Hoddle is a good manager (even if he is a complete numpty) and I feel would relish the team we have now with little change other than to rid the club of excess baggage.

Goal – Robinson, Alnwick, Cerny
Center Back – King, Dawson, Kaboul, Rocha, Gardner, Huddlestone(mid or def)
Wing Back – Chimbonda, Bale, Y-P Lee, Stalteri, Ekotto
Midfield – Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Tainio, Ghaly, Boateng, Lennon
Forward – Bent, Berbatov, Keane, Defoe
Others – Tarabt, Routledge, O’Hara, Barnard, Ifill, Dervitte

Is it just me, or do we have exactly the right players for him to do the job well for a long time. We have some already really good players, some great youth talent and so many players we could easily sell 6 or 7 and then hope to add to that team slowly with more real quality. Forget chasing the top 4 and just hope it comes. Become a solid team who can be problematic for the big sides home and away doing things thay they won’t like to have done to them, while still being good enough to beat the rest if we organise in defence and on set pieces. I think it would be the best team Hoddle had ever managed and he’d be able to do well. Also this is a much better team than he inherited before at Spurs and some credit for that should go to M.J. IMHO.

IMHO we have a good squad for the right sort of manager and I don’t think that’s Ramos at the moment. If we don’t hit top four by the end of next season (which we won’t) then he’ll be off to a much better club than us and I suspect we’ll be giving a worse side to another manager at the point.

I feel another truth with Spurs is that we’re good at making the right decisions at the wrong time and the wrong decision at times when another would be right. I personally feel this is what’s happened again.

As for anyones hope of cracking the top four in Engaland? Don’t bet on it happening anytime soon. Football has been set up by the new Champions League format to almost creat a European super-league without actually going the whole hog and doing it. These clubs now spend money and build their teams so as to exclude anyone else from getting thier mitts on the cash at the top of our league and the champions-league. This only serves to make them stronger while not silencing the press suggesting whoever is in fifth at the time might/can push for one of those spots. When they fail they are unhappy and problems start for them and they inevitabley slip away only for another club to take up the mantle of hoping to ‘crack the top 4′.

The clubs in the top 4 would be remiss if they let this happen and they won’t. I personally think the stlye of football by the top clucbs with all the money shows their defensive nature to their privilaged position in the game. They buy all the best players they can to stop anyone else getting them whether they suit their style or not. So now you have a team like Man Utd who give in to player power, break their once lauded pay structure and sell someone of the quality of R.V.N. because the young talent they had to have can’t play consistantly and responsibley in a sloid 4-4-2 (rooney and ronaldo). So now they just have loads of the same player and give them free reign to do what they want. They won’t be good enough to beat the best in Europe at the sharp end but they sure are a good net for trawling all the money out of the game and thus the fans pockets.

However, I do have that same feeling now they’ve signed Ramos, (although I’m trying desperately not to !) Ramos’ track record speaks for itself. I think he will do a decent job, and he’ll prob get the best out of the current squad. But he’s going to need time.

This season is now a wash out for Spurs in terms of league position, (top 4) and unless something drastic happens UEFA cup place. He’s got a chance of doing well in the cups, but he’s not going to get much chance to work with the players before those start kicking in, so don’t expect miracles.

The biggest prob at Spurs at the moment is the board. Every board has a right to think, “right this guys taken us as far as he can, time for a change”, why oh why, if that’s what they thought didn’t they do this in the summer ? Let Ramos spend the 40 mill, get a squad of players he’s more comfortable with, and have had a chance to work with. Now we’re back in the same old, “this is a season of transition” !!!

I hope Ramos is left alone to do the job. More importantly buy the players he wants, rather than what Camolli or anyone else thinks is right, and given the time to build a decent team. If the board can do that, then yes, we may have a chance of challenging the top 4. If they can’t we’ve already blown 1 decent chance of making the top 4, we’ll be blowing another one !!!

The biggest challenge for Ramos off the pitch at the moment will be dealing with Tottenham’s disaster of a board. He’s had prickly relationships with directors in the past, including at Sevilla, and Tottenham seem to be run by a group of men who could alienate a puppy. Yesterday’s press conference wasn’t a great beginning (Ramos claimed never to have met with Spurs officials in August, even though he was photographed doing so). I like what Ramos brings to the pitch, but if Tottenham can’t straighten themselves out off it he might have a short stay.

However, the side is too far behind the pack to make a dent on the league, and if the board keep interfering with the football then he’ll struggle to grow his side into one capable of challenging in the league.

So while Ramos is good enough, the question remains as to whether the club is.

Tottenham deffinetley have quality, but they will lose a lot of it if they do not qualify for the UEFA cup this year so that will make things harder for Spurs. Turning the top 4 int a top 5 will take years. Jol was lamost there but now Ramos will need a few years before he can do it too. As for Tottenham replacing one of the big four: only if the stadard of the Premier League (overall) increases drastically.