Ramos and Spurs deny move for new coach

Jol's position as manager has been put in doubt since club officials were seen meeting with Sevilla coach Juande Ramos in Spain.

The Dutchman still has two years on his contract and is desperate to stay but will command a huge pay-off of around £4million if Levy decides to act.

Jol admits he fears his position is being undermined from within the club and said: "I thought there were whispers last year - and there are whispers at any club all the time.

"I don't know if I'm being undermined. I don't think so but you never know."

Spurs lost their first two games of the season and Jol is still under pressure from the board despite Saturday's 4-0 victory over Derby.

Levy wants the club to finish in the top four after spending £40m on new players in the summer and was angered by the defeats against Sunderland and Everton.

It is understood there are doubts that Jol can take the team to the next level and the meeting with Ramos (right) appears to be no coincidence.

Ramos won his fifth trophy in the past 15 months last night as a hat-trick from former Spurs striker Freddie Kanoute helped them to a 6-3 aggregate victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.

Ramos's deal at Sevilla runs out next year but he has a £350,000 get-out clause and was seen with Spurs vice-chairman Paul Kemsley and secretary John Alexander on Friday even though he claimed he was only at the Alphonso XIII Hotel in Seville to see a friend.

Ramos said: "I totally deny meeting any Tottenham representative. Is there any evidence that demonstrates the contrary? It's totally false. I was with one friend and I'm only shown leaving and in my car.

"I didn't speak to anyone about Tottenham or any other team. It's true I was in the hotel as I went to see a friend who has nothing to do with football."

Meanwhile, a Spurs spokesman said: "We are not in negotiations with anybody to replace Martin Jol. We are an ambitious club and we fully expect speculation to arise after a couple of bad results."

The threat to Jol stems from his relationship with sporting director Damien Comolli, who has earned the complete trust of Levy since he replaced Frank Arnesen, the man who appointed Jol in the first place following the departure of Jacques Santini.

Even Tottenham won't deny Jol and Comolli have had their disagreements of late, preferring to use the term " professional working relationship" to describe the mood.

Jol cut a lonely figure by the side of the pitch on Saturday and that was not just because his players decided to run past him and celebrate Steed Malbranque's opening goal with substitute Didier Zokora.

One British bookmakers last week stopped taking bets on Jol becoming the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season.

Former striker Mido also revealed at the weekend that the reason he left Spurs for Middlesbrough was due to the 'politics' surrounding the team.

But Jol is not about to give up. He said: "As a foreigner you have to prove yourself and I have to do better. I always force myself to think positive and that is what I did before the Derby game.

"After any game you can feel different, but I don't feel particularly happy now. I am already thinking about our next match against Manchester United. We need the points.

"Hopefully, as a manager, you want time to build a team and we've got a fairly good chance. Nobody before me, in the last 20 or 25 years, did the same as me with so many points. But, of course, there will be a few guys who will say with five quarter-finals and a semi-final and 65 points that I can do better."

But when Jol was asked if he was worried about getting the sack if his team had lost to Derby, he added: "I don't know but it would have been a horrendous scenario.

"I never mentioned it to the players because I don't like that sort of stuff. They don't play for me; they play for the supporters."

If the board are planning to get rid of Jol, they will risk the wrath of the fans, who made their support of the former West Brom midfielder clear on Saturday.

The players are also clearly still fighting for their manager, with Jermaine Henas's dominant midfield performance summing up the determination of the team against Derby.

Jenas, who scored a fine solo goal to put 3-0 up inside 14 minutes, said: "Martin has been fine and handled the situation like a top manager. He has spoken to us in the right manner and given us a rollocking when we've needed it.

"He has kept faith in us, which is the main thing. He knows how good we are.

"That result is what he deserved. He's a cool character. He has his moments when he loses it like most managers, but it's part of football. We're a top side, we want to go higher and win trophies and we've spent a lot of money, so people demand results.

"These things happen but, hopefully, we can go on from it now. But I don't feel under extra pressure. We're getting it two games into the season and that's ridiculous.

"Everything we do, we do it together. We know as a team we have been under-performing and had to step it up a few gears."