Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone have both been speaking about their ownership of QPR on the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. Meanwhile there has been play off pain and glory for a number of our former players.
Briatore, a man who has had four permanent managers already in his time with QPR and the person who sacked Iain Dowie after just 15 matches last season, told the Daily Mail: “I have only had a short time in football and now is not the time to judge me.”
You’ve got to laugh really. It’s harsh being judged too soon isn’t it Mr Briatore?
Briatore also said: “I send emails but I don’t get in the way. Dowie was the only manager I sacked. Sousa was dismissed for breach of contract. We have had so many applicants to be our new manager and we will decide soon. I believe that I can successfully run a Formula One team and a football club. That’s for the future, as I have no intention of quitting QPR.”
Bernie Ecclestone too has given interviews this weekend, and spoke to Gulf News about his football interests. Ecclestone said: “I persuaded Flavio Briatore to join me and put some money into buying Queens Park Rangers, the old and long-established club that had fallen on hard times. I had a look at buying Chelsea - but it was too complicated an issue and needed far too much effort to sort out the books. Liverpool,too, and Manchestyer United were considerations, too, but in the end I figured I lived too far away, 200 or so miles, to buy into teams so distant from my home in London. I didn't fancy the idea of traipsing up and down the country on top of all the travelling I do on F1 business.
“When I approached Flavio with the proposal he thought it was a restaurant we'd be buying! No kidding. But he was just as excited as me when I told him it was a football team. I have since become a friend of Roman Abramovich who took up where I left off and bought Chelsea. And I often share his box at Stamford Bridge or fly off in my own plane to watch them when they are playing overseas. I must say I never would have believed it, but I am real big soccer fan now. I used to say that if the two greatest teams in the world were playing in my back garden I wouldn't be bothered to watch them. Not now. I'm hooked on the game.”
The QPR players are mostly still on their summer holidays, with a large group of them heading off to Las Vegas on an end of season jaunt, however Player of the Year Damion Stewart is still in action, engaging in his usual weird array of international fixtures for Jamaica. The defender scored an 88th minute equaliser for the Reggae Boys against Haiti on Sunday after despite them being down to ten men at the time.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer Stewart has said he hopes to continue his improvements into next season and may eventually look to move into the Premiership without QPR if the R’s fail to win promotion themselves. Stewart said: “It's obvious that every serious player's dream playing in England is to get into the Premier League, so hopefully if I don't go up with my team next season maybe some club will come and get me. When you have an outstanding season like I had there is always rumours of people showing an interest in you, but my focus is with QPR right now. “This season I was pretty much the outstanding one and I'm really honoured to get this award from my club knowing that it is coming from the fans and the players. I'm never satisfied; I'm one who's always trying to do better to improve myself, but the areas that I would be looking to improve on is getting forward and using the ball more offensively, but defensively I think I am solid.”
In former QPR news there has been mixed fortunes in the League One and Championship Play Off finals. Kenny Jackett, Joe Gallen, Adam Bolder and Marcus Bignot were all part of the Millwall set up beaten by Scunthorpe in the game of the weekend on Sunday, but Ian Baraclough was on the victorious Scunthorpe coaching staff so congratulations to him. Scunthorpe will join our good selves in the Championship next season but one northern trek we will no longer have to make is the long haul up to Burnley. The Clarets, with Clarke Carlisle a clear and obvious man of the match, beat Sheffield United for the third time this season at Wembley on Monday and will play Premiership football next season.
After the match United manager Kevin Blackwell stated he would be considering his future because having lived through the ramifications of a play off final defeat previously at Leeds he is not sure it is something he wants to have to do again.
The Championship line up for next season is now complete with Wolves Birmingham and Burnley being replaced from above by West Brom, Middlesbrough and Newcastle while Charlton, Southampton and Norwich make way for Leicester, Peterborough and Scunthorpe from the other end.