Your Verdict: Spurs go Dutch

Seven managers have come and gone at Tottenham Hotspur over the past seven years so it was no surprise that the word 'stability' oozed out of every White Hart Lane official following Martin Jol's promotion from assistant to head coach on Monday.

The Dutchman succeeded former France manager Jacques Santini, who officially resigned his post due to 'personal reasons' late on Friday night. However, the Frenchman's departure is shrouded in rumours of disagreements with Sporting Director Frank Arnesen over personnel and the style of Spur's football.

Santini's surprise departure highlights the problems English clubs face when adopting the multi-tier continental style of management as opposed to the monopoly currently enjoyed by the Premiership's leading bosses.

But Jol and Arnesen are both accustomed to working in a continental hierarchy, unlike Santini and Glenn Hoddle before them, and both have worked opposite each other in Dutch football. So have Tottenham got it right this time?

---

Your Verdict:

I think Jol is a great appointment. Arnesen always wanted the Dutchman to be manager but had draft in Santini to satisfy the fans with a 'big name' manager.

Now Santini has gone the original combination can get to grips with the spurs squad and move forward with a more fluid, attacking brand of football.

Hopefully Jol can get the best out of Keane, Kanoute and Defoe and we can finally see some goals at White Hart Lane.
Derek Briggs

I feel it is a disgrace that Spurs have appointed a manager such as Jol, who has not done anything worth mentioning. Daniel Levy obviously got the wrong man in Santini as he has quit.

The only way forward for Spurs is to get a proven manager and I think everybody will agree that Martin O'Neill (who should have been appointed in the summer) should have been appointed once Santini had gone.

Daniel Levy has spent money assembling a decent squad but needs to go one further and appoint one of the best coaches - which Jol isn't. It looks as though myself and all the other Spurs fans will have to suffer more years of disappointment. I only pray I am proved wrong!
Scott

As a Spurs fan it pains me to say the following but I think a few home truths need to be said.

Firstly, Martin O'Neill would never sign for a fallen giant such as Tottenham. Although, we fans claim that Tottenham are a 'massive' club they no longer are, and rank among the likes of Aston Villa and Everton.

Secondly, although all of the supporters would like a more famous manager, I think Jol could be the best man for the job. He transformed RKC Wallwijk from relegation fodder to European challengers on a limited budget and that is exactly what is needed at Spurs.
Sol

I have been a Spurs supporter since 1981. It pains to see my beloved Spurs shooting themselves in the foot again. I really thought Santini was the man to restore the glory days at WHL, given time.

Spurs played effectively under his first 15 games! (inclusive of the League Cup matches) I'm truly sorry to see him go?

I'm not sure about Martin Jol, though I do vaguely recall him playing for WBA in the early 1980s.

I only wish Jol can have the support of the fans and the players. Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur.
Lee Yoong Yoong

Being a long standing and long suffering Spurs fan for over 40 years, it is very very puzzling as to why the club can't seem to be able to define the appropriate management style at the same time recognising that the clubs unique playing culture must be understood and rigorously maintained.

Surely everyone who has eyes and ears knows that for the last twenty years the club has been very poorly managed from the very top - with obvious regular infighting and political jostling.

Now the latest manager walks, clearly due to the same infighting and poor internal management processes.

Its time to act NOW before Spurs becomes another Leeds.

If the current directors cannot identify what's needed then I suggest they simply copy Arsenal or Manchester United. These clubs have got the important things clearly right both on and off the field and crucially have built on their historical unique styles. In Arsenal's case and as a Spurs fan I hate to admit this, they have even improved upon their culture and past legacy to embrace a more attacking approach.

Is Spurs, as a club, aware that its very existence in the top flight is threatened? This season is already another write off as far as success goes. I am aware of the looming danger and I live in Sydney Australia.Its that obvious, even from the other side of the planet.
Baz Milas

Reasons to be cheerful - (a) Frank Arnesen remains at the club. The much-discussed "continental structure" at Spurs means that the loss of the head coach, whilst a big blow, is not equivalent to, say, O'Leary leaving Villa in similar circumstances. There is a conitnuity in transfer market philosophy that will remain in place unaffected by the events of the last 24 hours.

(b) A new head coach might get us scoring some goals! Santini, after a miserable pre-season which I now view as him toying with us, coached Spurs into a mindset in which they were very loath to concede goals. Having fixed the leaks at one end of the pitch, the goals dried up (in the league at least). Once the defence started letting them in again in the absence of Edman, the lack of goals became a real issue, and one which on the evidence of the last five league games, Santini didn't yet have a solution to.
Andy Healing, Soccernet Correspondent

David Bleat should keep his comments to himself. No-one is interested in what this old has been has to say. What he did at Tottenham was unforgivable, he undermined the last 3 managers to get the job for himself and made the biggest cock up out of all of them.

Glad to see the back of him and don't wish to hear what he has to say about anything to do with Spurs.
Bob Cooper

Have your say on any of today's news. Email the newsdesk

Click here to visit the Soccernet Store