Summer Transfer Window: Will EPL Veterans Help QPR Avoid Relegation Fight?By Joe Tansey(Featured Columnist) on July 10, 2012 630 reads 1 Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories Next Queens Park Rangers are flying under the radar this summer in the transfer market, but they have already made a huge splash by signing six Premier League veterans. The latest of those six came to the club on Monday, as Park Ji-Sung signed from Manchester United. The other players brought into the club by manager Mark Hughes include former West Ham keeper Robert Green, defenders Ryan Nelsen, Samba Diakite and Fabio, as well as forward Andrew Johnson. The policy of bringing in Premier League veterans was started at QPR last season, in their first season back in the Premier League, by former manager Neil Warnock. Warnock brought in Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand at the end of last summer. Also, add into the mix forwards Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora, who both joined in January, and you have a full starting 11 of EPL veterans. But the question for QPR is if these veterans can gel together under Hughes and bring the club any success. Last season, the club barely survived the relegation battle and finished in 17th place. Now, in Hughes' first full season in charge, the R's will have a chance to prove their worth to the rest of the Premier League, and they will do that by fielding a roster that is chock full of names that are familiar to fans. How Successful Will QPR Be Next Season? Contend for Europe Top 10 Just Barely Survive Relegation Green should be the first-choice keeper over Paddy Kenny, and after a season helping West Ham back into the Premier League, the England international should have a ton of confidence in net. In defense, Fabio will look to get consistent first-team play on loan from Manchester United, and he will have players like Nelsen, Ferdinand, Nedum Onuoha and Luke Young to learn from. However, the experienced group of defenders will have to improve on the 66 goals allowed last season, which tied for the most by a club that was not relegated last season. Midfield may be the weakest area on the pitch for QPR but the addition of Park does strengthen the depth in midfield a bit. The club still have Adel Taarabt, regardless of whether he wants to be there or not, as well as Wright-Phillips, who still has a year or two left in his legs for top-flight football. And then there is Joey Barton. The always hot-headed Barton will start the season with a 12-game suspension, and with his captaincy stripped because of a little incident that happened against Manchester City on the final day of the 2011-12 season. If Barton is a part of the squad after his suspension, it could be a burst of energy into the Rangers midfield if they are struggling. Finally, Hughes faces the decision of who to put up front in attack. Zamora and Johnson were strike partners at Fulham in the past and could be paired together again at Loftus Road. If Hughes chooses not to go with the former Fulham pair, then he can go with the well-traveled Cisse, who proved he can still score goals, as he netted six in eight games after joining the West London club. It also does not hurt that Jamie Mackie, Jay Bothroyd, D.J. Campbell and Heidar Helguson all on the roster as well as potential goal scorers. Now that it is a known fact that QPR have the depth and amount of experience in players, the real question is if Hughes can get them all to play together and make a run at the top 10 in the standings this season. Hughes is a proven manager, and with no real egos on the team except for Taarabt and Barton, he should be able to get the players to believe in his philosophy and have a successful season in the English Premier League
These were the results so far How Successful Will QPR Be Next Season? Contend for Europe 4.7% Top 10 50.3% Just Barely Survive 41.5% Relegation 3.5%
So who is Joe Tansey? Does he actually know anything? The poll annoys me. There is nothing between "Top 10 finish" and "Barely survive". I am sure that Swansea, Norwich and Sunderland supporters would be a bit p1ssed off to be described as "barely survived" last season just because they were not in the top 10!
I think he's a teenager which explains why everyone over 15 gets tagged a veteran. Was it his school homework?
Honestly, I've met a lot of Americans over here who like football and are a damned sight more knowledgable than this hack. But then, I've met quite a few over here that can't stand football. And still know more than this hack. If I had to guess, the guy's a Bolton supporter who's mates with Joey Barton and related to Flabio Briatore.
Yes, sadly an American who writes for the Bleacher Report. Kind of a tabloid sports website over here.
I reckon you could justifiably get yourself some consultancy work correcting their "soccer" articles.
Kiwi, a lot of the sports journo's over here are very good - just very specialized. You won't find an NFL reporter writing about Basketball, for example. And it looks like no-one bothers to specialist in soccer....!
Useless article. Although he did accidentally stumble upon a valid point about veterans not really being the answer. Certainly not in the long run.
I don't think that's particularly helpful either - it's basically saying aging players decline/retire eventually. Not exactly Earth shattering.
They aren't here for the long run, one or two year contracts the lot of them. They are here to ensure we have some nous in the squad and are not reduced to the dread of fielding a Hall or a Hulse when suspensions/ injuries/ ACON force us to dig deep. Tony said yesterday that there are 2 or 3 signings still to come, and I do hope we get some younger blood in as well. This squad will look very different in 18-24 months time.
