Ramos blames Keane and Berbatov departures for sack
Ramos apologised to Spurs fans for not being able to bring them more success
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Tuesday, 28, Oct 2008 10:16
Former Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has cited the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov as a major factor in his eventual departure from the White Hart Lane club.
Ramos was sacked on Saturday with Spurs lying bottom of the Premier League table but has now claimed that he always faced an uphill task this season without the strike force which scored 90 goals in the past two seasons.
"When Robbie Keane and Berbatov left the club, it had a huge effect on the team as they were key players with regard to tactics, goal scoring abilities and also as team mates they had an important influence," the Spaniard said in a statement on his personal website.
Spurs spent heavily in the summer on the likes of Roman Pavlyuchenko, David Bentley, Luka Modric and Giovani Dos Santos, but Ramos feels that the unrest in the club proved to be crucial.
"During the summer we had quite a difficult pre-season due to the changes in the team, which meant that we couldn’t work as calmly as a pre-season requires.
"Some of the new players were very young, and despite their quality they needed time to adapt and mature, which unfortunately the intensity of the competition hasn’t allowed them to do yet.
"All this has led to a situation which I hope will change as soon as possible because the Club and the fans deserve success."
Ramos, who was fired a year to the day after taking over from Martin Jol, also paid tribute to the Tottenham fans and apologised for not being able to bring them more success such as the Carling Cup win last season.
"I want to tell the Spurs fans how grateful I am for the way they have treated me," he said.
"You have made me feel very happy for many months and I am only sorry not to have been able to offer you more magical evenings like the one at Wembley last February."