Ramos vows to bring his attacking play to Tottenham

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspurs' new manager Juande Ramos has vowed to bring his own style of attacking play and inject confidence into the struggling Premier League team.

"I enjoy attacking, that's my football philosophy, and I obviously want to install a style close to my philosophy at Tottenham," he told reporters at White Hart Lane on Tuesday.

The Spurs have won once in 11 league games this season and are third from bottom but Ramos was optimistic he could turn their fortunes around and get them to the top "where they belong".

"We'll have to take things step by step," the Spaniard said through an interpreter. "At the start it's about getting some good results and getting some confidence in the players.

"I've signed a long contract so I will set bigger aims as time goes by," added Ramos, who on Friday agreed a contract as head coach through to the end of 2010-11 season.

He was flanked at Tuesday's news conference by his assistants Marcos Alvarez and former Spurs player Gus Poyet, who has moved from his post as assistant at Leeds United.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, criticized by fans for the way manager Martin Jol was sacked last Thursday, was absent.

The 53-year-old Ramos steered clear of the controversy over the Dutchman's departure and Sevilla's bitterness at the way the deal to take their coveted manager to London was done.

Right time for Hotspurs

He denied meeting Tottenham officials in August, although Ramos said he had received three or four offers in pre-season.

"Now is the right time to take the offer from Tottenham because Sevilla were going through some bad results and I thought I had to take the chance," Ramos said.

"I have a lot of respect for Martin Jol because he had two great seasons here. But I will do my best to impose my own style on this team."

Poyet, who joined Spurs from Chelsea as a player, said the chance to work with Ramos was too good to turn down. "I tried to go (to Sevilla) twice last year to watch Juande coaching," said the Uruguayan.

"Of course, (Leeds manager) Dennis (Wise) is not happy because it's not nice when you lose your assistant in the middle of the season, but he was very good with me and understood the situation."

Tottenham's sporting director Damien Comolli denied the club was embarrassed over its handling of Jol's sacking.

The Dutchman was fired immediately after the 2-1 UEFA Cup defeat by Getafe, although rumors of his demise were rife all season after the reports Ramos had met the Spurs directors.

"I'm not embarrassed," Comolli, whose own role at the club has come under scrutiny, told reporters. "Sometimes you have to make decisions in football and it was a decision we had to take.

"I believe you need the right coach in the right club at the right moment and I believe Juande is exactly that."

Agencies

(China Daily 11/01/2007 page23)