Thinking back to 2 September

I'd just like to point out to the many people who thought I was a crazy irrational pessimist when I stated on Sept 2 that the previous day (transfer deadline day) was the blackest day in Spurs history.

Let me remind you why I said that:

At the start of the day Berbatov was still a Spurs player and it was beginning to look like Levy was having the balls to stand up to Man U and refuse to sell him. Even the most pessimistic Spurs fan was convinced that if he was sold then we were getting in TWO world class strikers as replacements for him and Keane (in fact since Defoe had never been replaced and since Pav was really a replacement for Bent this would still have left us a striker short). Personally I was assuming we would end the day with Berba, Arshevin and Miluto all with us.

Then there is the issue of midfield; there were lots of rumous about our attempts to get a quality hard man and we had every right to believe we would end up with someone like Veloso. Not even the pessimists in their worst dreams could imagine that our unbalanced midfield would be left unenhanced. Finally, although Corluka signed the previous evening everybody was assuming that we would buy some proper cover for King in central defence.

Since Spurs were, apparently, negotiating on exactly those kind of deals we all assumed would be finalised, I assume that Ramos was making exactly the same kind of assumptions as all fans. In other words he expected to have available a proper, balanced squad of players. Moreover, Ramos had already made public his concern that the new players apparently coming/going had not been finalised weeks earlier. So he was already making it clear that, even asuming he got
all the transfers he now expected, it was going to be a problem to make things gel quickly enough because of the Board's prolonged negotiations.

We all know what happened to these assumptions (and it's important to note these were assumptions not dreams). Further, Levy's capitulation to ManU at the last minute and the final despicable insult of taking Frazier Campbell on loan announced to the whole footballing world that Spurs no longer had any serious interest in being a force in the premiership. At that moment Ramos surely felt as disgusted and betrayed as the rest of us. As I discussed with you off-list Wouter I could not work or even sleep for two days because I was so distraught
at the implications of 1 Sept. It was absolutely obvious to me that we were heading for disaster. You thought I was crazy. 7 weeks on how many fans now can genuinely argue that 1 Sept was not exactly as I described it: the worst day in the history of THFC. The day that started with us having realistic expectations of a top quality season and future and ended with us being the laughing stock of the football world with the certainty of a tough fight against relegation and our
very survival.

And so it comes back to Ramos. Are you and Ivan seriously doubting Ramos did not feel betrayed on 2 Sept? The difference between Ramos and us fans is that he was still being paid 5 million to do his job. But not with the tools he had been promised. But he is hardly going to
give up a 5 million pound job is he? Every indication since 2 Sept is that Ramos is demotivated, going through the motions and, yes taking the piss with his team selections to make a point to his employers. It's not a conspiracy theory I am proposing. I am describing the rational actions of any person in this surrealistic position.