Spurs close in on Ramos as doomed Jol heads for exit as Spurs
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Juande Ramos impressed the Tottenham delegation that visited him in Spain last Friday to the extent that the Seville manager is regarded as being in pole position to replace Martin Jol at the club. The Tottenham manager's regime is doomed after his fallout with the club's board and the director of football Damien Comolli.
The plans to sack Jol and replace him with Ramos are fraught with problems, not least the feelings of supporters who still back the Dutchman, but the hierarchy at the club, including chairman Daniel Levy and director Paul Kemsley, see no way back. The Tottenham delegation, including club secretary John Alexander, that met with Ramos were reassured that his level of English is sufficient for him to manage in England and, in addition, he has members of his backroom staff who can speak it fluently. They would also join him at White Hart Lane.
As revealed in The Independent on Saturday, Ramos is top of the Tottenham shortlist but they are acutely aware that if Jol gets an unlikely victory against Manchester United on Sunday he will become a martyr in the eyes of fans. Curiously, despite the lack of faith in Jol from Levy, Kemsley and Comolli, Spurs followers still seem to back the Dutchman.
The Seville manager started his own domestic season in style with a 5-3 victory away at Real Madrid on Sunday to win the Spanish equivalent of the Community Shield 6-3 on aggregate, just two days after he met with the Tottenham delegation.
It will not be simple to secure the services of Ramos from Seville and Tottenham's bid may require the man himself to resign first. His chairman is Jose Maria Del Nido who is known within European football as a tough negotiator. The Seville chairman did have an agreement with Ramos that he could leave for €500,000 (£357,000) compensation but that was understood to have lapsed in June.
Spurs have issued a number of half-hearted attempts to deny that they are in negotiations to replace their manager but there is no doubt that they are picking the right moment to let him go. Sources at Tottenham say it has been his side's failure to make an impression against the top four teams – except for the victory over Chelsea last November – that has been one of the key factors in the decision to make the change.
Jol's comments before the season started that finishing fifth in the Premier League again would constitute a success for the club have not impressed the hierarchy who believe that once again they have backed their manager in the transfer market with more than £40m worth of signings.
They point to the success of David Moyes, who led Everton to a fourth-place finish in 2005 as evidence that the top four is not beyond the reaches of a club such as Spurs.
The club would be keen not to present the decision to supporters as a knee-jerk reaction to the two defeats at the start of the season that preceded the 4-0 win over Derby County on Saturday. Indeed, the disaffection with Jol began long before that. It was a surprise to many that they did not dispense with his services during the summer when the club again broke the transfer record to sign Darren Bent for £16.5m from Charlton Athletic.
The Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp, had been discussed as a possible candidate for the job if Tottenham were unable to secure the services of Ramos.
However, they are now set on getting the 52-year-old who has won two successive Uefa Cups with Seville. Should Ramos take the job he will be expected to work closely with Comolli who has won the confidence of the board since he joined the club in September 2005.
