Jol: Tottenham need me

Tottenham boss Martin Jol has insisted that if they fired him, the club would be worse off and go backwards. With Spurs third from bottom in the Premiership, the pressure has recently heaped on Jol.

"The fans know how difficult it is if they change management again, they know you could easily go back for years," Jol said on Thursday.

"I hope people are realistic - you can get anyone in the world to come, but to do better you must finish fourth."

Spurs have denied press reports that club chairman Daniel Levy had already agreed a pay-off with Jol but that has failed to stem the swirl of speculation around White Hart Lane.

"The speculation isn't a nice position to be in, but I can't do anything about it," Jol told BBC Radio before mounting a strong defence of his record of guiding Spurs to two fifth-placed finishes in his first two full seasons in charge.

"We were fifth two years in-a-row, I don't think anybody else could do any better. The continuity of the club is important and we did that here with my staff over the last couple of years.

"We won a lot of points, had nine wins in Europe and got back into Europe via the league, which probably didn't happen for 25 years or so.

"So the fans realise and they appreciate my work and that is a good feeling."