QPR today finally signed their first new player in their bid to strengthen their squad in preparation for next season. Following last season’s promotion the club and manager Ian Holloway have been working over time to bring in new faces in the hope of consolidating a position in the forthcoming Championship.
With events off the field taking most the limelight at Loftus Road this summer, the signing of long-term target Lee Cook has come as a relief to many supporters.
Rangers were hit with the news of three first team players had departed. Terrell Forbes and Steve Palmer were not offered new deals and Clarke Carlisle decided to join Championship rivals Leeds United. Coupled with the takeover talks and new leadership from Bill Power, all R’s fans were left with was transfer talk and speculation.
Since Lee Cook joined on loan the season before last, Ian Holloway has worked tirelessly in his attempts to bring Cookie back, initially on loan but now on a permanent deal. His time and efforts have been rewarded with Cookie today putting pen-to-paper and signing for his boyhood heroes. After reaching the end of his Watford contract, Cookie was keen to talk to Ollie about the chance of moving to west London after his successful loan spell. Preliminary talks went well and Ollie must have rubber stamped the deal early. To his and Cookie’s dissatisfaction Watford tried putting a spanner in the works.
Before heading off for a well deserved summer break Cook was hounded by Watford officials pleading with him to stay at Vicarage Road for another year. By this time the player was already looking forward to agreeing a deal with Rangers. Whilst on holiday Hornets boss Ray Lewington rang the player in the hope he would make a U-turn over his future. Although being tempted to change his mind, Cookie knew the chance was too good to miss and again turned down the overtures from Watford.
On his return Watford’s Chairman Graham Simpson and manager Ray Lewington greeted him with a new bumper contract on offer. The new deal as described by Lewington was "a reflection of how much the player meant to the club" and was thought to have been a significant increase on his original deal.
Again Cookie was tempted but following discussions with his close family and friends (all Rangers fans) he decided to continue talking to Rangers and reject a new deal with Watford, thus ending his career at the club.
With his current contract coming to an end today (1st July) Cookie signed a deal with Rangers and will begin pre-season training on Monday as a fully-fledged Rangers player ahead of the new season.
The saga has not finished there though. Both clubs are still locked in talks over a compensation fee for the former Aylesbury Town player. As Cook is under 24 years of age, the Hornets are inclined to a compensation payment to cover training and nurturing costs. A reasonable fee seems in the region of £100-150,000 but Watford are holding out for double that price. With the two clubs looking unlikely to agree on a price, a tribunal looks a likely outcome.
But one thing is certain, Cook is now a permanent Rangers player and will be running down the left flank at Loftus Road next season...should he knock Kevin McLeod out of the side- or even player of the season Martin Rowlands!