Ramos warning for Tottenham's complacent cup heroes - Sport - Evening Standard
       

Ramos warning for Tottenham's complacent cup heroes

Robbie Keane has revealed that Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has brought the Carling Cup celebrations to an end by telling the players they are playing for their futures again.

Ramos was furious at his team's display in the 4-1 defeat at Birmingham on Saturday and is worried the players have lost their focus following the victory over Chelsea at Wembley last week.

The Spaniard allowed them to celebrate their triumph for a couple of days, but it came back to haunt them as they were poor against lowly Birmingham.

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Glum at Brum: Juande Ramos and the Spurs bench suffer through the defeat

It was the heaviest defeat since Ramos took over in October and he has laid down the law to the squad by saying they must improve or they could find themselves on the transfer list.

Keane said: "We had a meeting to say the Carling Cup was gone, we have to focus on the league and the UEFA Cup now. He said: 'You're all playing for your future, for next season'. That keeps us all on our toes and the lads know where they stand.

"It's okay winning the Carling Cup, but we need to push on now. We have still got a lot to play for this season. Saturday was disappointing.

"First and foremost you have to look after yourself as a team. We have some important games coming up. But we had players coming in who were quite capable of winning that game — it was disappointing to see."

Ramos is expected to take his anger out on the players even further today with a tough training session as they start their preparations for the first leg of their last-16 tie in the UEFA Cup against PSV Eindhoven at home on Thursday.

But while Spurs are hoping to make it a cup double this season by winning the European competition, there are concerns that their Premier League form doesn't slip.

Assistant manager Gus Poyet certainly believes the defeat at St Andrews, where Ramos made five changes to the team that beat Chelsea, was a massive reality check, especially with the club now only seven points above the relegation zone.

He said: "It's a wake up call. If we don't wake up now we're going to continue losing games. The players shouldn't take their eye off the ball, the next few games are very important for us and the future as well."

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