Ramos lost for words at rally

One man with a vested interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s fortunes sipped a quiet beer as he watched their breathless comeback against Aston Villa on Monday night. The Insider’s spy in Spain reports that Juande Ramos, top of Spurs’ hitlist to replace Martin Jol, the doomed manager, was engrossed by the epic 4-4 draw.

The Seville coach chose Merchant’s Malt House, a local Irish bar, to watch the match on television with chums - including his English teacher. According to our man hiding behind a pint of the black stuff: “He sat just behind me with one of his coaching staff and discussed how he would manage Spurs. He was definitely chuffed to see Spurs fall so far behind but a bit crestfallen to see them rally for the draw.”

Ramos was looked at for the manager’s job at Manchester City before Sven-Göran Eriksson, but his lack of English was thought to be too much of a drawback. Seems like he is putting in some extra work this time before packing for England.

Nation caught up in Hamilton slipstream

Nine months to go, not world champion yet and still the Hamilton Effect is sweeping the nation. Silverstone reported yesterday that it has sold more than 10,000 tickets for the British Grand Prix – and it’s not until July 6 next year.

Meanwhile, a rethink at Red Mist Books, which was to publish the memoirs of Nigel Stepney, Ferrari’s disgraced chief mechanic at the centre of the Formula One spying affair.

No reasons have been given for ditching the warts-and-all autobiography but it’s a fair bet that lawyers at McLaren and Ferrari would have combed the more sensitive passages.

Plans up in smoke

Good news and bad news for the annual beano that is the World Professional Darts Championship at the Lakeside. The good news first: the event will have its richest prize fund next January, a mighty £310,000. Now the bad news: the Government’s ban on smoking in public places threatens chaos, with the prospect of scores of spectators demanding to wander in and out for a puff. With 1,500 fans crammed into the Lakeside for the main matches, organisers are wondering what to do about the constant train of people entering and leaving the competition arena, with concerns that it may lead to some people posing as returning smokers to sneak in without tickets.

Oh, and one other thing: try not to mention the issue of equal prize-money. With an enlightened Wimbledon awarding equal money for both sexes this year, the British Darts Organisation men’s champion will get £85,000 – the women’s champion, er, £6,000.

Don’t tell ’er indoors.

Also gasping for a puff, Beijing’s taxi drivers. The city authorities have implemented a smoking ban on 66,000 cabs, a big step towards the International Olympic Committee’s demands that next year’s Games are a nonsmoking event. But China accounts for a third of the world’s smokers, with half of all men in Beijing regularly lighting up.