Wenger: Spurs Shouldn't Have Sacked Ramos

Wednesday, 29 October 08, 07:47 PM · Comments(0)

Arsene Wenger has criticised Tottenham Hotspur's decision to axe manager Juande Ramos, insisting that the Spaniard was not given a fair chance...

Ramos was replaced by Harry Redknapp, the former Portsmouth manager, at the weekend after Tottenham had failed to procure a single win in their first eight games of the season.

It was a highly disappointing end to a tenure which many believed would see Spurs succeed in their long-held ambition to challenge for Champions League places. Last season's Carling Cup win was supposed to be a stepping stone to greatness - but, alas, it was not to be.

Despite the Lilywhites' dreadful form, the club's board have received harsh criticism from some quarters for sacking Ramos so soon into his his first full season at the helm. Wenger is one of those critics.

Patient

"I don’t think he’d have been sacked if he had only arrived at Tottenham in July," the Arsenal manager said in The Sun. "But the fact is he arrived in the middle of last season and people were less patient with their league position.

"What sometimes happens in this league is when a team doesn’t go for Europe and wins the Carling Cup, they suddenly switch off.

"Without anyone noticing, slowly you lose results. And then, if you don’t start the next season well, which is what happened to Ramos, his environment slowly lost confidence in him."

Ramos arrived at White Hart Lane with a sterling reputation after winning back-to-back UEFA Cups at Sevilla, and Wenger is not the only one who is confused by the Ciudad Real native's failure in the Premier League.

"I am very surprised it didn’t work for Ramos and I feel sorry for him because I rate him as a coach and as a man," he said.

"It takes time to get your ideas through. I understand Tottenham have to make decisions but you would want anyone to be given more than eight or nine games."

Different Direction

Damien Comolli, the Spurs sporting director, was also relieved of his duties after taking much of the blame for the club's transfer blunders over the past few summers.

Ramos was less than sympathetic towards his former colleague, however, insisting that he (the manager) had no say in the signings of David Bentley, Giovani Dos Santos, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric and Heurelho Gomes.

Tottenham have opted not to replace Comolli for the time being, drafting in Redknapp - a traditional English manager - to oversee all team affairs.

Wenger is interested by the appointment: "Now they have gone a completely different way and done away with the director of football because they were suddenly convinced it doesn’t work for them.

"Only time will tell whether Harry Redknapp will be a success."

Spurs claimed their first win of the season at the weekend, but the odds will be against them when they take on Arsenal in the North London derby this evening.