Fabio Paratici has explained his confidence that Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason can be a successful partnership as Tottenham look to finish the season strongly.
The decision to part ways with Antonio Conte was finally made over the weekend, with the Italian leaving the club by mutual agreement as the mood soured both on and off the pitch.
With Spurs out of all cup competitions, the focus is solely on the Premier League and attempting to hold on for a place in the top four. They currently sit fourth, but Newcastle are just two points behind and have two games in hand, while Brighton also have the opportunity to move beyond Tottenham having played three games fewer.
The club opted not to appoint a new permanent manager mid-season, despite the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann being out of work, and instead opted for Conte’s assistant Stellini as an interim boss with Mason supporting.
Stellini has experience of taking charge this season, when Conte was away recovering from gallbladder surgery, and now has 10 games to lift the mood and turn the club’s form around.
“So, Cristian managed the team even when Antonio was sick this season and was good,” managing director Paratici told the club’s official website.
“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.”
Paratici has revealed the reasoning behind the decision to wait until the summer for a permanent appointment, believing the continuity provided by Stellini is the better option for the final weeks of the season.
“The players don’t have to change habits and style of training so, to change everything when you have just 10 games to go, I think would be really difficult for to the players to adapt to this kind of situation,” Paratici said.
He added: “We do not speak about other coaches or follow the speculation in the media because it is just speculation. We are focussed, we are now concentrating on helping Cristian and helping the staff, Ryan, the players.”
