Col, have to say I've been thinking along the same lines for some time. When we were promoted and it became obvious that NW was on a ridiculous budget, he was really the only player we had who you could imagine getting past premiership defenses. The key to Adel is confidence, and Col is right when he says he looks almost afraid to "go and enjoy it", as our illustrious Leader often advises. You can see him, when he has lost the ball or mistimed a pass looking around and expecting a bollocking. Emotionally, he has immaturity issues and it is that which creates the problems. So, I am torn between giving him the time to develop further cutting our losses in Jan. I just feel that if he scores a few, that legendary swagger may return. Thats when he's at his most dangerous. In that case, I'd keep him cos he could just be the difference in some games. If not, sub him but, like Col, I'm not sure NW is willing to indulge him much more. Even if he does go in Jan, I'll be grateful always for some of the majestic football he has played in our beloved hoops. I'll choose to remember the good times as regards Adel.
He takes tackles all right - he's a tough kid. Neil said the same. But he looks fat, isn't as quick, and doesn't seem to make the runs he did last season - signs at least that he is not fit enough, in his oxygen tank.
I can see both sides too. One of my favorite LR memories will be Swansea last season, he was ****ing amazing that day and thats the Adel i want to see.
My mate came out with a cracker the other day, describing Taarabt as a poor mans Ricardo Quaresma, and he's right, both have/had(in Quaresma's case) massive potential and ability, and both will/have failed to live up to their hype and are not willing to work hard enough to become a better player. Shame really.
Evening Col Newcastle doing Stoke and Blackburn were much the better side at Norwich, two sides we coped with , doing well at our next 2 aways. It's all there to fight for PS see sig, I fancied a reminder of a sunny day in Watford!
Taarabt's dip in form ain't a confidence thing imo, it's a very necessary reality check. He clearly has the raw talent to cut it in the prem (he's shown that already) BUT he's going through the processes of maturing and learning what it is to be a team player. Hasn't had to do that before, has he? The prem doesn't tolerate prima donnas. Fact is, all this is great news for us Rs! Who's going to meet our asking price (including the Spurs share) with him playing like a one legged toad? Rochdale? That means we hang on to him for the rest of the season - and that will give NW, JB and the team itself time to sort his attitude and thence redefine his game. Col: Loved your analysis. We could do with more quality reads like that on here. Happen to disagree with your conclusion though. I think Joey B is a positive inclusion who has the character and experience to bring some painful truths to bear. Not pretty, no - but much needed to sweep the cobwebs away. When the dust settles, team harmony and pride will rise like the proverbial pheonix... And for Adel, triumph out of adversity. When he does sort himself out, he'll get his move - but he'll look back on Queens Park Rangers as the making of him. A bit better than last summer when he regarded us as the **** on his shoes.
Cheers Brix. I can sort of agree with most of that except the last sentence. I acknowledge he was selfish, but I believe a lot of what he said was either lost mixed up in translation or coaxed out of him by mischievous reporters! However, I truly hope you're right about him coming good, as that could be the difference between staying up and going down! I sadly think though, that his time as any influence in the team has gone!
Northy...I was thinking the same thing mate. Stoke and Norwich away are tough though, following on from Chelsea, Spuds and Citeh. We could still be on the same points after those two as we are now!
Morning Hoops! The only player that has divided opinion more amongst Spurs fans is Jermaine Jenas. While he was with us i was one of the people that thought he had the talent to succeed at Spurs and should be given a chance. I think you need to go a bit easy on him. He will win you matches this season, and in the mid to lower mid table positions its those wins brought about by genius that will separate you from the relegation battle IMO. Like the MOTD pundits said on sunday, you are unlikely to come up against a better midfield than the one we put out on sunday. Taarabt was always going to struggle against them and with the added pressure of wanting to prove Spurs wrong in letting him go. I think Warnock has done fantastic to get what he has out of him. Harry didn't manage to get anything from him and he's renowned as a great man-manager. Don't suppost Warnock fancies the England job so we can keep 'Arry??? Good luck for the rest of the season guys.
Adal has become more of a team player rather than doing his own thing, which does not seem to suit him, is he playing to orders.
