Jol Staying as Manager of Spurs
Sevilla Coach Juande Ramos Rejects Offer to Manage Tottenham Hotspur
After days of speculation Martin Jol remains as Tottenham Hotspur manager after Sevilla manager, Juande Ramos, decides to see out his contract in Spain.
After four days of turmoil and speculation it now transpires that Martin Jol is to remain as manager of Tottenham Hotspur. Less than twenty four hours ago it seemed an absolute certainty that Jol would be leaving Spurs as the Board courted Juande Ramos, the manager of Sevilla.
Ramos Rejects Spurs Offer
In yesterday’s reports it appeared that Ramos had agreed to come to White Hart Lane immediately and would be arriving within days, perhaps even in time for the match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Then matters started to slow down, Ramos wanted some time to think about it and Sevilla started to flex their muscles – stating that their manager would not be leaving and that he would be seeing out the final year of his contract.
Tensions at White Hart Lane
The saga had apparently started last Friday with news that betting had been suspended on Martin Jol becoming the first manager to be sacked this season. Large sums of money had been placed on the manager of Spurs to lose his post. This was an unexpected event as only a week earlier Spurs had been many observers’ favourite to break into the top-four elite.
However, tension behind the scenes at the club had been smouldering for some time with certain Board members concerned that Jol could not take the club to the next stage of their development. His position had been under threat midway through last season only for a four goal FA Cup win at Fulham to revitalise the season and the team which then progressed to finish fifth in the league although they missed out on success in the FA Cup and UEFA Cup.
Having spent £40 million on new signings during the summer, defeat in the opening two games against Sunderland and Everton had dampened the pre-season optimism but after a four goal win against Derby County at the weekend, it would have been expected that the pressure would ease for the manager.
Weekend Newspaper Speculation
However, this was not the case as Sunday newspaper reports linked the club with both Ramos and Jurgen Klinsmann, including photographs of Spurs’ officials meeting Ramos in Spain. The story gained momentum over the next two days until it seemed that Jol was certain to be leaving the club which he has taken to their highest league finish in the past two years.
However, when Ramos indicated that he was not going to come to White Hart Lane, which he re-iterated in a press conference in Seville on Wednesday, Daniel Levy and the Spurs’ Board had to come to some compromise.
Martin Jol Remains at Tottenham
That entailed a lengthy meeting with Jol and his assistant, Chris Hughton, in face to face discussions to lay down their expectations for the coming season, to make it clear what was expected and ensure everyone that Martin Jol was going nowhere while they were within their rights to look at ways of ensuring the best for the club in the future.
Not a ringing endorsement or vote of confidence for the coach and his staff.
Champions League Football or Else!
The pressure has been firmly placed on Martin Jol’s shoulders with the responsibility of ensuring that the club achieves Champions League football by the end of this season. Having lost two of the opening three games, Jol now takes Spurs to Manchester United where they have failed to win since 1989 and have only scored once in the past seven visits, excluding Pedro Mandes' controversial 'over the line' goal.
Martin Jol has brought a measure of respectability and progress to Tottenham - he has taken them from constant mid-table mediocrity and under-achievement to fifth place in the league and the latter stages of all three Cup competitions over the past three seasons. They are the 'best of the rest' but that next step up into the top four will be very difficult to achieve. Spurs must remove one of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal from those top positions and they are determined to hold on to their domination of English football.
Martin Jol has been left in avery difficult position after the Board's actions - it will be intersting to see how he and the team respond in the coming weeks and what will be the response of the Board to a sequence of poor results in the coming season. He may not be long at White Hart Lane.
