Queens Park Rangers supporters find themselves in unfamiliar territory this summer. The club has a management team in place with an ambitious vision for the future, a competent strategy to accomplish it and the money to see it through.

Who are you, and what have you done with QPR?

Following the additions of Ryan Nelsen, Robert Green, Andrew Johnson and Fabio da Silva, QPR signed Park Ji-Sung this week for the modest sum of £2 million, and continued the work of locating a site for a new stadium. The owner and board are saying and doing the right things and the team's landscape is unrecognisable from a few years ago. QPR are steeling themselves for a run at mid-table security and bringing in the players to get there this season.

That grumbling sound emanating from W12 is the muffled discontent of a certain faction of the footballing world, concerned over the dangerous trend they've spotted in their club's transfer activity.

QPR have signed...players over thirty! More than one! And re-signed octogenarian (Player of the Year) Clint Hill! Oh, the humanity!

In this mixed up world where youth is the most valuable asset, clearly manager Mark Hughes must be sacked and Tony Fernandes must sell in favour of an owner with the foresight to understand that only twenty-one year olds on £90,000 a week can bring you success.

Reality check: QPR are exactly where they need to be and are making quality additions to the squad.

"Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging." - Samuel Johnson

Hovering dangerously close to relegation, Queens Park Rangers made a dramatic statement to their supporters in the January transfer window, securing a host of signings as they battle for Premier League survival.

In just three short weeks, the new manager and executive team moved quickly to secure a range of top quality players, overhauling key weaknesses and bringing new hope to Hoops fans who have been praying for action to keep the backsliding club from going over a cliff.

Headlined by Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cisse, the new arrivals to Loftus Road have fans buzzing despite the team's lowly position in the league. Hughes has added talent and experience with an emphasis on scoring goals and getting more physical players in. The reinforcements boost the struggling club's fortunes, delivering improvements throughout the starting eleven as the R's enter the most important part of their season. There will surely be bumps in the road to come, but the renewal gives the Hoops' faithful reason for optimism once again.

Mark Hughes has made an immediate impact on QPR - reversing their losing ways with an FA Cup victory and a comfortable thrashing of Wigan at home - but his window to sign needed reinforcements is rapidly closing.

Appointed on January 10th to replace Neil Warnock, Hughes set his sights high and wide, chasing quality targets like Chris Samba, Alex, Nikica Jelavic and Brazilian youngster Henrique. To date he has failed to bring any of them in, and despite the masterful stroke to capture out of favour AC Milan left back Taye Taiwo on loan, the squad remains largely the same as the one he assumed control of two weeks ago.

There have been positive developments in his short reign - particularly the re-emergence of Akos Buzsaky - and the team has lifted itself out of the relegation zone for the moment. But strengthening is still needed and without improvement, Queens Park Rangers are far from safe.

The QPR revolution kept rolling on Deadline Day, headlined by the signing of Shaun Wright-Philips to a four year deal. He leads a band of fresh faces in the door at W12 who will strengthen Neil Warnock's campaign to forge a place in the Premier League this season.

Credit the new leadership for a broad and ambitious transfer strategy. In less than a fortnight owner Tony Fernandes and Board members Amit Bhatia and Philip Beard launched bids on very good players across the country, and their wide net hauled in quite a bit of talent for what seems a reasonable bit of spending. They remade every area of the team with the exception of keeper, adding quality players with loads of Premier League experience.

Unfortunately this renaissance comes at a cost - namely the lads who brought the club up in the first place. While fans are delighted to see the likes of Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Philips in blue and white Hoops, it must be acknowledged that the Championship side that led us back to the top flight are being pushed to the periphery. It is unpleasant work and supporters owe them for getting the club this far. But this is an unforgiving business to footballers, and if the Super Hoops were to continue their success, improvements were necessary.

Neil Warnock has been given a straightforward but difficult task this season - keep QPR in the Premier League. Now all he needs is some cash to help do just that.

With less than a week left until the start of the Premier League season, Neil Warnock can survey his work this off-season and be happy with what he's accomplished, given the miniscular financial support offered by the club's owners. He has targeted a number of skilled veteran players on free transfers, and with just £1.25 million to spend on DJ Campbell, he has done well to add to the ranks so far.

But with the end of the transfer window rapidly approaching and the ownership situation unresolved, he continues to try and plug glaring holes with Bosman deals and loans for other clubs' cast-aways because they are all he can afford.

The fans have given him credit - now the bosses should give him some cash.

DJ Campbell is flying to meet Hoops boss Neil Warnock in Italy this week, hopefully to finalize a move to Queens Park Rangers, according to reports in the Mirror and Sun tonight.

The club agreed on a transfer fee of £1.25 million pounds earlier this month but the deal stalled over Campbell's wage demands. Further complicated by the financial restraints put on Warnock by QPR ownership, the London native's move back to the Premiership appeared over before it began.

However, with suitors dropping down to only West Ham and QPR, it seems a deal is set to be struck that will bring the playmaker to Loftus Road.

DJ Campbell may be QPR bound.

Fantastic news Saturday as Queens Park Rangers announced Moroccan star Adel Taarabt will not leave the club after all.

Taarabt had been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain in the French Ligue 1, and had also previously stated his ambition to play for the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

QPR's Adel Taarabt is staying.

The club released an official statement indicating they did not intend to sell the player and that keeping him represents the board's desire to "build for the future in the Premier League..."

"Taarabt is fully committed to the Club and is looking forward to proving his undoubted star quality for QPR in the Barclay's Premier League."

We live in hard times. Austerity is the watchword these days - governments ask us to give more while services get cut; employers are tightening the belt, demanding longer hours and paying smaller wages; ordinary goods cost more than they used to. It seems every day there is another reminder of the fragile economy or how tight the pocketbook has become.

Neil Warnock is feeling the pinch too, acknowledging this week that he has virtually no funds available for the transfer market. Despite earning promotion to the top flight, it appears that outside of a £1.25 million bid for DJ Campbell, he's been given the word from the ownership to do more with less.

Continue reading "Doing More with Less "

Queens Park Rangers agreed a three year deal with former Cardiff City and England national team striker Jay Bothroyd and it's good to see manager Neil Warnock adding a quality finisher to the ranks.

Financial terms were not released (he was asking £65,000-per-week at one point) but snapping him up on a free transfer probably eased the budgetary obstacles to his signing. Provided he can continue the quality he demonstrated last year this should be a valuable signing for the club.

Continue reading "Warnock signs up Bothroyd and Dyer"

July 12, 2011

Bothroyd Set to Join QPR

Posted by Brian Mahon on 07/12/2011

Queens Park Rangers are set to sign England International and former Cardiff City Striker Jay Bothroyd to a two year deal, according to a report by Skynews.com today.

Bothroyd was spotted in London for a medical this week and Hoops boss Neil Warnock has mentioned him as a target this summer. The 28 year-old scored twenty goals for Cardiff City last season, but the recent arrival of Rob Earnshaw - and his hefty wage bill - appear to have made him expendable. Bothroyd opted not to renew with the Bluebirds after they failed to win promotion last term.

Continue reading "Bothroyd Set to Join QPR "

Transfer target: DJ Campbell

Posted by Brian Mahon on 07/12/2011

Blackpool striker DJ Campbell has been excused from the team’s training camp in Portugal, as it appears he is set to depart the club in the next week or two.

Various newspaper reports have linked the 29-year-old to QPR, Aston Villa and perhaps Fulham. His very affordable £1.25 million contract release clause should expedite a return to the Premier League and QPR have been in on him since the Seasiders were relegated in May.

Continue reading "Transfer target: DJ Campbell"