...and the Independent.

Tottenham exit beckons for 'not right man' Jol
By Jason Burt and Sam Wallace
Published: 20 August 2007
Martin Jol's time as manager of Tottenham Hotspur appears to be drawing to a close. Despite Saturday's victory over Derby County, the Dutchman remains under severe pressure to save his job after 34 months in charge.

According to one club source it appears the decision has already been taken that Jol is not considered the "right man to take the club forward" and fulfil ambitions to break into the Premier League top four.

The source said the club feel they need a "top manager", which would appear to be a harsh judgement on Jol, who has guided Spurs to two fifth-placed finishes in the league and a number of good cup runs.

However relations bet-ween Jol and the sporting director, Damien Comolli, who has the full backing of the chairman, Daniel Levy, have been strained for some time. Comolli is regarded as fire proof, which has left Jol vulnerable. It means the crisis runs far deeper than simply losing the first two league games of the season, to Sunderland and Everton.

Jol will remain in control for next Sunday's Premier League meeting with Manchester United and the fixture away to Fulham on 1 September. However, the forthcoming international break provides the Spurs board with an opportunity to make a change before the Arsenal match on Saturday 15 September.

A dramatic resurgence may allow Jol a reprieve although the pessimism surrounding his prospects was not lifted by Saturday's 4-0 victory over Derby.

"We are looking for confidence that we are going to go to the next level," a source said, bluntly.

A list of candidates to replace Jol is being drawn up. As The Independent revealed on Saturday it includes the Seville coach Juande Ramos, who met Spurs' club secretary, John Alexander, at the Hotel Alfonso XIII in the Spanish city late on Friday evening.

The meeting was witnessed by the editor of a local newspaper, Estadio Deportivo, which splashed pictures of the pair across its morning edition. Spurs claim Alexander was in Seville on other club business and Ramos said he was having a drink with a friend and that the meeting was purely coincidental.

Ramos is under contract with Seville until the end of this season and has made no secret of the fact that he would like to move to the Premier League, having been linked with Chelsea and Manchester City. He is also comfortable working under the "continental structure" that Spurs are committed to, although the 52-year-old has only previously been a coach in Spain.

Spurs are considering other candidates and these are thought to include the highly-ambitious Blackburn Rovers manager, Mark Hughes, and Harry Redknapp. The Portsmouth manager is close to Spurs' deputy-chairman, Paul Kemsley, who is not thought to be a fan of Jol. Kemsley was also in Spain last week, although sources insist he was only on holiday. Spurs are unlikely to consider one of their former players, Jurgen Klinsmann.

Ramos, whose team played Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup last night, has been offered a new deal at Seville but is stalling. Spurs are believed to be unsure whether they should press ahead and offer him the job.

Spurs are at pains to stress that they are not in negotiations with any coach. A spokesman said: "We are a club that is aiming for the top four so we have to accept that there will be speculation if it appears that things are not going to plan. But we are not at this point in time negotiating with any manager to replace Martin Jol."

The statement will hardly provide reassurance for Jol. Spurs have invested heavily, particularly this summer, and believe they can finish in a Champions League place this season.

Jol is due to meet Levy later this week to discuss transfer targets before the close of the summer window. However, it is unthinkable, given the pressure, that the manager's position will not also be discussed.

At the same time, the Football Association is to investigate the decision of the bookmakers Coral to suspend betting on Jol being the next Premier League manager to be sacked after two very large bets were placed on Friday.

Patched together from a bunch of other stuff - one part of that is lifted almost verbatim from BOF's post on SC. Lazy journalists not wanting to miss out in case it really does happen, but two separate people from within the club have said within the last 24 hours that they are not planning on removing BMJ at this time, both reliable sources to the best of my knowledge. Guess we'll have to wait and see..

Believe it or not this is Paul Kelmsey (THFC Director and Redknapp fan) and Ramos the other day in Spain. Maybe they were talking about the weather or something...

I have no doubt the meeting took place, my point is that it would be remiss of the club not to planning ahead for any eventuality. Just coz they've spoken to him doesn't mean he's coming, they've probably spoken to a dozen coaches over the last two years.

Hopefullu, if the players are behind Jol, they will rally round with a strong performance against Man Utd.

I personally don't think Jol has what it takes to take Spurs into a top four position, though don't read that as the same as saying we should remove him now.

GDG wrote:

I have no doubt the meeting took place, my point is that it would be remiss of the club not to planning ahead for any eventuality. Just coz they've spoken to him doesn't mean he's coming, they've probably spoken to a dozen coaches over the last two years.

Maybe they were taking about players for buying and selling from either club etc.???

Stew.

Seems all the major UK papers are running with the story now.

It's either true or they're a bunch of sheep, baz, only time will tell.

God I hate this speculation. Is it Jol's fault that Comolli and Levy have failed to sign left-sided players? Jol has his faults for sure, but he can only do what he can with the players he has at his disposal. We have a massive injury list - not Jol's fault unless he nobbled them on the training pitch. We haven't signed the right players - Comolli's repsonsibility, and we don't pay enough to attract players - Levy's responsibility. Occasionally Jol does get it wrong on the pitch, but jeez, he is our most successful manager since Burkenshaw. If we don't give him till the end of the season we'll be the laughing stock of the PL.

For what it's worth, I've spoken to my source again today and he's supremely confident that his information is accurate, in which case there are going to be a lot of stupid-looking people around soon. The trouble for the press is that they have to report it if everyone else is, if they're all wrong then they're all wrong. But if they don't report it and it turns out to be true they will have their sports editor all over their case asking why they didn't get the story. Safety in numbers you see.

I think people will take a very dim view of Spurs if they remove Jol so soon.

If we get rid of this season it will be the biggest mistake the club's made in over 20 years.......and boy we made some fecking howlers in that time. Irrespective of who we've lined up, I don't want another transitional season. It's the best chance we've ever had of breaking into top 4. If it ain't broke, why fix it?!

Reminds me of the big feck up Irving Scholar made all those years ago when he drove out Pleaty after his awesome 86/87 season and brought in Terry Vegetables. It should never have happened.

I fear our club is on the brink of shooting itself in the foot again Gutted if goes

Sacking Jol would be disaster, end of.

I am indifferent to this information, honestly. If Levy really thinks that Jol is not the manger to lead us to go further, he should sack him once he take the handover of Spurs. IN my opinion, I think that they may be playing mind games now, i.e. to push the players to play hard in the following games( such as MU, Arxxxl).