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Why the money men want Jol out

The players and fans are behind him but the fate of Spurs manager will be decided by profit not results

It used to be one of English football's classic fixtures before falling into decline as Tottenham Hotspur were eclipsed by the Premier League's Big Four.

Today, though, Manchester United against Spurs at Old Trafford returns to centre stage, but for reasons that neither club — nor, more crucially, their managers — will welcome.

Early concern grips United, last week's derby defeat by Sven Goran Eriksson's new City slickers leaving them with no wins and only one goal to show for the first three games of their title defence.

But while the pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson may be only temporary, for Tottenham counterpart Martin Jol this afternoon's match threatens to mark another significant step towards his departure from the club.

Despite the humiliation of being caught courting Sevilla coach Juande Ramos, insiders at Spurs regard the sacking of Jol and the appointment of Ramos as a matter of when, rather than if, while former German World Cup coach Jurgen Klinsmann remains another option for the club.

Jol's situation is one that baffles fans, players and managers alike, including Ferguson.

United midfielder Michael Carrick, who will line up against Tottenham this afternoon after playing under Jol at White Hart Lane from 2004-06, last week spoke up for football's majority in expressing his incredulity at the manager's treatment.

Carrick said: 'It's unbelievable, with a week gone of the season, that he's gone through what he's gone through. People forget that when he got to the club, it was up and down, good and bad.But since he's been there,there have been two fifth-place finishes. I don't know what more they could have asked for.

'They've spent a bit of money and they're hoping for the top four, but after one week,for that to happen, I was shocked.'

Carrick's frank admission of his disbelief may express the loyalty of a player who knows how much Jol has contributed to his own footbaling development.

But the reality is that it was more than simply the loss of earlyseason points that drove the Tottenham hierarchy down the road to the King Alfonso XIII Hotel in Seville and a four-hour meeting with Ramos that amounted to a job interview.

Far from being a knee-jerk reaction to two Spurs defeats at the start of the season, the meeting 10 days ago, which chairman Daniel Levy (pictured right) and sporting director Damien Comolli instigated and attended, had been on the cards for several months.
It was part of a sequence of events that says much about the modern politics and economics of the Premier League and its new power brokers.

In this case,Levy and his company ENIC, who own the club, are looking to redevelop Tottenham's stadium — plans are due to be announced at the end of this year — and reach the Champions League so that they can secure a serious profit on their investment, having already sounded out potential buyers.

It is believed that Tottenham even approached sports retailing entrepreneur Mike Ashley, the new owner of Newcastle United, earlier this year, with an asking price of £200 million.

ENIC have built up their holding in Spurs to more than 66 per cent by buying out Sir Alan Sugar's remaining 12 per cent recently, having started out with just under 30 per cent that cost £22m seven years ago.

Ashley, though, preferred Newcastle United for £133m but there are others said to be interested. For the selling price to be maximised, though, Spurs need to be in the top four and winning trophies.

And the key figures in the Tottenham corridor — Levy, his vicechairman Paul Kemsley and Comolli — began to doubt that Jol could take them up a level and into the Champions League as last winter wore on as last winter wore on and Spurs struggled in mid-table.

The rally that would take them to fifth place was then a distant prospect.

Ramos came on to the radar with his Champisuccess and attacking style of play with Sevilla. Respect for him grew after they ousted Spurs from the UEFA Cup in the spring and Comolli and Kemsley spoke informally to him.

Over the summer, players arrived at Spurs as part of a £40m speculate-toaccumulate investment plan with Comolli, close to and trusted by Levy, largely behind the recruiting.

Jol was believed to be unhappy with some of the purchases and made his views known. He suggested other players he wanted and was disappointed to miss out on left winger Martin Petrov, who went to Manchester City.

Matters came to a head after the opening-day defeat at Sunderland when £16.5m signing Darren Bent was left on the bench.

The Spurs administration had hoped to see an expansive performance that would sweep away newly promoted opponents and send out a signal of intent for the season. Instead, a row developed.

Dimitar Berbatov expressed his anger at being substituted, Jol responded that he had not been playing well and spoke to Levy about the dispute. Levy, however, was furious that the coach and the team's coveted talisman were at loggerheads.
Levy ordered the meeting with Ramos to be set up. It was done through Kemsley, who made contact with Londonbased property developer Tony Jimenez, a man with interests in Seville and who has been acting as UK agent for Ramos, who is keen to work in the Premier League and has been learning English for a year. Jimenez — the man pictured alongside Ramos in the Seville hotel last weekend — was even in touch with Manchester City a few months ago but the club were then in the middle of their takeover.

Levy and Comolli flew in from London, along with the Spurs secretary John Alexander, who has responsibility for contracts. Kemsley arrived from the south of France, where he had been on holiday.

Ramos gave his blueprint for Spurs' future and making them a Champions League team. He agreed that he was happy to work under Comolli as long as he retained responsibility for coaching and team selection and had a big say in the recruiting of players.

The Spurs delegation made it plain, however, that they were not yet in a position to offer him the job, although Kemsley would meet afterwards with Jimenez to talk about a financial package, which in turn would lead to the midweek statement by Ramos of a 'dizzying' offer. With Jol on around £1.75m a year to Ramos's current £1.2m, money was not an issue.

But Tottenham pointed out that with tough games coming up — at United, then Fulham and Arsenal — they would need to await the outcomes to time any move properly. They knew Jol was popular among the fans and was liked by most of the players, even if there were rumblings from within that certain Comolli favourites were not being selected. It was what the Egyptian striker Mido was referring to when he spoke of 'politics' around the team before he joined Middlesbrough.

That was all fine, Ramos said. He wanted to see Sevilla through qualifying into the Champions League proper and fulfil the club's European Super Cup match against Milan in Monaco this week. The meeting broke up, the Spurs contingent satisfied that Ramos would be a good appointment in the near future. Levy and Comolli left by the back door,while Kemsley and Alexander were caught in the flashlights at the front.

While they might have expected that, they were certainly not prepared for the week of firefighting and damage limitation that followed. What might have been perceived as a sensible contingency plan, should the poor start to the season drag on, turned into a notso- clandestine fiasco that, at the very least, shows that the 15th wealthiest club in the world,remarkably,are unfamiliar with behaving like a big club.

All week there have been meetings and comings and goings at the club's Essex training ground — neat and tidy enough but again pointing up Tottenham's deficiencies while they wait for planning permission on a new venue to compete with state-of-the-art facilities at other top clubs.

No matter the amount of wellwishing from fans, results will decide Jol's fate, the next batch of bad ones being likely to signal his downfall. The Jermain Defoe contract situation is an irritant to unsettle further. It is a pity for Jol that Michel Platini's proposal that the FA Cup winners receive a Champions League place will not come into force this season.

The coach will not resign, knowing that he is due a large pay-off if he is sacked. Besides, he genuinely enjoys the job and the club, if not the politics, however adept he is proving at picking his way through them and retaining his self-respect. Deep down, though, Martin Jol must know that his position has been undermined and could soon become untenable.