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TONY FERNANDES: I'LL STAY EVEN IF RELEGATED
-Chairman Tony Fernandes tweeted yesterday that would stay with QPR even If relegated:
In response to the the Tweet "What Fans Would REALLY Like to Hear: That IF #QPR Do Go Down - You'll Still be With Us Next Season" Tony Fernandes replied "If it happens I will be here and I'm sure all the other will. Its a project
[ "If it happens I will be here and I'm sure all the other will. Its a project. RT @QPRReport: @tonyfernandes @Amit_Bhatia99 @Ruben_E_G What Fans Would REALLY Like to Hear: That IF #QPR Do Go Down - You'll Still be With Us Next Season - Tony Fernandes February 5 Tweet
- Updated Compilation of QPR vs Wolves Match Reports & Comments
- Remaining Fixtures: Bottom Six Clubs
- Six Years Ago Today: QPR Manager Ian Holloway Shamefully Axed (Placed on "Gardening Leave")
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- Six Years Ago Yesterday: Ian Holloway's Final Game as QPR Manager (Leeds Loss): Teams & Match Reports
- On This Day in Football, February 6: The Munich Air Disaster...(And obviously, far, far less important: Two Years Ago QPR's Peterbrough Loss
- John Terry Captaincy Aftermath: Reactions - Including from England Manager, Fabio Capello
- Articles about Footballers going to China...Australian Football Promise...Chaos in Italy and York's New Stadium
- RIP: Nottingham Forest's Chairman Nigel Doughty (and Father of QPR Youth Player, Michael)
- Ex-QPR Matteo Alberti Gets a New Club
- Martin Rowlands Additional QPR Comment
PAUL WARBURTON/FULHAM CHRONICLE - QPR boss reveals surprise strike partner for Zamora
QPR boss Mark Hughes is ready to re-launch Adel Taarabt as an out-and-out attacker.
The loss of Djibril Cissé to a three-match ban after the £4million new signing was red carded in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Saturday has left Sparky with a lot of square pegs for a round hole.
The manager could have anything up to three target men ready to play alongside Bobby Zamora at Blackburn on Saturday – but what he wants is someone with a different set of skills to compliment Saturday’s scorer.
Hence the idea of pushing Taarabt one slot forward from central midfield.
Hughes added: “Adel can be moved up and play off Bobby.
“Hopefully, Heidar (Helguson) will be better for a week’s training. Jay Bothroyd might be an option and possibly DJ Campbell. There are a number of combinations we can use.
“But it’s a it’s a hard lesson for him (Cissé) after he made a good start. It’s a shame for him and us.
“Given Djibril’s injury history you can understand his reaction (to the foul by Roger Johnson), but referees have to stick to the letter of the law.” Fulham Chronicle
Ben Kosky/London 24 - May 3
Former QPR star urges club to focus on youth system
Warren Neill says young players must be brought through
Former QPR defender Warren Neill says his old club need to place more emphasis on bringing players through their youth system.
Neill was one of a glut of young players who broke into Rangers’ first team during the early 1980s to become key members of the side that reached the FA Cup final and qualified for Europe.
Striker Clive Allen, goalkeeper Peter Hucker, midfielders Gary Waddock and Wayne Fereday and Neill’s defensive colleague Ian Dawes all emerged from the junior ranks during that era.
Gone
By contrast, Richard Langley – who made his debut just over 13 years ago – was the most recent youth team graduate to hold down a regular first-team place at Loftus Road.
Neill, who was the last coach of Rangers’ under-18 side before the club gave up their Academy status in 2001, told the Times: “We should have more homegrown players in there and it hasn’t happened.
“Gone are the days when we had four, five or six in the team who had grown up together – there was a time when we’d be getting one or two through every year.
“I know it was tough with the owners that were there before [the current board], but now it looks like everyone’s pulling in the right direction and this is something they need to address.”
That downgrading from Academy level was the main reason that bigger clubs snapped up the Rs’ most promising young players of recent years before they got anywhere near the first team.
Cherry
Dean Parrett, who signed for Tottenham, and England youth international Raheem Sterling, who joined Liverpool two years ago, were just 15 years old when they left QPR.
“It’s so much easier for the big clubs now to cherry pick young players, filter out the ones they don’t want and keep the cream,” Neill added.
“But I’d still urge players to stay at a club like Rangers – you should have more chance of getting in there than going for the glory at somewhere like Manchester United.” London 24
Dave McIntyre/West London Sport - Helguson likely to return for QPR
Heidar Helguson is likely to return from injury for QPR’s vital match against fellow strugglers Blackburn on Saturday.
The veteran forward has been nursing an ongoing groin problem and missed Rangers’ last two matches.
But he will resume training this week and his expected to be available for the trip to Ewood Park.
The news is a boost for manager Mark Hughes, who will be without recent signing Djibril Cisse as the striker is suspended after being sent off against Wolves.
DJ Campbell and former Rovers player Jay Bothroyd are recovering from hamstring problems and could also be in contention.
“I think Heidar will be better having had a week off and I’m hopeful that we’ll get him back,” said Hughes.
“Jay Bothroyd could be an option and DJ possibly. We’ll be fine. Adel Taarabt can be pushed further up front as well, so I’ve got plenty options.” West London Sport
BARTON & HIS TWEETS
Dave McIntyre/West London Sport - QPR boss may speak to Barton over tweets
Mark Hughes may be running out of patience with Joey Barton’s antics on Twitter.
The QPR manager has repeatedly insisted he has no objections to Barton’s often controversial posts on the micro-blogging website and sees no need to speak to him about the issue.
But that could change amid reports the Attorney General is looking into comments made by Barton in relation to the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand saga.
“I’ll wait to see if that’s confirmed and if it is then it’s a different conversation that needs to be had,” said Hughes.
The current Attorney General – the government’s senior law officer – is Dominic Grieve QC, and part of his remit is to ensure people facing criminal allegations receive an unprejudiced fair trial.
Chelsea captain Terry, who will stand trial in July, denies racially abusing QPR defender Ferdinand during a Premier League match at Loftus Road in October. West London Sport
EALING GAZETTE/Paul Warburton
Hughes waiting to act over Barton tweets
Feb 5 2012 By Paul Warburton
MARK Hughes will wait to see what the Attorney General does next before taking action against Joey Barton over comments the QPR captain made on Twitter.
The Rs boss reckons the point where he bans players using the social networking site has yet to arrive, but there was a large intake of breath at the club on Saturday when Barton used Twitter to post views on the Anton Ferdinand-John Terry case.
The Chelsea skipper is accused of racially abusing Ferdinand in the derby game back in October. An initial hearing last week produced a trial date for Terry, who denies the charge, straight after the European Championships in July.
An unrepentant Barton (pic) also tweeted he would ‘go to jail for a month’ rather than give up ‘free speech’ he insists his nimble fingers and a mobile should allow.
But the office for Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been alerted to the tweets that might produce sub judice problems for the trial and for Barton.
Hughes said: “I’ll wait and see and if that’s the situation (that Grieve acts) – then it’s a different conversation we need to have.
“Sometimes issues in some minds become more focused when things aren’t going well – and they (tweets) become an irritation, but we’re not at that point yet.”
Gazette
GUARDIAN/Paul Doyle
Mick McCarthy confident Wolves owner won't visit dressing room again
• Mick McCarthy says owner Steve Morgan is full of support
• Manager credits assistant with key tactical switch at QPR
Mick McCarthy is thankful that he still has a job in which to be undermined. The Wolverhampton Wanderers manager may have been dismayed when the club's owner, Steve Morgan, stepped on his toes after the club's 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool last week by barging into the dressing room to berate the players, but he knows that many other chairmen would have chosen an even less attractive course of action – and sacked the manager.
McCarthy has made it clear he would not welcome another intervention by Morgan, even if it were just to congratulate the players on their first Premier League victory in two months, which is what they achieved at Loftus Road. The pair spoke about Morgan's dressing‑room incursion the day after it happened, and when McCarthy was asked whether the owner had been to see the players following their victory over Queens Park Rangers, he replied pointedly: "No, I haven't seen him and I don't think I will be."
Lest that be interpreted as a breakdown in the relationship between Morgan and the man who has been manager at Molineux since 2006 and is presiding over precisely the sort of relegation scrap that he vowed to avoid after last season's narrow escape, McCarthy added: "Can I just say something about my owner: I've won three games in 22 and I'm still here as the manager of Wolves – that's some level of support and let's not forget that. When everybody's been trying to write negative stuff about me, he's been as supportive as anybody else so I owe him a debt of gratitude."
Despite being placed under intense pressure by his team's poor results this season, McCarthy was magnanimous enough to give much of the credit for the victory that lifted Wolves out of the relegation zone to his assistant, Terry Connor. The manager explained that, with their side trailing 1-0 after a debut QPR goal for Bobby Zamora, it was Connor who suggested the half-time reshuffle in which Kevin Doyle was brought off the bench to replace the right-back Richard Stearman, with Kevin Foley dropping back into defence so that Doyle could raid from the right.
Doyle had not scored a league goal since October and his form had sunk so low that he was omitted for the last three matches and even when Emmanuel Frimpong suffered an injury in the 21st minute at Loftus Road, Doyle was overlooked as Sylvain Ebanks-Blake came on instead. However, following Connor's suggestion, the Irishman was introduced at half-time and the tactical switch transformed the game even more than Djibril Cissé's sending-off in the 33rd minute. Doyle created the equaliser for Matt Jarvis within a minute of his arrival and constantly looked menacing before scoring the winning goal in the 71st minute.
"I was interested to hear one of the tennis players, I think it was [Rafael] Nadal, talking about how they can find these shots when it's most necessary and it's the same with good footballers like Kevin Doyle," said McCarthy.
"He's had a tough time where it's just not been happening for him but the class is always there and when I needed a good substitute, Doyle proved to be the one."
Doyle's return to form and the impressive performance of Wolves once they played with an attacking formation and mindset, as opposed to the torpid caution of a first half in which Steven Fletcher was frequently isolated up front, may encourage McCarthy to go on the offensive next weekend against West Bromwich Albion, rivals in terms both of geography and league position. "We can bring them back into the relegation mix or they can put us further apart, so it's a really vital one," said McCarthy of that match.
QPR will also contest a match with big implications for the bottom, because they travel to Blackburn Rovers. Their manager, Mark Hughes, will have to find a winning formula that does not feature the suspended Cissé.
That is an obvious frustration when in the half hour before his dismissal the Frenchman had linked well with Zamora and Adel Taarabt, the triumvirate that Hughes is counting on to get QPR out of trouble so that they can pursue the more lofty ambitions that their manager believes are tantalisingly within reach.
"I knew when I came here that the most difficult part of the job would be staying in this league," said Hughes. "Once we get through this and survive, which I have every confidence we will do, then we'll have some fun here." Guardian
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