Tottenham boss Martin Jol has insisted that Jose Mourinho isn’t replacing him following talks between the Dutchman and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. This news will come as a gut-wrenching ball crushing shock to the many Spurs fans who have been crying out for the ‘Special One’, to join the pantheon of ‘Special’ Managers at the lane, namely Gerry Francis, Christian Gross, Ossie Ardiles, and Glenn Hoddle. Mourinho had been linked to Spurs in several newspapers but Jol says that Levy called him up to deny all those nasty rumours, and (possibly) to sing him a soothing lullaby as he drifted off to sleep, sucking his thumb.
The Daily Mail, quite unsurprisingly, disagrees. Although the Mail were proven wrong in their assertions yesterday, they are persisting with the story, just moving the goalpoasts somewhat. They now claim that Jol is going to stay in charge, but only on a match by match basis, whilst Levy and his cohorts search frantically for a caretaker manager to look after the club until the summer, when Juande Ramos will make his glorious entrance.
Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle leapt to Jol’s defence, Hoddle said:
“The same thing that looks like is happening to Martin happened to me so I have got every sympathy for him. It is okay saying you have given him [Jol] £40m to spend and then instantly wanting results and telling him that he has to get into the top four, but the directors need to be a little bit more patient. The fans are behind Martin and so are the players.”
So their are several choices for the Spurs faithful today:
1) Stay with Jol, stick it out.
2) Stay with Jol, sack him at the end of the season. This ‘stab in the front’ technique doesn’t have the surprise element anymore, with is a definite minus point
3) Sack Jol now, get a caretaker, wait until the summer when Juande Ramos can come riding in on a white horse, or even ‘The Special One”…
4) Sack Jol, have absolutely no manager lined up or plan in place while constantly talking up how the club is “in talks” with various world class managers, only to appoint some moderately famous ex-player in an attempt to appease the fans
Hmmm…