 Tuesday, 21st Aug 2012 23:59 by Clive Whittingham Rangers have been linked with Tottenham defender Michael Dawson as manager Mark Hughes struggles to explain Saturday's opening day whitewash at Loftus Road.
NewsHughes told the club's official website after the match: "The worst-case scenario when you play Swansea is you concede first, because then they can keep possession, frustrate you and pick you off. Unfortunately that’s what happened all game from their opening goal onwards. Our tempo wasn’t quick enough so they were able to get people behind the ball. Our passing was poor on the day and they picked us off at will. Towards the end of the game we were chasing it and committing people forward, and Swansea ere very adept at picking the right pass at the right time. Unfortunately a lot of our fundamentals which we work on week in, week out went out the window and that is unacceptable.
“In the end we were ragged, made bad decisions, the accuracy of our passing was poor all day and as a consequence we got picked off very easily."
Chairman Tony Fernandes took to his Twitter account after the match to offer reassurance and appeal for calm. He said: “For all QPR fans we are working overtime. Once we analysed game we know what we have to do and again takes time. Body blow but all fighters. And for all the negative and people who give up so fast life isn’t just like that. It’s about belief and fight. Nothing is easy. But boy I’m so excited just to be a part of it. "That was a pretty poor anniversary. Worse than last season, but I remain positive. We haven’t gelled yet. Have faith and be optimistic. Many, many positives. I feel we are in a much better place. Just takes time. At 2-0 we chased the game and lost shape. It’s about a season not one game. “I have a fantastic relationship with Mark Hughes. He’s as disappointed as me. He will fix this. No one expected this. Better now than later.” The first stage of fixing things could involve a club record transfer for Tottenham defender Michael Dawson. Sky Sports News reported a £5.5m bid had been lodged this afternoon and London24 reported the England international is set to discuss terms and undergo a medical. Another potential target, according to the Fulham Chronicle, is Marseille defender Stephane M'Bia who could come to Loftus Road in exchange for a season long loan deal with bad boy Joey Barton. At the end of last week Hughes told London24 that was one of the options open to the club's disgraced former captain, who has been told he won't be included in QPR's 25 man squad for the first half of the season. Hughes said: "There has been communication and interest shown, but there’s been no communication in regard of financial options or swapping players. We’re nowhere near that stage. I think that would be a good option for Joey; there have been decent options put to him before but he didn’t feel that they were right for him. This one makes sense for him and certainly for us. I explained to Joey that he wasn’t going to be in my 25 so he needed to look at his options. He could come back here and train, but he wouldn’t be training with the full squad so it would be better for him if he found a loan situation. If this one does progress it would be the right option for everybody.” How QPR could have done with a fit Alejandro Faurlin in their midfield at the weekend. Tony Fernandes has described the return of the Argentinean – pencilled in for the second game in September – as like the signing of a £15m player and he stepped up his recovery this week with a 45 minute run out for the club's Under 21 side against Charlton. The newly formed Under 21 league allows three over age players plus a goalkeeper to feature and Faurlin started in midfield alongside Hogan Ephraim in a narrow 1-0 defeat. Afterwards Faurlin told West London Sport: "I’m really happy to have got the 45 minutes – it feels great. It has been very difficult not playing but I feel much better now because I am getting the minutes and I know I’ll soon be ready to play again. To be out for such a long time is not easy but I’ve worked hard, the knee is okay, and now it’s about fitness.” QPR: Murphy, Harriman, Sendles-White, Ehmer, Parmenter, Shariff, Sutherland, Ephraim (Andrade 60), Hitchcock, Doughty, Faurlin (Laurent 46)
No run outs there for ostracised trio Tommy Smith, DJ Campbell or Rob Hulse. The club are keen to shift all three onto new clubs but with lucrative contracts and settled home lives in the capital they're understandably in no rush to uproot and move for the sake of Championship football. Smith has an offer on the table from Cardiff and Mark Hughes told West London Sport: “There’s been an enquiry from Cardiff and certainly there’s an opportunity for Tommy to go there if he wants to. That’s been on offer for a little bit of time though and hasn’t really progressed, so I don’t know where things stand with that at this moment.” Campbell, meanwhile, looked set for Bristol City prior to their acquisition of West Ham’s Sam Baldock this evening. He is also biding his time as the transfer deadline approaches. He told West London Sport: “I’m looking at all the possibilities before I decide what’s best for me. I’m still a QPR player at the minute. Whether that changes, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s nothing finalised at this stage. My focus has been on getting fit and making sure I’m ready to play this season." Off the field Mike Rigg is busy assembling his team to lead the club’s new scouting and academy set ups. Kevin Cruickshanks has been appointed scouting coordinator having previously worked with Mark Hughes at Blackburn Rovers while Stuart Webber (formerly Liverpool), Hans Gillhaus (PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea) and Steve Hitchen who has previously worked at Anfield and Tottenham have been named chief scouts. Shaun Hallett, who recently completed an audit of the club’s youth set up, has now been appointed head of academy and football operations. Reports suggest that Kevin Gallen is no longer in his coaching role with the club’s junior sides.
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C – Nick McMaster
Former R'sAlessandro Pellicori’s career in professional football is effectively over after he was banned for three years and six months for his part in the latest match fixing scandal gripping Italian football. Although QPR fans would have provided character references to any court saying that it’s often quite difficult to tell whether Pellicori is being deliberately awful or achieving it by accident, the magistrates dealing with the wide reaching case have handed him the ban which, at 31, means he’s unlikely to play professionally again. Pellicori is one of dozens caught up in the illegal betting affair which has seen Juventus coach Antonio Conte banned for ten months for knowing about the practices at Siena when he was the coach there, but not doing anything about it. So far 11 players have been banned and fined including Pellicori, Ancona have been fined €10,000, Grossetto relegated and fined and Novara docked four points in Serie B. Discussions about punishments for Pellicori’s former club Torino, Serie B side Varese and Serie A outfit Siena are ongoing although the former two are likely to lose one point each and Siena six. Danny Shittu has rejoined Championship side Millwall on a one year contract following his release from QPR this summer. The giant Nigerian made his debut in the League Cup exit to Crawley last week and was at fault for one of Blackpool’s two goals at The Den on Saturday. He was an unused substitute for their 2-1 win at Peterborough this evening. Tommy Williams has signed a five month contract at Notts County after a year out of the game. The left sided player, who had three separate loan spells at Loftus Road, last played professionally for Kettering in the Conference a year ago. Jamie Cureton scored twice at the beginning of his second spell with Exeter City this evening as the Grecians won 2-1 at Aldershot in League Two.
Premiership Shorts- Tottenham have finally completed the signing of Man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor for £5.5m after City agreed to pay a portion of his wages after he leaves. Adebayor earns £175,000 a week at Eastlands but Spurs cap their wages at £80,000 per week per player which had created an impasse. City have now agreed to make up the difference and the 28-year-old, who scored 17 times on loan at White Hart Lane last season, has completed his move. - - An anticipated exodus from Spurs that could yet include Michael Dawson coming to QPR and the likes of Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone being scattered far and wide has today kicked off with the £5m sale of Sebastien Bassong to Norwich on a three year contract. - Man Utd have signed Dutch left back Alexander Buttner from Vitesse Arnhem on a five year deal for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old had seemed set for Southampton for the majority of the summer before United made their interest known. He was not included in the Holland squad for the summer's European Championships. United lost their opening game of the league season 1-0 at Everton last night. - The Toffees followed up that superb result and performance with the £6m acquisition of Belgian striker Kevin Mirallas from Greek side Olympiakos today. The 24-year-old said he turned down overtures from Arsenal because he felt he would get more first team football at Goodison Park. - Liverpool, Spurs and Sunderland are all bidding to take England winger Adam Johnson from Man City and offer him the regular first team football he craves after just ten starts last season. Replacing him in City's reserves will be Scott Sinclair who has refused a new contract at Swansea so he can sit on the bench at Eastlands. - Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will not contest an FA misconduct charge for pushing a linesman during Saturday’s 2-1 win against Spurs. Pardew said afterwards he was embarrassed by his actions. Tweet @loftforwords Pictures – Action Images Sketch – Nick McMaster Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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"Rob Green will be disappointed with it but I was more concerned with what was going on in front of him. We have got to be better in that respect. There is still a lot of work to do. It was a wake-up call. Maybe everybody was getting a little but excited about what’s ahead of us but we, as a group, understand there’s a lot of hard work needed.
