QPR have completed the signing of former England midfielder Kieron Dyer on a free transfer from relegated West Ham.
Kieron Dyer was one a clutch of exciting young players who graduated through Ipswich Town’s academy system in the mid to late 1990s – Darren Bent, Darren Ambrose and Titus Bramble three others worthy of mention. His early years in the Ipswich first team were spent dealing with the heartbreak of regular play off defeats. After failure on that front in 1999, his third full season in the first team, Dyer forced through a move to Newcastle for £6m.
Managed by Ruud Gullit at the time, Newcastle was a club with several problem children in its midst. Gullit went on to be replaced by Bobby Robson, who quickly returned to his former club Ipswich for the likes of Ambrose and Bramble, but at times found a dressing room with Dyer, Craig Bellamy and Lee Bowyer difficult to control. Dyer endured a frosty relationship with Robson, and things didn’t get a lot better under his successor Graeme Sounness with Dyer infamously sent off in a home match with Aston Villa for fighting with Bowyer despite being on the same team.
Dyer made 251 Newcastle appearances in eight years and won an impressive 33 full caps for England in that time as well. He joined West Ham in 2007 on a four year £60,000 a week contract at a time when the then Icelandic owned Hammers were throwing silly money at silly players left right and centre – Freddie Ljungberg another infamous example from that period. He’d already suffered badly with hamstring problems at Newcastle before West Ham paid £6m for him but at Upton Park he became a standing joke.
By the time he was released at the end of his deal this summer, with West Ham relegated, he had clocked up just 35 appearances (split almost equally between starts and subs) in four years. Through frustration and desperation 18 months ago David Sullivan went public saying Dyer should jack the game in. On £60,000 a week with 18 months still to go? Not likely mate.
“I'm just delighted to be here. QPR are an ambitious club and when I sat down with Neil and he explained the vision for the club - specifically the hunger and the determination of the squad - I just wanted to be part of it. He totally sold the club to me. I've got something to prove after the couple of years I've had, but I feel good and I'm really looking forward to playing my part next season." - Kieron Dyer
"When a player of Kieron's ability becomes available, you'd be crazy not to be interested. As far as I'm concerned it's a gamble worth taking. He really impressed me in training and it looks like he has been working hard on his fitness throughout the summer. I instantly liked him when we met. You get feelings like that as a manager. He's had a lot of problems, but he's got something to prove. He's a hell of a good player and I still think he's got an opportunity to impress with us. He has a lot of experience and is desperate to play in the Premier League again. I like the hunger he's got and he wants to prove a point." - Neil Warnock
Personally I'm quietly excited about this signing. He's currently fit. If he stays fit the lad is a cut above the rest of our outfield players bar possibly Faurlin and Taraabt. If fit he's a top six club player in my opinion. I can remember when we signed Furlong he'd had a dreadful couple of years with injuries, but what a signing he proved to be in the end. Given how few 'miles on the clock' he has, if he is got right, there's a fair few years left in him.-Swiss Cottage
This is his chance to turn his career around and be a hero at Loftus Road. I think our signings are better than Norwich’s and Swansea’s to be honest and they've only cost us wages. Get DJ and Naughton and I think with Warnock’s management we've got a great chance of staying up if Taarabt doesn’t go. Fingers crossed. DaveR1979
The success or failure of this deal will depend on the terms of Dyer’s contract. If he is on literally nothing from QPR unless he is fit and involved in the match at the end of the week then what do we have to lose? Here is a former England international, with a decade of Premiership experience, who can play in a variety of positions and has been a very good player down the years. If he is on any sort of basic at all then we’re absolute idiots. Idiots.
At the risk of being accused of “trawling through the dust filled archives for as many negatives as possible” for a second time today Dyer has a long history of being an absolute twat. At Newcastle, under legendary manager Bobby Robson, he was left out of a game at Middlesbrough after refusing the manager’s request for him to play wide on the right. When substituted on, in that position, during the match he infamously tossed aside the captain’s arm band when offered it by a substituted Alan Shearer. Later there came the on field dust up with his team mate Lee Bowyer in a match against Aston Villa. I’m sure we’d all like to throw a punch or three in Bowyer’s direction but both players were sent off for the incident, leaving Newcastle down to eight after an earlier red for Stephen Taylor. Then there’s the Rio Ferdinand sex video, still freely available, where Dyer serves as the opening act, leaning over at one point to whisper in his partner’s ear “what, what’s wrong with you now?”
Christ lads, we know we’re in the big time now, we’ve got a player with his own sex video.
Several respected football journos have said today that QPR have actually been very shrewd here, which is reassuring. The suggestion is Dyer has belatedly matured, realised exactly what he’s got as a professional footballer and how little time he has left to be one. The problem is now, even if that is the case, his body is failing him dramatically. He has been regularly held up as the example of “everything that is wrong with West Ham” in recent times because of his salary (£60,000 a week on a four year deal) and the number of games he’s actually been fit to take part in for that money (17 starts and 18 sub appearances in four years).
His salary doesn’t concern me. West Ham chose to pay him that money knowing that Dyer had often struggled with his hamstrings and other complaints while at St James’ Park. QPR have, for once, been very sensible and given Dyer a single year contract heavily weighted on appearances made. A blessed relief, given the continued presence of the likes of Rowan Vine on never ending lucrative deals at Loftus Road - mistakes have been learnt from it seems. But Warnock hasn’t brought Dyer here to carry the tea, presumably he has an idea of a team shape and pattern of play with Dyer in it. There are massive doubts over exactly how much use he will be to us this season, and how much swapping and changing of our team we’re going to have to do because of him. He’s certainly been no use at all to West Ham for the last four years.
Warnock is clearly working on a tight budget this summer, and to bring in Dyer and Jay Bothroyd today for free is fine work indeed. They’ve both got plenty of faults and issues, as has DJ Campbell who we’ve also been linked with, but you get what you pay for and if this is the hand of cards Warnock has been dealt then he’s going to have to hope a few gambles and punts pay off. Should we add Campbell for the £1.5m offer Blackpool have accepted from us, and pick up Kyle Naughton on loan from Spurs as Warnock has said today we are close to doing with a couple of other similarly cheap purchases then he’s done his very best to make us competitive on a shoestring budget. When you consider that Norwich have spent more than £6m now and only got Steve Morrison, Bradley Johnson, James Vaughan and Elliott Bennett for their money while we could end up with Bothroyd, Campbell, Naughton and Dyer for less than a third of that you can’t help but tip your hat to our manager once again.
This time last year Neil Warnock admitted he was taking a bit of a punt on Leon Clarke – another signing that, like Dyer, enthused few QPR fans and drew snorts of laughter from supporters of other clubs. That gamble didn’t pay off, let’s hope this one does.
I have a nice positive piece on DJ Campbell ready to go. In the meantime, for more misery, follow @loftforwords on Twitter.