by Michael Sawh

Created on: August 13, 2008

A pre-season form which can only be described as scintillating, with the welcome addition of one goal hungry Darren Bent, equals a Tottenham Hotspurs with high hopes yet again for the forthcoming season. The club will however hope that recent history is not about to repeat itself. This time last year, Spurs were already being sworn in as worthy challengers to the the top four, big money signing Bent was exciting Spurs fans with his goal scoring exploits and with the much loved Martin Jol at the helm and not a Berbatov strop in sight, it was the other North London club that were brimming with confidence for the new season.

Fast forward twelve months, Tottenham have just handed out a destructive 5-0 mauling of Italian league runners-up Roma in their latest warm up game for the new season, Darren Bent notched goal number twelve and thirteen of another fruitful pre-season campaign, but it is the glance to the sidelines at the man that now bellows the tactics to Bent and his team mates that tells you that all didn't quite go quite to plan last season.

New coach Juande Ramos salvaged a season that held so much promise, but quickly eroded once a battle of the boardroom with manager Martin Jol as the Dutchman's fine work began to be undermined with the secret meetings with Ramos. A horrific run of early season form drew Tottenham Hotspurs into the mire of the relegation zone which was the nail in the managerial coffin for Jol. Ramos halted the slide and handed Tottenham their first piece of silverware in ten years.

With his introduction to the finer points of the Premier League already completed, Ramos has now had the time to mould the squad and realign their focus on the target to meet the ambitions of the board to finally deliver Champions League football to White Hart Lane. To achieve this Ramos has adopted a ruthless attitude when wielding the axe at many of his inherited squad.

Under-fire goalkeeper Paul Robinson was the first notable departure in the summer as PSV's impressive Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was handed the number one jersey. Pascal Chimbonda's outspoken nature perhaps will not be so much missed, although his quality will never in doubt. The Frenchman was joined by Teemu Tainio and Steed Malbranque out of the club, as Ramos sought to make striking wholesale changes. The biggest of them all and one that Ramos may rue was the sale of Robbie Keane. Alongside Berbatov, the two in tandem were possibly one of the most effective partnerships in the league

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