The Daily Mirror reports that "QPR are lining up a £350,000 move for Charlton's Simon Walton. Rangers boss John Gregory has earmarked the midfielder as a central partner for Adam Bolder. Walton, 19, signed for the Addicks last year in a £500,000 deal but was loaned out to Ipswich Town."
Funny how some items that we discussed yesterday are being taken care of today (Sahar, maybe a new midfielder...)
It'll be interesting to see if they bring in a partner for Bolder in the center when, arguably, we're weaker out wide below Rowlands and Ainsworth on the depth chart. Although Chelsea's website says it's not yet a done deal, Sahar's quotes on the QPR site sure make it sound like it is.
Looks like we're really close on Lee Camp and Simon Walton according to the BBC. "Camp, 22, will join Rangers for a fee of about £300,000 after several weeks of negotiations." And "Rangers are also expected to complete the signing of midfielder Simon Walton, 19, from Charlton in the next 24 hours." Reports over at qprdot.org indicate that Camp has signed and it'll be announced today. Someone said Walton was at Harlington, too. Derby signed a backup keeper from Ipswich, so it appears they're now ready to let Camp go. In addition to the two teens on loan from Chelsea, many of our recent (or upcoming) signings are young: Camp - 22 Walton - 19 Nardiello - 24 And even the other signings aren't too long in the tooth: Barker - 27 Curtis - 28 Plus, Blackstock is just 20, Ray Jones is 18, Bailey turns 20 in October, and we've got a few other young guys on the edge of the first team (Kanyuka, Baidoo, Shimmin). In their prime are Stewart (turns 27 in August), Bolder (27 in October), Rowlands (28), Timoska (28). Our over 30's include Cullip (turns 31 in September), Bignot (33 in August), Ainsworth (34), Nygaard (31 in September). Overall, a fairly young club. If we perform well, the core group could be together for awhile. After the loss of Cook, we could be said to be lacking creativity in the midfield. Depending on whether we can get full seasons our of Rowlands and Ainsworth, that could be our major weakness now. The defense seems solid and has a bit of depth. We have a half a dozen strikers who seem worthy of consideratin. And a Bolder, Rowlands, Ainsworth, Walton midfield can probably do the business in this division if we can keep 'em all on the field.
Just beat me to that one! I like what Gregory has done with the squad. Sure it might still be a little thin and they need to stay healthy, but let's call this a "common sense" squad at the moment. Sold Cook for a good price (still terrible to see him go) and with that money the club have staved off the winding up order, added to the midfield and finally purchased the keeper we've wanted for 3 years. I can live with that.
Agreed. I'm pretty happy with things, assuming we had no choice but to let Cook go. We've got a good starting keeper (Camp) and a servicable young backup (Cole). We have some quality and depth in defense (Mancienne, Cullip, Stewart, Bignot, Curtis, Barker, Timoska). We have plenty of options up front (Blackstock, Sahar, Nardiello, Nygaard, Jones, maybe Moore or Baidoo). A starting midfield of Rowlands, Ainsworth, Bolder, and Walton should be pretty good. Depth after that is spotty. In the middle, we have Bailey, but out wide, not so much. If either Rowlands or Ainsworth goes down for awhile (high probability of this), the options are either unproven (St. Aimie), semi-proven but out-of-favor with Gregory (Baidoo), out-of-favor and better-in-the-middle (Ward), a utility-type player (Timoska), or we move one of our multitude of strikers there (Moore got some time there last year). Am I forgetting anyone? You can certainly get by without traditional wingers sending in crosses, but Blackstock did seem to do well with that kind of service last year.
So are we ready for a team prediction for Ashton Gate? -----------------Camp-------------- Biggie--Curtis--Mancienne--Barker Rowly--Bolder--Walton--Ainsworth ------Sahar---------Blackstock-----
You think Cullip and Stewart will be left out? I think Curtis will sit and one of those two will partner with Mancienne. If Ainsworth is fit, I think I'll agree with the rest of the prediction.
Gregory has certainly created a lot of competition in defence (wouldn't that be nice to see at DC United!). I think the Chelsea kids are there to play, so Mancienne will get a place somewhere. Yeah, maybe Stewart in place of Curtis - I'm probably overrating the new guys.
While I believe Curtis plays anywhere across the backline, I got the impression that he was more of an outside player. I just went back and read all the stuff on the official site about him and it doesn't really say (it calls him a versatile defender), so I'm not sure where I got that. But Biggie did say on his recent World interview that Gregory was "killing him" by signing two fullbacks, so I assumed that meant Barker and Curtis. Do you know if he partnered Cullip at Forest or played out wide?
It's official! Lee Camp has signed a three-year contract with QPR. We paid Derby a fee of £300,000. Camp will wear the #1 shirt. John Gregory said:
Looking at a few Forest match reports, looks like Curtis really was a utility defender. He was used as a sub quite a bit as defensive cover (as a full or center back) - he even came on for Cullip on a few occasions. Maybe Gregory has something similar in mind for him - or maybe he'll compete with Biggie for the right back slot?
There goes the rest of the transfer kitty! The official site reports that we've paid £200,000 to Charlton Athletic for 19-year-old midfielder Simon Walton. He's signed a three-year deal with the R's. He was Iain Dowie's first signing for Charlton last year at £500,000. After Dowie was fired, he spent time on loan at Ipswich (for whom he scored against QPR) and Cardiff. Walton said: Gregory said: Details of Walton's career can be found here.
No surprise there - good timing from Gregory getting those guys in with the most important stretch of the pre-season remaining. Here are some more facts on Walton * Born Sept. 13, 1987 (age 19), in Leeds * Scored from the spot in his pre-season Leeds debut (vs Valencia) - then was sent off later in the same match! * His sister, Sophie, plays for Leeds United's Ladies team
The loan deal for Ben Sahar has now been signed and he's officially on loan to us through January 2, 2008, a bit longer than originally expected. Sahar turns 18 tomorrow (Friday).
Great news! Keep your fingers crossed that all those Chelsea strikers stay fit - maybe we can keep him all season. Although the end date leads me to think that Mourinho wants him back for the Cups.
Hogan Ephraim has joined QPR from West Ham on a one-month loan. The 19-year-old midfielder made 21 appearances (one goal) on loan at Colchester last season. The report indicated Palace and Colchester also wanted to take him on. Relationships with Mick Harford and Chris Barker from Colchester and Michael Mancienne from the England U-19s were said to have helped him decide to come to QPR. It's only a one-month deal at the moment. It'll be interesting to see if he goes straight into the lineup on the left side of midfield. He'll wear the #25 shirt.
20-year-old QPR keeper Sean Thomas has joined Ryman League Premier Division side Wealdstone on a one-month loan through September 22nd.
With the takeover seemingly done and dusted and the transfer deadline nearly here, the rumors have headed up: The Ealing Gazette reports that QPR are "set to sign" Mikele Leigertwood from Sheffield United for "around £800,000." The article says he plays both in defense and midfield. The article says we are "hoping to sign" striker Kevin Gallacher from Blackburn before the transfer window closes on Friday. The Blackburn Citizen says this would be a loan and that both Stoke and QPR have expressed an interest. The article says "Rovers do not want to sell Gallagher but they may consider a loan deal until January." The Ealing Gazette article also says a QPR bid to sign West Ham's Hayden Mullins "has been rebuffed" and that the chances of a loan signing of Chelsea's Scott Sinclair "appear to be receding."