 Saturday, 23rd Jul 2011 21:24 by Clive Whittingham Adel Taarabt’s move to Paris SG has fallen through and the Moroccan will now play for QPR in the Premiership, according to a wide ranging statement from owners Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore today. NewsTaarabt’s future has been the subject of intense scrutiny this summer and as recently as yesterday evening reports were being released that Taarabt had agreed personal terms with the Qatari owned Paris club and Rangers had settled on a fee of £8.7m for the reigning Championship Player of the Season. However this morning, out of the blue, QPR released a statement from Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore saying they had pulled out of negotiations to sell Taarabt and he would now be staying. The statement went on to rail against criticism of their running of the club from the fans and Neil Warnock and stated their intention to secure QPR as a Premiership mainstay. Large parts of the full statement, published today on qpr.co.uk, had been mysteriously posted on the LFW messageboard last night by a new poster. The full official version read: ”'We are pleased to confirm that Adel Taarabt will be staying at QPR this summer. Despite receiving a substantial bid for our Moroccan international, we rebuffed all approaches and indeed, we are keen to build for the future in the Barclays Premier League, and not sell one of our prized assets. Should we have decided to sell Taarabt this summer, we made it clear to Neil Warnock that we would reinvest funds into the squad. Taarabt is fully committed to the club and is looking forward to proving his undoubted star quality for QPR in the Barclays Premier League. Our decision not to sell him only serves to reiterate the ambition and commitment we have both shown to QPR since we arrived here. We saved the Club when it was close to relegation from the Championship and just one week from liquidation. At this time, Flavio Briatore outlined a four year plan to reach the Premier League, which was achieved. We have always owned approximately 70 per-cent of the shareholding at the Club and have been the major benefactors since our arrival. We have backed Neil Warnock in bringing in his two top targets, Jay Bothroyd and Kieron Dyer, and we are working hard to try and pursue a couple of other targets the coach has identified. Welsh international Danny Gabbidon has impressed the coach whilst on trial and we are aiming to add him, as well as at least one or two other players to our squad in the near future. Neil Warnock is our coach and we are working closely with him in a professional and confidential manner to try to achieve our aims and objectives. The coach's job is to coach the squad and identify players he believes will improve the squad. As a Board, we deal with all the negotiations and we have been successful in completing deals for Bothroyd and Dyer so far. We are aware of some issues that have been raised in the press by the coach, but we have discussed these with him internally and he has agreed to be more reserved in terms of what he discusses in the future. We are fully committed to strengthening our status as a Premier League Club next season and in due course, build for the future. Now we are in the Premier League, we intend to stay here. We believe this club can achieve great things and we are looking forward to the Barclays Premier League season. We are very encouraged by the 10,000 plus Season Tickets we have sold to date and we look forward to welcoming our fans back to Loftus Road on the first day of the season against Bolton Wanderers on August 13.” Full reaction to today’s events will be on LFW later this evening. If Warnock’s mood was darkened by what appears to be that public rebuke, he won’t have been cheered greatly by the news that Tottenham have loaned right back Kyle Naughton to Norwich for the season. Warnock spoke last week about his optimism that Naughton would be spending the year at Loftus Road but Norwich tied the deal up on Friday. Whether he will actually get in the Norwich team or not remains to be seen – manager Paul Lambert, who says the deal concludes his summer transfer business, says Naughton will merely boost “competition for places” and their current right back Russell Martin was runner up in the Norwich Player of the Year vote last season. The comments from Warnock that seem to have spurred the board into action came in the wake of Wednesday night’s 1-0 win against League Two side Plymouth. Afterwards Warnock expressed his disappointment that he wasn’t involved in the Taarabt deal, and wouldn’t see any money from it for new players. He told Sky Sports: “Flavio Briatore is dealing with all the transfers at the moment. He's dealing with PSG and Adel himself. I've just got to wait until he tells me one way or another. It would be nice to get it done because we've got to plan ahead. Adel wins matches. He would set the Premier League on fire. I hope things break down if I'm honest. You've just got to move on. I don't think I'll be getting any of the money. I've just got to look for Bosmans and look for shrewd acquisitions, loan players. Try and do it on the smallest transfer fee there's ever been. We'll be trying to survive on that." New signing Jay Bothroyd limped out of the Plymouth game after barely half an hour after an innocuous looking challenge but both player and manager confirmed afterwards there was no lasting damage and the change had been made as a precaution. On the same night a second string made up mainly of youth teamers won 3-1 at Boreham Wood. Antonio German bagged one of the goals from the penalty spot. Still without Taarabt among their number the first team concluded its tour of Devon and Cornwall with a 7-0 win at South West Peninsula League side Bodmin Town on Friday evening. Heidar Helguson, who scored a last minute winner against Plymouth on Wednesday, scored again as did Petter Vaagan Moen and Matt Connolly who netted against Tavistock on Monday. Trialist Danny Webber scored twice, as did Tommy Smith. Shaun Derry picked up a nasty knock to his knee in that game but expects to be fit to play in the two outings lined up for the boys in Italy next week. Derry told the newly created West London Sport website: “I got a kick, unfortunately, but it should soon settle down. I would expect to be okay for the first game in Italy. That’s next week, so it gives me a few days to let it calm down. You get these knocks in pre-season. It’s all about trying to recover properly and getting ice on it at the right time. Obviously the flight there won’t help, but soon after that I’ll be able to deal with the swelling.” Manager Neil Warnock told the official website: “We've had some good work-outs this week. The weather has been difficult but it's not stopped us doing what we want to do. We've used some excellent training facilities and we've had some good sessions in addition to the games. Now the players are going to get a bit of sun on their backs in Italy.The training and games will step up a little bit now. "We've got a good set of lads, who get on well with each other. I think that's why these trips work so well. That's why I do it. I know the place inside out. It's a low tempo environment down here. The kids don't see many top teams. I think it's great for the kids to come and get autographs and see the players in the flesh - because they'll remember that forever. The people are great. We've also seen a lot of people that live in Cornwall and Devon who have been QPR fans for a long time. It's nice for them to have a home fixture.” QPR: Kenny (Murphy 46), Connolly (Ramage 46), Hill (Orr 46), Derry (Hall 72), Perone (Shittu 46), Gabbidon (Gorkss 46), Webber, Vaagan Moen, Helguson, Smith, Faurlin (Ephraim 46). Subs not used: Cerny Young defender Max Ehmer has rejoined League One side Yeovil on loan for the first six months of the season. Ehmer, German born, impressed with the Glovers last season and will now return to Huish Park after being the stand out performer in the QPR second string pre-season so far this summer. Ehmer returned to the Yeovil line up for the first time today as they defeated Championship side Bristol City 1-0. Hull City have suspended midfielder Jimmy Bullard for two weeks for misconduct. The Tigers are desperate to offload the injury prone midfielder who still has two years to run on a mammoth £45,000 a week contract at the KC Stadium. QPR were said to be interested in loaning the player, who won Ipswich’s Player of the Year award after a similar spell at Portman Road last season, for the season but were only willing to pay him £30,000 a week leaving Hull to foot the bill for the rest. Bullard was allegedly sent home from training last week by manager Nigel Pearson after turning up in a taxi from a night out in London. And finally, brace yourselves, we have added a new date to the pre-season build up. QPR will travel, through choice, to Luton Town on Friday August 5. Word’s fail me. RumoursBizarrely QPR continue to be linked with an outlandish £6m move for former Loftus Road favourite and current Spurs striker Peter Crouch. This would represent a radical departure from the transfer policy of the QPR board to date this summer, and it has to be said a step down for Crouch who is a regular under Harry Redknapp and will play European football at White Hart Lane this season. Crouch told the Ealing Gazette: "I've got a lot of affection for the club, and loved playing down there when I was young. I certainly wouldn't rule out ever playing for QPR again." Neil Warnock said: "If Crouchy wants to fit into the QPR wage structure, I'd welcome with open arms. But something tells me that isn't going to happen." Oddly QPR are still being linked with moves for goalkeepers. The Mirror reports that all three newly promoted Premiership clubs are interested in American Marcus Hahnemann. The 39-year-old was released by Wolves at the end of last season. Rangers have already fielded former Ipswich man Brian Murphy in a trial game this week and signed up second choice stopper Radek Cerny for a further year at Loftus Road. Paddy Kenny is said to have turned down a contract extension in W12, and been linked with West Brom, but still has two years to run on his current QPR deal. The Daily Mail reports that Rangers are competing with Wolves and Fulham to sign released West Ham midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger. A current German international, Hitzlsperger would be a superb signing for Rangers despite a catalogue of recent injury worries. However given that the Mail also linked Rangers with a move for Blackburn’s El Hadji Diouf last week when a quick check of their own news archive would give a clue as to why that could never happen, I’m starting to hold that newspaper in the same regard as I do Tribal Football who stopped featuring in the Diary a long time ago owing to its ongoing stream of bullshit. Premiership Shorts- Bolton boss Owen Coyle is set to raid his former club Burnley for two players. Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears have both been given permission to discuss Reebok Stadium terms after the two teams agreed a joint fee for the pair in the region of £3m. Bolton have allowed left winger Matt Taylor to move to West Ham for £2.2m. - Chelsea striker Didier Drogba says he expects to sign a one year extension to his current contract taking him through to 2013. With Fernando Torres sporting a £50m transfer fee and Daniel Sturridge impressive at Bolton last season this puts the future of striker Nicolas Anelka in further doubt. Anelka has been linked with a move to the MLS. Chelsea have also reached agreement with Barcelona to sign 19-year-old midfielder Oriol Romeu but have played down speculation linking them with a move for Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku. - Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has turned on newspapers and websites for misleading fans of the clubs with a barrage of false transfer rumours this summer. The Swans have recently been said to be showing an interest in James McFadden, just released by Birmingham, but Jenkins said: “It's turning into a farce. Supporters are being misled and fooled every day. I know speculation and rumour is part of football, especially at Premier League level." - Stoke have been left sweating over the fitness of Jon Walters and Jermaine Pennant after both limped out of Friday night’s pre-season friendly at Brentford. A terrible error by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic gifted the League One Bees a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win. LFW was there, Stoke were awful. We have 500 followers on Twitter now. No, really. Follow @loftforwords and find out why. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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