Cristian Stellini has been here before: a press conference now and then when Antonio Conte was unavailable; sometimes preparing to lead Tottenham into a game. But not like this. Not as the man in charge for a significant period – 10 Premier League matches to be precise, when the Champions League qualification push will be decided. Not as the face of the club, the de facto spokesman for anything and everything. And right now, it is everything. “A bit chaotic, absolutely,” Stellini said when asked to sum it up.
Stellini wants to focus on the football, starting at Everton on Monday night, having been shuffled into the manager’s job until the end of the season after Conte’s departure on Sunday by mutual consent. When José Mourinho left Chelsea for the first time in 2007, the same explanation was given and he had been asked what it meant. “Look it up in the dictionary,” Mourinho advised.
Conte’s exit was the definition of it. He did not want to stay and he had given that impression for a number of months; the club did not want to keep him. But that was where any agreement ended, Conte going down in a blaze of acrimony and score-settling; threatening to take everyone with him, too.
It felt as though Spurs tried to spirit him off under the cloak of darkness, the separation announcement dropping at 10.20pm. Nobody will notice then? A little like Mourinho’s sacking in 2021 on the morning after the European Super League story had broken and people were in a state of agitation and distraction.
Daniel Levy is searching for a 12th permanent manager in 22 years as the chairman and yet it says plenty about the week that Spurs have had and the situation at the club that it has merely come to vie for prominence at the top of the news agenda.
Stellini is after a new(ish) manager bounce and the hope is that he and his assistant, Ryan Mason, can get one because of how completely Conte’s relationship with much of the squad had broken down. “There’s palpable relief that he has gone,” a dressing room source said. The spotlight is on the players, not too many of whom have posted on Instagram about Conte, wishing him well for his next move. The mood in training has been upbeat.
The petrol on the flames, though, was supplied by Fifa – elbows out, maniacal grin – in relation to Fabio Paratici. Levy has had sporting director scandals before, namely when Frank Arnesen was pictured on the yacht of the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, in 2005. But not like this, Paratici’s 30-month ban from Italian football extended worldwide by Fifa on Wednesday.
Paratici is one of 11 past or present Juventus executives to have been sanctioned on 20 January for their involvement in the club’s false accounting affair, which has also led to the team being docked 15 points. Paratici was given the longest suspension. He and the others have denied wrongdoing and await an appeal hearing on 19 April in front of the guarantee board at the Italian Olympic Committee – the ultimate sport authority in Italy. It is rated by legal sources as unlikely that Paratici will win but, then again, who knows? Spurs said last night that he would “take an immediate leave of absence pending the outcome” of the appeal; it is understood that he is currently banned from all football-related activity. Paratici could go to the Fifa appeals committee to challenge the worldwide extension to his punishment and, potentially, the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) after that.
If Paratici appealed, he and Spurs would have to ask Fifa to suspend his ban while the process ran its course, in the hope he could return to work in the short term. That decision would be made relatively quickly, although there is no timeframe for an appeal. It is worth noting that the Fifa appeals committee almost never overturns an internal ruling.
Levy is prepared to support Paratici and Cas could yet offer a route to salvation but it feels like a long and fraught road ahead – especially as Paratici could face a criminal investigation in Italy; the preliminary hearing into that is scheduled for 10 May. Spurs were livid with Fifa for stepping in before the appeal process in Italy had concluded and not only because it made them look terrible for having put up Paratici the day beforehand to explain Conte’s departure, which he did on a self-shot iPhone video – another bad look.
Yet there was an irony in their complaints about Fifa’s failure to forewarn them of the Paratici decision given that communications has long been an area in which they have fallen short under Levy. Fans have despaired at how they are kept in the dark over strategy matters, particularly in difficult times. “We’ll let you know when there’s something to announce” rarely plays well.
Conte grew sick of being the club’s lone public voice and Stellini will learn that it is not a straightforward part of the gig. He insisted there was no crisis but it was a tough sell. Spurs have no permanent manager; Paratici’s future is hugely uncertain; Harry Kane is reluctant to extend a contract that expires in June next year; and the fans seem to have reached the limits of their patience.
Stellini said that he had spoken to Conte before he accepted the interim job; because Conte’s departure had been mutually agreed, Stellini explained, it was essentially fine for him to stay on. He also said that he had overseen a squad meeting on Friday morning to provide clarity on the upheaval.
Can Stellini plot a fresh course or is he too closely wedded to the ideas of his mentor? He had previously worked with Conte at Sienna, Juventus and Internazionale. Before that, Conte had coached him as a player at Bari. Stellini suggested that he did not need to change too much, the season had not been so bad, and maybe he said so because he did not want to imply any criticism of Conte. Spurs have not exactly had a clean break. They urgently need a change to the narrative.
