QPR have allowed veteran full back Clint Hill to move on loan to struggling Championship side Nottingham Forest for three months.

News

Hill became a fans’ favourite at Loftus Road last season, playing 45 times in QPR’s promotion winning season and scoring two crucial goals against Ipswich and Portsmouth. His powerful aerial displays and no-nonsense defending won him many admirers in W12 and he started the Premiership season in the team as well but was sent off on the opening day of the season for aiming a headbutt at Bolton’s Martin Petrov. By the time he’d served his three match suspension he’d found himself usurped by Armand Traore and the 32-year-old will now spend three months with Forest.

Steve McLaren is enduring an unhappy start to life at the City Ground as they languish at the bottom of the Championship table. He lost out on the signing of left back Paul Konchesky to Leicester in the summer and recently lost makeshift stand in Chris Cohen to a season ending injury making Hill’s signing a perfect fit. McLaren told the Forest official website: “It's a bitter blow for Chris who has been one of our stand-out performers so far this season but we are delighted to have agreed terms with QPR for Clint. He has great experience and will add to our defensive options."

Hill’s time at QPR may not be over just yet though. His replacement Armand Traore has been included in the Senegal squad for their final qualifying match for this year’s African Cup of Nations against Mauritius which takes place on October 9. Senegal have already qualified for this winter’s tournament which will take place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea – Traore would miss the majority of January and some of February with QPR if he is called up by Senegal for the finals and they progress to the latter stages.

Elsewhere DJ Campbell has been speaking about his hopes for his QPR career after opening his Rangers account with the final goal in our 3-0 win at Wolves on Saturday.

Campbell told London 24: “Could I finish my career here? I’d love to. It’s a club that means a lot to me, I’ve got ties with this club from years and years ago. I was born literally two minutes over the road. It was always in my mind. I always thought I’d love to come back to QPR if I had the chance. Thankfully it’s worked out well. I had other clubs in the summer, maybe people would have said you should have gone there or here, but I’m 29, and after the season last year I thought this was the right time to come back, rather than moving or staying up north. I wanted to be with my family, and obviously my family were delighted that I chose QPR and I’m sure they knew that I was going to choose QPR.”

His fellow forward Jay Bothroyd told the Fulham Chronicle he too has big ambitions for QPR. He said: “We're still learning each other's games, but the ability we have came together at Wolves. We played with confidence and fluidity, and our work rate was fantastic. Not many teams got results there last season. I've played for Wolves in the past, and their fans turn it into a fortress, so it was important we got those early goals as the fans started getting on their backs. With the players we've got, we want to push up the table. We're not going to get carried away, but a top half or a top 10 finish would be great, and would give us a platform for next season.”

Meanwhile the feud between Wolves’ Karl Henry and new QPR captain Joey Barton shows no sign of abating – a shame as it completely overshadowed a fabulous Rangers performance. Henry told the Guardian: “Joey Barton was telling everyone he is on 80 grand a week as usual. That is him, he always does that during the game. Always. He riles a few people up when he says those things and tells everybody how great he is. It is just embarrassing really. If that is what he wants to do, he can carry on doing it but that is why a lot of people dislike him. He has tried to reinvent his image but it is probably the same old story. I know we had our battle last season. I don't want to keep going over it. But they were winning the match. There was no need for him to keep going on the way he does."

In keeping with that theme Joey Barton has this week said he held talks with Arsenal and could well have moved to the Emirates Stadium prior to his indiscretions in a match against the Gunners for Newcastle earlier this season where Gervinho was sent off for slapping him.

Barton said: “If I hadn't played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them. There were a couple of conversations but that's different to actually signing. The Gervinho incident happened and there's nothing I can do about it now. If it happened again, I'd like to think I'd deal with it differently. Things happen for a reason and there's a lesson to be learned from it. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table - hopefully that's the case in May." In his blog on the club’s official website assistant manager Mick Jones had nothing but praise for the impact of Rangers’ new signing. He said: “The biggest thing I have noticed is the way the bar has been raised in training. Joey on the training ground is different to any other player I have seen in my career. He trains in a way that is vital to him, and everyone else looks at him and thinks: 'I better get up to that level.' There is no doubt that Joey has been inspirational to us already.

“The manager made Joey his captain. He met with Adel Taarabt privately to explain it to him first. After that meeting, I asked Neil how it went, and he said it went well. Neil told me that Adel accepted Joey had to be the captain. And what's happened to Adel in the last couple of weeks is that he has looked around the training ground and he has seen how people like Joey train. And Adel has thought to himself: 'If I want to play at the highest level, that's how I have to react.'

“I have heard Joey during training sessions say to Adel: 'If you want to sulk, do it while you're running back! Don't do it walking, If I ask you to do something, do it.' And Adel's reaction to that has been fantastic. And not many people could say that to Adel and get that sort of reaction. But Adel recognises Joey's status in the game. That tells Adel that Joey must be right.”

The arrival of Barton and Shaun Wright Phillips has pushed Akos Buzsaky back down the pecking order after he began the season as a starter. Buzsaky told Nemzeti Sport in Hungary: “I should be happy that I was chosen and I could also say that it is an honour to sit on the bench of a Premier League club, but that is not enough for me. Our manager, Neil Warnock, knows he can rely on me at any time. I am the last member of the old QPR generation, but that is down to me. It was only me that decided I would stay here. I won't be forgotten about. I think it is not only talent but also persistence that you need if you want to be successful in football outside of Hungary. Our aim this season is to avoid relegation, but I think there is more calmness than stress in the dressing room. It's good to be here at the moment."

Elsewhere the reserves comfortably saw off near neighbours Watford at the Harlington training ground earlier this week. Bradley Orr, Gary Borrowdale, Petter Vaagan Moen and Hogan Ephraim were on target in a 4-1 win – all four goals set up by new signing Jason Puncheon. Tottenham youth teamer Tom Champion, a one-time QPR scholar, played for the R’s as part of an ongoing trial.

QPR: Cerny, Orr, Borrowdale, Parmenter, Peroni, Champion, Ephraim, Vaagan Moen, Andrade, Hewitt, Puncheon

Off the field Amit Bhatia has moved to reassure supporters of the club’s financial situation, amid fears that the current impressive squad building is beyond the reach of a club our size. Speaking to West London Sport Bhatia said that far from lumbering the club with more debt, new owner Tony Fernandes has actually moved the club back into the black.

Bhatia said: ““Let’s be clear, previously directors provided loans and those debts no longer exist. They have been wiped out. In fact I would go so far as to describe the club as being debt-free. Cash is now being provided by the owners with no burden being placed upon the club and we felt that was the best way. The main thing is that we’ve brought stability to QPR, which was badly needed. It gives us a chance to achieve what we all want for the club.”

Premiership Shorts

- Wolves are hoping to tie up a deal with Scottish striker James McFadden. The former Birmingham man would be able to sign at Molineux outside the transfer window because the Blues did not take up a two year option on his contract in the summer and he is now unattached. Manager Mick McCarthy has had the player on trial with his squad so he can prove his fitness after missing all of last season with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

- Steven Gerrard played his first 15 minutes of football for six months as Liverpool made it through to the next round of the Carling Cup with a 2-1 win at Championship side Brighton. Gerrard said: “It's been a nightmare for me. I'm not the best when I'm out injured and watching games. It's been tough and the last six months have been a rollercoaster.” But as one injury nightmare ends another one begins, Daniel Agger fractured his ribs in the 4-0 defeat at Tottenham last weekend.

- Arsenal are set to be without Yossi Benayoun for their forthcoming games with Bolton, Olympiakos and Tottenham after he suffered a muscle strain in a cup win against Shrewsbury this week. Wanderers boss Owen Coyle has leant his support to his opposite number Arsene Wenger ahead of this weekend’s game as pressure mounts on the Frenchman. Coyle said: “Maybe if he had the same resources as other managers of the biggest clubs, you would see an Arsenal side with different personnel.”

- Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas says the club has made an official complaint about the standard of officiating at their weekend defeat at Man Utd. The home side triumphed 3-1 in a game best remembered for a horrendous open goal miss from Fernando Torres but two of United’s goals were given despite being scored from offside positions. United weren’t happy with referee Phil Dowd either after he failed to send off Ashley Cole or award a penalty for a horrendous lunge on Javier Hernandez in the box. The Mexican striker returned to training on Wednesday after scans revealed no lasting damage from the incident.

- Leeds have re-signed left sided utility player Danny Pugh on loan from Stoke and will make the deal permanent in January.

Parish Noticeboard

Tube closures for this Sunday’s game against Aston Villa:

- Hammersmith and City Line closed between Royal Oak and Baker Street.

- No service on the entire Circle Line.

- No service between Queen’s Park and Harrow and Wealdstone on the Bakerloo Line.

- No service on the Metropolitan Line between Wembley Park and Rickmansworth, Watford or Uxbridge.

- No service between Edgware Road and High Street Kensington on the District Line.

- The Northern Line is suspended between Camden and Kennington on the Bank branch, and not stopping at Tottenham Court Road on the Charing Cross branch.

- On the Overground there is no service between South Tottenham and Barking, or on the Euston to Watford Junction line.

- Bond Street station is closed on the Central and Jubilee Lines before 0600 and after 2300.

Tweet @loftforwords

Photo: Action Images

NorwayRanger16 added 22:25 - Sep 22 Love that Bhatti interview. He knows how to relate to the fans and get straight to the point. And if we really are debt free and this is not just a matter of perception this is the best news since the takeover for me. Reading Mick Jones's blog this week was great. “I have heard Joey during training sessions say to Adel: 'If you want to sulk, do it while you're running back! Don't do it walking, If I ask you to do something, do it.'" This is hilarious, but it wouldn't have been if it wasn't followed with, "And Adel's reaction to that has been fantastic. And not many people could say that to Adel and get that sort of reaction". Our players seem to pull in the same direction and looking like a real unit, long may it continue.

0

JB007007 added 23:00 - Sep 22 Looks like this could be the end of Clint Hill's QPR career. A shame really. He will be remembered fondly for last seasons fantastic campaign. He was a real hero.If we are honest though he just isn't Premier League standard, but maybe he could fill in if required after his loan expires. I'm pretty sure NW and the board are identifying some targets for January though. With Kieron Dyer out (surprise) and Clint possibly surplus that puts us down to 23 straight away.

0

LambournR added 13:22 - Sep 23 Odd that NW put Hill into his 25, but has then loaned him out for 3 months only weeks later. Hope the lack of a specialist left back in the 25 doesn't come back to bite us before the January window opens, unless there is a call back clause in the loan.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Colchester United Polls