English Premier League:Juande Ramos was on the verge of completing his managerial move to Tottenham last night, after Primera Liga club Sevilla announced his resignation as coach on their website.
Ramos, who will succeed Martin Jol, sacked on Thursday night, is believed to have taken training at Sevilla for the last time and he will now not be on the bench for their La Liga fixture with Valencia tomorrow night. He hopes to take charge of Tottenham in time for the League Cup tie at home to Blackpool next Wednesday.
Ramos met Sevilla chairman Jose Maria Del Nido and sporting director Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo ("Monchi") at the club's training ground yesterday morning and told them face-to-face of his desire to leave and, although Sevilla remained tight-lipped at that time, confirmation of his departure arrived later in the day.
Tottenham now expect to land their man after first courting him in August. Del Nido and Monchi had met representatives of Tottenham in London on Thursday night in an effort to come to a face-saving negotiated settlement with Ramos and a satisfactory compensation package. Ramos had just eight months remaining on his contract at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
Ramos's representatives, meanwhile, had studied the legal ramifications of his resigning unilaterally. Although Ramos had not wanted to walk away from Sevilla in the middle of the season, he was aware it was now or never, having been presented with what amounted to an ultimatum from Tottenham. He was prepared to force his departure, even if that leads to a subsequent legal battle with the club.
Jol has settled on his pay-off - the sum is almost €5.8 million, the value on the remaining two years of his contract - and he attended the club's training ground for the final time yesterday. He said his farewells and delivered an address to the first-team squad, together with Chris Hughton, the assistant coach, who departed after an association with the club that dated to 1977. Hans Segers, the goalkeeping coach, has also been sacked.
Jol's Spurs side had made the worst start to a league season since the war years and his reluctance to talk a good game at boardroom level was a contributing factor to his demise. In an effort to keep expectation levels in check, he consistently refused to entertain the notion of a top-four finish and he argued that the fifth-placed finishes of the previous two seasons represented overachievement.
It has since emerged Levy felt this viewpoint negatively rubbed off on the team. Ramos is aware of the need to prioritise Levy's ambition of a Champions League finish, although given the team's single win from the opening 10 Premier League fixtures, this may have to be revised for this season.
Clive Allen, the development coach, and Alex Inglethorpe, the under-18 coach, will take charge of Tottenham for tomorrow's home match against Blackburn Rovers, with Allen keen "to do the best job I can in difficult circumstances".
Inglethorpe, who was bought to the club by the sporting director Damien Comolli, is set for a more senior role, alongside Gus Poyet, the Leeds assistant manager, who played at White Hart Lane between 2001-04. Although Poyet said he didn't "know if something has gone on between the clubs", Leeds have asked him to stay away from Elland Road for today's game against Millwall.
"In the best interests of the team he will not be in attendance at Elland Road for the fixture against Millwall," read a statement from Leeds.
Tottenham's board took the decision to sack Jol before the Uefa Cup defeat against Getafe on Thursday night and the Dutchman was informed when called into the office of the chairman, Daniel Levy.
- Guardian Service
