Ramos failing to get Tottenham out of first gear

As Juande Ramos drove away from White Hart Lane, one fan spoke for every Tottenham supporter when he asked the manager: "Will it get better?"

Ramos nodded before steering his black Porsche Carrera S out of the stadium car park, but his team's display in their goalless draw with Wigan did little to indicate that improvement would come quickly.

Ramos was forced to deny rumours that he was homesick and keen to return to Spain, while he admitted the pressure was "very high" on his bottom-of-the-table team.

Spurs were, predictably, booed off against a Wigan side who had few problems dealing with their hosts' increasingly frantic attacks.

The result confirmed Spurs' worst start to a League season for 53 years, and means Wednesday's Carling Cup third-round tie at another struggling club, Newcastle, is now more significant than ever.

Poor as they were against Wigan, there were some rays of home for Spurs.

Vedran Corluka looked assured at centre-back alongside Jonathan Woodgate, Heurelho Gomes showed once more that he is an excellent shot-stopper, Didier Zokora and Jermaine Jenas were busy, while Fraizer Campbell was again a lively second-half substitute.

But Roman Pavlyuchenko, their £14million summer signing from Spartak Moscow, never managed to pick up the pace of the game, and was replaced by Campbell for the second half.

Pavlyuchenko was spotted studying an English phrase book before the game, but it is the language of Premier League football which the Russian must master quickly.

Not only is he trying to adapt to his new surroundings, the 26-year-old has hardly had the chance to draw breath after playing during the summer for Spartak and scoring three goals to help Russia reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008 in June.

Last November, Ramos secured his first League win as manager when Spurs demolished Wigan 4-0 at White Hart Lane.

Almost one year later, it is Wigan, not Spurs, who have moved in the right direction, so much so that Bruce was disappointed with a draw. "They were there for the taking," he said.

Spurs fans lament that the sales of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov have cost their team about 50 goals per season, but both players were equally effective at linking midfield with attack and pulling opposing defenders out of position with their clever movement.

Without them, the midfield and the forward line appear on different wavelengths, and it is crucial for Spurs that Luka Modric, when he recovers from his knee injury, can discover the form he shows for Croatia and which persuaded the club to pay Dinamo Zagreb £16.6m for his services.

After his side defeated Wisla Krakow 2-1 in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, Ramos made four changes, restoring Pavlyuchenko, Corluka, Jamie O'Hara and Benoit Assou-Ekotto to the starting XI.

But Ramos' men failed to test Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland in the first half, and came to life only when Campbell and, in particular, Aaron Lennon were brought on after the break.

Ramos said: "The squad is very young, and the pressure at the moment is very high. It is difficult for them to be bottom of the table.

"We need to get a victory quickly. We play at Newcastle on Wednesday, and we know that we need to stay in that competition."