Redknapp slams QPR spending

Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp has hit out at the amount of money being earned by several of his players at Loftus Road.

The London club spent lavishly during the close season in an attempt to avoid the relegation scrap, but failed to win a league game under Mark Hughes, resulting in his sacking and Redknapp’s appointment in November.

The former Tottenham boss has been linked with moves for a number of players in January, but dismissed reports that he would be busy in the upcoming transfer window.

“I don’t have a clue who to go for, I don’t want to spend their money really,” Redknapp told reporters.

“There’s an awful lot of players at this club who earn far too much money for what they are.

“Far, far, far too much money for their amount of ability and what they give the club. Not all of them but an awful lot of them.

“I don’t want to see the owners have their pants taken down any more than they have in the past, there’s a lot of agents made a lot of money out of them and there’s a lot of average players here earning … well, I fined a player last week and he was earning more than anybody was at Tottenham.

“They’ve got a stadium that holds 18,000 people, they shouldn’t be paying these wages. We’ve got to be careful.”

Redknapp also confirmed that the player in question was Jose Bosingwa, who was disciplined for refusing to take his place among the substitutes against Fulham last weekend.

“He (Bosingwa) didn’t like being on the bench, he didn’t feel like he should be a substitute so he went home,” Redknapp revealed.

“He’s been fined two weeks wages. He got fined 130,000 pounds, which isn’t too bad for two weeks is it?”

The 65-year-old was speaking after seeing his side went down to a limp 1-0 defeat at Newcastle, the first loss of Redknapp’s tenure at Loftus Road.

“I thought we were going to hang on and nick a draw,” Redkbapp said. “I couldn’t see us winning but I thought we might get away with a 0-0.

“We defended hard, we had two centre-halves who gave everything, they’re great competitors. If I could find a few more like them, we’ve got a chance.”

Shola Ameobi struck in the game’s final 10 minutes to snatch a win for Newcastle, just their second in the last 12 games in all competitions.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was delighted with a win that moves his side five points above the relegation zone.

“Obviously it’s difficult when you’re manager of a club as big as this to express how satisfying a win is of that importance,” Pardew explained.

“All my players and staff are hurting and it gives a little bit of feel-good factor to our dressing room and they deserve it today.

“He (Ameobi) has that calm head, knows what’s demanded here to produce a quality goal and it won us the game.

“My (Christmas) pudding will taste a little bit sweeter. I feel sorry for our fans, we’ve put them through the rack a little bit over this period, they’ve watched some football that hasn’t been our best.

“But two wins in the last four Premier League games are starting to look like the right stats, and now we need to back that up against a top club.”