'The worst' - QPR £13m flop gives bombshell interview on Harry Redknapp era at Loftus Road

Former QPR defender Christopher Samba has given a ruthless take on what went wrong during his brief spell at Loftus Road under Harry Redknapp in 2013.

The former Blackburn Rovers star was snapped up by the club in January 2013 for a head turning £12.5 million at the midway point in the Premier League season with the R's fighting for survival. That deal was completed on Deadline Day and was a club record fee for the London outfit.

At the time, Samba became the 27th purchase of Tony Fernandes' 17-month tenure at Loftus Road and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract. Samba's adviser, Waliz Bouzid, claimed that his client's weekly wage was just short of £100,000 a week.

‘It’s simple’ - Samba on why QPR spell was a flop

With transfer fee and wages combined, that transfer was said to have cost QPR £28 million in one of the club's less wise splurges in history. Samba made just 10 QPR appearances as the club was relegated to the Championship that season and the player was sold back to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala for £12 million.

As he appeared on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Samba was asked why his time at QPR didn't work out. He replied: "That's quite simple. I wasn't fit. Absolutely unfit. When you finish in Russia, you finish around December 10 and normally come back for pre-season at the end of February.

"At the time when I came on the last day of the transfer window, I was on holiday, a big unit who needed a lot of work to prepare. I have regrets about that. I think if I came in the summer with a proper pre-season I could have shown who I really am.

"I was asked where I was physically and said 15-20% and was told that was good enough. I thought, okay I'll play. Over a couple of games, you just feel your body quitting on you. It was difficult as I'm a proud individual and work so hard to have a certain level, people knew me as Chris Samba. It was difficult."

‘Resentment’ in Harry Redknapp’s squad

Sam Allardyce, who featured on the podcast, weighed in on the matter and branded it 'irresponsible' of former R's manager Harry Redknapp to play Samba given his lack of fitness. The former Aston Villa man defended Redknapp from claims that he had lost the dressing room, but admitted it was 'the worst dressing room I've been in'.

He said: "I don't think Harry had lost the dressing room, it was the way it had been structured, it wasn't good. It's a lot of resentment.

"If one player plays better than the one that's on more money he feels some type of way. The way the squad had been constructed was our downfall."