From the Offy site...
'JIMMY Dunne has been appointed as QPR’s club captain ahead of the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship season.
The immensely popular defender - who joined Rangers from Burnley exactly four years ago today (Sunday) - signed
a new contract last month.
Now, after making 163 competitive appearances and scoring 11 goals for the R’s, Dunne is proud to be able to add
another special chapter to his time in W12.
“It’s a really, really proud moment," Jimmy told www.qpr.co.uk. “My friends and family back home are all chuffed for
me.
“I’m delighted that I'm still a QPR player alongside my mates, staff and people that I love. I feel just as valued as
ever. The opportunity to lead the group is also an immensely proud moment.
"I've changed a lot as a person since I've come into the club. I was definitely a kid when I came here and the experiences
with the different head coaches have definitely been very valuable.
"I definitely understand the game a lot better than I did at the start. I'm less emotional in my decision-making than I was
when I first came. But I'm still just as eager to win.
"I want to continue to improve and it's nice to have another head coach (Julien Stéphan) that wants to continue to help
me with my development."
Dunne, who assumes the club captaincy role from Steve Cook, added: “Thankfully, I have Steve around who handed the
armband over to me and said a lot of nice things to the group about me.
“He talked about how we can develop our leadership style together, because there are other experienced heads in the group.
“I’m grateful that Steve's still around so I can learn a lot from him because he's incredibly experienced, he's led by example
previously, so I'm going to try to take a leaf out of his book.
“That experience goes a long way when you want to take on someone's advice - it’s coming from someone who's been there
and done it. It can go a lot further.
“But even just the guys a similar age to me, Jake (Clarke-Salter), Ilias (Chair) and Fieldy (Sam Field), we've been through a
lot together at the club – different head coaches, really tough times, some amazing moments.
“I think we'll all have our own kind of unique leadership style and, you know, mine will be separate. Hopefully I can make
everyone smile and make everyone laugh as well as work hard and lead by example on the pitch.”
Just under four weeks remain until Rangers will kick off the ’25/26 league season against Preston at MATRADE Loftus Road.
“All my family and friends will be there for that,” Jimmy said. “And Preston at home, I'm sure it'll be a full house on a sunny
day in London and it'll be brilliant. Bring it on. Let's go.
"Ultimately, we want to finish the season higher than we have done. I've always been super ambitious at QPR. I've always
thought, 'why not?'
"My target's definitely to play better than I did personally, play better than I did last season, score more goals, keep more
clean sheets, lead by example. But I think for the football club, to get into a better place, it’s about consistency.”
Reserving a final mention for the QPR fans, Dunne continued: "They're the reason why I want to be here, because you can
go your whole career and not feel really valued by a crowd.
"I've been lucky enough to find that at QPR and I didn't want to squander that. When the Loft is bouncing, when you're
scoring in front of the Loft and when everyone's up on their feet singing, there's no better place to be."
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