Martin Jol has been appointed Fulham manager just a week after Mark Hughes left the job fuelling controversies that a deal with Aston Villa had already been done. Martin Jol is no stranger to the English game having played for West Brom and Coventry and much more recently managed Tottenham Hotspur (2004-07). Although the Dutchman had been linked to the Fulham job last year (when Roy Hodgson left for Liverpool), he was persuaded to stay on at Ajax. He subsequently left the Dutch side in December and a move to the Barclays Premier League seemed inevitable. Despite a sluggish start in a season marred by injuries to key players including striker Bobby Zamora, Fulham finished strongly to finish 8th and managed to secure a place in next year’s Europa Liga courtesy of the Fair Play category. Jol would have to meet the increasing expectations at Craven Cottage and this is what he had to say upon being given the job as Fulham gaffer,
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“I am very happy to join Fulham Football Club, a wonderful traditional club, It is a club with good, solid foundations and a great fan base. I am looking forward to being part of the Fulham family and thank the chairman for the trust he’s shown in me.”
With the premier league growing more competitive each year, Jol would have his task cut out. However, he has won Coach of the Year award in Dutch football and his prior experience of managing Spurs would definitely stand him in good stead. Here’s a look back at what he achieved at Spurs.
Martin Jol with the Barclays Manager of the Month award as Spurs boss
Martin Jol was initially appointed assistant to head coach Jacques Santini at the start of the 2004 season but took over as head coach when Santini was fired with only 13 games played. Jol infused a freshness in Spurs’ approach and led them to a 9th place finish, just missing out on a UEFA Cup spot. Next season would be the best the White Hart Lane faithful have witnessed in the modern era as they held on to the 4th spot for most of the campaign only to be condemned to 5th following a lst day defeat to West Ham on a day most of their players had been down with illness. Nevertheless 5th was a new high for Spurs along with the return of European football. Jol replicated his success the following term but a disastrous start to the 2007-08 campaign saw him sacked and the then Seville boss Juande Ramos reinstated in his place.
Although Fulham do a have a settled side, they will no doubt need a couple fresh faces if they are to seriously challenge in both the domestic and European front. It is also for the second year running now that the man in-charge of the London club seemed to have used Fulham as a stepping stone to move on to better jobs, a scene they would be keen not to repeat with Jol. This is what renowned football columnist, Tony Gale told Sky,
“I don’t think these managers should be feeling that Fulham are the luck people. Anyone who gets put in charge of Fulham has had the good fortune to be put in charge of a really good club. I hope Martin is different because he has been given an opportunity at a really good football club where everything is in place – certainly behind the scenes.
It is a perfect football club, I think the Chief Executive Alistair Mackintosh, and the chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, would have been at pains to stress exactly how the club is and that they want him for a few years.
Fulham need a little bit of stability now, if Martin Jol can stay on for three or four years then Fulham can kick on and I feel they can get close to those European places.”
