Sevilla players fear losing Ramos

Sevilla insist Juande Ramos remains their coach but the club's players and Spanish journalists seem less convinced that the 53-year-old will stay.

Ramos is reportedly the man Tottenham want to replace the sacked Martin Jol at White Hart Lane but he took training as normal today after a brief chat with club president Jose Maria Del Nido.

Sevilla then issued a statement denying his departure was imminent.

"Juande Ramos is still coach of Sevilla FC and the club has no announcements planned at the moment," a club spokesman said.

But striker Luis Fabiano admitted the reports were unsettling the players.  He said the players did not know where Ramos' future lay.

"There is comment, speculation but nothing concrete," said the Brazilian. "We saw the newspapers in the dressing room but no more than that.

"In Brazil it happens midway through the season but if someone else were to come in, we would have time to adapt. It's not good news but what can we do if there is a change of coach?"

Asked if he had spoken to Del Nido, Fabiano said: "The president said 'hello' - we did not speak about anything (else)."

Ramos has won five trophies with Sevilla, including back-to-back Uefa Cups and the Copa del Rey.  He is contracted to Sevilla until 2008 but Spanish media reports claim he has been offered a £4.8million-a-year deal for four years by Tottenham.

Leading sports newspaper Marca is reporting today that Ramos could leave Sevilla as soon as Friday.

Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, feels Martin Jol is probably relieved his tortuous time as Tottenham manager has finally come to an end.

Ferguson interviewed Jol for a job as his assistant at Manchester United, having been impressed by the work he had done in his native Holland at RKC Waalwijk.

In the end, the return of Carlos Queiroz from Real Madrid meant Jol's services were not required but the United chief has continued to watch the former Dutch international's career develop.

"Martin has great qualities," said Ferguson.  "He is a decent man who has showed his integrity but he is probably relieved it is all over.

"I don't know the full ins and outs but we have all witnessed a drip, drip, drip effect right from the start of the season when there was talk of the people from Tottenham meeting the Seville coach.

"Whether it happened or not, it appeared in the press, so the press were continually on about the guy's future.

"The media were not doing that out of malice. I am sure they were getting information, tittle-tattle and bits of rumour. That is enough to exacerbate it.

"But it cannot be healthy that every day Martin turns the paper over, his future is being discussed."

Ferguson doubts Jol will be unemployed for long but wonders whether Tottenham will feel any benefit having sacked him.

"I have made the point many times that there is no evidence sacking a manager brings success," he said.

"I always quote the case of Brian Clough. The longer he was at Nottingham Forest, the more control he got, the better it became for them.

"United have done well by me and I have responded by being successful for them. It is exactly the same with Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. You cannot think about Arsenal without Wenger.

"There seems to be a far less patient approach in football now but Arsene has been there 10 years and I have been here 21.  I think you can see there have been rewards for both managers and clubs."  Agencies