Martin Jol’s reign as Tottenham Hotspur manager is over. A statement released by the club last night confirmed that the Dutchman and his assistant, Chris Hughton, had been asked to stand down “with immediate effect”.

The Times has learnt that Juande Ramos, the Seville coach, has accepted the offer to take over, but may not be in place until the start of next season.

Tottenham are putting heavy pressure on the Spaniard to move to White Hart Lane sooner, but Clive Allen, the reserve-team coach, will be in charge when Blackburn Rovers visit for the Barclays Premier League match on Sunday. It is also believed that Gustavo Poyet, the former Tottenham and Uruguay player who is No 2 to Dennis Wise at Leeds United, has been approached to become Ramos’s assistant.

Jol finally agreed to resign before last night’s Uefa Cup match against Getafe, of Spain, and his tenure ended in a disappointing 2-1 defeat. In exchange for stepping down, the Dutchman will receive a £4 million compensation package, which he agreed in August, as revealed by The Times.

None of the Tottenham players were aware of Jol’s impending exit before the match. It was only after the game that he told them that he would be leaving. He shook the hand of each player and hugged the senior members of the squad to whom he was particularly close.

Damien Comolli, the sporting director, then entered the dressing-room and addressed the players, explaining the nature of Jol's departure. Comolli confirmed that Allen would take first-team training at Spurs Lodge this morning. When the Spurs players left the ground, none would discuss Jol.

Even by Tottenham’s standards — four permanent managers in little more than six years — the latest episode has been chaotic. Jol’s position has been untenable since Tottenham officials made an embarrassingly public approach for Ramos in August.

Ramos said that he will remain at Seville until the end of his contract in the summer, but Tottenham have been pursuing him since. They are likely to have offered him considerably more than the £2 million a season that Jol had been earning.

The Spaniard will be charged with turning around Tottenham’s fortunes, which at present have them in the relegation zone, with only one league victory. Expectations of challenging for a place in the Champions League — more than £35 million was invested in players this summer — have been crushed by a series of poor performances, the latest coming at St James’ Park on Monday in a 3-1 defeat by Newcastle United.

Jol led Tottenham to fifth place in the past two seasons, but became embroiled in a battle with Levy and Comolli during the summer — and lost. He had a little less than three years to run on his contract after taking over when Jacques Santini left the club almost three years ago.

Parting words: the Tottenham statement in full

We can confirm that the board has this evening asked Martin Jol, club manager, and Chris Hughton, first-team coach, to stand down from their positions with immediate effect. We have not taken these decisions lightly or without recognition of the contribution both Martin and Chris have made to the club.

Chairman Daniel Levy said: “For me, Martin and Chris’s departure is regrettable. Our greatest wish was to see results turn in our favour and for there to be no need for change. We feel honoured that Martin has been manager at our club, having seen us qualify twice for Europe.

Chris has been with us since 1977, bar a three-year period, both as player and coach and he has been an excellent ambassador for the club. They have been professional, popular and respected members of the coaching staff and there will always be a warm welcome for them both at the Lane.”

Martin Jol added: “I can understand the position of the club in light of the results. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Tottenham Hotspur is a special club and I want to thank the terrific staff and players. For me the fans were always amazing with their support so I would also like to say thank you — I shall never forget them.”

We shall report in due course on new appointments to the coaching staff. In the interim, the first team will be coached by our current development coach, Clive Allen, and Alex Inglethorpe, our youth team manager.