‘We are pleased to confirm that Adel Taarabt will be staying at QPR this summer. Despite receiving a substantial bid for our Moroccan international, we rebuffed all approaches and indeed, we are keen to build for the future in the Barclays Premier League, and not sell one of our prized assets. Should we have decided to sell Taarabt this summer, we made it clear to Neil Warnock that we would re-invest funds into the squad.
Taarabt is fully committed to the Club and is looking forward to proving his undoubted star quality for QPR in the Barclays Premier League. Our decision not to sell him only serves to reiterate the ambition and commitment we have both shown to QPR since we arrived here.
We saved the Club when it was close to relegation from the Championship and just one week from liquidation. At this time, Flavio Briatore outlined a four year plan to reach the Premier League, which was achieved. We have always owned approximately 70 per-cent of the shareholding at the Club and have been the major benefactors since our arrival.
We have backed Neil Warnock in bringing in his two top targets, Jay Bothroyd and Kieron Dyer, and we are working hard to try and pursue a couple of other targets the coach has identified. Welsh international Danny Gabbidon has impressed the coach while on trial and we are aiming to add him, as well as at least one or two other players to our squad in the near future.
Neil Warnock is our coach and we are working closely with him in a professional and confidential manner to try to achieve our aims and objectives. The coach’s job is to coach the squad and identify players he believes will improve the squad. As a Board, we deal with the negotiations and we have been successful in completing deals for Bothroyd and Dyer so far.
We are aware of some issues that have been raised in the press by the coach, but we have discussed these with him internally and he has agreed to be more reserved in terms of what he discusses in the future. We are fully committed to strengthening our status as a Premier League Club next season and in due course, build for the future.
Now we are in the Premier League, we intend to stay here. We believe this Club can achieve great things and we are looking forward to the Barclays Premier League season.
We are very encouraged by the 10,000 plus Season Tickets we have sold to date and we look forward to welcoming our fans back to Loftus Road on the first day of the season against Bolton Wanderers on August 13th.’
Well, there had to be some fallout following various comments expressed in the media recently by Mick Jones and Neil Warnock which obviously touched a nerve ! They have made full use of the opportunity to publically define Neil Warnock’s role and to put him firmly in his place so to speak.
Obviously I hope that Kieron Dyer does come good, but was he really one of Neil Warnock’s top targets ?
They also, cringingly, used the statement to tell us yet again how they saved our Club ! Really, there were at least two other interested parties out there at the time and our Club would not have gone into liquidation.
There is also an interesting contradiction to what Neil Warnock said publically that any transfer fee for Adel Taarabt wouldn’t be re-invested, hummmn !!! They big themselves up at the expense of everyone else including Mr Mittal.
So Adel Taarabt is now unhappily, but ‘fully committed to the Club’ and stays for the short term. Neil Warnock also stays for now when many others in his position would have surely walked.
Watch this space as they say.
Steve Russell
Probably the very worst QPR press release that I have ever seen – after years of appalling PR work from the club. This article from yesterdays Guardian summs the situation up well. What should have been the best summer of the last 30 years in terms of fan excitement and expectations of what’s to come has been turned by our majority shareholders into a situation where most of us are just expecting Aug 13th to be the day the nightmare begins. So so sad. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/jul/25/neil-warnock-queens-park-rangers#start-of-comments
Having supported qpr since 1968, and visited all but 14 grounds in the 4 leagues, only due to the R’s, I am left this season, with the feelig that the club I have spent a greater proportion of my money on than eccclescake and blobbytory on, is now no longer the club I remember.
So upset when we sold Rodney, Webb missing that penalty, ok Spurs are Spurs, but Oxford, been there, done it, stood in the rain, got back at 2 in the morning, watched grown men try to pass a round thing to each other, and painfully failing to do that, let alone show effort, I am not paying 40 quid to be a member, to get a ticket, to pay 30 quid in petrol, to watch overpaid players, struggle to stay in the the prem, whilst paladin the magician, no doubt takes a cut of everyones salary.
I am off to watch Brizzle Rovers instead. Slight difference in skill level, but possibly better value for the outlay