After nine years at the club Martin Rowlands made a quiet deadline day exit from the club earlier this week, followed closely by Bradley Orr.
Facts: Martin Rowlands signed on a free transfer from Brentford in the summer of 2003 and won the club’s Player of the Year award in his first full season as his 12 goals helped the R’s win promotion under manager Ian Holloway. He went on to captain Rangers and has been one of the club’s most enduring characters. He made 217 appearances across almost nine years under ten different permanent managers at full back, winger and central midfield. He won five caps for the Republic of Ireland but ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments for a second time in 18 months while picking up the last of those against Montenegro in 2009. He scored 33 league and four League Cup goals for the R’s. The club agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent on deadline day which paved the way for a free transfer to League One Colchester – he played briefly at that level earlier this season during a loan spell with Wycombe.
Quotes: "QPR has been a great part of my life and a period in my career that I will always remember and look back on fondly. The fans have always been fantastic to me and I really appreciate all their support over the years. Hopefully I did well enough for them during my time at the Club. I am forever grateful to them.
My first goal for QPR was away to Wrexham and I remember that very well. But a special goal for me was in that first season when we played Swindon at home. We needed to win because we had Bristol City chasing us and I managed to score in a 1-0 win. It wasn't the greatest goal ever but I remember it because it was a very important goal at that time. And I scored against Wolves at Loftus Road on TV with a good strike and we went on to win that 1-0. They are the goals that I really remember over the years but I was always more concerned with the team winning rather than what I did or didn't do in the game. I was always more focused on how the team played and the team doing well." - Martin Rowlands
Opinion: In 1989 QPR plundered near neighbours Brentford for a tricky winger by the name of Andy Sinton. This proved to be something of a masterstroke as Sinton’s performances at Loftus Road won him international recognition with England and attracted interest from a host of big name clubs. QPR, as they did with most of their good players at the time, accepted a cash offer from somewhere else and Sinton joined the revolution at Sheffield Wednesday. He was abused to such a level on his various returns with the Owls that he admitted he used to fear games against QPR.
The next time we uncovered a diamond in the rough at Griffin Park his name was Martin Rowlands, and this week he quietly left Loftus Road with his contract terminated by mutual consent after almost nine years at Loftus Road.
Loyalty only works one way in football. Had Rowlands walked away from QPR in 2004 when his performances on the wing had played a large part in getting the club promoted to the Championship, or in 2007 when he was the star performer in the centre of midfield with Luigi De Canio as manager, then I’m sure he’d have been booed and given the “Rangers reject” treatment on any subsequent returns.
But Rowlands stayed with QPR until they didn’t want him anymore, and now he’s agreed to leave before his contract is up. He’s nothing more than dead wood to us all now apparently, another name on the squad list we no longer make any use of sapping wages from the club for no return. Supporters demand loyalty from their players but rarely return it.
Rowlands was the last remaining member of that 2003/04 promotion side left at the club. Released by Wycombe as a junior he attracted league scouts to Farnborough Town where he picked up his career and eventually earned a £45,000 move to Brentford where he developed a reputation as a tough, nuggety central midfield player. He arrived at QPR in 2003 on a free transfer despite suffering a broken leg towards the end of the 2002/03 season, recommended by QPR’s wonderfully talented chief scout of the time Mel Johnson. Although he started the season at right full back he soon settled into an attacking winger’s role.
It’s easy to forget, given his later reincarnation as the central midfield engine room at Loftus Road, that Rowlands was actually a tricky, goal scoring wide man in that first season. All hair gel and purposeful running, Rowlands scored 12, often spectacular, goals that season including a crucial one in the final home game against Swindon and then set up Chris Carr’s hilarious own goal in the promotion sealing win at Hillsborough a week later. QPR fans had spent most of that week sweating on his fitness for the game, and injuries were often a theme of Rowlands’ time with the club.
He scored another fabulous goal in a 2-2 draw up at Sunderland shortly after promotion but under Gary Waddock and then John Gregory he moved into the centre of midfield and became the lynch pin for the entire team during some very difficult times. When Flavio Briatore bought the club and appointed Luigi De Canio as manager Rowlands stepped up a level and won the club’s Player of the Year award for a second time in 2008. A performance in a 4-2 win at Watford one Christmas stands out as a particular highlight, he was absolutely amazing that day.
It seemed that the newly moneyed Rangers would suit Rowlands down to the ground, finally playing in a good QPR team surrounded by better players he could showcase his true talent rather than scrapping for survival each year. As the managers came and went, Rowlands remained the constant in the side – always performing well in a variety of team formations, styles and attitudes. He revelled in the attacking ethos of Jim Magilton, shone under the more negative Paulo Sousa, and passed it with the best of them when Luigi De Canio was preaching total football. He could turn his hand to anything and excel at it.
The Republic of Ireland started to pay serious attention to him but it was to be full international call ups that would eventually curse him. On the cusp of the full squad in January 2008 he ruptured his knee ligaments turning awkwardly on the turf at Pride Park. Paulo Sousa’s team won 2-0 that day, but the sight of Rowlands being carried round in front of the away end in the ghastly yellow and black away kit of the time with his hands behind his head was the lasting image of the game and it was the best part of a year before we saw him again. A few short weeks previously he’d been burying a winning goal against eventual champions Wolves off the underside of the bar from fully 30 yards out at the Loft End.
When Rowlands returned Jim Magilton was the manager but it was like he’d never been away. He teamed up with Ben Watson in midfield at the start of a wonderful month of form that saw QPR winning and scoring goals for fun. Ireland came calling again but it was while playing for Trappatoni’s side against Montenegro that he ruptured his knee ligaments for a second time – a different knee this time, but as at Derby it happened while turning rather than challenging somebody else for possession. Another year on the sidelines, another heartbreaking set back, you couldn’t help but feel for him.
What happened last season I’m not sure we’ll ever know. As he neared a return from injury Rowlands was described by Neil Warnock as “like a new signing” and a couple of substitute appearances brought the Loftus Road faithful to their feet. But then he disappeared from first team duties, even over Christmas when we ran out of central midfielders to such an extent Kyle Walker and Matt Connolly started in the middle of the park together at Leeds.
The usual rumours did the rounds – Rowlands had fallen out with Warnock, Rowlands had gone over Warnock’s head to complain about lack of first team action and so on. Some also recalled a time when Rowlands removed Paul Hart from the field at Loftus Road amidst a hail of abuse, making an obscene gesture, apparently to the crowd, as he went. Rowlands deserves better than for too much stock to be placed in any of this. In my opinion, whatever he did or Warnock thought he’d done, the manager cut off his nose to spite his face at times by not picking him. Surely Rowlands would have been a better option for that Leeds match?
Amidst the celebrations at the end of the season when the Championship trophy was lifted at Loftus Road, it was a shame to see Rowlands and Lee Cook excluded from the presentation and lap of honour. The pair of them stood, applauding with the rest of us, on the periphery in their official club tracksuits. I always thought that was a little needless, those two deserved to be up there for what they’d done for the club over the years but were forced to watch like a pair of unpopular teenagers ostracised from the group. Like I say, loyalty only works one way in football.
Rowlands, now 32, just didn’t have another reinvention left in him. Loan spells with Millwall last term and Wycombe this didn’t go well and he has decided to cut his ties with the club and try and play regularly again for Colchester United. For that he deserves credit, to go with the thanks for nearly a decade of excellent service in W12.
The sort of player – ability and attitude wise – that everybody wants at their club.
Facts: Orr signed for QPR in the summer of 2010 for a fee in the region of £500,000 from Championship rivals Bristol City with whom he’d spent six years. A steady right full back from Liverpool, a product of the Newcastle youth set up, Orr scored once against Scunthorpe in 43 league and cup appearances for QPR before leaving for Blackburn on deadline day for an undisclosed fee. Quotes: "I think the age he's at gives us a little bit more experience in that position. Bradley will bring us experience and another option." – Steve Kean, Blackburn manager
"I'm just really happy, it has been a long time coming, I'm so excited, I'm really buzzing at the minute. I've wanted this move so bad, I'm just so delighted it has been done, I'm now chomping at the bit to get started. When you look around the squad it is such a talented squad with a mixture of experience and youth and I want to stamp my authority on the Premier League and do as good a job for Blackburn Rovers as I can. The set up is different class and I'm just really looking forward to it." -Bradley Orr
“Thank you so much to everyone involved at QPR! Nothing but positive memories and only good things to say about a great club with great people.” @bradleyorr2
Opinion: Bradley Orr has only been with QPR for a fraction of the time that Martin Rowlands has, but his departure is another that put me in a bit of a sombre mood when it was announced. All those players added to the squad by Warnock last summer spoke so excitedly about wanting a crack at the Premiership, but sadly in most cases they’re just not quite good enough and so despite winning the club’s place at the top table they’re now being replaced. With six more signings now added it’s highly likely that only Paddy Kenny from our promotion team is going to be guaranteed a starting spot.
That’s not only a product of the cold and ruthless modern game, where loyalty counts for nothing and three of the last four managers to win automatic promotion from the Championship have been sacked within eight months of doing so, but also the way Warnock built that team last summer. Orr, like Shaun Derry, Clint Hill and others, was an experienced Championship performer. Steady, consistent, unspectacular, never letting anybody down. You need more than that in the top division.
He was the sort of player QPR should have signed years ago when they were pissing around bringing in people like Daniel Parejo for games against Doncaster Rovers, and the effect of Warnock recognising that and adding six or seven experienced Championship players and Adel Taarabt to his squad was Rangers’ promotion back to the big time after a 15 year absence. It was definitely better late than never for Orr, who was a genuine recognised right full back which QPR had been without pretty much since David Bardsley left. Matthew Rose just one of many out of position centre backs used in that position since those days.
Orr was a steady seven out of ten player for us last season, but was replaced by Luke Young after promotion and has struggled somewhat when called upon in the top division. While thanking him for his professionalism, performance level and effort at Loftus Road you cannot help but fear for him at his new club Blackburn.
Steve Kean spoke throughout December of setting ambitious targets and budgets for January. The window is now closed and Orr is the headline arrival – a right full back not good enough for QPR, one of Rovers’ main rivals at the bottom of the league. It’s a perverse signing from a club that has also forced a centre back that doesn’t want to play for them anymore to stay while agreeing to cancel the contract of one who would have happily remained so Tottenham can have him for free. Bizarre club.
Facts: Connolly, a graduate of the Arsenal youth academy, was playing on loan for Championship strugglers Colchester when QPR spent £1m to bring him across London in January 2008. He was one of our first major signings post Flavio Briatore takeover and really seemed to buy into the fabric of QPR and enjoy his time here. He was highly regarded by supporters who named him their Young Player of the Year in 2009 but in more recent times he has struggled for form and has only made seven appearances this season, his last coming against his former club Arsenal on New Year’s Day. Rangers have won one and lost five of the games he has played this season. He joins Championship side Reading on a six month loan deal where he will be reunited with his centre half partner of old Kaspars Gorkss – the pair helped QPR keep 25 clean sheets on their way to promotion last season. He has made 125 appearances for QPR so far scoring twice, including one in Neil Warnock’s first game in charge against West Brom.
Quotes: "I know how good a player Kaspars is - and Reading fans have seen that this season. And I have kept an eye on the Championship results and this back four have kept quite a few clean sheets and done really well this season. They are all very good players, so now it's up to me to work hard and to try and get in the team, show everyone what I can do, and help the lads as much as possible. It has been good playing in the Premier League this season, I've learned a lot from the games I have played. Now I have to concentrate on using my experience to help this team push on." - Matthew Connoly
Opinion: Considering QPR’s promotion last season was built on a defence that kept 25 clean sheets, it seems strange that none of that back four now commands a place in the team and three of them are now playing their football elsewhere. Bradley Orr has gone to Blackburn, Clint Hill must now surely be third in line behind Taye Taiwo and Armand Traore and Kaspars Gorkss left for Reading in the summer.
The Gorkss sale made no sense at all to me. Presumably Flavio was insisting a player was sold before money would be released for DJ Campbell, and Gorkss was the only one anybody was willing to offer any serious money for, but to respond to a promotion by selling your best centre back back to the league you’ve just come from and replacing him with a far worse player Bruno Perone seemed, on the face of it, to be Neil Warnock’s first big mistake of the season. Reading, currently eighth, were beaten 1-0 at the Madejski by Rangers last season despite the visitors playing with ten men for the whole second half. Manager Brian McDermott clearly liked what he saw because he has now reunited Gorkss with his centre back partner from last season Matthew Connolly.
Connolly, a product of the Arsenal academy, is on the cusp of being one of the biggest wastes of talent I’ve seen at Loftus Road since Leon Jeanne. His reading of the game, positional play, first touch and distribution is absolutely excellent and I always rated him as one of the best post-takeover signings we made. He won the club’s Young Player of the Year award in 2009 and seemed set for great things.
But his progress ground to a shuddering halt after that, and 2011 proved to be the year when his form completely collapsed. With Connolly the problems seem to be entirely in his brain, rather than an issue with ability or injuries. He’s become timid, frightened and indecisive. He lets the ball bounce in dangerous areas, dallies in possession, and seems completely bereft of confidence. Warnock took him out of the team towards the end of last season and didn’t really put him back in again until injuries forced his hand pre-Christmas. He did his cause no harm against Manchester United but then days later against Sunderland cost us a goal with slack marking from a corner. Basic, basic errors that have become a hallmark of his recent performances.
He’s still young enough to recover the situation, and as he’s a player I’ve always rated I dearly hope he goes to Reading and turns it around before returning to fulfil the potential he undoubtedly has at Loftus Road. But one can’t help but feel it’s a shrink he needs, rather than another potentially confidence sapping six months in the firing line at the Madejski Stadium.
Facts: Neil Warnock added this left footed Norwegian international midfielder to his squad a year ago as part of a January squad strengthening drive with the aim of securing promotion to the Premiership. Rangers achieved that of course, but Vaagen Moen made only one start, in the FA Cup at Blackburn, and struggled for appearances throughout his time in W12. The 27-year-old who arrived from Brann in his homeland agreed to cancel his contract at Loftus Road this week after two starts and six substitute appearances.
Opinion: When Petter Vaagan Moen drew back his left foot from fully 40 yards out at Blackburn in the FA Cup last season I caught myself beginning to laugh. Oh yeh? From there? Really? Ok go on then.
Boy did he catch that free kick sweetly. It went like a guided missile and almost snapped the cross bar in two as it rebounded back into play. It seemed that day that Warnock had done it again, spotting a cheap talent in some forgotten backwater and giving him a stage on which to showcase his ability. Moen showed an impressive eye for a pass and range of distribution that day against a Premiership side, a cultured left foot that could provide cover for Alejandro Faurlin.
Whether Moen actually wasn’t any good after all, or simply never had a chance because Faurlin was so good and injury free for so long, I’m not sure we’ll ever know. Certainly in pre-season last summer when LFW travelled to see him play at Crawley he appeared very lightweight, easily shrugged off the ball by League Two players, so it may be that he was never actually much good at all.
When I spoke to him at the Player of the Year dinner he seemed to believe that he would be given plenty of opportunities in the Premiership, which Warnock had told him would suit his game better. He was well spoken, polite and likeable and I wished him well, but then he failed to even make the 25 man squad. Most QPR fans probably wouldn’t even know him if they passed him in the street.
A strange signing.
Links >>> Rowlands goals 08/09 >>> Rowlands seals promotion at Hillsborough >>> Matthew Connolly spectacular goal at Blackpool
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