FAT CHANCE ADEL’S BEEN TRAINING HARD
— Harry bites back in QPR’s ‘Battle of the Bulge
— ‘Taarabt only looks trim because he’s been ill’
EXCLUSIVE By ANDREW DILLON Published: 22 minutes ago
HARRY REDKNAPP has launched a fresh attack on Adel Taarabt by claiming his QPR rebel only lost weight after catching tonsillitis.
Boss Redknapp and forward Taarabt have plunged the struggling Premier League club into a tit-for-tat civil war dubbed the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ by Loftus Road insiders.
Redknapp kicked it off by insisting Taarabt is three stone overweight only for the maverick Moroccan to claim he is fully fit and show off snaps of his trim tummy yesterday.
But SunSport columnist Redknapp has weighed in again by blasting: “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 sat out Sunday’s dramatic 3-2 defeat by Liverpool and played just 23 minutes the previous Premier League game – a dismal 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
Redknapp put the boot in further by claiming the player’s lifestyle and attitude makes him a liability.
He revealed: “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.”
Incredibly, Taarabt may still have a future at QPR under Redknapp, although he is unlikely to be picked for next Monday night’s home match against Aston Villa and the two warring parties need peace talks to rebuild their relationship.
Redknapp 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.”
Taarabt claims Redknapp takes little interest in training and is always on his phone instead of plotting how to dig out a much-needed win.
QPR are bottom of the Premier League and face Chelsea and Manchester city after Villa.
Redknapp retorted: “I am the first one in that training ground every day at 7am and I am always out on the training field.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...s-been-training-hard-hes-had-tonsillitis.html