The Tide Is Through Waiting for Martin Jol

Martin Jol is out at Tottenham following a 2-1 UEFA Cup loss to Getafe at White Hart Lane—Spurs’ fifth game without a win, if anyone’s still counting. Did he quit, or was he sacked? Or (just to throw out a third option) was he slowly roasted over a low-burning fire fueled by media speculation, board politics, and rising skepticism among the fans?

The early word is that Juande Ramos, who helped begin the end for Jol in August by colluding with Spurs officials in the least clandestine secret meeting of all time, will now take over his job. The early word has been known to make mistakes. (Ronaldinho, terrorizing the Premier League for Chelsea.) It will be interesting to see what develops.

UPDATE: Apparently he resigned before the match. Which is a bit like saying he was driving one mile an hour faster in a full-speed head-on collision, in this case.

SECOND UPDATE: But wait! It now emerges that he was sacked after all. The news arrived in a text message at halftime. The Tottenham board have been disastrous throughout this process and Jol is a sympathetic figure, but in flinty-eyed ways-of-the-world terms, how much damage has been done to his reputation this season as a result of Spurs’ dismal play?