Martin Jol says that contracts aren’t all their cranked up to be.
The Fulham manager claims to have been offered a 10-year contract by Ajax, with whom he parted company after just a year and a half. He even worries that a poor start at Craven Cottage could see him replaced very quickly but remains excited by the challenge.
I’m ambitious, but not over-ambitious. If I had asked for a three-year contract here, they would have given it. I signed two years with an option for another year, but it doesn’t really mean anything. They can get rid of me after a couple of months if they want. When I was at Ajax
they offered me a 10-year contract, but I still left after 18 months.
Jol says he is happy at Fulham, setting great store by the fact that the club kept in contact after failing to get him to replace Roy Hodgson last summer.
Football is about relationships. Fulham were good to me last year when I could have joined, and they were good to me again this year.
I don’t know the reasons Mark Hughes left. I thought he would stay here for a couple of years to be honest, because he was doing a good job. Instead, I was thinking of other challenges and other clubs. But when the chief executive Alistair Mackintosh called me, I came the next day.
Jol is now beginning to turn his attentions to his his first game, against NSI Runavik at Craven Cottage on Thursday. He is expected to field an experimental side, opting to ease his new charges in their pre-season.
I will now work to see how we can become better and we will treat the Europa League like it is our pre-season, but it will have a serious touch. Of course, it would be nice to progress in the tournament.
