Spurs crisis grows as Jol on brink after Toon loss

Time may now be up for manager Martin Jol with his team sitting in the bottom three with only one win to their name.

Bust-up: Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov had to be told to warm up four times after being left on the bench by manager Martin Jol

His prospects have not been helped by a bad injury to left-back Gareth Bale - one of his brightest players at St James' Park - and a disagreement with his best striker Dimitar Berbatov, who had to be told four times to go and warm up after being left on the bench.

Stand-in goalkeeper Radek Cerny later admitted that "the players are hurting" as their goals conceded jumped to 21, the third-worst defensive record in the top flight.

Former Spurs midfielder Tim Sherwood was in no doubt after the game where the blame lies.

He said: "I feel sorry for Martin Jol if he has been working with those players because they are not listening to what he is saying. But it doesn't look like he has been spending any time with them on the training ground at the moment.

"I feel sorry for any keeper in goal for Tottenham at the moment because any cross goes in to the box and they're going to concede goals."

Jol insisted afterwards that his team only need to "get one result" and "the confidence will be there".

Spurs fans will be worried that he appeared to be at odds with Berbatov even though the Dutch manager insisted that he was saving the Bulgarian for Thursday's UEFA Cup match with Getafe.

Berbatov cut a lonely figure on the bench and there will be fresh speculation about his future at the club.

Manchester United made one failed bid for the forward in the summer and with Louis Saha continuing to struggle with injury, Sir Alex Ferguson may be tempted to make a fresh attempt to get his signature in January.

Cerny made his first start in the Premier League for over two years due to a calf injury to Paul Robinson. He admitted confidence is low, saying: "It is a very difficult-period for us. We have only won once this season and we need points quickly.

"The players are hurting that we are in the bottom three at this stage of the season. We have unbelievable players and before the season everyone was tipping us for the top four, but we are at the bottom. The players are getting nervous. I know a few Spurs fans and they are having a very hard time so we have to step it up."

Jol will face fresh questions from the club's board today and will also discover how long he will be without Bale after he suffered a nasty foot injury.

The Welsh international will have a scan this morning after limping off in the first half and Jol said: "I think it is serious. We have five games in 13 days, but it doesn't look good. I don't think it is his metatarsal but his foot was swelling up and it could be a pretty bad injury."

Robinson may have thought he had escaped being in the firing line by being in the Setanta TV studio rather than in goal for Tottenham last night, but the England international suffered more pain watching his side falter yet again.

Robinson was ruled out by a calf injury picked up against Russia last week and he probably wished he had played as his team received an embarrassing review by the experts alongside him.

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The 27-year-old squirmed uncomfortably as Sherwood and ex-Liverpool star Steve McManaman ripped into Jol's team, who were terrible.

Robinson takes pride in trying to keep opponents at bay, but even he was forced to admit how bad Tottenham looked.

He said: "We are conceding too many goals and it is happening too often. We know we have the football ability and we show it at home.

"But we seem to find it difficult to pick up results on the road at the moment and it seems there is a steeliness missing where we don't want to get beaten. The first goal was another error and it's something we need to cut out.

"We are missing Ledley King a lot, he has a big influence on the team when he plays. He is a leader that everyone follows. Martin is working with the players every day, but it has been difficult with so many away on international duty."

The result leaves Spurs third from bottom with just one win from 10 games.

Remarkably, they are the third highest scorers in the league with 17 goals - behind only Arsenal and Portsmouth. Yet they have conceded 21 and only Reading and Derby (both on 22) have let in more.

There, as Robinson admitted, lies the problem.