Martin Jol has voiced his belief that some of the Tottenham players knew he had been sacked before he did.
Former Spurs boss received apology from Berbatov
Martin Jol has admitted he was not allowed to work the way he would have liked at Tottenham, and voiced his belief that some of the players knew he had been sacked before he did.
Reports started to circle that Jol had been dismissed from his White Hart Lane post during Tottenham's Uefa Cup game against Getafe, with the manager still sat in the dugout.
Jol has confirmed that he only found out for sure later that evening, but he has recalled the moment Dimitar Berbatov shook his hand and apologised to him before the match.
"Just before the match against Getafe, Berbatov came up to me and said 'sorry coach'," Jol told
Sportsweek.
"I thought he was referring to the fact that he had not been playing well. Apparently he knew I was sacked."
Jol feels he would have had a better chance of succeeding at Tottenham if he had been given more control over transfers by sporting director Damien Comolli.
Awkward
"From the first day it was an awkward working relationship. I was not his choice and he was not my choice," Jol explained.
"For the most important part of my job I was depending on the people around me at Spurs who were buying the players.
"Spurs is a fantastic club with fantastic supporters but I often think 'if only I'd been allowed to run the club the way I wanted it'."
Jol has also criticised his successor Juande Ramos, who was quoted as saying weeks before his appointment that he had received a 'dizzying offer' from Tottenham.
"It was not the most elegant thing to do to a colleague, making public that he had received a big offer from Tottenham," said Jol.
"From that moment on I knew I had a massive battle with my players every day.
"Every day the players asked me if I was staying as a manager but I did not know the answer myself."
