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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

QPR Report Wednesday: Birthday for 1967 QPR Hero Ron Hunt...First Floodlight Match at Loftus Road...Taarabt Wants Morocco...,Chairman Meeting CEO Today...Neil Warnock: QPR Lost Its Soul

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- Last Meeting (Newcastle won 1-0)  QPR: Kenny, Young, Gabbidon, Ferdinand, Hill, Wright-Phillips, Derry, Buzsaky, Mackie, Helguson, Bothroyd. Subs: Cerny, Orr, Hall, Campbell, Smith, Ephraim, Macheda.


- Chelsea's Tactical "Secrets" Left in the Garbage Can--------- Diagram of The Chelsea "Plan"



Tony Fernandes ‏@tonyfernandes
Got to ask the expert @philipb1. As a fan and owner I would love to see standing. But am not sure the expert view on it. Phil who I'm meeting tmw will no doubt brief me."

QPR's BILLY TWOMEY one of the Promising young Goalies Called up for Special England Goalie Training :-*

FA - In safe hands

Tuesday, 18 December, 2012

Young English goalkeepers selected for training camp at St. George's Park

A group of young English goalkeepers will be at St. George's Park in January for a dedicated goalkeeping training camp.

Over the course of four days, 23 of England's most promising keepers will train with England Under-21 goalkeeping coach Martin Thomas and his U19s and U17s equivalent Simon Smith.

Meeting up on Monday 7 January, the younger batch of 11 players will arrive including the likes of Newcastle's Freddie Woodman and Arsenal's Ryan Huddart, who have both represented England at youth level this season.

Following their two day training camp, another 12 keepers will arrive on Wednesday 9 January to undergo a similar schedule with Thomas and Smith.

Included in the second group of older players are 'keepers such as England U19s man Jordan Pickford, Sheffield United's George Willis and Manchester City's Angus Gunn.

England U18s pair Luke Coddington of Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday's Cameron Dawson have been invited, along with U17 capped Callum Burton.

The Squads

7-8 January: Jack Walton (Bolton Wanderers), Billy Twomey (Queens Park Rangers), Alfie Whiteman (Tottenham Hotspur), Joe Tupper (Chelsea), Luke Southwood (Reading), Lewis Ward (Reading), Sam Howes (West Ham United), Bradley Collins (Chelsea), Ryan Huddart (Arsenal), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United), Dean Henderson (Manchester United).

9-10 January: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Alex Palmer (West Bromwich Albion), Callum Burton (Shrewsbury Town), Dan Atkinson (Leeds United), Charlie Grainger (Leyton Orient), Ted Smith (Southend United), George Willis (Sheffield United), Luke Coddington (Middlesbrough), Cameron Dawson (Sheffield Wednesday), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Ben Garrett (Crewe Alexandra), John Sutherland (Manchester United).  The FA


 
Ham and High

Taarabt commits to Morocco for African Cup of Nations

Wednesday, December 19, 2012  
QPR playmaker Adel Taarabt has confirmed he wants to play for Morocco at the African Nations Cup next month.

Hoops manager Harry Redknapp last week revealed he had asked Taarabt to miss the tournament to stay and help struggling QPR in their battle to avoid relegation from the Barclays Premier League.

But Taarabt, 23, is hoping he earns a recall by his country for the continental finals, which take place in South Africa from January 19 to February 2.

He has been out of favour with Morocco recently but is playing to impress national team coach Rachid Taoussi, who took charge in the summer.

“I will do everything I can to prove to him that I deserve to be there,” Taarabt told the African football blog on www.lequipe.fr.

Discussing Redknapp’s request for him to stay in London, Taarabt said: “He came to see me to ask me not to go but I told him, ‘If they call me, I can’t refuse, boss. I love my country, I love the Moroccan people and football means a lot to them’.

“I warned him that the only solution was that the coach doesn’t call me up.”

Taarabt added: “The coach isn’t obliged to take me. I hope to be at the African Nations Cup but even if I’m not there, and that would be painful, I will be the biggest Morocco supporter.”

Taarabt scored twice as QPR beat Fulham at the weekend to register their first Premier League win of the season.

He has excelled under Redknapp since the former Tottenham manager replaced Mark Hughes at Loftus Road, and is delighted to be reunited with the boss he played under briefly at White Hart Lane.

Former Spurs man Taarabt said: “He is a peerless motivator. You believe you are the best player in the world when he talks to you.

“Before matches he is very strong. When you go on the pitch you fear nothing. At the end of the match against Fulham, he came to me to say, ‘I told you that you were as good as Berbatov’.”

Taarabt has been linked with a host of major clubs but stressed he is in no hurry to leave QPR.

He said: “I see all the clubs linked with my name but I’ve just signed for four years at QPR. The chairman has said that he wouldn’t see me. I don’t know what would happen if someone offered 20 million. But I love the club and the fans. And they love me too.” Ham and High


QPR OFFICIAL SITE - TONY: ‘I WON’T RUN AWAY
Fernandes insists he’s here for the long-haul …
QPR CHAIRMAN Tony Fernandes has hit back at rumours suggesting he could leave Loftus Road if the R’s bid to beat the drop is unsuccessful.

Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that the R’s head-honcho could walk away from the club, but the 48 year-old – speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk – insists he is here for the long haul.

"Come what may, in May, we'll still be here,” he said.

"I'm firmly committed to the club. I'm not someone who's going to run away from things.

"There are still a lot of good things happening. The training ground is well on track and the stadium plans are progressing. We're hopeful of getting category two status in the Academy.

"There's no change to our off-the-field strategy. There are lots of good things going on.”

He added: "We inherited a club that needed a hell of a lot of work and we'll continue to progress with our short, medium and long term goals.

"I'm a strong character who has been through a hell of a lot in life. The aviation business isn't for those with a weak heart.

"But I've got to say, the run of results - before Harry came in - really affected me. It's been really tough.

"I'm the leader and it's a great shame that after so much honest effort we're where we are in the table.”

Saturday’s victory against Fulham lifted Rangers off the foot of the Barclays Premier League table, extending the R’s unbeaten run under Harry Redknapp to four matches.

And whilst the R’s remain five points adrift of safety, Fernandes is confident Redknapp can turn the tide in W12.

"Harry is a special manager,” he said.

"If he wasn't available, I would probably have persevered with Mark, but Harry is a fantastic manager.

"I've known him for years going back to when he was at West Ham. Harry being available swung it for us.”

He added: "We're all in this together. No shirking. Let's see what Harry and the boys do.

"It's up to the 11 guys on the pitch to make it happen for us now.

"If we can pick up a couple of more wins before the New Year, we're back to where we were this time last year.

"Coming off a win and three draws, there's a bit of renewed confidence about the place now.”  QPR


Standard

Queens Park Rangers lost their soul after sacking me, says Neil Warnock

Leeds boss is still sore over his exit from QPR but is relishing the clash with his old adversary Rafael Benitez
Action man: Neil Warnock is enjoying life at Leeds

‘After I left, it became a club for mercenaries. QPR have wasted a lot of money and got nothing out of it’ - Neil Warnock

Simon Johnson

18 December 2012

It has been a source of regret for Neil Warnock that he has had to wait a year to get another chance to cause an upset against Chelsea.

Tomorrow night his Leeds side will reach the semi-final of the Capital One Cup if they can beat a Chelsea team suffering from jet-lag and a lack of confidence following their failure at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan.

Understandably, the 64-year-old has been excited about the tie since the draw was made seven weeks ago but it has also caused him to look back on the past with much anguish.

It is 14 months since the then Queens Park Rangers boss engineered a 1-0 win over the millionaires from Stamford Bridge.

For Warnock it was arguably the greatest win of his managerial career but less than three months later he was sacked.

QPR had suffered a dip in form, yet they were still clear of the Premier League’s bottom three and considering he took the club from Championship strugglers to promotion in just over a year, one might have expected ­Warnock to be given the chance by chairman Tony Fernandes to strengthen the squad in the January transfer window.

Instead, just eights days into 2012, he was replaced by Mark Hughes, who went on to spend a fortune during a woeful 10 months, which brought only six wins in 30 League games.

Rangers are now facing a real challenge to beat the drop and, significantly, new boss Harry Redknapp has turned to many of Warnock’s signings such as Shaun Derry, Clint Hill, Jamie Mackie and Adel Taarabt, to get them out of trouble.

That has made his memories of his time at Loftus Road all the more bittersweet and he told Standard Sport: “Tony and the owners had their own ideas so you can’t blame them for that — I just think they lost the soul of the club when I left. It became a club for mercenaries.

“I felt the staff and me did a miracle job to just keep them in the Championship and then, to get a promotion-winning team. I deserved more loyalty.

“But there were certain individuals who became too influential on pushing managers’ names forward, players’ names forward and the board got sucked into spending a lot of money they didn’t have to.

“To have the carpet whisked away from under my legs was very unfair. In hindsight, they have wasted a lot of money and got nothing out of it. They’ve not got any better and are using my players rather than some of the millionaires.

“What happened was the most disappointing thing to happen to me in my career, more so than the way Sheffield United were relegated.”

That is some statement from ­Warnock, especially as he prepares to come face-to-face with Chelsea interim coach Rafael Benitez.

Warnock has always resented Benitez for fielding a weakened ­Liverpool team in a key game against struggling Fulham at the end of the season in 2007.

Benitez wanted to rest his men ahead of the Champions League Final two weeks later and Fulham took advantage by claiming a crucial win as they ended up finishing above Warnock’s Sheffield United by one point.

You get the impression Warnock would love to talk more about it but Benitez reportedly sent him an email threatening to sue him if he did.

Benitez has bigger problems to worry about right now. The Chelsea fans are still calling for his dismissal and his impact on the team since he replaced Roberto di Matteo has been limited.

Though he may not say it publicly, Warnock certainly senses an opportunity for revenge. He added: “I’ve never been in a position like Benitez where the fans have been against me from the start like he’s got now. I’ve never had hostility like he’s got there.

“I wish I’d got those players to work with, they’re fabulous. They have two teams who can quite easily play in all the competitions and do well.

“Obviously, I know how to beat Chelsea from what I did with QPR last year and I will take some of the lessons from that game into this one.”

There is just one significant difference and that is Warnock has an eye on a big Championship game against ­Middlesbrough at the weekend and is considering rotating his squad. He hopes to win promotion with Leeds this season so that he can take on the Blues more regularly.

However, former Chelsea and current Leeds chairman Ken Bates would enjoy inflicting more pain on his old club’s owner Roman Abramovich and is keen that Warnock plays a full-strength side.

The manager said: “Middlesbrough is more important to me personally and there are a few niggles I don’t want to risk. Ken wants to win the game more than anything and has tried to influence my team selection but I won’t let him affect that. But we will still give it everything and whoever wins, will have a great chance to win the competition. Chelsea are strong favourites. But every game is winnable for us.”

Leeds have already proved that by knocking out Premier League Southampton and Everton this term. Warnock said: “Everton put a strong team out and were gutted when we beat them. We have played well in every round but the victory over Everton was one of the best performances this season.”

But however good that victory was it still does not match up to the triumph over Chelsea last term. The Blues, then flying under Andre Villas-Boas before it all came to a sorry end, went into the match with only one defeat in eight League games.

Warnock said: “I think that win started his [Villas-Boas’s] downfall. No one coming to the game that day, including QPR fans, though we had a chance.

“All I kept telling the players was how we were going to beat them. I know they had two men sent off, but that didn’t help us, we actually played better 11 v 11. It was a fantastic day, to beat Chelsea when we were nearly getting relegated just over 12 months earlier, it doesn’t come much better than that.”

The stunning victory was overshadowed by the John Terry/Anton Ferdinand race row, which resulted in the Chelsea captain being banned for four-games by the Football Association.

The Blues were at the centre of another controversy this season when they alleged referee Mark Clattenburg racially abused John Obi Mikel. The FA cleared Clattenburg and gave Mikel a three-game ban and £60,000 fine for threatening the official. During the FA investigation, Warnock accused Chelsea of trying to “kill the referee”.

Today, though, he said: “They know they made a mistake and on reflection won’t be very happy with their actions. They’re bigger than that, but we all make mistakes. I don’t think there’s much wrong, it’s a great club.”

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football....k-8423 276.html






- QPR TRUST now Partnered with the Football Social Alliance





   Neil Warnock quoted in yesterday's Guardian"...I'm not into this loyalty thing now," he said. "My advice to young managers is: 'If you get a chance to go to a bigger club, go.' You'll get the sack anyway so why not take the opportunity. You get kicked in the teeth if you stay so you can't win either way..." The Guardian




TABLE After Last Newcastle-QPR Meeting (QPR 17 Points from 21 Games)
- Bottom Ten
Everton 21 25
Sunderland 21 24
Aston Villa 21  24
Fulham 21 23
WBA 21 22
Wolves 21 18
Blackburn 21 17
QPR 21 17
Bolton 21 16
Wigan 20 15


CURRENT TABLE
Man Utd    17    42
Man City    17    36
Chelsea    16    29
Tottenham    17    29
Everton    17    27
Arsenal    17    27
West Brom    17    27
Norwich    17    25
Stoke    17    24
Swansea    17    23
West Ham    17    23
Liverpool    17    22
Fulham    17    20
Aston Villa    17    18
Newcastle    17    17
Sunderland    17    16
Southampton    16    15
Wigan    17    15
QPR    17    10
Reading    17    9





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