Is it time for Tottenham to sack Juande Ramos?

Woe upon woe. Followers of Tottenham Hotspur may have thought that it could not possibly get any worse, but this weekend just goes to prove how wrong you can be.

Chants of "You don't know what you're doing" reverberated around Fratton Park 17 minutes from Spurs' 2-0 defeat by Portsmouth yesterday,  as Ramos decided to replace Roman Paylyuchenko with Darren Bent, rather than pairing them together in attack.

Jermain Defoe, not unexpectedly, was among the goals after being deemed surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane. The England forward, who moved on in last January's transfer window, was substituted before the end of the match at Fratton Park and was given a warm ovation by BOTH sets of fans.

Tottenham had four points from six matches this time last season, earning Martin Jol the sack, and while Ramos does not yet fear the same fate, he admits the situation is becoming increasingly difficult.

"My job does not depend on me," Ramos said after the defeat. "We have a board and a chairman who decide that sort of thing.

"At the moment it is a complicated situation. Right now, things are going against us and nobody is helping us. Everyone is quite upset about it."

True, Spurs were in a right mess towards the end of Jol's reign, but this state of affairs is hardly what Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, would have had in mind when he enticed Ramos to leave Seville for life in the English Premier League.

Today's question, therefore, is very simple: is it time for Tottenham to sack Juande Ramos? Please cast your vote and leave us a comment in the field at the bottom of this post.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Comments

[Howard]

Firing Ramos is the last thing Spurs need. They need consistancy and work with what they've got. The blame lies with Levy. In his greed he sanctioned getting rid of the strikeforce of Berbabtov and Keene and they were replaced with a poor Russian boy who runs around looking lost i.e. history tells us NO Russians ever make good at top level in England.

Self fulfilling prophecy Levy.

[I believe in Modric]

Yes, lets sack Commoli for bringing in players like Berbatov, Bale, Chimbonda, Malbranque, Zokora, Hutton, Woodgate, Gomes, Dos Santos, Modric, Bent, Pavlyuchenko and Bentley.

Yeah, because Fergie, Mourinho, Benitez and Wenger have a 100% record with their purchases having never wasted money on players who flopped.

How ANYONE can blame Commoli is beyond me. Does Commoli sign the checks or does he identify targets?

Spurs were after Arshavin. The fact that Spurs did not buy him is because Zenit upped the price after already agreeing to one. That was LEVY'S decision.

Spurs were selling Berbatov. The fact that they waited until the last minute to get 30mil for him was LEVY'S decision.

Spurs sold Keane for 20mil. Personally, I think Keane was not in Ramos' plans and so he had no problem selling him. Certainly, receiving 20mil for a player worth half that amount was a good decision by LEVY.

I have no doubt that Commoli and Ramos had several replacements for keane and berbatov identified. the fact that money was not spent on them is 100% LEVY'S fault.

Ramos has come out and praised Commoli while at the same time complaining about not having a settled squad by the time the season started. Sounds like he's blaming Levy to me.

If anyone should leave its LEVY. If there is a multi-billionaire sniffing around then LEVY should sell. I can't imagine that the indecisiveness and holding out for more money would have occurred if money wasn't an issue. In fact, if we had a Billionaire, we could have bought 3 world class superstars in June and offered Berbatov 150K per week ensuring his stay.

LEVY OUT - MULTI-BILLIONAIRE IN!

[Oliver]

Ramos had won it all in the last few seasons... But his teams have always needed time. When he arrived to Seville, the team was awful, but he took those guys to the UEFA title. Let him work, and Hotspurs will win whatever they want.

[clayton hodges]

commoli and levy are to blame for all of this. they knew for almost a year that berb was going to leave and yet didnt find a replacement. in summer transfers we made a profit and if we signed pavy why didnt we sign arshavin, because levy was too tight. commoli is a waste of time and money and i would welcome a new buyer for the club but not like man city have done as i love spurs' tradition and dont want some foreign billionaire just turning us into a new chelsea or man utd.

[m tatnell]

The most annoying factor of spurs at the moment is the lack of commitment from all players. add to this the captincy of Jenas the worst player for getting stuck in and it shows how bad we are.I do not want Ramos to go but he has to hold his hands up for letting all his team get away with the poor attitude after winning the carling cup.
As a season ticket holder I was dismayed at the lack of pride in the team after winning their first trophy in years they should have wanted to win all games not just stroll around as if they were to good to play in the premier league.
I would lay down the law with all of the team and say if we do not get 100% every game you are not fit to wear the shirt and will be sold.
All true fans can forgive the poor start but not the lack of commitment.
So lets sign players who want to play for us and get rid of the others.

[Neil Sach]

We need to keep Ramos, I'm sure it is just one of those years, look at Everton & Man Utd the press are leaving them alone and they've been awful as well. One win and we'll be back on I'm sure (Hope)

Don't no why we don't take a risk on the free transfer for Ronaldo, he may have injury problems but I'd bet he'd live the squad you and get a few goals.

[Colin]

Let's just face up to facts. Despite the fact that we haven't won a game, we are defending better than we ever did under Jol. I liked the guy but our defending was disgraceful and for a coach not to be able to install the basics into a professional outfit is unforgivable. At least now, our defence don't make individual errors and up until the Jenas handball, did Pompey actually look like scoring? When they did breach our defence, our GK was solid enough to stop the shots. Gomez is a better goalie than Robinson and will prove this in due course. I was in Eindhoven to witness this.
The issue here isn't Levy. Any chairman who cashes in on bad assets (this is what Keane and Berbatov became) is obliged to make the best out of the situation. The issue isn't with Ramos. The guy finished 3rd in La Liga and was top for a huge chunk of the season. Two UEFA cups and a Supercup? The guy knows what he is doing but unfortunately for us at the moment, he is not sure what his best XI is. Is the issue with Comolli? If the stories about his transfer deadline day bunglings are true, then maybe he should shoulder some of the blame. He can also be held accountable for never replacing Michael Carrick properly. Let's not forget, the team went backwards after his departure.
Personally I blame the game. Nowadays overpaid and priveledged players call the shots. Would we be top 4 if Carrick, Defoe, Keane & Berbatov had stayed? Definitely. Stop blaming those that are there and think about those who left us in this mess with their desire to play for bigger clubs. The Transfer Window and Champions League revenue also do not help. 20 years ago, these boys would have been happy to stay at Spurs, as there was only 1 team in the European Cup and the UEFA Cup was a prestige competition. The negative cycle at Spurs need to stop. I've been going for 18 years and this is one of the better squads I have seen. As fans, we need to get behind the manager, support the players and give them a lift during the game, rather than getting on their cases. BELIEVE.

[tempestteacup]

As has been said elsewhere, the problem with spurs - apart that is from the small matter of flogging 50 goals worth of strikers to two direct rivals - is that none of the (British or otherwise) members of the team with Prem experience are offering proper assistance to their new teammates. Modric is an excellent player, handled correctly the potential fulcrum for the team, but he needs not only time but a bit of guts and thoughtful help from those around him, and despite their summer sales spurs have plenty of Prem-experienced players: Bentley, King, Dawson (don't laugh, he was good for a bit when breaking into the first team), Woodgate, Bent, even Zokora (who was also quite good when playing for st-Etienne) etc.

I've always had my doubts about Jermaine Jenas, who looks like he should have everything yet glides around the pitch a bit like a cross between an Afghan Hound and a swan (in footballing terms; think about it and it may make sense), and the others likewise are continuing the trend of looking good or reading good on paper but on the pitch offering not enough substance. How exactly do spurs want to play? What/where is the character of the team?

Is Ramos to blame for that? To an extent, but the problems pre-existed his appointment. Also, without that stability, the young players aren't improving. Lennon has gone nowhere in 2 years, Bent and Dawson likewise.

And what's the solution? I don't know - it's easier to point to problems than to solve them. sack the board, or the manager, or entice a billionaire to the buy the club, or something, that usually does the trick...ahem.

[KW]

As an Arsenal fan it is great.

Ramos is a quality coach. He needs time as does his team. There are quality players there....and people forget that he was given time in Spain before to develop his system and style of play. Spurs could sack him, but who are they going to bring in. There was and still remains to high an expectation on their team. To truly break into the top four will take years of consistency. 2 top five finishes was good, but needed to be consolidated (and expected). Instead, huge expectations of breaking into the top 4 were put on the team last season and then the manager sacked. They needed to just sit back and aim for top 6.

As an Arsenal fan, of course its great to see the perceived crisis at Spurs, but as a football fan, you want to see your team play against quality every week and succeed. There is no joy in rolling over poor teams.

Another problem is that Spurs want top 4 so that Enic can bring the price of the club up. In which case, Levy should go, as a businessman, he is not doing his job, and as a chairman of a football club, his decisions look to have seriously destabilised a side that 2 years ago looked much more solid.

[Hugh]

Could we please make some sensible decisions at Spurs.

If King is not fit, why not give the captaincy to Woodgate – our most consistent player. I don’t understand why Jenas was given the captaincy and the very next game he was on the bench? What sort of message does that send out?

Spurs fans have been saying for ages that the team lacks character, if we cannot find that central midfield player that is going to bind the team together then good players will always look to leave. Why doesn’t someone as big as Tommy Huddlestone get stuck in more and dominate, he could hurt teams. Where is his passion for playing for THFC?

An area which needs to be addressed is our youth policy, which is awful, most clubs aspiring to reach top 4 status have a decent youth policy in place where players are coming through the ranks.

I’m worried about whether Ramos or Connelli is making the decisions on transfers. Malbranque was a consistent player for us and he did not want to leave, Chimbonda was also a good player (but I can understand that he wanted to leave after Hutton was signed). We needed money spent on left wing and central midfield for the past three seasons but in 07/08 Kaboul, Kevin P-Boateng and Bent were bought. Why?

In 08/09 we made the cardinal sin of letting our 2 main strikers leave late on and now there is a glaring lack on inconsistency when coming to team selection. We need a balanced team every week. Start resting players later on in the season, it’s all about getting them to gel now.

GOMES, BALE, WOODGATE, KING/CORLUKA, CORLUKA/GUNTER, LENNON (left wing), BENTLEY (right wing), PAVLUCHENKO – these 8 players should play every week, you then have three simple decisions to make: 2 midfielders and a striker, or 3 midfielders one of them playing in the hole (Dos Santos?). On current for and willingness to try you would have to say O’Hara and Dos Santos look like they want to play and try their hearts out for the club. Its then one decision Zokora/Huddlestone/Jenas.

Bent looks like he is lacking in self belief and it is something which can make our own team nervous, just like Anthony Gardener use to make our defence nervous. Campbell looks like someone who is fearless so play him and Pavulechenko up front if going with 2 strikers. Bent needs to come on when we are winning comfortable so we can build his confidence up.

If Ramos does not work out then we need to get someone like Roy Keane in to scare the players senseless and to work out who actually wants to be at Spurs and who’s just happy picking up a salary.

Someone needs to realize that these problems we have could have been avoidable.

[lewin]

ramos made a lot of changes when he came in ,but then destroyed the spirit when he sold almost the whole team so lets not blame berabtov or keane . spurs has the players ,but their is no management.i was going to say bring in venables ,but from what i have seen in todays papers where he is blaming berbatov i think he is not a good manager ,now we know why he did not do well at england national team.so spurs can not function without berbatov according tovenables

[Andrew Oddiri]

Keep Ramos for two years and give him a free hand and whatever he wants for the period.Fire him in MAY 2010 if he does not make the big FOUR@the expense of ARSENAL.

[Steve]

Let's not get over excited and fall for the anti-Spurs media hype

We are playing badly and there is no midfield.
Put Huddlestone in with the outstanding Zokora to hassle the ball off the opposition like Diarra did to us against Portsmouth and let the fluffies of Bentley, Dos Santos or Modric pick the passes.
It won't change until that happens.

[nahdi]

The Board with their chopping and changing managers every couple of seasons, not getting the players, in time, that Ramos wanted.

Yeah, right, sack him !!! Talk about knee jerk

[Billy Blake]

or compare Bent, Campbell and Pavlyucenko to Owen, Martins, Viduka and Xisco. Spurs problems lie in attack and CMF.

[Bill Livings]

What's the guy meant to do when "the experts" at his club, who have probably not played the game since leaving kindergarden because they kept getting their kit dirty, left him without a strike force less than 24 hours before the season started. How good was Keane for Liverpool on Saturday ? Involved in both goals. No effort was made to keep him at The Lane, and we would not be in this position had he stayed. When Levy was feeling pleased with himself for squeezing a few extra bucks out of Man Utd for Berba - did he give a stuff about the effect his brinkmanship would have on the team's results - I doubt it. Keep Ramos, get rid of the board, and find an investor who wants to win something. Martin Jol, we knew it wasn't your fault last time - there's a common denominator here - and it ain't the managers. I need a reason to keep getting up in the middle of the night to watch this lot, and a good night's sleep is looking more appealing as the season goes on.
Bill Livings, Melbourne, Australia.

[AJ]

Ramos needs more time, if he had known the transfer mess he was walking into he never would have left Seville. Win two cups and finish mid table and he will be a hero!

[john]

Make big changes to a side and it has to be 50/50 as to whether they gel or not.

He could do with picking the same side and formation, but I think it will come good.

Shame both the forwards decided to leave but not much we can do, I think Keane will never perform as well at Liverpool than he did at Spurs, Berbatov I'm not bothered what happens.

Hutton getting injured hasnt helped, we'd be much stronger with him there and Corluka alongside Woodgate.

[Clare]

Ramos must stay, he'll make my Christmas and St. Totteringham's day come early for me!

[Mike]

As others have pointed out, the way the transfers were handled this summer almost guaranteed Spurs would be in this mess.

It honestly didn't matter that Keane and Berbatov went to Liverpool and United. Both clubs are so far ahead of Spurs as to practically be playing in a different division. It just mattered that they went, and that they went so late as to preclude bringing in reasonable replacements with enough time to integrate them into the side.

I'd also like to point out the painfully obvious concept that better players cost more than weaker players. Unless you have Arsene Wegner doing the buying and selling (I'm no Arsenal fan but let's be honest...), turning a healthy profit in the summer transfer market isn't typically a recipe for improving a side.

[Nigel]

Unfortunately, I think it is time for Ramos to go. He's been here almost a year now and, apart from the Carling Cup, we've gone serioulsy backwards. Not once has he given an interview in English his time here. His lack of English seems to go hand in hand with his lack of knowledge of the club, it's players and its supporters. It seems now that he's lost not only the players, who obviously don't listen to him, but the fans as well. Doing nothing is not an option. Ultimately the whole board and management structure need to go as well and let's hope the muted takeover by an Asian consortium actually takes place. If this does happen maybe they could appoint Terry Venables, at least as a caretaker manager until the end of the season. Otherwise, we will get relegated, and, considering the way the board treated Martin Jol, some might see that as payback time.

[Amazingstoke]

Both Levy and Comoli have done an outstanding job. They did not give their strikers away they pocketed over 50 million from a pair of strikers who have yet to score for their new clubs. So both Levy and Comoli have done outstanding jobs and managed some amazing signings such as Dos Santos and Modric.

Now its down the manager to take care of what happens on the pitch. Unfortunately every game is getting worse for Spurs. I know think Ramos will have no alternative but to resign if Spurs looses the next match at home. He must accept his responsibility and sacrifise himself.

[Terry E]

Losing Ramos is not going to be the answer. Maybe Poyet and definately Comoli.

Lets get some passion and a shape that allows us to attack teams. Playing sqaure balls across the back every 5mins leaves us looking indescisive.

Berbatov was always going to go, so we would have been better taking the £25M early and buying at our leisure. Good luck to Keane £20M is good business for Spurs and he had been a good servant to the club.

Spurs need to take stock, we have a good squad of players they just need balancing with the correct ethos and maybe a slice of luck.

[Mark]

If Spurs do sack Ramos, what then, who then? perhaps the 'board' have finally got what hey deserved. The same at Newcastle, football is now a huge ticking time bomb, waiting to implode, the only problem is the fans, we are an irritant most of the time, all these people care about is chasing the money, and this is what happens when non fooballing people are allowed to buy into clubs.

[reuben anderson]

p.s. Out of everyone, Steed Malbranque was the biggest loss to Spurs. Sorely missed.