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New Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos has been promised a £40m transfer war chest to revive Spurs' season.
The new White Hart Lane manager, who resigned at Seville last night, has been told to start drawing up a list of targets for the January transfer window, when a
goalkeeper to replace the error-prone Paul Robinson is understood to be high on his priority list.
Tottenham are determined to give Ramos every opportunity to make an impression this season, and will match the sum they allowed departing manager Martin Jol to spend in what has proved to be a wasteful summer of spending.
Ramos was due at last night's match against Blackburn, although he will not officially take charge of the team until the Carling Cup encounter with Blackpool.
He went to Sevilla's Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan last night to hand in his resignation. He was accompanied by fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who also resigned and will join Ramos at White Hart Lane.
The 53-year-old Spaniard has won five trophies with Seville in the past two seasons.
But if his appointment is a step forward, it seems Spurs are still reeling from the mismanagement of Jol's sacking. Jol was said to have been fired before the Uefa Cup defeat by Getafe last week, leading to the bizarre leaking of the news which saw Jol, the crowd and a TV audience aware of Jol's fate while his players were not.
Spurs have tried to stem the blood flow by insisting that Jol was not told until after the Getafe match but their efforts look lame when it is understood that neighbours and arch-rival Arsenal have had a manager, Arsene Wenger, who has seen 11 Tottenham managers come and go in the 11 years he has been there.
Wenger said: "He [Jol] had two very good seasons and in the third season he had a bad start and was not given the chance to turn this crisis round. He has got to fifth in the league twice and that's not easy in this league because there are other big clubs.
"It sums up that the demands are getting greater and greater. It is a concern. I have been here for 11 years and if you look I am already the second in the league, behind Ferguson. His record will never be beaten."
Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson also said Tottenham might have been too hasty.
Having given Jol a chance to prove himself, Spurs are understood to have felt the club's record of one win in 10 League matches - their worst start to a campaign for 19 years - left them with no choice but to part company with him. There was also a feeling among directors that the row last week between Jol and striker Dimitar Berbatov was a clear sign the manager had lost the backing of his players.
Jol leaves with a compensation package worth £4m for the two years outstanding on his contract.