Friday 15 May 2015 09:26, UK
QPR boss Chris Ramsey has refused to deny Joey Barton’s accusation that a number of bad eggs in the dressing room are the reason for the team’s disappointing league campaign.
Ahead of last week’s 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City, which condemned to QPR to relegation, skipper Barton blamed a number of “bad eggs” for significantly contributing to their downfall.
“There were some issues, I’m not going to deny that,” Ramsey said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Newcastle.
“But we dealt with them at the time. Unfortunately, these things happen in football and our dirty laundry has come out. But we’ve dealt with those situations and what we need to do is draw a line underneath that and move on.”
Reports surfaced this week that on-loan Napoli midfielder Eduardo Vargas refused to come on as a substitute in the recent 3-1 win over Crystal Palace while Mauro Zarate, who was on loan from West Ham, was fined and sent back to his parent club after returning to London without permission when he was not picked in the squad for the recent visit to Anfield.
Asked about the incidents by Sky Sports News HQ reporter Dharmesh Sheth, Ramsey said: “Well, what I can say is there were problems of a similar nature that we dealt with and the players have basically not been available to be picked subsequently.”
Ramsey was also probed about the future of the club’s leading goalscorer Charlie Austin, who is understood to be attracting interest from other clubs.
“Goalscorers are at a premium and people always want goalscorers so we understand people are going to be trying their best to get him,” Ramsey said.
“He’s been a good professional this year and he’s shown his worth. Obviously we’d like to keep him but the remaining couple of weeks will dictate what people think he is worth and what it’s worth to the club to keep him or let him go.
