In the early days he did reasonably well - 50/50 at least.
He got in Zabba, Barry, Vinnie, NDJ (expensive but good), Given, SWP (not many were complaining at the time). These can be offset by Ben Haim, Jo (arguably not his), Robinho (not his), Bridge - on the fence about Bellamy.
When he did have pots of cash he spunked it on some no-hopers or just overpaid by too much. Badabuyor, Lescott (good but too much), Kolo (good but too much), Tevez (good at the time, trainwreck later), RSC!!!!.
I think he'd be OK with a budget, he's unearthed some gems (mainly from the german league). Still dislike him and think he can't manage top pro's or actually coach defence but he should be able to keep QPR up.