The appointment of Juande Ramos as Tottenham boss was supposed to herald the dawn of a new era down at White Hart Lane.

Having won consecutive UEFA Cups with unfashionable Sevilla - as well as the Copa del Rey - the Spaniard looked to have the golden touch when it came to silverware. Indeed, it seemed the club had finally found the right man when, in his first season in charge, he led Spurs to Carling Cup victory - their first trophy in nine barren years.

So why does is suddenly look like it's all going horribly wrong down at the Lane?

Next season was supposed to be the one that proved they were finally on the right track, the one where they built impressively on last season's League Cup win with more of the same, the one where they at last realised their long-awaited dream of becoming serious challengers to the Big Four.

But, just when the future started to look peachy, it's all gone pear-shaped. The fearsome strike force that saved them from dismal defeat so many times over the last two years - and produced some of the most thrilling games in recent memory - have all decided they've had enough.

Jermain Defoe was the first to go. Not content with spending 70 minutes of every match warming the bench, he decided to try his luck elsewhere. It says something when a player prefers to ply his trade in Portsmouth rather than fight to get into the Tottenham first-team.

It is surely only a matter of time before Dimitar Berbatov is on his way to Manchester United. It's not exactly a tough decision - play for the third-best team in your city or the best in Europe in front of 75,000 every week? I know what I'd rather be doing.

Then there's Robbie Keane, who will be wearing the red of his beloved Liverpool next season. Again, I can't see him agonising over that one. For a man who's edging towards the end of his career, guaranteed Champions League football and a realistic crack at the title are not to be sniffed at.

That only leaves Darren Bent and new boy Giovani Dos Santos to bang in the goals next season - hardly the most awe-inspiring of front lines. Let's face it, Bent had one decent season for Charlton in 2005 and has followed that up with a few years of solid under-achievement.

And Dos Santos? Well, to say he's inexperienced is like saying Amy Winehouse likes the occasional tipple. You can't expect an untried 19-year-old to lead the line for a Premier League team expected to challenge for a Champions League spot! The lad only managed four goals in 38 appearances for Barcelona last season - and he clearly wasn't up to their standard or they wouldn't have let him go so easily.

So, another year that promised so much will probably end the same way they usually do at White Hart Lane - mid-table, trophyless and dreaming of turning that corner next season.