Shaun's on the run!

Shaun's on the run! Exiled at Chelsea, sidelined at City, SWP is finally reborn at Rangers

By Matt Barlow

Last updated at 11:00 PM on 16th September 2011

Shaun of the dead? Not on this evidence. The touchline shimmies may have been absent from Match of the Day for a year or so but there seems to be plenty of running left in Shaun Wright-Phillips.

He arrives in a whirl, carrying a tower of boxes and explains he cannot hang around. He talks quickly, perched on the edge of his seat and pauses only briefly to fire an insult towards Jay Bothroyd.

Then he is gone. It is all something of a blur. Difficult to get to grips with is SWP. He is just as he plays. Newcastle’s Ryan Taylor had the same problem at Loftus Road on Monday.

Bundle of energy: Wright-Phillips is rarely at rest as he talks about his rejuvenated career and his dreams of an England future

Wright-Phillips is 30 next month but the only trace of age is an unreliable memory. ‘Thirty is the new 20,’ he laughs. ‘That’s what I told the lads at City when they said I was getting old. I enjoy the game so much I almost forget how tired I am.’

Queens Park Rangers seems to agree with Wright-Phillips, as anyone who watched his debut, a goalless draw against Newcastle, will testify.

‘QPR just felt right,’ said Wright-Phillips. ‘There were four or five clubs. I said thank you to all the other managers who were interested but the timing was right to come here.’

Rangers have been abuzz since Tony Fernandes bought the club last month and Neil Warnock set about signing six players in the final week of the transfer window.

Among them, Wright-Phillips found former Manchester City room-mate Joey Barton. ‘He’s always had a little mouth on him,’ he smiled. ‘He’s been like that since he was a kid. It’s just that people take more notice now.

Running man: Wright-Phillips shone on his QPR debut against Newcastle

‘The owner seems like a great guy and he’s told us what he’d like to achieve. We all want great things and if we work hard it’s possible but it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.

‘The first goal is to concentrate on staying up, get the team gelling. Next season, aim for the top end of the table. We just have to take it slowly.’

The winger did not look ready to bide his time against Newcastle. Starting his first Barclays Premier League game in more than a year, he was a powerball of energy, riding tackles, forcing saves and delivering crosses which no-one could convert.

‘All the players I’ve brought in have got things to prove,’ said Warnock before setting Wright-Phillips a target of 10 goals for the season.

Squeezed out: The former Chelsea man saw his place threatened by the millions invested when Roberto Mancini took over

Wright-Phillips accepts the challenge. ‘I could get that if I find my scoring boots,’ he said. ‘That was only the start, something to build on. I was excited for the whole week. By the time the game came I was dead up for it. It felt good to get out there, good to be playing again.’

Back in May, Roberto Mancini left Wright-Phillips out of the match-day 18 as Manchester City won the FA Cup, their first major trophy in 35 years.

A similar fate had befallen him three years earlier when Chelsea reached the Champions League final. Both times he would leave the club soon after but it was only last month when he realised it was time to quit City.

‘It was this season I made up my mind to leave,’ said Wright-Phillips. ‘After playing pretty much all pre-season and scoring four goals in five games, I just thought I had a chance but it obviously wasn’t to be. I played well and it didn’t change anything. It was time for me to move on and play football.’

Wright-Phillips joined City as a teenager as they slid into the third tier of English football. As he left, they were being likened to Barcelona by Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. On Wednesday, they made their Champions League debut against Napoli.

‘I cheered them on just like any fan would,’ said Wright-Phillips. ‘This is exactly what they deserve. I’m just glad I was able to help them on the journey.

‘I’ve always been proud to pull on that blue shirt from the moment I came through. City can go anywhere they want. They have everything they need to go all the way to the top. I’m delighted for them, especially the supporters who’ve been there for years. For them to see this is fantastic.’

The by-product of City’s aggressive team-building project has been the clustering of unwanted senior players, paid well but offered little prospect of game time. Some escaped in the final days of the transfer window but others, like Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha, remain at Eastlands, unable to get a game.

England expects: The diminutive winger wants his place back under Capello

‘I don’t think people realise how hard that actually is,’ said Wright-Phillips. ‘It’s mentally draining because you never know where you stand or where you career’s going to go. You don’t know if anyone’s going to touch you because of the position you’re in.

‘You’re in it to achieve your goals. As long as you don’t give up and keep working hard then surely your chance will come. That’s what I’ve done.’

Goals for Wright-Phillips include the chance to add to his 36 England caps. He has not been in a squad since his last appearance, as a substitute in the goalless draw against Montenegro at Wembley last October.

‘I don’t see why I can’t play for England again,’ he said. ‘If I’m playing well and I deserve it then, hopefully, I’ll get picked. I’m a fighter and that’s something I won’t be giving up on easily. If I play well and stay clear of injury I might have a chance of playing in the European Championship.’

Full of life. Full of ambition for club and country. Shaun is back from the dead.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-exclusive-Reborn-Rangers.html#ixzz1YBqplRAH

 

good article, he could easily have joined Stoke in fairness but after seeing his performance vs newcastle I'm delighted he chose us.

 

I must admit to have been a doubter but if SWP keeps up the level of performance that he displayed versus Newcastle I will be glad to be proven wrong.