Supporters of Tottenham Hotspur woke to the news that head coach, Juande Ramos, at the club barely a year, had been sacked and replaced with immediate effect by former Portsmouth boss, Harry Redknapp.

At a club, and in a league, where the sometimes bewildering coming and going of managers leaves fans often repeating the mantra; 'nothing surprises me anymore', this was, to say the very least, surprising. Not because a manager in Ramos' position (pictured right) was likely to be enjoying the unstinting support of the board (he had after all presided over the worst start to a season in the club's history) but because of the debacle played out at roughly the same time last year when, in tragic-comic circumstances, the previous manager, Dutchman Martin Jol, was himself fired after an unseemly and laughable courtship of the recently departed Ramos.

With Jol (pictured left) still nominally in charge, and having previously denied reports that they were seeking to lure Ramos away from Seville, the Spurs board were faced with evidence of their meeting him in a hotel days before. Jol's departure became inevitable, not because his competence as a manager was in question (not by fans and players at any rate), but because no manager can continue doing his job when he so plainly does not have his board behind him. Jol, having led the club to two consecutive fifth place finishes before last season, was unceremoniously dumped and Ramos rushed in to supposedly take the club to the next level.

A number of factors seemed to indicate that, whatever mess Spurs were in after eight games of the 2008-2009 season, Ramos would be in his position a bit longer. He won a cup within his first few months in charge, even having had his squad finalised only once the new season was underway (and losing some top players in the process). He would be given time to get the new players settled in before being called to account, and perhaps more importantly, if certainly more prosaically, the fact that a lot of money had been spent hiring him and getting rid of Jol, a figure who still retains much affection amongst fans.

Whatever other consequences the credit crunch has had, it has certainly not prevented Spurs from throwing money at every problem without much thought apparently going into long-term planning. Much like the investment bankers whose actions have reshaped early 21st century economic and political life almost overnight, none of the decision makers at the club, including the chairman, Daniel Levy, seem in the least inclined to take any responsibility for the recent turmoil, his open letter to fans on the club's website in the wake of Redknapp's hiring confirms this.

They argue that their actions have all been taken for the good of the club and because they have ambition: for Spurs to break into the top four, play Champions League football, and challenge for the Premiership (not to mention the price a Champions League-playing Spurs could fetch for Levy and co.). What they don't seem to realise is that ambition untrammelled by competence and principles is destructive and futile. Taking the financial crisis analogy further (perhaps too far), Levy and the rest of the Board should now accept that there are no painless quick-fix fortunes to be made or investments to be recouped. Furthermore, no bailout by Redknapp will work unless he is given meaningful and long-term board support.

However much Redknapp is respected, and he is greatly respected. Like Spurs fans everywhere, I keep wondering if this is all a bad dream, that I'll wake up and find Martin Jol still in charge. If not, then second best would be to hope that we'll still have the same manager in charge in a year's time or, dare we dream that Harry will retire at the club? A la Sir Alex, a clutch of cups and league winners pendant's under his arm, with Daniel Levy running a chippie somewhere on the Seven Sisters Road.

Written by Andrew Burrow