Dour and dull coach who styled an outfit to illuminate Europe

By Jack Rashleigh

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

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The old adage in football that teams take on the personality of their manager could not be further from the truth in the case of Spurs target Juande Ramos and his current side, Seville.

One of Spain's least colourful managers, Ramos is dour, almost dull, and can be relied upon to straight bat even the most extraordinary situation.

Last year when hospitalised by a bottle thrown from the crowd during a local derby with Real Betis he might have been expected to let loose some of that southern Spanish passion Seville is famous for. But, "I'm still in shock and I'm trying to get over it", was about as hot-blooded as he got after 11 minutes out cold and a night in hospital.

During the astonishing rise of the side he took control of back at the start of the 2005-2006 season Ramos has rarely shaken a fist or wagged a finger let alone slid in celebration along anyone's touchline.

In contrast, he has built a team that is without doubt the brashest, most gung-ho, scintillatingly swashbuckling outfit ever to intrude on Real Madrid and Barcelona's territory at the top of La Liga.

Playing with two flying wingers and two attacking full-backs, Seville pummel opposition sides into submission with unrelenting attacking football. Ramos has masterminded six trophies in the two seasons he has been at the club.

And each one has been won in breathtaking style. Barcelona were thumped 3-0 in last season's European Super Cup, Middlesbrough were hammered 4-0 in the first of the club's two Uefa Cup wins and when Seville retained the trophy this season the goalkeeper Palop scored with a header in the last sixteen and was then the hero when the final went to a penalty shoot-out.

Last weekend was typical Ramos as he took Seville to the home of the Spanish champions, Real Madrid, with a slender one-goal lead in the Super Cup – Spain's two-legged version of the Community Shield.

Did he send his players out to protect their lead cautiously? No, he sent them out all guns blazing and they rattled five past Madrid to run out 6-3 winners on aggregate.

On 31 August Seville face Milan in the European Super Cup and this year they will give someone else a chance to win the Uefa Cup as they join Madrid and Barcelona in trying to win the European Cup. They take a 2-0 advantage into the second leg of their preliminary round game against AEK Athens and so look set to reach the first stage of the Champions League proper for the first time in their history.

But his progress in Andalusia has not been enough to quench Ramos' huge desire to succeed. The Ciudad Real-born coach, who will be 53 in September, has long since harboured ambitions to succeed away from Spain. He began courting the British media last year and learning some English, as stories gathered pace that he might be parking up somewhere in London in the near future.

Much like Jose Mourinho, Arsène Wenger and Rafa Benitez, the foreign managers he could soon be pitting his wits against at the top of the Premier League, he achieved nothing as a player but has more than made up for it since taking up management.

After learning his trade at Spanish football backwaters such as Alcoyano, Levante, Logrones, Barcelona B, who were relegated during his tenure, and Lleida, Ramos finally got his break at Rayo Vallecano.

In 2001 Madrid's then third-largest club won a place in the Uefa Cup courtesy of topping the fair play league and Ramos guided the unfashionable side, who had never previously played European football, to a quarter-final appearance where they were knocked out by Alaves, who went on to lose a thrilling final to G�rard Houllier's Liverpool.

After spells at Betis, Espanyol and Malaga he swept into Seville replacing Joaquin Caparros in the hotseat at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.

The circumstances of his appointment will not be lost on Martin Jol. The outgoing Caparros had been relatively successful at Seville and was popular with the fans. But he was moved on because the Seville President Jose Maria Del Nido felt he could not take the club on to the next level of Champions League football.

Sound familiar?

Seville service: Ramos's record

Full name: Juan de la Cruz Ramos Cano

Born: September 25, 1954 in Ciudad Real, Spain.

Clubs Managed:

CD Alcoyano 1993-94

Levante 1994-95

Logrones 1995-96

Barcelona B 1996-97

Lleida 1997-98

Rayo Vallecano 1998-2001

Real Betis 2001-2002