More On The Jol

Believe it or not, Tottenham manager Martin Jol is still rumbling on about the fact that he hasn’t received an abject apology from Arsene Wenger, who had the temerity to confront him after Spurs’ refusal to acknowledge Eboue’s injury with the usual courtesy had led to the kind of goal that most people wouldn’t want to boast about.

Perhaps he hasn’t enough work to do and is just a bit bored. Maybe he needs a little hobby. Or possibly he hasn’t taken sufficient time to think about the situation, which is understandable because he hasn’t been a manager for very many years.

Let’s try to help. Arsene Wenger is, under normal circumstances, an extremely courteous man. He does not enjoy confrontation, but he believes as passionately in fair play as he does in his team playing attractive, entertaining football – so he is hardly likely to suffer a perceived injustice in silence. As for his professional ability, the trophies which Arsenal have won and the quality of football they play demonstrate that it would be difficult to find a more talented manager anywhere in the world.

With Spurs it is different. They have not won anything significant for a very long time and their manager has not won anything at all. What he has done is make a good start and he is clearly ambitious – ambitious enough to have declared that he would like Tottenham to emulate Arsenal.

Highly commendable and very sensible. But if that’s the aim he should look more carefully, and with greater respect, at the manager who has inspired Arsenal’s achievements.