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Friday, October 18, 2013

#QPR Snippets: Chris Wright With Gerry Francis...Rob Green on Last Season...1901 QPR Photos...Video: Terry Venables' First Game in Charge of QPR - 33 Years ago Today



- Chris Wright's Memoirs


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 RODNEY MARSH TO MILLWALL?Never heard this before...According to Millwall History
In early 1966  (3 months before QPR signed Marsh), Millwall could have bought Rodney Marsh..

"...With Millwall and Hull City neck and neck at the top of the table, Billy Gray decided to changes the team around.  Hugh Curran  was sold to Norwich City for £12,500.  In came 20 year old Irishman Eamon Dunphy, for £8,000, who had spent just one season at York City since his move from Man Utd. His signing was a risk in that he was not a straight replacement for Curran, more of a midfield playmaker, not the all action hero the Millwall crowd had come to love.   "Gray had intended to make a double swoop, but the board refused to release the £5,000 needed to sign 21 year old Rodney Marsh from Fulham. " Millwall


EVENING STANDARD - October 18, 2013

Being dropped by QPR was worse than stick over England, says Rob Green
Rob Green has been vilified by the nation and publicly humiliated by Fabio Capello but nothing hurt him more than when he was sitting on the bench at Queens Park Rangers last season.

It is a surprising revelation as Green reflects on his highs and lows during a candid interview at the club’s training ground.

Few players have been through as much adversity on the pitch in recent seasons as the goalkeeper. Many fans unfairly made Green the scapegoat for England’s failure at the last World Cup even though he only played one match in that tournament.

That was in the opening game when Green’s mistake handed Clint Dempsey an equaliser and the United States a point.

England never appeared to recover from that blow, Green was heavily criticised, and England coach Capello added to the punishment by dropping him in favour of David James. The switch could not disguise the team’s shortcomings and they went out with a whimper, losing 4-1 to Germany in the last 16.

Still, that heartache was nothing compared to the indignity of losing his place to Julio Cesar in September last year, just weeks after former manager Mark Hughes convinced him to join QPR to be his No1. In fact, there were only 70 days between Green arriving from West Ham and the Brazil international pitching up at Loftus Road.

Green told Standard Sport: “Last season was tough in that all my adult life I have been a first-team goalkeeper somewhere and all of a sudden I wasn’t playing every week. I felt I lost a bit of my identity as a person.

“Playing on a Saturday is everything to me, what I do the job for and suddenly it was gone. I could relate to the guys who are retired and talk about how much they miss matches. I felt in a similar position.

“Was it harder than what happened with England? Absolutely. With QPR, I was left out for a much more sustained period. For a couple of months I wasn’t playing. It was something out of my control. I couldn’t affect the situation.

“After the World Cup I had a long period of getting stick from fans but I get that anyway. That side of thing you can deal with.”

Suffering two heavy blows with club and country in such a short period of time may have broken some men but, instead of sulking, Green decided to head to his local gym.

He sought the help of a Hungarian personal trainer called Anna-Maria, whose speciality is mixed martial arts, to toughen him up — something which may come in handy for QPR’s trip to Millwall tomorrow.

Green said: “I knew at the start of last season it was going to be a frustrating time and I wondered if there was anything I could improve on, develop or change in some way.

“It would have been easy to hide in a corner or finish playing but it’s something I love doing.

“For me I just kept working and believing. Each time you get a knock it’s about bouncing back harder than before.

“I thought a change of scenery, doing fitness work away from people at the club with an expert in the field, would be good.

“So I do three 90-minute sessions a week straight after training, which is two hours, so it ends up as quite a work-out.”

It has certainly paid off. Green’s fortunes have improved at QPR since Harry Redknapp replaced Hughes as coach last November and now he is arguably in the form of his life.

Following Rangers’ relegation from the Premier League, Green was re-instated as first choice in the Championship and he has repaid them by setting a club record of eight successive clean sheets to help them climb to second in the table.

He is not the only one to enjoy a change of fortune as the QPR dressing room is a much happier place from the one that was split by cliques and resentment during their nightmare of last season.

The subject has just been revisited in Redknapp’s new autobiography, with the QPR manager complaining of how toxic it was.

“For us what happened last season, all the problems, we just want to put it behind us now,” said Green. “From the top, middle and bottom of the club, you’d like to think everyone learned some stark lessons.

“The start of the season has helped turn the atmosphere around and not just at home games. We went to Yeovil and more than 2,000 fans were there, whereas we’d go to places like Sunderland last season and there were around 300.

“I think the opening day was a key turning point. We came from behind against Sheffield Wednesday to win. When they went ahead you could hear the whole crowd go ‘oh no, not again’, but we won and it just lifted the mood and everyone wanted to keep that momentum.”

After overcoming such large setbacks, Green will hope he can too. Evening Standard



Gianni Paladini is back in the News...

- Flashback: Paladini Leaves QPR - A Look Back at the Paladini "Era" at QPR


BIRMINGHAM MAIL

Gianni Paladini claims to have signed agreement for sale of Birmingham City
17 Oct 2013 19:36

 Gianni Paladini has claimed he has a signed agreement with Peter Pannu to buy Birmingham City and is prepared to fly to Hong Kong to talk to Carson Yeung.
Gianni Paladini has claimed he has a signed agreement with Peter Pannu to buy Birmingham City and is prepared to fly to Hong Kong to talk to Carson Yeung.

 Paladini says has no idea why heard nothing back from Hong Kong on his plans to buy the club and says it is 'unprofessional'.

 But he said he was prepared to fly to Hong Kong to speak to Carson Yeung directly.

Earlier we reported how Gianni Paladini was set to speak out over his latest bid to buy Birmingham City.

 The Solihull businessman and former Queens Park Rangers chairman has been trying to strike a deal for several months.

 Matters came to a head a fortnight ago when Paladini was convinced an agreement had been reached.

 Tonight, Paladini spoke publicly about his second, major attempt to complete a takeover of Blues on Free Radio 80s Birmingham.
www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-gianni-paladini-claims-6201972

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Audio - Can Listen again to Paladini on the Radio Thursday Evening "
FREE RADIO

 Paladini Speaks

 Listen again to the man who wants to buy Blues, Gianni Paladini, talking to Free Radio…

 Gianni Paladini joined Tom Ross for a special programme on Free Radio 80s, where he confirmed he still wants to buy Birmingham City.

 Paladini told fans that he has a signed agreement with Peter Pannu for sale of he club, and said he is prepared to fly to Hong Kong to speak directly to Carson Yeung.

 If you missed it, you can listen here…


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