Alejandro Faurlin will wear a QPR shirt for the first time this week as the R's jet off for a two match pre-season tour of Slovenia and Croatia.
Ahh this takes me back to those rare, awkward teenage moments when a girl finally intimated she would be willing to allow me to remove her top without the police being called, her dad storming in or a rape alarm being sounded. It seemed like a great idea at the time but when the sweaty, awkward, self conscious mood had to be overcome and an actual bra unhooked problems arose. Those of you that say you miss being young remember what it was like the first time you were confronted with that hooking, clasping thing at the back rather than the squishy things at the front for a moment.
Like that, stay with me here you haven’t logged on to an erotic stories website (although if you’ve typed ‘erotic stories’ into Google you may well have ended up here looking for just that), a LFW preview of QPR’s trip to Slovenia and Croatia this week seemed both necessary and a good idea. The problem is, now the top is removed, the actual process of writing about two teams from the other side of the continent who I only heard about for the first time a week ago is, I fear, going to be somewhat difficult. Nevertheless that bra came off in the end and while I cannot promise the same warm, bouncey loveliness of that occasion I will endeavour to try and point us in the general direction of any old tat I can find about NK Celje, who we play tonight, and Karlovac who we face at the weekend. God bless Wikipedia.
QPR’s week long tour of Slovenia and Croatia is crucial to our preparations for the coming season. I would expect the team to come back with Magilton starting to get a fair idea of his starting eleven for the Blackpool match, and also worrying about one or two injured players. Whatever happens we need Celje and Karlovac to provide us with some reasonably stiff opposition as our friendlies back in Britain are once again woefully inadequate in quality. I have heard managers and coaches say before that prestige games against high profile opponents are not all they are cracked up to be but for me it is a risky strategy to go into the opening day of the season playing against a side that is better than anything you have faced all summer. If Celje and Karlovac are not up to much then Rangers return with only Forest Green, Oxford, Wycombe and Southampton to play and it is fair to say Blackpool will be far better than all of them when they arrive at Loftus Road on August 8. Having said that Pool seem to be in the same boat with the likes of Oldham and Rochdale providing their sternest tests. I suppose with our poor, unfortunate, overworked, fixture congested friends in the Premiership shooting off to malaysia to play Hull City for a tin pot cup friendlies against quality opposition are hard to come bay, although Nottingham Forest were facing Sporting Lisbon as we played Aldershot at the weekend.
The pre-season games often set the tone for a season. Before beating Blackpool 5-0 at the start of the promotion campaign we’d put in good showings against Tottenham and Steau Bucharest. Celtic, Ajax and Chelsea have all visited Loftus Road in recent summers as well. There’s nothing of that calibre to trouble the players before August this year and consequently we must hope they get a bit of an examination on foreign shores over the next couple of days.
From a personal point of view I am gutted not to be out there. The Italian tour the LFW crew went on in 2006 still comes up in conversation before matches to this day - a hugely enjoyable week despite the farcical arrangements for the team. Sadly the club’s announcement of this tour came very, very late in the day for reasons known only to themselves preventing the chance to save up, and book time off work.I’ll do my best to provide updates on both games although it is likely to be second hand information, and all fingers and thumbs not for the first time in my life.
Two minutes on...
NK Celje:
Hmmm, yes, right, well Celje form the Slovenian leg of the two match tour and we face them at their Arena Petrol stadium on Wednesday evening. They play in the spell check busting PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije which is, to you and me, the top flight of Slovenian football and is made up of ten teams. Maribor and Olimpija have dominated the league since its inception, winning 12 of the 18 titles played for. Celje are one of only three sides to remain in the league throughout its history since its inception in 1991. Prior to that they were actually playing in the Yugoslav second division but have been one of the main sides in Slovenia since the country gained independence 16 years ago lifting the Slovenia cup in 2005, they have also lost in four cup finals since 1991, and finishing as runners up in the league in 2003 when Maribor took the title.
As you would expect the squad is made up largely of Slovenians but has a South American influence as well with a Brazilian and two Argentineans among the numbers. The Brazilian defender, Rogerio, is 25 years old and collected three red cards the season before last earning him a reputation that will strike fear into the more injury prone members of the QPR squad. Oscar Lisandro Sacripanti, an Argentinean midfielder has played professional football in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Israel and Ecuador as well as Slovenia and his homeland. The team is coached by native Slaviša StojanoviÄÂ. West Brom midfielder Robert Koren, briefly linked with a move to QPR 12 months ago, is a former player of Celje’s.
The Arena Petrol holds roughly 13,400 spectators and is based in the city of Celje, Slovenia’s third largest with a population of about 50,000 - we seem to be talking about a club similar to Doncaster or Scunthorpe here. The Rangers’ players must tackle soaring summer temperatures that reached 32 degrees pitchside earlier today.
NK Karlovac:
QPR travel across the border into croatia on Sunday for a match with newly promoted Croatian side NK Karlovac - and if you thought our knowledge of Slovenian football was poor, just you wait. Karlovac, a team that has changed its name nine times since formation in 1919, are looking forward to the forthcoming season in the T-Com Croatian First Football League, the top flight of Croatian football, after promotion in 2008/09. The top flight has 16 clubs and was formed in 1991 following the break up of Yugoslavia. Dinamo Zagreb are the current champions and have won it 11 times out of 18.
The team is coached by former Croatian international Igor Pamić - a former striker with an impressive goalscoring record. He scored 12 in 34 for Istra Pula in his first season as a pro and was subsequently picked up by European competition regulars Dinamo Zagreb where he bagged 28 goals across two seasons. This form earned him international honours, and he scored for Croatia in a friendly with Hungary prior to Euro 96 where he made one sub appearance in the British based tournament. He scored ten goals in the top flight of French football with Sochaux in 1996/97 and finished his playing career in 2001. Karlovac are his third team as a manager - he previously won promotion from second to first with NK Pula and repeated that trick with Karlovac last season.
The squad is made up almost entirely of Croatians with two Bosnian’s thrown in for good measure. They play their home matches in the 12,000 capacity Stadion Branko ÄŒavlović in ÄŒavlek however following promotion it has been announced that the stadium does not meet the requirements for the top league and therefore the club must share the, bizarrely, much smaller Stadion Intera with Inter Zaprešić that has a capacity of just 4,528. I am not sure currently which ground the match on Sunday will take place in. Both are on the very northern point of Croatia, on the Slovenian border.
This Week
Team News:
Argentinean Alejandro Faurlin will make his debut tonight as Rangers take on Celje. Trialist full back Ivan Gvozdenovic is also set to play and QPR may give a chance to two new faces during the tour. Czech goalkeeper Martin Lejsal has told media in his homeland that he will be travelling with QPR ahead of a possible permanent transfer from Brno. The mysterious figure of Alessandro Pellicori may also be seen for the first time - the Italian striker has been speaking about his move to QPR from Avellino today however the club’s official website is yet to announce the capture of the 28 year old who is said to be on a three year contract at Loftus Road. Lee Cook, who missed the Aldershot game with a knee injury, is still struggling while Martin Rowlands is unlikely to be risked for the first game as he continues to recover from his knee injury. Rowan Vine has travelled but will not play tonight after straining a hamstring against the Shots.
Jim Magilton said today that he intends to use certain players for an hour tonight, and then reverse roles on Sunday giving the others a chance for a longer spell - this after the majority of the squad enjoyed 45 minutes of action at Aldershot on Saturday. Magilton said: “It is a chance for the lads to show me what they can do and a chance for me to run the rule over them all again after Saturday."
Injury List >>> Discipline
Elsewhere:
There are one or two friendlies of note for the other Championship teams this week as preparations for the new season start to heat up. Bristol City host Ajax tonight at Ashton gate while Roy Keane’s Ipswich go to Brentford. Plymouth are at Torquay. On saturday Nottingham Forest are at Burton Albion, Watford go to Hampton and Richmond, Peterborough welcome Aston Villa and Paulo Sousa kicks off his Swansea reign against Steve McLaren’s Twente team. Finally West Brom’s proposed match with Nancy later this month has been postponed after the French side decided not to travel to a Swine Flu infected country.
Form:
QPR beat Aldershot in their first pre-season game of the summer with something to spare. Goals from Buzsaky, Helguson, Agyemang and Blackstock sealed a 4-0 win for the R’s, banishing memories of last season’s dire goal scoring form for the time being at least. Rangers’ away form was poor last season with only three league wins in the entire campaign - they failed to record a success eight away matches - drawing two and losing six. QPR’s last foreign tour was to Italy when Gary Waddock was in charge - two farcical games and a fun time was had by all, relive it at the following link.