Juande Ramos, having won five major honours with Seville, including back-to-back UEFA Cup titles continued with his spell last season in the English game. His hunger for success led Tottenham to the League Cup.
Ramos arrived at White Hart Lane on October 29 to replace the sacked Martin Jol. In 2008/09, the Spaniard will have his first full season at Spurs.
Roy Keane took over at the Stadium of Light in 2006-07, steering Sunderland to the Championship title and a place in the top flight.
Although in the Premier League some of the results showed that Sunderland still have a long way to go, Keane succeeded in keeping the Black Cats afloat.
Although Spurs fans were against the sacking of Jol at first, they suddenly found out that his replacement had more knowledge of the game. Jol did err in the transfer market, particularly when he spent £6.5 million on Darren Bent. The striker failed to show his authority in the front line.
Yet, the attacking tandem of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov appeared to be inseparable and when Bent was called up for his services he failed to live up to the reputation he enjoyed at Charlton.
Tottenham had four strikers last season and in January they let Jermain Defoe to join Portsmouth, where he started to score regularly.
A big disappointment at White Hart Lane was goalkeeper Paul Robinson. On occasions, he was the 'culprit' behind some of Tottenham's defeats. His blunders were also evident when he played for England.
Last season, Tottenham's target of breaking into the top four failed once more. The Londoners will be giving their all once again in 2008/09 to make the top four and play in the Champions League for the first time.
Spurs' magical moment came in the League Cup final when they beat rivals Chelsea 2-1 (Berbatov pen, Woodgate) at Wembley.
In the FA Cup, they lost at Manchester United 1-3 in the fourth round. After reaching the group phase of the UEFA Cup, Tottenham succumbed to PSV Eindhoven in a penalty shoot-out in the last 16.
At Sunderland, Keane had the cash to strengthen his side and he made some valuable captures in Kieran Richardson, Craig Gordon (a goalkeeper signed for a British record fee), Kenwyne Jones and Andy Reid.
In both domestic cup competitions, Sunderland bowed out at the first time of asking. League Cup: away at Luton 0-3; FA Cup: home to Wigan 0-3.