7. Matthew Rose

Matthew Rose was signed from Arsenal in May 1997 for a fee of £500,000. Matthew was brought as a centre back but was played out of position at right back all season and looked lost. Matthew captained Arsenal's FA Youth Cup winning team of 1994 before going on to make his full debut for them in March 1996 against Manchester City.

Rose looked to be a flop before being switched to a holding role in midfield where he looked a quality player. His early days as a right back saw him the victim of abuse from the QPR fans, something he must have got used to over the years. His best position appears to be as sweeper where he commanded a regular place in the 1999/00 season.

Matthew looked very comfortable in defence where he defends without any thrills and goes about his job well. He also moves the ball out of defence and into midfield with good skill and confidence although a lack of concentration sometimes makes him look foolish when he does this. Matthew is very injury prone as he seems to have spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch since signing from Arsenal.

Matthew Rose was a revaluation under Gerry Francis playing in the middle of a back three and was another contender for Player of the year in 1998/99 and 1999/00 season's. Rose was being looked at by several Premiership clubs but a poor season in QPR's relegation from the first division saw him released on a free transfer and after no bigger clubs came in for him he found himself back at Loftus Road on a short term contract.

Rose is capable of being a very good player but he has still yet to fulfil that potential. In his first season back he was one of the senior players and played most of the season in midfield scoring three goals including the 2001 goal of the year against Huddersfield as voted for by users of this web site. He went on to be named the most improved player of the season on this site and things were looking up for him as he signed a new two year deal.

In the 2002/03 season he played in a number of positions including midfield, right wing, left back and central defence but never reached the consistency he had shown the previous year. His performance would go from excellent to abysmal within a few days which made him one of the most frustrating players to watch.

Injuries in the second half of the season saw his opportunities limited and when he did get back in to the centre of defence in the playoff semi final, he broke his elbow ruling him out for months. Once he got back from that niggly injuries kept him on the sideline until December 2003 and his career at QPR looked over.

He was in and out of the team for the second half of the season again playing in a variety of positions such as left back, right wing and central midfield. It wasn't until the last few weeks of the season that we finally saw the best of Matthew Rose.

Cynics said his vast improvement was down to him being out of contract in a few weeks but another reason was the fact he was back in his favoured central defensive position.

Rose raised his game in those final few weeks and he showed he has it in him to be a top class central defender as he produced some vintage performances. He was rewarded with a new two year deal in the summer of 2004.

Rose began this season as a central defender and did ok before injuries again ruled him out of the side. Ian Holloway then moved him to left back against Leicester City and his performance kept him in that position for most of the season.

Rose’s form was outstanding as he defended well, organised the back four and was a potent threat going forward even managing a couple of winning goals against Brighton and West Ham.

As ever with Rose injuries meant he has not played every game but when he has played he has done an excellent job for the team and has finally achieved a consistency in his performances which he has threatened to do for years.

Last season the glass man had a typical season by his standards. When he played he was usually been one of our better players but injuries meant we've hardly seen him since Christmas and with his contract up this summer it remains to be seen if we'll ever see him again in a QPR shirt.

Rose began the season at left back, a position he has really made his own over the last year. Although he has no left foot he looked the part in that position. Going forward he was always a threat on the overlap and at the heart of most of our attacks. He was also solid in defence with excellent positional sense.

The old injury curse struck as early as September though and his appearances were limited as the team struggled without him.

His return to the side at Christmas saw an improvement in results and against Cardiff he was outstanding at left back. A month on he marked Theo Walcott out of the game in a win over Southampton and he looked set to finish the season as first choice left back.

That all changed though with a new manager coming in which saw Rose back in midfield against Palace and he looked as lost in that position as he had done when he played there under Holloway, Francis and Harford. Quite why every QPR manager sees the need to try him in that position is a mystery to me.

He was in at left back for the excellent win over Sheffield United but shortly after that game his season came to an end.

The return of Milanese forced him out of the left back slot and he replaced Evatt alongside Shittu in the draws against Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday, the later of those games saw Rose pick up his latest injury which forced him to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

This season he started the season as a right back before moving into central defence but injuries have again hit him hard and it appears that he has played his last game for QPR.