Harry Redknapp today branded directors of football a “joke” and insisted he could never tolerate such a system at Queens Park Rangers.

In an exclusive interview with Standard Sport, the QPR boss underlines his opposition to a structure that allows someone other than the manager to buy and select players.

The former Tottenham manager’s comments come as Spurs languish in 12th in the Premier League after their own football director, Franco Baldini, helped blow £133 million in 18 months on players who have failed to live up to expectations.

The Franco Baldini signings not good enough for Tottenham 12 show all The Franco Baldini signings not good enough for Tottenham 1/12 Paulinho | Verdict: Miss Arrived with a reputation as one of the best midfielders in South America but the Brazilian has failed to make the desired impact and Spurs are willing to let him leave on loan in January. It seems hard to see a way back for him at Spurs. Getty 2/12 Erik Lamela | Verdict: Miss There is no question about the talent of the club’s £30m record signing but whether he is ideally suited to English football is another matter. Scored a brilliant Rabona goal in the Europa League but has still to find consistency and has yet to score in the Premier League. GETTY 3/12 Roberto Soldado | Verdict: Miss Signed at huge expense to be the 25 a-goal-season striker Spurs have craved for years, Soldado has not delivered what was expected of him. He has looked uncomfortable when asked to play as a lone striker and this season has rarely been first choice. Getty 4/12 Vlad Chiriches | Verdict: Miss After a promising start under Andre Villas-Boas, Chiriches’s penchant for dribbling the ball out of defence has started to get him into trouble. A disastrous performance in the home draw against Besiktas was the low point of his Spurs career and he has not been picked since. 5/12 Etienne Capoue | Verdict: Miss The powerful holding midfielder looked a good signing at the start of last season but has never really been able to get going due to injuries and inconsistent form. Has been a first choice under Mauricio Pochettino yet along with Ryan Mason, he has found it tough to give proper protection to the back four. Getty 6/12 Christian Eriksen | Verdict: Hit Player of the Year last season, he has been the most successful of the arrivals and thrived under Tim Sherwood during the second half of the campaign. He has yet to recapture his best form this season and has been substituted at half-time in his last two League games. Getty 7/12 Nacer Chadli | Verdict: Hit One of the few successful signings, after a difficult start to his Spurs career. Although he often does not look threatening, he has a habit of scoring important goals and making decisive contributions. Getty 8/12 Ben Davies | Verdict: Miss While the left-back has yet to make an impact, Gylfi Sigurdsson, who Spurs allowed to join Swansea so they could secure Davies, has been very influential for his new club. In reality, £10m is a lot to spend on a full-back if you only plan to use him in the cup competitions - Davies’s fate so far this season. GETTY 9/12 Michel Vorm | Verdict: Jury Out Signed with next season in mind? On the face of it, it seemed a strange decision for the Dutchman to swap first-team football at Swansea for the bench at Tottenham. However, there is every chance Hugo Lloris will want to leave next summer and if he does Spurs already have a replacement. Getty 10/12 Eric Dier | Verdict: Jury Out May develop into a fine player. Looks powerful at centre-back and has done okay when asked to fill in at right back, although clearly this is not his best position. Despite his promise, he does not look ready at the moment to play regularly in the Premier League and Spurs need players who can improve their team now. Getty 11/12 Federico Fazio | Verdict: Miss He still has time to improve but his performances until now have done little to suggest that he is cut out for English football. Lacking pace and with faulty positional sense, Fazio has already been sent off twice in his Spurs career and whenever he is on the ball it is enough to make Spurs fans wince. Getty 12/12 Benjamin Stambouli | Verdict: Miss Signed when Spurs realised they would not be able to get Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton. Stambouli has shown he was a good player during his time at Montpellier but the little playing time he has been granted so far suggests Pochettino may not rate him especially highly. Getty 1/12 Paulinho | Verdict: Miss Arrived with a reputation as one of the best midfielders in South America but the Brazilian has failed to make the desired impact and Spurs are willing to let him leave on loan in January. It seems hard to see a way back for him at Spurs. Getty 2/12 Erik Lamela | Verdict: Miss There is no question about the talent of the club’s £30m record signing but whether he is ideally suited to English football is another matter. Scored a brilliant Rabona goal in the Europa League but has still to find consistency and has yet to score in the Premier League. GETTY 3/12 Roberto Soldado | Verdict: Miss Signed at huge expense to be the 25 a-goal-season striker Spurs have craved for years, Soldado has not delivered what was expected of him. He has looked uncomfortable when asked to play as a lone striker and this season has rarely been first choice. Getty 4/12 Vlad Chiriches | Verdict: Miss After a promising start under Andre Villas-Boas, Chiriches’s penchant for dribbling the ball out of defence has started to get him into trouble. A disastrous performance in the home draw against Besiktas was the low point of his Spurs career and he has not been picked since. 5/12 Etienne Capoue | Verdict: Miss The powerful holding midfielder looked a good signing at the start of last season but has never really been able to get going due to injuries and inconsistent form. Has been a first choice under Mauricio Pochettino yet along with Ryan Mason, he has found it tough to give proper protection to the back four. Getty 6/12 Christian Eriksen | Verdict: Hit Player of the Year last season, he has been the most successful of the arrivals and thrived under Tim Sherwood during the second half of the campaign. He has yet to recapture his best form this season and has been substituted at half-time in his last two League games. Getty 7/12 Nacer Chadli | Verdict: Hit One of the few successful signings, after a difficult start to his Spurs career. Although he often does not look threatening, he has a habit of scoring important goals and making decisive contributions. Getty 8/12 Ben Davies | Verdict: Miss While the left-back has yet to make an impact, Gylfi Sigurdsson, who Spurs allowed to join Swansea so they could secure Davies, has been very influential for his new club. In reality, £10m is a lot to spend on a full-back if you only plan to use him in the cup competitions - Davies’s fate so far this season. GETTY 9/12 Michel Vorm | Verdict: Jury Out Signed with next season in mind? On the face of it, it seemed a strange decision for the Dutchman to swap first-team football at Swansea for the bench at Tottenham. However, there is every chance Hugo Lloris will want to leave next summer and if he does Spurs already have a replacement. Getty 10/12 Eric Dier | Verdict: Jury Out May develop into a fine player. Looks powerful at centre-back and has done okay when asked to fill in at right back, although clearly this is not his best position. Despite his promise, he does not look ready at the moment to play regularly in the Premier League and Spurs need players who can improve their team now. Getty 11/12 Federico Fazio | Verdict: Miss He still has time to improve but his performances until now have done little to suggest that he is cut out for English football. Lacking pace and with faulty positional sense, Fazio has already been sent off twice in his Spurs career and whenever he is on the ball it is enough to make Spurs fans wince. Getty 12/12 Benjamin Stambouli | Verdict: Miss Signed when Spurs realised they would not be able to get Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton. Stambouli has shown he was a good player during his time at Montpellier but the little playing time he has been granted so far suggests Pochettino may not rate him especially highly. Getty

Redknapp said: “It totally undermines your role as manager if you’re not picking the players. It’s a joke really that you are expected to work with someone else’s players. It’s all very well someone recommending players to you but when they don’t work out, it’s your head on the block.

“I’m just not in favour of that. As a manager I have to select the players, train them every day and make decisions. To expect me to work with players someone else has decided I want is a nonsense. I want to make my own decisions and rightfully so. If things don’t work out fine, I’m responsible for that. But why should I be accountable for someone else’s mistakes?

“My head’s on the block when it goes wrong so no I’m not going to support something that could cost me my job and I have no say in it.”

When Redknapp took over at White Hart Lane in October 2008, he made it abundantly clear he could not work with someone in that capacity and Damien Comolli was sacked as Tottenham returned to a traditional style of football management.

With Redknapp able to handpick players rather than be told who the club were signing by someone above him, Spurs enjoyed arguably their most successful spell in recent years.

They qualified for their first Champions League campaign in 2010 and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

In Redknapp’s final season the club finished fourth but missed out on the Champions League because Chelsea took their place after winning it.

The debate over Baldini’s power, lack of transparency and accountability has seen Tottenham come under fierce attack after losing four of six home games this season.

Redknapp said: “I’ve never been in favour of them or wanted to work under one. How can someone else select your players and not be accountable when you have to work with them and if they’re rubbish you get the blame?”

He accepts the system is widely used abroad and works with relative success in Italy, Spain and Germany.

“That’s all very well but they have a completely different way of bringing in players,” he said. “It all depends on the relationship between certain individuals. If you are all working together and want the same thing then it’s not such a problem. Abroad they seem to have a system where other people pick players and you have to work with them but I couldn’t work like that.”