No matter what the wording of today's official statements regarding the position of our Head Coach, it has been clear for quite some time that Martin Jol has been treading on thin ice for a while now. ...

Well, Spurs have finally come out to put an end to the speculation surrounding Martin Jol and the managerial position. So why don't I feel any better? Many fans seem to be missing the true message here. The statement was not "We have always, 100% categorically been behind Martin Jol and any rumour of us looking elsewhere is bollocks." The actual quotes tell a different story completely...

As Harry Hotspur rightly points out, Spurs are currently being forced to lie in the bed made by incredible pre-season hype. The problem is that the hype, bed, sheets and frame were all built by the press themselves, and now they are the ones smothering us with the pillow. It's not a new situation for any Premier League club, not the least a high profile, underachieving one like Tottenham. But it is frustrating because of the injuries we've had, and the fixture schedule. If we had claimed just 6 points leading up to Manchester United and Arsenal, any point we got from them would've been happily taken and a double loss tempered by any sign of a good performance.

Everyone, including us, got a bit worried when proper publications like The Independent started publishing stories of crisis talks between Martin Jol and the board. But apparently it's all just blown out of proportion, "Daniel ...

So the latest bit of transfer rumour is that we're after Rafael Van der Vaart, currently plying his trade at Hamburg. He's Dutch, everyone knows we need midfield creativity, so it's easy to think that the tabloids have just pulled another one out their arse. But we'll give it a fair shake. VDV is one of the many, many 'wonderkids' to come out of Holland but then eventually flatter to deceive through inconsistency or injury or, in this case, both. He's not really a player who will ever succeed in a central midfield role in the Premier League and will need plenty of protection. He could do a good job for us in that troublesome left midfield spot since he's more of a left-midfielder than a true winger, exactly what Jol seems to prefer.

So with Spurs fans up in arms and The Independent reporting a bit of a row forming between the board and Martin Jol, the latest rumour is that Sevilla boss Juande Ramos is being targeted to replace BMJ sooner rather than later. It seems rather unlikely, since Ramos is very loyal to Sevilla but he has expressed a deep desire to play the Premier League on numerous occasions and I remember reading a World Soccer magazine interview with him, where Ramos admitted that that Spurs had contacted his agent previously - although nothing came of it obviously. He is a tremendous manager and his focus on supreme fitness, workrate, teamwork and attacking play down the wings would be well suited to preparing a successful Premier League side. Spurs saw the two coaches come up against each other in the UEFA cup, with Ramos handing a thorough smackdown to BMJ in the tactics and preparation stakes.