Rangers captain Taarabt's grief after cousin is shot dead in Marseille



By Sami Mokbel for the Daily Mail and Ivan Speck for MailOnline





Top Ranger: Taarabt has been given leave after a family tragedy

Championship player of the year Adel Taarabt was pulled out of Queens Park Rangers' victory at Doncaster on Saturday after being told his cousin had been shot dead. But the brave midfielder only agreed to miss the clash under orders from manager Neil Warnock.

Taarabt, 21, had received a phone call at 10.30am on Saturday informing him that the family member had been killed in Marseille. Despite being distraught at the news, the Rangers skipper insisted he wanted to play.



But after a heart-to-heart with Warnock, whom Morocco star Taarabt has described as a father figure, he agreed to return to London.



Warnock has told him not to return to England until Friday, April 1, so he can spend time with his grief-stricken family, but the player has still joined up with his international team-mates ahead of Morocco's clash with Algeria on Sunday.

QPR don't play again until April 4 and Warnock told Sportsmail last night: 'Everyone at the club sends their condolences to Adel and his family. It is testament to him that he wanted to play, but at the end of the day it's just a game of football and I told him that. Family is, and always will be, more important.'



Taarabt put the tragedy to one side on Sunday night when he collected the Football League award. It was just reward for the way Warnock has moulded the flair of the former Tottenham man to his own reputation for pragmatism.



And Taarabt revealed the way his Loftus Road boss had inspired his progress after convincing him to turn a loan move from Spurs into a permanent deal.



"Warnock wants to make me a world beater"

'He called me every day in the summer, saying, "I want to sign you. I want to make you one of the best players in the world",' said Taarabt.

'I didn't reply but he was still calling me. He even came to Morocco for five days and I didn't see him. He called me and called me and I didn't want to see him.



'After I went back to Spurs, he said, "I want you to come". I thought to myself I will never have a manager like this in my life, one who wants to treat me like his son. So I spoke with my family and said, "I'm going to sign for QPR. This manager, I trust him".



'I work best with affection. My family is not here, so I need people who are loving me, who trust me. Even if I don't play well for two or three games, he doesn't put me on the bench. He says, "Don't worry, you will play". That's what I need and Neil did it well.'

Spot on: Taarabt has starred for QPR this season

Warnock's own touch of genius has been to persuade his senior pros at Loftus Road - the likes of Shaun Derry, Paddy Kenny and Clint Hill - to indulge Taarabt's tendency for selfishness on the pitch while nudging him ever closer to embracing the team ethic.



Making Taarabt captain stressed to the player that he was the team's leader, if not in words, then deeds. Even when the youngster had a strop and turned his back on the play just before half-time at Hull in January, asking to be taken off, Warnock refused to castigate him publicly. The payback will be promotion.



'They know that before this year I would do that seven or eight times,' said Taarabt. 'This year I did it once. They know how I am and they know how much I have changed. Afterwards I said sorry to the team and the manager and they understand.'



Taarabt's other influence in England is his compatriot and Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh, whom he describes as 'a big brother'.



As for his adopted father, Warnock feels blessed to work with such inspiration in his managerial dotage.



'Somebody told me he'd cost me my job if I played him but I just had a feeling about him,' said Warnock. 'The game is so robotic at times and he's been a breath of fresh air.'









