Cristian Stellini will be absent from the dugout for Tottenham's next Premier League against Bournemouth after being shown a red card in Saturday's clash with Brighton. Spurs' hugely important 2-1 win over the Seagulls in the race for a Champions League spot was somewhat overshadowed by some controversial VAR decisions and the touchline altercations involving Stellini and Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi.
The first incident occurred prior to kick off when De Zerbi delivered some angry words towards Stellini, which included pointing a finger in the Spurs head coach's direction. During the game tensions boiled over again which led to both manager's being sent off. Despite offering De Zerbi plenty of praise in his pre-match press conference, Stellini seemed surprised by his outburst and red card despite not being involved in the second touchline fracas.
"I can say only that what happened on the pitch, stay onto the pitch," he said. "Sometimes it seems something bad but is not. I want to let everyone understand that this is my second game like head coach for Tottenham and I want to give respect to all the managers in Premier League.
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"When I speak about manager, I speak every time like I am a person that has to learn from all the manager who work in Premier League. Managers that work in the past, managers that work now. I want to learn every day, I try to do my best and I want to give respect to everyone, so I don't speak about anything that happen into the pitch.
"I consider the red card because also if I try to stay calm and to be focused on the game, I have to manage the bench and to keep all of them calm. But in that moment for me I was focused on the players, I wanted to speak to the players and I lose my focus on the bench. This is the rule. I have to respect the rule but I think also if you look at what happened, I was polite and calm.
"I don't know and I don't want to change my idea. I want to be respectful to everyone and I continue to do my job the best." After the game De Zerbi also offered his verdict on his annoyance with Stellini and the two incidents. "I'm used to always respecting everyone inside of the pitch and outside of the pitch and I don't like when the people don't respect me. There are normal situations in football," he said.
"Personal things no? I always respect everyone, especially the coaches. I can answer for me. Not for him. Yes [I feel he didn't respect me]. It was a personal situation and I told him my idea. Not bad words, just my idea."
Both managers will now have to serve suspensions which means they cannot be on the touchline for the next Premier League game. De Zerbi will therefore be missing from the dugout at Stamford Bridge, while Stellini will be forced to watch Spurs take on Bournemouth from elsewhere.
That does present the question of who will be in the dugout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend against Bournemouth and it will almost certainly be Ryan Mason in charge. The former Spurs midfielder was in charge on an interim basis following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and looks set to take the reins again in another must-win clash for the Lilywhites.
Mason was part of Antonio Conte's backroom team and Stellini has plenty of trust in the 31-year-old to take control in his absence "Absolutely, absolutely," Stellini replied when asked if he was confident Mason would follow the plan. "I went upstairs to watch the game and if I could give them suggestion, I had people that could maybe transfer my idea. But they did a great job, they finish well the game and we have also energy to finish the game in the right way."
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