Three stooges in comedy of errors

They were wrong. Tottenham finished bottom of the old First Division and the greatest years in a great club's history were suddenly over.

A similar fate awaits them this season unless they recognise very quickly that they are indeed bad enough to be relegated. Until they accept that, they cannot begin to put it right.

The three main culprits are Juande Ramos, Daniel Levy and Damien Comolli and although the Spaniard is responsible for results, the root cause of Tottenham's current embarrassment cannot be traced simply to the manager's dugout. If that was the case Ramos would be on his way out - just as Martin Jol was axed precisely 12 months ago.

Currently top of the Bundesliga with Hamburg, Jol picked up five points from the opening seven Premier League games last season. Under Ramos, Spurs have just two points after seven games - the club's worst start since 1912.

Not surprisingly, the Spanish coach, twice a UEFA Cup winner with Sevilla, cuts a sad and lonely figure at the moment.

He was appointed to achieve what had eluded Jol - a top-four place and regular Champions League involvement. Jol could only finish fifth for two consecutive seasons, the club's highest position in 25 years - and any Spurs diehard would happily accept that at this moment in time.

Sacking him was a mistake and the unedifying manner of his dismissal was a disgrace.

The club chairman Levy has to take responsibility for those decisions but we have to believe that he genuinely felt Ramos was the man to recapture the glory years at White Hart Lane.

Success in the Carling Cup last season offered a glimmer of optimism but, that apart, there has been little to suggest that Spurs are close to wriggling from under the long shadow of Arsenal.

Ramos, whose lack of English cannot be helpful in the dressing room, has made tactical errors and some puzzling substitutions, like his decision to take off Aaron Lennon when he looked to be the main threat against Hull City. So he and Levy have to accept a share of the blame for Tottenham's alarming start to the season. But there is a growing feeling on the terraces that the squad is not strong enough to endure a nine-month campaign and emerge with any success. As is the way in the modern game, the man responsible for ensuring the squad is strong enough is the Sporting Director. In Tottenham's case this is Comolli, once one of Arsene Wenger's European scouts and a man who claims to be a good judge of football talent. Well, I think the jury remains to be convinced on that one. How can anyone argue that Tottenham's current line-up is as strong as when Jol bowed out a year ago? After all, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov and Jermain Defoe scored 54 goals between them last season and there's little sign of any player, or combination of players, reaching that figure now. Yes, some major transfer deals collapsed in the summer, but others were concluded successfully. But expensive newcomers like David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric and Giovani Dos Santos cost more than £40million and are still to demonstrate anything that suggests they have what it takes to score regularly.

Comolli has played an influential role in acquiring these players and we must hope that he knows something the rest of us don't, otherwise, Ramos will be chasing a lost cause this season.

What is already clear is that Ramos has to oversee a dramatic change of fortune. And quickly.

If Spurs are to emerge successfully from this crisis they will need confidence, patience, leadership, team spirit - and the humility to acknowledge that they are not too good to go down.