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29. Paul Furlong 
 No
QPR player in recent memory has ever turned the crowd round like Paul Furlong
has this season.
Furlong had a controversial loan spell at QPR in August
2000 which cost QPR £125,000. Furlong started three games before getting injured
and going back to Birmingham.
This made him one of the more unpopular
players that season and the money wasted on him meant we couldn't bring in any
new players.
So when Furlong was brought back to the club in the summer
of 2002, the QPR fans were hardly overjoyed. This time though
Furlong was desperate to prove himself. His first team opportunities were virtually
zero at Birmingham and he wanted first team football at this stage of his career.
A goal on his debut against Chesterfield was followed by some good performances
for Rangers which promoted Ian Holloway to move and sign him on a free transfer.
Furlong has been plagued by injuries in recent years but is hungry for first team
football and knew his options were limited at Birmingham.
Furlong signed
on a free transfer after taking a big pay cut to join Rangers. He was excellent
at Mansfield where he scored in a 4-0 win but an injury put him out of the side
for the rest of the month.
Niggling injuries then made supporters suspicious
of Furlongs motives as he seemed to get injured as soon as he signed a contract
with QPR. His return to the team in November saw him out of sorts and his performance
against Vauxhall Motors was the last straw for many fans and the crowd totally
turned on him.
Some hated him for lack of effort, some because he used
to play for Chelsea but his future at QPR looked very bleak at that time. He came
on as sub against Cardiff and was subject to some disgusting abuse from QPR fans.
Even Kevin Gallen was outraged and urged the QPR fans to get behind him.
It was at this stage that the P block stuck up for Furlong singing his name
and urging the fans sing your hearts out for all the lads. Furlong though was
well out of form and his confidence must have been at an all time low.
He was sent off at Tranmere which proved to be a blessing in disguise. His 3 match
ban saw him away from the first team and time became a great healer. His introduction
as a sub at Chesterfield also saw a few boos but he shut those up with a goal
and he hasn't looked back since.
He scored again at Northampton the
following week as his partnership with Kevin Gallen began to fulfil the promise
shown at the start of the season. The goals began to flow and his goal in front
of the Loft against Port Vale gave him the chance to ram the taunts down peoples
throats. Furlong was now a popular man again which just goes to show the fickleness
of football fans.
Furlong deserved all the praise though as he was magnificent
for the last few months of the season scoring eleven goals in the last twenty
games of the season to become the joint top scorer for the season.
In
the playoff semi Final it was Furlong who got the goal to send us to Cardiff where
he showed great strength to hold off the defender and a cool finish. That goal
elevated him to legendary status among QPR fans and he won the Most Improved player
award on this web site.
Last season he started off where he finished
the previous season. He was holding the ball up well and scoring plenty f goals
including a screamer against Colchester which won goal of the month on this site.
Injury again kept him out of the side for a few months but when he returned
he soon got back to his best again. His goals pushed us towards automatic promotion
and he seemed to be on a one man mission in April to get us over the line as runners
up. Over Easter he scored twice in the 3-0 win over Grimsby and
then grabbed another two in a dramatic 3-3 draw at Barnsley which included an
equaliser with the last kick of the game.
It was fitting that he grabbed
another stunning effort on the last day of the season to help clinch promotion,
a goal which came runner up in this web sites goal of the season vote.
After
agreeing a new one year deal last summer he carried on where he left off at the
start of this season. He scored a truly memorable goal in the draw with Sunderland
that won him the official goal of the season award.
When Ian Holloway’s
job looked under threat it was Furlong who stepped up and scored the goals to
move us up the table. He grabbed two in the win over Plymouth before adding more
in wins over Crewe, Brighton, Coventry and a stunning last minute winner against
Leicester City.
It wasn’t just his goals that were catching the eye,
his all round performances were superb and he was looking 26 rather than 36 yeas
old.
Furlongs form continued throughout the season with highlights including
a late winner against Wigan, two stunning goals against Ipswich Town at Loftus
Road before scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 win over Ipswich at Portman Road.
Furlong finished the season on 18 goals this season, his best goal tally
so far for QPR and he signed a new two year contract at the end of the season. Last
season though was a disappointing one for Furlong. At Hull on the opening day
of the season he was lucky to avoid a red card for a late challenge in the first
minute before a standard was set for the season. Furlong held
the ball up well but when the chances game he couldn't find the back of the net
as he missed two sitters on the opening day. Against Ipswich he was again getting
in the positions and hitting some blistering shots but whatever he did he couldn't
find a goal and when he did score it was ruled out for a debatable offside.
The longer he went without a goal the more concerned fans began to feel and there
was a feeling that we badly needed some more support for Furlong who was clearly
not going to hit the heights of previous years. Furlong got off the mark with
his first goal of the season at Leicester where the big striker scored the late
winner before stupidly getting himself sent off. It seemed just
as he was hitting form he would have to miss a game. Furlong grabbed a second
of the season in the win over Norwich but again faced a spell out of the side
after another stupid sending off at Derby and this ban saw him miss most of November.
With a rocket in his ear from the manager Furlong returned to enjoy one
of his best spells of the season scoring in the win over Stoke and again in the
draw with Ipswich the following week as he finally looked back to his best. Again
though a one match ban for 5 bookings disrupted his run in the side and although
Furlong produced some decent performances and a few more goal sin the second half
of the season he rarely looked like the player who had become such a favourite
in recent years for Rangers.
With still a year to go on his contract
he looks likely to stay at Loftus Road with a position on the coaching staff a
real possibility. His experience is valuable to have around the club especially
with young strikers like Moore and Baidoo needing to learn and if we use him sensibly
next season there is no reason why he can't better last seasons goal total.
Very few expected it but Paul Furlong has become a legend at QPR up there
with Les Ferdinand as one of the best strikers we’ve had in recent memory.
| Previous
Awards on This Web Site: | | |
| 2006/07 |
| March 2007 Player of the Month |
| 2005/06 |
| N/A | |
2004/05 | | 2004/05
Player of the Season | | 2004/05
Goal of the Season vs Sunderland | | February
2005 Player of the Month | | 2004
Player of the Year | | 2004 Goal
of the Year vs Sunderland | | December
2004 Player of the Month | | December
2004 Goal of the Month vs Ipswich | | November
2004 Player of the Month | | September
2004 Player of the Month | | August
2004 Goal of the Month vs Sunderland | |
2003/04 | | 2003/04
Goal of the Season Runner Up vs Sheffield Wednesday | | May
2004 Goal of the Month vs Sheffield Wednesday | | April
2004 Player of the Month | | February
2004 Player of the Month | | September
2003 Goal of the Month vs Colchester | | August
2003 Player of the Month | |
2002/03 | | 2002/03
Most Improved Player | | 2002/03 Goal of
the Season Runner Up v Oldham | | May 2003
Goal of the Month vs Oldham | | February
2003 Player of the Month | |
2000/01 | | N/A |
| |
| QPR
Career | | *Upto
and including April 21st 2007* | |
| | Club | Year |
Apps | Subs |
Goals |
Average Rating | Yellow
Cards | Red
Cards | Man
of the Match | | QPR | 2006/07 |
8 | 13 |
2 |
6.4 | 3 | 0 |
2 | | Q.P.R. | 2005/06 |
32 | 6 |
7 | 6.5 | 5 | 2 |
0 | | Q.P.R. | 2004/05 |
40 | 2 |
18 |
7.2 | 8 | 0 |
4 | | Q.P.R. | 2003/04 |
36 | 6 |
16 |
7.1 | 7 | 1 |
5 | | Q.P.R. | 2002/03 |
31 | 6 |
14 |
7.3 | 7 | 1 |
5 | | Q.P.R. | 2000/01 |
3 | 0 |
1 |
| 1 | 0 |
0 | | TOTAL | |
150 | 32 |
58 | 6.9 | 31 | 4 |
16 | | | | | | | | | | |
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