Tottenham director Fabio Paratici insists Antonio Conte’s departure was the ‘right decision’ and is confident Cristian Stellini has ‘a lot of experience’ to guide Spurs until the end of the season.
Conte and Tottenham officially parted ways on Sunday night, with the club’s announcing the Italian’s departure and the appointment of his assistant Stellini as an interim coach until the end of the season.
“We know how difficult this season was for him personally, Gian Piero (Ventrone) died and (Gianluca) Vialli and then his surgery. The Club supported him a lot with it and everyone is close to each other but then we arrive in this mutual agreement, and I think the decision that we made was the right decision for everyone,” Paratici told Spurs’ official website.
“Cristian [Stellini] managed the team even when Antonio was sick this season and was good. He has a lot of experience as a second and he was even first coach in the past, in some years in the past, so then we have even Ryan Mason who can help him a lot; he has been a part of this Club for a long time, and he knows everything about this Club and this kind of group of players. So, I think we are really really really confident that these two people can do a very very good job.”
Stellini was Conte’s assistant at Siena and then followed him at Juventus, Inter and in North London. His only experience as a first team coach was at Alessandria in Serie C, Italy’s third division, in 2017.
Conte had signed an 18-month contract in North London in November 2021 and led the team to a top-four finish in 2021-22.
He won 41 of his 76 matches in charge of Tottenham leaving Spurs in fourth place in the Premier League.
The former Juventus and Italy midfielder has been linked with a return to Serie A in the summer.