Neil Warnock said that Saturday’s win at Everton was one of the best of his career while off the field new owner Tony Fernandes has been setting out some long term aims for the club.

News

Rangers won 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to a first half goal from Tommy Smith – a result achieved despite illness sweeping through the camp before the game. DJ Cambell had to stay at home and Jay Bothroyd was only fit enough for the bench while Matt Connolly and Adel Taarabt played through the symptoms.

Neil Warnock told the club’s official website: “In the circumstances, that is probably one of the best results of my career. We've had so many problems over the last 24 hours. I didn't think any of the four would feature yesterday, but Cons and Tarbs pulled through. Jay was only fit enough for a place on the bench at best. DJ collapsed yesterday and we had to send him home, so it's an incredible result in the circumstances. In a way the attitude we came up with epitomised the whole result. I asked them to give me everything; to fight for each other; and they did just that. That's all I ever ask for - to give me everything. Each and every player gave me their all and I couldn't praise them anymore.

"It was a great finish, but Tommy is always capable of that. It was a well-worked move really and a cracking finish. We showed today that we can compete in the Premier League. We want to bring four or five quality players in over the course of the next week or so. That's so exciting. Tony and Amit have backed me so well. Amit coming back on board, alongside Tony, has given everyone a massive boost, especially me. I'm really looking forward to bringing players in."

Everton boss David Moyes blamed his side’s poor finishing for the result which continues the recent trend of poor starts to the season by the Toffees. Moyes said: "The performance probably didn't deserve to lose over the course of the game but we did. We are the home team against a newly-promoted team and expected to make the play and score the goals, and we weren't able to do that. It wasn't because QPR dominated the game and outplayed us, we had good chances to make better opportunities and didn't do so. Tim missed a good one and we were a bit unlucky with Baines' free-kick. But if anyone is surprised and disappointed they shouldn't be because we have been saying for a year or two we could do with an injection of wide players and centre-forwards. We are disappointed we didn't win because I thought we should have gone on and got a result."

Off the field new QPR owner Tony Fernandes says a move to a new ground is part of his long term strategy for the club. Speaking to The Guardian Fernandes said: “"That's in the hands of the council and it's too early. I don't think there is room here. It's early days but of course it would be great to get a bigger stadium, that is certainly in my mind. There are always possibilities. I am a big believer that anything's possible if you put your mind to it. But right now, stadiums are a long way away. Let's survive.”

Fernandes’ business partner and fellow invester in QPR Ruben Emir Gnanalingam told the club’s official website: "The fans are the twelfth man and sometimes can be the difference between winning and losing. I love football and especially the English Premier League. I went to Loftus Road last Saturday and despite being 1-0 down at the time, the fans continued to cheer the team on. When I saw that I told Tony that these are the sort of fans we have to get involved with. We also met a few fans outside the stadium after the game. The way they welcomed us helped me make up my mind that day. We definitely want to take this Club to greater heights and we need your help every single step of the way. Let's do this together. We are very proud to be a part of your team."

Their first choice as CEO, former O2 Arena boss Phil Beard, has today been confirmed by the club.

Striker Jay Bothroyd, impressive as a second half sub at Goodison Park, said that he hoped the Fernandes deal would now give Neil Warnock the leverage he needs to make the club competitive. Bothroyd told Talksport: “The gaffer has done terrific, he has brought in some quality players and hopefully he’ll bring in some more and we can really cement ourselves in the Premier League. Stability for a club is always very important. We’ve got new ownership now and Tony Fernandes has backed the manager 100 per cent. That’s great. The gaffer has done terrific, he has brought in some quality players and hopefully he’ll bring in some more and we can really cement ourselves in the Premier League.”

The squad rebuilding got underway late on Friday when striker Leon Clarke, who has been frozen out of the first team picture after some lacklustre performances last season, had the final year of his contract paid up. That allowed League Two side Swindon to complete a move for the player on a free transfer having previously said their budget wouldn’t stretch enough to sign him and he made his debut today as they lost 2-1 to local rivals Oxford.

Swindon interim chairan Jeremy Wray told the Swindon Advertiser: ““The situation was that we were not certain whether it would be a transfer or a loan deal. Neil Warnock was hugely helpful with keeping us updated with the situation at QPR during the takeover and as soon as there was a chance we could work something out he let us know, before other clubs showed interest. It is very exciting to bring a player like Clarke to the club. It is definitely a coup. He was looking for regular football and that is what we can offer him. A lot of players in the Premier League are happy to sit around in the reserves so it is refreshing to have a player with Clarke’s attitude. He was under contract at QPR but was not going to get regular football and he has come to a level where he can play regularly and score goals.”

Finally it looks like we’ll be without Kieron Dyer for another couple of weeks at least after his latest scan revealed a chipped bone in his foot. LFW will stop taking the mick out of him quite so much now, as this almost sounds like a proper injury.

Loan Watch

Michael Doughty made his debut for Crawley as a second half substitute at Torquay on Saturday. Thee youngster sealed a loan move to the League Two title favourites last week after impressing against them in a pre-season friendly between Rangers and the Red Devils. He replaced former Everton youngster Hope Akpan in the seventy eighth minute of a 3-1 win that manager Steve Evans said could have been much more convincing.

Crawley boss Steve Evans told his club’s official website: "Michael came on as a substitute in our match with QPR two weeks ago and he was exceptional. We tracked him from last season and I knew Neil would have a number of clubs chasing him but he is our player now. He has a lovely left foot, takes defenders on and I think he will be a very good signing for us. We must not forget Michael is only a kid, though, but at the same time he is a gifted player. He has trained here for a few days now and the lads have taken to him, both as a lad and more importantly as a player. He will travel with us to Torquay, subject to the formalities been completed by the Premier League.”

Doughty added: "The gaffer Neil Warnock told me of a few clubs that wanted to take me on loan but gave me the opportunity to meet Steve Evans and train at Crawley. This is an important decision for me at this stage of my career but having spoke to Steve and seen for myself the quality of player here I wanted to sign for Crawley."

Crawley have now climbed to the top of the League Two table as expected, but few pundits could have predicted similar success in the Championship for Crystal Palace. The Eagles secured a third straight win 1-0 at Hull City to climb into the top six on Saturday. Peter Ramage played a full 90 minutes in the unbreached defence.

In League One Max Ehmer played a full 90 for Yeovil who drew 1-1 at Walsall and Angelo Balanta played 79 minutes for MK Dons but wasn’t one of the scorers in their 6-2 rout of newly promoted Chesterfield.

Rumours

Having spent all summer coming round to the idea that QPR were not going to spend anything on anybody, the newspapers are now having a field day once more following the Fernandes takeover.

The Express reports that Rangers will increase their offer for West Ham’s Scott Parker to £5m after having a £3.75m bid turned down last week. The paper also says a £1m move for Southampton’s Jason Puncheon and a £1.5m move for Arsenal full back Armand Traore who previously played on loan at Portsmouth are also in the offing.

The Mirror reports that Rangers would match Parker’s £70,000 weekly wage he currently earns at Upton Park, as well as offering Man City winger Shaun Wright Phillips £55,000 a week to lure him from Man City. Bolton boss Owen Coyle is keen to take Wright Phillips to the Reebok Stadium but has been frustrated by the player’s wage demands so far.

Former R’s

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has said that he hopes the Tony Fernandes takeover will secure the long term future of QPR. The former R’s midfielder and manager said in his column for The Independent: “I hope Tony Fernandes, the new owner at QPR, is a sensible bloke who does things the right way because it is a club I hold dear. I was in charge for five years up until 2006 and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I am proud I played a part in them not going bust, because they had all sorts of financial problems. At least with this new investment, the club's longevity is guaranteed. Who knows, Mr Fernandes could be one of the good guys. There are plenty out there – contrary to popular belief, a chairman or owner can understand football and do things correctly. What the sensible owners realise is that all clubs have their ups and downs. It goes in cycles and during the bad times you have to be patient. Changing things every five minutes only breeds instability.”

Marcus Bean scored the fifth goal in Brentford’s rout of Leyton Orient at Griffin Park on Saturday. The Bees have made a fine start to the season under former Man City striker Uwe Rosler and currently sit in the play off spots.

Premiership Shorts

- Pressure continues to mount on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger following Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool. Sair Nasri is expected to join Man City this week and the Gunners are already woefully short of experienced players, shown by their starting 11 at the weekend. Former Arsenal boss George Graham has urged Wenger to spend some serious transfer money soon. Wenger was forced to deny he was considering walking away from the club on Sunday.

- Just to rub salt into the wounds, one of Arsenal’s summer transfer targets Juan Mata seems set to join Chelsea. The West London side has agreed a fee of £23.5m with Mata’s club in Spain Valencia. Now 23, he previously helped Spain to win the Under 21 European Championships.

- Former Republic of Ireland boss and Liverpool full back has taken up a scouting position with Sunderland. - Blackburn, without a win yet this season, have signed 25-year-old Montenegro midfielder Simon Vukcevic from Sporting Lisbon.

- Liverpool have released 32-year-old Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos from his contract so he can sign a two year deal at German side Wolfsburg.

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Photo: Action Images

ade_qpr added 11:28 - Aug 23 Dyer harsh Clive you really should take up nursing. Remember nursing and shot guns don't go together. Sorry missed the name ? Irish/Liverpool full back?
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