But just what has Ramos done to begin to get things back on track? Without the luxury of a transfer window to bring in his own players, and with the same defensive injury worries that plagued Martin Jol, the six teams he has fielded have been remarkably similar to those that fans would have expected to see fielded by the affable Dutchman. Ramos has stuck with Paul Robinson in goal and Jermaie Jenas in midfield, two players heavily criticised during a dreadful start to the season that saw the club lose six matches and win only one. In attack Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov remain the preferred partnership with Jermain Defoe and record signing Darren Bent still confined to the bench. Though he remains unbeaten, the teams Ramos has faced have all been ganes that, under Jol, we'd have been expected to get at least a point from. So, on the surface, perhaps little has changed and all Ramos has bought to the club is a new face and the momentum that comes from most managerial changes. You do get the feeling, however, there's a little more to it than that.
A few weeks after Ramos swapped sunny Seville for the grey skies of N17, and amid speculation that he was fed up with life at the club, Dimitar Berbatov gave a glowing tribute to the new man in charge, describing him as "the perfect one" and praising his new bosses level of professionalism and intelligence. The Bulgarian, whose body language is improving game by game, has since added: "At half-time he didn't scream or yell, he was calm and told us 'Don't look at the score, just try and score one goal'. He is like a professor. He tells you what to do as simply as possible so you can understand and do it on the pitch". He was speaking after the 3-2 victory over Aalborg on Thursday when, trailing two-nil at half time, Ramos took off a defender, bought on a striker and switched to 3-4-3. It proved to be the tactical fillip that turned the game. He tried a similar reshuffle at Upton Park last Sunday and got a similar response from his players.
Although his side shouldn't have been in a position requiring such a radical rethink, the ease in which they adapted to the new formation and took the match to the opposition, especially against Aalborg, is encouraging. It shows a confidence amongst the players in the manager and a belief in his decision making. Would Martin Jol have been so bold? There's no doubting he inspired a great belief in the side and that that confidence drove us to some memorable comebacks but I find it hard to imagine the Dutchman risking three at the back away from home, or replacing a defender with a forward at half time. Too often his answer to sticky situations was to instruct Robinson to launch a barrage of high balls into the opposing penalty area, a tactic more in hope than expectation.
Looking back on Thursday night, there were other encouraging signs. As Steed Malbranque, who has been superb since Ramos took charge, wheeled away in celebration having crashed in the equaliser no more than eight minutes into the second half, the camera panned to Juande, who had raced to the touchline and was frantically waving the players back to the centre circle. The message was clear - the job wasn't done yet. Clad in a black coat and sharp suit Ramos evokes obvious comparison with Jose Mourinho but his manner is much more Arsene Wenger, than 'special one', as much as fans will hate the comparison. You just have to take a look at him on the touchline, like a general surveying his battlefield, to get an impression of the man's level of professionalism and discipline. It seems that these virtues might be gradually wearing off on his players.
So Ramos is tactically bold and astute but he's brought more than just the willingness to make dynamic substitutions and the winning mentality that this entails. For the most part there has been a noticeable improvement in set-pieces, something Defoe says the team have been working hard at: "The way the game is today, a lot of goals are scored from set pieces, and we do a lot more work on them in training", said Defoe. The diminutive striker, who has found that a change in manager is yet to have meant a more significant role in the team, is in no doubt over Ramos' impact, saying: "A lot has changed. All managers are different, and there's always going to be changes when a new one comes in. You can see it in the way we're playing - the way we attack and defend, particularly at set plays."
It is still very early doors for Ramos at Spurs and fans will have to wait to see how some of the more difficult to measure changes he has made, such as improvement to players diet and fitness schemes, affect the side in the long run. Despite some noises suggesting otherwise, he is expected to strengthen the side with a centre-half, a ball winning midfielder and maybe even a goalkeeper to provide competition for Robinson during the January window. In this article I've picked out a few things I believe have genuinely improved since Ramos joined the club but I am sure he knows just how much work there is to be done. I've said it before but the first significant marker to how far Spurs have come during his tenure will come three days before Christmas at the Emirates. A win today, however, and Spurs move up to fourteenth and take another small step in the right direction. Bob Dylan once sang that 'the times they are a-changin'' and, though you might want to whisper it, they might just be at Tottenham.