QPR manager Harry Redknapp dismisses Dubai 'party' claims
- Published
QPR manager Harry Redknapp has angrily denied a newspaper report that claimed a training break in Dubai last month descended into a "stag party".
Redknapp described the Daily Mirror article,, external purportedly based on accounts from players, as "disgusting".
"I let the players have one night out and the next morning they trained," said Redknapp after his struggling team's crucial 2-1 win at Southampton.
"There were five teams out there and no other team trained every day."
Redknapp, who confirmed that no-one at the club was disciplined after the tour, told BBC Sport: "That is the hardest I have ever worked a football team."
Saturday's Mirror story claimed partying in Dubai left some players incapable of training as the team-building break became a "glorified holiday".
But Redknapp said the account had been dreamt up by an agent looking to unsettle the Premier League's bottom club.
"It is a completely and utterly fabricated story that has got no truth to it whatsoever," said Redknapp.
"I took the team away, we arrived at five o'clock in the morning, trained that morning and every morning I was there.
"I let the players have one night out with about four or five other teams out with them that night.
"I'm as sure as I can be that the story came from a football agent who is trying to make problems for the football club."
Jay Bothroyd's 77th-minute winner at Southampton gave QPR only their third league win of the season and lifted them to within four points of safety.
"We answered all the questions," said Redknapp. "We worked our socks off again today."
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