Redknapp rues letting Cole slip away

QPR boss Harry Redknapp has revealed his club were in the market for Joe Cole, who scored the leveller for West Ham in their 1-1 draw on Saturday.

Debutant Loic Remy gave QPR the lead at Upton Park, but Cole – in his second stint at West Ham after spells at Chelsea, Liverpool and Lille – levelled for the home side with a tap-in to secure a share of the spoils.

Redknapp, who managed Cole at West Ham, said he had been keen to secure the winger’s services once again.

“I wanted Joe and I think we could have had Joe. We were talking to him three weeks before West Ham even came on the scene but it just went on too long,” Redknapp said.

“Once West Ham came in for him he was only ever going to go there, this is his club, but the deal just dragged on too long.

“Sometimes with deals you have to get them done quickly and once others get alerted it can change. He had some bits and pieces to sort at Liverpool which held it up.”

Redknapp also said he was in talks with Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila.

“We’re still working on it, you need to get deals done quickly. The longer it drags on the more people get involved, he’s good value,” he said.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce believes Redknapp has made QPR more difficult to beat since taking charge, drawing favourable comparisons to the side West Ham beat 2-1 at Loftus Road back in October under predecessor Mark Hughes.

“They are (more difficult to beat), they’re not as open now and they’re not playing the attacking football that Mark Hughes tried to get them to play,” Allardyce said.

“Now they make life extremely difficult for you to break them down, but we couldn’t find a way to put the ball into the back of the net more. They’re going a long time without losing too many games.

“Ultimately in the end (Redknapp) knows he’s going to have to start winning more games and it frustrated us, just as it did with Chelsea and Tottenham. They’ve got a system that works for them, when you play with the tactics of QPR there’s not a lot of space to break them down.”