"Dear Supporter,

"How quickly things change in football. Our pre-season form, our start to the transfer window and early summer signings had everyone optimistic for the season ahead. The last few days of that window and our poor start to the season has seen all that change. This has been a difficult period for the club and many questions are being asked and much criticism levelled. I should like to update you on some important developments announced a short while ago, to answer some of your questions and also to outline our thinking as we look to improve our position going forward.

"We have faced many key challenges as we have progressed over the last few seasons and we have had to take important decisions at crucial times - without the wonderful benefit of hindsight and always under full public scrutiny. As such, they have been judgement calls. Some of our decisions and judgements may be unpopular with our fans but we always take decisions we believe to be in the best interests of our club, and for the right reasons. In many cases, it is simply not possible or practical for all of the factors involved to enter the public domain and I do understand that this can alter or impair the perception of why something has or hasn't been done.

"Today, as formally announced by the club, I have made one such important judgement call and in doing so I have taken some very difficult decisions. Relieving Juande Ramos, our head coach, and Juande's assistants, Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez, of their posts is not something I have undertaken lightly.

"Unfortunately, our record of just three league wins since our memorable Carling Cup victory against Chelsea last February, combined with our extremely poor start to the season, led the board and I to determine that significant change was necessary as a matter of urgency. We are grateful to Juande, Gus and Marcos for all their hard work - they are incredibly professional, committed individuals and I regret that their time in the Premier League has not gone as well as we had all hoped..

"The English Premier League is an unforgiving competition - time was no longer on our side and was a luxury we simply could not afford. We have quite clearly not performed to the best of our ability for many months now and our poor run of form is not something we could allow to continue unchecked.

"In appointing Harry Redknapp as our new manager, we are delighted to have secured the services of someone we have long admired and whose track record and knowledge of all levels of football, including importantly the Premier League, is outstanding. I know Harry is relishing the opportunity of managing a club he knows well - not least from his son Jamie's time here as a player and captain - and of re-invigorating and restoring confidence to a squad of highly talented international players. With his great knowledge of the game and his excellent motivational skills, Harry has inspired his teams to consistently overperform, whilst his attacking style of playing the game sits comfortably with our club's history, heritage and the type of entertaining football our fans want and expect to see.

"We have spent around £175m on new players over the last three years. The purchasing of players is a critical aspect of our club and, given our current position, it is essential that we go into the January transfer window with absolute confidence in the advice being offered to the board. Following a meeting of the directors and a full review of our football management structure, I can also inform you that Damien Comolli has left the club with immediate effect. Damien will not be directly replaced.

"In my opinion, and with the benefit that comes with running our club with and without a sporting director in the past seven years, the successful management of a football club is not about structures or job titles. As in most businessess, it's about people: their personal qualities, their knowledge, their experience, their relationships, communication skills, interaction with colleagues, leadership and, of course, their ability.

"In Harry, we are also accepting with his appointment that now is the right time for us to move back to a more traditional style of football management, one which we believe will be capable of initiating our climb back up the Premiership table and to maintaining our challenge in the UEFA, Carling and FA Cup competitions.

"However, I should stress that we are not in this position because of any single factor or any one individual. Human nature often dictates the need to find someone or something to blame, but in these circumstances we need all our energies to be directed instead to supporting the team and improving our league position. Nothing else matters at this time.

"That said, and without dwelling too much on last summer, I also want to take this opportunity to address some of the other concerns you have raised. Many of the questions I have been asked and much of the reasoning for our poor start to the season has centred on our striker options. I do not believe this to be the sole reason, but I do feel it is important to set out the facts once again regarding the sale of two popular and talented strikers: Keane and Berbatov.