We’ve been offline for a couple of weeks but things will slowly get back to normal from now on and we kick off with a look at all the news from Loftus Road over the last few days.

So you take some time off to move house and get settled in. You wait for BT to turn on your internet connection and excitedly set up the PC expecting a plethora of new signings and big stories. What do you get? A friendly with Southampton. Deep joy!

Last time we spoke Jim Magilton had just been confirmed as the new QPR manager and we were merely whelmed at the news. Since then he has been joined by John Gorman who takes on the role of his assistant.

Gorman has been doing lots of press over the last few days and he seems to be saying all the right things, particularly when it comes to the style of football we can expect next season. I’m not sure he spells it out quite strongly enough here so in case you can’t see the hidden message it seems we are going to play some great stuff.

"I'm just so happy to get back into football so quickly and play the style of football that Jim and I want to play.” He told the BBC last week. "I'm sure that will suit the QPR fans because they do like to see good quality football.

"We will play a style of football that Jim played as a player and as a manager. We do pass the ball through the midfield and we like to create chances and get crosses in and I think the fans will enjoy it.”

"I've always been adamant about this whatever team I go to. I know we want to win but we want to win with a bit of style and, even when I was manager of Wycombe, I proved that even in the lower levels you can play good football."

It all sounds good and whilst we’ve heard it all before in the past Gorman is nobody’s fool and having someone of his experience and reputation can only be a good thing for us.

Meanwhile one of Jim Magilton’s former players at Ipswich, Jordan Rhodes has talked up his old boss this week and he also believes we are nailed on to become next seasons “Entertainers” (© Richard Keys.)

"He knows how to play football in the right way and I think he'll get QPR playing attractive football and will get the fans going again.” He said. "There should be goals and some 3-2s or 4-3s because he's the type of manager who likes attacking football and likes players to express themselves. He's not one for hanging on for a 1-0 victory with 20 minutes to go."

So having had the exciting football message practically beaten into us over the last week we move from our current management team to our former now with the news that Paulo Sousa has made a swift return to The Championship as the new manager of Swansea City.

Sousa replaces the Wigan bound Roberto Martinez and will be joined by his old R’s assistant Bruno Oliviera and, as seems increasingly likely, our current fitness coach John Harbin. Sousa spoke out at his press conference about his desire to succeed in England and made a not so veiled dig at his time at Loftus Road.

“I thought I did a great job at QPR, but it did not work out for me. I want to be a success in English football. Swansea is a club with big foundations, stability and a lot of support for the manager which are the right things to bring success.”

Good luck to Paulo though he deserves another chance and I hope he does well for himself.

Whilst taking a breath from discussing our champagne football John Gorman has also talked down the chances of any major summer signings, instead preferring to stress that the squad we have is more than capable of holding its own in The Championship.

"Everyone rushes around at this time of year and I just look at the squad we have and think why panic? Our first priority is to work with the players that are already here and there are some really good players. Then when the dust settles perhaps we can have a better look at things and add one or two."

It seems to be a fairly consistent message coming from the Rangers camp, our squad is good, Buzsaky and Rowlands returning will be like two new signings there is no need to rush out and splurge. Whilst that’s true to an extent the pressing need for a striker is still there and so far there’s been little movement on that front.

One hitman we have been linked with this week is former England forward Darius Vassell who will be a free agent this summer. Frankly it sounds incredibly unlikely. You would think there would be plenty of lower level Premier League clubs that would be interested in him and I’d be very surprised of this was anything more than just paper talk. All this whilst Leroy Lita still cant find a club just seems strange to me though.

Another one to add to the bizarre rumour list is Newcastle’s apparent pursuit of three of our players. If the papers are to be believed they are willing to splurge six million pounds on Dexter Blackstock, Fitz Hall and Damien Delaney. If that was true then we should tear their arm off and use it to write them a thank you card!

QPR’s veterans won the London Masters tournament at Wembley this past weekend with Danny Maddix skippering the likes of Andy Sinton, Tony Thorpe, Bradley Allen and Karl Connolly to the regional trophy. Rangers beat West Ham in the final via a penalty shootout with saw Tony Roberts shine and secure the player of the tournament prize and Connolly evoke memories of Vauxhall Motors with another miss.

Maddix though couldn’t hide his delight to finally lift some silverware for Rangers. "It's a real achievement and it feels great,” he said “I said to the lads in the changing room 'that's the first time I've won anything for QPR!”

Onto the friendlies now and the announcement of two more games has completed our pre-season schedule. We will travel to face Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday 21^st July whilst our big home tie will be against recently relegated Southampton, assuming they still exist by then. The Saints game is an odd one, you don’t usually player lower league opposition at home during pre-season and apparently we turned down the chance to face Italian side Pama in favour of this.

The biggest excitement on the day will be the launch of the clubs posh new access control system which will mean you have to beep your ticket through a scanner to gain entry through the turnstiles. Get there early folks……

Other news in brief

Zesh Rehman has completed his move to Bradford City where he spent time on loan last season. Rehman claims to have turned down offers from higher level clubs to make the switch to the League Two side where he feels “at home”.

Rangers’ youngsters will likely get more of a chance to be in and around the first team set up next season as The Football League will allow seven substitutes to be named from this year.

Former R Adel Taarabt has joined Spanish side Malaga on a season long loan from Tottenham.

And finally our reserve team home games will now be played at Aldershot Town’s Recreation Ground in an effort to preserve our pitch for, you guessed it, all the lovely football we’re going to see next season!

ron@qprnet.com