Martin Jol: Too Soon for Exit Talk?

I think we can all agree that Martin Jol is having a torrid start to the season. Three points out of nine, with Man U, Fulham and Arsenal to come it is not beyond the realms of possibility to see us on 6 points after 6, I don’t even want to consider less than that!

The press love a good bit of shit stirring, and so BMJ has become the obvious target. Some would say that Sammy Lee at Bolton is in a far more precarious situation, but then he didn’t spend £40m, nor was anyone in their right mind expecting them to challenge for a Champions League spot. Some might even note that Man U have had a worse start than we have, but even if he lost every game from now until Christmas, Sir Alex the Untouchable is clearly in no danger of being ousted so he’s also off the hook.

So it is left to Tottenham to fill the gossip columns, with their never-know-what-you’re-going-to-get performances, their “entertainers” moniker, the fans insistence on playing the Spurs Way^TM and historically sacking their manager the second he ties his shoelaces the wrong way they are an easy target.

But is it fair? No it is not. Is it reasonable? Not really. Hang on – is it even believable? You know, I’m not sure it is. Is it anything other than a grossly over-inflated case of the media dragging a story out of nothing? Well I have to leave that for you to decide.

Against all the odds, the bookies inside knowledge and basically in opposition to every other story about this that I have read recently, I am going out on a limb to say that Martin Jol is not about to lose his job (I may live to regret that!). Of course I have no concrete evidence to support this other than common sense, but whatever tip off the bookies have had about this, I suspect they have been sold a lemon. Jol has gone from 50/1 to 8/15 on to be sacked after "a massive rush of punters" - but surely that is how bookies operate so the question is, what caused the rush - media hype?

I don’t know about you, but I am not a big believer in coincidence, and so when I hear that certain representatives of Spurs were in Spain – in the same hotel even – as the extremely talented Seville manager, then I have to class that as the smoke that rarely materializes without the fire. But I still think that this proves nothing regarding our immediate future.

I put it to you ladies and gentlemen of the terraces, that Tottenham Hotspur were simply contingency planning, as any good business might. I don’t mean for the end of the month, I honestly doubt even the end of the year, but I do suspect that if Mr. Jol fails to deliver any silverware, and/or a place in the Champions League this season, that the board (and by then quite possibly the fans) will have had quite enough thank you very much, and here’s the P45. Did anyone stop to think that they might have been sounding him out for a job next year?

If you as a board member knew it was coming surely you'd have taken care of business in May, not August. If they weren’t planning it then you cannot seriously tell me that the board has decided to sack Jol based on 2 games, when he is missing 5 or 6 key players – that would be madness. Jol may have his flaws, but to sack him 3 games in (one of which we won 4-0), after 2 comparatively successful seasons where he delivered more than any other manager we have had since the turn of the century, strikes me as incredibly unfair.

Ramos as a manager is a huge talent, with an exceptional record at Seville, as such I think we’d hardly be crying into our beer if the unthinkable does happen and the coup materializes in the next week or two – but I just can’t see it. Harry Redknapp is another name touted, but this doesn't strike me as an improvement. Marcello Lippi is apparently the third name on the hitlist, "A motivator rather than a strategist, Lippi is not bound by a rigid tactical approach." cites Wikipedia- whatever that means.

I want to believe the hype about Ramos being the next greatest manager ever, but has anyone stopped to ask what he acheived before Seville? Has anyone even considered why he might want to leave a club that is doing so well, for a club that will sack him if he loses 2 games in a row? Still, you can only judge a man on his recent acheivements, and if he wants it then fair play to him - if Jol is going then we could do worse (read: Harry Redknapp).

So there you have it, inconclusive perhaps but then there’s only a very small circle of people that can tell us for sure what’s happening, and they’re not talking. Football, in the immortal words, is “a funny old game” and stranger things have happened, but one thing is certain, if we get anything from Old Trafford, and then beat the scum next month all will be forgiven. The fans will be happy, the media will move on, Martin Jol will be safe and everything will be right with the world.

Will he get the chance? I love Martin Jol, and Martin Jol loves me, but in the cold light of day if we wake up next to Ramos one morning will anyone really be too disappointed?