Keith Burkinshaw today urged the Tottenham board to keep faith with their struggling manager Juande Ramos.

Burkinshaw was in charge the last time Spurs were relegated from the top flight, in 1977, but the White Hart Lane board stood by him and the 73-year-old repaid them by winning two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup during his eight years at the helm.

Burkinshaw said: "Spurs were relegated in my first season, but I had a regime who believed in me. It is ridiculous to talk about Ramos being a failure at this stage. I would ask people to have a bit of patience."

With Spurs bottom after their worst start to a League campaign for 96 years, the pressure on Ramos is intense, although the Spaniard was assured he would be given time to turn the situation around at a meeting with Daniel Levy yesterday.

But Sporting director Damien Comolli's position is under threat after mistakes were made in the summer transfer market, notably the failure to secure top-class replacements for Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Former Spurs manager Gerry Francis believes the club are now paying the price for a poorly thought-out recruitment policy. He told Standard Sport: "The forward planning was not done very well. It was clear last year that Berbatov wanted to leave, and it was important that a replacement was found for him.

"It remains to be seen whether the players who have come in are as good as those who have left. If they are not, they have not moved forward."

"People don't know who signed the players. I would not manage in a structure where I was not responsible for buying the players. But if you agree to that as part of a contract, you accept that it will be the case."