Tottenham's embattled manager Juande Ramos has picked up the whispers on the training ground that certain players are neither happy with his rotational team selection policy nor with being asked to strut their stuff with the reserves.

The Spaniard certainly heard the jeers and chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from travelling Spurs fans perplexed by their side's desperate performance at Portsmouth last weekend.

And he will be deafened by 36,000 angry voices at White Hart Lane on Sunday should Spurs fail to claim their first win in seven Premier League outings against top-flight newcomers Hull.

With Spurs bottom of the table — two points represent the club's worst start to a campaign in 53 years — Ramos has now made a shout of his own in calling for unity among all those who swear allegiance to the club.

"Stick together", is the message. "At this moment it's the most important thing," said Ramos, whose side went into this afternoon's first-round UEFA Cup tie against Polish champions Wisla Krakow defending a 2-1 lead from the first leg.

"The fans need to understand that the first people who want to change the situation are the players, the management and all the people at the club.

"This is when we all need to work together. It is a difficult time and we all hope to change the situation."

What Ramos means, of course, is that he hopes to change defeats and draws into elusive victories.

But it is his penchant for changing formation and line-ups that has caused so much consternation among the players and up in the stands ­— something that chairman Daniel Levy will have noticed.

Ramos, who has recently switched from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1, admitted that he is on to a loser whatever he does.

He said: "I prefer a 4-4-2 but sometimes you have to look at the situation."

Like the one his assistant Gus Poyet exposed by suggesting that expensive Russian import Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent are too similar in style to play together in attack?

Ramos inevitably received stick from the support at Fratton Park on Sunday, when he replaced the ineffectual Pavlyuchenko with Bent late in the game rather than let them seek to redress a deficit in tandem.

"It's always the same," said Ramos. "If the team are losing then people say, 'He's not changing players, how is that possible?' But it is always about results, that is always most important."

Would results have come if Ramos had stuck with the same line-up at least once this campaign? No one knows, but what we do know is that the home game against Hull is one of huge importance if the Spaniard is to restore some much-needed confidence in his players and, more importantly, in his own ability which is now being questioned by some of the supporters.

The task won't be easy, however. Phil Brown's promoted team showed with their 2-1 victory at Arsenal that they are not in the top flight just to make up the numbers.

That result — it was only Arsenal's second home defeat since they moved into their new stadium from Highbury — left Hull sixth in the Premier League table with an unbeaten away record after seeing off Newcastle and drawing at Blackburn.

Understandably, Brown can't wait for his next away day. He said: "White Hart Lane is a ground steeped in football tradition but, hopefully, we'll catch Tottenham at the right time.

"They're not having the best of times in the league and there might be the opportunity for us to get something from the game.

"They are playing with a lack of confidence and the only way to stand up against that is to play the type of game we played against Arsenal — full of confidence, full of belief, and buoyed by the fact we got a result last weekend."

In fact, such is the confidence in the Hull camp that Brown is even considering changing his starting XI, with former Spurs stars Anthony Gardner and Nick Barmby pushing for a place in the team.

Brown said: "It's horses for courses and tactics vary from game to game. We employed two wingers against Newcastle because we felt it was the right time to catch them.

"We decided to go to the Emirates with a player behind the front two because of the way the front two performed against Everton.

We had our big guns at Arsenal, such as George Boateng, Geovanni, Marlon King and Daniel Cousin. You need those big characters when you go to the Emirates."

Ramos is in desperate need of his own big names to shine, none more so than David Bentley, who has come under fire from supporters since his £15million move from Blackburn.

The 24-year-old winger's form has been patchy in the Premier League but he has vowed to restore some professional pride by helping Spurs out of the mire.

"We have to believe in our ability," he said. "You don't get easy games in the Premier League any more."