Harry Redknapp’s transfer strategy for this summer became a little clearer still today as another of the vastly experienced veterans he’s been linked with – Richard Dunne – agreed a one year deal at Loftus Road.
Dunne started his career with Home Farm in his native Ireland before transferring to Everton in 1996. He made his debut in January 1997 as the Toffees beat lower league Swindon 3-0 at home in the FA Cup, becoming the youngest Everton player to appear in the competition in the process. Still just 17 years of age he was part of the Everton side that won the FA Youth Cup a year later and although he later graduated to the first team and made 72 appearances between 1996 and 2000 – all but seven of them from the start – his path to regular first team football was restricted by the likes of Dave Watson, David Unsworth and Marco Materazzi.
In October 2000 his former Everton boss Joe Royle recruited him for a second time, spending £3m to take him to Maine Road in an effort to maintain Man City’s place in the Premier League. Royle had led City to consecutive promotions from the third tier and despite Dunne’s arrival the rapid accession proved too much to sustain and the Sky Blues were relegated at the end of the season. Kevin Keegan took over and guided City back to the top flight but Dunne’s off field behaviour looked to have jeopardised his part in the promotion.
He came close to having his deal at City torn up altogether when, in 2002 and aged 21, he turned up to training in what the club described as a “dishevelled state” Having decided against sacking him the club said Dunne would embark on a “specialist training programme”. City said at the time: "Richard Dunne has accepted the seriousness of his situation having had similar disciplinary problems in the past.”
He rarely looked back from that reprieve. Dunne was a constant during a time of great change at City that saw them go from a team capable of yo-yoing between the top three divisions from their Moss Side base to the global super power we see at the Eastlands Stadium today. Having worked their way through the controversial ownership of Thaksin Shinawatra to their present situation with Sheikh Mansour the club has changed beyond all recognition. Accident-prone chief executive Garry Cooke even singled Dunne out as a character from a bygone age when he tactlessly said: "China and India are gagging for football content to watch and we’re going to tell them that City is their content. We need a superstar to get through that door. Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing."
The fans thought otherwise. The likes of Robinho and later Carlos Tevez may have signalled a new era at City but the supporters who’d stuck with them through the hard times named Dunne their Player of the Year for four consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to 2007/08 – a club record. Aged 26, he was named as club captain by then manager Stuart Pearce. Dunne also became an international regular - making his debut for Ireland in 2000 against Geogia and amassing 77 caps to date including outings in the 2002 World Cup and 2012 European Championships.
In 2008/09 he made 47 starts for City in all competitions despite three red cards which took his overall dismissal total to eight – a Premier League record held jointly with Duncan Ferguson and Patrick Vieira.
Although he signed a four year contract extension in 2008 Dunne was moved on a year later following the arrival of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott at Eastlands. Martin O’Neill paid £5m to take him to Aston Villa and he quickly became a key part of a typical O’Neill team that thrived on good service from wide areas from both set pieces and open play. His first goal for the club came in October against his former employers Manchester City.
Dunne was an automatic choice under O’Neill but swiftly fell foul of the disciplinary regime imposed by his successor Gerard Houllier. Villa fined him £100,000 – two weeks wages – along with his centre half partner James Collins for engaging in a drunken row with club staff in 2011. Villa were prevented from imposing the more serious punishment they desired by rules agreed with the Professional Footballer’s Association.
Nevertheless he was a regular under Alex McLeish and may well have been under Paul Lambert last season had an Achilles injury, which followed hot on the heels of a broken collar bone as well as groin problems the previous season, not ruled him out for the entire campaign. He as released at the end of the season after 114 appearances and five goals in four years at Villa Park. Rangers have now signed Dunne, 34 in September, on a free transfer ahead of reported interest from Hull, West Ham and Derby. The R’s have agreed a one year contract that does have break clauses included should he suffer another long term injury.
“I’ve been very close to signing for Harry on a couple of occasions and the opportunity to work with him really appealed to me. Players want to play for Harry and I’m no different. I know the club didn’t have a good season last term, but – having spoken to Harry, as well as Tony – there’s a real determination to bounce back into the Premier League, which is where we all want to be. I’ve played in the Championship and won it with Manchester City, so hopefully my experience will benefit the team over the course of the season.” - Richard Dunne
“This is a great signing for us. He’s a top-class defender and a great guy. He’s a good character and just what we need. He was City’s Player of the Year four years running, and he will be fantastic at this football club. He’s exactly the type I’m looking for. Obviously he had his problems last season with the injury but there’s an agreement in place that if he breaks down, the contract can be ended. He’s confident he’ll be okay and from our point of view, if he doesn’t have any problems with it then we’ve just signed a very, very good centre-half.” - Harry Redknapp
A large no-nonsense experienced centre back with an ability to score goals (albeit mainly at the wrong end). Slightly worried about the lack of pace, but a decent signing nonetheless. - N12Hoop
Good signing really. There are bad points to him (age, pace, etc) but we are never going to get a flawless player are we. The main thing is he is definitely a 'right sort', he will know about the challenge of the Championship and I imagine even if he be a 7/10 man you will get that every game. If he stays injury free he could be key over 20 or so games this season. My main concern is pushing Onouha out of the first 11 to make way for him which would be a mistake. I hope he is considered as back up and more of a squad player. Hill and Nedum should be first choice. -Simmo
Sensible deal for a player who should be sound, when fit. Adds to my conviction that we won't concede many goals this season. Derby Hoop
The last time my parents moved house the cabinet maker charged with designing and building the bedroom suites was given one specific instruction: no full length mirrors. That wasn’t due to some latent narcissistic, anorexic tendencies among family members but in fact the presence of the household dog, a whippet called Bramble who could kindly be portrayed as simple minded and more accurately described as possibly the thickest being ever to grace the earth.
For the full 15 year term of Bramble’s life she had to be kept away from mirrors of any sort because the sight of her own reflection would send her into full on attack mode, presumably believing it was actually another dog on her patch. Random fits of barking followed by a loud crash and bang would be heard at odd times of the day or night when she’d gained access to a room with a mirror in it and plunged headlong at the reflection. No amount of cuts and chipped teeth would convince the stupid mutt that it was actually her own reflection barking and snarling back at her.
An outsider looking in at QPR signing Richard Dunne today may well be shaking his head in the same resigned, exasperated way we used to before fetching the hoover to deal with the shattered glass. Old? Yes. Questionable fitness? Hasn’t played a competitive game for more than a year. Well past his best? Almost certainly. A season of just four wins culminating in a humiliating relegation apparently hasn’t deterred QPR from their path; if there’s a journeyman footballer out for a final pay day when no other club will take him then Loftus Road is the place to be.
That joke about QPR assembling their squad from a 2005 Premier League sticker book remains valid. It can now be joined by one about Rangers finally signing a proven top flight goalscorer – Dunne holds the record for Premiership own goals with nine, the last of which was scored for QPR at Loftus Road in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa the season before last.
Sigh.
But perhaps, perhaps, this one might be different. Rangers’ best signing of last summer, in fact the only half decent signing of last summer, was Ryan Nelsen – another 34 year old centre back with dodgy ankles who it seemed had little left to offer but who led a shambolic team magnificently in both performance and attitude. Rangers missed him badly when he left, despite spending £12m on an apparently much better replacement in Chris Samba, and will hope that Dunne can fill his role.
Manager Harry Redknapp has spoken about getting the “right sort” into the club. It had been hoped by many, and still is, that this meant younger, hungrier, better scouted players with commitment to the cause and points to prove. Swansea, Norwich, West Brom and others have all plundered this market to great effect while Rangers have been pisballing about unveiling Ji-Sung Park and declaring themselves a global brand. Danny Simpson and Richard Dunne, with Scott Parker and Peter Crouch heavily backed to follow them, hardly speak to that aim and could well simply be the same mistakes being repeated.
But what Redknapp has on his hands at the moment is a poisonous dressing room chock full of the worst examples of the modern footballer: Stephane Mbia, Joey Barton, Jose Bosingwa, Shaun Wright-Phillips and so on - massive money, limited ability, zero commitment, lousy behaviour, pathetic attitudes to their profession. Strong personalities all of them, quickly sucking the life out of a once likeable club, splitting the dressing room into several cliques and not giving a single shit about QPR’s demise or how it’s affecting either the supporters and the naïve but likeable owner who is currently furnishing a lavish lifestyle they scarcely deserve. In an ideal world you get rid of all of them all at once, pretty much the entire squad in fact, and replace them but that is inhibited by the length and size of their contracts and the transfer window system. A transition period must ensue while they’re slowly moved on and in the meantime simply picking up five or six 20 year olds from League One and the Championship and throwing them into the snake pit could do more harm than good. You only have to look at how Junior Hoilett became a shadow of the player he’d been at Blackburn in the course of 12 months to see how draining the current situation in W12 can be.
What is needed is a change of attitude and ethos. Some strong characters to retake the dressing room and do it how Harry Redknapp wants it doing. One or two like Dunne and Parker are probably necessary before the younger more impressionable players can be added. As long as Redknapp does indeed intend to go after the latter eventually, then pursuing the former to begin with may be no bad thing.
As for Dunne’s influence on the pitch – who knows? Magnificent for the Republic of Ireland in Russia the season before last he may still have it within him to dominate Championship forwards. But at 33, with a 12 month absence with an Achilles injury under his belt, he could well be a spent force. He’ll likely share the centre back spot with fellow grizzled old pro Clint Hill alongside Nedum Onuoha – but it’s in the dressing room where Rangers need his impact to be felt.
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Pictures – Action Images