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HOOPS ARE AIMING HIGH!

December 15 - 21, 2010
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Gulf Weekly HOOPS ARE AIMING HIGH!

Gulf Weekly Stan Szecowka
By Stan Szecowka

Queens Park Rangers may have stumbled to their first defeat of the season but the Gulf Air-sponsored side remain well-placed for securing a spot in the promised land of the Premiership.

The club remain top of the Championship, the second-tier of English football, and four points clear of second-placed Cardiff City.

Manager Neil Warnock says he is determined to keep the side challenging for automatic promotion and looks set to introduce a couple of new faces during the winter transfer window to keep his squad focussed.

In an exclusive interview with GulfWeekly he said: "I am enjoying watching us play this season and I have to say that we have far exceeded where I hoped we would be at this stage.

"I have been asked about what I want to do in January and whether I will look to add to my squad. I would certainly like to bring in one or two, but only if they will add something more to what I have got.

"I am really happy with the squad. There is a great mix and I couldn't have dreamed that the players I brought in over the summer would settle as quickly as they have done.

"I would like to say a big thank you to everyone in Bahrain who has supported us this season. We will be doing our best to stay where we are in the league, and hopefully we will give you more to shout about between now and the end of the campaign.

"Cross your fingers for us, and keep supporting us.

"It's great to know we have people as far away as Bahrain following us. QPR fans haven't really had too much success in recent years, and we would like some more if we're honest.

"We are really enjoying where we are right now, and we are determined to stay where we are."

Wily Warnock, 62, is recognised as one of the most astute coaches in the football league, and his experience has helped concentrate the minds at a club that in recent seasons has failed to live up to its potential.

He joined Queens Park Rangers at the tail end of last season as manager on a three-and-a-half year deal after agreeing compensation with his former club Crystal Palace. His first match in charge was an emphatic 3-1 home win against West Bromwich Albion, a club currently flying high in the Premiership after promotion.

He helped QPR comfortably avoid relegation last season and this campaign has been a revelation. Warnock was awarded Manager of the Month for August and is using a new 4-2-3-1 formation built around £1 million pre-season capture, Arab playmaker Adel Taarabt (who was named Player of the Month alongside his manager).

Rangers went into Friday night's fixture 90 minutes away from equalling a club record of 20 league matches without defeat, but they were outplayed by a Watford side that counter-attacked brilliantly.

Rangers, who were clearly frustrated by a series of refereeing decisions that they felt went against them, also had a penalty appeal turned down.

The home side did eventually score, with former Watford trainee Tommy Smith converting a lay-off from Jamie Mackie, but the goal came too late to affect the result.

Despite the defeat, the Hoops remain top of the table, a position they have held for the majority of the 2010/11 season, and interest in the club is intensifying on and off the field.

The north-west London football club is drawing up plans to move to a new, 35,000 capacity purpose-built, larger stadium on the BBC Television Centre site in West London, alongside offices, shops and homes.

The QPR board is discussing various options for the future of the club, which is currently based nearby in Loftus Road, and is planning a move within three to five years, according to recent media reports.

The plans are at an early stage but QPR has held informal discussions with its local council, Hammersmith and Fulham, which supports a move within the borough to the BBC site.

The move would be just half a mile and will not prove controversial with fans, unlike other potential football relocations such as West Ham's possible switch from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium after 2012.

Both the ambition and financial ability of QPR to plan a new stadium is clear. If the club gets promoted to the Premiership this year, its desire for a new stadium could step up a gear.

The club is part-owned by Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal's family and racing driver entrepreneurs Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. Briatore and Ecclestone are widely reported to be selling their stakes; Vijay Mallya, the United Breweries tycoon and Kingfisher beer owner, has been in the frame, but a deal has not yet materialised.

Loftus Road, which has been QPR's home for more than 90 years, only holds 18,000 fans. The 15-acre TV Centre site was put up for sale by the BBC through property agent Lambert Smith Hampton.

Gulf Air's current shirt-sponsorship deal with the club runs out at the end of the season and negotiations on a new deal are continuing which could see the national carrier sign an agreement to ensure it flies its name to a global audience in the Premiership alongside Emirates-sponsored Arsenal and Etihad's Manchester City.







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