Taarabt told "very bad" Redknapp team would be relegated – and he was right

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Be it goals, skills or controversial comments, ex-Queens Park Rangers star Adel Taarabt has always had an eye for the outlandish.

The mercurial Moroccan, who celebrates his 33rd birthday on Tuesday, experienced a turbulent time in England and often found himself hitting the headlines. Renowned for producing moments of magic, the midfielder was both lauded for his exceptional ability and supreme skillset, and slammed for his ongoing attitude problems as he caused his managers all manner of issues.

And one such former boss who was particularly put-out by Taarabt's antics was that of Harry Redknapp – a manager who the former R's star accused of being "very bad". In fact, the only thing the pair appeared to ever agree on was predicting QPR's Premier League relegation back in 2015.

Taarabt's tumultuous relationship with Redknapp can be traced back time their time together at Tottenham. Redknapp took over from Juande Ramos in late 2008, initially offering Taarabt an olive branch by giving him a squad number, before loaning and then subsequently selling the maverick midfielder to QPR.

The pair were then reunited when the latter was instilled as Rs manager back in November 2012 with the West London club winless and doomed for Premier League relegation. The Moroccan's brace in a 2-1 success over Fulham in mid-December then inspired the Hoops to their first win of the season, prompting Redknapp to make some astonishing admissions about the midfielder.

"He's got ability like not many people you've ever seen in your life," gushed an awe-struck Redknapp. "He's like Di Canio, who I thought was a fantastic player, one of the all-time greats at West Ham. This boy is the same.

Do you agree with Adel Taarabt that Harry Redknapp was a "very bad" manager? Let us know in the comments section.

"It was one of the all-time great performances, I felt. I sold him when I was at Tottenham and he knows he was not a player I wanted to sell.

"When he used to come back and see his mates at Tottenham I used to say: 'You are making me look a fool Adel, you are worth £20m now and I sold you too cheap'.

"He's grown up a bit now, he's better than he was. He was a complete fruitcake at Tottenham."

But the love-in was short-lived and would soon turn sour. Despite investing heavily in the January transfer market, Redknapp failed to keep QPR up. While Redknapp over saw an immediate return to the Premier League, Taarabt spend QPR's season in the Championship out on loan at Fulham and AC Milan.

Taarabt then returned in the summer of 2014 ahead of QPR's latest foray into England's top-flight, but was soon banished, with Redknapp branding the midfielder as "three stone overweight" and “the worst professional I have ever come across”. Taarabt then hit back by posting photos of himself holding up a shirt to disprove claims of a poor physique, only for Redknapp to respond by saying, “Even I could suck my stomach in for a picture and look OK.”

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday back in June of 2015, shortly after moving to Benfica at the end of a season which saw QPR once again drop down to the Championship, Taarabt admitted he and his manager foresaw the club's relegation as he spectacularly slated his former Rs team-mates.

He said: "Half the players at QPR didn’t care about the club, they were just making money. I had one of the bigger salaries but I cared about football because I loved football.

“When I came for pre-season I told Harry Redknapp to his face, ‘This team is going down’. He said the same thing as me… that he agreed with me."

He didn't hold back when focus turned specifically to his former manager, either. He added: "I don’t think he has the passion for the game like people think. Harry is not a bad person but he is a very bad coach and, for me, a very bad manager.”

• Queens Park Rangers FC
• Premier League

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