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- A week from Today: The Asian Football Awards: Nominees Include Tony Fernandes and Lakshmi Mittal
- MK Dons Previews
- The Current Bottom Six Premiership Clubs: Their Remaining Fixtures
- Latest QPR Player Signing Reports/Gossip
- Recent QPR Transfer Gossip: Player-by-Player
- Two Year Flashback: Chairman Briatore on all he's done for QPR; Saved the Club; Axed only One Manager; Views of 20 Pound Fans
- Four Year Flashback: QPR Chairman Paladini Assures QPR Are Not Becoming a "Feeder Club" of Chelsea!
- Forty-Five Years Ago, QPR Win the First Leg of the League Cup Semi-Final at Birmingham!
ELEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY: QPR's LAST WIN IN THE FA CUP!
Jan 17, 2001 FA Cup Replay QPR 2 (0) - 1 (1) (AET) Luton Kiwomya 90 Kiwomya 112 Mansell 1
At Loftus Road on 17-01-2001
QPR: Miklosko, Darlington, Baraclough, Plummer (Kiwomya, 35 ) , Carlisle, Perry, Rose, Connolly (Ngonge, 68 ) , Langley, Koejoe (Wardley, 90 ) , Crouch Subs not used: Harper,Morrow,
Luton: Ovendale, Fraser ( Stirling, 10 ) , Karlsen, Spring, McGowan, Whitbread, Nogan, Mansell, Holmes, Fotiadis ( Scarlett, 80 ) , Douglas ( Stein, 66 ) Subs not used: Abbey, George, Attendance: 14395 Match Report
- The End of Darlington Football Club?
When Saturday Comes (WSC) Anthony Hobbys - The more things change the more QPR remain strange
15 January ~ The recent histories of QPR and Newcastle United have thrown up a good few parallels – awash as they are with tales of the type of head-shaking nuttiness for which football is now famous. The recently released film The Four Year Plan is an excellent, if slightly frightening, fly-on-the-wall account of the lunacy that was QPR under the control of Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. It really is utterly bonkers, but however much our fans might say "only at Rangers", I'm sure our Geordie friends could have gathered more than enough footage for a feature film of their own over the last few years.
At Rangers, the unaffectionately nicknamed Tango and Cash are mercifully long gone. Now we have a new populist owner in Tony Fernandes. He is in some ways the antithesis of the last lot. He's all over Twitter. He is engaging and open with fans. He has dropped ticket prices and is buying players we have no right to afford.
However, we saw last week that, underneath it all, Fernandes and co-owner Amit Bhatia are still no-nonsense businessmen. Neil Warnock may be hard to love at times, but many felt his departure was a little harsh on a man who had lifted the Championship trophy with a team that was far greater than the sum of its parts only a few months ago. It's a little bit like Chris Hughton's situation at Newcastle.
Nevertheless, some questionable tactics, inconsistent selections and – crucially – a poor run of recent results, were enough to have Fernandes sharpening his axe. It's tough on Warnock, but maybe not completely unexpected.
Amid the furore over Warnock's departure and the swift arrival of Mark Hughes, a more immediate problem has received less attention: Rangers have no midfield. The loss of Alejandro Faurlin for the season with a cruciate ligament injury was a big blow for Rangers. Almost without being noticed, Faurlin has been (at times) sensational this season. It reached the point where QPR fans were starting to hope he played badly against the top clubs in case one of them cottoned on and whisked him away. With Joey Barton suspended and Adel Taraabt and Armand Traore off at the African Cup of Nations, our already struggling squad suddenly looks decidedly threadbare.
Once again there are some similarities with Newcastle, who themselves are missing two key players on Cup of Nations duty: Demba Ba and Cheick Tioté. On top of that, Sammy Ameobi's season seems to have arrived at a premature end through injury. Newcastle have their own gaps to fill but, much as Rangers fans might hope for some of the "new manager effect", there is no escaping the feeling that this weekend we might be asking a bit too much of our hugely popular, but bus-pass-qualifying midfield stalwart Shaun Derry.
But who knows, really? Rangers are a club with gates of 17,000 that have been signing "proper" Premier League players on serious wages from big clubs. None of it really makes sense. If you believe the tabloids (and of course I do), then by the time you read this, Newcastle might have bought Andy Carroll back at a £25 million profit and Rangers may have bought players from the likes of Chelsea or Manchester City to bolster our squad. The owners and managers may change, but the whole thing is still nuts. - Anthony Hobbs/When Saturday Comes
DERRY APOLOGIZES
MAIL/Sami Mokbel
EXCLUSIVE: Derry apologises to Cabaye over tackle that forced him off on a stretcher
Shaun Derry has offered an apology to Yohan Cabaye for the tackle that saw the Newcastle playmaker carried off on Sunday.
The Queens Park Rangers midfielder caught Cabaye on the ankle in QPR’s 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park.
Sportsmail can reveal Derry spoke to Newcastle assistant manager John Carver in the tunnel at half time to offer an explanation, insisting he had no intention of hurting his opponent.
Carver, who worked with Derry at Leeds, is understood to have accepted the midfielder’s word.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew says Cabaye’s injury is not as bad as first feared and hopes he will be available for Saturday’s visit to Fulham.
QPR midfielder Joey Barton moved yesterday to end speculation he could become a casualty of Mark Hughes’s Loftus Road revolution.
Barton said on Twitter: ‘Mark Hughes and his backroom team are very good. The camp is buzzing and I am not leaving. We are all looking forward to the challenge ahead. Not going to be easy, it never is.’
QPR on Monday night held further talks with Chelsea over defender Alex.
Rangers have already had two bids rejected, the highest being £3.5million, but they are close to submitting another improved offer. Mail
MIRROR - QPR will not mug off Cup promises Hughes
Published 22:30 16/01/12 By Simon Bird
Mark Hughes wants the FA Cup to rejuvenate QPR's season and give his new regime lift-off.
The relegation-threatened Londoners face MK Dons in a replay on Tuesday, just 48 hours after losing at Newcastle in new manager Hughes' first game in charge.
The Welshman will make a limited number of changes for the home date against the League One promotion chasers, to take a look at his squad, but has not got a vast range of options.
"I've always felt a good cup run can rub off on your league form," said Hughes.
"If we can progress in the competition, it will help our confidence. The fact we are winning games in a cup competition will help us in the league.
"We'll have to make a few changes, but it won't be wholesale."
Hughes, who won the FA Cup four times as a player, three with Manchester United and one with Chelsea, added:
"I've always tried to pay the competition the respect it deserves [with my team selection], it's a competition that has been very good for me.
"We don't have any injuries from the Newcastle game. Touch wood. It's a quick turnaround with the cup game and maybe I'll take the opportunity to take a look at the players who haven't really been involved at the weekend.
"It gives me another opportunity to understand what I've got at the football club.
"The timing of it is unfortunate. It's not easy, the closeness of the two fixtures, because it does have an effect on players in terms of staying at the top of their game."
Rangers midfielder Jamie Mackie says the players can start to put some of the "buzz" Hughes has brought to the training pitch into practice against Dons.
Hughes has seen his new charges blowing hard during some intense and sharp sessions in the last week, and Mackie believes that will eventually pay dividends.
The 26-year-old, who was a Dons player at the time of their move from Wimbledon and renaming in 2004, said: "Regardless of the competition, we need wins and we need to get back to a winning mentality at this football club. That's something we haven't had at this football club this season.
"So the FA Cup is a great place to start. It's a chance to get a win and kick-start our season. I enjoyed going back to the Dons in the first game - but I'll enjoy it even more if we beat them.
"In previous games we looked a bit more open and likely to conceding goals. But against Newcastle we looked a lot more solid.
"We've only had three or four days working with the new boss and it's exciting. He's brought a buzz to the place. That always happens when a new manager comes in.
"But the lads are buying into training. The more time we have with him, the better we'll get. Hopefully we'll get a couple more players on board to help us out. If we can do that, we'll have a great chance of staying up.
"Especially with the fixtures coming up, we know we are capable of getting points on board."
***
Karl Robinson insists his MK Dons side will be all guns blazing at Loftus Road - against the club he supports.
Robinson goes to watch QPR when he can, but is looking for an upset in Tuesday's FA Cup third round replay.
"We'll have a go at them," said the Dons boss. "When we play, we leave nothing in the tank.
"I didn't have a great playing career, but I remember playing there in Kevin Gallen's testimonial.
"It's the London club I support, and I watch them every now and then, when I get the chance.
"I don't know why I like them, but I want to go down there and enjoy pitting our wits against a very good QPR team."
Robinson has also apologised to Carlisle fans after their League One clash was postponed at the weekend due to a frozen pitch.
It meant Dons players are fresh for QPR, when they will look for revenge after two controversial decisions in the 1-1 draw a week ago.
"They were two big decisions," said Robinson. "But we have to move on." Mirror
Teamtalk - Hughes: No major overhaul
Monday 16th January 2012 15:46
Hughes: Looking at gradual improvement
Mark Hughes said there was no need to make big changes on or off the field at QPR after watching their deficiencies exposed at first hand.
Hughes' first game in charge ended in defeat on Sunday when his new side lost 1-0 at Newcastle to end the weekend in the Premier League relegation zone.
It was a 10th match without a win for the London side and they cannot afford to make that 11 if they are to avoid crashing out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
Sunday's game highlighted the problems at both ends of the field that cost Neil Warnock his job and have seen QPR make bids for striker Andrew Johnson and defenders Alex and Christopher Samba.
They have also been linked with a host of other players but Hughes was prepared to be patient when it came to ins and outs during the January transfer window.
Hughes, who was without key quartet Joey Barton, Adel Taarabt, Armand Traore and Alejandro Faurlin, said: "There are areas we can improve, that's obvious. We were missing players.
"And as the games come thick and fast, we would hope to welcome back some players and, if we can, bring players into the club who will help us.
"But it's difficult in January, we understand that. It's important that if you do target players, they have to come in and make an impact.
"It's important that we improve our goals-for column because that is hindering us at the moment.
"But we can't just isolate one unit of the team, it has to be a collective thing and if we improve all areas of the team then that will enable us to get in those positions more often, and then maybe our average conversion rate won't hinder us as much as it is maybe at the moment.
"In terms of futures, we are looking to make Queens Park Rangers better - obviously, that's the aim of everybody - and we want as many of the players who are at the club now to be part of that."
With barely 48 hours between Sunday's game and Tuesday's FA Cup third-round replay against MK Dons, Hughes admitted he would be forced to make some changes - but not many.
"We will have to make a few changes, but it won't be as wholesale as possibly people would think because it's important that I still get to know what I have got," he said.
"We have got a quick turnaround, so very quickly we have to understand who will be available.
"I need to use players who maybe haven't had much of an influence.
"So that gives me another opportunity to understand what I have got at the football club.
"The timing of it is a little bit unfortunate because of the (possible tube) strike on the Wednesday - that's why it's on the Tuesday night.
"It's not easy because it does have an effect on players' ability to play at the top of their game because of the closeness of the two fixtures.
"But, from my point of view, in terms of cup competitions, I have always taken the view that a good cup run can help your league form anyway.
"If we can progress in the competition, the opportunity to progress further will help our confidence and the fact that we are winning games, maybe, in cup competitions will help us in the league.
"I have always felt in the past that it's helped people. TEAMTALK
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