Early years and Rayo Ramos began his managerial career in 1990 at
Elche CF Ilicitano. He went on to manage
Alcoyano and
Levante in
Segunda División B, before joining
CD Logroñés in 1995. In his
one year in
La Rioja, he guided them to promotion from the
Segunda División in second place behind
Hércules CF. He then moved to
FC Barcelona B – where he was relegated from the same division – and then
UE Lleida and
Rayo Vallecano. In 1999, he won promotion with the team from the outskirts of
Madrid with a playoff victory over
CF Extremadura, and took 22 points from the first 30 in
La Liga, a record for a newly promoted team. They finished 9th, 17 points off winners
Deportivo de La Coruña, and qualified for their first European tournament, the
UEFA Cup, via the Fair Play rule. In the
2000–01 UEFA Cup, Ramos' Rayo won 10–0 on their debut in the qualifying round on 20 August, away to
Constel·lació Esportiva in Andorra; the final aggregate score was 16–0. They made the quarter-finals before losing 4–2 on aggregate to compatriots
Deportivo Alavés.
Betis, Espanyol and Málaga In June 2001, Ramos succeeded club icon
Luis del Sol at
Real Betis. Having come sixth in his one season with the newy promoted
Seville-based club, he signed for
RCD Espanyol. He was fired on 20 October 2002, having taken one point from five games and been eliminated from the cup by
Alicante CF. Ramos returned to work in June 2003, succeeding
Joaquín Peiró for one year at
Málaga CF. Due to conflicts with the board, he did not request a new deal after finishing 10th.
Sevilla In June 2005, after a year out of work, Ramos signed for
Sevilla FC for one season with an automatic second depending on objectives. His first game on 28 August was a 1–0 win over
Racing de Santander, the goal being scored by
Kepa Blanco. During his first season, he won the
UEFA Cup in
the final against
Middlesbrough, where his side won 4–0, and also winning the
UEFA Super Cup, beating European champions and fellow
La Liga side
FC Barcelona 3–0. In the 2006–07 season, Ramos won the UEFA Cup for the second consecutive season after a
2–2 draw against
RCD Espanyol, which Sevilla won 3–1 on penalties. He also led them to a third-place finish in La Liga, qualifying them for the European Champions League for the 2007–08 season. He also won the Copa del Rey, beating
Getafe CF and pipped La Liga title holders Real Madrid to the
Supercopa de España. In the
2006–07 Copa del Rey, Sevilla played city rivals and Ramos' former team Betis in the quarter-finals. After a goalless draw in the first leg at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium,
Frédéric Kanouté scored a 55th-minute away goal at Betis in the second leg on 28 February. A Betis fan reacted by throwing a bottle at Ramos's head, knocking him unconscious. The game was abandoned and its remainder was played in March, behind closed doors in
Getafe. The fan was fined €2,700 and paid €360 to Ramos, while the next three games at the
Estadio Benito Villamarín were ordered to be in an empty stadium. Ramos claimed he turned down a "dizzying" offer to become
Tottenham Hotspur manager in August 2007, but ended speculation on his future at Sevilla, by stating in September that he would stay with the club until the end of the season. However, following Tottenham manager
Martin Jol's sacking on 25 October, he was again tipped to become his replacement. Ramos resigned on 26 October and became Tottenham manager the following day on a four-year deal, which was reportedly worth £6 million a year.
Tottenham Hotspur Ramos inherited a Tottenham side falling well short of expectations as their poor defending meant they were in the relegation zone when he arrived. His first game in charge was a 2–0 win against
Blackpool in the
League Cup at
White Hart Lane on 31 October, courtesy of goals from
Robbie Keane and
Pascal Chimbonda. Three days later, his team drew 1–1 at
Middlesbrough on his league debut. On 18 December 2007, Spurs travelled to the
City of Manchester Stadium for their League Cup quarter-final against a
Manchester City who up until that point had won every home game of the season, but despite playing with 10 men for more than 70 minutes, Ramos still masterminded a 2–0 victory for Tottenham. This set up a semi-final with North London rivals
Arsenal. The first leg at the
Emirates Stadium ended with a 1–1 draw, but the return leg at White Hart Lane saw Tottenham win 5–1. It was Tottenham's first win in the
North London derby since 1999, and the biggest win for either side in the derby since 1983. It also meant Tottenham made their first appearance at the newly rebuilt
Wembley Stadium against
Chelsea in their first cup final since 2002. Spurs started the game at a high tempo, but fell behind to a free-kick from
Didier Drogba. However a second half penalty from
Dimitar Berbatov took the game to extra time, where
Jonathan Woodgate scored the winner to give Spurs both their first trophy since 1999 and qualification for the
2008–09 UEFA Cup. After spending over £60 million in the summer on
Luka Modrić,
David Bentley,
Roman Pavlyuchenko and
Heurelho Gomes, the
2008–09 season saw Ramos lead Tottenham to their worst ever start to a league campaign, with the team placed bottom of the table after acquiring just two points from their opening eight matches; they had won only three league games since the League Cup win in February. This eventually led to Ramos being sacked on 25 October, along with assistant manager
Gus Poyet, first team coach Marcos Álvarez, and club sporting director
Damien Comolli, less than 24 hours before the club's next league game with
Bolton Wanderers.
Harry Redknapp was announced as Ramos's immediate replacement. Tottenham went on to defeat Bolton 2–0 and register their first league win of the season. During his time at Tottenham, Ramos put his players on strict diets, eliminating sugar, swapping juice for water and serving meat with no sauce. He said that his team were a collective 100 kg overweight on his arrival, which had halved by February. His doctor, Antonio Escribano, likened the players to
Formula One cars that could only perform on the right fuel. Striker
Darren Bent later said that the team began to turn on the manager due to their drab diet, including captain
Ledley King.
Real Madrid On 9 December 2008, Ramos became manager of
Real Madrid. He replaced
Bernd Schuster, who left by mutual accord. He took over immediately before their
UEFA Champions League match against
Zenit St. Petersburg and the
El Clásico match against
FC Barcelona. He managed to bring the team back to the race for the title after achieving 52 points out of 54 possible in 18 consecutive games. However, after losing to Barcelona 2–6 at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid were defeated in 4 consecutive matches, ending 9 points behind their rivals. His contract ended at the conclusion of the
2008–09 La Liga, and he was replaced by
Manuel Pellegrini in June.
CSKA Moscow On 10 September 2009, Ramos signed for
CSKA Moscow until December 2009, replacing
Brazilian manager
Zico, who left for
Olympiacos. Ramos said of the appointment: "I have come here to help the team in the Champions League. Our target is to advance from the group stage". On 26 October 2009, after just 47 days in charge, Ramos was relieved of his position by mutual consent after a 3–1 defeat at the
Luzhniki Stadium by
Russian Premier League rivals
FC Moscow a day earlier. The sacking came one year after his departure from
White Hart Lane.
Krylya Sovetov coach
Leonid Slutsky was appointed as Ramos' replacement.
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk On 1 October 2010, Ramos became the manager of
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, having signed a contract for four years. He left the club after the
2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League season, reportedly because of "the reluctance of his family to stay in Ukraine for a long time". It was later revealed Ramos left the Ukrainian club due to not receiving his wages under contract. Ramos eventually won a court hearing against Dnipro, for which the club was banned from the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League competition and was deducted 6 points in the domestic league (
2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League).
Return to Málaga On 27 May 2016, Ramos returned as the manager of Málaga for the second time on his career, signing a three-year contract. Both the club and the coach agreed to part ways on 27 December. ==Managerial statistics==