Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Cisse gunning for Liverpool , cash flow worries allayed — Monday Diary
Cisse gunning for Liverpool , cash flow worries allayed — Monday Diary
Monday, 19th Mar 2012 20:30 by Clive Whittingham

Striker Djibril Cisse hopes he can fire his new club to a vital Premier League victory against one of his former clubs Liverpool at Loftus Road on Wednesday night.

News

Cisse told the Fulham Chronicle: "All my trophies I won with Liverpool , it's a special club for me, but for an hour and a half, there is no mercy. It's my club to be honest, but when the whistle blows that feeling will disappear. It was difficult to leave because it wasn't my decision. Rafa Benitez told me 'you're not in my plans', so I had to leave. I was really sad because I did well in the short time that I played, and I thought I deserved better treatment. But that's the way it was and I have to accept it.

“I feel like I can do much better and I feel like I'm built for this league. I have things to prove. Now all the games are finals for us, and we have to win. If you want to stay up, you have to win games.”

His new team mate Luke Young believes Rangers need four points from this week's games with Liverpool and Sunderland owing to a perilous league position and nightmare run of fixtures between now and May.

Young told London24: "The next two games are both difficult but we need four points, minimum three. Liverpool at home is a massive game in our season. We’ve missed out in a few games where we felt we should have picked up points, so now we have to try to win where people wouldn’t expect us to. You hope that Liverpool have one of those off nights that they are prone to, especially this season. I’ve seen them play and they’ve been excellent, just haven’t put the ball in the net, and other times I’ve felt they look a bit vulnerable. We have to make it difficult for them and play our own game.

“We really only have ourselves to blame. Just after Christmas we ear-marked a block of five or 10 games which we felt were winnable. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened, and we face the prospect of the last 10 games where we have got to turn over some of the best sides in the league."

Young is fit to play again after a month out injured and he added: “It was difficult for me because when the manager changed over I had kind of hit a brick wall, I had played a lot of games before Christmas and I was probably looking for a bit of a break. I tried to carry on, and it was inevitable I was going to get injured. I wasn’t at my best and I knew why I wasn’t, but now I’m fit and ready to go. If I get the chance I’m ready to take it."

Strangely Mark Hughes doesn't seem to believe QPR's fixtures, where they play eight of the top ten in their final ten matches, are any more difficult than games facing their relegation rivals. Hughes told London24: "There’s going to be twists and turns. We’re at the bottom along with a number of clubs. We’ve got a difficult run-in. It’s no moreso than others. With ten games to go, We know each game is crucial. I think it’s really key that we perform at our maximum as we could then take on anybody.

“We haven’t helped ourselves on some occasions and on other occasions they’ve gone against us. It’s going to take hard work. We’re not going to stick our heads in the sand. We’ve got enough quality to score enough goals and defend well.

“It’s a difficult run-in. The pressure is off, somewhat bizarrely. Maybe we’re the underdogs and not expected to win. We can use that as a positive. We’ve got threats in the team that can hurt any team in the Premier League.”

Rangers have Adel Taarabt available again after he missed the defeat at Bolton but manager Mark Hughes has told the Moroccan he must get wise to the Premier League after his mistake cost Rangers a goal at home to Everton the week before. Hughes told the Fulham Chronicle: "I have no problem with players having confidence trying to affect the game in their own way – either in their own half or the other half. But if you make wrong decisions the consequences can be great. Adel will learn from his mistakes, and what he could get away with in the Championship, you sometimes come a cropper in the Premier League.”

Meanwhile in the wake of Saturday's tragic events at White Hart Lane where Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba had a heart attack on the pitch and the game was abandoned Mark Hughes has laid out QPR's policy on screening its players. Hughes told the Fulham Chronicle: ""I checked our policy in terms of screening and every young player is screened, every player that comes into the club is screened as a matter of course,” said Hughes. If there's anything more that can be done, I'm sure that will be implemented but, at this moment in time, I don't think as a club we can do any more. I'm sure that's the case for many clubs.

"These things can happen irrespective of any screening processes that you have and that's the frightening thing about it. It can strike down anybody. These are fit young men and that's why it's so shocking. You feel it should never happen because of the level of fitness that these guys have but, unfortunately, it does."

Off the field CEO Phillip Beard has moved to refute newspaper speculation that QPR would face a financial meltdown were they to be relegated this season. The press has claimed a number of QPR’s top earners were signed without relegation wage reduction clauses in their contract leaving Rangers facing a massive shortfall should they drop into the Championship.

Beard told London24: “I’m comfortable with the wage structure at QPR on the basis that it would be crazy business to assume you are going to stay in the Premier League. When we signed the players we knew that there was a chance the club may not stay in the Premier League. In January we were perilously close to the bottom of the table, and we invested in some players knowing that there was no guarantee that we could survive.

“The reality is that the club has no debt and we have owners who are committed to the club, so without being specific, we will decide how we will work with players going forward and hopefully have a squad which is strong enough to come straight back,” he added. I’m hoping that if we don’t survive, as many players as possible will stay and help us to get back into the Premier League as quickly as possible.”

Elsewhere The Sun this weekend carried an interview with former QPR chairman Gianni Paladini who criticised the film makers behind The Four Year Plan for incorrectly portraying him as a “madman”.

Paladini said: "If I wasn't saying yes to Flavio then I was running around screaming, shouting and swearing. They made me look like a madman. I am not like that. I have worked in football for many years and I am one of the longest-serving chairman at QPR. It would not be possible to have achieved that had I behaved like that.

“Sure I am a passionate man and I was passionate about QPR. I spent millions and millions of pounds to save them from administration many times and to help take them from League One to the Premier League. If it wasn't for me there would have been no Flavio, Bernie, the Mittal family, Tony Fernandes or the Premier League. I helped make all of that possible but the film did not recognise that. It made me look like an inbetweener — the man who Flavio sent to sack the managers.

"I was made to look like I agreed with all of Flavio's decisions — but I didn't. There was one occasion where he kicked me in the back because I would not go down and tell a manager what to do. That was caught on the film but they did not show that. I was just trying to keep the peace between the managers and the board and do the best for the club. Things would have been much worse had I not been there. But the film made me look like this crazy man. Other directors and owners were also swearing but that was cut out. Maybe it is because of who made the film, I don't know?"

Loan Watch

Two QPR players have signed loan deals in the lower leagues until the end of the season. Winger Lee Cook is linking up with League One leaders Charlton where he previously made nine appearances in a similar loan arrangement four years ago. Charlton clearly believe they are struggling in wide areas despite their lofty league position with captain Johnny Jackson currently out injured – they signed Hogan Ephraim from QPR on loan before Christmas and have also brought winger Danny N'Guessan in at the same time as Cook from Millwall. Max Ehmer meanwhile has joined Preston in the same division and came on in injury time of their 2-1 away win at Exeter on Saturday.

Rangers had also hoped to loan Rowan Vine to Southend and sent him to Roots Hall for a trial last week. Despite scoring in a 1-0 behind closed doors friendly against Oxford the old problems about his lack of fitness are troubling the Shrimpers' manager Paul Sturrock. He said: "With our injuries and everything else it's been very difficult for me to really consider what's best," Sturrock said. "He didn't look fit to me and that's a worrying aspect - how long it would take. That's something I've been talking to the fitness coaches about."

Rob Hulse also remains with Rangers although West London Sport reports that near neighbours Brentford are keen on a loan deal for him.

Former R’s

Emmanuel Ledesma has rejoined League One outfit Walsall for a second spell. The Argentinean winger, who scored four goals in 23 appearances for QPR in the 2008/09 season, left the Bescott Stadium in the summer to return home to South America but has now returned on a deal until the end of the season with a view to a longer term deal.

Saddlers manager Dean Smith told the Express and Star: ““We have stayed in contact with him and we knew that there was a possibility of him coming back. He really enjoyed his time with us but his girlfriend struggled to settle in England, which is why he returned home last summer. She’s now pregnant and Emmy is, quite rightly, looking for something more long-term, so we will see how the next two months go.

“We are delighted to have him back. He has great technical ability, is good with both feet and can score goals. He knows a lot of the lads from last season and has settled in immediately. He’s trained all week and looks really sharp. He’s a lively character and I’m sure he will play his part between now and the end of the season.” Ledesma played an hour of Walsall’s 2-1 defeat at Yeovil on Saturday.

Leon Clarke's nomadic and wildly inconsistent season continues with a loan move to League Two side Crawley . The podgy target man left QPR to join Swindon Town in August but almost immediately fell out with manager Paulo Di Canio after being asked to train the day after a match. He was loaned to League One strugglers Chesterfield where his impressive run of nine goals in 15 starts won him a permanent move to league leaders Charlton. But he has struggled to make an impact at The Valley, failing to score in one start and six substitute appearances, and has now dropped back down a league to join Crawley who have hit the wall recently after a number of key players were sold from a team that looked all set for back to back promotions prior to the January transfer window. Clarke played, but didn't score, in a weekend win against Port Vale.

Premiership Shorts

- Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a heart attack during Saturday's FA Cup game against Spurs, is said to be improving by doctors at the London Chest Hospital. Muamba's heart is now beating without medication and he is able to move his limbs but he remains critically ill.

- In the weekend's league action Wolves sank to the bottom of the table with a 5-0 home defeat by Man Utd while Wigan missed an opportunity to move out of the bottom three by spurning a hatful of chances in a 1-1 home draw against West Brom. - Despite that set back Wigan boss Roberto Martinez remains optimistic that his team will escape the drop. "In many ways it sums up our season. The performance was as good as it gets but we've had too many games similar to. If we perform like we did we'll get enough points."

- Norwich were beaten 1-0 at Newcastle but after the game manager Paul Lambert heaped praise on midfielder Jonny Howson who made just his second start since moving from Leeds in the January transfer window. Lambert said: "He was brilliant. I thought Jonny Howson showed everyone that he's going to be a top player for this club."

Tweet @loftforwords

Pictures – Action Images

Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



qprmick added 20:45 - Mar 19
Those 10 games Cisse talk about, it is never safe to talk about winnable games, EVERY game is a winnable game. They are all loseable too and I think this is where we fell down, with an out and out lack of discipline and the belief that we only had to turn up to win. Now there is some really hard work to do.The full back called Taiwo should play and take our free kicks, he is good.
0

enfieldargh added 21:11 - Mar 19
great build up

I think the midfielder called Barton should step up to plate and show why he thought he was the best midfield player in /england last year and the player Wright-Phillips should show the form he did in that England game about 10 years ago.
As for the player vine, its tragic
0

derbyhoop added 22:48 - Mar 19
Surely vine (thank god), hulse and cook are seeing out the last 3 months of their contracts.
0

qprmick added 06:24 - Mar 20
Hard to see Vine getting another job, wouldn't even make the A League, although Paul Ifill is pretty fat but still has some pace and gets around the pitch OK. The other 2 will have no trouble getting work and that is in football of course. Barton should save his energy for running up and down, we have others who can deliver a dead ball better.
0


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 31 bloggers

Knees-up Mother Brown #22 by wessex_exile
Knees-up Mother Brown #18 by wessex_exile

Queens Park Rangers Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© FansNetwork 2024