TOTTENHAM boss Christian Gross has revealed his enjoyment at keeping Spurs in the Premiership, his determination to hold on to his job, and his summer transfer plans. Speaking exclusively to Football365's Ola French, Gross first expressed his pleasure at Saturday's 6-2 win at Wimbledon, and particularly in the way it had been achieved. Obviously it was very pleasing to make ourselves safe, but it was also exciting for me the way we played. People have asked me why we played with eight attacking players. Well, that's the Tottenham way. What I've tried to do is to use the way Tottenham have always tried to play and to add a little more stability. I think that Arsene Wenger has had to do something similar at Arsenal. They play a certain way and he has had to add things he knows to that. Next season maybe I can bring a little more to Spurs because this time it was all about keeping the club in the Premier league. And is Gross sure that he'll actually be there when the new season starts? Rumours continue that Tottenham may well seek a new manager when the dust has settled on their troubled season. Sure I hear this, but as I always say, I have a contract until the end of next season and I intend to see it through. Even though this has been a very difficult time for the club I have enjoyed it. It's strange, but I really have. Gross spent Sunday on the Continent scouting for new players. Asked who he was watching, he is naturally cautious. What he is prepared to say, however, is that he knows the size of the rebuilding job that needs doing if the North London club are to start to catch up on their local rivals, new champions Arsenal. I believe that I need four new players before the new season starts. With Jurgen Klinsmann going, I will have only three strikers at the club, so that is obviously an area I must look at. We also need at least one more experienced defender, and a defensive midfielder. The latter remark may mean bad news for Italian Nicola Berti, who, despite being more naturally inclined to attack, has occupied the holding position in the latter half of the season since he arrived on a short-term contract from Inter Milan and is now having contract talks with Gross. Equally unlikely to enjoy Gross' words is club captain David Howells, also out of contract at the end of the season and Spurs' defensive midfielder for most of the last ten years. And does the Tottenham manager have any idea where these new players will come from? Well, if you noticed, Arsene Wenger has not bought any English players, except for Matthew Upson. They are expensive and we need to spend our money wisely. All four players I buy would need to be internationals.

U-21 SNUB BOOSTS RIO'S WORLD CUP HOPES   Rio Ferdinand's hopes of making the full squad for the World Cup finals have been boosted by a snub from Glenn Hoddle's sidekick Peter Taylor. The West Ham defender has been left out of Taylor's provisional 24-man squad for summer's Toulon tournament, raising hopes that Hoddle has him earmarked for the full side. Michael Owen, a near-certainty for France 98, is also admitted from the junior squad. Ferdinand broke into the full England side last year and won comparisons with Hammers legend Bobby Moore, but has recently struggled to find his form at international and Premiership levels and ironically was tormented by Owen during Liverpool's 5-0 romp at the weekend. Big names in the squad, which Taylor must trim to 18 before the tournament begins, include John Curtis of Manchester United, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy, Frank Lampard of West Ham, Aston Villa's Lee Hendrie and injury-hit Southampton striker Kevin Davies - but lower-division talents like Preston goalkeeper David Lucas, Bournemouth's Eddie Howe and Oxford pair Simon Marsh and Paul Powell are also included. Provisional squad: Simonsen (Tranmere), Lucas (Preston), Tyler (Peterborough), Clegg (Manchester United), Curtis (Manchester United), Rogers (Nottingham Forest), Howe (Bournemouth), Purse (Birmingham), Marsh (Oxford), Kozluk (Derby), Elliott (Derby), Carragher (Liverpool), Lampard (West Ham), Hendrie (Aston Villa), Murphy (Liverpool), Oakley (Southampton), Clemence (Tottenham), Jansen (Crystal Palace), Powell (Oxford), Heskey (Leicester), Davies (Southampton), Euell (Wimbledon), Allen (Tottenham), Bent (Crystal Palace).

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