Chairman Tony Fernandes says his consortium will continue to bankroll QPR, even if the club is relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.
Speaking to the club’s official website after the R’s first win of the season on Saturday, Fernandes moved to assure fans the backing would not be withdrawn if Harry Redknapp does not succeed with his mission impossible.
Fernandes said: "Come what may, in May, we'll still be here. 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.
"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.”
He also said that Harry Redknapp’s availability, and his potential move to the Ukraine to take their national job, had hastened the departure of Mark Hughes.
Fernandes said: "Harry is a special manager. 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.”
Of course much of the attention after the win against Fulham was on Adel Taarabt after his two goal salvo and man of the match display. Harry Redknapp, quoted by London24, said afterwards: “He’s my type of player, I love people with that ability. He’s a genius, he could play for anybody. He can be a top, top player. He’s got ability like not many people you will ever see in your life. He’s like Di Canio, who I thought was a fantastic player, one of the all time great players at West Ham. This boy’s the same. He can do things that no one else can do. No one can do what he can does, he’s amazing. He nutmegs people and he goes past two or three who are hanging off him and can’t get the ball off him.
“A lot of talented people like that are difficult to handle. Paolo was like that, he was difficult to handle but he was a genius, he could win games on a Saturday, and that’s what this boy can do.
“He’s an amazing talent but we always felt that when he was at Tottenham. I didn’t want to let him go. I always thought he had a value, even if he wasn’t starting he would come off he bench for you and turn the game. But it was hard for him to get in the team and in the end Daniel said: ‘if he’s not going to play we’ve got a good offer, so we may as well sell him and get a big sell-on.’ But he wasn’t ever a player I ever wanted I release.
“He’s grown up a bit now, he’s better than what he was. He was a complete fruitcake when he was at Tottenham.”
And Redknapp told the Telegraph: “He’s hard work. He can be a bit of a nut but his heart’s in the right place, he wants to do well and he thinks about the game. I took him off at Wigan last week and he wasn’t in the best of moods. He didn’t behave well so I called him into my office on Monday and had a good heart-to-heart chat with him and he’s responded to that. He’s temperamental but he’s an amazing talent. He needs to harness that talent and just play. I said, ‘Don’t throw your arms up when you lose the ball, don’t stand with your hands on your hips, just get after the ball if you lose it otherwise everyone sees that you made a mistake and it gets highlighted’. And he did that and he was fantastic.”
And Armand Traore added: “I’ve known Adel since I was 14 or 15, so I know what he’s like. He was a catastrophe. We used to play together in the French national team at junior level. I used to overlap him and he would nutmeg the same guy four or five times. The manager used to say, ‘If you don’t pass the ball, you come off’. Adel didn’t care. He was getting penalties, scoring goals. He’s now improved a lot in terms of work-rate, and matured as a person. I think he’s got further to go. We see some goals in training no one has seen.”
The fear now is how QPR will cope without Taarabt when he plays for Morocco in the African Nations Cup next month. Traore said: “I was in that situation last year. If you say no to your country, you and your family will get slaughtered.”
Redknapp told the Fulham Chronicle: ““I honestly don't know what the situation is, whether they have to go or not. I don't know what the rules are and whether they can withdraw. I'd rather he didn't go, but I don't know where we stand with it. We need him here if possible. He's a good player and we would like to keep him here.”
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville used his Monday Night Football analysis slot to show how Harry Redknapp has tightened the QPR defence up since arriving three weeks ago. Fulham had five shots on goal at the weekend and Villa just seven in the home game before that, compared to the 19 Southampton had in Mark Hughes’s last match, 16 for Everton and 18 for West Ham.
Clint Hill, who seems to be forming a decent centre half partnership with Ryan Nelsen after being restored to the team, told the Fulham Chronicle: “Harry's a great man manager in that he talks to you every day and has a bit of banter. It's a high-pressure job where we are, so you do need to relieve the tension now and then. Don't get me wrong, when we do go out to train or to play we are serious and we need to get results. He has just tried to put a lot more belief into us and tried to get us playing in the way that we can. It has been a good change. He's changed the shape a little bit and tried to make us more solid through the middle. I think performance-wise we have done a lot better in recent games as well and we've got to take the positives from that.”
Hill also spoke about the decision not to hold the traditional players’ Christmas party this season given the club’s league struggles. He said: “We haven't really talked about a Christmas party. The players never set out a date for a party because we don't really think we should be out having a day getting drunk and celebrating Christmas because of the situation we're in. There wasn't an actual meeting to say we're not having one, there was just a general feeling that we don't need one and shouldn't have one."
Shaun Wright-Phillips told the club’s official website that although Hill and Nelsen’s constant communication with the players in front of them can be irritating, it’s much needed. He also put his recent improved form down to the support of the fans and his team mates – although that first every league goal for QPR still remains elusive for the former Man City winger.
Wright-Phillips said: “Nellie and Hilly are constantly talking to everyone in front of them and it helps a lot. As an attacker sometimes you can lose concentration because you’re thinking about going forward, but with them in your ear it keeps you on your toes – even if it does irritate you! They put you in the right positions to make the interceptions and tackles needed.
“My recent performances have a lot to do with my team-mates and the fans, who have been very supportive of me especially over the last few games. Even if I have made a mistake they’ve still urged me on. Considering the position we are in, that’s just what we need. That sort of backing and support makes a massive difference for me and for the rest of the team. It gives you the confidence to get the ball and try again, and the next time it might come off.”
Wright-Phillips is much maligned among the QPR support after a miserable last 12 months form wise. There were some signs of recovery in his performance against Fulham and in an interview with the Telegraph last week he railed against the suggestion that he and some of his big-name team mates were just at QPR for the money and cared little about their actual performances.
He said: “The players want the result just as much as the fans. Sometimes it is easy saying this person isn’t doing it but, when you are on the pitch, you don’t have that view or vision. Players give 110 per cent. The spirit is fantastic. I personally hate losing whether I am playing or not playing. The last three games since Harry has been here, the fans have been 100 per cent behind us, even if we have made a mistake, and encouraged us to get the ball. If we have that, the players don’t worry about if they lose the ball.”
Prior to the Fulham match manager Harry Redknapp also addressed speculation linking midfielder Esteban Granero with a £5.6m move to Fiorentina after a recent loss of form and confidence at Loftus Road. Redknapp told the Fulham Chronicle: “I don't know anything about that. I'm not looking to get rid of anyone at the moment - we need all hands on deck. Every agent is putting things about, but they've just to get on doing well for QPR. If they all play to their potential then we won't have a problem. They can't be thinking about their next move. This is the club they belong to. They need to play well here and we'll look at that in the future.”
Junior Hoilett scored a first half hat trick and Samba Diakite missed a penalty as the QPR development squad put Colchester to the sword 8-2 at Halrington on Monday.
QPR: Murphy, Harriman, Sendles-White, Diakite, Ben Haim, Ehmer, Hoilett, Sutherland, Shariff, Hitchcock, Doughty
Subs: Permenter, Trani, Gibbons, Petrasso, Carreira
Finally QPR are insisting that the Boxing Day game at home to West Brom remains on, despite the threat of a tube strike once again looming large over the capital. Arsenal postponed their home fixture last season in similar circumstances and say they may do so again with this year’s game against West Ham but QPR are intending to go ahead with the game, while at the same time offering refunds on tickets purchased already.
Ipswich’s hopes of holding onto DJ Campbell permanently received a blow on Friday when Harry Redknapp used his pre-Fulham press conference to lament QPR’s decision to loan him out in the first place. Campbell lasted only an hour of the Tractor Boy’s 2-0 defeat at Leeds on Saturday and wasn’t able to add to his impressive tally of eight goals in 13 appearances but manager Mick McCarthy has openly stated he’d like to sign the striker in January. However Redknapp hinted at a January return to Loftus Road for the player saying: "DJ has done very well for Ipswich. I wish he was here now, he'd be very useful for us. He's an enthusiastic player who gives everything which is what you need."
Bruno Andrade was named in the League Two team of the week after his goal helped Wycombe on their way to 2-0 win at Accrington in League Two.
Elsewhere Jay Bothroyd remains sidelined by injury at struggling Sheffield Wednesday, Troy Hewitt played 81 minutes of Bury’s 1-0 defeat at Crewe and Angelo Balanta got an hour in for MK Dons in a 1-0 home win against Hartlepool.
Neil Warnock has once again taken the opportunity to twist the knife into QPR over the manner of his departure as Rangers continue to struggle at the bottom of the Premier League. Warnock was sacked just under a year ago with Rangers outside the relegation places but Saturday’s win against Fulham was just the seventh league victory achieved in 35 attempts since he left.
Previewing a match against Chelsea with his new club Leeds tomorrow Warnock told the Evening Standard: “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.”
Conference South moves for two former youth team mates at Loftus Road Patrick Kanyuka and Richard Pacquette. Kanyuka has joined Maidenhead United from rivals Staines Town having played in the division above for Tamworth last season. Pacquette meanwhile continues to increase his list of former clubs at a rapid rate, leaving Bromley after scoring seven goals in 21 games to join Eastleigh which is the 22nd club of his career. Pacquette was made to wait for his debut when Eastleigh’s scheduled game with Billericay on Saturday fell foul of a frozen pitch.
- Everton’s Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini has escaped with just a three match ban following his extraordinary conduct in the 1-1 draw with Stoke at the weekend. Fellaini, linked with a January move away from Goodison Park after a barnstorming start to the season, was seen to headbutt Ryan Shawcross twice and elbow him in three separate off the ball incidents. Referee Mark Halsey said he had seen two of them and not deemed them violent conduct, but missed a third for which the FA has handed down a three match ban after an early guilty plea.
- Wigan have obtained a work permit for Honduras international defensive midfielder Roger Espinoza who will move to the DW Stadium on a free transfer from Sporting Kansas City in the US in January. He will become the fourth Honduran to play for the Latics in the Premier League when he makes his debut.
- West Ham only named six substitutes, and included a number of teenagers on their bench, in a 0-0 draw at West Brom on Sunday as injuries continue to mount. Sam Allardyce has received a boost though after midfielder Jack Collision came through his first 45 minutes for the development squad after seven months out with a knee injury this week.
- Mario Balotelli is taking Man City to a Premier League tribunal to appeal against a two week fine imposed by the club for his poor discipline last season. Balotelli, dropped from the City squad for the weekend win at Newcastle after a poor performance against Man Utd the previous week, missed 11 matches suspended last season after receiving nine yellows and three reds.
- Arsene Wenger says he hopes Theo Walcott will quickly agree a new Arsenal deal after finally being given a start in his favoured central striking role, and scoring one of the Gunners’ goals in a 5-2 win at Reading on Monday evening. Wenger said: "I believe he has been educated at Southampton and Arsenal and he has become a top player. I hope that when he considers his future he will consider Arsenal is the best place for him and sign for us."
- In form Norwich are waiting to see if their talismanic striker Grant Holt will be out for the Christmas fixtures after leaving Saturday’s 2-1 home win against Wigan with a hamstring injury.
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