Harry Redknapp has hailed his hard working QPR players just days after blasting a handful of high earners but insisted the misfits are the ones that cost predecessor Mark Hughes his job.

At Newcastle on Saturday the former Tottenham boss suffered his first defeat since taking charge of the Hoops and promptly slammed the club’s high-earners that had failed to live up to their billing and contributed to the equal worst start to a Premier League season.

When asked about his comments ahead of the Boxing Day clash at home to West Brom, Redknapp explained: “I wasn’t talking about all the players. I was talking about certain players.

“I’ve got no problems if players are earning good money, if they give value for their money.

“I just felt there are one or two that haven’t given value for their money.

“It’s difficult. When Mark [Hughes] brought theses players in, massive money wasn’t spent on transfers.

“The club didn’t go out and spend massive transfer fees but what they had to do was take chances.

“You get them on frees [transfers] and pay them decent money, maybe. It’s all a gamble. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

“There are one or two, I felt, that haven’t given value for money. There’s one or two that have given more than value for their money.

“Ryan Nelsen has just been incredible – what a signing he was.”

Former boss Hughes added nine new faces in the summer but they failed to win in 13 attempts and it led to the Welshman getting the sack.

Redknapp was appointed in November and they went unbeaten for his first four games, taking six points from a possible 15 and claiming a first victory of the season to climb off the foot of the Premier League and ensure they won’t have the dreaded bottom-of-the-table tag for Christmas.

The current incumbent insists the players he has criticised in recent days are the same underperforming men that cost his predecessor his job.

“It was difficult for Mark,” he said, adding: “Mark Hughes is a top manager and I’ve got great respect for him and the chairman here, I think I’ve said many times, I don’t think I’ve met many nicer people since I’ve been in football – him and the rest of the people who run this football club.

“That’s why I’m so desperate to do well for them and that’s why I want to see them get success. They deserve it.

“One or two of the players haven’t pulled their weight and that’s why Mark lost his job.”

He added: “One or two have let us down in the last couple of weeks. I’ve seen one or two incidents that disturbed me and that’s why I brought that up.”

It was also revealed over the weekend that Jose Bosingwa was fined �130,000 for refusing to be a substitute for the victory over Fulham a week ago.

Redknapp said: “I didn’t name him. I got a call on Friday from a couple of newspapers. Somebody had told the newspapers that he’d been fined. That was a week ago but it never came from me, I never mentioned anything.

“They had all the facts and figures so, what could I say? I couldn’t say, ‘no, it’s not true’. It was true.”

He added: “It disturbed me when a player doesn’t want to sit on the bench when you’re bang in trouble.

“We’ve all got our backs to the wall, we’re all in trouble. The fans are the most important people and see their team losing every week and suddenly you’ve got somebody that doesn’t want to sit on the bench.

“He says, ‘I don’t sit on the bench’ because he thinks he’s too good to sit on the bench and that’s what disturbs me in this game but it’s only one or two. Most of the lads here have been absolutely brilliant – top class.

“I still feel we’ll get out of trouble. It’s going to be hard but I still feel we can do it.

Asked if the Portuguese defender will play for the club again, the manager said: “I’ll have to look at that in the future and see how we go. We’ll wait and see.”