Juande Ramos admitted he is starting to feel the pressure after Tottenham Hotspur’s miserable season hit a new low with a 2-1 defeat at Stoke City.
Spurs boss Ramos cut a dispirited figure at the Britannia Stadium in the aftermath of another horror show, which condemned his club to their worst ever start to a season. With six defeats from eight matches, Spurs are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League and are already in danger of being cast adrift.
It is a stunning state of affairs for a team regarded as potential challengers for a Champions League place in pre-season. Now Ramos faces a desperate fight to save his job and the Spanish coach accepted the responsibility for Tottenham’s slump started with him.
“I’m worried about the situation, but last season we won the League Cup and everyone was very happy,” Ramos said. “At this moment everyone is very sad and I am worried about it as I don’t like this situation. We need to work very hard to change this situation and only hard work can change it. This is my job and I am working very hard each day to finish this situation. The responsibility is all the people working in the club starting with me and finishing with the last person — we all have responsibility, when we win and when we lose.”
Asked if he planned to meet chairman Daniel Levy and whether he was confident he had Levy’s backing, he said: “I don’t know — this is a question for the chairman. I speak to the chairman when he permits us to speak. He’s a very busy person and I don’t know when it will be possible to speak.”
Ramos’ day started badly when Gareth Bale conceded a penalty and was red-carded 17 minutes into the game. Danny Higginbotham scored from the spot and, although Darren Bent equalized, Rory Delap grabbed the winner before Michael Dawson was given a straight red card for a foot-up challenge.
Ramos said: “Sometimes football is difficult to explain. We had two penalties against us, two players sent off, some players injured. It was very difficult for us after the sending off in the first half, but the attitude of the players was very good.”
Spurs face Bolton Wanderers, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in their next four league games, but Ramos said he was not concerned at facing the big teams.
“We played Chelsea away and played OK and got a point and I think playing against big teams, the team can concentrate well,” Ramos said.
Ramos insisted it was not his worst point in soccer, adding: “No — I have been in professional football for 20 years and have had very good experiences and very bad experiences. Against Hull and today I liked the team, but sometimes it’s difficult to play with 10 against 11. I think the penalty decision was OK, but the Bale red card should have been a yellow card.”
Stoke boss Tony Pulis was delighted to inflict more misery on Spurs as it boosted his own side’s survival hopes, but he called on the Tottenham board to stick with Ramos.
“Let’s see a bit of character by their board of directors and see them back him,” he said. “We are all in the same boat and know the rules, and have to accept it.”
Pulis admitted that his players had disappointed him after going in front, but that he was delighted with the way they came on strong in the second half.
“We were like rabbits trapped in headlights for the rest of the first half,” Pulis said. “After they went down to 10 men we were garbage. We just told them to push up in the second half and not show them so much respect. The second half was more like us. We played with a bit of pace and could have scored more goals.”
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