JUANDE RAMOS is a man on a mission. In his first and only interview, the new
Tottenham manager exclusively tells SunSport’s ANTONY KASTRINAKIS how he arrived
to find despondency in the White Hart Lane dressing room; about the futures of
his key players ... and of his long-term plan to eventually take Spurs ABOVE
arch-rivals Arsenal.
Q FIRST, the question that all Tottenham fans will want
answering this morning: Can Spurs win at Arsenal today?
A WE’VE played some
very difficult games. Man City had won all their home games until Tuesday.
Portsmouth hadn’t lost at home, either. The team showed they could cope. Now we
have our most difficult game as we’re playing the leaders. A lot will depend on
the way we play.
Q CAN Spurs take over from Arsenal as kings of North
London?
A THIS is our ambition and dream. But I don’t want to talk long-term
instead of concentrating on the next game.
I want us to take giant leaps.
Our club deserves to fight against the best and challenge for the Premier League
and the Champions League. That’s what I will try to do with all my energy and
strength.
We have the potential to do it. But it doesn’t just depend on one
person, it’s not all about the coach. The manager has to have the collaboration
and the support of the club.
Q WHAT do you think of the job Arsene Wenger
has done at Arsenal?
A HE has done very well — and achieved some magnificent
results. It took him years to achieve that.
This is the basis of it all — to
have faith in one person and let him work. In time, good results will come.
Q SO you are saying if you are given the same backing Wenger has received
from Arsenal, you can bring the same sort of success to Spurs?
Fight with
the best
A I HAVE no doubt about that. The English model is very much like
that and with these conditions I aim to bring success. But it’s not just
Tottenham. Any team that has patience and thinks they’ve found the right person
to carry out a project like that will achieve results.
Q SO how long do you
want to stay as manager at White Hart Lane?
A I’VE signed a five-year
contract, knowing there’s a lot of work ahead of me — beautiful work.
Would
I like to stay here for a long time? Without a doubt. I would love to finish my
five years and sign another one as long as this one. But the most important
thing is that the club are satisfied with my work. I don’t like staying at a
club just because I have a contract. I want the club to be proud of the work I’m
doing.
It’s my dream to stay here for many years and I think it’s highly
likely.
If we are able to improve little by little and fight with the best
in the Premier League it will be a dream for all of us and that is what I am
working towards.
Q WHAT are your long-term plans for Tottenham?
A
LONG-TERM plans are achieved in the short-term. We have to improve things day by
day.
We must fix things tomorrow, then in January — and then in June. This
way, with successive improvements, we will gradually become better. We cannot
lose ourselves by thinking of long-term objectives but find solutions in the
short-term.
Q YOU have been at the Lane since October. What are your early
impressions of the club?
A SINCE my arrival there’s been an enormous change
— especially in the table. Good results have restored the confidence of the
players.
Q SO are you saying Tottenham’s big troubles are behind you after
three wins in a row?
A NO. Three consecutive wins against important teams
re-enforce the confidence and the morale of the team. But we can’t think our
troubles have gone. We still have huge room for improvement. There was an urgent
need to restore the players’ belief in themselves. And we had to rebuild the
faith of the fans.
We couldn’t be a team that leaks as many goals as we did.
In the last three games this situation seems to have come under control.
But
this is something we have to turn into a regular thing. We have to be a solid
outfit in every game.
Q WHAT was your gut feeling when you first walked into
the Tottenham dressing room?
A I was taking charge of a great club but there
was a despondency and a tremendous lack of motivation. There was no hope or
ambition. There was so much self-doubt in the dressing room. That was the most
critical thing we had to change.
Q ARE you saying that you could see that in
the faces of the players at the club?
HE'S GOT THE WHOLE CLUB INHIS
HANDS ... Ramos plots future glory
A YES, yes. I noted an air of abandonment
and resignation like it didn’t really matter. It was a worrying situation as I
realised my players were resigned to losing and to disaster. They got used to
defeats and looked to be in a daze. This alarmed me enormously as we had to
change it radically.
I was worried if we’d be able to change this dynamic,
this is logical. But I have to say the collaboration of the players has been
superb and they’ve made a tremendous effort to change this situation.
Q
TOTTENHAM have placed tremendous faith in you. That must give you an immense
sense of pride and responsibility?
A TOTALLY. I hope I will repay the faith
of the club with good results but I also think we’re just at the start. There’s
a lot left to do and a lot of work awaits us. Little by little, we will try to
change the situation and the mentality of the club.
Q TOTTENHAM have a
shortage of defenders. Can we expect you to make signings in January?
A
UNTIL the window opens we can’t do something so I don’t want to speculate. But
defence is the area where we have the most limitations. We will evaluate what we
need.
Q WHAT about Paul Robinson’s future? There were rumours that you were
looking to replace him?
A HIS future is very good. We’re very happy with
him. The other day against Manchester City he helped us a lot to win the game
and we hope he’ll continue like that.
Q HOW worried are you that Jermain
Defoe might want to leave the club? And is it important that he stays?
A A
PROFESSIONAL has to accept a squad does not have just 11 footballers. There are
20-odd players and only 11 can play. So the others have to wait for their
moment. I think yes. He’s a very good player for us. It would be great if he
continues here.
Q FINALLY, what is your message to Tottenham fans ahead of
today’s big derby?
A OUR fans must let themselves dream. They must feel
confident that we will do everything to beat Arsenal. In any case, we’re going
to continue on the path we’ve taken in the last games where we played well and
got great results.
Linked here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article611872.ece
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