Redknapp wants to end Taarabt feud
Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp bears no grudge against Adel Taarabt following their public spat this week and says he merely wants the his playmaker to return to shape and form.
Redknapp and Taarabt had a public argument after the Rangers boss accused the midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Fulham and AC Milan, of being overweight.
“I don’t hold grudges,” Redknapp said. “He got pushed into writing a load of stuff that wasn’t true. I don’t think he’s been fined and I wouldn’t want to fine him.
Tipping the scales
- Queens Park Rangers’ forward Adel Taarabt is not only out of form but also out of shape – at least, that’s what his manager Harry Redknapp believes.
- After both were told to stop their embarrassing spat by chairman Tony Fernandes, ESPN took a look at five other players who were deemed by their managers to be a little too fond of their food.
- Click here to read more
“I’ve always been a manager where people go, ‘You do love a problem player’. Yes, I have. The big difference is the ones I’ve had before keep producing on the pitch.
“Unfortunately at the moment Adel needs to produce. He’s got great talent. He could be an incredible, incredible footballer for this football club.”
Redknapp lost patience with Taarabt after last Sunday’s last-gasp loss to Liverpool, which kept Rangers bottom of the Premier League ahead of Monday’s clash with Aston Villa at Loftus Road. The pair exchanged verbal barbs before QPR chairman Tony Fernades called for them to put their differences aside.
The QPR boss added: “It was something that happened before the game and during the week. Maybe I just got the needle. When I get the hump I do tend to say what I feel.
“He has tested me. He’s tested everybody. [But] I’m the one that’s stuck with him. I’m bang on his side. No-one could be more on his side than what I’ve been. When you’re on someone’s side so much and you get let down, at some stage you tend to crack over it.
“Like with your kid misbehaving, you say ‘don’t do that,’ ‘don’t do that.’ In the end you get the hump with them enough and you send them to bed, or whatever. That’s how I felt last Sunday.”
Redknapp, who recalled how he rescued Taarabt from Tottenham’s reserves when he was manager at White Hart Lane, was hurt by comments made by the midfielder.
Taarabt suggested Redknapp was rarely present on the training ground, something the QPR manager insisted was false.
“None of them were true,” Redknapp added. “I’m out on that training ground every single day. When people say I’m not out there all morning, that is a blatant lie.
“I think it might’ve been someone else trying to be mischievous and telling him what to say. Whatever. It’s done and dusted. I just want to be positive now.
“I’ve had ups and downs with him before, but I’ve had more ups than downs with him. I’ve brought coaches in here that think I’m off my head for keep sticking with him and trying to get him onside. They’d have bombed him out ages ago, but I haven’t.
“I said to [first-team coach] Glenn Hoddle when he came in ‘have a look at his ability’. And Glenn went [puffs out cheeks] ‘corr, he can play.’
“About three days later, Glenn’s going to me ‘why doesn’t he train?’ That’s the problem. The only person that can help Adel is himself. I want him to do that. I still believe in him.
“I love watching him do things on the football pitch. I love it when he does something special. I just want him to come and train hard and get back in the team. We need him.”
Taarabt is not in contention for Monday’s match.
“He’s been ill all week,” Redknapp added. “He’s not been well this week, he’s had a sore throat, so he’s not been available to train. He’s going to train this morning [Saturday].”
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