Cristian Stellini’s position as Tottenham’s acting head coach ‘is in serious doubt’

Cristian Stellini’s position as Tottenham’s interim head coach is reportedly in serious doubt after yesterday’s 6-1 defeat to Newcastle.

Spurs put in a dismal display against Eddie Howe’s side as they went 5-0 down inside 21 minutes to plunge their season into further chaos.

And now, according to the Evening Standard, the future of Stellini is under threat, with Ryan Mason in line to replace the Italian if he dismissed before Thursday’s game against Manchester United, or it could fast forward the appointment of a new permanent manager.

The report states the Italian – who served as Antonio Conte’s assistant before the former Chelsea boss was sacked last month – has already lost the confidence of Spurs’ players despite overseeing just four games.

Since taking charge, his side have drawn with Everton, beaten Brighton and lost successive games to Bournemouth and Newcastle – scoring six and conceding 11 in the process.

Stellini has come under huge pressure after Spurs were thumped 6-1 by Newcastle yesterday

It leaves chairman Daniel Levy with a choice to make as the club attempts to rescue its season

Their performance yesterday was one of the worst in the club’s history and their horrific start was the second worst ever by a Premier League side – only beaten by Man City who went 5-0 up against Watford inside 18 minutes in 2019 on their way to an 8-0 victory that day.

While the players were dreadful at St James’ Park, Stellini switched up the formation to a 4-3-3 before reverting to a back five when they went 5-0 down.

Ironically the Italian brought on Davison Sanchez to shore up things having subbed him off just 23 minutes after coming on during the previous week’s defeat to Bournemouth.

Stellini apologised to supporters after the result as he said: ‘We have to apologise with everyone — and I hope that today is my responsibility, because changing system was my decision. I hope it was this that was the problem.’

Spurs were fourth when Conte was dismissed from his role, but after yesterday’s chastening defeat they are now six points behind Newcastle and Manchester United with their top four rivals having games in hand.

Meanwhile, Spurs are under threat from Aston Villa, Liverpool and Brighton below them, meaning they could feasibly drop to eighth by the end of the campaign if things don’t improve. 

Despite the disastrous tactical switch yesterday, Stellini has almost changed nothing else about Conte’s approach since stepping up to the managerial role.

The decision to keep Conte’s assistant and the majority of his backroom staff reportedly surprised the players at the time and despite an initial positive impression from Stellini, Spurs’ season is quickly unravelling even further. 

Mason – who has been a first team coach since Conte was appointed in November 2021 – was overlooked for the interim job in favour of Stellini originally.

The former midfielder spent seven games in charge of Spurs back in 2021 after Jose Mourinho was sacked, winning four and losing three of them and he is open to stepping up again.

The club continues to search for a permanent replacement for Contem with Julian Nagelsmann, Ruben Amorin, Luis Enrique, Vincent Kompany and Arne Slot all reportedly contenders for the role.

However, there has been no approach for fans favourite Mauricio Pochettino who now looks set to join Chelsea as their manager after Nagelsmann withdrew from the process. 

First team coach Ryan Mason is a strong contender to take over from Stellini if he is dismissed

It has been a dreadful and chaotic season for Spurs who look set to miss out on the top four

It has been a dismal and chaotic season for Spurs with the club now looking likely to miss out on European football.

They also crashed out of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Champions League this year in meek fashion – meaning their trophy drought has been extended to 15 years since they won the League Cup back in 2008. 

Elsewhere, managing director of football Fabio Paratici resigned last week after his appeal against a two-and-half year global ban by FIFA was rejected following alleged financial irregularities when he worked at Juventus.

They return to action on Thursday as they host Manchester United, before travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday. 

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