Football: Gross denies there is a crisis at Tottenham

ALAN SUGAR, Tottenham Hotspur's chairman, paid an early morning visit to the club's training ground yesterday to make sure that his coach, Christian Gross, had not overlooked the obvious, telling him that Spurs' position "is very serious". Nevertheless, Gross again shrugged off talk of a crisis.

Gross admitted he did not know if he would still be in the same job next week, but the Swiss coach said he had enough confidence in his own ability to turn around Tottenham's dreadful start to the season.

"Alan said that our position was very serious, which everybody knows," Gross said, " but there were no crisis talks; we analysed the two games. There has been a lack of organisation and co-ordination - in two games we have conceded four goals from free-kicks. It was a short analysis of the situation; we are going to do that every week, with me telling him how I saw the games and why we won or lost."

After learning that Newcastle United's manager, Kenny Dalglish, had become the first casualty of the season, Gross refused to look too far into his own future. He will lead the team at Everton on Saturday, but there is mounting speculation that it may be his last game with the north London club.

"I don't know what will happen next week," Gross said. "All I can say is that I am focused on the next game. I feel sorry for Dalglish but we are all in this position where we have to bring results. I believe in my qualities and I believe in me. I have put my heart and soul into the job here. I like being here and I want to stay as long as possible, but I need results and you can only live from week to week.

"I came in last November and the situation was more or less the same here then. The pressure is normal and every manager who chooses to work in England must live with it. There is so much passion in the game that there is also pressure.

"It is normal when you don't have positive results to have criticism. At least the criticism has been constructive when I have talked with the players, and I believe they are behind me.

"I try to win every game with whichever team I am coaching and I believe in the quality of the players here. I am strong, and you have to be strong in this job.

"I can understand that reaction from the fans because Spurs is their lives, but I can tell them that we are really trying our best."

Steve Archibald, the former Tottenham striker, has been appointed executive director of the Portuguese club Benfica, who are coached by Graeme Souness. "I have signed a two-year contract. My job will be to deal with players coming in and out of the club," Archibald, whose last job was manager of East Fife, said.