Ramos faces mammoth task says Hoddle

Former Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle believes current boss Juande Ramos has "a mammoth task" on his hands to turn around the club's faltering start to the Barclays Premier League season.

Ramos has picked just a solitary point from his opening four league games this season to leave Spurs floundering at the foot of the table ahead of Sunday's visit of Wigan.

And Hoddle - who spent two years in charge of the club between 2001 and 2003 - believes that the former Sevilla manager must be given time if he is to prevent the club from further chaos.

"There is a mammoth task on their hands to turn things around but at least it is early on in the season," Hoddle said. "They have got good players but they are going to need time - more time than just this season even.

"If Ramos is the lucky one to be given that time then I can see some stable success over time but if they do change him this year then we are back in this cycle.

"They won the League Cup last year which could have been a stepping stone to more success but it looks as if they've missed that opportunity now."

A succession of managers have attempted to guide Spurs into the top four since Hoddle vacated the post five years ago and expectations where high this summer after Ramos brought in the likes of Luka Modric, David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovani Dos Santos.

But Hoddle believes that the club's decision to sell Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth last January could prove to be the biggest mistake.

He added: "It's easy to plead for patience but that is what is needed at Tottenham right now.

"They have rebuilt and rebuilt over the last five or six years. There has been a lot of money spent but just throwing money at it isn't the answer because the existing top four are not exactly short of cash.

"The only way for me for Spurs to break into the top four and stay in there is to give the manager three or four years to build something.

"Unfortunately that is not happening in the game. Ramos has signed some good players but they have yet to prove that they have what it takes to perform in the Premier League instantly and that is what is required from players these days.

"How much would he give to still have Jermain Defoe at the club? People talk about losing Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane but for me they had a prolific goalscorer - one who will end up at the top of the scoring charts this season - in the squad in him.

"They lost three top players from the most important part of the pitch who score goals this season and the cost of that is clear to see now."