Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has taken another swipe at the management structure of the club before his arrival.
Last summer there were joint decisions made by Juande Ramos, sporting director Damien Comolli and chairman Daniel Levy over new signings.
"It's people spending the money and buying the right players and knowing what they are doing," said Redknapp.
"That's why Martin O'Neill has done well - because he knows what he's doing.
"When you get people buying players who don't know what they're doing, then you've got problems - it doesn't matter how much they spend."
There are not many managers who have a better transfer record than Redknapp.
"I do know what I am doing, which is why I have survived 30 years in this business," he said.
"I do have a rough idea of who can play football. We all make mistakes, and I have made a few. I have also made quite a few correct ones - otherwise, I would not have lasted as long as I have.
"I have always bought wisely. I built a team at Portsmouth without much money, but we paid good wages.
"The key players were free - Sol (Campbell), (Sylvain) Distin - we paid £1million for (David) James. Kanu was free."