‘A lot of talent and a great attitude’ – running rule over QPR trialists

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QPR have taken free agents Oscar Gobern and Christopher Schorch with them on their pre-season trip to Italy.

Here, West London Sport runs the rule over the trialists, who have already impressed Rangers director of football Les Ferdinand.

Oscar Gobern

His CV: Born in Birmingham, the 24-year-old began as a youth team player at Aston Villa before joining Southampton. He came through the ranks before making his first-team debut in November 2008, though he also had a brief loan spell with MK Dons.

Gobern made 27 appearances for the Saints, in both the Championship and League One, scoring his first professional goal in a 3-0 win at Brentford in 2011.

That summer he moved to Huddersfield, with a tribunal setting a fee of £275,000. He helped them to promotion to the Championship in 2011-12 and in total played 79 times during his four years with the Terriers.

He ended last season on loan at League One Chesterfield before being released.

An international: While at Southampton, Gobern won one England Under-19 cap, coming on as a 60th-minute substitute for Reece Brown. In the same team were Nathaniel Clyne, Andros Townsend and Chelsea’s Jacob Mellis.

Football family: His elder brother Lewis, 30, played for Wolves, Hartlepool, Blackpool, Bury, Colchester, MK Dons, Grimsby and Notts County.

Les Ferdinand told QPR’s official website: “Oscar has a lot of talent. He’s come in and done very well.

“He’s been well up there in terms of the testing and I’ve been really impressed with his attitude and the way he conducts himself.”

Christopher Schorch

His CV: A centre-back who stands at six foot three, Schorch emerged through Hertha Berlin’s youth set-up and made his Bundesliga debut in the closing stages of the 2006–07 season.

After impressing scouts, he was signed by Real Madrid for 600,000 euros (£430,000) to play in their B team. In two seasons, he featured 27 times in the third tier of Spanish football before returning to Germany with Cologne in the summer of 2009.

In his first season back, Schorch made 17 appearances in the Bundesliga but only four the following year and after struggling for first-team football he spent a loan spell in the second tier in 2011-12 with Energie Cottbus.

He left Cologne at the end of the January 2014 transfer window for a brief spell with VfL Bochum before spending last season at third-tier Duisburg, helping them to promotion.

An international: Schorch has represented Germany at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-20 levels.

Swine flu: In November 2009, Schorch became the first Bundesliga player to be diagnosed with swine flu and was confined to his home for several days.

Les Ferdinand told QPR’s official website: “Chris has come in and done okay.

“He’s got a pretty impressive CV, but he’s still got a little bit of work to do.”

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