 Monday, 18th Feb 2013 23:57 by Clive Whittingham Junior Hoilett is hopeful of ending his injury exile when QPR face a daunting visit from champions-elect Manchester United this weekend. NewsHoilett limped out of the win at Chelsea at the beginning of January with a hamstring injury that has kept him out of action ever since. Both he and striker Loic Remy after due to return to training this week ahead of the United game at the weekend offering a significant boost to a toothless attack which has managed just eight goals at home in the league so far this season. Hoilett told the Fulham Chronicle: “I started training last week, so I've been doing some rehab and strength work and hopefully be ready for the next match. It's been really frustrating, especially when a new manager comes in and you can't show him what you can do because of injuries. I've struggled with the same hamstring problem. Hopefully it's sorted now and I can get going. I feel I'm over it now. It's been difficult. I came back from injury and got my chance, then got injured again. I've just had to stay focused and hopefully get going again.” Manager Harry Redknapp says he is looking forward to a visit from Alex Ferguson’s treble-chasing side, and believes 20 points – for a 37 point total – will keep the R’s in the top flight this season. He told the club’s official website: “It’s a cracking game for us though. Welcoming United to Loftus Road is something I’m sure the fans are excited about. We were on a nice little run prior to the Swansea defeat, so we’re looking forward to it. I think we need 20 points from our final 12 games to give ourselves a chance to be honest.If someone offered me 37 points now I’d probably take my chance and think that would be enough.” The team is fresh back to the UK after a warm weather training break in Dubai that Redknapp rated as a valuable trip as he attempts to arrest a seemingly irreversible dive into the Championship. He said: “The lads have trained really hard and we’ve got a lot of good work done on the training pitches. The pitches are very good out here and the lads have been very receptive to the sessions we’ve put on so we’re pleased with how it’s gone. “The lads have bonded well. That was part of the reason I wanted to get out here, so the new lads can get to know their team-mates in a 24/7 environment. They’ve been spending a lot of time together in and around the hotel, just relaxing and getting to know each other a bit more. It’s been a worthwhile trip.” We’ll see come May I guess. In the meantime Redknapp might be well advised to remember who exactly he is managing these days before putting his name to articles in The Sun praising Chelsea captain John Terry and saying he’d love him to sign for QPR given the chance. Not the first time since he took over at Loftus Road that Redknapp has commented extensively on Chelsea in a manner that their fans would no doubt approve of, following his ‘dope’ dig at Rafael Benitez prior to the league game at Stamford Bridge last month. Benitez, of course, highly unlikely to stay beyond the end of the season leaving Chelsea, naturally, looking for a new manager once again. Hmmmm. Of course Redknapp, and QPR fans, will be hoping that he I still at Loftus Road next season managing a Premier League outfit. Games are running out and a match with Manchester United would appear to be the last thing Rangers need but striker Bobby Zamora said: “The big games where you have nothing to lose you find yourself more relaxed. In a strange way you can enjoy the game a bit more. Manchester United is one of those games where everyone has written us off and we are not expected to get anything. It is down to us to keep it tight and nick a goal here or there, if we can, like we did against a lot of the good sides last year. I believe we can do it, why not? The situation was like this last year with less games to go so there is no reason why we can’t do it again.” Sadly – given his form and the way the team improves when he does get onto the field – Zamora won’t be fit enough to play more than 45 minutes this weekend. Having sat out the last three months following a hip operation it now seems the striker needs to go under the knife again if he wishes to carry on playing with an absence of eight months likely to result. QPR will attempt to nurse him through games until such time as their quest for survival succeeds or becomes futile. Anzhi director German Tkachenko is the latest man to stick the knife into Tony Fernandes’ spending habits at QPR, saying the R’s have “lost their minds” for paying the £12.5m required to sign Chris Samba during the transfer window. Given the wages Anzhi pay to stars like Samuel Eto-o, and the fact that Tkachenko goes onto say Samba is one of the top five defenders in Europe, it seemed a rather odd interview to me but anyway… He said: "At QPR he will earn almost as much as he did at Anzhi. In my view QPR have lost their minds. When they agreed to pay his release fee we wept. He wept. Everybody says that he ran away from the club, but that's not true. He didn't put any pressure on the club until we received an offer from QPR for £12.5million, the amount required by his contract. It was linked to the threat that he would lose contact with his children. That was a big blow. He was a guy who loved all of us. And besides, he is a very good defender. I think he is one of the top five defenders currently playing in Europe." The Fulham Chronicle reports that Samba’s current centre half partner Clint Hill could be in line for another one year contract extension despite his advancing years. Rangers have already given his fellow veteran Shaun Derry a new deal for next season. The TV games for April are out and the Super Hoops have been selected twice. The home game with Wigan has been put back to Sunday April 7 at 4.10pm while the away game at Reading is now on Sunday April 28 at 1.30pm. That Reading game could yet change again to a 2.05pm kick off if Liverpool reach the semi finals of the Europa League – that would mean their televised match with Newcastle would have to move from Saturday to Sunday with a noon kick off and ours would have to shift back into the middle slot of a triple header Sunday offering. QPR’s development squad bounced back from a 3-1 defeat to Brighton last week with an 8-1 win at Barnet today. The R’s were 7-1 up at half time with Angelo Balanta bagging a hat trick. It could have been worse for the Bees, had Frankie Sutherland (fresh back from a loan spell at Portsmouth) not missed an early penalty. QPR: Lumley, Downs, Monthe (Simmonds 45), Champion, Ehmer, Parmenter, Hubble, Sutherland (Sendles-White 72), Skapetis, Balanta (Francis 52), Shariff. No place in the line up for Hogan Ephraim whose lack of action of any kind is getting him down. Having been left out of the 25 man squad for league action, Ephraim is now desperate for a loan deal. He told TalkSport: “Promotion was a great moment but to be honest I haven't had many good moments since. I just want to go somewhere, play some games and get a smile back on my face. I'm a London boy and playing here is great. But whether it's in London or not, or abroad, I just want to play and move my career forward." Loan WatchRob Hulse bagged his fourth goal of the season, and the first of his loan spell at Millwall, as the Lions moved into the FA Cup quarter final with a 2-0 win at non-league Luton. A heavy police presence marked the televised encounter between this year’s big FA Cup giant killers and Kenny Jackett’s side but there was to be no upset or repeat of the violence that marred a meeting between the pair 28 years ago. Hulse got the second, a hopeful looped effort back into the danger zone that somehow dropped into the far corner. Millwall play Blackburn in the quarter finals at The Den. Hulse told London24 he sees his spell with the Lions as a chance to secure a future away fro QPR when his contract expires this summer. He said: “I see my future away from QPR. It’s just that sometimes you move, I’ve had six or seven clubs and most of them have been great. QPR just never worked out for me. I’ve had injuries and lots of different factors. I’ve only made 13 starts and I’ve been there two-and-a-half years. It’s nice to get away and have a fresh start at Millwall.They are a good bunch of lads and I’m enjoying my football again.” No such FA Cup luck for DJ Campbell who is of course cup tied having played for QPR in their previous matches against West Brom and MK Dons and therefore could play no part in Blackburn’s extraordinary 1-0 win at Arsenal on Saturday. Not such good news for Michael Harriman though as his Wycombe side lost 1-0 at Bristol Rovers for whom Tom Hitchcock was an unused substitute. Wycombe had been charging up the league until recently but have lost twice without scoring this week which has been a bit of a momentum killer for them. Bruno Andrade is currently out with an ankle injury. Rovers meanwhile are accelerating away from relegation danger with six wins and a draw from their last eight games since John Ward took over as manager – Hitchcock though has made just two starts and two sub appearances so far. Michael Doughty is also struggling for starts in his temporary spell north of the border at St Johnstone. He came on in the last minute of a 3-1 win at Hibs last week and then played from the nineteenth minute of a weekend 1-0 defeat against Ross County. Jordan Gibbons didn’t even make the bench for Inverness as their recent slump continued with a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell. Of the foreign-based loan R’s, mostly worrying news. Ale Faurlin now can’t get into the second bottom team in Serie A – he was an unused sub for Palermo as they drew 1-1 with Chievo – while Anton Ferdinand was also an unused sub for Bursaspor for their 1-0 win against Elagzigspor. Joey Barton played 84 minutes as he returned from suspension in Marseille’s 1-0 home win against Valenciennes while Djibril Cisse played a full game but didn’t score in Al Gharafa’s 2-2 draw with Umm Salal in the Qatar league. Former R’sNeil Warnock’s ill-advised decision to jump straight back into management at Leeds, following his QPR sacking, doesn’t look like it’s going to finish happily. The club remains mired in boardroom wrangling and takeover talks and form on the pitch is suffering. Fans have been chanting for Warnock to go since a league defeat at Barnsley in January and made their feelings plain during the weekend FA Cup defeat at Man City. Warnock told the BBC “If we do not go up this season then I think everybody knows I am not going to be here. I am afraid I am going to have to get used to the chanting. I do not think I deserve that after the year I have had. If we do not go up I will not be here. I think the fans have known that all along. I think the club will be sensible about it and I do not want to leave them in the lurch. In the next couple of years I am sure they will be back in the big time. My contract ends this season and there is no way I want to stay in the Championship again next year." Kaspars Gorkss’ yo-yo existence between the Championship and Premier League has continued, with a loan move from Reading to Wolves. Gorkss was sold by QPR immediately after their promotion in 2011 without kicking a ball in the top flight but subsequently won the Championship for the second year running with Reading. Now, after a difficult six months in the top flight which culminated in him losing his place to Adrian Mariappa after a 5-2 defeat to Arsenal, he is back in the second tier with Wolves who are currently just one point and one place outside the bottom three. Gorkss has compared his current situation at Wolves to the one he found himself in during his QPR days. He told the Birmingham Mail: ““I was in a similar situation with QPR when we struggled for one season. As a player, you want to challenge yourself, so maybe I can learn something from this experience as well. I think I’ve been brought in to help with my experience and knowledge and we’ll see what comes out of it.” Robbie Herrera has been temporarily promoted to first team coach at League Two side Torquay as manager Martin Ling continues to endure a leave of absence on health grounds. Ling is receiving specialist care for a ‘debilitating illness’ leaving assistant manager Shaun Taylor in charge with Herrera stepping up from the youth system to lend a hand. With Ling still said to be several weeks away from a return the Gulls are hunting an experienced coach to join the club on a short term basis. Martin Rowlands’ hot run of goal scoring form continued at the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Leyton Orient slipping to a 2-1 defeat at bottom of the table Hartlepool. Rowlands has scored three in his last six appearances from midfield, and will line up for the O’s in the second leg of the southern area final in the JP Trophy against Southend on Wednesday night, but two very late Hartlepool goals at the weekend meant a defeat that leaves them nine points shy of the play off places with games running out. Patrick Agyemang has joined Portsmouth from fellow League One side Stevenage on a one month loan deal. Premier League Shorts- Fabio Borini’s miserable first season at Liverpool is over. After just ten starts, one goal and three months out with a broken foot he has now been ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a dislocated shoulder. It was the only negative from The Reds’ 5-0 home win against Swansea in the only Premier League game of the weekend. The Swans rested several players ahead of this weekend’s League Cup final but manager Michal Laudrup still described the result and performance as “a nightmare.” - Chelsea captain John Terry has denied Sunday newspaper reports of a rift between him and interim manager Rafael Benitez. Terry has only made four starts in four months because of injury but his lack of action was said to have sparked an angry training ground bust up. Terry said: "I read those stories in the paper but it is completely lazy journalism. It's total rubbish." - Tottenham have allowed midfielder David Bentley, 28, to join Championship side Blackburn on loan for the rest of the season. Spurs paid Rovers £15m for Bentley in July 2008. - Everton manager David Moyes says he will wait until the end of the season before discussing an extension to his imminently expiring contract. Prior to a weekend cup draw at League One Oldham Moyes said: “I want to see how we do in the cups, I want to see how we do in the league, and it's more than likely I won't make a decision until the end of the season.” Parish NoticeboardThe following tube and train closures are in place this Saturday for QPR’s home game with Manchester United: - Circle Line entirely closed, but the Hammersmith and City Line will run as normal from Hammersmith through Shepherds Bush and along the Euston Road via Paddington, Euston and Kings Cross. - District Line closed between Earls Court and Aldgate East. - No Central Line between Woodford and Loughton or Hainault. - It may only have been open a month, but the brand new Overground line from Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays is closed this weekend for engineering. - No Metropolitan Line between Rickmansworth and Amersham or Chesham. Rail replacement buses operate. Tweet @loftforwords Pictures – Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 31 bloggersQueens Park Rangers Polls[ Vote here ] |
