[Indo_Popper]

Hitting the headlines with El Tel
Spurs veteran Terry Venables was named Pleat's successor, and after two league seasons, guided the club to third place in 1989-90 and an FA Cup win in 1991. The new-look Tottenham team included two players who starred in England's run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup – Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker.

In 1990, a slump in the property market left chairman Irving Scholar on the verge of bankruptcy, leaving him with no option but to sell the club. Venables joined forces with businessman Alan Sugar to take over Tottenham Hotspur PLC and pay off its £20 million debts, part of which involved the sale of Gascoigne. Venables became chief executive, with Peter Shreeves again taking charge of first-team duties. His second spell as team manager lasted just one season, before he was dismissed in favour of joint coaches Ray Clemence and Doug Livermore. Tottenham's first Premier League season ended with a mid-table finish and Venables was removed from the club's board after a legal dispute with Sugar. Several years later the High Court ruled Venables to be unfit to be concerned in any way with the management of a company, in part due to his dealings at Tottenham.


Ossie Ardiles fails to deliver
Having just won the Division Two playoffs as manager of WBA, former star Ossie Ardiles became the club's next manager in 1993. He was renowned for pronouncing Tottenham as Tottingham as well as helping them win two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup as a player.

Ardiles captured three expensive players - German striker Jürgen Klinsmann and Romanian midfield duo Gheorghe Popescu and Ilie Dumitrescu. Tottenham employed the Famous Five: Teddy Sheringham and Klinsmann up front, Nick Barmby just behind, Darren Anderton on the right and Dumitrescu on the left. Klinsmann was a sensation, scoring freely and becoming a fan favourite. Ultimately these expensive signings made little difference to Tottenham's form and Ardiles was sacked in September 1994.

During the 1994 close season, Tottenham was found guilty of making illegal payments to players and given one of the most severe punishments in English football history: 12 points deducted for the 1994-95 season, a one year ban from the FA Cup, and a £600,000 fine. Alan Sugar protested against these penalties on the grounds that the people involved were no longer at the club, and the FA Cup ban and points deduction were both quashed.