Irish caught in Swiss quandary

Problems in filling the Republic of Ireland's vacant date in March were yesterday being linked to Christian Gross's ongoing travail at Tottenham.

Stories breaking in Switzerland suggested that just a month after signing an 18-month contract to manage the north London club, Gross is being lined up to fill the vacant manager's position with the Swiss national team.

That, in turn, is forcing the Swiss authorities to defer completion of their warm-up programme for the European Championship until such time as the post has been filled.

In a telephone conversation with FAI officials, they requested that no decision be taken on the proposed March date, pending the appointment of the man who will take charge of their team for the next two years.

However, Gross last night ruled out taking over as Switzerland manager and pledged his commitment to Tottenham. "This is all speculation," he insisted. "There is no question of me taking charge of the Swiss national side. I am committed to Spurs and pleased to be here. I will do the job to the best of my ability."

But Gross's protestations will do little to ease the problems of those charged with the responsibility of arranging Ireland's programme. With the Swiss continuing to stall, they had entered into negotiations with the Czech Republic and proposals for a game in Prague on March 25th are due to be finalised this week.

Confirming Switzerland's renewed interest, Bernard O'Byrne, the FAI's chief executive, said: "They are anxious that we put off a decision for a couple of days until they have resolved their managerial difficulties, but obviously, we cannot afford to wait indefinitely."

How long Gross's rejection of the Swiss job will delay the process is unclear.

O'Byrne said that he hoped to deal with the matter this week and then address the problems of filling the home dates in April and May. Several options are being examined, but at this point, the preferred ones are Yugoslavia and Mexico, respectively.

However, in spite of his assurances to Tottenham over the Swiss job, Gross refused to rule out the possibility that he might quit White Hart Lane if Fritz Schmid, who worked with him as a fitness co-ordinator at the Zurich club, Grasshoppers, was not given clearance to join him in England. Gross said: "When I signed my contract, it was on the condition that I could bring Fritz with me." But Spurs last night stressed there is nothing in Gross' contract that refers to Schmid's employment there.

Gross clearly feels having his fellow countryman on board is a vital part of his plans for Spurs. But yesterday Tottenham announced that England's Department for Education and Employment had turned down their request on Schmid's behalf. They plan to appeal.

Some pundits have suggested that Gross' words yesterday were those of a man looking for a way out after realising the size of the task he faces at White Hart Lane.

There have also been suggestions that Gross was not happy with last week's appointment of former Spurs boss David Pleat as director of football. And Juergen Klinsmann's shock return to the club has led others to ponder if he might become the next manager. Meanwhile, Denis Irwin will play his first game since damaging knee ligaments eight weeks ago when he turns out for Manchester United in a reserve-team fixture against Leeds United at Bury's ground, Gigg Lane, this evening.

The occasion is seen as central to his hopes of reclaiming the left-back position when Manchester United take on Chelsea next Sunday in the centrepiece game of the FA Cup fourth-round programme.

Alex Ferguson is committed to making a change in the position because of Philip Neville's suspension, but he has already made it clear that the Irishman faces a challenge from John Curtis, the England under-21 player, for the vacancy.

That is something which doesn't unduly worry Irwin, but he admitted yesterday that he could have done with extra match practice with the reserve team to accelerate his recovery programme.

"Players returning from bad injuries need games to get back into the groove, but the fixtures list for the reserve team at the club is very erratic, particularly at this time of year," he said.

"I'd like to have had another couple of games under my belt at this stage, but I'm still looking forward to having a good game tomorrow, good enough to put me back in the frame for the Chelsea match at the weekend."