Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has admitted that the language barrier played a part in Juande Ramos’ departure.
Ramos was sacked less than a year into his reign at White Hart Lane with Spurs at the foot of the Premier League table after their worst-ever start to a season.
The Spaniard arrived unable to speak fluently in English, with the vast majority of his interviews and press conferences being given via an interpreter.
And Levy, who appointed Harry Redknapp to replace the former Seville boss, intimated that he felt communication problems had played a role in Ramos’ failure at the club.
“I’ve known Harry for a number of years,” he told Sky Sports News I think he’s a great communicator. I think it is very important that that person (the manager) is a good communicator.
“I think that’s something I’ve probably learned over the last few years that communication with the manager and the players is absolutely vital. I think people under-estimate how important it is.
“Sometimes in this role you have to make quick decisions, regrettable ones, but in the interests of the club you have to move forward.
“We wanted to give Juande as much time as possible, we didn’t actually have a cut-off point, but I just knew there was a moment when I had to do something decisive. These things are never nice but I had to do it in the interests of the club.
“He was an absolute gentleman and will always be welcome back here. When I had the conversation with him he completely understood. For whatever reason it didn’t quite work here but he’s a very good coach and I’m sure he’ll go on and be very successful.”
Levy’s ultimate ambition is to see Tottenham qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
He added: “I think Harry is a very confident individual and that confidence feeds onto the players, gives them confidence and they believe in themselves. We all know we’ve got a good squad and there is no way we should be in the position we’re in at the moment.
“In the last two games we’ve scored more goals and gained more points than we’ve had all season, so that should give us the confidence.
“We’re the 11th largest club in Europe and we’re the only club in that top 11 that’s not in the Champions League and that’s clearly something we’ve absolutely got to try and strive for.”
