The war of words between QPR boss Harry Redknapp and Adel Taarabt has continued with Redknapp calling the Moroccan the worst professional he's ever come across.
The criticism began when Harry suggested that Taarabt was three stone overweight. The player hit back by slating Redknapp's coaching style before posing for photos which appear to show him at a pretty acceptable dimensions for a footballer. Redknapp claimed that his player's weight loss only came as a result of a bout of tonsillitis. Said Redknapp:
The only reason he has lost weight is because he has had tonsillitis. That’s the only way we could get any weight off of him.
He is not fit to play a game, that’s the truth. He is the worst professional I have ever come across and I have been his only ally at QPR for the past three years. He doesn’t try and I have protected him for too long.
Taarabt did not feature in the Rs' last-gasp defeat to Liverpool at the weekend and only played 23 minutes of the 2-0 defeat to West ham the previous week. Redknapp continued his excoriating assessment of Taarabt's lifestyle. He continued:
When we were last in the Premier League we played Manchester United at home on a Saturday lunchtime.
I had a phone call telling me Adel had been in a casino until 5am that morning.
I pulled him into my office and asked whether it was true. He told me that he hadn’t been in a casino until 5am until Friday morning but that he might have been there on Thursday morning.
After we had been relegated last year we went to Exeter to prepare for a season in the Championship.
I had to leave to go and have an operation on my knee.
Steve McClaren was working with me at the time. As soon as I left he sent Adel home because he wasn’t up to it. The fitness coaches at QPR, everybody tells me he doesn’t try.
He doesn’t want to run around. I have tried to protect him until now but the fans have to know what’s going on.
Even I could suck my stomach in for a picture and look OK.
Despite the distasteful nature of the spat, Redknapp has not completely cast Taarabt aside and has invited the 25-year-old to prove him wrong. He said:
If something comes off this and it sparks some life into him then great. I would love him to prove me wrong then at least we’d be getting something for our money.
Redknapp also took the time to hit back at Taarabt's claim that he takes little interest in training.
"I am the first one in that training ground every day at 7am and I am always out on the training field," said Redknapp.
In the past few minutes, QPR owner Tony Fernandes has weighed in on the issue:
Tony Fernandes on Adel Taarabt and Harry Redknapp's war of words: "I apologise to the supporters for the embarrassment this has caused."
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 21, 2014
Tony Fernandes: "Both Harry Redknapp and Adel Taarabt have been notified of our disappointment regarding their handling of the situation."
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 21, 2014
