Harry Redknapp has defended his QPR reign after Joey Barton appeared to suggest it will be his fault if the club are relegated this season.

In an interview earlier this week, Barton claimed that their struggles this season are down to poor pre-season planning and bad recruitment under Redknapp, who left Loftus Road in February.

But Redknapp insists he should not be held accountable for any transfer failings, telling the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “The problem we had was there were still 11 players in that squad who were there when QPR went down two years ago.

“11 of the 25 players were there two years ago in the team that finished bottom of the league because they had contracts and you couldn’t get rid of people.

“It was very difficult. We didn’t recruit a player until nine days before the season started this year because we didn’t feel we had the finances to do it.

“We went to a Ireland for a pre-season trip and we had 12 players. That’s all we had left, and they were all left over from last season. By then most of the players you wanted were gone, but Tony [Fernandes] and the board said we just didn’t have the money to get anybody in.

“At the last minute, Tony came up trumps and managed to get a few in. We took a couple of loans, we took Rio [Ferdinand] on a free, we spent money on [Steven] Caulker and Leroy Fer, but it was a last minute job.

“You can blame who you want but every game this year has been very similar almost at home. They have played very well, like against Everton on Sunday when they got beat 2-1.

“We lost 2-1 to Arsenal, 2-1 to Tottenham, there was a last minute goal against Swansea when we were leading 1-0, Liverpool we should have beaten, and we were beating Man City 2-1 with five minutes to go. It has been one of those years.”

Barton has since contacted Redknapp to insist his comments were taken out of context, and the 68-year-old appears to hold no grudges, claiming his old captain could have what it takes to become a successful manager.

“I got a text from Joey yesterday out of the blue saying ‘people are trying to stitch me up, in no way have I had a go about you, it is a load of rubbish’,” he revealed.

“When you sit down and talk to him, he is knowledgeable; he is a student of the game.

“I can’t wait for him to get the opportunity manage. He could be very good, He has good ideas, he is enthusiastic, and he knows the game, obviously there is another side to him as well but hopefully when he gets the opportunity he will do a good job for somebody.”