 Friday, 20th May 2011 19:35 by Clive Whittingham Neil Warnock wants to make Watford striker Danny Graham his first summer signing as he prepares QPR for a tilt at the Premiership. NewsGraham was named in the Championship Team of the Year after bagging 24 league goals for Watford in an impressive campaign. The former Middlesbrough trainee has scored 41 times in 98 Hornets appearances, including two at Loftus Road last December, since joining from Carlisle for a fee of £350,000. Now Neil Warnock wants to give him a route back into the Premiership and Sky Sports reported yesterday that Rangers had tabled a £2.5m offer for the player which Watford have today turned down, according to the Watford Observer. That news came as a surprise to LFW – we understand Graham has a clause in his contract allowing him to speak to Premiership teams that offer £2.5m for his services. Any transfer would include a sell-on percentage payable to League One side Carlisle. The news came just a day after Neil Warnock met with the QPR board to discuss budgets and potential transfer targets for the new season. He told the club's official website: "We had a meeting and they reiterated their pleasure at the job I've done. They said they're happy with how I've gone about my business in my time here and we're all planning for next season now. I'm just concentrating on our return to the Premier League and I'm so excited about next season." Warnock expanded on that in an interview with the Evening Standard. He said: "What we have here is perceived money. I don't think anyone wants to splash out fortunes. I think the Premier League will be a great league to be in, and I think the owners will really enjoy it, but they will want me to be as thrifty as I have been in the Championship, getting value for money and entertainment as best that we can without spending millions. I can't see them throwing money around with 18,000 crowds. I don't think they want to be self-sufficient, as that is difficult, but they don't want to be throwing money around stupidly. I see we have been linked with Joe Cole but I doubt we could afford a quarter of his wages. "If you gave me fourth from bottom next season, then I would accept that now. The more years you have in the Premier League, the more chance you have of establishing and stabilising, such as Stoke or Bolton . I think QPR could become one of those clubs but you have to stay in the Premier League to do that. That can be a goal for us but we are nowhere near good enough to be top half of the Premier League at the moment. And Stoke have improved every year if you look at their signings. They have spent a lot of money on some of them, and have increased the quality of their players year on year, and that is the art of it. I thought we could do that when I was at Sheffield United but we only spent around £2m in the Premier League, whereas here we need to invest a bit more than that." Veteran left back Clint Hill says promotion into the Premiership is only just starting to sink in. He told the club's official website: “I think promotion is beginning to sink in - it's such a strange feeling. Finding out that there wasn't going to be a points deduction was a massive relief. Then we had the trophy lift and the massive celebrations. We've been on massive high but now it's calmed down a bit. Maybe when we see the fixture list - seeing who we're going to play on the first day of the season - we'll start to think 'wow, we're there!'" "I think we got the result we wanted before we played the game, we wanted to game to be over so that we could lift the trophy and celebrate properly. Looking back it's fantastic. You saw the families on the pitch, the trophy, everyone's happy and singing, the flags in the ground. You're just trying to take it all in at the time but you can't. You've then got to rely on YouTube and things like that to kick-start your memory again. It was the best day of my footballing career. You don't get many highs and that was definitely the best moment for me.” One man highly unlikely to be involved next season is Rowan Vine, who didn't make a single appearance for QPR last term but spent time on loan at Hull , Brentford and MK Dons. Vine told his Twitter followers today: "Not sure what's happening with me yet people," he said on Twitter. "I haven't had much contact with QPR so will have to wait and see." Incidentally you can follow LFW on Twitter @LoftforWords should you want more of this nonsense pumped directly to you on a daily basis. We do jokes too sometimes. Better news for Elvjis Putnins and Kaspars Gorkss who have been called up by Latvia . Putnins will join the Latvian Under 21s for a European qualifier against Slovakia on Friday, June 3, and then another game against Estonia four days later. Gorkss will play for the senior squad against Israel in a Euro qualifier on Saturday, June 4, before playing a friendly against Austria three days later. Adel Taarabt has been included in the Morocco squad for an African Nations Cup qualifier with Algeria on June 4. Meanwhile Rangers, and the rest of the Championship, are still yet to receive the full written judgement from the Football Association on the Alejandro Faurlin transfer case. QPR were found guilty on two of seven charges and fined £850,000 but escaped a points deduction and claimed the title as a result. Almost a fortnight after the decision was announced no detail have yet been released about how and why the conclusions that were reached were arrived at. Football League chairman Greg Clarke, who had to stand by and watch while his flagship competition was turned into a farce by the FA, is less than impressed. He told Mihir Bose: "I went to QPR extremely worried that the FA decision could throw my whole play-offs into chaos. Gianni Paladini, the chairman there, was absolutely frantic trying to figure out what was going to happen. We owe it to decent human beings to offer them swift justice. Did I like the process? No. It's pretty hard to have a go at David Bernstein when he is trying to make the place better. I've made my point to the FA privately. I prefer to work behind the scenes." Back at Loftus Road and fans coming to Rangers games next season will notice one or two changes to the stadium aimed at bringing it up to Premiership codes. The mot noticeable alteration will be to the television gantry, which regulations stipulate must have room for 30 cameras, and therefore must be tripled in size from what it is now. Work to extend it along the underside of the Ellerslie Road Stand roof is already well underway and is expected to take eight weeks. Finally, while Rangers are yet to announce anything officially themselves, it seems that plans for the pre-season games are starting to shape up. Cornwall based non-leaguers Bodmin have said that Rangers will be back there on Friday July 22 while a second string will play Truro City on the same night. Rangers won 6-0 at Bodmin last summer as part of a South West tour. The R's are also booked in for their annual friendly at Harrow Borough on Friday, July 15. RumoursArgentinean international Javier Saviola, 29, is being linked with a £2m switch to W12 after scoring 14 goals in 40 appearances for Benfica last season. A little closer to home several outlets are today reporting that the R' are showing an interest in Fulham striker Eider Gudjohnson, after previously tipping us to move for his team mate Zoltan Gera. Darren Ambrose is being linked with Loftus Road again, 12 months after the plug was pulled on his move across London from Crystal Palace by the Eagles' new owners at the last minute. Off the field, amid rumours of a renewed power struggle between the Mittals, Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone for full control of the club, the Fulham Chronicle reports that QPR fans will have to stomach 35% increases in season ticket prices for the new Premiership season. Rangers are also intending to cap the number of season ticket holders at 9,000 to ensure enough tickets are available for members and general sale which will mean just 400 new season tickets will be issued this summer if all current holders renew. The Chronicle also reports that stories linking Rangers with Tottenham's Robbie Keane and Fulham's Andy Johnson are wide of the mark. Loan WatchAngelo Balanta's season with MK Dons is over after Karl Robinson's team lost their League One play off semi final to Peterborough on Wednesday night. Leading 3-2 from the first leg, thanks partly to Balanta who scored the third, The Dons found Peterborough 's exciting attack too hot to handle and succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at London Road . Balanta will now return to Loftus Road to hear where Neil Warnock feels his future lies while Peterborough will face Huddersfield in the final at Old Trafford next weekend. Former R'sJohn Gregory has resigned as manager of FC Ahdod after less than a season in charge. Grgeory, who managed minnows Maccabi Ahi Nazareth last season but couldn't steer them away from relegation, left Ashdod in relegation trouble amid rumours he was about to be replaced by club legend Yossi Mizrahi – who has indeed taken over since Gregory's departure in April. Gregory said: "The speculation around a new coach coming made us think about it and if we are not going to be here next year we may as well go now. It wasn’t an easy decision to make but we both decided it was in the best interests of everybody.” Chairman Jacky Ben Zaken said, “Our situation is not good and I have told the players that if I could I would replace all of them because the fault is not with the coaching staff.” Chris Kiwomya has left his job as Ipswich Town rserve team manager after the Tractor Boys confirmed they would follow QPR's lead and not enter a competitive second string competition next season. QPR have been arranging behind closed doors friendlies for their reserves this season and Ipswich will do likewise in 2011/12 despite winning their reserve league last season. Kiwomya will now look for senior management positions to apply for. He said: "I have enjoyed my time at Ipswich Town and wish the club every success. I hope they win promotion and get back in the Premier League where they belong." Championship Shorts- As well as rebuffing QPR's interest in Danny Graham Watford are also fending off interest from League One champions Brighton for winger Will Buckley who they signed from Rochdale last summer. - Scunthorpe have released goalkeeper Joe Murphy and defender David Mirfin following their relegation to League One. Manager Alan Knill said: "With Joe and David, they more or less came out and said they wouldn't be here next year. We had meetings with both players and they effectively said they were looking to be somewhere else. Unfortunately, the ball was in their court and they both decided they wanted to be somewhere else next season." - Barnsley and Sheffield United both want Rochdale manager Keith Hill to fill their vacant managerial slots, according to BBC Radio Sheffield. Rochdale CEO Colin Garlick said: "There's been no approach from Barnsley , Sheffield United or any other club. Keith and I have been working together as normal making plans for pre-season." Dave Jones remains the Cardiff manager despite their 3-0 home defeat to Reading in the play off semi final on Tuesday. Reading will now meet Swansea in the Wembley final while former Cardiff skipper Jason Perry has joined the throng who believe Jones should pay the price for yet another end of season collapse from the Bluebirds. But striker Jay Bothroyd said: "" Cardiff would be mad to get rid of Dave Jones. He's been great, he's brought in quality. It's not just the manager, it's a collective thing, we're involved as well. We're the boys that go out on the pitch and play the game and he can't affect that, all he can do is pick the team." - Coventry have had their transfer embargo lifted. The Sky Blues were forbidden from signing players in March over unpaid debts to another club for a loan player and the late submission of their accounts. The league has now been satisfied on both counts. 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 ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
