Tottenham forward Adel Taarabt has been speaking today after completing a season long loan deal at QPR. The 20 year old wowed Rangers fans with an impressive spell at the end of last season.
Taarabt told the club’s official website: “I'm delighted to be back. I really enjoyed my last spell and I can't wait to spend the whole of next season here. I had a great relationship with the fans last year, I really appreciated their support and I can't wait to pull on the Rangers shirt again.
“There was a lot of interest in me. I had opportunities to go to clubs in Italy, Spain and France, but Tottenham said they wanted me to play in the Championship. As soon as they said that, I knew I wanted to come back to QPR." The fans played an important part in that decision, because they seemed to like how I play. This is a decisive season for me personally. I hope to play regularly, but not just play - I want to do well, for myself, the club and the fans.”
Whether Taarabt will be joined at Loftus Road by Leicester’s DJ Campbell remains to be seen. The Leicester Mercury has today reported that QPR are favourites to secure the former Birmingham man’s signature, quoting the traditional unnamed source from Loftus Road in their story.
The source said: “DJ Campbell would be a popular move and I'd expect him to earn a five-figure weekly salary. The manager has enquired about a lot of players and DJ would fit the bill. They like DJ down here, particularly as he is a QPR fan. He had a couple of trials when he was a kid but nothing came of it, and I'm sure the supporters would welcome him back.”
Manager Jim Magilton has been speaking to the BBC today ahead of QPR’s next pre-season friendly at Oxford on Friday. Magilton started his career as a player at Oxford and said: “They have the right sort of people at the club. In the manager they have a young ambitious manager like myself. He's desperate to do well. It is important to get out of that league and then start building, and then ensure the foundations that set in now are the foundations that take them forward."
Captain Martin Rowlands is hoping to be involved at The Kassam Stadium on Friday after successfully making it through 45 minutes against Forest Green after his injury. He told the club’s official website: “I feel fine now after the game, I`ll have to see how it reacts overnight. As long as there`s no swelling and no pain through the knee during the recovery session then hopefully I can get more minutes Friday and Tuesday and then the Southampton game which is the week before the season. So hopefully I`ll be in contention for August 8.
“I felt really comfortable out there and I`m obviously delighted I played a full half. To be fair they`ve been holding me back a couple of weeks, I`ve not missed a day`s training so I`ve been raring to go and obviously delighted to get my first 45 minutes under my belt. I totally forgot about my knee to be honest. When I was out there you get caught up in the game and your playing, sometimes when play goes dead obviously I had a slight thought but to be honest I felt comfortable and I was happy to go into all the tackles.”
Off the pitch the club has confirmed a summer family day at Loftus Road on Wednesday July 29 between 12.30pm and 4pm. Fans will get a chance to meet the players, get autographs and purchase the new red and black hooped away shirt.
In former QPR news today Leon Jeanne’s descent into oblivion continues – after his arrest last month on money laundering charges he has now signed for Weston after promising to clean up his act and concentrate on his football. I can’t help but feel we have heard that a million times before. Alan McDonald’s Glentoran side crashed out of Europe this week with a 10-0 aggregate defeat to Maccabi Haifa. Firmer trainee Giles Coke, who has earned quite a reputation in the lower leagues with Mansfield and Northampton, has joined SPL side Motherwell – sadly for Northampton despite the player being under 23 they will not be due any compensation as this is a transfer between countries.
Elsewhere in the Championship today it has been a tough day for Cardiff City with last season’s top scorer Ross McCormack allegedly requesting a transfer and Hull City stepping up their chase of Joe Ledley – the Welsh international was denied a £6m move to Stoke City in January but is out of contract in 12 months time. Ipswich are closing in on Northern Ireland international striker David Healy, Bristol City are keeping tabs on Czech keeper Martin Lejsal who impressed on trial for them rather more than he did for us at NK Karlovac at the weekend. Quinton Fortune and John Oster are both training with Doncaster Rovers trying to win contracts.