Christian Gross: 25 November 1997 - 5 September 1998
Apparently the key men in bringing Gross to White Hart Lane were Daniel Sugar and Swiss layer Andy Gross. That first press conference at WHL Gross arrived three minutes late & travelled by London Underground from Heathrow. He held aloft his ticket to prove it. "I want this to become my ticket to dreams," he said. "I came by Underground because I wanted to know the way the fans feel coming to Spurs. I want to show that I am one of them." Oh Dear! Sugar later described him as being dead in the water from that moment onwards . Thiings went from bad to worse when his assistant & fitness guru Fritz Schmid was denied a work permit (much to Anderton's relief).
Gross started well with an away win at Goodison, but a 6-1 defeat at home to Chelsea and a 4-0 away at Coventry put him under pressure from the start. To his credit, Gross turned the shambles he inherited from Francis into a decent outfit and we did not lose at home again for the rest of the season. Although we drew too many matches - two away wins at Selhurst sorted Tottenham. First a 3-1 away win over Palace and then coming from behind twice to win 6-2 against Wimbledon to secure our safety.
Not liked by the players but Gross had done his job. After securing Premiership status, Sugar wanted someone who could take Tottenham on and Gross's time was up. He left Tottenham Hotspur on the 5th of September 1998 after an away win at Goodison (just as his career had started) and it is fair to say he helped save us from a Francis inspired relegation, but did not look to be the man to lead us back to the promised land.
Tottenham Hotspur				Christian Gross					Played	Won	Drew	Lost	For	Against	PPG
				Football League					26	9	7	10	35	40	1.31
				Cup Competitions & Other matches					3	1	1	1	5	5	50%
Manager: Christian Gross				Total  -  Christian Gross					29	10	8	11	40	45
29-Nov-97	FA Prem	36,670	A	Everton	W	2	-	0	Vega, Ginola
06-Dec-97	FA Prem	28,476	H	Chelsea	L	1	-	6	Vega
13-Dec-97	FA Prem	19,499	A	Coventry City	L	0	-	4
20-Dec-97	FA Prem	28,232	H	Barnsley	W	3	-	0	Neilsen, Ginola (2)
26-Dec-97	FA Prem	38,644	A	Aston Villa	L	1	-	4	Calderwood
28-Dec-97	FA Prem	29,610	H	Arsenal	D	1	-	1	Neilsen
05-Jan-98	F.A. Cup 3	27,909	H	Fulham	W	3	-	1	Clemence, Calderwood, Brady
10-Jan-98	FA Prem	55,281	A	Manchester United	L	0	-	2
17-Jan-98	FA Prem	30,284	H	West Ham United	W	1	-	0	Klinsmann
26-Jan-98	F.A. Cup 4	28,722	H	Barnsley	D	1	-	1	Campbell
31-Jan-98	FA Prem	30,187	A	Derby County	L	1	-	2	Fox
04-Feb-98	F.A. Cup 4®	18,220	A	Barnsley	L	1	-	3	Ginola
07-Feb-98	FA Prem	30,388	A	Blackburn Rovers	W	3	-	0	Berti, Armstrong, Fox
14-Feb-98	FA Prem	28,355	H	Leicester City	D	1	-	1	Calderwood
21-Feb-98	FA Prem	29,871	A	Sheffield Wednesday	L	0	-	1
01-Mar-98	FA Prem	29,032	H	Bolton Wanderers	W	1	-	0	Neilsen
04-Mar-98	FA Prem	31,394	A	Leeds United	L	0	-	1
14-Mar-98	FA Prem	30,245	H	Liverpool	D	3	-	3	Klinsmann, Ginola, Vega
28-Mar-98	FA Prem	26,116	A	Crystal Palace	W	3	-	1	Berti, Armstrong, Klinsmann
04-Apr-98	FA Prem	35,646	H	Everton	D	1	-	1	Armstrong
11-Apr-98	FA Prem	34,149	A	Chelsea	L	0	-	2
13-Apr-98	FA Prem	33,463	H	Coventry City	D	1	-	1	Berti
18-Apr-98	FA Prem	18,692	A	Barnsley	D	1	-	1	Calderwood
25-Apr-98	FA Prem	35,847	H	Newcastle United	W	2	-	0	Klinsmann, Ferdinand
02-May-98	FA Prem	25,820	A	Wimbledon	W	6	-	2	Ferdinand, Klinsmann (4),  Saib
10-May-98	FA Prem	35,995	H	Southampton	D	1	-	1	Klinsmann
15-Aug-98	FA Prem	23,031	A	Wimbledon	L	1	-	3	Fox
22-Aug-98	FA Prem	32,129	H	Sheffield Wednesday	L	0	-	3
29-Aug-98	FA Prem	39,379	A	Everton	W	1	-	0	Ferdinand
David Pleat (caretaker): Aug 30 1998 - Oct 3 1998
09-Sep-98	FA Prem	28,331	H	Blackburn Rovers	W	2	-	1	Ferdinand, Nielsen
13-Sep-98	FA Prem	30,345	H	Middlesbrough	L	0	-	3
15-Sep-98	L.C. Cup 2 (1L)	11,831	A	Brentford	W	3	-	2	Carr, Dominguez, Vega
19-Sep-98	FA Prem	15,204	A	Southampton	D	1	-	1	Fox
23-Sep-98	L.C. Cup 2 (2L)	22,980	H	Brentford	W	3	-	2	Nielsen, Campbell, Armstrong
26-Sep-98	FA Prem	35,535	H	Leeds United	D	3	-	3	Vega, Iversen, Campbell
03-Oct-98	FA Prem	30,093	A	Derby County	W	1	-	0	Campbell