Jol keeps options open

Martin Jol is holding out hope of one day returning to manage Tottenham.

The Dutchman, sacked 10 days ago and replaced by Juande Ramos, is now pondering his next move, with PSV Eindhoven favourites to secure his services.

But he believes a return to Spurs, who he led to two straight fifth-placed finishes in the Barclays Premier League before as disastrous start to this season, is not out of the question.

“I’m a fighter. I still have the feeling that you never know,” he said in the Sunday Times.

“I was thinking of Ottmar Hitzfeld. He left (Bayern Munich]), waited two-and-a-half years, returned. In football it’s all about circumstances, opportunities.

“I realised I had to move on now and Tottenham will do fine. When I started, I said I want to have a bit of a feeling of Bill Nicholson and I was honest.

“In a couple of years I’m not sure the same people will be there (on the board).”

Of his current options, he added: “There are other clubs.”

Jol defended his record at White Hart Lane, and believes he was not afford the same leeway as Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger.

“Wenger: fourth the last couple of seasons. Did he win something? Not the league since 2004,” Jol said.

“Did Arsenal say, ’You have to win a prize or finish third?’ No, because he’s the man. He can say, ’I need time’.

“If Newcastle, Manchester City, Aston Villa finish fifth, you get a big celebration. Spurs is different.”

Jol also had a word of warning for Ramos, saying: “With Ramos they think they can buy success, that they’ll now be fourth, but that’s business thinking.

“A football man would think, ’But can we be fourth? How easy is that?’ Ramos was good at Seville, but can he be good at Spurs? Every club is different.”

Jol also insisted he had no hard feelings towards chairman Daniel Levy or sporting director Damien Comolli, despite their controversial roles in his dismissal.

He added, however: “I felt a little beaten up last Thursday. I still feel very tired, but maybe that’s normal. I saw myself on television and thought, ’Bloody hell’.”