Former Spurs boss Martin Jol on Monday quit as coach of Dutch fallen giants Ajax, who said they had accepted his resignation.
As Frank De Boer, assistant to national coach Bert Van Marwijk, prepared to take over on a temporary basis, news of Jol’s decision fuelled rumours in England that he was in line to take over English Premier League side Newcastle.
The Magpies had earlier on Monday sacked Chris Hughton despite the promoted side being in midtable.
“There was no longer sufficient basis to pursue fruitful collaboration,” said Jol, sacked at Spurs three seasons ago and who had a stint with Hamburg in Germany before joining Ajax at the start of last season.
He quits two days before four-time European champions Ajax were scheduled to take on AC Milan as they bid to sign off with at least a draw to secure passage to the Europa League at the expense of French side Auxerre.
Jol, 54, leaves Ajax in fourth place in the Dutch league following a weekend draw with Nijmegen.
Last year they finished second and also won the Dutch Cup.
Hughton was formerly assistant to Jol at Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Sol Campbell said Newcastle’s decision to sack manager Hughton “made no sense” and would leave the Premier League club’s players wondering “what the hell is going on?”.
Although they are in 11th place, having been promoted under Hughton’s guidance last season, the Magpies said they needed a more experienced manager and put reserve coach Peter Beardsley in temporary charge.
Veteran defender Campbell said he could not understand why Hughton had been sacked at all.
“This will hit the players hard,” former England international Campbell told ESPN Soccernet. “The players admired him and liked him and won’t be happy now he’s gone like this.
“It makes no sense. Here is a guy who has done an unbelievable job,” the former Arsenal, Tottenham and Portsmouth centre-back added.
“He got the club back into the Premier League and any manager would have been rewarded for that with a new contract, but Chris wasn’t.
“The players are sure to be asking themselves, ‘What the hell is going on?’, that is only natural.
“When we left training this (Monday) morning none of the players had a clue this was coming. Yes, it has come as a shock, and it will affect the dressing room, there is no doubt about that.”
The north-east side made the announcement of Hughton’s exit a day after Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion.
Newcastle are now only four points above the relegation zone and have not won in their last five games.
But they’ve enjoyed some excellent results this season, including a 6-0 thrashing of Aston Villa, a 5-1 derby demolition of north-east rivals Sunderland and a 1-0 win at Arsenal.
But recent away results have been disappointing, with a 5-1 defeat at Bolton followed by Sunday’s loss to fellow promoted side West Brom.
Colin Calderwood, Hughton’s former assistant until becoming the manager of Scottish Premier League side Hibernian in October, labelled the removal of his old boss as “stupid”.
“What we had was a terrific team spirit and there was a unique chance for a football club to balance the books to a certain degree and move forward with a bit of stability and I think they can’t be forgiven for losing that chance,” Calderwood told BBC Radio Five Live.
“The foundation of the club could have been so much more secure, with a family environment and everyone trying to pull in the right direction if they had stuck with Chris.”
Asked if Newcastle owner Mike Ashley had lined-up a replacement for Hughton, Calderwood added: “There’s probably someone in place already.
“I think they would have had some sort of discussions or some thought process about a replacement before they went and did this, otherwise it becomes even move stupid than it is at the minute.”
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