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Tottenham 1 Getafe 2: Manager bids farewell with a clenched-fist salute

Conrad Leach
Friday 26 October 2007 00:00 BST
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It's probably fair to say Martin Jol won't be going to Spain for his holidays anytime soon. The Tottenham manager agreed his departure from the club last night, though not thanks to this defeat against a team from Madrid, and his replacement seems sure to be the Spaniard Juande Ramos.

Having lost to Ramos' Seville last season as well, Jol could be forgiven for giving the country a wide berth. News, filtering through from the radio, television and websites, that the Dutchman might be finally taking his leave, reached the stands during the second half and led the fans to chant "Stand up for Martin Jol".

He responded with a clenched fist salute and an impassive stare while there were less pleasant chants for the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. It was too little, too late to save a man who lost the faith of his directors back in August.

Jol's last match in charge ended on a sour note, losing to a team that was playing only their third ever game in Europe. It was also Spurs' first home defeat in European competition in over 20 years. And, you guessed it, that was against a Spanish team as well, Real Madrid no less.

Yet while Jol's body language throughout this game was impassive, the problems on the pitch for the last few weeks have come over loud and clear, with no League win since early September and problems emerging between Jol and his key players.

That became starkly clear in their 3-1 loss at Newcastle on Monday, with Dimitar Berbatov on the bench initially. He was restored here for this Uefa Cup tie and was unlucky to have a goal disallowed, wrongly as replays demonstrated, for offside.

While Jol had recalled the Bulgarian, he had dropped Robbie Keane, rather bewilderingly, despite the Irishman being in some of the best goalscoring form of his career, with seven goals in as many club games. That was not enough for Jol, who brought back the disaffected Jermain Defoe. Between them, the forward pair combined to give Spurs the lead after 19 minutes. Pascal Chimbonda's cross picked out Berbatov, and his header found Defoe, who nudged his header past Omar Ustari.

The lead against last season's beaten Spanish Cup finalists – they lost to Seville – only lasted two minutes. With goalkeeper Paul Robinson still out injured. his replacement Radek Cerny was made to look rather stupid when from 35 yards out, Esteban Granero put a lot of whip on a free-kick that deceived everyone, including Cerny, and the ball drifted into the net.

Getafe's winning goal came with 20 minutes left when David Cortes' cross from the right was met by Nobrega Braulio with a neat flick, to leave Jol's successor with a difficult task both in Europe and at home.

Tottenham (4-4-2): Cerny; Chimbonda, Gardner (Dawson, 43), Kaboul, Lee; Lennon, Huddlestone, Zokora (Tainio, 73), Malbranque (Keane, 71); Defoe, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Forecast (gk), Stalteri, Boateng, Bent

Getafe (4-4-1-1): Ustari (Abondanzieri, h-t); Cortes, Belenguer, Diaz, Signorino; Granero (Cotelo, 76), De La Red, Casquero (Sousa, 62), Nacho; Albin; Braulio. Substitutes not used: Licht, Manu, Kepa, Juanfran.

Referee: K Kircher (Germany).

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