The Spurs Blog

Martin Jol was not sent off during the 1-1 draw with Blackburn according to the Premier League.

A Premier League spokesman said: “He was not sent off. The referee just asked him to stand away,”

Martin Jol has defended his onfield actions during the Premiership fixture against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park where he appeared to be given to his marching orders by the referee.

“It is an emotional game and I think the referee was a bit emotional,” said Jol.

“All I wanted to do was protect my player.

“I said `you are totally wrong’ and he said `you can go as well’.

“Hopefully he will rethink the situation.”

Martin Jol was dissapointed with the performance of the team following the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Reading.

He said: “At half-time we wanted to put it right but you need personality and character,”

“It’s frustrating, you get angry a bit as well because you can do all the hard work and prepare yourself well.

“If we would have had a good result today everything would be fine - last eight of the Carling Cup, in the UEFA Cup and probably seventh in the league. And you throw it away.

“All credit to them because apart from Arsenal not many teams have won here in the last 12 or more months. But if you make those sort of mistakes you can’t win any game.

“So it is good to be back to earth with our feet on the ground and be the team we were before when we had a run of 10 games.”

Martin Jol has admitted we were lucky to advance through the tricky Carling Cup tie against Port Vale yesterday.

“Everybody expects you to go through to the next round, it’s the same as it always is,” said Jol.

“All the ingredients were there for an upset - they were organised with a good goalkeeper, they give you the initiative and that is not easy.

“But I felt home advantage was there. We kept believing in the second half and we had some outstanding performances. Luckily our quality probably gave us the edge.”

Martin Jol hailed the performance of his stars following the impressive come from behind 2-1 win over Chelsea at White Hart Lane yesterday.

“After 1-0 you saw some guys like Robbie Keane standing up,” said Jol.
 
“He played two games before, this was his third game. It was probably the first time I played the same strikers three times in a week.

“In my midfield Hossam Ghaly was new to The Premiership had an outstanding performance.

“After the goal they scored, maybe we were a still bit lost after Thursday and then we started playing and then I thought we had the upper hand to the first half.”

He continued: “We were complaining a bit about Lennon because when he was on the left he had seven or eight chances in two matches,”

“I said if you go to the right again you have to give service and assist the other players, and he kept his head cool.

“I’ve not seen him doing this before. He plays the ball into the left corner and that is exactly what you want so he’s top quality talent.”

Jol added: “We wanted to go places in the league because we needed the points,”

“If you are in the bottom half of the table you know, although we do well in the cup and we do well in Europe, it still gives you that feeling.

“Now we are in the top half of the table and nobody can take it away from us - we had a win against the champions, they are very strong and they showed that in Barcelona and we were stronger than them today so it was a great game.

“The fans are always great, they have waited for this. We haven’t won a top game against Man United or Arsenal, we had good results but we never had a win and today we had our first win so that’s great.”

Martin Jol thinks 17-year old signing Dag Alexander Olsen has a big future at the club.

He said: “He came over, we invited him,”

“We knew he was a prospect and that other clubs were looking as well.

“Our advantage was that I invited him to train with us, with the first team - the younger kids always like that.

“We made a bit of an impression on him and, of course, Spurs has got a bit of charisma in Scandinavia as well. He decided to come to Spurs, so that’s the story.

“He’s a good-looking player, the first thing that came to my mind was Elvis Presley.

“He’s speedy, good quality, can score goals, is ambitious. He has all the ingredients to be a very good player.”

Jol concluded: “We hope he will play his first match on Monday with the reserves and he will probably be involved the week after that.”

Martin Jol says Tommy Huddlestone reminds him of World Cup legend Franz Beckenbauer.

He said: “Tom has played in defence but he’s a typical midfield player,”

“At the back he would be a sort of Franz Beckenbauer.

“As a sweeper he would be the best player in the world - but who plays with a sweeper nowadays?

“Tom is 19, he’s big. It can be an advantage, it can be a disadvantage but the boy is great.

“I would almost say that I have never seen a player like him, when he’s got the ball. Now we have to work on his game when he hasn’t got the ball”

Tottenham boss Martin Jol expressed his satisfaction with the form of his team following the 1-0 victory over West Ham.

Jol said: “The last three or four weeks have been good,”

“We had a difficult start, to say the least, but we are now getting the points.

“It is still not convincing but overall, if you look at the chances we had, we should have won two or 3-0.

“It was not easy because for us it was our third game, while they have had a week’s rest, but the crowd was terrific and they lifted us.

“It is not easy to play three games in a week after Europe, but I am very satisfied. It was a very good win for us.

“The final ball is not always 100 percent but that is something we are going to work on.”

Jol went on to praise the performance of goal scorer Mido. He said: “Berbatov was really tired so Mido had to show something,” Jol admitted.

“Before the goal it was difficult for him but then he showed what he was all about. If he gets the ball in the box he is always dangerous.”

Spurs manager Martin Jol says more injuries to goalkeepers will occur if they are not better protected by officials.

When asked about the recent injuries to Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini Jol said: “How many times will that happen in a year? A couple of times.”

“We had two defenders (With head injuries this season), one had concussion and one had a broken nose, so it happens to all football players,”

“The keeper is a vulnerable position. He has to dive in for balls and go in where it hurts.

“I feel it can happen all the time.”

Martin Jol is hoping the boisterous Turkish supporters will not influence the refereeing decisions when his side travels to face Besiktas this week.

He said: “The only worry I have is the fans will influence the referee because everyone can get carried away sometimes.”