New Tottenham coach Cristian Stellini played 41 games in Serie A and 216 in Serie B spending the last years of his playing career under Antonio Conte and Gian Piero Ventura at Bari. Here’s what you may not know about his journey in football.
Stellini used to play as a left-back but was also used as a central defender. A product of Navara academy, he played for the Azzurri before joining SPAL in 1994. His career as a footballer continued at Ternana, Como, Modena, Genoa ad Bari where he ended his playing career in 2010 under Ventura, sharing the dressing room with Leonardo Bonucci who he would reunite with a few years later at Juventus.
Stellini played under Antonio Conte at the Stadio San Nicola from 2007 until 2009, finishing first and earning Serie A promotion in Conte’s final season at the club in 2008-09.
They reunited at Juventus in 2011-12 when he followed Antonio Conte who had been appointed as the Old Lady’s head coach.
He had served as Conte’s assistant in the previous campaign, earning another Serie A promotion at Siena.
His spell at Juventus didn’t last long as Stellini left the Allianz Stadium in the summer of 2012 after a match-fixing scandal also involving Conte.
“I think it is my duty to show seriousness and to lift the environment of Juventus from a weight fallen on the shoulders, for events dating back to other seasons of my career, when I played in other clubs,” Stellini explained at that time in a latter aimed at President Andrea Agnelli.
“From today I think it is correct to dedicate myself with all my might to clarifying those events which exclusively concern my person.”
Stellini was appointed by Genoa’s Primavera team in 2015, remaining in charge for two years. In 2017, he was appointed by Serie C side Alessandria but was sacked in November after winning three of his 16 games in charge of the Grigi across all competitions. This was Stellini’s only experience as a head coach before Tottenham’s appointment on Sunday night, following Conte’s sacking.
He was replaced by Michele Marcolini at Alessandria. The latter is currently in charge of Malta, who lost 2-0 against Italy on Sunday night.
Conte once again called Stellini when he joined Inter in 2019, remaining in charge for two years and winning the Serie A title in 2020-21, the first one in over a decade for the Nerazzurri.
They continued together at Tottenham starting from November 2021 when Conte signed an 18-month contract in North London.
Stellini guided Spurs in several matches this season when Conte was suspended and forced to the treatment table after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder in February.
According to Football-London, Stellini is on good terms with Spurs players, which is one of the reasons why he will remain at the club until the end of the season alongside Ryan Mason.