Wimbledon 2 Tottenham 6 JURGEN KLINSMANN left Selhurst Park a hero but the chances of him still being at White Hart Lane next season remain zero while Christian Gross is Tottenham manager. Refusing to elaborate on his position at the club, Klinsmann, whose four goals destroyed Wimbledon and the threat of relegation hanging over Spurs, said: ''I don't want to say anything about that now because there was too much said in the last few weeks before I left first time. "All I want to say is that today was certainly one of the most exciting in my 16 years as a professional. It was a wonderful feeling. It was an important win because it's 99% certain we will stay up now. We've been through a lot in the last few months but I never gave up.'' Klinsmann's relationship with Gross since the pair had a furious bust-up outside the Spurs' dressing room following a tense home win against Bolton has been cold to say the least. After the row, the German striker pledged to keep his mouth shut about tactics and ‘just get on with my own game and my training'. He did just that and more - on Saturday, taking full advantage of Ben Thatcher's red-card for a disgraceful lunge at Allan Nielsen. Yet coach Gross made it clear that one display did not alter the overall picture, remarking: ''We want the same thing - to make sure Tottenham stay in this Premier League because we're professionals. But there is no chance of talking to him about staying because it was always the agreement he would leave at the end of the season. Next Sunday will be his last match and the supporters will always remember him. He was outstanding against Wimbledon, world class. But he had a great support from Les Ferdinand and everybody played well. I think it must be the best performance we have given since I arrived here.'' Klinsmann declared he would retire from international football after the World Cup but proved with this compelling performance he has much to offer at the top despite being 33. He plundered a depleted defence with a second-half hat-trick of clinical strikes inside five minutes, having touched home David Ginola's cross for his first just before the interval to haul Spurs to 2-2. He also set up the 18th minute opener for Ferdinand with a brave header and laid on the last with a back-heel for substitute Moussa Saib. But it took Thatcher's third sending off this season in the 52nd minute to spark the rout. Dons boss Joe Kinnear, who saw Peter Fear score twice in the first half, conceded: "I couldn't see if it was a sending off but if it was a two-footed tackle he should know better. It was always going to be hard with ten men and without the players we were already missing. But we gave Klinsmann the freedom of our area which was like Oxford Circus in the second half.'' WIMBLEDON: (2) 2 Fear (21,30) TOTTENHAM: (2) 6 Ferdinand (18), Klinsmann (41,54,58,60), Saib (79) Att: 25,820 Wimbledon: Sullivan 5, Kimble 5, Thatcher 4, Roberts 6, Perry 6, M.Hughes 5, McAllister 6, Euell 6 (Francis 36,6), FEAR 7, Leaburn 5 (Gayle 46,5), Kennedy 6 (C.Hughes 65,6) Subs not used: Ekoku, Heald Sent-off: Thatcher (51) foul Booked: Perry (51) Shots: 3 Corners: 6 Fouls: 8 Tottenham: Walker 6, Calderwood 5, Fox 5 (Saib 71,6), Nielsen 6, Anderton 5, Ferdinand 6 (Armstrong 61,6), Carr 5, Ginola 7, Campbell 5, KLINSMANN 8, Berti 5 Subs not used: Scales, Clemence, Grodas Booked: Berti (83) Shots: 7 Corners: 3 Fouls: 15 Referee: G.Barber (Pyrford) 5 Match Rating: 5

BOSS WILSON PLEDGES FUTURE TO TYKES Leicester City 1 Barnsley 0   BARNSLEY were down and out, dead and buried. But manager Danny Wilson, in-keeping with his side's courageous character, remained defiant to the last. And never being one to cry over spilt milk, the Barnsley boss immediately cast his mind to the future. For, despite the disappointment of a roller-coaster campaign among the elite, Wilson has no intention of jumping to a bigger ship. While making his pledge of loyalty, he vowed to do all in the fight to retain the services of the rest of squad. The 38-year-old Wilson, with two seasons left on his deal, declared: "My future is with Barnsley. I have two years left on my contract and as far as I am concerned I will be here next year. The furthest thing from my mind at this moment in time is leaving this club. "They've been fantastic to me, I hope we've had a good marriage so far and I'm sure it will continue. The chairman has assured me I will be here next season, hopefully I can repay that sort of confidence. "There is a good chance of starting the season with the nucleus of the squad. A few contracts are up, people such as Jovo Bosancic, Clint Marcelle and Arjan De Zeeuw, but I'd like to keep them. I am focused and I'm a decent self-motivator, I have been throughout my career and I think I am as manager. I'm ambitious and if my ambitions are matched by Barnsley - and they certainly are by the chairman - it looks positive." Wilson blamed his side's start to the season for relegation - a fate finally confirmed on Saturday with Theo Zagorakis's first goal for Leicester settling events. Wilson went on: ''You're always chasing when you start the season badly. The goals-against column was against us and it's a tall order chasing the big clubs and we never really got out of the bottom three for a significant part of the season. It's disappointing and the lads are gutted because it's the first time a lot have played in the Premiership. It's been taken away from them. But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've a big challenge in front of us." Filbert Street counterpart Martin O'Neill echoed those thoughts, but was also pondering his own side's chances of UEFA Cup place. Defeats for Blackburn and West Ham leave Leicester knowing victory at Upton Park next Sunday could take them back into Europe. O'Neill said: ''It's a big result for us. We must go to West Ham and win and rely on results. But apart from Aston Villa winning, results went our way this time. "No-one can take away what Danny's done at Barnsley. I think it's difficult to come back up but Forest have done so. Barnsley have had a taste of it and if they'd started halfway through August rather than October they might not have been in this position." LEICESTER: (0) 1 Zagorakis (57) BARNSLEY: (0) 0 Att: 21,293 Leicester: Keller 6, Savage 6, Guppy 7, Walsh 7, Elliott 7, Cottee 6 (Fenton 83, 6), Izzet 8, Lennon 7, ZAGORAKIS 8, Marshall 6, Heskey 6 Subs not used: Arphexad, Kaamark, Campbell, Wilson Shots: 2 Corners: 5 Fouls: 11 Barnsley: Watson 6, Eaden 6, Moses 5, De Zeeuw 6, Redfearn 7, Marcelle 5, Jones 6 (Bullock 69, 6), Tinkler 6 (Bosancic 56,3), Barnard 5, WARD 7, Fjortoft 6 (Liddell 59, 6) Subs not used: Sheridan, Leese Sent-off: Bosancic (85) second offence Booked: Barnard (27), De Zeeuw (54) Shots: 2 Corners: 9 Fouls: 14 Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury) 7 Match Rating: 2

PUB VISIT BOOSTS BOLTON'S RELEGATION FIGHT Bolton 5 Crystal Palace 2		TOON ARMY HAPPY NOW Newcastle United 3 Chelsea 1
COLIN TODD is using unusual tactics to avoid relegation, allowing his players to drown their sorrows the night before big games. And it's so far so good with Bolton's booze-boys now looking odds-on to win their battle against the drop… if not the pop! On the eve of their 1-1 draw at Manchester United in February, Todd took his strugglers out for a beer or two. No wonder then that after the 5-2 destruction of Crystal Palace lifted Wanderers out of the bottom three for the first time since January, the boss was considering an even more radical approach to next Sunday's crunch clash at Chelsea. Todd, a one-time pupil of the notorious Brian Clough, joked: ''I might even take them down Soho! The night before the game at Old Trafford, I took the players out to the local pub and it helped. I can't make a habit of it, though, as I've got to surprise them. It will not be a shock if we go out for a pint in London. Man-management and handling the players is a vital part of this job and they have done well under pressure recently.'' Bolton let nobody down on Saturday. Nathan Blake opened the scoring and, despite going behind to stunning strikes from Dean Gordon and Marcus Bent, Bolton ensured a rout through Mark Fish, Jimmy Phillips, Alan Thompson and Dean Holdsworth. Meanwhile, the row rumbles on at Palace as they head for life in the First Division. Current chairman Ron Noades, who selected the team at the Reebok Stadium, suggested Mark Goldberg's £30m take-over is far from certain. Linked with buying Brentford, Noades warned: "I haven't yet made a decision to stand down. The takeover has gone on too long. It's not really in my control, it's about someone contracted to purchase but not able to meet deadlines. The problems have not been on my side. I suppose I might make a decision to help the purchase if it's in the club's interests. "On the other hand, I've had a lot of letters saying it's in our interests I continue. Mark can buy the club if he meets the present contract terms. But it seems I will have to modify them to help him do that. I'll consider Tuesday or Wednesday whether to do so." BOLTON: (3) 5 Blake (7), Fish (20), Phillips (30), Thompson (70), Holdsworth (79) CRYSTAL PALACE: (2) 2 Gordon (8), Bent (16) Att: 24,449 Bolton: Branagan 7, Cox 7, Fish 8, Bergsson 7, Taggart 7, Phillips 7, Sheridan 7 (Johansen 89, 6), THOMPSON 9, Frandsen 8, Blake 8 (Salako 84, 6), Taylor 7 (Holdsworth 54, 7) Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Todd Booked: Bergsson (54), Frandsen (71) Shots: 7 Corners: 6 Fouls: 8 Crystal Palace: Miller 6, Edworthy 6, Ismael 7, Warhurst 6, Hreidarsson 6, Gordon 7, Curcic 6, Lombardo 7 (Shipperley 75, 6), Fullarton 6, Bent 6 JANSEN 8 Subs not used: Nash, Dyer, Rodger, Smith Sent-off: Ismael (83) second offence Booked: Fullarton (18), Hreidarsson (59), Bent (74) Shots: 3 Corners: 7 Fouls: 14 Referee: N Barry (Scunthorpe) 7 Match Rating: 4		FA CUP finalists Newcastle finally delivered a performance to please their supporters at St James' Park and give themselves a chance of a half-respectable finish in the Premiership, but manager Kenny Dalglish admitted this comfortable victory could not disguise an appalling season. The Magpies' last match at St James' this season saw Nikos Dabizas, Robert Lee and Gary Speed grab goals while Roberto Di Matteo hit a late consolation for the Londoners. ''It was a good performance and a good result, but our results against Barnsley, Manchester United and Leicester got us into a position that a win today would see us survive," admitted Dalglish. "They did everything asked of them today - we created a number of chances but it has been a long season for the players. It has not gone as well as we had expected but, now we've got this lifeline, we have scope for improvement.'' Dalglish was keen to explain his players' post-match actions: ''It was not a lap of honour, more a lap of appreciation to the fans. We have great respect for them and gratitude, and our players wanted to thank them.'' The Scot refused to expand on the reasons behind his side's poor Premiership season, but said: ''It was not for a lack of determination or a lack of effort. There are reasons why, but they are not for me to say publicly. But I am convinced there was the same desire there in all our matches. It doesn't give anyone any pleasure here the way we have done in the League, but at least in our last home games this season we produced our best displays.'' Dalglish has been accused over the last month of not really accepting that his side were in real danger of relegation. He countered: ''We were never complacent. We knew exactly what we had to do and we are not trying to hide behind anything.'' Skipper Lee, who took a whack late on which leaves him doubtful for next Sunday's trip to Blackburn, will be a summer target of former Magpies manager Kevin Keegan at Fulham if they win the play-offs to reach Division One. NEWCASTLE: (2) 3 Dabizas (38), Lee (42), Speed (58) CHELSEA: (0) 1 Di Matteo (78) Att: 36,710 Newcastle: Given 7, Barton 7, Pearce 7, Howey 7 (Watson 46, 7), Dabizas 8, Batty 8, LEE 9 (Hamilton 84, 6), Shearer 7, Andersson 7 (Barnes 80, 6), Pistone 7, Speed 7. Subs not used: Hislop, Tomasson Booked: Pearce (26) Shots: 9 Corners: 8 Fouls: 18 Chelsea: Kharine 6, Leboeuf 6 (Flo 46, 7), CLARKE 8, Vialli 5, M.Hughes 5 (Poyet 46, 6), Di Matteo 7, Granville 5, Nicholls 6, Newton 5 (P.Hughes 78, 6), Charvet 7, Morris 5 Subs not used: Hitchcock, Lee Booked: Vialli (26), Leboeuf (45) Shots: 2 Corners: 3 Fouls: 22 Referee: K Burge (Tonypandy) 7 Match Rating: 3

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