Pre Season Review

It's been somewhat of a frustrating summer at QPR.

It should have been different, I should be writing this on the crest of a wave after seeing QPR win the league last season and had a summer which included a parade to celebrate, sensible season ticket prices and the manager being allowed to bring in the players he wants with a sensible yet competitive transfer budget.

Sadly it's been quite the opposite with fans treated with utter contempt by the owners of the club, a parade to celebrate promotion was deemed to expensive and the promise of an event in pre season seems to have been forgotten. The season ticket prices rose to a level that sees QPR fans paying similar prices to champions league clubs and on the pitch Warnock has been given a transfer budget that even Blackpool would have laughed at last season.

After missing out on Craig Mackail Smith and Danny Graham plus losing Wayne Routlegde from his loan spell Warnock was boosted by the return of Alejandro Pellicori and Matteo Alberti for his assault on the Premier League, rumours that the LMA had been called in to try and mediate between Warnock and the club have done little to calm fans of the crazy uncertainty over Rangers most successful manager in a generation.

We've had takeover rumours with Amit Bhatia resigning from the club's board and let's not forget the Alejandro Faurlin report from the FA which suggested QPR were very lucky to get away without a points deduction and that Gianni Paladini must be the luckiest man in West London to still have his very well paid position at the club. The most recent development has been of rumored investment from Lotus F1 chief Tony Fernandes who would be coming in partnership with Flavio rather than replacing him.

On top of all that Rangers returned to pre season training with no new kit and no sponsor. This is now of course a Premier League team rather than a Sunday morning club which is how it seems to be run.

We will get a good insight to how the club is run soon with the release of a documentary called the Four Year plan which shows extraordinary behind the scenes footage of QPR over the last four years, just the trailer is enough to make your eyes water, this could be one of the best football documentaries seen in a long time.

You can view a trailer of the film by click on this link FOUR YEAR PLAN TRAILER

So with one hand tied behind his back Warnock returned to pre season training and himself admitted he didn't expect to see half the squad again let alone be relying on them for the new season. Warnock added three players on free transfers after a long summer of trying to bring in players.

Jay Bothroyd is the pick of them arriving on a free transfer after three excellent years at Cardiff, Bothroyd wouldn't have been my number one pick back in May but on a free transfer and with something to prove and some real ability he looks a very good signing.

The arrival of Kieron Dyer on a free transfer is more comical than exciting and talk of him replacing Taarabt had me checking to see if it was April 1st again. He was a very good midfield player, full of energy and could time his runs well into the box to score goals.

In recent years though he has missed almost three full seasons through injury, it remains to be seen if he is here for the money or wants to knuckle down and fight. He's an eyebrow raising signing but has been there and done it in the Premier League before and if he is keen to impress then he could turn into an excellent signing, time will tell on that one though.

Danny Gabbidon also joined on a free, an experienced defender who has struggled for form and fitness in recent years bit another who could be a useful signing if he is a regular in the team.

DJ Campbell is rumored to be joining soon whilst the news that Adel Taarabt is staying is certainly a big boost to the team.

After a week of pre season training the matches began on Friday 15th July with Rangers facing four non league teams over that weekend.

Below are brief reports from the first two weeks of matches.

Friday July 15th 2011
Harrow Borough 0	Queens Park Rangers 1
	P.Kajubi

Rangers kicked off the pre season with a narrow win over local side Harrow Borough.

Warnock started with a strong side of Cerny in goal with a back four of Orr, Hill, Gall and trialist Bruno Perone.

In Midfield we have Derry and Faurlin with Smith, Vaagen Moen and trialist Danny Webber playing behind lone striker Helguson.

Rangers looked stiff and like they hadn’t played for a while as Harrow had the better of the early exchanges but missed some decent chances and with it any chance of an upset.

Warnock rang the changes at half time with another trialist, Pa Kajubi coming on and scoring a thunderbolt of a free kick from 40 yards out. That proved to be the only goal of a quiet opening game of pre season

A Full Match report can be found by clicking here - Loft for Words Match Report

Saturday July 16th 2011
Hampton and Richmond 2	Queens Park Rangers XI 1
	M.Rowlands

The following day a mixture of youth team and first team players took on Hampton and Richmond and went down to a 2-1 defeat.

Martin Rowlands scored for Rangers as the likes of Ramage, Borrowdale, Balanta, Cook, Rowlands, Clarke and German all failed to do their first team chances any good with a poor display.

Monday July 18th 2011
AFC Tavistock 0	Queens Park Rangers 13
	H.Ephraim 5, 27, 64, 73 mins
	T.Smith 24mins
	P.Agyemang 37 mins
	James own goal 62 mins
	D.Shittu 65mins
	H.Helguson 72, 75 mins
	D.Webber 77mins
	P.Vaagan Moen 84mins
	M.Connolly 88mins

Rangers first game of the annual pre season tour to Cornwall started well with a thumping 13-0 win over local side Tavistock.

Trialist Brian Murphy started in goal with a back four or Orr, Perone, Gabbidon and Gorkss. Midfield was made up of Derry, Faurlin, Smith, Webber and Ephraim whilst Agyemang started up front.

Hogan Ephraim got the scoring under way after just five minutes before further goals from Agyemang, Smith and another from Ephraim gave us a half time lead of 4-0.

At half time Warnock Helguson, Webber, Connolly, Ramage and Shittu a run out and the goals continued. Ephraim added two more whilst Webber, Vaagen Moen, Connolly and Shittu all added goals to a very one sided contest.

Hogan Ephraim was happy with his effort and the result telling the official website: "I was pleased with the goals and, until the minute I came off, I felt strong. It was a good team performance - some good movement and a good work-out. It looks like the rustiness has gone. And it was nice for us to score some goals. Goals in any game will give the boys confidence. Some of the goals were very good, no matter what the opposition was. There were some fantastic one-twos and the amount of goals that Patrick Agyemang was involved in was ridiculous. It's pleasing to see some of the movement that we showed after just a week back to pre-season training. The boys have come back really fit this season. There's a great professionalism within the team. I think we realised that we needed to come back at our sharpest.

"We're going to go out there, give it our best and we won't fear anyone. It's a massive season for us. You saw in the second half, we didn't let-up and wanted to keep on going. No-one wants to let themselves down. We all want to do ourselves, the manager and our families proud. For all the boys, it's the biggest season of their lives."

Monday July 18th 2011
St Albans 2	Queens Park Rangers XI 4
	L.Clarke (2)
	A.German
	A.Pellicori

Rangers reserves produced a better performance to win at St Albans but again no one did enough to warrant being in Neil Warnocks thinking for the new season.

Two goals from Leon Clarke plus one each for Antonio German and Alessandro Pellicori gave us a comfortable win. A full report can be read at Loft for Words by clicking here

A Full Match report can be found by clicking here - Loft for Words Match Report

Wednesday July 20th
Plymouth Argyle 0	Queens Park Rangers 1
	H.Helguson

New signing Jay Bothroyd made his QPR debut against the side QPR were promoted with back in 2004 but now three divisions seperate the two clubs.

Bothryods limped out of the game within half an hour after an innocuous looking challenge but both player and manager confirmed afterwards there was no lasting damage and the change had been made as a precaution. Another pretty dull game ended with Heider Helguson soring the winner for Rangers in the final minute of the game to maintain Rangers unbeaten start to pre season.

Friday July 22nd
Bodmin Town 0	Queens Park Rangers 7
	M.Connolly
	D.Webber (2)
	P.Vaagen Moen
	T.Smith (2)
	H.Helguson
	D.Webber (2)

from http://www.westlondonsport.com/

Danny Webber and Tommy Smith both netted twice as QPR rounded off their trip to Devon and Cornwall with a predictably one-sided win.

Matt Connolly, Petter Vaagan Moen and Heidar Helguson also found the net for Rangers, who scored four of their goals in the first half.

Webber did his chances of earning a contract no harm at all, although he later limped off following a last-ditch challenge that denied him a hat-trick.

Fellow trialists Danny Gabbidon and goalkeeper Brian Murphy featured again, as did Brazilian defender Bruno Perone, who has been involved in Rangers’ pre-season matches but is unlikely to be retained.

Connolly set the ball rolling with an early goal, before Webber rounded the keeper to score his first of the night.

Vaagan Moen missed a sitter but then made amends by heading home a right-wing cross from Smith, whose 25-yarder put Rangers 4-0 up.

Webber nipped in for his second following a defensive mix-up, and another long-range effort from Smith made it six.

Helguson completed the scoring with a cool finish after being put through by Fitz Hall.

Manager Neil Warnock told the official website: “We've had some good work-outs this week. The weather has been difficult but it's not stopped us doing what we want to do. We've used some excellent training facilities and we've had some good sessions in addition to the games. Now the players are going to get a bit of sun on their backs in Italy.The training and games will step up a little bit now.

"We've got a good set of lads, who get on well with each other. I think that's why these trips work so well. That's why I do it. I know the place inside out. It's a low tempo environment down here. The kids don't see many top teams. I think it's great for the kids to come and get autographs and see the players in the flesh - because they'll remember that forever. The people are great. We've also seen a lot of people that live in Cornwall and Devon who have been QPR fans for a long time. It's nice for them to have a home fixture.”

A full review of the Tour of Italy will be on the site tomorrow