Jol knows how to rescue a crisis club

14 April 2012

Martin Jol is in the unenviable position of trying to arrest Tottenham's latest slump, but at least the territory is not entirely unfamiliar. Like any self-respecting climber, the Dutchman makes a habit of starting at rock bottom.

For an intelligent man with a reputation as a deep footballing thinker, Jol really does pick 'em. After unprecedented success in non-league football with Scheveningen and leading Roda JC to the Dutch Cup, he accepted a job with RKC Waalwijk, cut adrift at the bottom of Holland's top division with half the season gone.

As a small town with a population of just 45,000, not much more than Spurs' average attendance, Waalwijk had little tradition of footballing success but within a couple of years were challenging for a place in the UEFA Cup.

Marcel Brands, Waalwijk's director of football, explained how Jol transformed the club.

He said: "At the moment Martin Jol became our trainer in 1998 we were bottom of the list, but built a new team and we've been going up ever since. We finished 13th in his first season and that was the only year we had problems because we were bottom halfway through. Every other year we were one of the top-10 clubs in Holland.

"Our best performance was seventh place in 2002, when we lost out on a UEFA Cup place on goal difference on the last day of the season. For two or three years in a row we were fighting for the European places but never quite made it. That was the only disappointment of Martin's time, but we're not a club that aims for European football.

"We've got a very small budget of seven million euros and get crowds of just 6,000. We're one of the smallest clubs in Holland and to be competing with the top eight or nine teams is a great achievement. We're a very small club in a small town, but had the best period in the club's history under Martin."

Brands believes that Jol possesses all the qualities to achieve success wherever he works, boasting a combination of Arsene Wenger's eye for detail and Jose Mourinho's tactical acumen.

Like his London rivals, the 48-year-old is a supremely intense individual with few interests away from his job.

Brands said: "Martin's very intense with football so doesn't have much of a life outside the game. He has friends and a small child but never plays golf or any other sports. That's not for him, as he's 100 per cent focused on football. His secret is that he is busy 24 hours a day with football.

"His greatest quality is his tactical understanding and he's the best tactical coach in Holland.

"What he can do with a team is amazing. Quite frequently we would have a poor first half, but he would change one or two things and we'd go on to win the game.

"He thinks about football all the time and is very intense. He's not a great humourist, only in his free time. He's very, very professional which can be difficult because not everyone has his standards.

"He always gives 100 per cent and expects the same from the people around him, the players, directors, medical staff and everyone at the club."

As a tough-tackling midfielder with West Bromwich Albion and Coventry, Jol developed a reputation as an aggressive individual which his dour exterior does little to dispel, but Brands reveals a more sensitive side to the man.

He said: "Martin has a good personality, which is also important. He's a very sensitive man and is not always what he seems.

"He often looks quite angry and in a bad mood but is a very nice person with a big heart.

"He's not just focused on football and is also interested in the human being inside the football player.

"Because of his personality it's not often necessary for him to lose his temper, but he likes discipline and will not tolerate crazy things. He doesn't give privileges to special players and the team is the most important thing.

"He never needs to punish players because they tend to do what he wants anyway. Martin has the potential to work with the biggest clubs in Europe and I'm confident he will succeed at Tottenham."

A close friend of Frank Arnesen, Tottenham's Danish director of football, Brands is confident that Jol and the Dane will be able to work together in the Premiership.

He added: "I know Frank very well as we did several deals together in Holland and Spurs will work very well with him.

"Frank will enjoy working with Martin, which is why he recommended him for the job."

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