Kieron Dyer handed one-year contract extension at QPR

 

Queens Park Rangers have handed Kieron Dyer a one-year contact extension despite the midfielder missing all of last season through injury.

The 33-year-old former England international broke his foot during the first few minutes of Rangers' opening day defeat by Bolton at Loftus Road in August 2011, and did not play again.

However, new manager Mark Hughes has decided to give the ex-Ipswich, Newcastle and West Ham man another chance as he builds for another campaign in the Barclays Premier League.

QPR also confirmed defender Clint Hill, midfielder Akos Buzsaky and goalkeeper Radek Cerny have all been offered new contracts at Loftus Road following the side's successful battle to stay up.

However, the likes of Wales centre-back Danny Gabbidon, Danny Shittu, Fitz Hall, Gary Borrowdale, Peter Ramage, Lee Cook, Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang are all set to leave the club when their deals expire at the end of June as the Hoops look to slash a sizeable wage bill.

Rangers beat the drop despite losing in dramatic fashion at Etihad Stadium as Manchester City were crowned champions on the final day of what had been a rollercoaster first Premier League campaign since 1996.

Chairman Tony Fernandes, who replaced Neil Warnock with Hughes in January, has his sights firmly set on a prolonged stay back among England's elite clubs.

He said on www.London24.com: "I feel confident that Mark is potentially the man who could take QPR into another era, a stable era, where we become an established Premier League club.

"Mark is immensely impressive. He has got a great personality, is very ambitious, down to earth, has his ego in check and he knows his stuff.

"He was a player in the Premier League for a long time so he has competed at the highest levels. Every club he has been to he has excelled at.

"I want to be a club like Arsenal or Manchester United, who have had the same manager for a long time, and West Ham as well, when John Lyall and Ron Greenwood were there."

Air Asia and Caterham F1 Team boss Fernandes added: "Stability is important. You can't build anything without that. You can't do things if you don't have time.

"I am not saying we want to be champions tomorrow, Europe or whatever, but I think the next stage is for us to be a club which will remain in the Premier League for a long time."

Rangers have plans for a state-of-the-art training facility and are keen to explore stadium options, with Loftus Road a restrictive capacity of just over 18,000.

Fernandes said: "People might ask how we would fill a 40,000-seater stadium, but I built an airline from a few hundred thousand passengers and now we have 32 million.

"Build it right, market it right, and people will come. We are in the best city in the world, and in the best part of London."

PA

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: It sounds sadistic, but the team live for the mountain stages

Three weeks ago as I drove off the Eurostar, I remember thinking what a very long time it was until ...

by Martin Ayres

iBet: Rose has the ammunition for Wentworth

McDowell did brilliantly to land the World Match Play title in Bulgaria last week, but it’s a format...

by Gareth Purnell

Brits on fire in the wet at Le Mans!

Wow - what a weekend for British Motorcycle racing!

by Luke Wilkins

       

Day In a Page

James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats
Giro d'Italia: The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

As the Giro d'Italia tackles the brutal climb, Simon Usborne takes on the snow and switchbacks – and soon realises what the fuss is about
National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again