The Falling Standards of La Liga or Real Madrid On the Way Down?

The man pictured above is Juande Ramos, instantly recognizable to all Premier League supporters as the guy who was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur in favour of Harry Redknapp.

Ramos, would you believe it, is currently in charge of Real Madrid!

Yes, you read that right, Real Madrid, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, club in the world.

The question to be asked here is: How on earth is a failure from North London good enough to fill the hot seat at Santiago Bernabeau!

Wait! Let's not jump to conclusions; let's analyze the resume of Mr.Ramos.

Juande Ramos has already managed over half a dozen sides, including the likes of Espanyol, Sevilla, Real Betis, Malaga, Tottenham Hotspur, and now, Real Madrid.

Perhaps his most impressive show as a manager came at Sevilla, where he twice won the UEFA Cup and even managed to nab the Copa Del Ray once with a side that boasted the likes of Freddy Kanoute, Luis Fabiano, Dani Alves, and Adriano.

As he moved on to Tottenham, life was tough in North London, but Juande Ramos won the Carling Cup against Chelsea, which accompanied a dismal show in the Premier League despite the fact that his strike force at a time included all of Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Darren Bent, and Jermain Defoe.

Looking at some facts: Juande Ramos' winning percentage at White Hart Lane was a low 38.9 percent in 54 games.

Last summer, Juande Ramos spent BIG!

Ramon Pavlyuchenko, David Bentley, Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric were amongst the high-profile arrivals at White Hart Lane as both Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov were sold off to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.

Despite heavy transfer activity, Spurs suffered what was their worst ever start to a season under the management of the great Juande Ramos.

Two points from eight games!

Many supporters of the Spaniard blamed the woeful performance on Daniel Levy and Damien Comolli, but the bigwigs at White Hart Lane followed suit in sacking the Carling Cup winner.

Sacked, Ramos took a back seat until Bernd Schuster was sacked by Real Madrid and when Madrid came calling, he could never refuse!

There's no question about the quality of Juande Ramos but it is hard to ignore that a manager who was disgraced by a mediocre Premier League side has become the manager of the biggest club in Spain (no disrespect to Barcelona).

Anybody who watched the El-Classico would know of a certain greatness possessed by Juande Ramos, not many managers are lucky to have it.

Enough said.

What's your verdict?

Is this an example of the falling standards of the La Liga and Real Madrid?