Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss former footballer.
Gross was hired as Tottenham Hotspur manager on 20 November 1997, and endured a tough time; lasting nine months with Tottenham starting in the relegation zone. To further his troubles, his most trusted aide, the Swiss fitness coach Fritz Schmid, who had been an integral part of Gross' training plans at Grasshopper, was denied a work permit by the British government and so was unable to take up this role at Tottenham.
Gross' initial fortunes were mixed; his debut was a 1–0 loss to Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane, followed by a 2–0 win over Everton at Goodison Park, with a heavy 6–1 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea. However, despite some signs of improvement, he was relentlessly ridiculed by the British tabloids. The tabloid ridicule of Gross was often linked to his poor grasp of English and first Spurs press conference, where he arrived late from Heathrow airport brandishing a London Underground ticket with the words: "I want this to become my ticket to the dreams".
Gross' position became increasingly untenable as the 1998–99 season approached, and when Spurs lost two of their opening three matches, chairman Alan Sugar ended Gross' contract, blaming the media for destroying his reputation. He had won three of his last 10 matches.
note = (c) = caretaker manager; (s) = secretary-manager; (i) = interim manager