Spokesman dismisses Jol comments

Martin Jol has denied making comments criticising Tottenham during the fall-out over his dismissal at White Hart Lane.

Jol, who was sacked as Spurs boss last week, has been quoted criticising the transfer policy of sporting director Damien Comolli.

But a spokesman for the Dutchman said: "These quotes are not attributable to Martin."

He added: "We believe they come from articles in Holland which in the translation from Dutch to English have been reported as coming from Martin, but they did not."

Even though he has distanced himself from the reports, Spurs' summer recruitment appeared strange as Jol had targeted a left-sided midfielder and an experienced centre-back as a priority.

Although Gareth Bale has played in midfield, the Wales youngster is being groomed to play at left-back, while youngster Younes Kaboul has been error-prone at centre-back.

Darren Bent was also bought for £16.5million from Charlton to bolster an attack that scored more than 60 goals last season as Spurs sealed consecutive fifth-place finishes under Jol.

Their start to the current campaign was undermined by a meeting between Spurs officials and Juande Ramos, who has since left Sevilla to take over at White Hart Lane.

Jol was in contact with the League Managers' Association after the meeting was revealed and his dismissal was confirmed during a bizarre UEFA Cup defeat to Getafe when fans heard the news before it was officially confirmed.

Ramos has experience at Sevilla of working in the "continental" structure usde at Spurs, where he will identify areas needing strengthening but Comolli and his network of scouts do the recruiting.