Now Christian Gross knows the size of the task he has taken on. First he has to expand his grasp of English beyond the rudimentary level. Then he has to learn hacks' English and footballers' English. Sorting out Spurs should be a doddle by comparison.
The problems cannot be quite as bad as their position in the table (18th) and their goals conceded (10 in the past two games) would suggest. There is a load of ability in the squad, which tends to be overlooked when hacks reach for the vitriol icon on their laptops. What might be described as their inside-forward trio, for example, ought to be one of the most devastating in the Premiership, once Darren Anderton recovers his match fitness.
Les Ferdinand requires better service, of course, which means wingers that occasionally go outside their full-backs before crossing. In fact, until Ruel Fox recovers his zip, Gross might consider using David Ginola wide on the right, especially when Spurs are faced, as they were against Coventry, by three-man central midfields backed by three-man central defences.
New players would be welcome, of course, especially if they are passionate, demonstrative types. The present lot seem awfully quiet. Even Gary Mabbutt, who by experience, intelligence and temperament would appear to be the best suited for leadership, is hardly in the Dave Mackay class when it comes to chivvying his team-mates.
They are, you may safely deduce, suckers for the counterpunch. Against Coventry, as against Chelsea, they gave away late goals partly as a result of their efforts to salvage something from the games.
On Saturday they conceded two goals to counter-attacks and two from set pieces. There were two goals for defenders, Gary Breen (his first for Coventry) and Marcus Hall (his first in the league), from a free-kick and a corner. "We lost too many contacts in the air," Gross explained. And Darren Huckerby, who specialises in counter-attack, scored his two goals after outpacing defenders. "He'll be really dangerous," said Coventry's manager Gordon Strachan dryly, "once he knows the game."
Spurs' defence will be bigger and quicker when Sol Campbell returns and better organised when Gross makes himself understood. You have to suspect that when he asked his midfielders at half-time "to come into the danger zone and score", Allan Nielsen thought that he was being told to join the attack.
Gross's prescription calls for more work, undiluted, twice a day. "We have to do more to bring the luck on our side," he said. "Only by doing more can we get the table up." "Changements" are threatened but may have to wait. "Actually every interesting player is under contract."
But there comes a point - and Spurs may be close to it already - when more effort becomes counter-productive, when players may be trying too hard, when a more imaginative approach is called for.
Some night before Christmas, Gross should declare a moratorium on the diet sheets and stamina training and invite all the lads round to Alan Sugar's gaff for a hamburger roast. After sharing a load of fatty meat and warm beer, after the chit-chat has given way to home truths, they might at least start communicating with each other and they might at last start understanding one another.
Coventry City: Hedman, Shaw, Burrows, Breen, Huckerby, Whelan (O'Neill 87), McAllister (Soltvedt 31), Dublin, Telfer, Hall, Nilsson. Subs Not Used: Ogrizovic, Haworth, Strachan. Booked: Telfer. Goals: Huckerby 42, Breen 63, Huckerby 84, Hall 87.
Tottenham Hotspur: Walker, Calderwood, Mabbutt, Fox, Nielsen, Anderton (Iversen 51), Ferdinand, Carr, Ginola, Wilson (Edinburgh 70), Sinton (Clemence 70). Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Allen.
Referee: S W Dunn (Bristol).
