has come at the right time as counterparts realise they must spend prudently to survive.
Speaking to British newspaper The Times on the back of QPR securing a shirt sponsorship deal with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia, whose boards Fernandes sits on, he said that QPR must pay its own way to ensure survival in England’s top-flight professional league.
“For me it is not having that drug of money as the only way to survive. It can’t be about one benefactor. I might be hit by a bus,” said Fernandes (picture), who bought a two-thirds stake in the club a week after completing a share swap to take 20.5 per cent of flag carrier MAS.
State asset manager Khazanah Nasional Berhad had exchanged 20.5 per cent of MAS for a 10 per cent stake in Asia’s biggest budget carrier on August 9, making Fernandes a director of the national carrier in a bid to turn the national carrier around.
The Times reported that Fernandes said he bought into football because he saw the desire to move towards break-even, the same reason he set up Team Lotus on the back of Formula One’s belt-tightening.
“The timing is fantastic. The good old days of the blank cheque have gone. The amount of TV money coming in and so many clubs aren’t making money? That has to be seriously wrong.
“That’s a fundamental failure of football that needs to be looked at. The silliness that went on in the derivatives market . . . that’s happened in football but I see common sense coming,” he said.
Fernandes has also called QPR a “fantastic branding platform” for the two airlines despite criticism that he has used public assets to fund his “football fantasy” after the “multi-million pound” shirt deal.
“Many people do not realise the power of sport to market a brand. You can spend £40 million (RM200 million) on advertising and have nothing like the same effect,” he was quoted by British newspaper The Guardian as saying last month.
Fernandes, whose Lotus Formula One team is also sponsored by AirAsia, has twice tried to take over West Ham United, the team he supports, since 2009 but was rebuffed by its owners.
But after QPR was promoted to the Premier League in May, he took control of a London-based Premier League club.
Fernandes, who bought AirAsia for a token RM1 10 years ago, has turned it into Asia’s largest budget airline and has been recognised as the world’s best budget airline for three years running.
According to its most recent annual report, AirAsia — which also sponsored last year’s British Formula One Grand Prix — flew 18 million passengers to 65 cities around the world last year, turning over nearly RM4 billion and raking in a pre-tax profit just short of RM1 billion. The Malaysian Insider
- David McIntyre Tweet "Kieron Dyer due to see a specialist tomorrow about foot injury. Still not training." Tweet
The Club's New Openess?!
QPR Official Site - Company Details
- "....Queens Park Rangers Football Club - current ownership
- 66 per-cent - Tune QPR SDN BHD - Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Bin Meranun and Ruben Emir Gnanalingam
- 33 per-cent - Sea Dream Ltd - L. N. Mittal Family - QPR
David McIntyre/West London Sport - QPR set to offload Norwegian misfit
QPR are to discuss the future of Petter Vaagan Moen after his failure to make an impact at Loftus Road.
The Norway international has barely featured since arriving from SK Brann in January and was not included in R’s boss Neil Warnock’s 25-man Premier League squad.
Vaagan Moen is available for a loan with a view to a permanent move when the transfer window re-opens and a number of Championship clubs have watched him this season.
He has spent much of his career on the left flank, but Warnock has only considered him as a possible stand-in for midfielder Alejandro Faurlin.
Warnock said: “I think Petter will make a living in England. There’s a number of clubs talking about taking him on loan and we’ll now decide where he can go.
Mackie is closing in on a return
“He’s been unlucky really, because he would have taken Ale Faurlin’s place but Ale’s never been injured and has had a fantastic time since I’ve been here.
“That [central midfield] is where I see Petter’s best position and when I did the squad I had to look at the area I saw him going.
“I didn’t put him in for that one position because there are other players who can play in three positions, and in a squad of 25 that’s important.”
Vaagan Moen’s omission by Warnock was not a surprise, with Hogan Ephraim the only notable absentee from the 25.
Ephraim and Patrick Agyemang missed out partly because Jamie Mackie was included after Rangers were advised that the forward is close to completing his recovery from a broken leg.
Mackie is set to be given the green light to return to action next week, when a specialist is expected to tell him he can finally resume full training.
Rangers plan to then immediately select him for a reserve game, as his overall fitness is excellent after several weeks of conditioning training.
Warnock said: “With Jamie, he’s so close we just had to go with him based on the advice we were given. I look at what we’ve got in the squad and he can play in a number of positions.
“Fitness isn’t going to be a problem, he’s just got to be given the go-ahead. He’s probably fitter than any of our players, the way he’s training, but until he gets that go-ahead next week from the specialist to actually join in on the physical side, he’s itching to go.
“It’ll be straightaway if he gets the go-ahead – straight into matches. I imagine that within a week he’ll be having a game. Knowing him, I’d be very surprised if he isn’t involved after the next international break.”
Meanwhile, Kieron Dyer is scheduled to see a specialist later today.
The former England international has not trained since being stretchered off with a foot injury three minutes into his QPR debut on the opening day of the season. West London Sport
David McIntyre/West London Sport - Warnock hints at longer QPR stay
15/09/2011
QPR manager Neil Warnock has hinted that he may change his mind about retiring at the end of next season.
The 62-year-old has repeatedly stated that he intends to finish his football career in 2013, when his current Rangers contract is due to expire.
However, when asked whether he would reconsider, Warnock said: “Results will determine my career.
“You just don’t know in football. You don’t look too far ahead really. I’m just going to enjoy it at the moment.
“I want to try and build the club – that’s my challenge – but results will determine whether I get that opportunity or not.”
Warnock’s 30 years as a manager began with non-League Gainsborough and he spent five years at Burton before taking over at Scarborough, who were promoted to the Football League under him in 1987.
The Yorkshireman has since managed Notts County, Torquay, Huddersfield, Plymouth, Oldham, Bury, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.
Warnock, a lifelong Sheffield United fan, planned to see out his career in his home city but left after the Blades were relegated in 2007, and he later insisted Palace would definitely be his last club.
But he was tempted away from Selhurst Park by a lucrative offer to manage QPR and the prospect of another crack at the Premier League before he retired." West London Sport
West London Sport/David McIntyre - QPR set for Mackie boost
15/09/2011
QPR forward Jamie Mackie is set to be given the green light to return to action next week.
Mackie, 25, is expected to be told by a specialist that he can finally resume full training following his recovery from the broken leg he suffered during January’s FA Cup match against Blackburn.
Rangers plan to then immediately select him for a reserve game, as his overall fitness is excellent after several weeks of conditioning training. All that is required is the nod from the specialist at next week’s appointment.
The player was recently forced to delay his comeback because he was still feeling some pain in the leg and his surgeon was not satisfied that he was ready for full-contact training.
That pain has now gone and Rangers believe Mackie could be back in the first-team squad by the middle of next month.
Mackie, who had scored nine goals for QPR and been capped by Scotland when he suffered his injury, was recently included in boss Neil Warnock’s 25-man Premier League squad. West London Sport
Birmingham Mail - QPR: Anton Ferdinard lifts the lid on life with Steve Bruce
Anton Ferdinand today admitted his bust-ups with Steve Bruce at Sunderland had turned him from a boy into a man as he vowed to fulfil his true potential at QPR.
Ferdinand endured a rocky relationship with Bruce during their two years together at the Stadium of Light but was still shocked to be sold to Rangers on transfer deadline day.
The defender had begun the season in Bruce's starting XI and was convinced he had forged a strong centre-back pairing with new signing Wes Brown.
But after being told his contract - which had less than one year to run - would not be renewed, former West Ham star Ferdinand jumped at the chance to return to London.
"The last two years have been full of ups and downs, as everyone knows, with the manager at Sunderland," said Ferdinand, whose relationship with Bruce hit rock bottom a year ago when a furious training-ground argument almost led to him being sold.
"In some ways, I have to thank him, because he's turned me from a boy into a man.
"Coming back to London, it's a new me. I feel different to how I was when I left London four years ago, and I'm here to enjoy my football."
The 26-year-old added: "I feel I haven't had the chance to prove my potential in the last couple of years.
"That's a chapter that's closed in my book now and there's a new chapter open.
"Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to do it and, if I do, then I'm confident in my ability that I'll show people that I'm not just someone with potential, but someone who can carry out their potential."
Ferdinand, who also made headlines for the wrong reasons while at Upton Park, will certainly be given the benefit of the doubt by QPR, where his surname is part of the club's folklore.
The defender's cousin Les is a Rangers legend, something of which Ferdinand was reminded just last week.
"When we trained last Thursday at Loftus Road, I was walking down the tunnel and I looked to the right and saw a picture, an old-school picture, of him playing for QPR and it brought back memories," said Ferdinand, whose brother Rio also spent time at the club.
"When Rio was here as a schoolboy, we used to come to watch Les play here."
The latter's goalscoring exploits earnt him the moniker 'Sir Les', and his cousin, who made his debut in Monday's goalless Barclays Premier League draw against Newcastle, said: "It'd be welcomed to be called 'Sir Anton'. moniker
"I've got a long time to go. I've only played one game and I'm looking forward to my future."
Older brother Rio also played a crucial part in Anton's move as the latter rejected a switch to Ukrainian side Dnipro.
"I'm not someone that goes somewhere just because the money's right," Ferdinand said.
"But then this opportunity came around and it was something that definitely excited me.
"I spoke to Rio about it and I said what the manager had said to me.
"And he said, 'If that was me, I would run to QPR'.
"He's always wanted me to do well - that's the type of relationship we have. He wants me to do better than him."
Ferdinand was one of several high-profile recruits to join npower Championship-winners QPR in a manic final few days of the transfer window.
The new arrivals have wasted no time making their presence felt, with plenty of practical jokes being played in recent weeks.
Striker Jay Bothroyd was the victim of one, which saw his new UGG boots trashed.
"I don't wear gear that bad so I'm all right," said Ferdinand, who insisted he had no idea whether new captain Joey Barton was the culprit.
"Everyone was saying it was Joey. I'm not sure it was Joey who actually cut up his UGG Boots."
He added: "It's a great bunch of lads.
"The banter's good here and that's what makes a good team, having good banter in the dressing room and a good togetherness, and that's certainly what we've got." Birmingham Mail
REPOSTED FROM LAST YEAR(Might be couple of changes such as games won by Warnock!)
Football League - QUEENS PARK RANGERS IN NUMBERS
1-8 - Record defeat versus Manchester United in a Division 1 match during the 1968/69 season
2 - The number of goals conceded in the npower Championship so far this season
9 - The number of years longest serving Manager Alec Stock was in charge for between 1959-1968
10 - The number of full time Managers since the turn of the century
9-2 - Their record ever win versus Tranmere Rovers in a Division 3 match, during the 1960/61 season
11 - The number of games Neil Warnock has won as Manager, since taking charge in March
19 - The number of points Neil Warnock's side have taken from their first seven matches and the number of goals they have scored in the League so far
37 - Most league goals scored in a season, held by George Goddard, during the 1929/30 season in the Division 3 South
38 - The numbers of full time Managers the club has had
44 - Most goals in a season, held by Rodney Marsh - 30 League, 3 FA Cup,11 League Cup during the 1966-67 season
59 - The number of points won when they finished second in the First Division, just one point behind Champions Liverpool
519 - Record number of appearances, held by Tony Ingham between 1950-63
1882 - The year the club was formed by the old boys of Droop Street Board School
1886 - The club merged with Christchurch Rangers and took the name Queens Park Rangers
28th December 1898 - QPR turned professional
9th September 1899 - They played their first professional match, losing 1-0 to Tottenham
16th September 1899 - They won their first professional match, beating New Brompton
1908 - Rangers won the Southern League for the first time
1917 - Rangers first moved into Loftus Road
1920 - QPR were elected to the newly formed Third Division, finishing third in their first season
1924 - The Club has to apply for re election after finishing bottom of the table with just 31 points
1925 - They had to re apply again after amassing the lowest number of points - just 21. It was also the year they changed their colours to blue and white hoops
1933 - The club moved back to Loftus Road after a spell at White City
1963 - Loftus Road became home for the third and final time, after another spell at White City
1976 - Rangers finished runners up in the top flight, coming second to Liverpool who picked up their ninth title
1982- The season QPR reached the FA Cup final, only to lose out to Tottenham Hotspur who won after a replay
35,353 - Record attendance versus Leeds United in a Division 1 match during the 1973/74 season
£6,000,000 - Record transfer fee received from Newcastle United for Les Ferdinand in June 1995. Football League
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