According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hallowe’en is traditionally believed to provide the most favourable opportunity in the calendar for divinations concerning marriage, luck and prosperity and is, indeed, the only day when the help of the gentleman downstairs can be invoked for such a purpose. So it is perhaps fitting that tonight, October 31, a venture with more than a whiff of sulphur around its configuration will be placed before the public at White Hart Lane.

The marriage of Tottenham Hotspur and Juande Ramos is, if not unholy, certainly unwholesome, containing as it does a witches brew of betrayal, skulduggery, deceit and double-talk. A fresh seasoning was added to the pot yesterday, that of gutlessness, with Daniel Levy, the chairman, strikingly absent as Ramos, his new manager, and his two assistants, Gustavo Poyet (technical coach) and Marcos Álvarez (fitness coach), were unveiled on the eve of a Carling Cup fourth-round tie with Blackpool. Ramos’s first win should come easily, as should several more, looking at Tottenham’s November fixture list.

After the “mighty Seasiders”, twentieth in what used to be called the second division, is a visit to troubled Middlesbrough in the Barclays Premier League, a Uefa Cup tie away to Hapoel Tel-Aviv (eleventh of 12 in Israel’s Ligat Ha’Al), a league fixture at home to struggling Wigan Athletic and another away at mid-table mediocrities West Ham United. That takes Tottenham to November 25 and on the next day, we are informed, Levy will speak at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders. Probably.

By contrast, the extraordinary element of yesterday’s proceedings was that Spurs thought the official line - Levy did not want to disrupt Ramos’s big day by talking – was going to be bought by anybody. So, in lieu of the man who calls the shots, Tottenham’s executive management was represented by Damien Comolli, the sporting director. As the club sit eighteenth in the league when an assault on Champions League qualification was their aim, his direction would appear to have a downward momentum, but whereas this sudden descent earned Martin Jol, the former manager, several months of humiliation and his ticket, Comolli sat proudly by Ramos’s side as if he was part of a vibrant new team, not a remnant of a failed, old one.

Asked what Comolli would have to do to warrant dismissal, he seemed momentarily flustered. “That is a good question, I have never thought about it,” he said. “I have things to do for the club and if Daniel and the board were not happy, they would ask me to leave. My job is 60 per cent about the future and 40 per cent about now.”

In other words, like all men in his position, there is nothing to go wrong for which Comolli can be held specifically responsible. If Ramos gets beaten tonight, he is instantly on the back foot, but Comolli? Judge me in ten years. Nice work if you can get it.

And more and more do get it. As Comolli pointed out, the Tottenham system is in place at 99 per cent of clubs around Europe. “Clubs that win trophies and football matches,” he said. “I am 100 per cent convinced it works and see no reason why it should not work in England.”

Yet the most consistently successful English clubs in the Premier League era have been founded on the vision of one man: the manager. Nobody directs football at Arsenal other than Arsène Wenger; nobody plays the transfer market on behalf of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Chelsea could have created a third dynasty in that fashion through José Mourinho, but the owner would not leave well enough alone.

Tottenham, meanwhile, are on their eighth manager in the time in which Arsenal have had one and have in that period collected the League Cup (in 1999) against three Premier League titles and four FA Cups (including two Doubles). Tottenham’s ambition is to qualify for the Champions League. Arsenal have enjoyed an uninterrupted ten years in that tournament.

Quizzed on why he was not the new head coach, Comolli raised more questions than answers. “There is someone next to me who is very competent at what he does and has a proven record of winning things and winning in style,” he said. “How you get results matters. Juande gets results with style, so that is his job, not mine.”

And therefore raises the issue that if Ramos is so gilt-edged and innovative, why does he need a football director above him calling the shots? “The way it works is very simple,” Comolli explained. “Juande will say this is what we need, this is the characteristic of the player we look for and, as scouting staff, we come back with choices for him. If he has a specific name, fantastic, it saves me the job.”

What job? Managers know players. Managers know what they want. Why would any manager relinquish control of such an important part of his role and does that not provide built-in conflict? Comolli claims that Jol was the driving force behind all signings. It is fair to say that statement would not remain unchallenged in certain company.

Nor would the version of events forwarded by Ramos that he was not offered a position at White Hart Lane long before Jol’s dismissal last week. Ignoring photographic evidence of Tottenham executives in Spain as early as August, plus reports that at an official press conference at Seville, he spoke of receiving an offer from the club, Ramos said: “There were some pictures in Seville, but I did not meet any of the Tottenham directors. I said I had three or four offers from other clubs, that is all.”

Still in danger of being reported to Uefa by José MarÍa Del Nido, the Seville president, for making an illegal approach to Ramos, Tottenham were nervous on this issue, and Donna Cullen, the director of communications, jumped in whenever talk strayed to the establishment of a timeline between first approach and appointment. Not that there is anything to hide.

As for Ramos, he was putting his faith in an England long since passed. Asked if he was worried that his employers would one day be meeting his successor behind his back, he appeared unfazed. “British football has a reputation of being very clean,” he said. “So I will put all my trust in the fair play of British football.” At which point, the music from The Omen could be heard. Only joking, Damien.

Lost in translation

Five other managers with poor English when they arrived

Attilio Lombardo (Crystal Palace, 1998) The Italian player-manager gave his first team talk via an interpreter and Palace were 3-0 down to Aston Villa within 35 minutes. “The players failed to put into practice what I had told them – maybe it was the language problem,” he said.

Claudio Ranieri (Chelsea, 2000-2004) The Italian shied away from press conferences for months and was just about able to say “tinkerman” when his four-year stint ended.

Jean Tigana (Fulham, 2000-2003) John Collins, Fulham’s French-speaking midfield player, translated for the toothpick-chewing Tigana at first, but the manager quickly learnt English.

Jacques Santini (Tottenham Hotspur, 2004) It sometimes took several minutes to realise that Santini was speaking English rather than French and it took him only 13 games to decide to head back to France.

Alain Perrin (Portsmouth, 2005) The Frenchman was widely criticised during his brief spell in charge and the language barrier meant that he was unable to hit back strongly in English.

Words: Bill Edgar