Now a respected coach, Martin Jol spent a brief time at Highfield Road in the mid 1980s. Bobby Gould signed the tall, defensive midfield player from West Brom and in a poor side he was no worse than those around him. When Gould was sacked at Christmas 1984 Jol persuaded new manager Don Mackay to let him return to Holland. Jol had made his name in his home country for ADO Den Haag and FC Twente, with a short period at Bayern Munich sandwiched in between.

He returned to ADO and rejuvenated his career as well as being voted Dutch player of the year in 1985. After hanging up his boots Martin turned to coaching, first with Dutch amateur clubs, then later with unfashionable Roda JC and Waalwijk before becoming assistant coach at Tottenham in 2004. When Jacques Santini was sacked soon afterwards Martin was promoted and was arguably Spurs’ best coach of the Premier League era. He led them to two successive fifth-place finishes and a League Cup semi-final before being sacked. He went on to manage Hamburger SV, Ajax, Fulham and finally Al-Ahly

Playing honours
KNVB Cup winner 1974–75 with ADO Den Haag
Eerste Divisie winner 1985–86 with ADO Den Haag
Player of the year KNVB second division (Eerste Divisie) 1985 with ADO Den Haag

Managerial honours
KNVB Cup winner 1996–97 with Roda JC
Eredivisie Manager of the Year 2000–01 with RKC Waalwijk
KNVB Cup winner 2009–10 with Ajax
Egyptian Premier League winner 2015–16 with Al Ahly