QPR ready for an active January
QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has revealed that he is ready to back manager Neil Warnock with sufficient funds in the January transfer market, as he has been impressed with the clubs progression so far.
The Malaysian business tycoon took over at the club in late August, and then went on to give Warnock a high amount of transfer funds, which he used to bring in six new players in the final week of the window.
Most of the new boys have now become regulars with Warnock’s starting 11, and featured in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn, when Heldar Helguson’s cross-shot was cancelled out by Chris Samba’s towering header.
Despite watching a frustrating game, Fernandes believes that his club is moving in the right direction.
“It was a bit disappointing but this is all part of building,” he said. “We have had a bit of bad luck at home.
Fernandes added, “We outplayed Newcastle and, if you look at the league table, they are fourth and we played them off the park.
“We played well against Villa and I thought there could have been a penalty there that should have gone our way, but that’s football.
“But to be 10th at this stage of the season is something to be proud of ahead of three tough games.”
Following the arrives of Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand and Armand Traore at Loftus Road, talks are now on-going between Warnock and Fernandes to discuss the next batch of transfer targets, with the R’s boss claiming that as many as five players could arrive in January, whilst Fernandes has promised to back the manager.
“I don’t know about five players but it depends what comes along,” he said. “We have some interesting options.
“We may end up with five players but we definitely have to strengthen the squad. There are no two ways about it.” Warnock continued
“There are certain areas we need to look at, probably up front we could do with a little more depth.
“But Helguson played well today and it is good to have [Jamie] Mackie back from injury so hopefully we can keep everyone fit, which is one of our problems.
He then added “We have had a bit of disruption since the Newcastle game so certainly we’ll be looking at new players.”
