For anyone that didn’t get to read Kevin Gallen’s amazing interview with Yann Tear in the local Gazette last Friday, it’s reproduced below. Well done to Kev for his honesty and speaking out publicly:-
It is probably just as well for Rangers that Kevin Gallen is forced to sit out this weekend’s clash against Plymouth at Loftus Road. The man with blue and white hoops where his veins should be is so angered by the way the Rangers hierarchy treated him this Season, he would surely have bagged a vengeful hat-trick for the Pilgrims. He is also deeply disillusioned by what he sees as the rapid decline of the Club since Ian Holloway was shown the door. Gallen is on loan to the West Country Club and reunited with Ian Holloway and loving it after helping his adopted Club into the FA Cup quarter finals with a penalty in a 2-0 win over Derby. It has softened the blow of a departure he never wanted and which appears terminal. Gallen admits he does not expect to play for Rangers ever again.
But the pain was still real in the midst of all the joy this week. “Under the current regime at Rangers, I don’t think I’ll be coming back,” Gallen told the Gazette in an exclusive interview on the eve of a match he must miss under the terms of his loan deal with Argyle. “I was basically forced to leave Rangers, there was no other option. I only started two games up front for QPR this year and scored twice and then I got dropped the next game. It was disappointing that it had come to the stage where I thought if I didn’t go and play football elsewhere, my options would have been very limited to get a Club next Season. My contract’s up at the end of the Season and if you’re not playing and in the shop window, no one’s going to take you for a further Season. I felt QPR weren’t giving me that opportunity.”
“I said things to the Manager about how I felt and about the things going on behind the scenes but I can’t talk about that now because I’m still a QPR player. There are things going on behind the scenes that in my opinion weren’t right – maybe there were hidden agendas and I just felt I wasn’t getting the opportunity to earn a new contract at QPR. I don’t know what I did wrong or who I upset down there but that’s how I feel. Gallen continued: “The things they put on the Official Website when I left gave no mention of how long I’d been at the Club and it said I’d scored one goal this Season which wasn’t true because I’d scored four ! I’ve been a servant there for a long time and I feel I was not treated very nicely and that’s how the Club is at the moment. I could talk all day about it but I’d get myself in trouble. That said, it’s plain to see things aren’t right down there.”
“Two years ago, we were getting average crowds of 15/16,000, now in some games you don’t even see a sponsor in the sponsor’s lounge. I’m really saddened rather than bitter about it because QPR’s my Club and I love the supporters.” The irony for Gallen is that he was dropped from QPR’s FA Cup tie with Luton because, had he played, he would now be cup-tied and missing Argyle’s great run and his first taste of a quarter- final since 1995 when Manchester United ended Rangers interest. “I got bombed out for the Luton game when we’d won the game before and I was sick to death of getting dropped every time after doing well, I just had to say, look, I can’t take it any more. I thought it was lack of respect.
It’s also been great to see some old faces down here like Ian Holloway, Tim Breaker, Des Bulpin and Gary Penrice and I’m having a really good time here. I’m not allowed to play this Saturday but I’d love to have taken part just to say goodbye to the QPR fans because I never got the chance. Pretty much it looks like I’ve played my last game for Rangers though I’d like to think one day I’ll be back at some stage, we’ll have to wait and see, I miss the place. I don’t think QPR ‘s been the same since Ollie left. We were very comfortable in mid-table last year with a chance of the play-offs and with decent crowds – now look what’s happened. It’s disappointing to see the way things are going. The way he left wasn’t right and he feels the same. He’s an honest bloke and I feel I’m an honest bloke. Not being treated right by a Club I’ve given nearly all my career to hurts and Ollie will have the same feelings.
“He worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen when he was at Rangers. I’m sure he’ll get a great reception from the fans. He did nothing wrong at QPR and got us promoted and comfortable in the Championship and if they had kept him and added a few players here and there, maybe we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now. I’m sure he would like to put one over Rangers, not because of the crowd but because of the people in charge. He didn’t want to leave QPR, he loved it at QPR. At one stage the place was bouncing again with him in charge. Now it’s gone backwards and I’m sad for the supporters who are the people who are going to have to drag it up again.
Steve Russell
How sad is it when a Legend feels the need to speak out such as Kevin has done? Sad maybe, but a credit to him for telling it as he see’s it.
It’s hard not to read Kevin’s comments without a lump in my throat. Sometimes it’s important to remember it is only a game but to most R’s fans the club means so much more. We all worked so hard to drag the club up from the depths and, as Kevin says, it’ll be down to us to do it all again. Thanks for everything, Kev – you deserved so much better, but then all true R’s fans do…
Kevin Gallen the lad who stood on the loft and played such a huge role in the rebirth of QPR,. Many forget that Kev came back from an Injury that would have seen lesser souls off if it was not for that post at Portsmouth I am sure Kevin would have gone onto far greater things.. Thank you Kevin for all you gave to the shirt that you where born to wear.