Daniel Parejo’s unhappy time with QPR has come to an end after he was recalled by Real Madrid. Meanwhile his potential replacement will not be allowed to leave Crystal Palace cheaply.
Parejo was heralded as a major coup for the club in the summer and unveiled in a blaze of publicity in a special press conference at Loftus Road. Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon attended Rangers’ game with Blackpool last season and the loan of the Spanish Under 19 international was seen as the first of many in a potential link up between the two clubs masterminded by Flavio Briatore.
Excitement in W12 was at fever pitch when Parejo scored for Madrid at the Emirates Stadium in a pre-season match the day before joining QPR on a season long loan with a further one year option.
However the move has turned sour for all parties. Parejo has struggled to adapt to Championship football, often looking light weight and well off the pace. Iain Dowie, Gareth Ainsworth and Paulo Sousa have used him as a central midfielder, holding defensive player, additional attacker and wide man to no avail. His final appearance for Rangers came in the goalless draw at Crystal Palace when he was hauled off at half time and was, to be frank, absolutely bloody awful.
His, shall we say, relaxed approach to the game along with stories of how much he was being paid to play for QPR did not help his cause with supporters and when Flavio Briatore started applying pressure to Iain Dowie that exacerbated the situation.
The return to Madrid has occurred, QPR say, because the Madrid club activated a recall clause but with Parejo out of form, out of favour and out in the cold it’s an arrangement that suits all sides. A major positive in all of this is that Paulo Sousa is clearly 100 per cent in charge of the team, for now, as his predecessor would never have been allowed to not only not play Parejo but also send him home.
Sousa said: “He is a player of great potential and I am sure that with a good professional attitude he has the talent to achieve at the very highest level. I will continue to follow his progress at Real Madrid and, of course, we wish him all the best for the future.”
Rumours persist that the other young foreign players Briatore helped bring to the club in the summer could soon be following Parejo home. Emmanuel Ledesma started brilliantly but has faded in recent weeks and Sam Di Carmine has struggled since minute one although both players played, and scored, for the reserves against Gillingham today.
With the January transfer window just around he corner and Parejo’s wages, whatever they were, off the roster QPR will no doubt be looking to bring in some new additions. Top of the shopping list is Crystal Palace’s midfielder Ben Watson who Rangers spent most of the summer chasing without success. Watson has made it known he wants to move to Loftus Road and has refused to sign a contract at Selhurst Park, although as he is under 23 Palace would be entitled to go to a tribunal over a transfer fee next summer. Manager Neil Warnock says despite his star’s contract situation, and the fact that Palace got stung on tribunal with John Bostock earlier this year, he will not be allowed to leave on the cheap this winter.
Warnock said: “We’ve not had a 100 per cent enquiry for Ben but we did have a derogatory offer from QPR a few weeks ago, since Iain Dowie left. But we might as well keep him ourselves. The press keep reporting he is a free transfer but he’s not - we will be going into a compensation situation at the end of the season. We’re not just going to take anything now when we can get a decent figure at a tribunal.”
Interest in Watson is growing elsewhere with Everton and Reading said to be sniffing around. It is clear QPR will have their work cut out to nail his signing down.
Elsewhere Lee Camp’s future at Nottingham Forest is still up in the air. His loan deal at the City Ground expires at the end of the month and no extension or permanent deal has yet been agreed. Forest can buy the keeper for a fee in the region of £700k if they wish but with QPR changing their manager since his departure, and Colin Calderwood seemingly permanently on the verge of the sack it is unclear what exactly is going to become of the young keeper.
Camp told Forest’s official website: “I feel as though I have picked up my form from where it left off last season at Loftus Road. I doubt whether I will ever know the reasons why I was overlooked there this season but I've been given this chance at The City Ground and it's all about making the most of it.
“I've known from day one that Rangers had the option to recall me in 24 hours but the point where a decision has to be made about my immediate future is getting nearer and nearer. If the clubs get together and talk then obviously I will have a decision to make but the reality at the moment is that I am on loan - it's as simple as that.
"I have been very happy here and being back near my family in the Midlands is great but, whatever my feelings, I can't make decisions until I am faced with one and until that day arrives I can't play any part in the process."
Camp’s replacement Radek Cerny has been speaking to Sky Sports about his move to QPR in the summer. Cerny said: “"I don't regret the choice. I will have played in more matches by the end of December than I would have had in Czech Republic in one season overall. I did not know exactly what kind of league I was coming into. It is a very demanding competition and the level of toughness is different to the Czech leagues or the Premier League, where there are still several teams playing a European style of football."
In other news Martin Rowlands made the Championship team of the week for his performance at Plymouth on Saturday.
In former R’s news Gary Penrice has joined Premiership side Stoke as a scout, Daniel Nardiello has recovered from his latest injury and hopes to kick start his Blackpool career shortly. Former QPR YT Dean Parrett could be set for a shock Spurs debut tomorrow night in the UEFA Cup against Spartak Moscow – Harry Redknapp has only one fit striker to select from and a number of players unregistered by previous manager Juande Ramos and may turn to Parrett and Bostock to fill the void. Ian Holloway looks set to be beaten to the Swindon job by former Walsall gaffer Richard Money – another indication of just how far his stock has fallen since that terrible decision to leave Plymouth for Leicester. Matt Pickens, whose brief time at QPR is sadly only remembered for the damage he did to Rowan Vine’s leg, will not be kept on by Falkirk after a trial.