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- Happy 56th Birthday to Stevie Wicks
- QPR/India: South Mumbai Junior Soccer Champions battle it out to make it for the elite QPR Coaching Clinic
- Strange Non-QPR story: "Football League referee arrested on suspicion of computer hacking• Official is also FA's national referee development manager• Suspect removed from overseeing Barnsley v Peterborough
- Flashback Three Years: Brian Glanville Writing about the Situation at QPR!
- Four Year Flashback: Great Oped applicable to fans of all Football Clubs: You may not own it, but your club belongs to you" -...: Why football fans should care as much about who owns their club as they do who plays for it
- 15 Years Ago: Then-QPR Chairman Chris Wright:Wright Talking about the Need to Build the QPR Fan Base...14 Years ago, Wright talking about Club Finances - on a QPR Webcast...
- Matt Connolly Makes Championship Team of the Week - as Does Leeds' Ex- Blackburn Striker!
One Year ago after six Games....
(QPR had just dropped points in a 1-1 Home Draw vs Aston Villa, the PM watching - and we were set to get Crushed by Fulham, 6-0)
2011-2012
1 Man Utd 6 17 16
2 Man City 6 14 16
3 Chelsea 6 5 13
4 Newcastle 6 4 12
5 Liverpool 6 0 10
6 Tottenham 5 0 9
7 Stoke 6 -2 9
8 Aston Villa 6 2 8
9 QPR 6 -2 8
10 Everton 5 0 7
11 Wolves 6 -3 7
12 Arsenal 6 -5 7
13 Sunderland 5 2 5
14 Norwich 5 -2 5
15 Wigan 6 -4 5
16 Swansea 6 -5 5
17 Fulham 6 -3 4
18 Blackburn 6 -5 4
19 West Brom 6 -5 4
20 Bolton 6 -8 3
And what it looks like today, after six games
2012-13
Club Pld Pts
Chelsea 6 16
Everton 6 13
Man Utd 6 12
Man City 6 12
Tottenham 6 11
West Brom 6 11
West Ham 6 11
Arsenal 6 9
Fulham 6 9
Newcastle 6 9
Swansea 6 7
Stoke 6 7
Sunderland 5 7
Liverpool 6 5
Aston Villa 6 5
Wigan 6 4
Southampton 6 3
Norwich 6 3
Reading 5 2
QPR 6 2
Soccernet/Harry Harris - Mittal 'reviewing position at QPR'
October 2, 2012
By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent
QPR benefactor Lakshmi Mittal, Britian's wealthiest man, is reviewing his position at Loftus Road, sources have told ESPN.
It is believed the steel magnate could be ready to consider selling his one-third share in the Premier League club before Christmas.
Chairman Tony Fernandes heads the three-strong consortium in charge of Rangers with a 66% stake. He spent Monday night tweeting a defence of under-pressure manager Mark Hughes after the 2-1 home defeat to West Ham.
Hughes is facing a backlash from disgruntled Rangers fans, with Harry Redknapp being touted for the job if he fails to turn results around before the next transfer window - when the big spenders plan to buy even more players.
A source told ESPN that the West London club could be losing as much as £5 million a month, having bought virtually an entire new team during the summer and considerably raising the wage bill in the process.
Air Asia boss Fernandes persuaded Mittal to continue to back the club - but it remains to be seen how long Rangers will continue to back Hughes if rumours about the benefactor leaving turn out to be true.
QPR rely on the support of vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, who looks after the 34% holding owned by Mittal, his father-in-law.
But a Premier League chairman told ESPN on Tuesday: "Mittal wants out is the rumour in the game. It has also been suggested that he tried to get out in late August, but Fernandes begged him to stay in until he found another investor.
"He agreed to stay until October or November at the latest. The club are losing £4 million to £5million a month."
Bhatia tweeted that he had "no plans of going anywhere any time soon" but added: "When the time comes to move on, I will have to. But for now, there's loads still to be done at QPR."
It has already been suggested that the Mittal family had an option to withdraw their backing in the close season, having considered selling their shareholding a year earlier. "We had the conversation when things got very difficult," Bhatia said.
Before the season started, QPR chief executive Philip Beard told ESPN that the club's only concern was to survive in the Premier League, ensuring they would still be around when the hike in TV revenues kicks in next season. Soccernet
Soccernet/John Brewin - This year's crisis club? First call for QPR
John Brewin is the senior editor of ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter at @johnbrewinespn
Confusion reigns at Queen's Park Rangers but, then again, it often does. It seems unlikely that we are to be let behind the scenes again in the style of The Four-Year Plan, the infamous documentary that laid bare the slings and arrows of their previous ownership, but if we were then scenes of equal chaos might greet the viewer. Mark Hughes may not be as natural a television performer as a Neil Warnock or indeed Brendan Rodgers, but his narrative could be just as compelling.
An internationally famous footballing name facing the deepest crisis of his career, this is the kind of stuff the people want to see from a documentary. Being: QPR is not particularly pleasant at the moment.
The first-half performance that Hughes' team put in against West Ham United was as inept as any outfit have posted so far this season in the Premier League. Hughes, once a bright young thing of management, is in danger of not only a relegation fight but also having his previous body of work discredited. The strong work done once with Wales and Blackburn Rovers has been frittered away by unsatisfactory sojourns at Manchester City and Fulham. A manager who once felt he was in line for jobs at the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool is now rock-bottom, with the name of Harry Redknapp wafting around Loftus Road. A game at West Brom ahead of an international break – often an uncomfortable time for underfire managers – is now vital to Hughes' immediate future. In the boardroom, the expected withdrawal of the Mittal family further points to a lurching ship.
A London club of small means yet over-arching ambitions, incoherence lies at the heart of Rangers' current problems. QPR are wracked by an identity crisis. Any team featuring both Clint Hill and Esteban Granero reveals itself as one of contrasts. Twelve new players arrived in August, more than a full team, and yet the club's standing is worse than it was under Neil Warnock, the face that never fitted the Tony Fernandes regime.
A pick through summer business finds a mix of attempted box-office signings, cronyism and players inexperienced in Premier League football. And none of them is exactly cheap either. Estimates place Rangers' wage bill at 200% of turnover, utterly unsustainable even before any financial fair play controls are enforced.
Ryan Nelsen and Andy Johnson both joined up with Hughes once more, to join Nedum Onouha, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bobby Zamora in Sparky's alumni club. Johnson has already succumbed to injury, while Nelsen was dominated by Carlton Cole on Monday. And that is hardly a good sign.
Rangers' new foreign contingent are similarly to be questioned. Samba Diakite has twice been sent off for impetuous play, which says enough, while Stephane Mbia was as hapless as Nelsen in that fatal first half.
Granero's gifts are obvious, yet his head went down early on Monday. His midfield partnership with the returning Alejandro Faurlin may offer creativity, but there is a soft centre at the heart of Rangers. There is little mystery to how Kevin Nolan plays yet he was granted the freedom to make his trademark surges and he created havoc. Mark Noble could dictate play in a fashion he was last used to in the division below - a another rather telling sign.
The big-name arrivals are still more troubling. Park Ji-Sung seems an unlikely choice of captain, unless you consider his club is owned by the proprietors of Air Asia. Currently, he embodies a team lacking in leadership. Park has been a fine player in European football, but he may just be proof of the adage that Manchester United rarely let go of those who might still be of use to them. A player famed for his energy only sparked a Rangers revival when Adel Taarabt arrived in his stead to provide the drive that Park is surely expected to provide.
If there is a position and player that reveals a lack of clear direction then it is QPR's current goalkeeper. Julio Cesar is the type of big name that an aspirational club covets, and not just for its empire-building connotations. However, Cesar was culpable for the Hammers' second goal. Not the type of performance expected of a highest earner, and all while there is another high earner sat on the bench too.
Estimates of Rob Green's wages point to a possible reason for his grinning on the bench, though Cesar's error for Vaz Te's strike was the more probable cause of his jollity. Such visible schadenfreude is another pointer to impending crisis.
Cesar's arrival at the club is said to be through the work of Kia Joorabchian, the agent who numbers Carlos Tevez and indeed Mark Hughes on his client list. The Iranian former car-dealer has adopted QPR as his latest home, to follow self-appointed tenures at West Ham and Manchester City that ended in rancour. Such a presence, when it skews transfer policy and leads to conflicts of interest, can hardly assist a club fighting for safety.
This already looks a season in which survival might be the limit of QPR's ambitions. Soccernet
QPR's Chairman Fernandes Reaffirms his Support for Mark Hughes
This past Sunday (the day before QPR played West Ham), after a number of recent QPR messageboard posts (and press reports) raising questions about the continued tenure of the QPR Manager, and the name on everyone's lips, Harry Redknapp, Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) Chairman Tony Fernandes offered an expression of his support for his manager Mark Hughes: In a Sunay tweet, the QPR Chairman wrote,"Mark hughes is the best thing to happen to QPR. We have been unlucky with injuries. Bar swansea we have looked a top top side. Lots to do. But feeling good. Its not all about result on monday. Keep the faith"
Tweeting again, after QPR's latest loss, Monday evening, to West Ham United, Chairman Fernandes again expressed his continued support for and faith in manager Mark Hughes.
"Bad game but I expected it. Need all injured players back. After West Brom. And get everyone to match fitness. Patientce. Keep calm."
"Mark will sort it out. Look at his record. We would have won if we didn't go down to 10. I am relxaed and confident. Let's get all our players back and in form and fit and then let's see. Think of spurs."
"Keep calm. 6 games does not make a season. I have learnt from many wise chairman"
"That's all we had. We have 5 injuries in the back. That's the problem. You fans have to realise. It will come good."
"Correct. Don't worry. I'm calm and want to build stability which is what most fans want. There are many out there who are clueless"QPR fans don't worry. We have a great manager. New trainning ground , new stadium. Great players. This will make us stronger. Along the way to success there will be bumps. I love what we are building and I love being a RANGER. Just love it.
In buiding our airline from 2 planes to 120 we had so many ups and downs there were many depressing days. But we never stopped believing in oursleves and our peopleThank you. Some sense. We played last night with 4 centrebacks. The most brilliant manager would struggle Tony Fernandes
This past Sunday (the day before QPR played West Ham), after a number of recent QPR messageboard posts (and press reports) raising questions about the continued tenure of the QPR Manager, and the name on everyone's lips, Harry Redknapp, Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) Chairman Tony Fernandes offered an expression of his support for his manager Mark Hughes: In a Sunay tweet, the QPR Chairman wrote,"Mark hughes is the best thing to happen to QPR. We have been unlucky with injuries. Bar swansea we have looked a top top side. Lots to do. But feeling good. Its not all about result on monday. Keep the faith"
Tweeting again, after QPR's latest loss, Monday evening, to West Ham United, Chairman Fernandes again expressed his continued support for and faith in manager Mark Hughes.
"Bad game but I expected it. Need all injured players back. After West Brom. And get everyone to match fitness. Patientce. Keep calm."
"Mark will sort it out. Look at his record. We would have won if we didn't go down to 10. I am relxaed and confident. Let's get all our players back and in form and fit and then let's see. Think of spurs."
"Keep calm. 6 games does not make a season. I have learnt from many wise chairman"
"That's all we had. We have 5 injuries in the back. That's the problem. You fans have to realise. It will come good."
"Correct. Don't worry. I'm calm and want to build stability which is what most fans want. There are many out there who are clueless"QPR fans don't worry. We have a great manager. New trainning ground , new stadium. Great players. This will make us stronger. Along the way to success there will be bumps. I love what we are building and I love being a RANGER. Just love it.
In buiding our airline from 2 planes to 120 we had so many ups and downs there were many depressing days. But we never stopped believing in oursleves and our peopleThank you. Some sense. We played last night with 4 centrebacks. The most brilliant manager would struggle Tony Fernandes