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QPR History in Photos: From the 1880s to the 21st Century - The Bushman QPR Photo Archives
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Queens Park Rangers to own a club in the Indian Football League
Chennai based club may be renamed as the Chennai Rangers FC. QPR will be owning this club along with the latest entrant in the Indian aviation Air Asia. The Air Asia owner Tony Fernandez has confirmed that they will be submitting their bid to own an I-League club.
According to Mr Prafull Patel, the league may see as many as 4 new franchisee teams from 4 different cities. These are the Dodsal group owned Mumbai Tigers (Mumbai), Air Asia & QPR (Chennai), Eagles FC (Kochi) and Jindal group (Bangalore). Indian Football Network
MAIL - David Kent - QPR may need to spend a couple of seasons in Championship, warns Fernandes
QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has given a blunt assessment of his time at the helm of the club, admitting his mistakes contributed to the club's recent relegation.Fernandes will preside over a major overhaul of the squad at Loftus Road this summer, less than two years after buying up the majority shareholding.
The Malaysian entrepreneur has spent millions in a forlorn attempt to keep the Rs in the top flight but says he is now ready to accept a period of stability in the second tier rather than aim for an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League.
Speaking in Monte Carlo, where his other major sporting investment, Caterham, are competing in this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Fernandes said: 'With QPR we are right back at the drawing board, and we are going to go back to my principles of life.
'You learn a lot when you are going down. You don't learn a lot when you are doing great.
'I am not predicting we will bounce back up straight away, but I am working hard to make sure we have the right culture and right type of people in the club.
'If that means staying in the Championship for a couple of seasons to get it right, then that is worth it.'
The AirAsia boss certainly has a full portfolio to deal with, and though the day-to-day running of his airline must take precedence, he admits things might be different at QPR and F1 back-markers Caterham had he been able to give either more of his time.
'With all due respect, if I'd spent every day at Hingham [Caterham's headquarters] and every day at Loftus Road, I dare say it would have been a bit different.
'It's easy to say I've spread myself too thinly, but I don't think that's the case. What I should have done is delegate more.
'I am not that involved in my other businesses as much and I should have been like that, but this is the danger when passion conflicts with common sense.
'You get excited and carried away and you throw away all the things you are good at - planning and analysing." Asked whether he had taken his eye off the ball, Fernandes replied: "It is an an experience, and I'm just a bit different to everyone else.
'Take Formula One. Everyone in the paddock has made huge errors in their life. They don't stand up and say 'I f***** up'. I have.
Disappointment: QPR went down despite a number of high-profile signings
'But I have decided to step up and say I could have done it better. We did a lot of things wrong and I f***** up.
'With AirAsia, right now we the most profitable airline in the world. Now did I make huge mistakes in the process? Absolutely.
'But I don't think you have to be a b*****d to be successful in sport, you just need experience, which is something you can't buy.'
Fernandes has promised a clearout of QPR's playing staff this summer, but the same cannot be said of manager Harry Redknapp, who the owner hopes will not be lured away in the coming months.
'You can never say never,' said Fernandes. 'If a massive club offers Harry a job, you can't stand in the way of it. It's his career, his life. You've got to be reasonable.
But we get on very well, we know each other, and I long for stability.
'You can't build anything successful unless you have stability. I am an old-fashioned believer in that.
'Harry is someone I trust. He's a great football manager and a great spotter of talent.'
ends Mail
QPR OFFICIAL SITE - THANK YOU RADEK [Cerny]
Goalkeeping coach David Rouse pays tribute to the departing Cerny …
Radek has been a complete professional in the time he has been with us"
David Rouse
RADEK CERNY will be heading for pastures new following the completion of his contract at QPR, and goalkeeping coach David Rouse has paid tribute to the professionalism and ability of the 39-year-old.
Cerny joined the R’s prior to the 2008/09 season and went on to make 87 appearances during his five-year stay at Loftus Road.
“People use the word ‘professional’ too widely but in Radek’s case it’s very apt,” Rouse told www.qpr.co.uk. “He has been a complete professional in the time he has been with us.
“You look at how he has carried himself as he’s gone from being first-choice in his first season to number two, down to number three and this season he has been down the pecking order at number four.
“But throughout all that, his manner about the place and his good humour has never changed and never wavered. It’s a good mark of the man. Irrespective of whether you’re playing or not, you have to put in 100 per cent and Radek has always done that.
“He enjoyed every single training session, and he had the ability to make everyone else in the group enjoy it too.
“Even though he was not in the 25-man squad this season, the work he has put in with the rest of the goalkeepers is immeasurable. He has a lot of experience and always gave good advice.”
Cerny’s defining moment for the Hoops arguably came at Watford during the 2010/11 campaign. Paddy Kenny had been between the sticks all season and looked set to remain so for the match at Vicarage Road. But it wasn’t just any game. Rangers knew victory would seal Championship glory.
Incredibly, Kenny pulled up in the warm-up and Cerny was drafted in to make his first start of the campaign in a fixture of huge importance as the R’s looked to seal a return to the Premier League after a 15-year exile.
Cerny was a more-than-able deputy and produced a solid display, keeping a clean sheet in the process as the R’s beat the Hornets 2-0.
“A lot of goalkeepers would struggle in that situation, particularly people not as experienced as Radek,” Rouse said. “But his temperament meant it wasn’t a problem for him. You knew on the day that you had no worries there.”
At 39, some may feel now is the right time for Cerny to hang up his gloves. Rouse doesn’t agree.
“I think he’s got a few more years in him, and a few more saves in him,” he said. “As a goalkeeper, the experience you have in your latter years means you don’t need to rely so much on your athleticism.
“But Radek still has those physical attributes to go with his experience and I’d like to think he has got at least two or three years left in him.
“I’d like to extend a big thanks to Radek. Throughout my time at the club I have worked with him and it has been a fantastic honour to do so. I’ll be sad to see him go but wish him all the very best for the future.” QPR
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