Four months in the Premier League and you have won the Carling Cup. Did you expect such a change at the club?
Well, when I landed at the club I never thought about how much time would go by before success arrived but it was essential to urgently change the dynamics of the team because we were immersed in a run of bad results and we have done just that. We have changed the team's results in the Premier League and in both cup competitions and the achievement has been brilliant.
When you arrived, which were the main points you thought that needed changing?
Especially the negative inertia the club was in. We were in a very negative situation and that just took us to obvious defeats. So it was fundamental to change the dynamics and the players' mentality because otherwise, it would have been impossible to move forward.
What made you decide to leave the Spanish league and join the English one, a league I think you have always been attracted to?
Yes, that's right. What made me decide was the chance to be able to work in England as its football has always fascinated me and I have always liked so much. An offer from a club such as Tottenham, a historic club in the British Isles, is what definitely made me accept the offer because I didn't know if another one would come along.
Personally, what's the toughest aspect within your adaptation: the language, the change, the city,...?
I knew what I was getting into and it's true that maybe what I have found the toughest is the change of climate. It's much colder here than in Sevilla!
And what have you liked the most about London?
London is an amazing city, wonderful, and I'm very happy to live here. There are so many
good things about it and the truth is that the experience is being great.
The truth is that it was a wise decision to appoint Gustavo Poyet as your assistant because of the language and his knowledge of the club...
Yes, I think that, as well as Marcos [Álvarez] who I joined Spurs with, all the coaching staff and our work is compact. The truth is that Marcos and I have been the ones who have pushed, along with everyone else, to make this move forward.
And what about this famous nutritional plan?
No, no. That's been given greater importance than it deserves and I think the work has been done by the players.
How would you describe the Premier League and, with the Carling Cup in your pockets, which is the next objective?
The Premier League is one of the most important ones in Europe and the world. It's a great competition where all the matches are spectacular and the stadiums are full. The team's progression at the moment is in full development.
There's a lot of league ahead of us and then there's the UEFA Cup so we have to carry on working and, although our first objective was to make it to the Carling final and we have done that, we have to try to get as far as we can.
Do you feel an aura of success is following you in a way after what you achieved with Sevilla?
Well, it's great to carry on winning titles. It's not that I want to improve all we accomplished with Sevilla but it's very satisfying. We have to carry on this way, carry on working because it's that hard work which has got us this far, but I don't want to think ahead of that.
These are extracts from ESPN Soccernet, the full interview is available here... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=511678&cc=5739.
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16 comments:
The man's legend.
Thanks for interview HH and giving us all the info from the lane. I have got two questions for you
1.Any inside information on the stadium and the new training ground.
2.It's not like us to talk so openly about trtansfer targets.Are the deals for Jarque and Kameni done?
1. No!
2. Jarque is said to be 'done' by some...
it may be the translation, but Juande appears to downplay Poyet's role by saying "The truth is that Marcos and I have been the ones who have pushed, along with everyone else, to make this move forward"
Perhaps he sees Poyet as just the bloke who does the press interviews? I hope not, as at the very least, I think that Poyet's enthusiasm has to be a major contributor to the improved morale in the team
Gus has been fundamental to the team.
l think he is a great influence on the training ground and on matchdays.
who's the idiot who has got the singular vocabulary? idiot.
Quick question - would we have come so far and won on Sunday, even got to the final, with Jol still in charge? In Ramos we trust and believe; it's great to be a Spurs fan at the moment, please no more false dawns.
coys
Now I have sobered up, I have just been going through youtube at all the videos from tv and fans from sunday and its clear that there is a belief to go with the passion, fitness to go with the skill and a togetherness of all the squad even the ones who didn't play and the ones who stormed off the pitch in a huff! just look a Keano trying to find Berbs after the final whistle, Zokora during the penalty, Woody's celebration and JJ still full of running after 120 minutes of football. This Juande Ramos is the man to take us to the next level, our season is a triumph already and its only February. The squad and Coaching team are already preparing for the next big thing rather than trying to live off past reputations. Keep it up, because you will always have the best support in the country, proper support from the heart.
Thank you
Deano
The individual posting idiot, aside from being very boring say obviously hasn't got anything to s about football, even his own club which is probably ars*nal. What a sorry c@&t.
Anyway, Ramos is the business mates and this is the first time I have considered us a winning team in a long time. It actually loooks like we're in for a shout for the UEFA. Loving the fitness and attitude. The chelsea victory was massive. Well done the lads and COYS!
Ramos is a puzzle. He seems a genuine scholar of the game. His approach is cerebral. He analyses, interprets, leads. He shows the way. His understanding inspires confidence and respect. Like a bird of prey, he eyes details from a distance that others miss.
He carries an air of mystery, gravitas and authority. Yet he modestly dismisses his part in Spurs' achievements to date. Football, he will maintain, is a simple game. He is simply re-establishing the beauty of its simplicity. Winning requires hard work, speed and fitness. How simple is that? Child's play. But don't all the great masters make their art look simple?
Some coaches approach the game as if it employed simple equations: add and subtract, divide and multiply. Ramos is like a professor employing Pure Maths. His understanding is superior, his vocabulary broader, yet he's able to render things simply.
As head coach, Ramos will mainly stay detached from the players. No cigars with the boys, I suspect. Poyet, on the other hand, may be the one to place a friendly arm round the shoulder of the man left off the team-sheet. Probably his own arm. Or maybe someone else's, if his own arm is busy. Bad cop, good cop. And no doubt Poyet, being a sharp cookie himself, doesn't want for tactical nous either.
Whatever mental burdens the squad has been carrying, Ramos and his team are lifting them. An iron belief is emerging. I truly hope the players aren't, like maybe many a fan, waiting for someone to pinch them.
Improvement and achievement is NOT too good to be true; success and glory is NOT too good to last.
9.37 Anon
How cool is that?! 9.37 on the dot!
9.37 Anon
Great pic, Harry. The new face of Spurs? A winning one.
9.37 Anon
CRASH BANG WHOLLOP!!
Ramos Is a OLD SCHOOL Manager..
Respect is due because he demands it and it shows.. The players thought to much of Jol and They never showed enough respect.. Never played for the team as a whole.. Ramos has made the likes of Keane and Berba realise they aint TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR F.C..
I feel under Jol the attitude was "BILLY BIG BOLLOX" The players didnt show enough guts and will to win.. How many 80-90min goals went in against us and games we lost but should of won under Jol??
Jol is a NICE MAN... Ramos is the GUVNOR!!!
It shows on the pitch...
Let it carry on for many years...
Lets build a dynasty that we could of had back when Burkinshaw was TOP MAN.. This time its a Spanish one...
EL SPURS..EL SCORTCHIO!!!
9.37 Your words are as beautiful as they are welcome... simply tip top. And your analysis of Poyet's arms is spot on.
I too see him as the Vishnu of THFC.
The root, 'Vis' roughly translates as 'to settle/to enter' ...what deity could be more suited to coaching and dressing rooms?
I dont think people understand enough the impact that Ramos et all including poyet have done in changing the psychology of the team. I flew to london for the Slavia game and the Cup and by far and away they were two dramatically different tottenham teams that went out and played. Not personnel wise but more so with their approach to the game. I was worried our style of play from Slavia game would stay that way for Cup game but Ramos et all really ahd them up for it from the first moment Keano nearly smashed Cech back into his goal.
I do want to share with you all an email i sent to my mate Mr Ontong, who is a Manure supporter, and all my other friends who support various other prem league teams. Mr Ontong was trying to belittle our efforts at winning the Carling Cup.
"Try as you might (and I don’t fault you for trying by the way) your barbs are just deflecting off me like bullets on Superman Mr Ontong…im too happy and ecstatic too care about your misery!!!
But seriously I cannot emphasise how important it is for you people to come to wembley to see your team play in a cup competition final – and then to win it is even more special – and then to be clear underdogs against a team that is valued at a minimum of 10 times your own and beat them well – that’s just God re-instilling faith into why I live on this planet! I will take these memories to my grave and to hell with the price I have to pay to do so and to hell with the credit card bill too.
Sky Sports UK found me at the pub pre game and did a quick interview with me on flying from Oz for just this game. The reporter (she was a great sort!!! – she gave me her phone number and to call her after the game – I found out she was a goon supporter so I turfed her number) could not believe what I had done. The sacrifices I made both financially and emotionally. She and the cameraman were stunned. I don’t know if it ended up being played on TV but I explained how I thought I had tickets to the cup game all along in Oz and then at the last minute I was told I didn’t have a ticket but I took the punt anyway to come to London and I just knew I would get one. My dad told me if you pay more than 200 quid for a ticket you’re mad – well dad I paid 450 quid and it’s the best gorilla I have ever spent. My cousin and I found a tout at White Hart Lane when we went to see Spurs v Slavia for the UEFA cup on Thursday night and we paid him right there and then a gorilla for the greatest game of all – a cup final at the new wembley. I told Sky I had two choices to fly to UK and one of them was Emirates and that I refused that as a choice despite being slightly cheaper and an easier flight. I told them about my 600 pound shopping visit to the spurs shop where I got to know the names of the spurs shop sales assistants whilst they helped me with my purchases. I told them that no matter the result I would be happy with just having been here to watch my beloved spurs.
We walked up to Wembley and when I tell you Mr Ontong that we had the majority of support that is not an overstatement at all. After all on the way to wembley coming down the North Circular all the cars were tooting their horns when they saw a fellow spurs supporter. It was our day!
We out sang them, we out played them on the pitch and Senior RAMBO RAMOS, the coach of all coaches, out thought them. Watching that peasant Russian criminal Abramovich and his Toad of a head coach rush off from Wembley after the loss will forever stay in my mind! And watching Ledley pick up the cup – well that’s just the greatest feeling in my sporting life…….even now im getting emotional.
Tears were streaming down my face, my voice totally gone from singing in the pub pre game and during the game and hugging big fat hooligan Spurs supporters that were seated around me was just sensational.
There was a guy called Jabba (he was a monster) who was the main ringleader in this gang of spurs traditional hooligans and he was consoling me when the drogba goal went in as I was distraught. He looked at me and said – YOU’RE OUR GOOD LUCK CHARM SKIPPY, YOU ‘OPPED ‘ERE FROM OUR PENAL CONOLY TO SEE OUR SPURS AND I TELLS YA, RAMBO RAMOS WONT LOSE IT TODAY – and with that I sang myself hoarse with everything I had. When the penalty was awarded to us I almost soiled myself. Jabba just picked me up and almost threw me into the goal when Berbie scored. When Jenas lined up the free kick in extra time, I called out to Jabba “all we need is a small touch and this’ll go in”. Lo and behold Woodgate, who after the game said “I don’t normally come up for free kicks but I just felt I had too”, just knicked it in after a double parry between him and Cech. Pandemonium erupted in 60% of the stadium. Their corporate, bandwagon supporters, who we had been taunting before the game with chants of “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU WERE S&*T!”, were just numb and deathly silent. That feeling of jubilation was something that I cannot explain in words to you.
Then came the most traumatic period of being a spurs supporter where we had to hold out this team of as much as it pains me to say great players but ultimately also great mercenaries that have no pride no passion for the jersey they wear and just play for the rouble and nothing else and knowing full well how we have leaked goals late in games in the early season. But today my friends it was different cause we had God on our side and to the left of God was Senior Ramos our newest hero coach at the lane. I am convinced that God is a Spurs supporter. I never stopped praying and for a person who doesn’t much go to church I know I will have to make a visit when I get back to Oz to repay the favours and cash in my IOU’s.
Take care all. I’m too emotional to go on….see ya in 3 days! And for the last time…….COYFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Champions, and not even Mr Ontong can take that away from us…"
I thank all the supporters at the Greyhound Pub outside Wembley for all the great banter and songs, including the security guard who looked like Didier Zokora (and was promptly made aware thru a song that he looked like him) for all the great moments pre game.
Boys and girls lets just hope that this is the first of many moments that i and many like me, can fly to the UK (and europe for that matter) for a cup final including our beloved spurs.
COYS!!!
The picture on the front page makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
That boy could make himself a proper legend if he wants to.
Anon 9.37, sumptuous writing.
Mitko looks like Noel Fielding in that mock up!! Great film btw
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