Cock on Ball

Ramos - an early verdict

by Scott

Ten games into the new era and it appears that, after Saturday’s narrow triumph at high-flying Portsmouth, Ramos is beginning – step by tottering step – to stamp his mark on the team. A solitary defeat in all competitions and steady progress in the cups have cushioned the lingering shock of Martin Jol’s unpleasant departure. Our next couple of away games will give us a chance to measure our progress under the new management: Man City in the Carling Cup quarter-final – a tricky tie, especially with their much-vaunted Svenaissance – followed by Arsenal at the Emirates, the scene of last season’s humiliation.

I think it is clear to most observers that the acquisition of Ramos – whatever the circumstances – was astute. He’s mean, motivated and morose. He scowls rather than smiles. And he is one of the world’s top coaches, mainly owing to his glittering record at Sevilla, with five trophies including successive UEFA Cups. The board may have wrecked any chance of finishing fifth again by undermining Jol from the start of the season, but the pieces are gradually falling into place. We even kept a clean sheet at the weekend. Remember those?

So what has Ramos brought to the team? Well, confidence for a start. While he had the advantage that the team could not really fall any lower – the defeat at Newcastle was a serious nadir, one of the worst performances I’ve seen for a long time – he seems to have gone about this patiently and methodically. We hear snippets of information from the media outlining that each player has had individual pep talks. For one, Ramos spoke today (well, he must have done although I haven’t heard him yet) about the initial need for Robinson’s belief to return. But other players have responded positively to the new “iron age”: Malbranque is becoming the player we were so envious of at Fulham; Lennon is delivering more tellingly, although everyone knows that his final ball still needs work; and Berbatov is more like the hungry machine of last season.

Tactically, in addition, Ramos does not mess around, drawing comparison in some quarters with Mourinho for his daring substitutions. I would not go that far but it is worth considering that Jol was constantly criticised – rightly or wrongly – for his inability to alter the course of games once they had begun. Ramos, on the other hand, is quick to switch formations and personnel, although if you are losing 2-0 at home to poor Danish opposition in some ways the changes are forced upon you. The switch to 3-4-3 in that game, and the West Ham game before it, brought the team back from the dead. The problem is – as we discussed on the podcast last week – that playing the trio of forwards from the outset, as Jol discovered, creates its own difficulties. I don’t imagine he’ll do that again in a hurry.

The main asset I believe that Ramos has brought to the club – aside from the inevitable stability of a new man at the helm after so much speculation – is his fearsome reputation. Here is a man who does not pander to players’ whims. The jelly babies are off the menu. There are double training sessions for everybody. Kaboul is not even taken to Belgium for the Anderlecht game (something which made me physically gasp when I found out) and Zokora plays in defence, performing very well, as he did on the south coast on Saturday. We have young players breaking into the side like O’Hara and Boateng. You feel that no-one is guaranteed a game and we are beginning to strike fear into opponents once more. Jenas’ comments about Europe are premature – we are far, far away from that point right now and need to build on these performances before thinking about that – but the sentiment is admirable.

There is a reason that we finished so high up for the last couple of years: we have a number of excellent individual players, some of whom are the envy of the Premier League. But now I feel, with Ramos and Poyet at the helm, that we have a distinguished manager who understands success and can build a team to challenge for honours. The graft is paying off and the Christmas period will be crucial if we are to push into the top half and rescue the campaign.  

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Ramos - an early verdict

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