Talismanic midfielder is super sub again
Tjaronn Chery has refused a new deal at QPR and will be sold this month if a suitable offer comes in.
It’s no surprise the Dutch playmaker has been omitted from the last three matches –the latest a 2-1 win over Ipswich on Monday. NICO Yennaris can consider himself fortunate Dean Smith is not the type of manager to avoid walking under ladders or keeping an eye out for black cats.
Yennaris came off the bench to hit a stunning third goal from 25 yards out to clinch Brentford a 3-1 win over Birmingham City yesterday.
And Bees boss Smith revealed after the game that a more superstitious manager would be plonking the midfielder on the bench more often.
“Nico said to me when he comes off the bench he normally scores or gets an assist, so I said it’s a good job I’m not superstitious as you’d be on the bench a lot more!” said Smith.
Insiders believe the man who hit four goals in the first eight games of the season went off the boil when he failed to agree terms with the Hoops on extending his deal beyond 2018.
The 28-year-old is understood to have potential suitors, and boss Ian Holloway needs to free up wages and transfer fees to recruit fresh blood.
Chery signed for the Hoops from FC Groningen in the summer of 2015 for £2 million. He has played 47 times for
“I thought it was a great cameo for him. Josh [McEachran] did really well, but when he tired I was able to put Nico on to inject more energy.”
Yennaris, a virtual ever-present in the middle of the park this season, was only on the bench to protect his long-standing calf problem from the rigours of two games in three days.
Smith said: “To play two games in quick succession would have been tough on him, so I always had it in mind that I was going to change it.
“We knew two games in three days would be tough for him and decided to give him a rest, knowing he struggles to recover with his calf, and the recovery is so important.”
By the time Yennaris came on to wrap things up, the Bees had the Hoops and hit 14 goals, including a memorable freekick against Blackburn in September.
Holloway believes QPR’s back-to-back wins could help them attract players during a ‘massive’ transfer window.
Rangers, who lost six in a row before a New Year’s Eve victory at Wolves, beat Ipswich 2-1 at Loftus Road to further lift their morale.
“Now they’re feeling a lot better and I can’t thank already turned a half-time deficit on its head by playing with a tempo so badly missing against Norwich on New Year’s Eve.
By pressing high to counteract Brum boss Gianfranco Zola’s preference to pass out from the back, Smith’s troops were able to clinch a first win over the Blues in more than two decades.
He added: “We knew they would try to play out from the back so we tried to press higher, let the first pass go and press on the next one. The lads were fully behind the tactics and went out and executed them really well.
“What pleased me more was the way we controlled the tempo of the game in the second half. We didn’t convert the penalty but we never lost belief in what we were doing. We kept trying to do the right things and got the rewards.” them enough,” said R’s boss Holloway.
“The window’s massive for us and now people have seen us win two games they might actually want to come here instead of thinking ‘Do I want to go in to a dressing room like that?’
“No-one likes to have a terrible run like that. It’s a horrible feeling and I felt so down, but I never showed the lads because what they were producing at times was quite promising but they were getting nothing.”