Why Is It Bye Bye BMJ ?

Nice to see that the scouting system is firing on all cylinders and the board aren’t going behind BMJ’s back.  Just seen on the NewsNow feed, headline from the official site – ‘Fancy Becoming A Coach?’.

Elfrid.

Fellow Yids,

I was the guy who called for BMJ’s head after the Everton game, and whilst I’m happy he hasn’t gone, I still think the events of the last week would be excellent for spurs over the course of the season.  The message has been received loud and clear:  NO ONE AT SPURS CAN AFFORD TO REST ON THEIR LAURELS!!  BMJ has provided us with our best league finishes in 25 years but if Man City, West Ham, Villa, and Portsmouth carry on spending at the rate they are, within 18 months or less ninth might be a good season for Spurs.

We need to take advantage of our current best of the rest status, go for champions league, win a trophy, keep our squad and be able to attract better players (Bent!) Jol was saying things like, fifth was an over-achievement and would still be a good season, Fergie didn’t win anything for his first four seasons, the top four have bigger capacity stadiums and more experience etc etc i.e. preparing us for failure or trying to take the pressure of the players.

Levy rightly, simply reminded him that Ramos has won 2 UEFA Cups, a Spanish Cup, qualified for the CL, challenged Barca and Real with 20% of their budget, all with Kanoute up front …  It is possible. This week was simply a kick up the backside for Jol, a wake up call to reiterate that the league is ferociously competitive, and our start was totally unacceptable.  We are aspiring towards 4th as well as defending our 5th places.

I personally hope it makes Jol a more ruthless and urgent manager.  If the Jenas, Zokora pairing need to be broken up, do it. If Paul’s off form, give Cerny a run in the team.  If you need creative midfielders on the bench, then drop a striker from the squad.  Whatever it takes, lets be meritocratic, and try and win at all costs. That’s the mentality it takes to be regular a CL club.

I’d rather have the events of last week now than in mid November when CL is no longer an option. All Premiership managers are under pressure, it goes with the territory. Now Martin, show us what you are made of.

COYS.

TUNDE E14.

RUNNING THE WRONG RACE.

In the space of a few short days we have gone from being the model of a club that is well organised off and on the pitch, whose blueprint for finding a way out of the mid-table swamp is being copied by many others, to being a laughing stock. The club’s prudent strategy for developing a top four team, much praised, has been chucked out of the window precisely at the point where it might all come to fruition.

It’s not as if we are able to rewind a few days and just get on with things again. Jol’s position has been irredeemably undermined. The board can issue as many carefully worded statements as it likes; the message is loud and clear, they believe Jol is no longer good enough to achieve our aspirations. At a stroke the goodwill between club, manager and board, a powerful force for progress seldom seen in modern professional football, has been shattered.

Predictably the rumour mill is humming with innuendo and conjecture, claim and counter-claim.  The key fact is crystal clear, however. Last week Ramos met with a Spurs director and the company secretary in Spain.  It is inconceivable that the main topic of conversation was anything other than the manager’s job.  Whether a formal offer was made or not is irrelevant.  The board wanted Ramos and he left that meeting safe in the knowledge that the job was his if he wanted it.

Once this decision was made, Levy wanted to move quickly.  A clean, decisive thrust to remove Jol, accompanied by the wringing of hands but little blood on the floor.  He reckoned without Ramos, who understandably now sees himself in a position of some strength.  The Spaniard, who remember is not a member of the footballing elite but has worked his way up to the top with hard work over many years, has options, and he wants to consider them, thank you very much.  Maybe he stayed with Seville because he’s loyal to the team he is building, or because he used the Spurs offer as leverage for an improved contract, we will never know, but the outcome is that he is staying put, at least for a while.

I have no personal knowledge of Daniel Levy’s character.  He presents as fairly discreet and mild-mannered, but no one who achieves his success in business is truly like that.  Whatever, one suspects that his rage and fury on hearing the bad tidings matched and perhaps exceeded the ferocity of Hurricane Dean.  Because, of course, meanwhile news had got out. Levy has no Plan B, so it’s back to Jol with a patronising ticking-off and the dreaded vote of confidence. A club statement will make it all better again.

To the rest of us it is simple; board lets manager spend in close season, panics after two bad results, gets turned down by Ramos.  Levy does not know what he is doing.  His judgement is flawed, a fact now exposed to the world.  Make no mistake, that is what will hurt most.  For a successful businessman, the effect on the team or the share matters, but it pales into insignificance compared with this crushing hammer blow to his ego. In commerce you live or die by your decision-making ability.  To the world of football, Levy is a fool.

What on earth were Levy and the board thinking ?  Even his supporters (I am one) would readily acknowledge that some of Jol’s decisions about team selection and substitutions have been puzzling, and his learning curve has included distinctly lacklustre periods, e.g. our away form at the beginning and later during last season.  He has yet to instil the ruthlessness that allows us to kill off matches or sweep aside weaker teams, and as I noted in my last column a few question marks remain about his coaching ability.

Surely, however, the evidence of his success far outweighs the doubts.  Successive fifth places.  The most successful Spurs manager for donkeys years in terms of win percentage and points per game average.  A stylish, attacking approach.  The confidence of the players.  The ability to unearth young talent.  Loyal, committed, passionate about our club.  Above all, things were slowly, gradually but incontrovertibly getting better.  Pleat, Graham, Hoddle, Gross – do we forget that easily how awful most of that period was.  Add Francis, Ardiles….

We will never know exactly what was the trigger for the decision to remove Jol.  Sources suggest that the board queried his transfer judgement this summer, that he wanted to swap Lennon for SWP, or sell Berbatov to strengthen the rest of the team.  I suspect strongly that the context for all this was that the board were actually far less patient than was apparent to the outside observer.  Perhaps last season’s rumours that he was saved by the Fulham cup victory held more substance than I gave them credit for at the time.

Whatever, the question remains – if the board were not confident, why did they allow him to spend so much money in the summer ?  Even if these were players bought by Comolli (which I don’t believe), even if the actual outlay is less than the £40m quoted (because the payments are spread over several years and are in part contingent upon success) any new manager likes his own people, who fit his style.  The conclusion is inescapable: this was a rushed, ill-thought out decision.

The fans have expressed their support for Jol in an almost touching fashion.  I believe this sort of protest is essential if the club is going in the wrong direction, now and in the future, because we the fans are the only true representatives of the club’s heritage and culture.  However, in this case I don’t believe the board gave diddly squat for our opinions.  Jol is still the Spurs manager because Ramos turned Levy down.  That’s it.

So Jol is still our leader but he holds a poison chalice.  He has been completely undermined. Every point dropped, the media will question how long he will remain at the club.  Every interview from now on will hold the question, however it may be phrased, ‘Martin, how long will you be at the club ?’  The players will feel he is on borrowed time, his authority damaged beyond repair.  Already we are hearing that Berby is unhappy, Defoe is unhappy.  It’s not a question of whether or not this is true – players have gripes and niggles all the time – it is why these things appear in the media whereas by and large they have been conspicuous by their absence thus far in Jol’s reign.  Again this focus on our private business is the board’s fault for drawing attention to us.

But maybe that’s part of it. In issuing yesterday’s statement in the way they have, the board have deliberately set Jol up.  It’s obvious they want rid of him.  By their criteria, it’s now almost impossible for him to succeed totally, so in their eyes all they have to do is wait, then remove him, saying that it’s a sad day for THFC but Jol has not met their expectations.  I suspect they’ve already written the statement …

That said he’s a strong man, and so maybe he can rally the players behind him, manager and players united against the world, stick it to everyone who gets in our way and sod the board.  I’m with you on that one, Martin.

I genuinely thought the club were over this serial cock-up management style. We had a plan, and we were going to stick with it. Or so I thought. Last night, I was drawn to the words of a wise old sage and seer, which for me summed this all up rather well.  On Nickelodeon, Daffy Duck looked solemnly at the camera and said, ‘Obviously I’m dealing with inferior mentalities.’  He was referring to Elmer Fudd, but in all honesty, right now, Daniel Levy in comparison looks the more incompetent.

Alan Fisher.

Yes of course what you say makes sense – very well put as well.  Its just very depressing because, as you say, we can’t turn the clock back and so we have a no win situation.  In feeling-sorry-for-myself mode it is bad for some of us older fans who were beginning to have hopes of a genuine change in fortune (at last) – back to the glory days of 25+ years ago.  But this sort of potential set back starts you wondering if we will ever see this happen (or even see us beat G**n*rs!) before we reach our dotage !

I don’t have any real words of wisdom as you have or answers – MJ is not without faults and the past two seasons have been extremely frustrating at times as well as euphoric.  In fact, we could so easily have finished above fifth both times, ‘though whether we would have been ready for CL football is another thing.  For all his faults, I don’t believe that another manager would necessarily  do any better at present – we had a good team which is now even better (still need a left winger though).  An important point also is to get things in perspective – even top four teams go through inexplicable difficult patches – MU have not had a good start this season and the goners have definitely fallen back in the last twelve months (and not just through loss of Henry).

So, how do we persuade the board that the should keep faith with MJ, and really try to regain everyone’s confidence in the club.  Or is it now too late ?  Only a year ago we were still losing good players to “bigger” teams and that is still a big risk and will ultimately undermine confidence of the players and therefore our progress.

A very good precedent for the way THFC should behave is the example of Sir Alex at MUFC.  His been there years and fantastically successful but if memory serves me right this wasn’t the case to start with but the board of MU stayed with him and look what happened – and he is still there!!

I suppose the key thing is the Players – they are the ones – the only ones who can do this – show how much they respect MJ and do it for him and the fans/club every game.

Keep the Faith.

Owen Linard.

Can anyone tell me how the callers are chosen for the phone-in shows on the radio and TV ?

Why is it that the callers all have extreme views almost diametrically opposed to the majority of the average Tottenham fan ?  Are they selected just to wind all their fellow supporters up ?

What we need is to phone up the phone-ins and get a balance of views from Spurs supporters to show our support for Martin Jol.  Get on the phones and let the world know that we are not all fickle and that we appreciate what Martin Jol has done for Tottenham Hotspur … even if the board are not.

With the Dutchman, Spurs would not be in the position to make a move for Champions League football.  A large number of people have said that if you have offered finishing fifth two seasons running, Spurs supporters would have bitten your hand off after some of the stuff we have had to put up with year after year.

The board have a point, in that we should not settle for fifth, but to take a realistic view, they should set that as a minimum and anything else on top of that would be a bonus.  The top four clubs have had years of Champions League football and all the money that brings.  They have become an elite within the Premier League and it is necessary to chip away at their position, which is what BMJ has begun.

With Tottenham on the edge of the breakthrough, it looks like his success might lead to his downfall.

Do what you can to stop his departure.

BENNY THE BALL.

It has been another day of comment, statement and denial at the wonderful world of Tottenham Hotspur.

It should never surprise me that history counts for nothing if nothing is learned from it, but time and time again (Francis, Hoddle, Santini) the people at the club who make decisions fail to see what went wrong with the choices plumped for in the past and go blithely into a new era of error.  For every forward step there is an equal and opposite doubling in Tottenham’s case.

With the latest embarrassment surrounding the rumour, speculation and humiliation about Martin Jol’s position at the club, there are new depths to be plumbed.  Leaks spring from within Tottenham’s tight-lipped ranks being credited to no source in particular, but the press have to play catch-up, so quickly does the story move.

So the Sevilla coach met with someone who met with someone who offered him the Tottenham job and of course it must have been a Spurs representative who made the offer in the first place.  So Spurs have to issue a denial on their website to ensure that they look like they are playing the game above board and so the whole farrago goes on.

Whether someone from Tottenham made an offer to Ramos or not, why is it reported that board member Paul Kemsley was in Spain in the same place as Ramos at more or less the same time.  They might not have met.  Kemsley and Ramos’ agent might not have met, but like a coincidental game of Chinese Whispers, word might have got around and 2 and 2 might have been summed up in a single number answer.

It is not just the unsettling effect this is having on the manager, who has virtually been told that he has to deliver Champions League football for next season or he will be history (I am sure BMJ would learn a lot more from that than the Spurs board), but the effect that it will have on the team.

Knowing that the manager is living on borrowed time, should the rumours that “senior members” of the squad are unhappy about the way things are being run be true, they might decide that they will not play for the current manager to hasten his departure (not that such things ever happen of course).  It would be an interesting scenario if this did happen, as the hopes of European football would be gone (UEFA Cup as well as CL).  If Ramos did then come in and the players started to reproduce their true form, it will look like they couldn’t be bothered for Jol, but would be heroes … just for Juande.  I have no reason to believe that the players would treat Jol that way and frankly, I wouldn’t want to be them if they did.  Many have said that they respect the manager and came to play for him and now those who are fit will have to do that.

Champions League football was a little out of reach before the start of the season, despite it being our best chance to finish in the top four for many a year.  But injuries cannot be legislated for and the unwritten football law of luck evening itself out over the course of a season has never been written in stone for Tottenham Hotspur.  We are still owed for that Mendes “goal” at Old Trafford.

What Jol will have to do is motivate the team to excel themselves to reach the heights unknown by any Spurs manager for twenty odd years.  And even then, there was no indication that if he achieved Champions League football, that he would still be around to take Spurs into that competition.

It all seems a bit too comfortable at the moment.  Jol is given this season to achieve what the board want.  Ramos has one year to run on his contract.  So he will be available in the summer of 2008.  Spurs get Champions League football (or not).  Ramos comes in for a brave new era for the club.

Cynical ?  Moi ??  Been there before (not in the Champions League obviously).  1984 was a watershed in Tottenham’s history.  A European trophy.  A manager leaves because of the board.  Cynical ?  No.  Just realistic.  And a little ashamed

Wyart Lane.

Let’s get this straight from the start, I stated in my Everton reaction waffle only a few days ago that we should NOT get rid of BMJ, under any circumstances.

Well, it appears the ring-pieces of the board are starting to squeeze … the thought that they might not actually make Champions League returns on their investment has sent panic through the boardroom, as has already been written
here, since when did money bring you success or luck.  Is it Jol’s fault that he’s missing nearly a team’s worth of talent ? Is it Jol’s fault that the club spent £16.5 million quid on Bent ?  Who buys the players anyway ?  I thought it was Comolli.

Naïve tactically sometimes he maybe, but he’s certainly not lacking in heart.  I can remember singing ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ at players who gave nothing to the team.  In my opinion, BMJ is not only fit to wear the shirt – he IS the shirt !  He’s an honest, hard-working bloke who’s dragged us from mediocrity to the point of something great, that we can all say we were a part of – to throw that away now would be a disgrace.

The board need to look at themselves hard.  They’ve backed this man financially, now they need to let him get on with his job.  The fans back him – that’s plain enough (apart from the few idiots who love to phone into TalkSport).  The only people who want us to fail are the Press, sky and the Gooners – let’s not give them the satisfaction of giving them tomorrows headlines.

Now is the time to all pull together, the fans, the team, the board and at the head of it all BMJ – lets blow the G8 wide open.

Sing for BMJ this weekend, let’s show our support – would the board really risk a backlash from the fans – they’re £100 million football club means nothing if they’ve no-one going to the stadium – let’s show them who’s really in charge.

If you agree or disagree with anything in my waffle, write in and let me know.

Alan O’Brien.

I would just like to add my voice to the rest … “Maybe Levy out !!” would have a better ring.  It seems to me that it is his direction and  the boards mis-mangement that have led us to this embarrassing point.  How do you hold up your head as a Spurs fan when this is going on I feel ashamed of the actions of the board of directors ?

I can’t help feeling that this is a business decision by the board to ensure that Spurs finish in the top four what ever happens, so that they can reap the rewards of selling the club to a cash rich buyer who only wants a top four club.  I feel that the directors want a quick fix for Jol and the team before their cash is squandered and they won’t get a good price for the team.

Robin.

Someone somewhere must have it in for Martin Jol.

Two fifth place finishes with Tottenham put him among the most successful Tottenham bosses in terms of highest league placings, yet, the knives are out for him after just three games of the season.

Spurs have lacked stability over the last fifteen years.  Too many managers have come and gone, spending too much money on players who they thought would give Tottenham the glimpse of success that the fans desired.

Along comes Jol, with a lot of money spent, but with enough points in the bag to qualify for Europe for two seasons running … the only manager to do so since Bill Nicholson.

I’m not saying he is the new Bill Nick, but he has the knowledge of what a club like Tottenham requires from him in terms of tradition and a realisation that he will be judged by results.  I am sure he would prefer to be judged on more results than just three into this season.

Some of the names being bandied around are just fanciful.  Would Lippi really come to White Hart Lane ??  Elsewhere on this site, Capello has been mentioned and perhaps he might be interested, as he is unemployed, but in the past has hinted he would only be willing to take on Manchester United.  When the Press trot out the name of Harry Redknapp, you know that something smells fishy.  If the Tottenham board are seriously considering the current Portsmouth manager to take over at Spurs, then I have serious reservations about their knowledge of football.

Jol out because they don’t believe he can deliver Champions League football.  Just explain to me how Harry Redknapp is going to do it, when he hasn’t in goodness knows how long in the game.

I think that someone on the board might have made a very ill-advised trip to Spain at a time when things were going badly, before waiting to see what happened.  I defy any other manager to have done as well with the injury-hit squad Jol was left with.  Oh, except George Graham, as the man who took Spurs to their last trophy would have shut up shop and got points at both Sunderland and against Everton, with dour, unexpansive football.

BMJ showed against Derby that he is willing to give youth it’s head, by introducing Taarabt.  With the defence decimated and now the attack decapitated, the side might have to take on a new look.  It won’t be the one that Jol imagined when he spent £40 million, but then money doesn’t buy success and more than it buys luck.

With the Spurs board seemingly intent on bringing in a new man at the helm, it could be that Jol is not a bad general … just an unlucky one (in more ways than one).

Isaac Gregory.

I just cannot believe it.  Jol facing the axe.  I just cannot believe it – I know I am repeating myself, but it really upsets me … I mean I am really upset.

If Levy doesn’t act to scotch this media stoked rumour now, it looks like being one of those self-fulfilling prophesies.

Jol is a good manager, and a decent man who is loyal to his team.  He does not deserve to be talked about in this way.  It was heartening to see the Spurs faithful coming to his aid on Saturday, even if the board palpably failed to follow suit.  Any club that has aspirations to succeed at the highest level must have stability.  It has been proven time after time after time after time – (yes, I am repeating myself again).

Let’s pretend the media are right … maybe Jol and Levy don’t get on; maybe Berbatov isn’t a team player.  But I will tell you this, I would rather have a good team and strong manager than one star player calling the shots (Look what happened to decent Bobby Robson at Newcastle).

What Spurs have lacked over the years, at least since Sir Bill, was a strong manager.
Successful teams all have the common denominator of a strong a manager.
If Spurs board cannot get past this short-termism and respect and back the manager, then “we are all”,  in the inimitable words of Corporal Frazier in ‘Dad’s Army’, “DOOMED !”.

David McMeekin.

Sometimes I wonder about Tottenham.  Just when you think sense has finally prevailed, the circus comes back to town.  The seven days starting from the defeat to Everton until Tuesday night when Jol’s position was reconfirmed by the board have been an all too real reminder of the bad old days of the mid nineties; where the club lurched into the embrace of calamity all to readily and illogical decisions were made from on high on a seemingly endless basis.

How the board could have contemplated sacking Jol is beyond me, notwithstanding such an act would have been disgraceful and disgusting, Jol has been the only manager we have had in the Premiership era to deliver us a top six finish, and not once but on two occasions.  Tactical errors aside, you could tell he was starting to build something special at the club, and that we were beginning to worry the clubs above us sufficiently for me you receive endless text messages from delighted Manchester United and Arsenal fans following our opening two defeats.  We seriously worried them over the summer, the reaction to our defeats bears that out, yet in one stupendous sweep of idiocy, our board wipes that out, and possibly so for a number of years.

I don’t want to rumble over the details of the last few days, depressing and painful as they are, but this whole affair has served to alienate the board from the fans.  There has been so many contradictory stories, rumour and official denials to make this whole episode one of the most embarrassing in the club’s history, and if the men responsible amongst the board had any class at all, they would tender their resignation now.

Except we know that they lack that class in precisely the way they went about this farce.  It now seems to me that;

• Jol lost the faith of the board last season.
• Members of the squad which he works with are not what he wants.
• There are times when he is at the very least ‘pressurised’ into playing certain players.
• He has increasingly less influence on transfers into the club.
• The board made up their mind after two defeats that Jol was not the right man for the job.
• They approached Ramos and he considered the job.
• Before rejecting it hours before Jol was about to be sacked.
• Then to cover themselves they issued an aggressive statement demanding Champions League football and appearing to be a vote of confidence for Jol.

If Ramos had accepted, I’ve no doubt that Levy could have got away with this.  I want Jol to stay on as he has done a very good job in his time at the club, but Ramos is a manager I rate highly.  The board could have portrayed it as quite a coup to bring in Ramos, especially as by next season I would expect the world’s top clubs to be seriously considering him for their own manager’s seats.

The fans, myself included, would have been distinctly unhappy with the change of manager but Ramos would have won games (as Jol would have done anyway) and in all probability quite a few fans would eventually be won over to the new manager.

However, that is besides the point as Ramos did not come in, and the way he was approached was all to public, wholly undermining Jol’s position in the process.  His position is beginning to look increasingly untenable, and it now seems a case of when, and not if, he will leave us.  If I was Jol I would have walked out rather than suffer through this, and the only reason I can think that he might want to remain at the club is that there are some individuals, either players or behind the scenes, who he has loyalty for.

The truth is that I don’t know what to think anymore, as I want Spurs to do well this season, but I want the instigators amongst our board punished for their actions.  Equally I want Jol to do well and remain in his position, but I want him to keep his dignity and self respect; which more or less means he should walk out of the role.

Largely, I believe a good deal of how the season will run will be seen in our performance at Old Trafford.  If Jol can motivate the team to get behind him and really play for him, then we could see a fantastic result at the home of the champions.  If that is the case, I would say we may get out of this without damage being at its worst.  However if the squad are listless, and fail to perform over the season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us slip right back into the chasing pack once more.

Regardless of what happens, Jol wont stay at our club after this season.  I think it would be a big ask for him to survive to next summer anyway, especially with so many doubters with knives poised behind him, waiting for their first opportunity to strike.  So what are we to do next season?  I think its unlikely Ramos will agree to come after rejecting this offer, because I have already mentioned I think the big clubs will move for him.

So who else is out there ?  Redknapp ?  Lippi ?  Capello ?  None of these would be right for Tottenham.  Redknapp is nowhere near as good as Jol, and he had big money at West Ham and hardly bought in talent worthy of the cost.  Capello and Lippi are both respected coaches, but at their age they wont stick around for a five year project at Spurs, not to mention the fact their style of football is the polar opposite to the traditions at our club.

That means we will be looking for a Martin Jol Mark II; namely an up and coming manager out to prove himself after doing a good job at a smaller club.  And as we are going to continue with the continental system of Sporting Director and Head Coach, that more or less guarantees a foreign manager will take up the post, and as we have seen it generally takes them at least one season to adapt to English football (Rafa Benitez is still adapting; he still rotates too often for instance).

Speaking of our Sporting Director, Daniel Comolli, he seems to be the main culprit behind this civil war.  Don’t get me wrong, Levy’s lack in faith in Jol should not be brushed under the carpet, but the way this Frenchman has accumulated increasingly influence in the club should be a cause for worry.

Take this summers signings; Bale, Kaboul, Bent, Boateng and Rose.  With the benefit of hindsight it is clear that although Jol may have been consulted these were players bought in by Comolli.  None of them are over 23, and only one has experience of the Premiership.  I have no doubt that in the future these players could star in a Tottenham shirt, along with Lennon, Huddlestone, Taarabt and Dawson, but you cant expect a Champions League finish if you don’t bring in the experience where it’s needed.

It’s obvious to virtually everyone that Tottenham lacked a left winger, two top level central midfielders, a left back and a centre back last season.  In a normal club, these would have been the areas improved on by signings.  If Levy was committed to giving Jol the best chance to succeed, he should have targeted our two left side positions.  By all means bring in Bale, but why didn’t we make more of an effort to bring in Petrov.  If I was the chairman I would even have bought in Matthew Taylor from Portsmouth, for that extra added cover.

The point is that our signings seem more like ones made by our Sporting Director, who’s role is primarily to ensure that the clubs personnel are there for the future, than those made by a man looking to take the big step from UEFA Cup qualifier to Champions League entrant.  All of which makes it seem strange that the board should demand Jol secure a top four finish, as the players we bought in over the summer are hardly experienced at that level.

And it’s not like our squad is as good as the other four either.  Manchester United have O’Shea and Brown to bring into their squad when injuries hit, we have Gardner and Stalteri.  There is a difference in class there, and you can’t expect to qualify for the top tournament in Europe if you have to rely on players unable to make that level.  Injuries hit teams all the time, and unless you have a lucky season as Everton did in 2004/05, they will be the downfall of the rest of us when it comes to breaking the big four.

So Jol was already working for the club without full control of the signings (he must have some input), and now he must use what he has been given to break the top four.  That is arguably going to be as tough as the task facing Billy Davies to keep Derby up this season.  And as anyone who saw them against us on Saturday will tell you, that is one mammoth task.  Spurs have lost two games already this season.  Arsenal finished fourth last year and lost eight.  Therefore Jol can’t afford to suffer more than two defeats this side of Christmas, and arguably the board could sack him at anytime citing he isn’t producing Champions League form.

It gets tougher still when you consider he might not be free to pick the team himself.  With Comolli’s influence as powerful as it is, and a number of his players within the squad, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he had the ability to interfere with team selection.  Let’s take one of his major signings, Zokora.  The midfielder was dropped on the weekend, and Spurs were fantastic in their win over Derby.  I would have expected to beat Derby in any normal season anyway, but perhaps the selection on Saturday reveals what Jol would prefer to play, as opposed to what he is asked to play.

This is all speculation, but there is no question that Didier Zokora has not done what is on the tin.  Bought in to replace Carrick, he is no holding midfielder preferring to motor up and down the pitch.  However, with him in the team it affects Jenas, who has to do more defensive work, and as Jenas is the only one of the two that can shoot, this seems wasteful of his ability.

I think the Carrick affair hangs heavily over the club still.  It is obviously a bone of contention between Jol and Comolli and is probably the start of their rivalry.  Because Levy buys into Comolli’s argument that it is not a case of Zokora being unable to play in the Premier League but that he is not being deployed correctly, it has increasingly isolated Jol.

Of course, this is all speculation as we don’t know the extent to which anyone but Jol has on team affairs.  However, it would be naïve to assume that he is given a free hand, as after all, I don’t believe many majors are given complete freedom in their choice of line up; there are bound to be times when chairmen up and down the country have a polite word to their managers or make a suggestion, but that should be a rarity and not at the consistency it happens at say, Hearts.

I can’t believe Jol would have remained in the job for this length of time if there was massive interference into his team selection.  He can clearly handle bruised egos, he has shown that in the way he dealt with Jermain Defoe in recent seasons.  Therefore I would guess it is a case of a few words here and there, although presumably when they lost faith in him last season there was a more thorough inspection of his line up than previously.

It is heartening to hear some of our players come out and back Jol, especially senior ones like Keane and Robinson, but what I think was most significant of all was the reaction of the fans.  We are the lifeblood of the club, and without us there would be no team and no success.  It is our money that goes into the club through gate receipts, merchandise and it is us that the sponsors aim their products at.  That shouldn’t be forgotten.  It is always difficult to get football supporters to boycott their club; this isn’t a supermarket we are talking about here, the club is ours they just happen to run it.  Perhaps there will come a time in the near future when we have to consider just that.

To a degree, media speculation has clouded this issue.  The pathetic way The Sun has tried to suggest a rift between Berbatov and Jol is nothing short of disgraceful, and I have no doubt some media hacks are not only revelling in our ham-fisted actions, but also seeking ways to destabilise us further.

Nevertheless, our board have been left with egg on their faces, and they have undone all the goodwill and respect we have built up over the last two seasons under Jol’s steady hand in little over a week.  And if they think that by issuing two statements to the effect that Martin Jol’s position is secure they are sorely mistaken.  There are plenty of unresolved issues surrounding this, and the issue won’t die down in the media until all are out in the open.

It seems to me we have opted for the worse choice for all parties involved.  After all you don’t go to a party with a girl, only to make a pass at another in front of all her friends without repercussions, do you?  Jol positioned has been totally damaged, his position undermined.  The longer he stays in the role the more people will question what he has to gain from staying there.  The board have shown themselves up as being impatient, backstabbing men, jealous of Jol’s regard amongst the supporters.  And Comolli tried for revolution and failed, despite the blood on his hands.

How can they continue to work together now ?  It all seems totally unworkable and clubs that were looking to immediately challenge us for fifth, now look like they might overtake us if this affects the squad negatively.  And even if that doesn’t happen, what kind of picture does this paint for people like Berbatov of our club.  He is only world class player we have, and in acting as we have it is almost certain he will leave.

Sometimes I wish we acted more like Arsenal in these types of situation; you never hear the fully story and confession and the club always act in a discreet manner.  When David Dein left their club it was quick and hardly anything was brought up the media, that is how our club should look to act.

But what I still can’t understand is why there was an attempt to push Jol out in the first place.  He has been our best manager in the Premiership era, arguably since Burkinshaw, yet like our best manager since Nicholson the board attempted to oust him for little reason at all.  If there was justice, Levy and his cronies would resign, this would give respect back to Jol instantly.  But of course, that won’t happen anytime soon, the people to blame at the top are never the ones caught.

If there is one thing the board should have heeded before this attempted coup it is this; the two longest serving managers in their current positions in the Premier League are Ferguson and Wenger.  They are also the two most successful managers in the division.  Perhaps they have heeded this advice at last, with Daniel Levy announcing tonight that Jol’s position was safe for the remainder of the season, and although the aim is fourth, it is not make or break.

That’s quite a climb down from where we were on Tuesday after the club’s statement, and one that perhaps underlines the club realisation (at last) that events like this cannot be conducted in the public eye.  They would do well to remember next time that stability and patience are the keys to success in this game, and Martin needs time to do his job, after all, not even Rome was built in a day.

Richard Kelly.