With the sackings of Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce, the managerial merry-go-round has well and truly begun spinning after a 2010 amazingly devoid of any Premier League sackings up until Hughton a week ago. With many clubs now seemingly looking at the precedent set by both Newcastle and Blackburn, the question seems to be not if, but when the next managerial casualty will come in the Premier League, and quite logically the spotlight has stopped and fallen on West Ham’s Avram Grant.
Three points adrift at the bottom of the table and four points off safety, it would appear, despite the apparent backing of the board that hired him in the summer, that Grant may only be a couple of bad results away from the chop. If that is the case, then West Ham need to begin assessing their options, and of all the manager’s that are available at the moment, Martin Jol seems to be the best fit for West Ham.
Whether David Gold and David Sullivan would be able to persuade him to come join the Upton Park circus they seem to love to propagate is another matter, but if he were receptive to the idea, he could well prove to be the saviour West Ham need at the moment.
With dissent in the ranks and stuttering, unimaginative performances abound, West Ham need a change in management, and in spite of his Spurs connection, Jol could well be the man for the job; not only providing encouragement from the sidelines (something Grant seems to lack), but also implementing his own brand of attacking football whilst introducing some defensive organisation, something else the Hammers seem to lack.
The managers who bookend Jol’s tenure at White Hart Lane (Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos) tend to corroborate the evidence that the Dutchman was a wonderful manager for Spurs, not only turning around their fortunes in difficult circumstances, but maintaining the high standards he set for himself, and there is no reason that he cannot do the same at West Ham.
Although the sackings of Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce have been derided across the English footballing world, if Avram Grant was to be relieved of his duties, I don’t think many would question why, especially with managers of the quality of Martin Jol waiting in the wings to fill the void.
