Hotspurs sack Ramos

LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur sacked manager Juande Ramos on Saturday and Portsmouth’s Harry Redknapp said he would be taking charge of the English Premier League team.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Redknapp said he had accepted Tottenham’s offer to become manager and Portsmouth would receive about 5 million pounds (US$7.79 million) in compensation. Spurs had said on their website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com) that Ramos, French sporting director Damien Comolli and Uruguayan assistant manager Gus Poyet, had left the club.It added that Portsmouth had “reluctantly agreed” that Tottenham could hold discussions with Redknapp.The trio paid the price for the worst start to a league campaign in the north London team’s history.Spurs have just two draws from their opening eight matches and in midweek lost 2-0 at Udinese in the Uefa Cup.Spaniard Ramos was hired almost exactly a year ago after Tottenham sacked Martin Jol despite the Dutchman guiding the team to two straight fifth-place finishes in the league.Ramos made a good start to his Spurs career, taking them to the League Cup final where they beat Chelsea 2-1, the club’s first silverware for nearly a decade.However, a summer of frenzied transfer activity saw several first-choice players leave, notably Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United and Robbie Keane to Liverpool.England striker Jermain Defoe was also sold last January to Redknapp’s Portsmouth.Tottenham splashed out about 60 million pounds on the likes of Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, England winger David Bentley, Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.Nampa-ReutersSpurs had said on their website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com) that Ramos, French sporting director Damien Comolli and Uruguayan assistant manager Gus Poyet, had left the club.It added that Portsmouth had “reluctantly agreed” that Tottenham could hold discussions with Redknapp.The trio paid the price for the worst start to a league campaign in the north London team’s history.Spurs have just two draws from their opening eight matches and in midweek lost 2-0 at Udinese in the Uefa Cup.Spaniard Ramos was hired almost exactly a year ago after Tottenham sacked Martin Jol despite the Dutchman guiding the team to two straight fifth-place finishes in the league.Ramos made a good start to his Spurs career, taking them to the League Cup final where they beat Chelsea 2-1, the club’s first silverware for nearly a decade.However, a summer of frenzied transfer activity saw several first-choice players leave, notably Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United and Robbie Keane to Liverpool.England striker Jermain Defoe was also sold last January to Redknapp’s Portsmouth.Tottenham splashed out about 60 million pounds on the likes of Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, England winger David Bentley, Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.Nampa-Reuters