Fabio Paratici explains Tottenham’s decision to have Cristian Stellini as Antonio Conte’s replacement

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 deteriorated on and off the pitch.

With Spurs out of all cup competitions, the focus is purely on the Premier League and trying to hold on to a place in the top four. They currently sit in fourth place, but Newcastle are just two points behind and have two games less, while Brighton also have the chance to overtake Tottenham having played three games less.

The club opted against appointing a new permanent manager mid-season, despite the unemployment of Mauricio Pochettino, Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann, and instead opted for Conte Stellini’s assistant as caretaker boss with the support from Mason.

Stellini has the experience of looking after this season, when Conte was out recovering from gallbladder surgery, and now has 10 games to boost morale and turn around the club’s form.

“So Cristian led the team even when Antonio was sick this season and was good,” general manager Paratici told the club’s official website.

“He has a lot of experience as a second and he was even a first coach in the past, some years in the past, so we even have Ryan Mason who can help him a lot; he has been with this Club for a long time, and he knows everything about this Club and this kind of group of players.

“So I think we’re really, really, really confident that these two people can do a really, really 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 best option for the final weeks of the season.

“Players don’t have to change their habits and their training style, so to change everything when there are only 10 games left to play, I think it would be really difficult for players to adapt to this genre. situation,” Paratici said.

He added: “We don’t talk about other coaches or follow speculation in the media because it’s just speculation. We’re focused, now our focus is helping Cristian and helping the staff, Ryan, the players.