Ramos faces mammoth task - Hoddle

Ramos has picked up just a solitary point from his opening four league games this season to leave Spurs floundering at the foot of the table ahead of Sunday's visit of Wigan.

"There is a mammoth task on their hands to turn things around but at least it is early on in the season," said Hoddle. "They have got good players but they are going to need time."

He added: "If Ramos is the lucky one to be given that time then I can see some stable success over time but if they do change him this year then we are back in this cycle.

"They won the League Cup last year which could have been a stepping stone to more success but it looks as if they've missed that opportunity now."

A succession of managers have attempted to guide Spurs into the top four since Hoddle vacated the post five years ago and expectations where high this summer after Ramos brought in the likes of Luka Modric, David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovani Dos Santos.

But Hoddle believes that the club's decision to sell Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth last January could prove to be the biggest mistake.

He said: "How much would he give to still have Jermain Defoe at the club?

"People talk about losing Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane but for me they had a prolific goalscorer - one who will end up at the top of the scoring charts this season - in the squad in him.

"They lost three top players from the most important part of the pitch who score goals this season and the cost of that is clear to see now."