QPR’s Ramsey prepared to bring Taarabt back from the cold

With the club engulfed in more uncertainty following the abrupt departure of Harry Redknapp this week, Queens Park Rangers players know only one thing for sure: victory over Southampton on Saturday would do them a power of good in their fight against relegation.


Chris Ramsey, who had been coaching the club’s development teams since the beginning of the season, will take charge of the senior team for the match on a caretaker basis with Les Ferdinand, and the 52-year-old said he is considering picking Adel Taarabt. The Moroccan midfielder has barely featured this season after falling out with Redknapp, who insisted up until last week that the player was not fit enough to be considered for selection. Ramsey says Taarabt is ready and could contribute much-needed creativity to QPR.

Ramsey has known Taarabt since they worked together at Tottenham Hotspur eight years ago and believes the player could play an important role over the remainder of the season – but he warned that Taarabt must seize any chance he is given to re-establish himself.

“I’ve known Adel since he was 17, which is when he came to Tottenham,” said Ramsey. “We’ve had lots of talks and meetings over that period of time. I think he knows me. He’s not going to get more special treatment than anybody else. If he is involved, I would imagine he would put in the shift that’s required. If he doesn’t put a shift in, then he will know all about it. I’m sure his talents can be utilised. It’s up to him. He’s at a crossroads in his career, in his mid-20s, so he could kick on from here. I’m hoping he’s going to have the impact that he is capable of.”

Ramsey’s Tottenham link has other significance, of course. He and Ferdinand worked at White Hart Lane with Tim Sherwood, who is the front-runner to be named as Rangers’ next permanent manager. Ferdinand will have a major say in that decision, his increased power at Loftus Road since Redknapp’s departure reflected in his new title of director of football.

Ramsey recognises that the sight of a black coach leading out a Premier League team with a black director of football is a positive step towards increased diversity in the most influential position in a sport that he says still suffers from a glass ceiling, but he says the ultimate goal is to reach a stage where such sights are banal.

“I wouldn’t say that it was a bold move by the owners,” says Ramsey. “Your race shouldn’t really be taken into consideration. You have to be looking at putting the best man for the job. If I’m the best man for the job, then I should be in this position, or if Les is the best man for that job, then he should be in the position.

“Of course, it’s a step forward … but what you don’t want to be is the person with all the hopes and dreams of every black coach or every black person. If we are successful or not successful, that should not be taken into consideration for everyone else. If I fail, why should somebody else be tarnished with that brush? The stakes are different [for black coaches] but they shouldn’t be. That’s an indictment on our system.”


By Paul Doyle, Guardian