Patient: Doctor, what is the prognosis?
Doctor: It doesn’t look good..You haven’t got long…
Patient: What is it?!? How long am I going to live?
Doctor: Five….
Patient: Five what!!?! Days? Months? Years?
Doctor: Four…Three…Two…One
A cavalcade of news agencies are today reporting that Martin Jol only has a few games to salvage his Tottenham managerial career after a 3-1 loss to Arsenal capped off a terrible start to the season.
Starting at the top and working down (in terms of respectability), we have the Independent that claims Jol will have to turn things around by the time the next International break arrives in three weeks time. The club’s directors, although upset with Tottenham’s bad start to the season, are also acutely aware that the majority of Spurs fans still support their beleaguered boss. After the game Jol said to the press:
“I feel there are two worlds here in London. There is you guys and then there are the supporters who read your papers. It’s amazing, no? Although they read your papers, they are still backing me and that’s a great feeling.”
People power can only go so far however, and the directors will be hard pressed to resist their urges to replace Jol if Spurs’ tumble down the table continues.
The Guardian lead with a headline which is guaranteed to warm the cockles of Jol’s ogre sized heart; “Spurs court Ramos again as Jol woes grow” is what they say. The basic gist of the article is that the Spurs board are still hopeful that they can nab Juande Ramos off Sevilla. The Guardian says that the fact that the board were caught red handed last time made them hesitate, but the next window of opportunity to woo Ramos could be very soon. The Guardian says:
“Levy and a delegation of Tottenham directors, including Damien Comolli, the sporting director, had met Ramos on August 17 at the Alfonso XIII hotel in Seville to discuss the possibility of his succeeding Jol. But when the clandestine meeting was made public the ensuing outcry, not least from within the Spurs dressing room, made Levy hesitate. The window of opportunity closed but it may reopen at the next international break. In the meantime, uncertainty persists.”
.
And finally, swerving towards the gutter press we have the Sun and the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail claims that Jol will not leave without a fight (and who in their right man would attack Jol, who looks like a shaven Grizzly Bear?). Jol told them:
“I’m not hurting inside…I will try to get the results and as long as the players show me the commitment they showed me again, there is no problem.”
Fighting talk indeed.
The Sun meanwhile, like an avante garde Swedish director, is going for a different angle. They lead with the barnstorming headline: Jol: I’ll let Jermain rot. The Sun thinks (a scary three words) that Jol is becoming increasingly angered by Defoe’s refusal to sign a new contract. Defoe hasn’t started a game this year, why is he picking on him? Anyway….an insider apparently told the Sun that Jol screamed in the general vicinity of Mr Defoe,
“I will never sell you to any top-four club. You can rot in the reserves if that’s what it takes.But I’m never going to let you leave here just because you want to go to another big club.â€
So how long would you give Martin Jol? Seconds? Days? Weeks? Years?