Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Wayne Routledge, one of the brighter points in a topsy-turvy season for QPR, could be on his way to fellow Championship side Middlesbrough, who reportedly made an offer for the winger today.

Boro already had a £500,000 offer for the player rejected outright by Rangers, who see his valuation as closer to £2 million. Should the transfer go through, it would be a striking indication of the new penny-pinching reality at Loftus Road.

Rather than bucketfuls of cash being thrust into the hands of caretaker manager Mick Harford, he has reportedly been told by Flavio Briatore not to make any cash transfers this month.

The only reason to sell Routledge is surely for financial reasons as it makes little sense as a football decision.

After a slow first season with the club, Routledge has been one of the most potent attacking threats for QPR this time round. Though his own form has perhaps dimmed in recent weeks, a possible consequence of the team's woes in general, he was in blistering form in the early months of the season, with a Carling Cup hat-trick against Exeter City and league goals against Peterborough and Preston.

He was even employed in a front two with Jay Simpson for a time under Jim Magilton and his pace has been a formidable asset for the club. With eight assists as well, his record in laying on goals is currently only bettered by Graham Dorrans at WBA.

So should this bid be accepted, it is unlikely that Harford will be in complete agreement as to the benefits, the only one of which is surely a potential £1.5 million profit.

The orders handed down by Briatore mean Harford will have to content himself with looking on the loan market for potential candidates to strengthen a challenge for the play-off spots.


Hull striker Daniel Cousin (pictured above) could still fit the bill. With Jay Simpson the only QPR striker firing on all cylinders this season, it seems Paul Hart identified a striker as a necessary acquisition and Rangers were quickly linked with Cousin and Caleb Folan, both at Hull.

The impetus behind the Folan transfer looks to be lost and it will be interesting to see if Harford shares his predecessor's assessment and looks to add a new goal threat.

Cousin is certainly talking a transfer up though, saying today that he wants to leave and that his relationship with Hull boss Phil Brown is not good.

Brown is unlikely to stand in his way especially after signing Amr Zaki but Cousin is still to agree terms with QPR.

That will have to wait until his return from the Africa Cup of Nations where he is captaining Gabon, but that could happen sooner rather than later.

Gabon are right now on the verge of exiting the tournament as they trial to Zambia by a solitary goal, a result which would knock them out of the group stage and see the Zambians qualify alongside Cameroon (who are drawing 2-2 with Tunisia).

Both games can be followed on the Guardian's minute-by-minute reports: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/jan/21/cameroon-tunisia-africa-cup-nations.

If it stays like this, Gianni Paladini will have to be dispatched to Heathrow Airport with a contract pretty quickly.