Football Dispatch

Tuesday Football
21 August 2007
White Hart Lane could be headed for a major shake-up ahead of Sunday's match away to Manchester United. Martin Jol's job is hanging in the balance and Sevilla manager Juande Ramos has already been sounded-out regarding the top job at Tottenham Hotspur. The crisis was set-off after striker Dimitar Berbatov voiced his displeasure at having been substituted at the Stadium of Light on the first day of the season in a 1-0 loss to Sunderland. Jol, displeased at what he viewed as the Bulgarian's lack of team spirit, approached Spurs chairman Daniel Levy about selling the 26-year-old. Dumbfounded by his manager's shocking rationale, Levy dispached vice-chairman Paul Klemsley to Seville for a conversation with Sevilla manager Juande Ramos. Klemsley found Ramos to be receptive to the Spurs job; although the returning 2-time UEFA Cup winner expressed a desire to coach his current side in the European SuperCup against AC Milan on 01 September. If Jol is still at the helm come Sunday, the result at Old Trafford is sure to be the tipping-point of his tenure at Spurs, one way or another.

Still, Jol is proceding as if it's business as usual at White Hart Lane. In an attempt to insert some creativity into what has been a rather docile midfield, the Spurs boss has turned to Boca Juniors field-marshall Juan Roman Riquelme. After bursting onto the European scene with Villarreal in 2006, the 28-year-old Argentinean has spent the past eight months on loan at his former club Boca Juniors. Villarreal are anxious to off-load the player and are believed to be dangling him to Spurs for around 10M-pounds. Until Argentina were beaten in the final of this summer's Copa America, Riquelme was the stand-out player of the tournament. He is at his best when given carte-blanche to single-handedly operate a midfield.

The Premier League has ruled in favor of Manchester United regarding Gabriel Heinze's stalled transfer to Liverpool. The arbitrary panel, which was convened at the request of Heinze and his representatives, concluded that a letter signed by both Heinze and United chief executive David Gill indicated that the club was only obliged to sell the player via an international transfer. The decision leaves the 29-year-old Argentina left-back in something of a lurch. He can either re-join his United teammates or pursue a transfer abroad. Juventus are one of a handful of teams to be at least milding interested in his services. For what it's worth, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has already presented new signing Owen Hargreaves with Heinze's number-four jersey.

Meanwhile, the injuries to Wayne Rooney, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Louis Saha may have forced Sir Alex Ferguson back into the transfer market. At the top of his list is Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins. In Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, and Alan Smith, Toon manager Sam Allardyce has a crowded stall of forwards from which to make his selections and may be pursuaded into moving one before the transfer window closes next week. Ferguson would be willing to pay upwards of 13M-pounds for the 22-year-old Nigeria international. Martins, however, is rumored to be close to signing a 6-year contract extension which would keep him on Tyneside well into his prime.

Ferguson's second choice is Nicolas Anelka. The unhappy Bolton Wanderers striker is also being pursued by both West Ham and Portsmouth, although the spectre of Champions' League football with United would probably be too much to resist for Frenchman. Still, Harry Redknapp is also making a serious pitch. He is rumored to be offering newcomer David Nugent to Derby in order to make way for Anelka.