Martin Jol fondly looks back at Tottenham Hotspur stint
Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Martin Jol has opened up on his time in the Spurs hot seat.
Speaking to the club’s official site, the Dutchman has revealed that he was a Spurs fan as a youth. It would have been a dream come true for Jol to eventually take over as manager one day.
“I went to Spurs as manager, but I tell people when I was younger, I was always a Spurs fan.”
He went on to add that his fascination started with the legendary Jimmy Greaves. Jol also expressed his displeasure that the Spurs legend missed out on the World Cup final in 1966.
As a player, his affinity with the club continued. Having moved to England, he scored his first goal for West Bromwich Albion at the lane. A memory that will last him forever. Although we are pretty sure fans would only begrudgingly agree.
“I scored my first goal in England for West Brom at White Hart Lane and I only have unbelievable memories of White Hart Lane and the fans.”
A fine journey
The Dutchman later joined the club as part of Jacques Santini’s coaching team before being appointed the manager in 2004. Jol was a win away from taking us into the Champions League in 2005-06. He, nevertheless, led us back into Europe and onto the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup the following season.
The impressive season also saw us reach the semi-finals of the League Cup and finish fifth again in the Premier League.
He reminisces over that period with extreme fondness. Jol believes Spurs had an excellent squad who did well for the majority of the season. A mixture of bad luck and uneventful circumstances did not help matters either.
Although Jol is disappointed that the club have no honours to show for their efforts, he is confident that Jose Mourinho will do better with the squad today.
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The Dutchman was replaced by Juande Ramos in 2007. In a cruel turn of events, the news of his dismissal was known mid-match during a UEFA cup tie at home.
Daniel Levy may be a lot of things, but the way he went about this shows a lack of respect. It is good to know that in spite of the way it ended, Jol’s feelings for the club haven’t changed.