Jol the joker still aims to have the last laugh

Jol criticised his players for their basic errors and hit out at those with the nerve to claim his motivational powers have waned in the fog of uncertainty which surrounds his own future.

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If he is to go then he is determined to go with a fight and his spirit is a long way from being broken.

"My health under the circumstances is good," said Jol with a cheeky nudge, a wink and a glint in his eye.

"I'm still here. I'm sleeping a little less but my wife is supportive.

"If I stay up longer, she gets to stay up with me. There are always advantages, even when we're having problems!"

Amid rumours of crisis talks the Dutchman insisted he had not been summoned to speak to chairman Daniel Levy since Monday's 3-1 defeat at Newcastle, before pausing to add: "That is probably more worrying!"

The smile vanished from his face as Jol admitted the performance at St James' Park was his team's worst of the season.

He pointed to more defensive mistakes and claimed that was the main reason why a team with Champions League ambitions have found themselves in the bottom three.

Jol said: "I was trying to analyse it and it's not an easy place to go. We've conceded more goals than almost any other team in the League and it is avoidable.

"I can be angry but we know the answers. It's a question of being at the end of corners, free-kicks around the box, crosses, block the shots.

"Some 70 or 80 per cent of the goals we give away are from set plays, even throw-ins.

"If Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul are letting free headers in, you have to educate them.

"Other teams play like that but come out with a result. But if you concede goals like the first two then it's impossible to come out with a result at a place like Newcastle."

He then took a swipe at former Spurs skipper turned Setanta TV pundit Tim Sherwood, who claimed the manager was not working hard enough on the training ground to resolve the faults.

Jol fumed: "I do more on the training pitch on set-plays than any other club because I've got to do more.

"But still it's about physical presence and mental toughness. If he said that, it was a misjudgment. It's not all about me."

Jol dismissed Dimitar Berbatov's touchline sulk, insisting it was "not an issue" and is expected to recall the Bulgarian centre forward for tonight's UEFA Cup game against Getafe.

"I never talk about the team but Berbatov starts 95 per cent of the games," he said.

At least there is brighter news on the medical front.

Scans have shown no break in Gareth Bale's foot and captain Ledley King has been cleared to start training next week, although this still leaves him "three or four weeks" short of a return to action, according to Jol.

Paul Robinson's calf strain will keep him out against Getafe and Blackburn on Sunday and Ben Alnwick has been recalled from his loan at Luton as cover, even though he has not been registered for the UEFA Cup.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes is one of the names now closely connected with Jol's job.

There have been several since Spurs were caught chasing Sevilla's Juande Ramos in August.

"If I looked at that sort of thing, I'd go crazy," said Jol. "I'm still here. The only thing that you would be changing is it would be a different face but it would still be in the same position. Believe me."