QPR REPORT

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Dave McIntyre/Kilburn Times May 21, 2008 Rangers defend price hike

QPR say they will not back down over the huge increase in season ticket prices that has left many fans furious.
Prices have rocketed by up to 50 per cent and concessionary rates in some areas of Loftus Road have been scrapped.
But Ali Russell, QPR's deputy managing director, insisted the prices were fair given the club's ambitions and money spent on improvements to the squad.
Russell said: "We are spending more on players' wages. Going forward, it was necessary to maximise income from season tickets.
"We kept prices as low as possible, but I understand that for part of the fan base, finances are an issue."
As well as steep increases, supporters have less time to stump up the cash.
The traditional 'early bird' rate, which gave a significant discount to fans renewing before the end of May, has been abolished.
A huge hike in prices for the Upper Loft was justified, Russell claimed, because of the superior view of the pitch from that section of the ground.
The view from some parts of the stand is far from ideal, yet a blanket £599 price has been applied for the entire area.
Russell said: "The reason fans congregate there is the atmosphere, which is spectacular, and because of the view. That has been taken into account as well."
Despite angst among many fans, the club reported 'record sales' on its official website hours after the prices were announced.
Russell stated: "There is a huge amount of interest in QPR and expectation for next season. So many people wanted to be the first to get their season ticket.
"We need the fan base behind us, and I can assure fans that 100 per cent of season ticket money will be spent on the team." Kilburn Times

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QPR have announced that their pre-season friendly against Oxford has been cancelled and that they will instead be playing Stevenage. (The news doesn't seem to yet be on the Oxford or Stevenage official sites.)

Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - This won't be the last Walts

WEMBLEY-BOUND Simon Walton wants to win promotion this weekend - and do it all over again with QPR in a year's time.
Walton, who is in the Hull squad to face Bristol City in Saturday's Championship play-off final, has an added incentive to shine when his loan spell ends after the game.
He impressed Iain Dowie sufficiently to merit a £500,000 transfer from Leeds to Charlton two years ago - and now has a second chance to play for the new Rangers boss.
"I haven't spoken to him as yet, but I spoke to Gianni Paladini recently," Walton told the Times. "The plan is for me to come back and start afresh and try and make a good impression.
"When I heard the news that the manager had gone, my first thought was 'Oh God, what's going to happen now? But I was pleased when I heard Iain Dowie had got the job.
"I never got the opportunity to play for him at Charlton, so I hope it'll be different this time. But it was a couple of years ago that he signed me and I don't think it really counts for anything now.
"I don't expect any favours from him or anybody else. The fact is that when a new man comes in, everyone's on a blank piece of paper and you have to make sure that when your chance comes you take it.
"I've not played as much football as I would have hoped at Hull, but that's partly because the team's been doing well. When pre-season comes around nobody's fully fit anyway.
"I've got a point to prove. I know I'm capable of being a regular in the QPR team and I'm confident I can do that next season."
Walton has spent most of the past two years on loan - he went to Ipswich for regular football soon after signing for Dowie and then had a spell with Cardiff before his £200,000 move to the Rs last summer.
A broken leg in the pre-season friendly with Fulham ruled him out until Christmas and then, after a handful of appearances for Rangers, he was allowed to go to Hull.
The 20-year-old midfielder was an unused substitute during the Tigers' play-off semi-final success against Watford, but is hoping to be part of a double celebration at Wembley this weekend.
Hometown club Leeds face Doncaster in the League One final on Sunday and Walton added: "Things haven't been that great for Yorkshire football in recent years and that needs to be put right.
"To win a play-off final would be a hell of a finish to the season after the start I had - and it's not something I'd have imagined on that Friday night against Fulham.
"This is the best way to get promoted - if you win - but next year we won't be aiming for the play-offs at QPR. I'm sure we'll be aiming higher than that and no-one will be happy with second best. Kilburn Times


QPR Official Site - BORO' REPLACE U'S
In a change to the previously advertised fixture, QPR will now travel to Conference side Stevenage Borough for a pre-season friendly on Saturday 19th July 2008 (3.00pm kick-off).
The R's were originally scheduled to play fellow Conference outfit Oxford United on that day, but that fixture has now been cancelled.
Under the guidance of former England Under-21 coach Peter Taylor, Stevenage just missed out on the Conference play-off's last season, finishing in sixth place.
That failure ended up costing Taylor his job, with Boro' moving quickly to install former boss Graham Westley at the start of May. QPR


BBC -Bluebirds release winger Sinclair
Cardiff City have released winger Trevor Sinclair after just a year at Ninian Park.
Former England international Sinclair, 35, signed a 12 month deal last summer with a clause for an extra 12 months which the Bluebirds could trigger.
But boss Dave Jones has decided against it, while the futures of Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who were on the same type of deal, are unclear.
Both have been offered pay-as-you-play deals, which they have yet to accept.
Sinclair joined Cardiff last summer from Manchester City and was soon followed by former Liverpool striker Fowler, 33, and Hasselbaink, 36, from Charlton...
BBC


Marcus Bean/Jacob Murtagh - Bean reveals Blackpool blues
Brentford new-boy Marcus Bean wants to put a nightmare two years behind him and help the Bees to promotion.
Bean made just 23 starts in all for the Lancashire-based club, and the former QPR midfielder was quick to fire a parting shot at Blackpool boss Simon Grayson.
He said: "I'm just glad to be leaving to be honest. I felt I wasn't given a fair crack of the whip while I was there.
"I found myself frozen out without much explanation, and the gaffer was never really honest with me.
"Andy Scott phoned me towards the end of the season. I came down and trained for a few days and liked what I saw, and obviously he did too. This is a League One club playing in League Two, and hopefully we can do something about that this season." Hounslow Chronicle

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Gareth Ainsworth was today announced as QPR Player/Coach. This was what going to happen under previous manager Luigi De Canio; but with Iain Dowie replacing De Canio, there had to be questions. Good news. Ainsworth is now in some senses, following the footsteps of Dowie who was himself player coach at QPR And he's now on the Staff Directory of coaches!

QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: AINSWORTH TO ASSIST
R's midfielder Gareth Ainsworth has accepted a Player / Coach role under the new managerial structure at Queens Park Rangers Football Club.
Ainsworth, who worked in an unofficial capacity as Assistant Manager to former First Team Coach Luigi De Canio at the tail end of last season, will work under new boss Iain Dowie and his recently appointed number two, Tim Flowers.
Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Ainsworth expressed his delight, commenting: "It's a great opportunity for me.
"I'm over the moon about it. I had a taste of it last year and this is another exciting opportunity for me - another step forward in terms of my long-term aspirations.
"I've still got plenty to offer as a player, but I'm delighted that I've been given the chance to learn from Iain and Tim, who I have huge respect for." QPR

From BBC in April - Ainsworth Managerial Goal

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Ex-QPR Dave Needham turns 59: Born May 21, 1949.
Signed by Dave Sexton just before he left, to replace the retiring Frank McClintock, Needham was sold six months later to (about to be) First Division Champions, Nottingham Forest, almost doubling what we paid for him. QPR then went out and bought: Ernie Howe from Fulham and QPR's decline gathered speed. - Needham profile


RUMOURS FROM ITALY (courtesy of/thanks to QPR Italia Blog)

QPR Italia Blog
Duello Napoli-Bologna per l’ungherese Akos Buzsaky
Il suo nome è Akos Buzsaky, classe 82, ungherese centrocampista centrale del QPR: sarebbe questo secondo Resport uno dei giovani scovati dal dg del Napoli Marino che deve però battere la concorrenza del Bologna che potrebbe essere guidato da quel Gigi De Canio che proprio quest’anno ha allenato Buzsaky nella serie B inglese.
Nazionale ungherese, tra le cui fila vanta 11 presenze, ha realizzato la sua unica rete ai magiari contro i campioni d’Europa della Grecia. Radiomercato lo definisce il “nuovo Almiron”. Ad inizio carriera ha collezionato qualche presenza con il Porto di Mourinho.
amonapoli.it
Attendibilità della notizia: 0.
Ma fa piacere vedere che anche fuori dal circuito inglese si inizia a conoscere ed apprezzare i nostri giocatori.
Anche se a definirlo il "nuovo Almiron" non è che gli facciano questo gran complimento... :) QPR Italia

WEB TRANSLATION
May 20, 2008 Duel Napoli-Bologna for Hungarian Akos Buzsaky
. His name is Akos Buzsaky, 82 class, Hungarian midfielder central QPR: this would be the second Resport a youth found by the body of Naples Marino who must beat the competition from Bologna, which could be driven from that Gigi De Canio that this' Buzsaky years has trained in the series B English.
Hungarian National, among whose ranks boasts 11 presences, has achieved its only network to Hungarians against European champions Greece. At the beginning career has collected some presence with the Port of Mourinho.
amonapoli.it amonapoli.it
. Reliability of news: 0.
But'm glad to see that even outside the English circuit you get to know and appreciate our players. Even if define the "new Almiron" is not that make this great compliment ... Web Translation

Also:
Buzsaky between Napoli and Bologna:

Franco Brienza between Atletico Madrid and QPR:

Moris Carrozzieri between Udinese and QPR:

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This year marks the Diamond Anniversary of QPR's First Title and Promotion: Sixty Years ago, the 1947/1948 came to a close and QPR won the Third Division South Championship and promotion to the Second Division for the first time in their history.

QPR's manager that season was Dave Magnall. In goal was Reg Allen (still with QPR before moving on to Man United.) QPR's top scorer with 25 goals was C Hatton followed by D Boxshall with 13. Most appearances: Playing in 47 of the 48 League and cup games: Ivor Powell (who's still active sixty years later.).

From QPR Official Site - A POTTED HISTORY OF QPR (1882-2008)
"...In 1945/46 QPR finished top of the League they were in. They also got through to the Fifth Round of the Cup - the only time it was played on a two-leg basis. In 1947/48 they reached the Sixth Round of the Cup before losing to Derby after a replay, and on 26th April 1948 won promotion for the first time to the Second Division.
QPR spent four years in the Second Division, before they were relegated back to Division Three in 1952. Dave Mangnall left the club and his place was taken by Jack Taylor. In 1953 the first floodlights were installed at Loftus Road at a cost of £5,000, the first floodlit match being against Arsenal on 5th October. In 1959 Alec Stock joined the club as a manager, and signed Brian Bedford from Bournemouth.... QPR

From The Official History of Queens Park Rangers by Gordon acey (2000 Edition)
"1947-1948. "...Rangers made two costly signings. They paid their record fee of £2,000 fo George Smith the Bentford centre-half and the same figure to Wolverhampton Wanderers for Fred Ramscar....
....By now the crowds were into the mid 20,000 range for each game ...the title belong to Rangers who had now won promotion for the first time in their history....
...The increased revenue enable the club to make a very important purchase, that of the freehold of the ground together with the thirty nine houses adjoining in Ellersie and Loftus Roads. The cost of £26,250 was met by the issue of shares, which due to the club's success was fully taken up...
Before the start of the [1948-1949] season, Rangers became the first British club to make an official trip to Turkey..." (pp 67-68)

Brief Video of QPR from that year: In the FA CUP that year: - QPR vs Derby Video
Pathe Description: "Start of the FA (Football Association) Cup 6th round football match between Queen's Park Rangers and Derby County. Ball goes out to Harrison. Bad pass. Powell kicks the ball forward. Goalkeeper of Derby County collects ball as Heath rushes in and clears up field. Various shots of the game. Hartburn scores for QPR. Crowd cheering. Throw-in. Close up shot of cheerful Charlie Chester. Billy Steele (Steel) shoots. Goalkeeper partially saves, but ball goes back to Steele who scores from rebound. Crowd cheering. Steele to Morrison, Morrison to Stamps. Centre to Steele, back to Jackie Stamps (Stamp) and Smith clears. Leuty beats Heath in the air, to Steele to Morrison. Powell tackles and slices across goal area. Carter shoot but goalkeeper Allen clears. Steele collects and dribbles forward. Forward pass. Various shots of the game. Final score Queen's Park Rangers 1, Derby County 1." Pathe -

STILL PHOTOS Stll Photo 1 Still Photo II - The Supporters 1 - The Supporters II

QPR's hoops in 1948 (as opposed to their first season after promotion: QPR's "hoops in 1949") (replaced by Hoops again)


DIVISION THREE SOUTH - 1947/1948

Pld W D L GF GA Pts
1 Queens Park Rangers 42 26 9 7 74 37 61
2 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athleti 42 24 9 9 76 35 57
3 Walsall 42 21 9 12 70 40 51
4 Ipswich Town 42 23 3 16 67 61 49
5 Swansea Town 42 18 12 12 70 52 48
6 Notts County 42 19 8 15 68 59 46
7 Bristol City 42 18 7 17 77 65 43
8 Port Vale 42 16 11 15 63 54 43
9 Southend United 42 15 13 14 51 58 43
10 Reading 42 15 11 16 56 58 41
11 Exeter City 42 15 11 16 55 63 41
12 Newport County 42 14 13 15 61 73 41
13 Crystal Palace 42 13 13 16 49 49 39
14 Northampton Town 42 14 11 17 58 72 39
15 Watford 42 14 10 18 57 79 38
16 Swindon Town 42 10 16 16 41 46 36
17 Leyton Orient 42 13 10 19 51 73 36
18 Torquay United 42 11 13 18 63 62 35
19 Aldershot 42 10 15 17 45 67 35
20 Bristol Rovers 42 13 8 21 71 75 34
21 Norwich City 42 13 8 21 61 76 34
22 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 11 12 19 43 73 43
Table

1947-1948 Results: QPR's 1947-1948 Results:

[Further Memories: If you have any memories of this season - or any links to material or photos from this season, please feel free to post or to email at QPRReport@hotmail.com

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First Matt Pickens released. Now Steve Morrow axed. That just leaves Padula, Spencer and Dichio still active. Along with Gordon Jago

FC Dallas Official Site - FCD relieves Morrow of coaching duties
Marco Ferruzzi takes over as Hoops head coach immediately
FC Dallas Media Relations

Steve Morrow complied a 15-15-8 MLS record during his time as FC Dallas head coach.

FRISCO, Texas -- FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock has announced that Steve Morrow has been relieved of his duties as head coach, effective immediately. Marco Ferruzzi, in his fourth season as an assistant coach, will coach the team on an interim basis. Ferruzzi will make his debut against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, May 24 at Pizza Hut Park (7:30 p.m. CT).

"We have set high standards, expectations, and goals for this team and organization," said Hitchcock. "I feel that the team was not heading in the direction we had planned, and believe it is in the best interest of the club to make a coaching change at this time."

FC Dallas is currently in fourth place in the Western Conference with a record of 2-3-3 (9 points). The team is riding a four game winless streak, and is 1-2-1 at Pizza Hut Park this year.

"This is obviously a difficult decision for me to make, since it was my choice to give Steve this opportunity," added Hitchcock. "Having said that, Pizza Hut Park is an incredible venue, and our great fans deserve much more from our team for their continued support. We appreciate Steve's contribution to our organization and wish him success in his future endeavors."

Morrow was introduced as the club's fourth head coach on December 11, 2006. In his first season as head coach, FC Dallas posted a 13-12-5 record (44 points) and finished in third place in the Western Conference. The team advanced to the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship game for the third time in team history, falling 3-2 to the New England Revolution at Pizza Hut Park. FC Dallas advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a league-record tying 10th time in history, though was eliminated in the Conference Semifinals by eventual MLS Cup Champions Houston Dynamo.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my six year association with this organization and was proud to be Head Coach of FC Dallas," said Steve Morrow. "I feel I leave the team in a very strong position with a wonderful group of players that are capable of achieving great things. Due to a recent run of poor results, I fully accept responsibility, and, if the team needs to go in a different direction then I wish the players nothing but great success for the remainder of the season and beyond. I'd like to thank my staff, the players, the Hunt family and all the fans for their support."

A Northern Ireland native, Morrow played the final two years of his professional career with Dallas. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he scored three goals in 41 career regular season games and once in three playoff matches, playing primarily as a center back.

He was hired as one of the team's assistant coaches on Feb. 3, 2004, and was the first assistant coach during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. FC Dallas

Earlier FC Dallas Profile of Morrow

Steve Morrow enters his second season as FC Dallas head coach. Morrow was appointed as the fourth head coach in team history on December 11, 2006 and led the team to a 13-12-5 record and a third-place finish in the Western Conference in 2007. Under Morrow's direction, the team earned a trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third straight year.

Morrow began his professional playing career at the age of 17, when he was signed by Arsenal of the English Premiership. After being loaned to various clubs, he made his Gunners' debut at the end of the 1991-92 season. The following year, he became a mainstay on the team that won the 1993 FA Cup and '93 League Cup, in which he scored the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. He also played in the '94 European Cup Winner's Cup 1-0 win over Italian-side Parma, as well as the '95 Cup Winner's Cup final, which Arsenal lost 2-1 to Spain's Real Zaragosa.

After playing one season under current Arsenal head coach Arsène Wenger, he joined Queen's Park Rangers in 1997. Morrow played in 92 games in his four years at Rangers before coming to play for Dallas in 2002. In his two years as a defender with Dallas, he scored three goals in 41 regular season games and once in three playoff games. All four of his goals in MLS were against the Colorado Rapids.

Morrow, who earned 40 caps with the Northern Ireland National Team, was originally hired by Dallas as an assistant coach on Feb. 3, 2004, though he was forced to resign in late May of that year due to personal reasons. He returned to the club on Jan. 27, 2005 and had been the first assistant coach in both 2005 and 2006. He acquired his UEFA "A" coaching license and also received a degree in Sports and Fitness Science from Luton University in England in 2002.

At the time of his hire, Morrow became the 51st coach in MLS history and the 11th that has previously played in Major League Soccer.

He is married to Fiona and has three children, Jonathan, Sophie, and Scarlett.
YEAR TEAM GP GS MIN G A SHT SOG FC FS OFF CK C E
2002 Dallas 24 24 2199 3 0 12 6 26 14 0 0 3 0
2003 Dallas 17 17 1484 0 0 6 2 22 5 0 0 0 0
Totals 41 41 3683 3 0 18 8 48 19 0 0 3 0


YEAR POSTSEASON GP GS MIN G A SHT SOG FC FS OFF CK C E
2002 Dallas 3 3 271 1 0 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 0

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QPR announced they will be playing a mid-week evening friendly against Northampton Town, July 23.

See - QPR's Updated Pre-season Calendar


QPR Official Site - R'S TAKE ON COBBLERS
QPR will travel to the Sixfields Stadium - home of Northampton Town - for a pre-season friendly on Wednesday 23rd July 2008 - kick-off 7.45pm.
Under the guidance of Stuart Gray, the Cobblers finished the League One season in ninth place, lying ten points adrift of the play-off's.
The last time Rangers met Northampton in competitive action, the late Ray Jones bagged the all-important winning goal, as the R's progressed into the second round of the Carling Cup courtesy of a 3-2 victory in August 2006. QPR


NORTHAMPTON OFFICIAL SITE - COBBLERS TO WELCOME RANGERS
Northampton Town will play Championship side Queens Park Rangers in a pre-season friendly at Sixfields on Wednesday July 23rd at 7.45pm.
Rangers, who have a much changed squad since meeting the Cobblers in the Carling Cup in August 2006, are the bookies favourites to win promotion to the Premier League next term.
This game is in addition to the visit from Premier League side West Brom (July 29th) and trips to Brackley Town (July 10th) and Luton Town (July 26th). The Northampton Town first team squad will also travel to Germany from Sunday July 13th to Friday July 18th.
Northampton

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QPR appoint Tim Flowers as Assistant Manager and John Harbin as Performance Manager. New Directory


QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: FLOWERS JOINS
Queens Park Rangers Football Club are delighted to announce the appointment of former England goalkeeper Tim Flowers as Assistant Manager.

The 41 year-old, who won a Premiership winners medal with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, links up again with new First Team Coach Iain Dowie, as well as John Harbin, who has joined the Club as Performance Manager.
Flowers expressed his delight at renewing acquaintances with former Southampton team-mate Dowie, whom he worked alongside in an identical role at Coventry City for 12 months.

"I'm delighted to be here to assist Iain," he told www.qpr.co.uk.

"I like the look of this squad, I've seen QPR play a few times over the last 12 months or so and I'm very optimistic about next season. A squad as talented as this one, with a few new additions added to the mix, can certainly go a long way."

Flowers began his professional career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1984, before subsequent spells at Southampton, Swindon Town, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Stockport County and Coventry City.

He made over 520 league appearances in that time, as well as representing his country on no fewer than 11 occasions.

Prior to his arrival at The Ricoh Arena in February 2007, Flowers spent four successful years as goalkeeping coach at Manchester City.

Harbin, who was born in Yorkshire, spent most of his early years in Queensland, Australia.

He moved back to England to coach Rugby League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in October 2000, before linking up with Dowie at Oldham Athletic as Fitness Coach, and yet again at Crystal Palace and Coventry City.

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QPR Captain is the latest QPR Player to praise the appointment of Iain Dowie (as if..!). A new manager is of course a challenge for every player. But for Ainsworth who was also serving as an assistant to De Canio and was set to have a more formal role, the new appointment has to open up questions as his playing career is presumably drawing to a close.


QPR Official Site - 'A GREAT APPOINTMENT'
Gareth Ainsworth believes the appointment of Iain Dowie as First Team Coach is 'fantastic' news for Queens Park Rangers Football Club.

Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the R's Club Captain expressed his delight at the arrival of the former Crystal Palace and Coventry City boss.

"It's a great appointment - fantastic news for the Football Club," he said.

"Iain is a very passionate man, who demands 110 per-cent from his players and staff.

"He is very methodical in his approach and is a forward-thinking Manager.

"His organisational skills and work ethic are exceptional and I'm really looking forward to working under him."

Ainsworth, who is currently working towards his UEFA B licence during a week-long course at Cobham, added: "We've had a taste of the continental Manager and we learnt a lot from Luigi and his staff. But I think an English Manager, who is proven at this level, will prove to be the right man to get us back to where we - as players and supporters of this Club - want to be." QPR Official Site

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Ian Dowie's views as new manager comments were broadcast on QPR World (subscription only). "DOWIE: PRESS CONFERENCE: Part One: Iain on his arrival, his previous spell with QPR, Zinedine Zidane, and much more!"

A couple of News Reports on Ian Dowie Looking Forward

BBC - Dowie targets the Premier League
Queens Park Rangers' new manager Iain Dowie says he knows he has to get the club back in the Premier League in the next two years.
He told BBC London 94.9: "My contract's two years so I hope it's realistic.
"We're going to be a very competitive team and I think within two years I'll have to bring success to this club.
"I want to make sure people at QPR think of me as a manager who knows how to get the job done and also brings attractive football to the club."
Dowie will be under pressure from owners Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone who stated the importance of QPR returning to the Premier League within the next three years when they took charge in September.
In terms of fan base and tradition it's a proper football club and these are exciting times
Iain Dowie
The former Rangers player said: "This job is about pressure, if you buckle under it, don't take the job, so I'll have to embrace that pressure.
"It would be foolish of me to say this is not a job that brings it's own pressure with it, this is a pressurised job, staying in the division."
Dowie, who was sacked as Coventry boss in February, says he is thrilled to be involved at Loftus Road.
"My first thoughts of being manager at the club with the richest owners in the world is 'wonderful', it's better to be that, than at the poorest."
He added: "I'm delighted to be back, it's a great club historically, I think in terms of fan base and tradition it's a proper football club and these are exciting times."
Dowie is already looking ahead to the start of the season and knows what he will be looking for in the squad.
"We'll try and get good young players in here, we'll try, if we need to, get good established players at the club too and hungry players, that's the key element." BBC


SKY SPORTS/James Pearson - Dowie up for the challenge
New R's boss can handle promotion pressure
Iain Dowie insists he is relishing the challenge of getting Queens Park Rangers back into the Premier League.
The West Londoners have not been in England's top flight in 12 seasons following relegation to the First Division at the end of the 1995/96 campaign.
However, following a takeover by Formula One tycoons and multi-millionaires Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore last year, hopes of a Premier League return have been manifest.
Former caretaker manager and R's player Dowie succeeded Italian tactician Luigi Di Canio earlier this month and is excited about taking on the pressure of winning promotion.
Challenge
"It's a fantastic challenge," he told Sky Sports News. "I've played under one of the great legends in Gerry (Francis) so it's a club steeped in history.
"It has great tradition and a huge fan base. It's in a very exciting period in its history. To be challenged with getting them where they want to be is very exciting and is also a great honour."
Dowie is not planning a long-term strategy at Loftus Road; aware that unless he wins promotion he will soon be out of a job again.
QPR have already spent big during Di Canio's time at the helm and Dowie does not think the squad needs to undergo wholesale changes, in order to challenge for the automatic promotion places.
"The idea is (to win promotion) as soon as you can," he continued. "I've signed here for two years and clearly I'll have to bring success during my time here.
"I think it's nice to be coming in as manager of QPR knowing that they have to have success. That positive pressure is something that I embrace.
Progression
"We're going to have to show good progression throughout the year and hopefully be very competitive and I think we will be.
"I think this squad is a decent squad. It doesn't need a major overhaul, just tinkering with. It doesn't need major surgery.
"I would think two or three. It's not in the range of five or six. My view is two or three key personnel would make a huge difference to what is a very good squad.
"It's important I give everyone here a thorough once over and an opportunity to show what they can do.
"I don't know (how much money is available) and I've not asked. We'll sign the players that are right for the club. They'll fit into what the criteria of the club is." Sky Sports


Ealing Times-By Simon Mail - Dowie relishing fresh challenge
Iain Dowie has promised to bring entertainment and winning football to Queens Park Rangers.
The former Coventry City and Crystal Palace manager was unveiled today after his surprise appointment at Loftus Road last week.
Dowie said: "It's a great challenge. I want to bring smiles to QPR. They (fans) want to win but they want to see us playing stylish football."
The R's are expected to splash the cash this summer as they chase a return to the Premiership but Dowie insists there won't be radical changes.
"The squad doesn't need a massive amount of alteration," he said.
"There are one or two areas we need to strengthen and it's about getting hungry players in.
"There is no question there are Premier League sides that QPR can compete with and there are already A list players in this squad." Ealing Times

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Update: May 21 - Oxford Friendly Cancelled. Instead QPR travel to Stevenage on the same date.


As of May 21, just 80 days till the 2008-09 Season kicks off!

- Last week, as every QPR fan is aware, the price for 2008-2009 season tickets was announced. This coming weekend, the last Championship spot will be filled by either Leeds or Doncaster. There are a few other dates remaining to be filled in, such as the dates for any pre-season tour; and any additional friendlies to be played in the UK!

Other summer "events" to look forward to: The official unveiling of the new strip; new player signings; presumed player departures; the announcement of squad numbers; and the filling out of the QPR Coaching staff.

Summer Schedule Thus Far:

MAY:

A few QPR players (such as Rowlands and Delaney for Ireland) are still involved in post-season internationals.


JUNE

- June 16 - 2008-09 Fixtures Released

- June 30 - First Day of Training


JULY

- July 19, Friendly Away - Stevenage.

-[CANCELLED July 19 - Friendly Away to Oxford United (3:00 pm Kick off)]

- July 23 - Friendly Away to Northampton Town (7:45 pm Kickoff)


AUGUST

- August 2, AC Chievo Verona (Loftus Road) (3:00 pm Kick off)

- August 9 - 2008-09 Championship Season Kicks off

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Two QPR Forwards Share a May 20 Birthday: Dexter Blackstock and Clive Allen.

Current QPR forward, Dexter Blackstock Turns 22: Born May 20, 1986.
Blackstock joined QPR from Southampton in August 2006 and finished his first QPR season as top scorer with 13 goals. This just-ended season was a little less prolific, and ended with 6 goals. QPR Profile See Wikipedia Record

Former QPR star, Clive Allen turns 47
Son of QPR great,Les Allen...Brother of Bradley Allen....Cousin of Martin Allen...
Made his debut in 1978/79 including a hatrick versus Coventry, on his full debut.
The following season was leading scorer in the old Second Division (playing alongside Paul Goddard).
Allen was then Sold to Arsenal...First Million Pound Teenager...
After a month at Arsenal, joined Crystal Palace.
And the following year was back at QPR, where he spent three season (including the Cup Final Season) and played three times for England, before going to Spurs. (Allen was injured early during the Cup Final. Otherwise, who's to say the final result)
Wikipedia Profile

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Brentford Official Site- THIRD NEW BEE PUTS PEN TO PAPER
Bees Manager Andy Scott returned to the Club at the end of last week after a mini break and was immediately able to add to his squad for next season.
Hammersmith born midfielder, Marcus Bean, who started his career at Loftus Road but more recently has been on loan with Rotherham United, signed on the dotted line.
23 year old Marcus is the third new player to pledge themselves to Brentford for next season following swiftly in the footsteps of Moses Ademola and Sam Wood.
Marcus, describing himself as a box to box player who is committed to getting the ball down to play, said he was looking forward to returning to London, having left the capital two and a half years ago when signing for Blackpool. Whilst at the Bloomfield Road club he helped them gain promotion via the Play Offs to the Championship.
Andy said: "He`s a player we have been tracking for a few months now after impressive displays for Rotherham when they were going well earlier in the season. He will be a good acquisition to the squad as he is a good age and brings with him enthusiasm, determination, physical strength and experience of the division".
There will be an interview with Marcus on this Site later on today. Brentford


Setanta/Laurent Picard QPR want Spanish keeper

Setantasports.com can reveal that Real Betis goalkeeper Antonio Doblas has been offered to move to QPR.
The Spanish shot-stopper, who only appeared once in La Liga this season, is currently thinking about his future plans.
Top flight teams Almeria, Deportivo La Coruna, AEK Athens and Besiktas have approached the player, but he could be tempted to move to London.
The Championship side have set their sights on promotion and have already signed Tottenham keeper Radek Cerny.
“I still have not decided about my future,” Doblas declared.
“I will soon, but I am happy with the interests of these clubs.
“Playing abroad is attractive but money will not lead my decision.
“I want a good sporting project and chances to play.” Setanta


QPR Official Site - IN PROFILE: PETER RAMAGE
A versatile and committed defender, Peter Ramage's career began with his boyhood Club Newcastle United, who he joined at the tender age of 11.
Having successfully come through their youth system - Peter captained the Academy U17 side to runners-up spot in the league - he was soon a regular for the Reserves, making 34 appearances in 2003/04.
His much-craved debut for the Magpies came in March 2005, as a substitute against Olympiacos in the UEFA Cup.
It wasn't long before Peter forged a reputation for himself as a whole-hearted and dependable centre-back, who could also operate on the right, and he enjoyed regular run outs for the Geordies in 2005/06 and 2006/07.
A cruciate knee injury suffered in the opening month of the 2007/08 campaign halted his progress, however, and upon Peter's return to fitness, Manager Kevin Keegan chose to stick with the players in the team who were enjoying a good run of form.
With the Newcastle boss unable to guarantee him regular first-team football, Peter opted for a move to QPR. QPR


TEAMTALK - Ramage inspired by Flavio ambition
Defender Peter Ramage has revealed the vision of chairman Flavio Briatore was a big factor in him making the move to QPR from Newcastle.
The 24-year-old was offered a new deal at St James' Park by boss Kevin Keegan but decided to move on in search of regular first-team football.
And, after signing a three-year deal at Loftus Road, he is hoping that he can make a swift return to the the top flight under the stewardship of Briatore and new first-team coach Iain Dowie.
Ramage told the the club's official website: "The chairman contacted my agent and asked if I was interested in coming come down for talks. He outlined his plans for the future, he's got a plan to get this club into the Premiership and he wanted me to be part of that and hopefully I am.
"He expects us to be challenging for the play-offs if not the automatics.
"The calibre of players he is looking to bring in are top quality players to go along with the squad that we've got at the minute and hopefully we can match the ambitions that the owner has got and get this club back where it belongs to be."
Teamtalk

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Ealing Gazette - David Mcintyre And Yann Tear
Iain gets straight down to transfer business

IAIN Dowie and Gianni Paladini met on Thursday to discuss possible transfer targets following Dowie's appointment as QPR boss.
Dowie, 43, was confirmed as Luigi De Canio's successor this week after Rangers' co-owner
Flavio Briatore was persuaded to appoint a British manager having previously favoured recruiting from abroad.
Despite holding De Canio's old title of first-team coach, Dowie's will be an English-style manager in all but name. Dowie, who had spells as a QPR player, coach and caretaker boss and was twice overlooked for the manager's job at Loftus Road, has signed a twoyear contract.
Paladini, with a dual role of club chairman and sporting director, will retain an involvement in transfer dealings.
But whereas De Canio's lack of knowledge of English players left Paladini to oversee signings during the January transfer window, Dowie has experience and extensive contacts of his own and will have a much bigger influence.
Dowie headed the list of British candidates, but his chances of landing the job depended on Briatore being convinced not to look overseas.
And at an all-important board meeting on Sunday evening, Briatore indicated that he was minded to turn to a manager with Championship experience.
Dowie, who started his managerial career at Oldham, led Crystal Palace to the Premiership via the playoffs in 2004.
Although relegation followed in 2005, he was generally feted for his attempts to keep the Eagles up.
Since leaving Palace, he has had short and unsuccessful spells in charge of Charlton and Coventry.
The spell at The Valley was particularly acrimonious, with Dowie accused by Palace supremo Simon Jordan of lying to break his contract at Selhurst Park when he said he wanted to move up north to be with his family.
Jordan was furious when he agreed to release Dowie, only to find that the former Northern Ireland international had cut down his trips up north by a mere seven and a half miles after pitching up at Palace's unloved rivals Charlton.
"I'm very privileged to have been given the opportunity under the new ownership to return to the club where I served my managerial apprenticeship," said Dowie, who was a popular figure during his time at Loftus Road. "QPR is a fantastic club, with a steep and successful history and I'm going to relish the challenge that lies ahead."
De Canio's sudden departure means Dowie is Rangers' fifth manager in the space of less than two-and-a-half years - six if you include caretaker boss Mick Harford.
He is also the ninth former QPR player to manage the club in the past 30 years.
De Canio left the club last week after previously insisting that he would remain in charge for the start of next season.
His exit surprised even the backroom teamhe brought to west London from Italy after his arrival.
The futures of coaches Paolo Pavese and Luri Bartoli are unclear, but scouts Fhilippo Orlando and Gianni de Marzio have indicated that they would like to stay on under the new regime.
Former England goalkeeper Tim Flowers, who played for Southampton along with Dowie and was his assistant at Coventry, is expected to join him at QPR.
Meanwhile, Rangers have formally completed the signing of Newcastle defender Peter Ramage on a Bosman free transfer and sealed the capture of keeper Radek Cerny.
Ramage, 24, has signed a three-year contract while Cerny, 34, (pictured) has agreed a two-year deal.
Cerny, who had been on loan at Tottenham from Slavia Prague, will become the third Czech keeper to play for the Rs, following in the footsteps of Jan Stejskal and Ludek Miklosko.
Rangers were this week also expecting to complete the signing of right-winger Matteo Alberti, 19, from Italian side Chievo and are still talking to Portsmouth about signing Martin Cranie.
Defender Cranie, who had a loan spell at Rangers ended by a broken leg last season, has been lined up for a year-long loan move, but a deal for his permanent signing is still possible.
In other news, both Martin Rowlands and Damien Delaney have been selected by Giovanni Trapattoni for a slimmed-down Republic of Ireland squad that will play two friendlies later this month. Ealing Gazette

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Since taking over the club last September, in tandem with Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman Flavio Briatore has made a number of comments outlining the new owners' plans for QPR. With fan unhappiness at the recently-announced season ticket increase and the manner in which it presented to fans, thought it would be interesting to "revisit" what Briatore has said about their plans for QPR. Most of those statements can be read below. (The statements and quotes are in reverse chronological order, with the most recent coming first.) The season tickets controversy comes in the aftermath of the hyped-up presentation of a new crest, which is not universally adored, and the departure of QPR manager, Luigi De Canio and his replacement by Iain Dowie. It's the first serious expression of fan unappiness with developments, since Briatore, Ecclestone and Mittal took over the club, to wild QPR fan excitement as QPR became - in media terminology/hyperbole -"the richest club in the world"


May 2008 - BBC "Inside Sport" Interview " Inside Sport: Flavio Briatore interview
Inside Sport's Des Kelly meets Flavio Briatore to discover what plans the wealthy QPR co-owner has for the west London club." Inside Sport Interview


May 2008 - QPR Chairman Flavio Briatore Outlines His Plans for QPR-
QPR Chairman Briatore Speaks...
Marketing Week - F1 boss on how he will turn QPR into super-brand
"..... Queens Park Rangers FC is Briatore’s new baby. In September last year, he swooped – “an hour before bankruptcy was declared,” he claims – and bought the troubled west London club.
QPR was at a low ebb, languishing at the lower end of the Championship with scandals in the boardroom and a team brawl during a “friendly” match with the Chinese Olympic team. When potential star striker Ray Jones was killed in a car crash and the club faced going into administration, things looked terminal to the fans.
Together with close “we talk 20 times a day” friend, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Briatore paid £1m for the club and agreed to clear £13m of its debts. Since then, the pair have been joined by Lakshmi Mittal, Britain’s richest man.
Billed as the world’s richest football club, QPR’s financial footing is now more than secure. Collectively, the trio are worth over £30bn, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, making Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's fortune of £11.7bn look almost paltry.
“Yes, none of us was looking for a job,” Briatore smiles, adding that they are not looking for what he calls “main” money.
But behind the glamour, the unimaginable wealth and the procession of supermodel girlfriends, Briatore is a shrewd operator. Though QPR may seem like an unlikely rival to Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea as a “global brand” – its stated aim – Briatore is not prone to investing in unsuccessful ventures.
He took over the Benetton F1 team in 1989 and transformed it from also-rans into world champions within five years. Briatore says what he did at Benetton was “simple”, but it can only have helped that in 1991 he signed a promising young German driver called Michael Schumacher.
The goal is now to pull off a similar transformation at QPR. “In F1 there is a large team behind a product – the car. It is the same at QPR, the team, the football is only the product. In sport, business efficiency is everything,” he says.
Briatore explains: “If I’m going to invest in champagne, I’ll go to France, if I decide to invest in ham then I’ll go to Parma. If you’re going to be in football, you have to be in England. And football is treated like a business here.”
There appears to be no sentiment involved for any of the new owners, in contrast to the likes of Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed at Fulham, among others. None were avid supporters of the club before the deal, but Ecclestone was linked to buying a number of clubs, including Chelsea before Abramovich beat him to the punch.
The strategy that lies behind QPR’s position in this new chapter is based on “past, present and future”. Drawing on the club’s heroes of old like Stan Bowles and Rodney Marsh, the new regime intends to emphasise the club’s heritage and position the club as a “London jewel”.
Much is made of QPR’s ground Loftus Road being the “closest club to central London” and the club’s essential “Londonness” will be vital when marketing the QPR brand overseas.
A change of ownership and subsequent “change in direction” of a football club is a concern for supporters. Briatore, while not exactly dismissive of die-hard QPR fans, is clear on his position. “The first thing to remember is that without us, there was no QPR. It’s as simple as that.”
He adds: “I don’t want everybody telling me what I need to be doing. People believe the club is owned by the fans but it’s only a few that put their money down. For the rest of the people, it’s easy to criticise [when] they maybe spend £20.”
The plan is for the Championship side to win promotion to the Premiership within three years. Briatore says QPR will develop its own young team that will take the club up and keep it up.
The team’s performance improved dramatically after Briatore installed his friend “Gigi” Di Canio as manager but Briatore believes it would have been a “disaster” if QPR had been promoted this season. “I don’t want to be in an elevator, going up and down,” he says. Di Canio departed “by mutual consent” last week. Everything about QPR is set to be spruced up. Loftus Road will be improved, perhaps with extra seating, while Briatore’s exclusive Mayfair eaterie, Cipriani, will provide catering for the QPR restaurant.
Yet can the club hope to succeed against the odds? Just this month Newcastle United boss and former England manager Kevin Keegan spoke of the vicious circle that drives English football – run almost exclusively by a cartel of the big four clubs, nobody else has either the money or the marketing power to compete. QPR certainly has the cash, and could – eventually – compete in terms of commerce and pulling power.
One of Briatore’s great strengths in F1 has been his ability to attract highly lucrative sponsorship deals. He says he already has agreements with “three of four international companies” for QPR. At the end of March, the club announced it had signed a five-year deal worth £20m, the biggest ever Championship deal of its kind, with Italian firm Lotto Sport Italia as kit manufacturer.
And while the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea seem to be chasing the Asia dream, through Mittal the connection with India will be very important for QPR’s expansion into new markets. Mittal’s son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, has been installed as vice-chairman and says the club is looking to develop its links with India.
While QPR fans will not see an Abramovich-style spending spree this summer, Briatore is less parsimonious in his personal life. In one corner of the room sits a glass-encased model of a very large yacht. Asked if he owns the real thing: “Not yet,” he twinkles. Marketing Week



Briatore Talking About QPR-SportHome Chi siamo - Direttore Responsabile: Giuliano De Risi « ”(AGI/ITALPRESS) - Roma,3 mar. - “......

English Web "Translation" vis Alta Vista's Babel Fish
Sport Home Who we are - Responsible Director: Giuliano De Risi "MOTION: GP QATAR, RED "GREAT SFIDA"BASKET WAITS FOR US ONE: NATIONAL, RECALCATI "I WANT PEOPLE MOTIVATED And DECIDED" "SOCCER: BRIATORE "AGO APPEAL TO TO SEE REOPENED CHAMPIONSHIP" (AGI/ITALPRESS) - Rome, 3 mar. -
"To the Queens Park Rangers we try to learn. When we have acquired the society the transfers were sluices. We have lost the first 10 games, we were to 6 points from the penultimate one. Hour we are qundicesimi, we have recovered on 12 squares and by now we are knows to you. This was our plan, now will be strengthened in order to go up in Premier League ". It has said Flavio Briatore, Co-owner of the Qpr and team manager of the Renault in Formula 1, to the microphones of "Politics in the Football" on Gr Parliament. "we are playing much good - Briatore continues - if we had held the average of the last games we would be in the play-off. De Canio e' a normal person and I have said all. In this world you see people that they earn figures outside from every rule. De normal Canio e' and ago much good. We have need of 22 players, there are many games, then accidents, want two players to us for every role here. Ours e' a difficult championship, much hard one. Tantissime they have left ". On the Italian championship, the day after the first one ko of the Inter, Briatore explains: "I have seen the contest of Naples in tv and creed that dispiace to the interisti tifosi but ago it appeal to to the world perche' reopens the championship. Naples has made the contest of the life, the Inter not. Creed that this does good soccer. They are tifoso juventino and must remember that the arrived Juve e' from the B series for which us puo' also to be to lose with the Fiorentina that has piu' the beautiful plan of Italy, to along sara' winning ". "If in the Juve not there were the old Juve would be from demotion. There e' Buffon, Of the Piero, there e' Trezeguet. The ` nuova' I badly see perche' yesterday creed to it that Buffon has adorned much good. A porter thus you da' 20 points. The old Juventus is playing, of the new not there e' a lot. Giraudo? It does not speak with me about the Juventus but creed that is one what that does not interest to it, a various argument. It is spoken about the Qpr, e' a our tifoso, but of the Juve not if of it it speaks ". Briatore and the salaries of the soccers player. "Entirety we will have to put a limit to the wages of the players, we do not ask moneies with the gun, we are to give them. And the goblets want a gap, useless to increase us to the games. Who piu' earns to us is the players, the societies must always increase the park bench. E' a sport much laborious one to make soccer but is rich persons much for which arrivals to a point that the rich soccers player much run a little less, we spend figures that do not have sense based on turn out to you. Collaboration with Luciano Moggi for the Qpr? Moggi alive in Italy, I do not have null against of he, but if a day returns to make the job that it made I do not have problems. We have 90% of English players to the Qpr, for which there e' politics on the young people. But if there were from collaborating with Moggi I would have zero problems ". Briatore and ennesima "the Cassanata". "E' thus, if it does not succeed to change, must to a sure point to decide what to make from large. Yesterday the gesture was free, the guilt seemed of the arbitrator but I would distinguish the two things ". (AGI/ITALPRESS)
Babel Fish QPR Report


Ealing Gazette/Yann Tear - We won't destroy things that make Rs special
THE NEW owners of QPR have pledged to safeguard the identity of the club - even though they want to transform it into a club of Premier League standing.
Fans will be eager for reassurances that the potentially exciting times ahead for their club and the understandable ambitions of the men who saved the club from debt, do not mean a gradual erosion of everything they value about life at Loftus Road.
That includes the club's name, location and even the famous blue and white hooped shirts - all aspects of the club which are non-negotiable in the eyes of even the most casual of supporters.
Both Flavio Briatore and Amit Bhatia - respectively chairman and vice-chairman of QPR Holdings - claim supporters had nothing to fear.
"The most important thing for us is that we maintain what is quintessentially QPR," said Bhatia on the day the club announced an unprecedented five-year kit sponsorship deal worth £20m with sportswear manufacturers Lotto Sport Italia.
"We want to keep the club's identity intact and the fans have nothing at all to be worried about. They should be excited like we are.
"I most definitely hope the Rangers of the future is one the fans would recognise."
Bhatia, the son-in-law of billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, whose almost limitless resources led to Rangers being dubbed 'the richest club in the world' added: "What attracted us to
QPR is everything about it's identity and I don't see any benefit in trying to change it. There's a history behind this club and why damage that?
"When the stadium becomes a concern, we will address it but it's really not a concern now. We love the area, I love the stadium.
"We don't want to move and if we have to move in the future, we'd want it to be in the vicinity." [25a0] Cont page 63
Briatore said: "We want to stay in this area. This is very important. For respect to the fans. We want to be 15 minutes from London. This is the big plus of QPR.
"We don't know where the club is going yet. We are just trying to go step by step. Our goal now is just to stay in the Championship. I'm sure next year we will try to improve.
"We want to consolidate the club and create a good base in the sports side and in the marketing and commercial side."
Briatore this week gave more insight into his vision for Rangers and why he opted for a club in a lower rather than top division.
"Everybody asks me 'Why did you buy QPR?' I say it's because you want to start from the bottom and create a new club," he said.
"This is much more more exciting. This is a good adventure, starting at the bottom to build up a good football club."
"QPR was a good deal," he added, saying he was a fan of English football because it was "not an excuse to fight" as it often is in his native Italy and was enjoyed by children and families.
"It's a club in the centre of London. The location of the stadium is the best location.
"QPR have a nice story behind them and it's a club with a lot of potential.
"We are a bunch of friends together who want to do something in football and we want to start from this kind of division."
Briatore refused to be drawn on type of player he wants at the club or have their eyes on and agreed with Bhatia's assessment that: "We're very happy with what we have now."
"Gigi has done a fantastic job in the last three months," the Italian said. "The club is alive. We play good football and the fans love it. We play some of the best football in this league and this is recognised by everybody."
Sport is complicated, with luck involved, Briatore said.
"Nothing is guaranteed, but we will try to do the best as possible.
"We will not throw away money. We are talking about QPR, we're not talking about Chelsea. It's completely wrong to compare the clubs. We want to do it our way.
"Whenever somebody arrives in a new business, people think this is the new blood to suck, but there is nothing to suck here."
Rangers' deal with Lotto looks like it may be followed by shirt deals and other sponsorship tie-ups. Kingfisher - the Indian lager brand - is one expected soon, although Briatore denies it for now.
The cash will help lay the foundations for promotion next season and may even be used to re-establish a youth academy.
The club lost its set-up a few years ago and it would cost at least £1m to set up the facilities and coaching staff for such a project. But talks are apparently in progress.
"The aim is to bring this club back to the heights of the past and even beyond that," said Lotto president Andrea Tomat.
"It's an important investment for our company, but we know the plans for the club are to go to the highest possible levels and I believe the strengths of the people involved will certainly provide that." Ealing Gazette


March 26, 2008 The Times/Kaveh Solhekol
QPR billionaires will not jump through hoops for agents in bid for success Flavio Briatore did not become a billionaire by throwing his money away and the co-owner of Queens Park Rangers has warned agents that he will not be taken for a ride as he tries to transform the fortunes of the Coca-Cola Championship club.
Speaking at the launch of QPR’s new £20 million, five-year kit deal with Lotto, the Italian manufacturer, Briatore, who is also the managing director of the Renault Formula One team, dismissed rumours that the West London side wanted to sign superstar players such as Luis Figo, the Inter Milan winger and former Portugal captain. “Figo is a fantasy,” Briatore said. “There are lots of rumours in English football - it is even worse than Formula One.”
Briatore bought QPR last November with Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, two of the richest men in the UK, and the billionaires want to reach the promised land of the Barclays Premier League without lining the pockets of agents.
“Everybody thinks that new people have come in and they can suck our blood, but we have no blood,” Briatore said. “There is nothing to suck here. There is no blood in my body. Just because the shareholders are wealthy, it does not mean that the club is wealthy.”
QPR were in the relegation zone when Briatore and Co arrived at Loftus Road, but they have climbed the table steadily since the appointment of Luigi De Canio and the Italian first-team coach will be given about £10 million to spend on new players in the summer. “We have wish list of who we want, but we won’t be discussing it in public. If I tell you who we want to buy, the price will become ten times bigger,” Briatore said. “We don’t want fantasy players, we need players who will work hard and players who share the same motivations as the shareholders of the club.” Despite being a friend of Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea, Briatore will not be following the Russian’s lead in the transfer market. Prudence is the watchword at Shepherds Bush. “It is completely wrong to compare QPR with Chelsea,” Briatore said. “Chelsea are Chelsea and QPR are QPR. We will not be throwing our money away.”
Briatore wants his club to be playing in the Champions League in five years and to do so the Italian has accepted that the club will need to move away from their home in West London. Several sites in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are being considered. “At the moment we are facing a problem with the stadium, but we have to change things little by little,” Briatore said. “If you want to build a tower, you have to build it on strong foundations. You cannot build a tower on sand.”
The future of QPR appears to be a lot brighter than Briatore’s Formula One team. Renault have been off the pace in this season’s opening two grands prix and Fernando Alonso, the former world champion from Spain, said yesterday that he may leave the team and join Ferrari next season. “Sport is not easy, it is very complicated,” Briatore said. “It is about the people you put together, it is about luck. You need a lot ingredients to be successful. We will just try to do our best.” The Times


The Guardian/Mike McGrath - QPR sign £20m sponsorship deal
Queens Park Rangers have landed a £20m kit sponsorship deal with the Italian sportswear firm Lotto to add to their new wealth but Flavio Briatore insists the club will not be held to ransom despite their war chest. Briatore believes the five-year deal will help to build a foundation for success in the future although the co-owner is also wary of radical changes.
Should there be a need for a bigger stadium, Briatore wants the club to stay in west London. In the short term, the Championship club are looking for the right transfer targets rather than high-profile signings.
We are not going to throw away money at all," Briatore said. "We [will] try to put the club together in the right way and what we have done now is a demonstration of that. We are not the new blood of football. QPR is QPR, Chelsea are Chelsea - we will do it our way.
"If we say which players we want, the price is 10 times bigger. When somebody arrives in the business people say that it is new blood to suck. There is nothing to suck here. We don't have blood."
Briatore, who runs the Renault grand prix team, owns QPR with the formula one rights owner, Bernie Ecclestone, and the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. Their investment has seen the club linked with a host of players. "We have a wish list," said Amit Bhatia, QPR Holdings' vice-chairman.
Ecclestone considered nearby Chelsea before Roman Abramovich took over but Briatore did not want to make comparisons between the clubs. Abramovich brought almost instant success to Stamford Bridge but Briatore says he is merely looking to build foundations.
"We want to consolidate the club and create a base," he said. "This year our goal is to stay in the Championship. We need to do it step by step. We want to build up a club. You want to start from the bottom and create a new club, this is exciting. It's a new adventure. It is a club in the middle of London, probably the best location in the city. The club has a story behind it and a lot of potential, as we've seen already." Guardian


FINANCIAL TIMES - Lotto Sport Italia deal makes QPR continental
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Queen Park Rangers' unlikely connections with international wealth and glamour continued apace with the announcement that Lotto Sport Italia would become kit supplier of the mid-table Football League Championship team in a deal worth £20m ($40m).
The once high-flying west London side attracted attention in November when it was taken over by Flavio Briatore, owner of the Renault F1 team, and Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Management's chief executive.
After clearing a £13m debt, they added to the club's new-found lustre by attracting investment from Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire steel magnate, and have now persuaded one of Italy's biggest sports clothing retailers to join the party.
Lotto Sport Italia will provide new kits and training gear and develop fashionable QPR-branded shoes and clothes. The value of the deal, over five years, is dependent on QPR gaining promotion to the Premier League.
Amit Bhatia, vice-charman and Mr Mittal's son-in-law, said the QPR board hoped this would be the first of several deals and that it would attract attention from other corporations.
"We are dedicated to try and make this team a success," Mr Bhatia said. "We have a really solid base of young players."
The vice-chairman sought to disabuse QPR supporters of the assumption that the club's high-profile and wealthy owners would throw money at the team in an attempt to catapult it back into the elite of English football.
"The reality is the opposite. The idea is to be very prudent, not to throw money at the club but to spend wisely," he said. "The shareholders are successful people and they became successful by spending wisely and prudently."
Mr Bhatia added that their aims were neither to lose money running the club nor to profit extensively from it.
"You have to have a nice balance," Mr Bhatia explained.
"Everybody involved loves their football and is a fan first. But do we think QPR has potential? Absolutely." Financial Times


The TELEGRAPH/Mike McGrath - Queens Park Rangers' £20 million deal
Queens Park Rangers have announced a £20 million deal with kit manufacturers Lotto Sport to add to their new wealth - but co-owner Flavio Briatore said the club would not be held to ransom in the transfer market.
Briatore said the five-year deal is part of building a foundation for success in the future, and added that, should there be a need for a bigger stadium, he wanted the club to stay in the same area of west London. In the short term, the club are looking for the right transfer targets rather than high-profile signings.
"We are not going to throw away money at all," he said. "We are trying to put the club together in the right way and what we have done now is a demonstration of that. We are not the new blood of football. QPR are QPR, Chelsea are Chelsea - we will do it our way."
Briatore owns QPR with Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal - with the new investment leading to the club being linked with a host of players.
"This year our goal is to stay in the Championship. You need to do it step by step. You want to start from the bottom and create a new club, this is exciting. It's a new adventure." Telegraph


This is London/Daily Mail - What a Lotto QPR have got as they cook up a tasty dish
Such is the showbiz buzz around Queens Park Rangers these days that the mere sight of co-owner Flavio Briatore jetting into London from the Malaysian Grand Prix can generate its own micro-climate of rumours.
He arrived in a blizzard, and the word was that the new owners were thinking of changing the club's name to West London Rangers, wanted to build a new stadium, design a new badge and abandon the traditional blue and white hoops.
Playboy: Briatore and vice-chairman Amit Bhatia
Briatore swept into Loftus Road looking every inch the international playboy: suntanned, luxuriantly coiffured, wearing blue-lensed spectacles and a cashmere scarf tucked inside his upturned collar.

He was here to announce a new £20million, five-year kit deal not with Versace but with Italian firm Lotto. There will not be a Roman chariot embroidered into the sleeve and, to the disappointment of sports photographers, it was not about to be super-modelled by Naomi Campbell.
Lotto insist the hoops will remain. In fact, to the relief of those Rangers supporters convinced this is all too good to be true and there simply has to be a catch, there were no terrifying rebranding schemes in the air.
'A new name?' laughed Briatore, shaking his head. 'Maybe we should call it Oxford,' he added, laughing again at his own joke, which no one else could work out.
Renault's F1 team leader Briatore and the sport's overlord Bernie Ecclestone completed their joint takeover of QPR in November, before quickly selling 20 per cent of the shares to Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the world's fifth richest man. Between them the trio could dwarf Roman Abramovich's estimated £500m investment in Chelsea without losing much sleep but, yesterday, Briatore was in no mood for fantasy.
'Do not be confused,' said the Italian. 'Although the shareholders are wealthy the club is in a completely different situation, we won't be throwing away money. It is completely wrong to compare QPR to Chelsea. We are doing the thing our way.
'We won't sit here and talk about the players we want to buy because we want to make sure the price is not 10 times bigger. When somebody arrives in a new business, everybody says: “Oh my God, this is the new guy, the new blood to suck”. There's nothing to suck here.'
This is unlikely to extinguish the excitement around Shepherds Bush. The new owners instantly wiped out £13m of debt and bought well in the January transfer window to help new manager Luigi De Canio haul the club up the Championship table.
'When we arrived QPR were not much,' said Briatore. 'We were starting from the beginning. Our first goal was to make sure we weren't relegated. When we took over the club that did not look so easy but the players and Gigi have done a fantastic job.
'The club is alive. QPR is safe. Without us there would be no QPR any more. This is the biggest difference between us being here and not being here. We are 50 per cent safe in mid-table and we are playing good football, some of the best in this league, and the fans love it.
'Everybody asks why we bought QPR. We are a bunch of friends together who want to do something in football and this is the right approach. We wanted to start from the bottom and create a new club. This way it is more exciting.'
The type of glamour-puss friends Briatore and Ecclestone keep will ensure that as many cameras are trained on the directors' box inside Loftus Road as they are on the pitch for the rest of the season.
Then all the attention will be on how Rangers, relegated from the Barclays Premier League in 1996, will behave in the summer transfer market as they equip themselves for an assault on promotion.
'Before I came here I didn't know QPR existed,' said Briatore, who thought he was buying a barbecue restaurant when the business proposition was first put to him by Ecclestone. 'But I was in Kuala Lumpur and three or four people stopped me to talk about QPR. Everybody is talking about QPR.' This is London


MIRROR/Darren Lewis - FLAV: NO RIP-OFF LIKE ROM
Fearless Flavio Briatore yesterday unveiled a new £20million sponsorship deal for QPR then insisted: "I won't get ripped off like Roman Abramovich".
The F1 team owner, who has taken over at Loftus Road with billionaires Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, refused to say which players the club are targeting to turn them into superpowers. But he said QPR will challenge for the Championship title next season and play in the Premier League the season after that.
"It's between us and our sporting director the players that we are thinking of," said Briatore. "Otherwise when I try to buy players the price becomes 10 times bigger.
"You only have to look at what has happened with Chelsea. We are working to ensure that if we go up we will stay up and not come straight back down."
Since Abramovich took over at Stamford Bridge in 2003, Chelsea have splashed out £17m on Damien Duff then were forced to take a £12m loss on him when he moved to Newcastle for £5m in 2006.
Other players on which they have had to take huge losses include £16.8m striker Hernan Crespo, who left for Inter Milan on a free transfer, and £15m forward Adrian Mutu, who was sacked after failing a drugs test.
But Briatore, who signed a five-year shirt deal with Lotto yesterday, said: "We wi ll not throw any money away. Even though we are wealthy there is no blood to suck. QPR is QPR, Chelsea is Chelsea.
"Next year we will try to improve our position, but right now we want to consolidate the club and provide a good base.
"I chose QPR because the location of the stadium is the best. Its also a club with a lot of potential.
"A few years ago Bernie tried to buy Chelsea and Abramovich paid more for it. So we want to create our own club. It's very exciting. Now we want to build up from the bottom." MirrorQPR Report


Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Briatore Reiterates No Big QPR Spending Plans...Talks About QPR's Future Plans-

AP - Briatore taking things slowly at QPR even after clinching lucrative sponsorship deal-Fans of English club Queens Park Rangers are likely to be disappointed if they are expecting Flavio Briatore to splash big money on players to fund a return to the Premier League.
The Renault Formula One team boss took over the struggling League Championship side in November along with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, and announced on Tuesday that the club had negotiated its biggest ever sponsorship deal.
But the 20 million pounds (US$40 million; ?26 million) that Italian sporting goods manufacturer Lotto will pay the club over five years could represent much of the on-field investment for now.
In contrast to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has spent hundred of millions of pounds on Chelsea in the past five years, Briatore says he plans a much more sustainable future for his west London club.
"We will not throw away money at all,'' Briatore said. "Don't be confused. The club is still the club. We'll try to put the club together in the right way. We're talking about QPR. It's completely wrong to compare QPR with Chelsea. We want to do it our way.
"We want to build up a club. We want to start from the bottom and create a new club. It is much more exciting.''
QPR, which has never been champion of England, has struggled since relegation from the Premier League in 1996, at one point dropping into the third tier for three seasons, and also owed tax to Britain's Inland Revenue.
It was in serious financial trouble when the F1 pair arrived, languishing at the foot of the second tier, but a change of coach and a batch of new players in January has helped lift the club into mid table.
Although the club is just seven points off the promotion playoffs, Briatore insists he is happy to take things slowly and stay in the League Championship for another season.
"When we arrived, QPR was bottom of the table, meaning just this year our goal is staying in the Championship,'' Briatore said. "It is step by step. There will be no miracles. We want to consolidate the club.
"We don't live in fantasy, we deal with reality.''
The reality is that, if QPR wants to compete with more illustrious London clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham in the Premier League like Briatore hopes it will, a move from the 19,148-seat Loftus Road stadium to a bigger arena could be necessary.
Even so, Briatore promised to stay near to QPR's current home in the Shepherd's Bush region of London.
"It's a club in the center of London, maybe the best location of any stadium in London,'' Briatore said. "It is better for the fans that we want to stay in this area. We want to be 15 minutes from London. This is the big plus of QPR.''
And fans have already seen that Briatore's plans for a stable, successful club doesn't mean some money won't be there when coach Luigi Di Canio wants it.
With the family of the richest man in Britain, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, owning a 20-percent stake in the club and represented on the board by his son-in-law Amit Bhatia, Di Canio acquired eight players in the January transfer window.
"In the January window, there was a lot of action, but what we have now is a base that we're very proud of,'' Bhatia said. "The idea is that we're very happy with what we have now. There are other things potentially, but nothing worth discussing now.''
And Briatore is already seeing the boost his presence has given the team.
"When I go around now, everyone is from QPR,'' Briatore said. "Before, I didn't know QPR existed. I was in Karampur (Pakistan) three days ago, and everybody there asks me about QPR.'' AP


REUTERS - BRIATORE
Former champions Renault can still win grands prix this year despite a difficult start to the Formula One season, team boss Flavio Briatore said on Tuesday.
"I think so, yes, in Barcelona we have the new package and absolutely yes (we can win)," he told Reuters.
Briatore was speaking after announcing a new 20 million pounds ($39.85 million) five-year sponsorship deal with Italian clothing company Lotto for his English Championship (second division) soccer club Queens Park Rangers.....
...Briatore would not be drawn on whether he thought QPR would be in the Premier League before Renault were champions again.
"It's difficult to say because nobody expected Renault to win the championships in 2005 and 2006. I don't know, let's see," he said.....
The team boss is a co-owner of QPR with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal.
"Bernie is an incredible asset for QPR and we have fun as well," Briatore said of their partnership.
"In life you need to have fun, but you have fun only if you are successful. I think there is a lot of synergy because we want to be competitive and be the best and this is the same in football as well as Formula One Reuters


Sporting Life/James Pearson - Briatore plays down spending spree
R's supremo says summer plans have not changed
QPR co-owner Flavio Briatore has stated the club's impressive new sponsorship deal will not mean a summer spending spree for Luigi Di Canio.
The West Londoners have struck a five-year sponsorship deal with Lotto Italia that could be worth up to £20million should they win promotion to the Premier League.
Briatore has confirmed QPR will strengthen come the end of the season, although he has hinted it might not be the wholesale changes the media are predicting for the Loftus Road outfit.
"I don't see the sponsorship deal changing our programme," he told Sky Sports News. "We've put a programme together to strengthen the squad, that's independent of the sponsorship.
"Luigi's done a very good job with the players. He's great.
Good job
"I remember when we took over the window was closed. In January we brought so many players together. To amalgamate everybody was not so easy and Luigi's done a good job.
"But credit to the players as well. They've responded as well. Of course we need to improve, but at least we have plenty of time to do that."
Meanwhile, Briatore has put to bed long-standing rumours the club could secure the services of Portuguese legend Luis Figo in the summer.
"Forget it. It's a lot of fantasy. He's good, but there have been a lot of rumours," he concluded. Sky Sports QPR Report


The Guardian - Donald McRae - Tuesday March 11, 2008
Flavio Briatore may just be the smartest man in a business crammed with seriously bright operators and so, on the brink of a new formula one season, it is always worth taking a step back to watch him at work. As the leader of Renault and the personal manager of a disconsolate Fernando Alonso, the deposed world champion, Briatore has brought a struggling team and his favourite driver back together again. And while Alonso re-adjusts to Renault, with whom he won two world championships before his brief and unhappy defection to McLaren, Briatore shrewdly focuses attention on the sport's current acrimony and subterfuge....
The 57-year-old can escape such trials by lingering over his fiancee, Elisabetta Gregoraci, 28, the strutting Wonderbra woman, who represents his latest supermodel conquest after Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Eva Herzigova and Heidi Klum. In slightly less romantic fashion Briatore has also combined with two billionaires in Bernie Eccelestone and Lakshmi Mittal, the world's fifth-richest man, to buy Queens Park Rangers.
"I never expected this to happen. Each morning I only expect to wake up and shave. The rest I don't know because life is so fragile. Life, for me, is the moment. That's why I don't buy green bananas - who knows what will happen tomorrow? But now that I am with QPR it is amazing. We always have between 15,000 and 18,000 to see QPR - whether they play Colchester or Scunthope. Against Chelsea there were 41,000. That's why English football is fantastic. In Italy if Milan play Lecce you have 2,000 people."
Briatore smiles when asked how he and his billionaire chums and girlfriends have coped with the lack of glamour around the lower reaches of the Championship. "Our stadium is not the best so I'm not shocked. I go to Stoke and all over England and it is very civilised. Hospitality is very nice. We are the same with our fans - very clear and transparent. We aim to be in the Premier League in two more seasons but we will do it efficiently."
So there is little hope for gleeful QPR fans expecting a £40m injection in the summer? "No way. That number is completely wrong. Let's see at the end of the season but with this squad we have super players with a super attitude. You need a certain type of player to get out of the Championship and I think we have them. But, of course, Bernie, Lakshmi and me are as bad as each other when we lose. We want to win with QPR."
Briatore sounds typically determined but, for the moment, he is more consumed by this weekend's opening grand prix in Melbourne than the visit of Blackpool to Loftus Road. "The best two sports in the world are football and formula one and to be involved in both is very exciting. But you must understand one thing - my DNA is formula one. It is not football. Formula one comes first for me." Guardian
QPR Report


Sunday, March 02, 2008 Flavio Briatore and QPR Profiled
-Observer Sports Monthly
'I thought QPR was a barbecue restaurant'
He is a playboy F1 boss. They are an accident-prone Championship football team. How did 'love' blossom between Flavio Briatore and Queens Park Rangers? Given unprecedented access, OSM follows the new chairman.
· Click here for our behind-the-scenes pictures from Loftus Road.

Adrian Deevoy - Sunday March 2, 2008 Observer Sport Monthly

It's not all beer and skittles being a famous international playboy. Sometimes you have to moor the yacht, ignore the supermodel voicemail and get back to what you do best. Making millions.

Forty-eight hours ago, Renault Formula One team principal Flavio Briatore was in Paris outlining his plan for the coming season. 'We're going to have a lot of fun,' seemed to be the central thrust of the campaign.

Yesterday, he tended to his Billionaire Couture clothing company. Clothing for gentlemen who prefer their fly-buttons fashioned from solid gold. He then dealt with Westminster Council regarding opening a nightclub in St James's. Last night, he dined out and relaxed. It always makes a pleasant change to eat somewhere you don't own.

But today, the powerful Italian tycoon must consign inter-pit politics, extortionate underpants and global property concerns to the back burner, for there is a new distraction in his life.

Unusually for the former freelance love machine, this is not a beautiful woman (although he has dated more than most: step forward Naomi Campbell, Adriana Volpe, Eva Herzigova, Elle Macpherson, Heidi Klum - with whom Briatore has a three-year-old daughter - and now fiancée Elisabetta Gregoraci).

But you can be certain that Briatore's latest love will prove as difficult as the most demanding princess and doubtless be just as pricey to run. For the teak-tanned entrepreneur has been seduced by a redoubtable old dame residing in an unlovely pocket of west London.

Like many before him, your correspondent included, Flavio Briatore has fallen, and fallen hard, for Queens Park Rangers football club, currently sitting in lower mid-table in the Championship. And, while appreciating that there may be some rocky times ahead, he is determined to make it work.

'It's true,' he says, dark eyes crinkling behind his ever-present turquoise shades. 'I have come to love the club, the people, the loyalty of the supporters. But we must remember,' and here his expression hardens, 'this is a business. And although you must love what you do, you cannot make difficult business decisions purely with your heart.'

At 57, Briatore has made in the region of a hundred million quid's worth of difficult business decisions. Some have been ground-breaking: his development of the Benetton F1 team in the early Nineties was nothing short of visionary. Some have landed him in hot water: he had to leave Italy hastily in the late Seventies to avoid a four-year sentence for fraud.

Asked to consider his triumphs and transgressions, Briatore shrugs and says: 'I am very happy. I am healthy, thank God. Every day I am just happy to wake up.' He cups his hands as if holding a delicate bird. 'Life is very fragile,' he sighs. 'Very fragile.'

His arrival at Loftus Road this February afternoon, for a game against Bristol City, is signalled by the appearance of an expensively pointy cowboy boot from a sleek, discreet, blacked-out jeep. You know that the boots alone cost more than your car, and the vehicle carrying them is worth, in certain neighbourhoods, more than your life.

Briatore marches briskly - and shadowing him you realise swiftly that he rarely goes below 'brisk' - through the players' entrance. He signs autographs, glowers ruggedly into camera lenses and shakes the hands of fans and staff, offering a gruff 'ciao, ciao' as he goes.

Flanked by two dark-haired and highly attractive women, Briatore takes the stairs up to the directors' suite, mumbling in his melodic mother tongue as he goes. 'Sometimes the logistics of the stadium are difficult,' he apologises, negotiating a tight chicane. 'I still get lost in the corridors.'

The directors' suite operates a strict 'no jeans' policy but, in the case of Signor Briatore, they are prepared to make an exception. He does, after all, kind of own the place.

Before Briatore and his friend, the Formula One overlord Bernie Ecclestone, bought QPR last August the club were going under. Gates were down, performances were poor, morale was close to non-existent and the money had run out. Relegation, and worse, loomed.

The Super Hoops were in a suicidal state. The boardroom burned with accusations of corruption; a 'friendly' against the Chinese Olympic team in February last year degenerated disgracefully into a full-scale fist-fight - 'The Great Brawl Of China'. Then there was talk of reckless gunplay behind the scenes. In August 2005, before a game against Sheffield United, armed police were called to Loftus Road when then chairman Gianni Paladini claimed to have been threatened with a pistol and beaten by a group of men demanding he sign away his stake in the club. But all the accused, including another director of the club, were acquitted at a subsequent trial.

'It was a very bad time for the club,' Briatore agrees. 'All their dreams had disappeared, all their hope. They were hopeless,' he laughs, relishing the word.

But he's right. Rangers were bloody hopeless.

Then, like footballing fairy godfathers, Flavio and Bernie waved their magic wonga; they cleared the club's £13m debt and in October installed Luigi De Canio as the team's new manager, allowing him a generous budget to purchase players and build a squad. The motor racing men have since been joined as shareholders by Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel magnate and fifth richest man in the world, who, aptly enough, has bought a fifth of the club.

Their aim: to get QPR promoted to the Premier League within three years and established as a successful brand thereafter. More than that, they want to rediscover the romance and theatre that used to transform a scruffy tin stadium in Shepherds Bush into a place of joy and wonder. 'Football should be an event,' Briatore declares. 'Our mission is to make it entertainment.'

Dramatic changes have already occurred up in the directors' suite at Loftus Road. There's an espresso machine, for one. Then there are the elegant women with their tiny behinds and enormous sunglasses. And the dress-sense has improved immeasurably. It is impossible to calculate the acreage of cashmere in the room.

The suite itself has not changed since the days of 'QPR rule, OK?', those glorious mid-Seventies when Stan Bowles and Dave Thomas humiliated defenders for fun. The anaemic wood panelling is of a hue that would make any airport hotel proud and the royal blue carpet gives off the reassuring spark of man-made fabric. The crowning glory is the fake-log fireplace around which Rangers' new owners and patrons now gather.

Everyone either looks or is Italian. Men sport collar-length hairstyles not seen since Howard's Way ruled the ratings. They drink pink aperitifs and greet each other with kisses. They openly finger the fabric of other men's blazers. There's not a pint of Whitbread or a bookie's Biro to be seen. What would Don Givens, the Irish striker in that mid-Seventies team, make of it all?

At the centre of this perfumed throng stands Briatore. Tall and physical, he thumps backs, slaps shoulders and hugs his male acquaintances. Women are welcomed with body language that says: 'Now you are here, my life is complete.'

He works the room with the ease and authority of an alpha male: large and in charge. You obviously don't get to employ a thousand people without picking up a few man-management tips along the way.

But now Briatore's considerable nerve is about to be challenged. There has been sad news: Gigi De Canio's father has passed away and the QPR manager is on a plane to Italy to be with his family. This means that someone else will need to give the team talk before the game. There is no discussion as to who that will be.

Twenty minutes before kick-off, Briatore stands in a soundless QPR changing room, the young players staring in reverential silence as he delivers the most concise of motivational homilies. 'You are professionals,' he says, establishing unwavering eye contact with every person present. 'We pay you. You know exactly what to do. I want you to go out there and do it. You win. For Gigi. OK, that's all.'

In the lift afterwards, Briatore exhales mightily, his face folding with emotion. 'Gigi is a good man,' he says of his bereaved manager. 'A very good man.' Then, as Italians often do in times of heightened emotion, he eats. Joining friends and business associates - a communications billionaire here, a fat cat from Fiat there - Briatore orders a plate of roast lamb with vegetables (no gravy, steady on the spuds). There is a convivial, almost familial atmosphere, as Chianti is sipped slowly and some distinctly European cheese makes the rounds.

Gianni Paladini eats standing up to one side of Briatore's table. This may be so as not to crease his immaculate navy suit, but ballistics experts will tell you that it's difficult to sit down to lunch while wearing a bullet-proof vest.

Amit Bhatia, Lakshmi Mittal's son-in-law and representative on the QPR board - he is vice chairman - stops by for a chat wearing the most luxuriant camel coat the world has ever seen. With his laughing green eyes and perfectly tossed hair, he could pass for an Indian Robbie Williams. He is overheard saying to Briatore: 'We must do something about the stadium.' He is smoothly reassured that plenty will be done.

There is a nursery planned for QPR toddlers, a DJ will play live before games, a catering overhaul is imminent, luxury seating is to be installed in the posher stands. The entire match-day experience will be re-evaluated and improved. They may even put some air freshener in the lavatories.

One day, of course, if all goes to plan, QPR will have to leave Loftus Road for a more accommodating stadium. 'This is an amazing place,' Briatore says. 'And the history is very important. The club has been part of this community for generations. It would be a pity if we have to move ... but it might be necessary.'

Lunch is barely over and Briatore has another pressing matter to deal with. And it is perhaps an insight into his obsessive character that this one detail occupies him for longer than it reasonably should. While he could be thinking about his hefty property portfolio or healthy hedge funds, he has but one thought on his mind.

One of his gloves is missing. But this is not just a glove. It's a Billionaire Couture glove: made out of several small animals and costing an arm and a leg. And, as Michael Jackson has shown us, gloves worn in the singular just look daft.

Briatore pulls on the widowed one and flaps his arms like a distressed penguin. 'Stupid, huh?' He bangs his palms together, producing the muffled sound of one hand clapping, while repeatedly inquiring: 'Where is it? Where has it gone?'

Perhaps, it is mooted, one of the players filched it when Briatore was in the changing room - a couple of them do look slightly light-fingered. 'If they have did, I'll take it out of their wages,' he says. 'Believe me, I will.'

He leads a surreal conga - including club chairman, clipboard-wielding PR manager, reporter, photographer and assistant - back downstairs in an effort to locate the rogue mitt. He retraces his steps, becoming increasingly perplexed as each revisited venue turns up nothing.

Outside the physio's room, he asks a puzzled player if he has seen the elusive item and, for an instant, it looks like the entire team might be press-ganged into the strange search party.

Briatore shakes his silver mane and utters some earthy Italian oaths. 'One glove,' he harrumphs, sounding as if he may have launched into the familiar Bob Marley song. 'No good to anyone.' Yet by the time the glove is found, Briatore has lost interest and nonchalantly stuffs it into his Puffa-jacket pocket. It was, you suspect, the thrill of the chase that engaged him.

Brief as it may have been, Briatore's pre-match talk works a minor miracle. QPR, who start the match in 19th position in the Championship, play better football than they have in years and methodically take apart a strong, second-placed Bristol City side. Rangers are composed, confident and 2-0 up at half time, thanks to a fine brace of goals by striker Patrick Agyemang, recently signed from Preston and mysteriously known to the club cognoscenti as 'Dave'.

While The Loft (as the home end is known) sings 'Gigi De Canio, Bernie and Flavio' to the tune of Verdi's 'La Donna è mobile', Briatore is speaking softly in English into his mobile. 'Fantastic,' he murmurs. 'Two great goals ... playing so well ... everyone says, "It's like the old days ..." wonderful ... yes ... fantastic.'

The next call is in Italian, during which he more than likely says: 'Playing out of their skins ... a proper tonking ... get in, my son ... top of the league? They're having a laugh.'

It is 3-0 by full time - mercurial Hungarian midfielder Akos Buzsaky having driven home a classy third on the hour - and in the changing room there are wide smiles and high spirits.

Briatore plunges into the fug of steaming socks, soiled shorts, hot food and horrible aftershave to congratulate his gladiators, most of whom, it is hard to ignore, are stark naked. Little Hogan Ephraim is deep in conversation with big Patrick Agyemang. Long-limbed Jamaica international Damion Stewart works his way through a bowl of pasta at an impressive rate, while Buzsaky stands watching the football results on television, absently toying with the family jewels.

Carefully avoiding the danglier aspects of the first XI, Briatore embraces several players before saluting the goalscorers. He bangs Agyemang manfully on the right pectoral and ruffles Buzsaky's hair. The striker glows with pride; the midfielder accepts the praise graciously then gives his penis one last triumphal tug before striding to the showers.

Three days after the victory against Bristol City, I'm invited to Briatore's well appointed London office. You can tell it's an upmarket location - the local corner shop is Harrods.

En route, I decide to buy him a small gift. But what do you give the man who has everything? When you have your own Sardinian nightclub, Tuscan beach club and African spa, what more do you need to soothe your soul? If you sail around the world in a 160-foot yacht, what is going to float your boat?

I settle on a first edition of historical journalism entitled The Heart of London by HV Morton. It goes down surprisingly well.

'A book,' beams Briatore, visibly more relaxed than he was at Loftus Road. He mulls over the title and a light bulb goes on above his head. 'Like Rangers, eh? QPR - the heart of London.'

He settles back in a broad-backed leather chair that, perhaps unnecessarily, bears his initials and gestures towards a lower velvet-covered seat on the other side of a vast glass desk. The espresso comes in dainty cups with engraved silver handles.

Coffee having hit the spot, Briatore talks without a comma for 45 minutes, pausing once to ta