Wigan v QPR (Play-Off Semi-Final 1st Leg Thread)

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An Interview With Harry Redknapp​

• Harry Redknapp: Winning promotion with QPR? I thought we might do down!
• Harry Redknapp had serious reservations of winning promotion with QPR
• Rangers finished fourth and face Wigan in the play-off first leg on Friday
• London club would be promoted if Loic Remy stayed, says Redknapp
• Redknapp is confident of keeping star players like Charlie Austin, Bobby Zamora and Joey Barton
• Former Spurs boss, who missed out on the England job, expects Roy Hodgson's side to have 'a decent run' at the World Cup

By SAM CUNNINGHAM
PUBLISHED: 22:08, 8 May 2014 |

Harry Redknapp was a worried man when he drove back down the A1 after QPR lost a pre-season friendly at Peterborough.
Many were expecting his team — with a wage bill bigger than Borussia Dortmund’s and with a plethora of Premier League stars — to run away with the Sky Bet Championship and return to the top flight.
But after a 1-0 defeat by the League One side, Redknapp feared they would tumble down another tier. ‘It was a concern,’ he admits. ‘At Peterborough, when I drove down after the game, I thought we’re going to have a difficult season; I didn’t like the look of us. So, when we started well in the league it gave everyone a lift.

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‘But I couldn’t see us running away with it. People always said Burnley would fall away. I didn’t think they would. I thought for us to finish above Burnley we’re going to need 86-87 points — and winning two points a game is never easy.’
Despite Redknapp’s fears, QPR have not been outside the top five all season. They are three games away from winning promotion, starting with the first leg of their play-off at Wigan on Friday.
But, including loans, 25 players have left the club since last summer.
‘A lot of them were good, players you’d love to have here,’ he says. ‘We couldn’t keep them all. Their wages were too high. If Loic Remy had stayed, we’d have got promoted. He’d have got you 25 goals. Stephane M’Bia has played for Seville in the Europa League semi-final. He’d’ve been a big player. Adel Taarabt is playing at AC Milan. They’ve not exactly gone to bad clubs.’
Redknapp says he is in the dark about the financial future if QPR don’t win promotion this year. But he is confident they will not lose their star players, with top-flight clubs monitoring Charlie Austin, Joey Barton and Bobby Zamora.

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The conversation turns to England. The 67-year-old was the man-in-the-street’s favourite for the job, before Roy Hodgson was chosen.
Had he been picked, Redknapp would have been preparing for a World Cup in Brazil, instead of a Friday night in Wigan.
‘That seems years ago. It’s way gone,’ he says. ‘I like Roy. I get on well with him. I wish him every success. I don’t live my life like that.’
Even so, he will be watching back home on television.
‘I think we’ll get out of the group,’ he says. ‘I don’t think it’s as hard a group as everyone says.
‘The draw was decent. Uruguay have got Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, the boy Diego Godin, but they’re not overloaded. It’s not a great Italian team either. We’ll have a decent run.
‘I wouldn’t say we’ll win it, I think one of the South American teams will; the best European bet is Germany. But we’ll make the quarter-final and maybe even the semi-final.’
It will make more enjoyable viewing for Redknapp if he is plotting a season in the Premier League.


Meanwhile, Wigan manager Uwe Rosler has claimed QPR owner Tony Fernandes will be feeling ‘massive pressure’ to see his club seal an instant return to the Barclays Premier League, ahead of tonight’s play-off first leg at the DW Stadium.
But after chuckling at Redknapp’s assertion that Wigan were favourites to follow Leicester and Burnley into the Barclays Premier League, Rosler suggested Fernandes could ill afford another season in the Championship after racking up a wage bill that’s ‘three times bigger than ours.’
With a Wembley date against Derby or Brighton at stake, Rosler said: ‘What we have is pressure bingo. You are under pressure, no you are, and so it goes on.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...omotion-QPR-I-thought-down.html#ixzz31A8XyOOo
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Possible Starting Xl's

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REF WATCH​

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Select Group official takes charge of QPR's play-off semi-final first leg against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium ...

REFEREE Mike Jones will take charge of QPR’s play-off semi-final first leg at Wigan Athletic on Friday evening.

Jones, 46, is part of the Select Group Referees list that usually officiates in the Premier League.

The Cheshire based referee joined the Football League list in 1997 making his debut at Mansfield Town against Hull City in August of that year.

After working his way up the leagues, Jones was handed the honour of refereeing the 2007 League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium and by the start of the following season he had joined the Select Group list.

Jones walked back up Wembley Way again at the end of the 2008/09 campaign to take charge of the FA Trophy Final before completing his hat-trick of appearances at the national stadium for the 2012 FA Cup Final, where he was tasked with the fourth official duties.

Friday’s match at the DW Stadium will be Jones’ 32nd fixture of the season, his last run-out coming in Sunday’s game between Arsenal and West brom at the Emirates.

From those 31 outings, Jones has shown 104 yellow cards and three red cards.

He has taken charge of 12 previous QPR fixtures which have ended in 4 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats for the R’s. His last QPR outing was a 1-0 win against Birmingham City at Loftus Road in September.

Assisting Jones will be Andrew Garratt and Andrew Halliday whilst David Webb will be on fourth official duties.

Read more at http://www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/0...athletic-qpr-1540388.aspx#cdjvCR1P5ZFyzs03.99

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If you can find a 'hottie' with the surname 'Rosler' then let me know and I'll add her. I did a search and the only Rosler that showed up was a gay porn star. You should of seen the looks I got off my wife and kids!

 

You're spot on there. The more I tried to explain it away I was getting myself into a bigger and bigger hole.

 

I'd hate to imagine!

I think we should end the innuendo's there and get back to the footballing side of things now before this thread degenerates into a smutfest.

 

I'm beginning to think that I wished I posted it as a parody of their manager. At least that would of been the end of it by now.

 

That's a great idea!!!

There's more QPR poster's on there than there are Wigan's.