There was plenty of fallout from Saturday’s draw at home to Blackburn with Neil Warnock furious about his team sheet being leaked online and Joey Barton questioning the contribution of Adel Taarabt.
A post appeared on the We Are The Rangers Boys message board on Friday revealing that DJ Campbell had suffered a broken foot in training and Adel Taarabt had been dropped from the team for Saturday’s game with Blackburn. This post was removed, and then reinstated by the board’s owner Pete Davies who co-presents QPR Player’s pre-match show via the official website.
Davies then passed the private e-mail address of the supporter responsible to the club and after the Rovers game Neil Warnock, fuming about the incident, asked the club to publish it on the official website.
Neil Warnock said: We have got a website where a QPR fan puts information on the website yesterday after we'd had the accident. I can't believe it. He puts on this website that Campbell has broken his foot, Helguson is playing and Mackie is making his debut, while Adel Taarabt is out. This is supposed to be a supporter. You don't want many supporters like that. What an advantage for the opposition. Obviously he has got a contact, hasn't he? But if he thinks he is helping me, if he is a QPR fan, it is exactly the opposite. I don't understand supporters like that unless it is to get a bit of kudos with his mates. It does my head in things like that.”
The QPR boss was also unhappy with the defending for Chris Samba’s equalising goal at Loftus Road. He told the club’s official website: "We worked ever so hard, but conceding a goal like that was diabolical. To give someone a free header in the penalty box is terribly disappointing. I know Samba is a big lad but that shouldn't happen at this level. If you can't mark a man at a corner kick you're going to lose goals and we've certainly learned that today. Our goal was well deserved and Heidar took it well. We could have had a second when he was inches away from converting Joey's pull-back, but we didn't lead the game for long enough. We had a couple of chances near the end and Paddy made a good save, but that's football."
He also confirmed that DJ Campbell has indeed suffered a foot injury that is going to leave him sidelined for several weeks. Warnock said: "It looks like DJ's done his metatarsal which is deeply disappointing. I think it's these fancy boots. I don't know why they wear them but they still continue to do it."
The Warnock e-mail row has been vying for column inches with the latest comments from captain Joey Barton, who had some barbed words for Adel Taarabt this weekend.
Speaking on Absolute Radio Barton said: "It is not a case of anybody giving him advice, it is whether it is taken on board. At the end of the day, this is the top level of world football and if you're not prepared to work hard you will come up massively short. If I was Adel and had Adel's ability, I would not want to be coming up short having not worked hard enough. I came here and was told he was a genius, but I'm yet to see it.
“I don't know whether that is because he doesn't work hard enough or that he tends to sulk."I am happy that he is upset really because it shows he does care. He is not the only one guilty of it and that is what we have to understand here. There were a few lads not selected whose heads went down and maybe they could apply themselves better. It is one of those things. There is going to be a 14 or 15-man squad that keeps you in the league this year and everyone has to buy into it.
"There will be times when players come in and out but their attitude, their reaction, is going to be the most important thing - not getting the bus home with fans and storming off. Adel knows that and it would have been nice of him to come in and apologise for doing that. He didn't think he needed to and some of the senior players maybe feel like he should have."
Barton has also been waxing lyrical about the England rugby team, the behaviour of Ryan Giggs, the MPs debate on the Hillsborough tragedy and any number of other topics over the past few days.
He told the Professional Players Federation national conference on Monday: “If that was an England football team at a World Cup, there would probably have been public executions when they got home. 'Football's a gentleman's game played by thugs', I hear quite a lot, and, 'rugby's a thug's game played by gentlemen'. The minute a footballer steps out of line, I think the media in this country - because of the sums of money they earn and also because of the stigma attached - are really quick to jump on it. There is a lot of envy about what footballers earn, the astronomical figures. That's not our fault.”
Anyway it was a much happier camp in the away dressing room at Loftus Road on Saturday. Blackburn manager Steve Kean told the Blackburn official website: “I think the manner of the performance was good because when we went behind it was against the run of play," said Kean after the game. I know Helguson very well and you can't let him get a run on you at your peril, he gets a good header in first and then it is a great finish. But after that I felt we responded really well, it could have been easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves, but I thought we grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck again and were good on the break and our own set plays were good. We are slightly disappointed that we didn't get the three but any point on the road is a good point. I think just at the end we were unlucky not to nick it when Martin Olsson goes on the break."
Elsewhere Neil Warnock has met with owner Tony Fernandes to discuss transfer targets for January and Tottenham’s Sebastien Bassong is again thought to be high on the list. Bassong was an early substitute for Spurs in their 2-2 draw at Newcastle today but has found first team action hard to come by at White Hart Lane and saw a deadline day move to rangers fall through when Spurs failed to capture Bolton’s Gary Cahill.
Bassong told Sky Sports: "I can't lie, it was very frustrating. I thought they would let me go, as they have a lot of cover in that position. I know they have to look after themselves, but I have to look after myself and my career. If I don't play, I want to move, be that QPR or somewhere else. I now just want to play."
Warnock told the Fulham Chronicle: “We're always looking to improve the squad. There will be three, four possibly five new players in January. It's obvious a striker will be one of them. We brought six in to improve the squad in seven days and you've got to improve as and when you can.”
Finally, another inglorious episode in QPR’s recent history drew to a close on Friday when Italian striker Alessandro Pellicori had his contract paid up. QPR were said to have spent almost £1m on the target man in the summer of 2009 but his chronic lack of pace and the departure of Jim Magilton as manager meant his opportunities were limited and he spent last season on loan at Torino scoring once in 19 appearances. He leaves Loftus Road with a single League Cup goal against Exeter City in August 2009 to his name.
Three QPR players were in Championship action on Saturday. Peter Ramage played a full 90 minutes for Palace as goals from Wilfried Zaha and Jermaine Easter sealed a 2-0 win at lowly Watford that moves the Eagles up to eighth in the table after a narrow escape from relegation last season. Clint Hill couldn’t prevent the latest Nottingham Forest disaster, a 1-0 defeat a fellow strugglers Coventry that leaves them deep in the relegation zone. New Forest manager Steve Cotterill is said to be keen to make Hogan Ephraim his first City Ground signing on loan next week. Millwall moved out of the bottom three with a well won point at high flying Middlesbrough - Patrick Agyemang was substituted at half time on his debut.
Another trio were in action in League One. Max Ehmer couldn’t stop Yeovil slipping to a 3-0 home defeat to Carlisle which leaves them second bottom of the table, Angelo Balanta gave MK Dons a first half lead against Bournemouth but they needed a late goal from Clinton Morrison to salvage a 2-2 draw and stay fifth in the league, and Martin Rowlands completed a full 90 minutes for the QPR old boys club at Wycombe who won 3-1 at Hartlepool with Scott Donnelly among the goal scorers.
In the bottom division Crawley went top again with a 2-1 home win against Shrewsbury but Michael Doughty was an unused substitute. At the other end of the table Gary Borrowdale played a full 90 minutes and was booked in Barnet’s 2-1 win at home to Aldershot. That result moves the Bees one point behind Dagenham and Redbridge who lost 3-2 at home to Plymouth thanks to a last gasp penalty from former R Simon Walton. Troy Hewitt came off the bench in injury time to no effect.
- The fall out from Saturday’s draw between Liverpool and Man Utd shows no sign of dissipating. United’s French full back accused Liverpool striker Luis Suarez of racially abusing him during the game and reported it to the referee but with no witnesses to back up his story Liverpool are now calling for Evra to be banned if it is proven he made the whole thing up. Steven Gerrard and Javier Hernandez scored in the 1-1 draw.
- Everton youngster Ross Barkley, who made his senior debut against QPR in August, is set to spurn the advances of the league’s biggest clubs by signing a new five year deal at Goodison Park.
- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he is not concerned about Robin van Persie’s contract situation after the Dutch striker produced two goals and an outstanding display in a 2-1 home win against Sunderland on Sunday. Van Persie, 28, is out of contract in 2013 and has refused to extend the deal but Wenger said: "If you give 100% until the last day of your contract, that is what I call commitment. For me it is not commitment to have a long contract. He knows that we are ready to talk about it. The ideal situation is that he extends his contract and if he doesn't you have to respect that. What is important is he plays how he plays."
- West Brom manager Roy Hodgson says Wolves would be mad to sack manager Mick McCarthy despite the Baggies inflicting a fifth straight defeat on his team on Sunday. Hodgson said: “I can't imagine for a minute that Wolves would want to sack Mick, he's done a terrific job.If my team played as well as his today and lost, I think I'd be getting a pat on the back.” Wolves have slipped to 16th in the league after winning two and drawing one of their first three matches and afterwards McCarthy accused Paul Scharner of “rubbing his nose in it” after the midfielder revealed a celebratory t-shirt in front of the visiting side’s bench.
- League Managers’ Association chairman Richard Bevan says the Premiership’s foreign owners are in favour of ending relegation from the top flight, and fears that as more clubs come under foreign ownership a vote in favour of closing the door on the Football League could be forced through.
- Everton are set to resign Scottish international James McFadden on a free transfer. McFadden left Goodison Park for Birmingham in 2008 for £5m but was released by the Blues in the summer after missing the whole of last season with a knee injury. He has recently spent time training with Wolves but will now sign on until the end of the season with Everton.
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