Spurs vs The Press - Who Can We Believe?

Whatever your feelings about Martin Jol and his ability to win something with Tottenham, you have to concede that the last week in Spursland has been record breaking in terms of strange goings on. Spurs have become a media circus, with even events down the road at the Chavs not keeping us off the back page for more than a couple of days. If you ask me, the first person picking up their P45 should be that dozy bint who calls herself the head of PR - could she have done a worse job if she tried???

Constant media speculation of the sort that Jol is experiencing at the moment often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (as countless England managers will tell you), but what confuses me is the conviction with which the papers report what are in essence three completely conflicting stories. On Monday I read three papers and the Spurs news in each was different, the synopsis of which is roughly:

1. Jol has already agreed a payoff and is just waiting for Levy to find his new man


2. Jol is being sacked against his will


3. Jol is staying and has the full support of the board

Now, oddly enough you would think that the people who actually know would be the board and the manager - yet they are the only people who are championing position 3. In every interview and via several statements both Jol and Levy absolutely assure us that Jol is backed and is going nowhere, they could not be more resolute if they tried - so why won't anyone believe them?

The answer could be that old favourite the "club insider", or maybe even "a source close to". Seeing as how Jol is still there, I wonder how that source could have been so wrong for so long and yet still be trusted by the journalists. Call me cynical but if you were a director of a football club who was looking to hound out the manager by subversive tactics, a steady stream of leaked stories of EGM's and secret meetings with other managers would seem to be a rather effective way of making the present incumbents position untenable.

Let's take a look at some of the evidence presented so far:

Press says:
That the board had an emergency meeting the other day in which they agreed a £4m payoff package for Martin Jol
Club says:
That there absolutely was no such meeting and that they have never even discussed a payoff package

Press says:
That Martin Jol is acting as a caretaker until the board can secure the services of the replacement
Club says:
That Martin Jol has their continued backing

Press says:
That Levy called Mourinho 5 times, that both Capello and Houllier have been seen in London this weekend, that Spurs met with Ramos in August, that Ramos has now fallen out with those at Seville and that Comolli was in Spain this weekend at the Barca vs Seville game
Club says:
That they didn't meet Ramos in the summer and that Comolli was actually at the Southampton vs Burnley game so couldn't possibly have been in Spain

So who do we believe?

One thing is certain and that is that Levy cannot exactly come out and admit to any of the accusations levelled at him without undermining the club, and in particular Jol's relationship with the players, any more that he has already. The conflicting stories will continue and one day we'll get a new manager because unlike in politics where the people in charge are at least accountable to the voters, in football there is zero accountability at the very top.

If Levy is lying it's because he knows he can get away with it. He knows full well that even if he announces a new manager tomorrow that nobody is going to camp outside his door demanding to know why they have been spun to and treated like idiots, he knows that the turnstiles will still revolve 35,000 times every other week and that the press (and probably the fans) will have forgotten all about it within a fortnight.