Tottenham boss Martin Jol has leapt to the defence of referee Graham Poll.
Tottenham boss Martin Jol has leapt to the defence of Graham Poll, following the referee's much spoken about performance last weekend at White Hart Lane.Poll's antics have garnered plenty of column inches after he was accused of targeting Chelsea's players during the champions' 2-1 capital defeat.
These allegations have been dismissed by Poll, who sent off John Terry in the aforementioned contest, as a nonsense and his performance has now been adjudged more than adequate by Jol.
The affable Dutchman feels Poll is one of football's best match officials, of the opinion that the oft in the news referee has no case to answer with regards last Sunday's game.
Poll made the headlines at the World Cup when he showed three yellow cards to Croatia's Josip Simunic, but again, Jol is quick to offer a staunch defence.
"He's certainly one of the biggest personalities," Jol said. "On performances in the past, if you judge him on that, he's probably one of the best.
"In Europe they would judge him as one of the best.
"If you look at Graham Poll and if you only judge him, for example, on the three yellow cards in Germany, I would call that 'scoreboard journalism' - if someone makes a mistake he's bad. I don't believe in that.
"It would be the same if he made a mistake next time and gave them (the opposition) a penalty. I wouldn't change my mind."
Meanwhile, Jol has spoken in glowing terms about summer signing Didier Zokora following the midfielder's fine start to life in North London.
The powerful Ivorian has impressed everyone at the club with the manner in which he has seamlessly adapted to life in England, while his performances on the pitch, since recovering from a bout of malaria, have earned glowing reviews.
"He's living opposite me, so I can have a good look at him every day," said Jol.
"He's ambitious and wants to do well, he has got a good character, especially after his malaria which was a strange one.
"He's an all-rounder, while (Michael) Carrick was a passer. He will carry the ball while Carrick would pass the ball.
"I have Tom Huddlestone as well so I have no problem in that area. I see him every day in training, he's always 100 percent. In France they call him 'The Maestro'.
"This morning we had only seven players training from the first team, six in the reserves, and he was motivating them - he's a good person and a good personality.
"He will be a bargain if we sell him in six years and we get £10 million back when he is 30."
