EXCLUSIVE: Bobby Zamora on QPR's relegation scrap and Charlie Austin's England bid
BOBBY ZAMORA wants to put the record straight.
By TONY BANKS
PUBLISHED: 22:30, Thu, Apr 2, 2015
Bobby Zamora insists he's not about to call time on his Premier League career
First, there is plenty of mileage left on the old clock yet. His troublesome hip is fine, he is fit and raring to go at the age of 34. Just ask John Terry and Vincent Kompany if they still enjoy playing against him.
Second, Queens Park Rangers are not down and finished as a Premier League club - not while Zamora is around. He has beaten Chelsea and Liverpool before, he can beat them again.
But if Rangers don't make it and go down at the end of this season, Zamora is ready to stay and help them get back up again, if they still want him.
And one last thing while he's at it. Why the heck is his strike partner and pal Charlie Austin not in the England team?
Given Rangers' perilous position at the wrong end of the Premier League, with nine defeats from their last 10 games as they head into tomorrow's clash at West Brom, it is a surprisingly relaxed and upbeat Zamora who sits down to talk at their Harlington training ground as the Heathrow jets rumble overhead.
But as he looks you straight in the eye, it is clear there is no messing about here. Bob means business.
An opening question about the old hip brings a groan. "It's fine. I have missed two games this season, with illness and a spasm in my back," he sighs.
"It's been getting on my nerves. I don't really do interviews, so I never really get the chance to say my side of the story, but the hip is fine."
It was Zamora's dramatic last-minute goal that got Rangers back up into the top flight in the play-off final against Derby last May - a goal valued at around £100million.
It earned him a new one-year deal, and what happens after this summer will probably depend on these next eight games, with Rangers four points off safety and a place off the bottom of the table.
"My contract is up at the end of the year so it's wait and see, but yes I would want to have another crack," he said.
"The stats in terms of goals for me have not been great but the performances have been good. Go and ask John Terry, Vincent Kompany whoever, 'Is it nice playing against him?' And it'll be, 'No, not really, I got an elbow in the back of the head again'
Bobby Zamora knows he's lacking goals but says he's performances have been good
There have been positives out of all of these games. All you can do is keep working hard
Bobby Zamora
"It does not matter who we are playing. We need to get points. I have beaten Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool in the past. No one can tell you who you are going to beat, otherwise the FA Cup would be a foregone conclusion.
"It's not rocket science. Get more points than the people around you and you stay up.
"There have been positives out of all of these games. All you can do is keep working hard.
"We all know what we have to do. Turn up, run around, make it hard for teams. For me, make sure their centre-halves don't have a clean header, be a nuisance."
It also means knocking the ball down for Austin to score, which is in all honesty remains the R's main hope of survival.
"I'm so pleased for Chaz. He is a great striker. He puts the ball away, and that's what you need," said Zamora. "I'm constantly telling him, 'Just shoot'.
"I'm disappointed he didn't get an England call-up. He certainly deserved to be in the squad. It will come.
"Myself and Charlie are happy to have a fight and a wrestle up there. Just get the ball in there. He reminds me of when I was at Brighton. Everything you hit just goes in."
So Zamora is ready for the battle - and he is demanding the R's fans are as well.
"They have been good this year but they need to understand it is a struggle," he said. "If they are behind us it makes a difference. The louder you are, it helps. At this time of year you really need them.
"I don't understand when fans have a go. Can you imagine turning up at someone's office and saying, 'Oi, you're rubbish!' It would be weird, wouldn't it?"
Zamora's next project is a summer soccer school he and former R's team-mate Andrew Johnson are opening this summer in Sardinia.
"We hope to get some players out there, so it should be fun for the kids," he says. But that is for the future. Right now centre-halves had better not relax. That elbow is still out there.
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...ark-Rangers-Relegation-Charlie-Austin-England
BOBBY ZAMORA wants to put the record straight.
By TONY BANKS
PUBLISHED: 22:30, Thu, Apr 2, 2015
You must log in or register to see images
Bobby Zamora insists he's not about to call time on his Premier League career
First, there is plenty of mileage left on the old clock yet. His troublesome hip is fine, he is fit and raring to go at the age of 34. Just ask John Terry and Vincent Kompany if they still enjoy playing against him.
Second, Queens Park Rangers are not down and finished as a Premier League club - not while Zamora is around. He has beaten Chelsea and Liverpool before, he can beat them again.
But if Rangers don't make it and go down at the end of this season, Zamora is ready to stay and help them get back up again, if they still want him.
And one last thing while he's at it. Why the heck is his strike partner and pal Charlie Austin not in the England team?
Given Rangers' perilous position at the wrong end of the Premier League, with nine defeats from their last 10 games as they head into tomorrow's clash at West Brom, it is a surprisingly relaxed and upbeat Zamora who sits down to talk at their Harlington training ground as the Heathrow jets rumble overhead.
But as he looks you straight in the eye, it is clear there is no messing about here. Bob means business.
An opening question about the old hip brings a groan. "It's fine. I have missed two games this season, with illness and a spasm in my back," he sighs.
"It's been getting on my nerves. I don't really do interviews, so I never really get the chance to say my side of the story, but the hip is fine."
It was Zamora's dramatic last-minute goal that got Rangers back up into the top flight in the play-off final against Derby last May - a goal valued at around £100million.
It earned him a new one-year deal, and what happens after this summer will probably depend on these next eight games, with Rangers four points off safety and a place off the bottom of the table.
"My contract is up at the end of the year so it's wait and see, but yes I would want to have another crack," he said.
"The stats in terms of goals for me have not been great but the performances have been good. Go and ask John Terry, Vincent Kompany whoever, 'Is it nice playing against him?' And it'll be, 'No, not really, I got an elbow in the back of the head again'
You must log in or register to see images
Bobby Zamora knows he's lacking goals but says he's performances have been good
There have been positives out of all of these games. All you can do is keep working hard
Bobby Zamora
"It does not matter who we are playing. We need to get points. I have beaten Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool in the past. No one can tell you who you are going to beat, otherwise the FA Cup would be a foregone conclusion.
"It's not rocket science. Get more points than the people around you and you stay up.
"There have been positives out of all of these games. All you can do is keep working hard.
"We all know what we have to do. Turn up, run around, make it hard for teams. For me, make sure their centre-halves don't have a clean header, be a nuisance."
It also means knocking the ball down for Austin to score, which is in all honesty remains the R's main hope of survival.
"I'm so pleased for Chaz. He is a great striker. He puts the ball away, and that's what you need," said Zamora. "I'm constantly telling him, 'Just shoot'.
"I'm disappointed he didn't get an England call-up. He certainly deserved to be in the squad. It will come.
"Myself and Charlie are happy to have a fight and a wrestle up there. Just get the ball in there. He reminds me of when I was at Brighton. Everything you hit just goes in."
So Zamora is ready for the battle - and he is demanding the R's fans are as well.
"They have been good this year but they need to understand it is a struggle," he said. "If they are behind us it makes a difference. The louder you are, it helps. At this time of year you really need them.
"I don't understand when fans have a go. Can you imagine turning up at someone's office and saying, 'Oi, you're rubbish!' It would be weird, wouldn't it?"
Zamora's next project is a summer soccer school he and former R's team-mate Andrew Johnson are opening this summer in Sardinia.
"We hope to get some players out there, so it should be fun for the kids," he says. But that is for the future. Right now centre-halves had better not relax. That elbow is still out there.
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...ark-Rangers-Relegation-Charlie-Austin-England
