Chris King wonders what Adel Taarabt has done to earn his latest banishment from the QPR first team.
This is a story that has been developing since the opening day shambles against Swansea City . One part of the team that succumbed to a 5-0 mauling that day, Adel Taarabt, hasn't started a game since. When Chelsea came to Loftus Road he was an unused substitute. The 3-1 defeat to Manchester City saw the Moroccan left out of the squad entirely, against Walsall he was once again in exile and he didn't get a single minute on the pitch during the 1-1 draw with Norwich City either.
That's a grand total of 90 minutes so far this season for the playmaker from a total of 540. Hardly generous from Mark Hughes, who it would seem suddenly has a problem with the tempestuous, often challenging midfielder.
Taarabt's behaviour in the past has been far from exemplary. Despite earning the Championship Player of the Year award during the R's promotion season, the 23 year old caused former manager Neil Warnock no end of problems during his reign.
Hughes explained that Taarabt's absence against Norwich City was "a little bit hard" on the player, justifying his decision on the grounds that, to paraphrase, Taarabt is a little bit of a luxury away from home and that the team needed a focal point in Bobby Zamora.
His continued exile at the Etihad Stadium was also due to tactical reasons, according to the gaffer, as it was "difficult to fit everybody on the bench".
Beyond a quick trip to Homebase for an extended plank of wood, how is Taarabt going to be able to claw his way back into the boss' good books over the next couple of months before he is forgotten about entirely?
With difficulty, you would have to say. The arrival of Esteban Granero and return of Alejandro Faurlin have largely meant that the central midfield berths are locked out. Taarabt will, to his great chagrin, never have a team built around him at QPR again. Nevertheless, why remove him from contention entirely?
Chelsea's trip to Loftus Road was a case in point. With Andy Johnson having to withdraw after succumbing to a nasty-looking injury, Jamie Mackie was brought on. Given that Johnson's role until his replacement after half an hour had been to link between the midfield and Zamora , it is bemusing that a trequartista such as Taarabt was overlooked.
Although possibly deserving of his place on the right hand side of midfield thanks to an impressive pre-season, Shaun Wright-Phillips offers all of the effort of Taarabt but none of the end product. Mackie too suffers from this same problem. With Junior Hoilett also an option on the flanks it makes the job harder for Taarabt to bring himself back to the fore, but a player renowned for impatience, childish spats and extremely poor temperament is unlikely to accept Hughes' treatment for long.
Indeed, having been bestowed with the famous number ten shirt, it makes little sense for the man in charge to leave Taarabt out of the squad unless he patently and entirely does not fit in with his tactics, or worse, refuses to accept no longer being the centre of attention.
The club's announcement via its official Twitter account before the game yesterday that Taarabt was suffering with a hamstring injury (yet another one) having limped out of training on Friday explains the latest omission but not the others.
One QPR supporter posted: "No Taarabt on the bench. Is something up behind the scenes? Something doesn't sit right. Hughes hasn't mentioned him as injured/unfit #QPR."
Another also seemed rather suspicious: ""R’s playmaker Adel Taarabt is out with a hamstring injury." Hughes hasn’t played him since first game of season, not even v Walsall in cup."
This is not a call for him to be automatically returned to the fold, once fully fit, as the R's now have a squad with genuine competition for places, at least when injuries don't reach plague-like proportions as they have done recently.
It is simply an attempt to ascertain why a man that made 28 appearances last season has played just once so far in six matches, and find out the reasoning behind his failure to be selected.
It is also worth saying that, of all those that played against the Swans, Taarabt is the only one not to have returned to the side in any capacity since.
Tweet @chriskking, @loftforwords
Pictures – Action Images