The UEFA Cup has generally lacked excitement and controversy, or at least it did until the 25th October 2007, the date when Tottenham Hotspur turned the sacking of Martin Jol into a Hollyoaks episode during the game against Getafe. The Dutchman found out before the game, the whole world and his dog knew by half time and come full time a red faced Daniel Levy had some explaining to do.
The Lilywhites faithful have maintained their ‘love’ for their former manager since his sacking and I think even Arsenal fans would find it hard to argue that Jol was a decent guy who was unfairly treated and embarrassed by the Tottenham hierarchy. Which is why it was a pleasure to hear this week that Jol will be returning to Premier League management with Tottenham’s London rivals Fulham. Does the former Ajax man return to the Queen’s homeland with a desire or even a need to prove himself?
The former West Brom player led Tottenham to consecutive fifth place finishes before being sacked after one win in the opening ten games of the next Premier League season. His replacement, Juande Ramos, did lead the Lilywhites to a League Cup success, but the former Sevilla manager’s start to the next season sealed his fate and left many Spurs’ fans wondering why Jol went in the first place (perhaps it was Jol openly stating he would be open to the Newcastle job in 2006).
Since his bitter departure from White Hart Lane, the Dutchman has had a fairly indifferent few seasons, but managed to achieve moderate success, first leading Hamburg to the semi-finals in both the German Cup and the UEFA Cup, then winning the Dutch Cup with Ajax and coming runners up in the league to Steve McClaren’s FC Twente, earning an incredible goal difference of +86 in the process.
Jol obviously feels extremely bitter in the manner of his departure, but by joining Fulham, a club very much on the up, the former Ajax man could have the last laugh.
Fulham are a ‘sound’ club with solid foundations and a supportive chairman. With Europa League football guaranteed next season, Jol may have the platform to establish himself as a top quality manager and subsequently prove a few people wrong in N17.
Written by Daniel Blazer for FootballFancast.com.
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Come back Martin! give it a year or so and he’ll be back at the lane
Martin Jol was good manager and a decent man who was treated badly by the Spurs hierachy.Sometimes a ruthless man at the helm of the club can be a good thing but at times not so good.I wish Jol all the best as manager of Fulham and who knows what the future holds.There have been comments made that he had taken us as far as he could but as we all know if it had,nt been for a dodgy lasagne we would have made the champions league earlier so i am not sure Jol had done as much as he could.
I love martin Jol, Martin Jol loves me, I love martin Jol. Martin Jol loves me!
Good luck to him; I wish him every success, I await his return, perhaps in 18mths time.
Top man
The man has nothing to prove to the Spurs Faithful. His appointment at Fulham feels a bit like seeing an old flame get it on with someone else – Whilst you wish only the best for them, it’s hard to accept their involvement with someone else.
I and many other Spurs fans wish Martin well on his return to the premier league, he has kept his London home and knew the EPL challenge was to come again. Martin was a very good manager for Spurs and is a great capture for Fulham but i don`t expect us to do him any favours, the man was dignified despite some very shoddy behaviour from Spurs and it`s great to see him back. Would like to see us play Fulham in the Europa League final next May.
Sorry to rain on your parade but Spurs fans wish Jol well at Fulham and he has nothing to prove to Spurs, however, we will still progress further than Fulham in the Europa league.
Decent job at Spurs apart from the 1 win in 10 games rightfully getting him the sack as it was a sign that he’d peaked and ran out of ideas.
Bizarrely loved by many Spurs fans despite looking at Newcastle at one point but severely over rated with Fulham a good fit.
Exactly. ONE WIN in over a quarter of a season! The story has always got twisted. A sacking was the correct decision, but it could have been done with more dignity. The MANNER of it was unjust, not the sacking itself – Jol without doubt was expecting it. However to be fair, that was the 2nd in a sequence of 3 poor starts to the season by Spurs. Jol had just scraped 5th the season earlier despite a poor start. The subsequent season Ramos had an even worse start. The whole Comolli thing was dismantled, because that was the blame – the squad was never settled, and it led to us kicking off with a bunch of strangers each season. Perhaps it wasn’t Comolli’s fault either and he was just following orders…. Jol’s terrible record against big teams indicates to me that he took Spurs as fan as he could.
Looking forward to seeing Jol continue the momentum Fulham have gathered over the last few seasons, we’ve plucked some astute managerial signings whilst giving opportunities to those with a point to prove, this appointment provides both, i just hope Fulham being linked with the likes of Keane is agent talk as we have enough experience in our squad.
Good luck martin jol
still love ya big guy
yeah that decent a bloke he wanted to go 2 newcastle