Christian Stellini has left his role as acting manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Ryan Mason has been put in charge with immediate effect.
the athlete I reported on Monday that the club is considering Stellini’s future after Sunday’s humiliating defeat by Newcastle United.
The Italian was placed in charge of the team temporarily following the departure of Antonio Conte as head coach at the end of March.
But after just one win in the four games since then – culminating in a 6-1 loss at St James’ Park on Sunday – the club made another shake-up and put Mason in charge of the last six games of the season as they bid to stay on. Their Champions League hopes are alive.
A statement from Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy read: “Sunday’s performance against Newcastle was totally unacceptable. It was devastating to see it. We can look at the many reasons why this happened and while I, the board, coaches and players must all take responsibility Collectively, the responsibility will ultimately lie with me.
Christian will be leaving his current role with his coaching staff. Christian has come through a difficult phase in our season and I want to thank him for the professional way he handled his coaching staff during such a difficult time. We wish him and his staff success.
“Ryan Mason will take over as coach with immediate effect. Ryan knows the club and the players very well. We will update more on his coaching staff in due course.
“I met with the Players Committee today – the team is determined to work together to ensure the best possible end to the season. We are all clear that we need to put in performances that earn your incredible support.”
Mason, who was an assistant coach under Conte and Stellini, has temporarily taken over the reins in 2021 following the departure of Jose Mourinho.
The development adds to the turmoil behind the scenes for chairman Daniel Levy, who is already short of a director of football following Fabio Paratici’s departure from the club last week.
Stellini joined the club as Conte’s number 2 and took over after a 3–3 draw with Southampton on 18 March.
He watched his side draw Everton on his debut before leading them to victory over Brighton & Hove Albion the following week – a fiery match in which he and his counterpart Roberto De Zerbi were both sent off.
Tottenham were stunned by a 95th-minute victory over relegation-threatened Bournemouth earlier this month before a shocking defeat at the hands of Newcastle.
Sunday’s match saw Spurs concede five goals in the opening 21 minutes with Stellini’s decision to switch to a ruthless four-man defense revealed.
He said afterwards, “There are no words to explain a performance like this.” “The first 25 minutes was the worst I’ve ever seen. I hope the system we changed to give us energy was the wrong decision.
“If that’s the case, that’s my responsibility. We played with four in defence, and if that’s the fault, it’s my fault. We have to analyze the situation now, it’s too early.”
This result left Tottenham in fifth place in the Premier League table – six points behind the Magpies, having played two more matches.
They will return to action against Manchester United on Thursday.
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