Ramos: Status counts for nothing March 18 2008
Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos has left the club's star players in no doubt that reputations count for nothing under his leadership at White Hart Lane.
The Spaniard watched his side squander a position of strength at Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs led 1-0 at half-time only to end up on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat to Sven-Goran Eriksson's team.
Ramos also witnessed a display of petulance from captain Robbie Keane at Eastlands which left the former Sevilla boss unmoved.
Keane had put the north Londoners ahead with his 21st goal of the season but was substituted for Darren Bent with City having just equalised.
The Republic of Ireland striker stomped off the pitch mouthing obscenities before hurling his tracksuit top to the floor as he took his seat on the bench.
It was the seventh time in the last eight matches Keane, now Spurs' top scorer, had either been substitute or substituted but Ramos confirmed no player was more important any other.
"I treat everyone equally within the squad and players know they have a right to play just as much as anyone else," he said. "We don't give any value or importance to conversations like that.
"I make changes according to the requirements of each game, what I think are for the benefit of the team.
"From time to time you do need to give players a rest when they have played a lot of minutes themselves."
On Keane's reaction to being brought off, Ramos added: "I don't worry about that at all. If a player is going to get angry about something it is not for me to worry about."
Third-placed Chelsea are next up for the Lilywhites on Wednesday at White Hart Lane.
Assistant coach Gus Poyet admitted that against the title-chasers they cannot afford to produce a similar second performance to that at Eastlands.
"We had the chance to kill the game and win it and we didn't do it so we have to look at ourselves and make sure this does not happen in the future," he added.