Shaun Wright-Phillips scored his third goal of the summer against Trabzonspor on Saturday night as QPR drew 1-1. Manager Mark Hughes has backed the winger to turn his form around after a poor first year at QPR.
Rangers fought out a 1-1 draw with Turkish side Trabzonspor in Germany last night, with Shaun Wright-Phillips equalising late on – his third goal of the pre-season campaign. It could have been better for Rangers had Djibril Cisse’s late strike gone in rather than rebounding back into play off the post.
After the game manager Mark Hughes praised the form of Wright-Phillips, who endured a torrid first season in QPR colours after signing from Manchester City and who was expected to fall down the pecking order still further this season after the arrival of Junior Hoilett from Blackburn.
Hughes told the official website: “Shaun is playing really well and we are all pleased for him. Last year he was lacking a bit of confidence and in the end he was perhaps trying too hard, which compromised him. Now he looks very much the player everyone knows he can be.
“The team is starting to take shape in my own mind. I am pleased with how pre-season has gone up to this point. In fairness, it couldn't have gone any better. But we are still building and still looking at options."
He was also full of praise for Kieron Dyer, whose senor QPR caeer stretches to four minutes in 12 months so far thanks to his ongoing fitness worries. He completed 45 minutes last night after 20 minutes at Wycombe last week and Hughes told London24: “It was brilliant for him. It’s been a long time. We’ll go easy with him, it’s important we don’t rush him back too quickly. He had about 20 minutes and we’ll try to build that up. Kieron’s an excellent player and if I can get him anywhere near the level he was at before his injury I’ll be delighted.”
More game time too for Matt Connolly. Hughes said: “Matt’s done really well. He will get more game time. It was difficult for him when I first came to the club because I hadn’t seen a great deal of him before that so I felt his best option was to go out on loan. But I always said that I wanted to see him in the summer and would give him the chance.”
Trabzonspor: Tolga Zengin, Mustafa Yumlu, Souleyman Bamba, Ondrej Celustka , Ferhat Oztorn, Baris Ozbek, Marek Sapara, Soner Aydogdu, Olcan Adin, Halil Altintop, Paulo Henrique
Subs: Zeki Ayvaz, Alanzinito, Serkan Balci, Zeki Yavru, Didier Zokora, Gustavo Colman, Adrian Mierzejewski, , Emre Gural, Robert Vittek, Onur Kivrak
Bookings: Ondrej Celustka (28)
Goals: Celustka (57)
QPR First Half: Rob Green, Fabio Da Silva, Anton Ferdinand, Nedum Onuoha, Armand Traore, Jamie Mackie, Ji-Sung Park, Shaun Derry, Kieron Dyer, Junior Hoilett, Bobby Zamora
QPR Second Half: Rob Green, Michael Harriman, Matt Connolly, Anton Ferdinand, Max Ehmer, Jamie Mackie (Michael Doughty, 62), Ji-Sung Park (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 62), Hogan Ephraim, Adel Taarabt, Andy Johnson, Djibril Cisse
Bookings: Mackie (47)
Goals: Wright-Phillips (83)
No Heidar Helguson among those teams – the Icelandic veteran has moved to Championship side Cardiff City on a one year contract for an undisclosed fee. Helguson was QPR’s top scorer last season with nine, despite missing the majority of the second half of the campaign through injury, but now aged 34 his first team opportunities at Loftus Road were likely to be limited this term after a slew of new arrivals in attack.
Cardiff manager Malky Mackay, who previously managed Helguson at Watford, said: “I know the qualities he can bring. He’s a tough, rugged centre forward who has scored a lot of goals in his career. He brings a wealth of experience to us. He’s a good professional and keeps the standards high.”
Mystery still surround the position of banned midfielder Joey Barton. The former Newcastle man cannot play in the first 12 matches of this season after his sending off and subsequent on pitch meltdown at Manchester City on the final day of the last campaign. QPR stripped him of the captaincy and left him out of the travelling party for the tours of the Far East and Germany. However Barton has been training with League One side Fleetwood this summer, rather than with Tommy Smith, DJ Campbell and the other reserves. He played 45 minutes in a 4-0 pre-season win at Kilmarnock last week, he did not however play in their weekend 3-3 draw with Tranmere despite manager Mickey Melon telling the Blackpool Gazette beforehand that he expected to be able to select Barton.
Melon said: “I am led to believe that Joey could play for us on Saturday, and until somebody tells me the opposite he is allowed to play. He is a few weeks behind us because he hasn’t trained as much, but he has been a real, positive influence on the group. You can see that everyone wants to get to his high standards.”
QPR were forced to issue an official denial that they are looking to loan Barton to Fleetwood for the first six months of the season at the end of last week after press reports suggested a deal had been agreed.
Frankie Sutherland, the 18-year-old Republic of Ireland youth international midfielder, has signed a two year contract extension with QPR through to 2015. Sutherland has been playing for the reserves so far this summer but has travelled to Germany with the first team, despite not being named in the squad list.
The second string he left behind won 4-0 at Hampton and Richmond Borough on Saturday with the goals coming from DJ Campbell (two), Troy Hewitt and young prospect Tom Hitchcock – son of Rangers’ goalkeeping coach Kevin. Jay Bothroyd was part of the QPR line up having been left out of the Germany trip – his days at the club now seem numbered.
Manager Mark Hughes told London24 he is keen to offload fringe players who no longer figure in his plans. He said: “It’s fair to say that we can’t carry as many players as we have done. A lot of players have left but a lot of players have come in. We have to get the numbers right and the balance right. We will continue to do that. It’s about making sure the squad we finally end up with is a squad that can compete. There may be more additions. We can’t guarantee that but we’ve done well up to this point.”
The new look squad could (don’t laugh) challenge for the two major domestic cup competitions according to striker Djibril Cisse. He told London24: “First we have to stay up again. We have to be realistic and not be greedy. We’re trying to build a great side here so we cannot do things too fast. But it should be a target to win a trophy as well because it’s a chance to get into Europe. I came here to win trophies and with the squad we have here we are now able to give 100 per cent in every competition.”
Finally the club has announced a special fundraising legends match in Northern Ireland to raise funds for the newly formed Alan McDonald Trust. A QPR team including Ray Wilkins, Kevin Gallen, Andy Sinton and Steve Wicks will take on a Northern Ireland team including former QPR managers Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton at Crusaders FC on Monday September 10. The teams will be managed by Pat Jennings and Gerry Francis.
The money raised will go to the new Alan McDonald Trust, formed in memory of the former QPR captain who died suddenly aged 48 earlier this summer. The trust will provide opportunities for disadvantaged and disabled children in the Belfast area.
Alan’s widow Tonia told the club’s official website: "The response to this match has been fantastic. I'm really taken aback by the numbers of ex-players who have committed to play for Alan. It should be a great evening and I'm really looking forward to seeing the ground full of both Irish and QPR fans."
Rowan Vine has finally lifted the lid on the collapse of his QPR career after signing a one-year contract with Steve Lomas’ SPL side St Johnstone. Vine scored twice in a trial game against Bristol City last week and came on as a second half substitute in a 2-0 defeat against Hearts on the opening day of the SPL yesterday, but it’s his comments to The Sun about his troubled time at QPR which have attracted more attention.
Vine started his QPR career well under Luigi De Canio before suffering a broken leg in training after a clash with reserve goalkeeper Matt Pickens. It took him 16 months to return to fitness and he never recovered form. Unsuccessful loan spells with MK Dons, Exeter, Brentford and Gillingham did little to further his cause.
Vine told The Sun: “The last few years have been really hard. In England, there have been a lot of untrue things said about me. People saying that I was a bad lad, I have no desire, no hunger and didn’t want to play. I was injured for 16 months with a broken leg but when I came back QPR didn’t help me. Things happened behind the scenes with the owners, they didn’t want me and I was alienated for no reason. I wasn’t allowed to train properly, I had to train with the kids at 4pm. I wasn’t allowed to play in the reserves. I was trying to come back from injury — and this went on for two years. I’m sure if you phone Neil Warnock and ask him about me he won’t have a good word to say. That’s his own agenda. If people ask me about him I won’t slam him, I’m not that kind of person.”
Happier thoughts and words for QPR from former winger Gareth Ainsworth who was given a tremendous reception from the travelling support at Wycombe last Tuesday night. He told the Fulham Chronicle: ““I had a lump in the throat and a few goosebumps because it was a fantastic time when I was at QPR and to be remembered after all the success they have had in recent years as one of the guys who got them up to the Championship was fantastic. I thank all of those who came out tonight and it is something I won't forget. Everyone special to me was here tonight and that was a big thing for me. Some of them travelled a long way from Blackburn to be here and I count every Wycombe fan and every QPR fan as special as well. It was brilliant to see so many QPR fans coming out. It would be nice to think they all came for me but I am sure they came to see their team and I hope they do really well this year.”
Elsewhere Richard Langley has signed terms at non-league outfit Hemel Hempstead Town who play in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division. And Fitz Hall’s previously reported move to Watford has been confirmed.
- Liverpool have sold midfielder Alberto Aquilani to Fiorentina for an undisclosed fee three years, and just nine starts, after buying him from Roma for £20m.
- Fulham midfielder Dickson Etuhu has moved to Championship new comers Blackburn on a four year contract for an undisclosed fee.
- Arsenal have allowed 19-year-old striker Benik Afobe to join newly relegated Bolton on a season long loan deal. The Gunners are also working on deals to sign Santi Cazorla from Malaga and fellow midfielder Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid.
- Southampton are circulating the names of out of favour trio Lee Barnard, Ryan Dickson and Jonathan Forte who have been playing pre-season friendlies for the Saints reserve side this summer.
- Newcastle have had an improved bid to sign 27-year-old Lille full-back Mathieu Debuchy rejected. Striker Demba Ba looks set to stay at St James’ Park after a release clause deadline in his contract, that would have allowed a club to sign the Senegal international for £7.5m, expired.
- West Ham have re-signed centre half James Collins from Aston Villa for £2.5m, but have seen attempts to loan Andy Carroll from Liverpool for the season frustrated by the player’s reluctance to move.
- Steven Pienaar has rejoined Everton from Tottenham 18 months after moving from Goodison Park to White Hart Lane. The South African international finished last season on loan with the Toffees having been unable to win a regular place in the Spurs line up.
- Chelsea defender John Terry has denied an FA charge of using abusive and threatening words or behaviour to QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in the league meeting between the two at Loftus Road last season. Terry has already been found not guilty of racially abusing the defender by magistrates, but will now face an FA hearing over the incident where television cameras caught the England international shouting racist language at Ferdinand.
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Pictures – Neil Dejyothin, Action Images