ROB GREEN VICTIM OF THE TONY FERNANDES QPR REVOLUTION Rob Green may see little game time at QPR this season Saturday September 1,2012 By Tony Banks Have your say(0) TONY FERNANDES promised to shake things up at Queens Park Rangers, to make them competitive in the Premier League when he breezed in and bought the club a year ago. The Malaysian entrepreneur has certainly kept the first of those promises. In 12 whirlwind months, Fernandes has transformed a Rangers side barely equipped to survive at the top level when they came up in the summer of 2011. He has gone through one manager, signed very nearly two complete teams of players and catapulted the Hoops to the front of the news agenda almost on a daily basis. There is a whiff of frenzy about it all, a sense that manager Mark Hughes is being presented with stars from all corners of the globe and being asked if he wants them. But then maybe Fernandes knows that this is a building job that he has to do unseasonably quickly. Should Plan A fail, scrap it and turn to Plan B. Worry about the consequences later. Nothing exemplifies that sense of chaos more than the situation that Robert Green finds himself in this morning. I was told there was a possibility that Julio Cesar would look favourably on coming to QPR, so we tried to pursue it The one-time England goalkeeper will be asked to stand between the posts at Manchester City tonight, because the man QPR signed on Wednesday to replace him, Brazilian international Julio Cesar, will not have had his work permit come through in time to play. Green, signed only in June from West Ham on a £50,000-a-week contract, had kept goal for just two competitive games for his new club before he saw Inter Milanâs Cesar heading over the horizon. Greenâs blunder led to Michu putting Swansea ahead in a calamitous 5-0 opening day home defeat. Last night, Hughes all but told Green that if he did not like it, he could lump it. But not until after tonightâs game, please. Hughes said: âWe had a conversation, of which I wonât go into the details but itâs important that Rob doesnât feel that this was a knee-jerk reaction. âIt was something that was presented to us only four or five days ago. I was told there was a possibility that Julio Cesar would look favourably on coming to QPR, so we tried to pursue it. âWe saw how far we could go with it without possibly believing we could even get near to bringing a goalkeeper of his quality to the club. We managed it and that will have some impact on Rob. âHe understands that. But he also fully understands the thinking behind what we have done, though it might have an affect him throughout the season.â But, if Green was to ask to leave now? Hughes said tellingly: âThat isnât my concern. That may concern Rob in terms of his international standing, but I have got to make sure weâre strong as a club. If in the future any of my keepers came to me and said they felt their future lay elsewhere, then we can have a conversation and make a decision. âThe signing of Cesar makes total sense from a footballing point of view. He has such a standing in the world that it raises our profile as a club. Without a doubt that will help the business side.â Green is, of course, not alone. Maverick midfielder Joey Barton yesterday completed his move to Marseille on loan for a year after also being displaced, in the notorious Tweeterâs case, largely for getting sent off in the final crucial game of last season at Manchester City and being banned for 12 games. Then there are players such as Luke Young and Shaun Wright- Phillips already on the margins. Last summer, Fernandes brought in five permanent signings, in January three, and at the last count last night, an astonishing 13, with defensive midfielder Stephane Mbia arriving from Marseille. The revolution never stops at Loftus Road. Those part of the original coup, last August, have no guarantee of keeping their place in this. But Green could be persona non grata quicker than any of them.
If he has anything about him that's what he'll be thinking. There is a new number 1 but he has a golden chance to stake a claim!
Personally, that's what I want to see. He didn't have a good start against Swansea, but some of the 'over the top' criticism and insults have been unfair to Green. West Ham fans will tell you what a sterling job he has done for them. I hope he is allowed the chance to fight for the shirt and makes MH's choices difficult, that's why he's there! Good luck today Rob - have a blinder lad!,,
It will be a test of his character, and will prove whether he has the mental strength to be a truly great keeper.. I really hope he stay and makes the shirt his own, but he has to accept that the club is bigger than his needs alone. In preseason, and in the league he has already made a couple of howlers... The squad need someone between the sticks who commands respect and inspires the back 4 with confidence - Green isn't that man at the moment, and the club have moved to address that. Inevitably his confidence will be fragile, and this signing will not have helped, but he can either treat it as a challenge, or chuck his toys out of the pram and flounce off... I hope he has a blinder today and silences the doubters in the best way possible, by achieving a clean sheet.
Erm, I have obviously missed something so I apologies for going over old ground but there is an assumption here that Green will play tonight. Is Cesar not available yet? I thought he had his clearance etc.
No clearance. Will be available after the International break. I seem to be in the minority here but I actually like Rob Green. Good keeper, not perfect but good. There won't be many other sides with a keeper of that quality looking to push out a keeper of Cesar's quality.
I don't think it's a contradiction in terms to say that Rob is a good goalkeeper that suffers bouts of nerves at times. We saw that against Swansea, and to an extent at Norwich. I hope he fights for his place and works with Cesar. May be difficult for his personal ambitions. Time will tell. It was inevitable that the club, TF, MH would get criticism for the keeper changers and the blood transfusion generally in the club's playing staff since NW left. We need a long period of stability and fine tuning now. Tonight's performance is important in forming a base for this.
Ive just watched Spurs putting 7 past Cesar over 2 legs it wasn'y pretty, saying that he didn't get much help.
Cannot understand the point of the article. Every other club has players in all positions that have to fight for their place in the team. Why are we any different, and why are we being singled out? ****ing lazy journo with nothing better to do than to pick on us. What a ****!
I don't know if anyone else heard it but on SSN when talking about the players we bought in yesterday Dave Bassett mentioned that we'd tried to sign Ben Foster before Green and he didn't want to come. So, it would seem that Rob Green was never Hughes' first choice? Obviously I hope he plays well today but also hope Cesar is in after the Internationals.
Hope he doesn't crumble today. With the fact he needs to perform today to have any chance of keeping his place, he may well do.
