Flashback: QPR Thanking (Grovelling?) re Chelsea

[QPR Report]

Five year ago UGH!

(I'm happy to have ex-Chelsea players (or current Chelsea players at QPR. But no quid-pro-quo...and without such words!
Of course one possible consequence of this "union" was the (shhh!) China game)


Clubcall - January 4, 2007 - Gregory hails Chelsea union

John Gregory is hopeful Queens Park Rangers can maintain their union with Premiership champions Chelsea after picking up Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne.
The on-loan Blues pair have shone for Rangers this term despite an inconsistent season and Gregory has constantly sung the pair's praises.
And the R's boss is hopeful the arrival of the pair is the first step of a developing relationship.

"The relationship we have with Chelsea is a thriving one," said Gregory.
"They conduct themselves particularly well with us and have shown us tremendous respect.
"Chelsea have a representative watching Jimmy and Michael at every one of our games.
"Jimmy and Michael play with so much passion for Rangers. They are not even our players, which proves that they are fantastic professionals." Clubcall

[Macmoish]

Bump...Still I wouldnt mind Sturridge on loan!

[Macmoish]

Bump another year!

[Macmoish]

And also....Flashbacks

Paladini - QPR Are Not a "Feeder Club" for Chelsea-
Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - January 16

Paladini: we are not a feeder club

CHAIRMAN Gianni Paladini has vowed QPR will never become a feeder club to bitter rivals Chelsea after a media report suggested that the two clubs were becoming 'increasingly cosy'.
Rangers have just agreed a deal to extend the loan of Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne to the end of the season, while team-mate Jimmy Smith is also staying at Loftus Road until May.
A recent column in the Evening Standard hinted that other loan deals involving the two clubs were imminent - and even mischievously implied that QPR could 'become' the Blues' reserve team.
Stamford Bridge boss José Mourinho recently spoke of his wish to enter a reserve side in the Football League - an idea that received the backing of his Rangers counterpart John Gregory.
Paladini assured the Times: "We will never be Chelsea's feeder club. Our identity is Queens Park Rangers and there's no way in the world we'll merge with any other club.
"We aren't ever going to have a team of 11 Chelsea players. There will only be two or three, maximum, in the QPR side - and they've got to be players we want, not players Chelsea want to lump on us."
Smith, 20, and 19-year-old Mancienne joined Rangers on loan in the weeks following Gregory's appointment and have featured in virtually every game since.
They were the first players to join the Rs from Chelsea since goalkeeper Rhys Evans spent a lengthy loan period at Loftus Road in the 2001-02 campaign.
But any formal link-up between the two clubs would undoubtedly horrify the vast majority of QPR fans, weaned on many years of keenly-contested rivalry with Chelsea until the start of Rangers' decline in the mid-1990s.

Paladini added: "We've looked at getting players on loan from Tottenham or Arsenal, but sometimes they already have arrangements with other clubs.
"Chelsea are just around the corner, which means Smith and Mancienne don't have to move. It's much easier for them to come to QPR and we get two quality players who are doing well for us.
"I think this is good business and there's always a possibility we could buy the players at some point if we can afford it. Obviously we wouldn't be able to spend £5m or £6m."
Mancienne - who was referred to in the Standard column as 'David' Mancienne - has been named in the England under-19 squad for next month's friendly with Poland.
Rangers striker Ray Jones has also been called up for the match at AFC Bournemouth on February


Evening Standard Snippet re QPR - Chelsea Relationship
-
Evening Standard - Football Talk By Raoul Simons,- January 11
A fear of Roman's Rangers

How much should be read into Jose Mourinho's comments about wanting Chelsea to field a B team in the Football League? Relations are getting increasingly cosy between Roman Abramovich's club and near-neighbours Queens Park Rangers. Mourinho and John Gregory are on friendly terms and the latter's club has already felt the benefits of loanees Jimmy Smith and David Mancienne. Chelsea believe the moves have helped the duo's progress and are expected to make others available. Football League rules limit QPR to signing no more than four loan players from a single club but - given their uncertain financial position - concern is growing in Rangers circles that Loftus Road could soon become home to "Chelsea reserves". Standar


Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=19299#ixzz1iTpshPCA

[Macmoish]

And five years later... (F..... Off Chelsea )

GUARDIAN/Dominic Fifield

Villas-Boas: Premier League clubs should have B teams in Championship

• Chelsea manager Villas-Boas wants shakeup of youth system
• Spanish model lets Barcelona B play in Segunda División

André Villas-Boas has denounced the current system of youth development in England as uncompetitive and called for reserve teams of elite clubs such as Chelsea to be allowed to compete in the Championship, a move that would necessitate a radical restructuring of the game.

The Portuguese echoed frustrations expressed by Rafael Benítez during his time with Liverpool that the Spanish framework, where second strings compete in the lower leagues, has not been adopted in England. Barcelona B, from whom Chelsea signed Oriol Romeu last summer for £4.35m, finished third last season in the Segunda División, the equivalent of the Championship.

Pep Guardiola, the Barça manager, benefits from being able to call up young players steeled in competitive action to his ranks if required.

Villas-Boas pointed to a gulf in quality and experience between the reserve and first teams. "The youth development system in England is not right, in my belief," the Chelsea manager said. "There is plenty of effort and talks to get it right but, in my opinion, it is not. The reserve-team league is not competitive and doesn't serve the progression of talent coming through. The gap between the reserve team and the first team is immense here.

"Barcelona B play in the equivalent of the Championship and if that European model was applied in England, it could be tested. Feeder clubs might be a solution but there would be more of a cultural identity if it's called a B team. [If the reserves competed as Chelsea B] it would be the same name, the same environment.

"If it's a feeder club, I couldn't call a player up to my first team until the transfer window opens. What happens in Barcelona B is a good model in terms of competitions. They promote talent. That's the main difference I see. Maybe the English model is working, though not in our case. I always felt like that.

"If your B team plays in the Championship, and are fourth or sixth and threatening, playing good football, you'd call players up if you had suffered injuries. There is immediate identification of the process you're trying implement in your first team and B team and it would be an ease to call them up. And it could be a great benefit because you don't have to work with a 26-man squad but a 19-man squad and just recall the best young guys with constant activity. If Ryan [Bertrand] and Josh [McEachran] could make the jump from Championship to Premiership every week, their involvement would be much better."

Chelsea have loaned out fringe young players this season in the hope their development gathers pace with competitive first-team action elsewhere, though results have been mixed. Patrick van Aanholt and Gaël Kakuta hardly featured in relegation battles at Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers respectively and have been sent to Vitesse Arnhem and Dijon. McEachran, widely heralded as the most promising product of the club's academy in recent seasons, has managed only one Premier League start in two seasons around the first-team squad and has been loaned to Swansea City.

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's owner, has poured significant funding into the academy in recent years, a metamorphosis initially overseen by Frank Arnesen – who has since moved to Hamburg – and now by the academy manager, Neil Bath. But although the youth team have flourished in competitions such as the FA Youth Cup, the first team are yet to benefit from a graduate demanding inclusion since John Terry progressed through the ranks a decade ago.

Although Villas-Boas is confident talent is being nurtured at the club, he delivered further criticisms of the junior game in this country. "The youth levels are not competitive enough," he said. "The FA Youth Cup: does it favour talent or competition? In my opinion there is a missed link between age groups in all competitions. There should be national championships played between teams from around the country: the older kids should play nationally; the younger ones should play regionally. That competition promotes talent. If the kids weren't able to win it when they were young, they won't make it when they face the massive challenge.

"But, here at Chelsea, we do produce talent. Players are coming through. It's still a massive jump, again [to come]. It's a waiting process but there is quality in this academy. Will it be too big a gap to come straight into the first team? Maybe, yes. But could they do that if they were playing at Championship level with a team representing Chelsea? Perhaps, yes."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/19/villas-boas-premier-league-b-championship

[Macmoish]

INDEPENDENT/Sam Wallace

Villas-Boas: let big clubs' feeder sides into League
Chelsea manager wants radical solution to failure of academy system and reserve teams

Andre Villas-Boas said yesterday that the development of young English footballers is so flawed that top clubs should be allowed to have feeder teams in the lower divisions to enable the likes of Chelsea to bring players through from their academies.

In an outspoken attack on an academy system in which his club in particular have invested heavily over the last eight years, the Chelsea manager, whose team face Norwich City tomorrow, advocated a system similar to that in Spain where Barcelona 'B', among other feeder teams, compete in the nation's second tier of football.

Villas-Boas said that reserve and youth-team football in England was "not competitive" and did not prepare young footballers for the transition to the first team. He warned Chelsea's high-profile youngsters currently out on loan – such as Josh McEachran at Swansea City – that they would have to prove themselves at their new clubs or could not expect to break through at Chelsea.

His comments are sure to attract the attention of Football League clubs who would resist ferociously any attempt to become feeder clubs to the bigger beasts in the top-flight. Equally, the Premier League has placed great store in its academy system which has been comprehensively overhauled with the introduction next season of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) across the professional game.

Villas-Boas said: "The youth development system in England is not right, in my belief. There is plenty of effort and talks to get it right but in my opinion it is not. The reserve team league is not competitive. The youth levels are not competitive enough. The FA Youth Cup: does it favour talent or competition?

"In my opinion there is a missing link between age groups in all competitions. There should be national championships played between teams from around the country. The older ones should play nationally. The younger ones should play regionally. You promote more talent and competitiveness and it is that which generates talent and willingness to drive."

It was put to him that at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola has given first-team debuts to 25 players who have been promoted from the club's feeder team since he took over as manager in 2008. Why had Chelsea failed to bring any significant player through from the youth team since John Terry's emergence more than 10 years ago?

"Because the gap between the reserve team and the first-team is immense here," Villas-Boas said. "Barcelona 'B' play in the equivalent of the Championship. If the European model is applied in England, it could be tested. The reserve team serves the first-team, but it doesn't serve the progression of talent coming through.

"It [buying a feeder club] could be a solution. There is more of a cultural identity [with the parent club] if it's called a 'B' team. It's the same name, the same environment. If it's a feeder club, I couldn't call a player up to my team until the transfer window opens.

"What happens in Barcelona 'B' is a good model in terms of competitions. If the talent is playing in in a competitive league you can call up players, There is immediate identification by the players with the process you're trying to implement in your first team. And it could be a great benefit because you don't have to work with a 26-man squad, but a 19-man squad and just recall the best young guys. If Ryan [Bertrand, who has had seven loan periods] and Josh [McEachran] could make the jump from Championship to Premiership every week, their involvement would be better."

In the case of McEachran, a promising 18-year-old who has struggled to get playing time in the first team this season, Villas-Boas said that he had to follow Daniel Sturridge's example at Bolton Wanderers last season. "He [McEachran] has to triumph in a difficult place," he said. "Swansea have just beaten Arsenal and are well positioned in the league. So Josh has to make his way and have the same impact as Daniel did at Bolton."

As with many other top English clubs, Chelsea have chosen to pay big transfer fees and in some cases award lucrative professional contracts to unproven 17-year-olds in order to secure the best players. Under Frank Arnesen's reign at the club they managed to sell many of these players on for a profit but have never been able to produce an academy graduate who commanded a first-team place.

Just this week the club have signed three brothers from Luton Town's academy – Cole and Rio Dasilva, both 12 and their brother Jay, 13 – and Villas-Boas denied that it was an issue of paying young players too much money. Instead he said English elite youth football needed to change.

"[In Spain] the older ones play nationally and the younger ones regionally. If the kids weren't able to win when they were young, they won't make it when they face the massive challenge."

On Fernando Torres, who will almost certainly start tomorrow, Villas-Boas said that he did not feel his £50m striker was inhibited by playing with Didier Drogba as had been suggested by his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti. "We're speaking about two of the best players in the world," he said. "If that was the case with any player, it would be a mental weakness or a mental block. Which is not the case in my opinion."

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/villasboas-let-big-clubs-feeder-sides-into-league-6292179.html

[cpr]

He is a truly irritating prick, the way Spain runs it's clubs has no relevance here. We have truly competitive leagues, it's a daft suggestion but maybe the FA should say the two Manchester clubs can have B teams plus all the revenue from English football then we would have the same pathetic setup! I bet he wouldn't be so keen on the idea then!

[RoryTheRanger]

Oh shut up AVB you tw*t. Most annoying person out there.

[Macmoish]

Championship to Chelsea: F*** O**

BBC
Football League dismisses Andre Villas-Boas's 'B' team suggestion

The Football League has rejected Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas' suggestion that top Premier League clubs be allowed to field reserve sides in the Championship.

Villas-Boas said the move would help young players make the step up to Premier League football.

But League chief Andy Williamson said Football League clubs should not become feeder sides to the Premier League.

"The suggestion is frankly offensive," Williamson said.

"Our clubs are constituted as sovereign entities which represent their town or city with pride, rather than being a subsidiary of another club in another part of the country," he continued.

"These are senior professional football matches that matter - they are not just platforms for developing other clubs' players."

Continue reading the main story
The reserve team, for all the hard work, is not competitive. It serves the first team, but it doesn't serve the progression of talent coming through
Andre Villas-Boas
Villas-Boas said on Thursday that England should follow the example of Spain, where Barcelona's 'B' team play in the second flight.

"What happens in Barcelona is a good model in terms of competitions. They promote talent," he said.

"If your 'B' team plays in the Championship, where they are fourth or sixth and threatening, playing good football, you'd call them up.

"It could be a great benefit because you don't have to work with a 26-man squad, but a 19-man squad and just recall the best young guys with constant activity.

"The reserve team, for all the hard work, is not competitive. It serves the first team, but it doesn't serve the progression of talent coming through.

"The youth development system in England is not right."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said smaller clubs would not support Villas-Boas's proposal.

"The supporters of Barnet do not want their club not to be promoted because the reserve team of Arsenal is in front of them," he said.

"It is very difficult to mix the interests of the smaller clubs with the interests of the big clubs who could have a second team, and could be competitive in the smaller leagues."

Wenger said that the loan system helped young players make the transition from reserve team football to the Premier League.

"We give our players out on loan to the lower leagues. If they manage to convince people they can play in there, they come back," he said.

Wenger also said the forthcoming overhaul of the Premier League's Academy system should aid player development.

"They will create an Under-21 league with all the best teams in England together," he said. "That I find quite interesting."


newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/16659835.stm

[Macmoish]

Just to bump> Chelsea Slime

There was also some strange quote, somewhere from Paladini, to the affect that Chelsea were recording every game their loanees were playing, which we couldnt afford

And of course we had that "Non" Friendly with China, seemingly as a favour to Chelsea