Who is former Tottenham acting head coach Cristian Stellini?
CRISTIAN STELLINI has been sacked as Tottenham's acting head coach following a meeting between senior players and Daniel Levy.
Former Premier League midfielder Ryan Mason will be the Italian's successor and take charge until the end of the season.
It comes after Spurs' heavy 6-1 defeat to Newcastle, which saw the Lilywhites 5-0 down inside twenty-one minutes.
Stellini has been a close friend of Conte since their time together in Serie A.
But who exactly is Cristian Stellini?
Who is Cristian Stellini?
Born April 27, 1975, Cristian Stellini was previously Antonio Conte's assistant manager at Spurs and a former professional footballer.
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Conte's right-hand man was raised in Italy and spent his teenage years playing for Novara and Spal before making the switch to Serie C2 outfit Ternana in October 1996.
Stellini inspired Ternana to Serie B promotion two years after signing for the club, and by 2002, the Italian coach was making his Serie A debut for Como against Empoli.
However, Cristian announced himself to the world when he signed for Juventus in 2003 but unfortunately, a serious leg injury only saw him feature twice before being sold to Genoa.
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What happened in Cristian Stellini's early coaching days?
Conte appointed Stellini at Tottenham in September 2021, but the Italian also worked under Conte at Juventus in 2012.
However, Stellini was forced to resign from his posting as a technical assistant at Juventus for alleged match-fixing where he was suspended for two and a half years.
And once Stellini was eligible to coach again, he was dismissed from Lega Pro club Alessandra after signing a two-year contract for poor results.
But Antonio Conte hired Stellini again as a managerial staff for Inter Milan in the 2019/20 season and the pair went on to clinch the Scudetto together.