Adel of a way to carry on

If empty vessels do make the most noise, then a certain Morocco-born attacking midfielder is a strong contender for the title of English football's emptiest vessel of the lot - and let's face it, there's plenty of competition. Gobshites and thoughtlessness abound in the beautiful (?) game in this country.

Adel Taarabt, born in North Africa but raised in the south of France, is really shooting his mouth off this week. Currently on the books of recently-promoted QPR, the team with which I've had a lifelong relationship that's been more troubled than ever lately, the most skillful player on show in last season's Championship campaign is doing his utmost to attract the attention of other, bigger London clubs.

I should find this galling. But I've long since given up the idea that many footballers feel even a tenth of the sense of loyalty to any given club that is the norm among supporters. The players have short careers in which to maximise their earning potential and achieve as much as they can. Serious injury could at any time snatch opportunities from a player and shorten the time in which he can accumulate cash. I get it. As a QPR fan, the case of Kevin Gallen is instructive for me. When Gallen was a youngster, the sense among Rangers supporters seemed to be that we had a great prospect on our books: a real hope for the future. He did go on to have a long, somewhat distinguished career in a hooped shirt (albeit with a gap spent at two Yorkshire clubs). He was a clever and industrious player. But his achievements fell a long way short of the hopes many had had for him. Probably most QPR followers would attribute this to the serious injury the player suffered early in the 1996-97 season, which wiped out all but two matches for him that campaign. When he did return to the team, Gallen struggled to establish himself as a first choice striker, losing out to a set of rivals that reads like a list of below-average forwards: Rob Steiner, Chris Kiwomya, Steve Slade and Mikkel Beck. Hence his departure for a period of exile in the north of England (though happily, Gallen was much better value when he returned to his beloved QPR for a second stint at the club).

So I have examples readily to hand when I try to understand why today's football professional is ready to jump ship for a bigger club and pay cheque. That said, given that these men can only earn such a good living because of the paying punters in the stands, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a bit of class from players contemplating, negotiating or completing a move from one club to another.

Sadly, if the quotes in recent articles are genuine, young Adel is not displaying much class at all.

Sure, he was an indisputably vital ingredient of the successful recipe cooked up by QPR manager Neil Warnock last season. You can't argue with 15 league goals, shed loads of assists and the great entertainment value offered by the Moroccan.

For me, he is, with no shadow of a doubt the single most entertaining player I've watched regularly playing for QPR. I am too young to have anything more than very fuzzy memories of the Stan Bowles era at Loftus Road and my family's move away from London in 1977 meant that I only attended QPR matches very sporadically from then until the early 1990s, when I really threw myself back into the life of a Superhoops supporter. This means that I can't claim to have enjoyed many of the great performances put in by the likes of Tony Currie or Simon Stainrod - and I only just caught the end of Roy Wegerle's time at the club. So for the entertainment factor at Loftus Road, Taarabt's my benchmark now. Even the regular scoring of Les Ferdinand, while wonderful to behold, does not really compare for me. That was about a very good centre forward doing his job extremely well - somehow less dazzling than what the Moroccan has to  offer, even when I factor in the fact that Ferdinand's achievements were in the top division.

Taarabt is all about tricks, flicks, truly improbable goals and dazzling dances around bemused markers. Great stuff. Class in abundance, then. With a ball at his feet, that is. But not when within spitting distance of a reporter's microphone or notebook, it seems.

So, Taarabt's lack of class when being quoted notwithstanding then, I should still be gutted at the prospect of his departure, right? Especially if there's any substance at all in the notion that Taarabt might end up at the club most QPR supporters love to hate, Mr. Abramovich's expensive plaything down in SW6.

Perhaps I would feel more worried by the prospect of losing the player or more disappointed by his conduct if I weren't approaching it with mixed feelings. But my feelings are mixed. Prodigious talent though he undeniably is, Taarabt comes with baggage. He washed up at QPR because he'd failed to fit in at Spurs. He then proceeded to overshadow the early glimpses of his skill with a frustrating unwillingness to pass the ball to a team mate in a more favourable position. We saw very visible signs of a fragile and fractious temperament, something that has also affected the player's relationship with his national team manager - I'm losing count of the number of times he's indicated he will never again wear the colours of Morocco.

Last season, Warnock pulled off a seemingly impossible trick. He got a team made up largely of seasoned hard-working pros to humour a highly-strung individual and to accept the nonsense of that individual wearing the captain's armband when he was clearly not among the true leaders on the pitch. With other players mopping up when Taarabt's buccaneering play resulted in losing the ball, it all worked out very well. Could that blend work in the Premier League, against better opposition? Let's see. Many would seem to think it's far from certain.

This brings us to the question of what QPR should do with Taarabt now.

If he can play anything like as effectively in the Premier League as his did in the Championship, I'd be inclined to think that top clubs from all over Europe will be prepared to enter a January bidding war that could see QPR enriched by a sum well in excess of the ten million quid being mentioned now as Taarabt's rumoured price tag. But if he can't cut it against quicker and cleverer defenders, and/or if his suspect temperament is exposed in the more widely observed window of the Premier League, his stock could plummet. Stick or twist? Keep or sell? Are any other clubs actually interested now? Or does the young Moroccan represent too great a risk even for the more adventurous prospective purchasers?

I don't and can't know the answers to any of these questions. When you watch Adel Taarabt on the pitch it often feels like anything can happen. Now, with the summertime action being played out among agents and in boardrooms rather than on the field of play, I have the same feeling. All bets are off. 

I just wish QPR's most exciting player for many years would grow up a bit and button his lip in the meantime.