A match made in heaven - Martin Jol and Fulham
Persuasion and persistence can have wonderful rewards. To bring more clarity, it is the same lesson that Lyle Lovett learned when he wooed Julia Roberts back in 1993. If compared to the world of today, it is equivalent to Mohammed Al Fayed’s courting of the current Ajax Manager Martin Jol. History has ample proof that even the ugliest of suitors can succeed if they manage to strike the right combination of consummate timing and charm. Inevitably, the Roberts-Lovett marriage ended in a divorce but Al Fayed will be hoping that Fulham can avoid such a conclusion with Martin Jol. One can predict that the marriage may not be a match made in heaven but the zombie-lookalike country singer was chuffed for the time that it lasted.
The same can be the case with Al Fayed if he is successful in securing the services of Jol as Manager of the Fulham Football Club. It’s a scenario that was unimaginable back in 1997 when Jol took charge of a club which was barely surviving in the fourth tier of English football. 13 years ago, if someone would have told Al Fayed that the cottagers would be able to lure a manager away from AFC Ajax, who had just won the Champions League two years ago in 1991, even the over-ebullient Muhammad Al Fayed would have doubted their sanity.
It is not going to be a happy moment for AFC Ajax which is going through some financial hardships and now stands on the brink of losing their manager and that too to a mid-table English side. Moreover, that side will not even be playing in the Europa League this season, while Ajax has been guaranteed of a Champions League spot after finishing at second place to Netherland’s FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie last season. The Dutch are fresh from the ecstasy of reaching the World Cup final in South Africa but face the prospect of another top manager leaving Dutch football after Steve McLaren, who walked out on FC Twente earlier in the season.
Timing is invaluable in football. Fulham have got their timing absolutely perfect by approaching Jol. Just after cash-strapped Ajax sold Dennis Rommedahl, the club is ready to entertain offers for Gregory Van Der Wiel and Luis Suarez as well. It proves that they are not in the best of shapes financially and Fulham has decided to take full advantage of the situation. AFC Ajax has an illustrious history but history means nothing in football when a club playing in the second tier of European Football is ready to dismantle it completely.
Jol is craving to win his entry into English football as it’s a place where he has previously enjoyed considerable yet underappreciated success and a position at Fulham is the best available job that he can clinch in the prevalent circumstances. It’s definitely not the best job in the market but Fulham is an established club in English football which has a lot of money available for transfer purposes. The club offers less pressure and higher rewards just like his predecessor Hodgson had discovered.
For Fulham, it’s a match made in heaven. Fulham were firmly established which is why the management is replacing Roy Hudson with another popular football manager. Martin Jol had the empathy and sympathy of every right thinking football fan in the world when he got the sack from Tottenham despite leading them to two consecutive 5th place finishes in the Premier League. If appointed at Fulham, Jol will start his stint at Craven Cottage with a great deal of goodwill.
Jol still remains a hero in certain parts of northern London with his sacking still considered to be a scar in Daniel Levy’s reign. However, there is another club owner who stands on the verge of pulling off an absolute blinder.
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