West Brom's Steve Clarke tells Jonas Olsson to snub QPR Steve Clarke has warned Jonas Olsson that moving to Queens Park Rangers would be a downward step, after rejecting a £5million bid from Harry Redknapp. In demand: West Brom's Jonas Olsson is a target for QPR Photo: pa By John Percy 11:00PM GMT 10 Jan 2013 Comment Clarke, West Bromwich Albionâs head coach, has turned down QPRâs ambitious offer for the Sweden international and insisted he is not for sale at any price this month. Olsson only signed a new long-term contract at the Hawthorns in October and is one of the top earners at the club, with Albion only three points adrift of fifth place in the Premier League. The 29 year-old is understood to be keen on a move to the capital but Clarke insists it would be a âcuriousâ career move to join a relegation battle with Redknapp. Clarke said: âWeâre a club thatâs challenging near the top of the league and, for me, going to QPR would be a strange move. âI see no reason why he would want to leave us - and I donât want to belittle QPR - for a club on a similar or even lesser level than us, which is where they are the moment. âTheyâre lesser than us, theyâre below us. QPR are fighting for their lives in the Premier League, thereâs no guarantee that theyâll be in the PL next season. âIt doesnât have to be mentioned that weâre heading in the right direction - he knows that. He knows the clubâs in a good place, heâs seen the evolution. Iâm not concerned about it. I think heâs in a really good place, he enjoys the football here.â
Hard to argue with much of that but, if accurate, Clarke does not know how to win friends! You never know when you might need a favour or a pay day, eh Rafa?
statements like the lesser club one have a habit of coming back and biting people in the arse cant wait
Not always about the clubs position in the league Mr Clarke! He wants to live in London for personal reasons, so that changes things.
He sounds a bit desparate to me, putting all this out in the media. Maybe we do have a chance with Olsson.
3rd season back in the EPL and he's talking this sh**. For a club that bounces around the two divisions like a yoyo, that's a pretty bold statement.
Have to say that i rate him as a manager ...he's obviously learnt a lot from the best in the bussiness. Cant argue with what he says and his position in the league backs that up.... I have to love him for not so aapparent reasons, although some may know) - but - i also cant find fault in what he says ! This is the sort of manager we should be looking at..despite his Scum background !
I went off him a bit after the post match interview at our place the other week. He said he didn't want to talk about their controversial 2nd goal but would rather concentrate on the gulf in class between the two teams. I thought they were probably just better than us on the day but I really think they are not that good and will slip away in the next few months. I am a litlle concerned they might lose tommorrow tbh.
I think he's an odious little pr*ck who didn't give us any credit in his summation of the match they won 1-2. I initially liked the bloke when he was made manager of WBA, but he' starting to grate now
Just read that the deal is not dead and both agent and player want out of WBA and it's upto the player to push for the move to our 'lesser club'. I will remember that quote from that muppet.
He's rattled about losing a top player. Hope Jonas is disgruntled and Harry sticks with it. And the West Brom board step in when we make them an offer they can't refuse.
I don't think you should believe all that is written in the Sun and Mirror. It is a known fact that Olsson enjoys music and the arts and being in the capital will be able to give him what he wants. In addition my understanding is that he also has a flat there. If there were such personal pressing reasons for him to be in London he would not have signed a new 4 year deal in October and would have let his contract run out in the Summer. He would, in fact, have been able to start speaking to other clubs during this transfer window. I think the frustration on Clarke's part is purely the fact that the media speculation gets blown out of proportion very similar to the fact that this so called clause in his contract has been posted everywhere but only comes into force next summer and then is only limited to six clubs, with European ones included in that six. Having just signed his contract, it will be highly unlikely he will move in this transfer window. Possibly in the summer but he is integral to our squad and I can't see him being allowed to go before then. Also please don't read it as a sign if he is not playing next week as he has not been playing due to an injury. Whilst I am hoping he will be back for Saturday, I would rather our players were rested next week for our match against the Villa the following Saturday. To me our league position is more important that a cup run at this time.
That all makes sense Baggie. I was thinking the same thing about why would he sign a new contract if he really wanted to be in London. Maybe get his wages up so any new club would have to match it but he could ask for a wage rise in any move anyway. Can't see this one getting any further than it already has. Good player though.
Grifter that is WAY over the top mate. As usual Queens, you tell it like it is. Why do we always get so defensive? I can't for the life of me think why a player would leave a team currently in the top seven for a team bottom of the League. C'mon lads, wake up.
Probably swords Still, not once does he give us any credit for putting his team under pressure during this interview. No mention of our cert penalty too: [video=youtube;pNZbdH7jobI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNZbdH7jobI[/video] I agree that we shouldn't expect Olsson to want to come to us, but why does Clarke have to reference which team is "lesser"? Just say that they don't want to sell him and leave it at that. It wasn't a very classy response in my opinion! There's a marked difference between his persona now and at the start of the season
But that's just Manager talk Grift. They all engage in that now and again. I don't think it quite makes him an "odious little prick"! I thought it was a fair shout. At the moment we are definitely "lesser". We're bottom of the bloody league! I just think people are over sensitive when it comes to others talking about the Club. Respect your thoughts though mate.
