Angry Tottenham fans want wins
Protests occur after 2nd loss in as many games
Posted: Sunday August 23, 1998 12:37 PM
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Fans were critical when Tottenham failed to make a major signing in the off-season Allsport/Allsport |
LONDON (AP) -- Pressure is piling on Tottenham Hotspur manager
Christian Gross after 350 angry fans demonstrated outside White
Hart Lane after the team conceded its sixth goal in two Premier
League games.
Mounted police, dog handlers and 100 stewards took two hours to
disperse the fans blockading the gates of the Spurs' homeground
after its 3-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
The London-based team was beaten 3-1 by Wimbledon in the first
round of the Premier League.
The fans chanted "sack the board" and "we want our Tottenham
back". And with the season only two rounds old, the demonstrations
look likely to continue unless Spurs' form reverses against Everton
at Liverpool on Saturday.
A Tottenham Action Group spokesman said the fans had had enough
(of the losses) and it is quite clear they wanted both the manager
(Gross) and the chairman to resign.
Fans were critical when Tottenham failed to make a major signing
in the off-season after fighting relegation from the top-flight
competition last season.
Gross, Spurs' Swiss manager, is hoping to sign Norwegian
international Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for 5.5 million pounds ($8.9
million) from Manchester United this week in a bid to bolster his
strikepower.
At West Ham Saturday, about 500 people gathered to hurl abuse
and missiles at Manchester United and England midfielder David
Beckham.
Beckham became the target of a hate campaign when fans blamed
him for England's exit from the World Cup in France after he was
sent off in the team's second-round loss to Argentina.
The News of the World newspaper reported a mob threw bottles,
cans and stones at the Manchester United bus as it approached West
Ham's ground before the match.
The report said Beckham sat "grim-faced amid the most vicious
protest against him" since the World Cup tournament.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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