Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Transfer rumors

Martin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:10:24 +0000

This week QPR has been linked with both Simon Hackney from Carlisle and Ben Watson from Crystal Palace, who reportedly wants to leave. Both are good players, and Watson (pictured) especially is higly rated, and will cost 2 million pounds. What do you think?

Future at Management?

Martin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:01:06 +0000

Apparently Flavio Briatore likes Terry Venables, and sees him as the future at QPR, according to this goal.com article. So it would seem if and when QPR is promoted, Dowie’s out and Venables is back in.

Week in Review

Martin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:54:51 +0000

This has been, all in all, a pretty good week for QPR. First, there was a 2-0 victory home against Doncaster, featuring goals from Ledesma and Blackstock and solid play from Parejo. Then, , featuring a hattrick from Ledesma. The other good news with Ledesma is that, although he’s here on loan, the team has a 2.2 million pound option for him at the end of the year, which would hopefully be exercised.

Parejo’s in a good mood

Martin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:57:36 +0000

This article from The Sun shows that Parejo isn’t worried by the team’s struggles - and would consider staying. He’s a talent, and it’s exactly this type of player QPR needs to sign to become a higher profile club.

Rowlands in against Doncaster?

Martin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:53:15 +0000

This goal.com article suggests that Martin Rowlands and Hogan Ephraim will be in for this week’s match against Doncaster. Bringing the captain back in should help bring some chemistry to a team which badly needs it after last week’s implosion.

What’s new at Loftus Road

Martin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:43:27 +0000

This video shows some of the changes made to the club and to the stadium since Flavio and Co. took over. While the changes look good, they serve to underscore the reason “Chelsea of the Championship” is not an accurate moniker for this team. Roman Abramovich at Chelsea is more concerned with football (and has aspirations supposedly to one day manage his team) than turning Chelsea into a cash cow. Briatore and Ecclestone and Mittal want QPR to be a “global brand” and most of their investment has been in branding. Remember when they announced that there would be an exciting midmatch message about the clubs future - everyone thought they were going to announce Zidane as their manager. What happened? They announced a new club logo. QPR won’t be a national brand, let alone a “global brand” unless they win matches and are promoted and win in the Premiership. So they should invest in players first (and a better manager) and then work on branding - and Serie C signings don’t really count. But the video is still worth seeing.

QPR spanked by Sheffield United away

Martin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:13:04 +0000

Sheffield United beat QPR 3-0 at Bramall Lane this past weekend. And by all observers, QPR looked BAD. Manchester City left-behind Sun Jihai put in a steller performance on the wings to facilitate Billy Sharp’s hattrick. QPR created few chances (except for some bad misses by Dexter Blackstock). All in all, it was a disappointing day for a team interested in promotion. None of the new signings seem to be standing out, and there isn’t too much time left to waste getting this team together.

How safe is Dowie?

Martin — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:34:19 +0000

There has been a lot of speculation on Iain Dowie’s future at Loftus Road. If one looks at his career, he has had much more success in getting teams promoted than keeping them in the Premiership. I had the sneaking suspicion ever since his appointment that he would stay through promotion, but if QPR is promoted, he would be replaced. This article, which I highly recommend reading for its summary of the summer signings, suggests that others have that suspicion too. There have been suggestions of tensions between Dowie and the ownership, but these have been denied and QPR hasn’t lost yet. How long will he be around - a month, a year, into the future? Right now, it’s anyone’s guess. What do you think?

Hello!

Martin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:53:56 +0000

Hi everybody! My name is Martin, and I am excited to be blogging this momentous season for Queen’s Park Rangers. I apologize for starting after the season began, but QPR is off to a great start, having beaten Barnsley 2-1 at home in their Championship opener and Swindon Town 3-2 in the Carling Cup.

I say this season will be momentous, because the team has an exciting ownership group featuring Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore of Formula 1 fame (a pair that know quite a bit about sports ownership) and Lakshmi Mittal, England’s richest man. They have pledged to not only fill Loftus Road, but to get the team promoted and turn QPR into a powerhouse and a global brand. So it’s great to be along for the ride. The bettors have pegged QPR for promotion, (SkyBet has QPR at 5-1 to win outright, and 13/8 to be promoted, behind only Birmingham) so there is a great chance this season.

As far as squad changes, there has been a flurry of summer activity for Iain Dowie’s side, but mostly small transfers in or out, including a few frees. The biggest signing was Kaspars Gorkšs from Blackpool. However, the loan of youngster Daniel Parejo from Real Madrid may be the move with substantial long-term impact as it may signal similar moves in the future as Real president Ramon Calderon is apparently good friends with the QPR ownership. So continue to stop by, because I think it could be a season to remember!