I played under the ruthless Tottenham manager: his brutal training demands left the player in hospital

Former Tottenham striker Darren Bent has revealed that a player collapsed during training with former manager Juande Ramos.

The Spanish coach was brief but eventful at the helm of the Spurs between 2007 and 2008.

Ramos inspired the north London club to League Cup glory, their only major trophy since the turn of the century.

However, an 11th place in the first division and a dismal start to the 2008/09 campaign meant Ramos was sacked after less than a year in charge.

Bent previously admitted that veteran players turned against the boss because of his strict dietary requirements.

Ramos claimed his team was collectively 100kg overweight upon arrival, which was halved in the first five months.

Now, Bent has revealed just how brutal life was under Spanish discipline, for one player in particular.

“Juande came in and changed things drastically,” Bent recalled.

“The food, the needs, the body fat, the weight changed.

“It was so tough when he first came in, a player, I won't mention his name, that it ended in a trickle.

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“Because he had to lose so much weight so quickly, his body was not used to it. A well-known and established player ended up on a trickle.

“He went to the hospital. Here's the thing, I would never have looked at him and thought, 'He's big.' He was in a very good situation.”

“Juande came in and it was by fine margins. In the canteen there was a meat option, a fish option. He (this player) collapsed, he had nothing left!

“The manager came in and said, 'Where's so-and-so?' And the physio responded: 'He is in the hospital, he collapsed.'

“When he came back, I had to maintain it. Fair play to Juande, he wanted everyone to be a certain weight and body fat.

“The only thing I remember is that there was no ketchup. There was no salt or pepper. All we could eat was a little olive oil, a little rice and a little vegetables. No crumble.”

Bent's story comes after Pep Guardiola recently He apologized for calling on-loan Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips overweight.

Ramos, however, went much further with a stunning attack on the fitness of his Tottenham team following his sacking.

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In 2014, the former Sevilla and Real Madrid coach said: “It was like a wedding buffet. Cakes, pastries, sauces.

“Honestly, and I say this without any bitterness, there were players who were… well, fat. They were sedentary.

'In an athlete, the physical condition has to be perfect because you live off the body. Your food is your fuel.

“If I eat a cake, I'm putting in diesel; an athlete needs to put in super fuel.

“There was some resistance, of course: a 22- or 23-year-old kid, with cash in his pocket, thinking, 'And this guy comes here telling me what to eat,' we could see that.

“We trained in Chigwell and there's a McDonald's and we'd see them there, eating burgers and drinking Coca-Cola.

“I couldn't go to their houses to see what they were eating, but if they weren't at their ideal weight, I could keep them out of it.”