[Indo_Popper]

Much Promise but Little Success
Ardiles was replaced by former QPR manager Gerry Francis, who turned around the club's fortunes dramatically. Tottenham climbed to seventh place in the league, and took advantage of their reinstatement to the FA Cup by reaching the semi-finals, a 4-1 defeat against eventual winners Everton preventing them from reaching the final.

1996-97 saw Tottenham finish in 10th place. Striker Teddy Sheringham requested a move and was sold to Manchester United. In November 1997, with Spurs second from bottom and in danger of relegation, Francis was sacked. Christian Gross, coach of Swiss champions Grasshoppers, was appointed. He re-signed legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann, whose second spell proved a key factor in securing Premiership survival.

George Graham was hired to lead the club before the 1998-99 season. In his first season as Spurs manager the club secured a mid-table finish and won the League Cup by defeating Leicester City at Wembley. However, another mid-table league finish followed in 1999-2000.

At the start of 2001, Sir Alan Sugar's patience broke. He sold his controlling interest in Tottenham to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Daniel Levy.


Further dreams fail: Hoddle & Pleat (again)
Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle took over the club in April 2001 with the team lying thirteenth in the table. His first match in charge was an FA Cup semi-final defeat to rivals Arsenal. Another humiliation followed when club captain Sol Campbell defected to Arsenal on a Bosman free transfer. With limited funds to improve the squad Hoddle turned towards more experienced players in the shape of Teddy Sheringham, Gus Poyet and Christian Ziege for inspiration.

Season 2001-02 saw an improvement, as Spurs finished in ninth place. However, a League Cup Final defeat to Blackburn Rovers left Hoddle under pressure for the following campaign. Only limited funds were available and the only significant outlay was £7 million for Robbie Keane, who joined from Leeds United. 2002-03 started well, with Tottenham remaining in the top six as late as early February. But with just seven points in the final ten games, the club finished in tenth place. Players publicly criticised Hoddle's management style and communication skills. Six games into the 2003-04 season, Hoddle was sacked and David Pleat took over on a caretaker basis until a full-time successor could be found.