by Joe Walton 

Juande Ramos is in trouble. The media and crucially the Tottenham fans are starting to turn against him and there is good reason for this. Spurs are in trouble. As their terrible start to the season continues commentators are finding it harder to claim that this is just a poor start and that Spurs will inevitably improve.

The problems of every football team are initially laid at the feet of the manager, but at Spurs doubts about Ramos have taken a while to surface given that his delivery of the Carling Cup at the expense of Arsenal and Chelsea so soon in his tenure gave him instant credibility. But, rumours about him being homesick, his public discussion of his job security and his inability to give interviews in English, and concerns about his tactical nous have taken the initial shine off. When these sort of rumours abound it is a strong or lucky manager that gets through unscathed. As for Gus Poyet being sent out for post-match television interviews like a junior minister being sent on News Night, Ramos looks like he is bottling it when it comes to criticism.

Another major problem for Spurs is the team that Ramos has put together. Their midfield, whilst showcasing some impressive attacking midfield talent, is woefully short of balance. Didier Zokora is an incredibly combative midfielder, however, he is no Makelele and cannot possibly be the defensive lynch pin of a midfield full of players who's natural inclination is to attack. Tom Huddlestone who has the potential to be a very good holding midfielder is clearly not fancied by Ramos, despite being the sort of player Spurs need. The summer signings of Modric, Bentley and Dos Santos simply gave Spurs more of the type of player that they currently have an abundance of. And whilst an attacking midfield may seem attractive, Spurs don't have the defence for it. Woodgate is prone to mistakes, King, too injury prone to build a defence behind and the full-backs, arguably the position where Spurs have the best options, are often played in roles unsuited to them.


Up front, there are more worries. The transfer saga which left Spurs without Keane and Berbatov, the partnership that produced 90 goals over the past 2 years, is one of the worst things to have happened to the club in years. Whilst Keane and Berbatov have found it difficult without each other, Spurs are left with a partnership of Bent and Pavluchenko which hasn't as yet offered the slightest hint that they can replicate the pairing that came before. If Ramos wants to play with 1 up front, neither look capable of holding up the play well enough either. Fraizer Campbell looks like a good prospect but the daunting challenge of performing for Spurs will require instant maturity from the 21 year old who is as yet untested in the Premiership.

Off the pitch things aren't any better. There is much talk of a possible takeover, with Joe Lewis, the man who owns Spurs, reportedly losing a $800 million and the almost constant criticism that follows Damien Comolli and Daniel Levy since the sacking of Martin Jol has brought a steady stream of uncertainty. The expectations of the fans and the media that followed Spurs' impressive pre-season has proven to be incredibly damaging. If the fans genuinely believe that they have the team to challenge the 'big 4', aside from being deluded their expectations have meant that every defeat has hurt more, leading to a worsening of the atmosphere on match days. The burden of expectation is a massive thing for players and fans alike to deal with.

Spurs may get relegated. Despite them having some very good players, a highly sought after manager, good support and a generally well run club (look at their impressive balancing of the books), any positive can be turned into a negative surprisingly quickly when a team finds itself at the bottom of the league. West Ham proved that no team is 'too good to go down'. The longer a team languishes, the harder it becomes to lift performances and therefore the mood. Ramos must work out how he wants his team to play, he must play players where they want to play and he must improve a poor defence. If not, he could be out of a job and Spurs could be out of the league.