The Premier League table from Cristian Stellini's games in charge of Tottenham
The circus is in town in north London once again. The main attraction this time around? Cristian Stellini packing up his desk and leaving town after Tottenham were humiliated by Newcastle on Sunday.
The former assistant manager was handed full control after Antonio Conte's acrimonious departure but was unable to get a tune out of the Spurs squad or assert any organisation and left on Monday with Ryan Mason assuming control.
There are a number of reasons why Tottenham's implosion has been so catastrophic. They even set a 90min record by being named our crisis club of the week for the third time this season.
Stellini's record since taking control isn't pretty, with his one win coming in pretty controversial circumstances. Here's the Premier League table from that period.
Premier League table from Cristian Stellini's games in charge of Tottenham
First things first; we're not counting the Premier League games where Stellini stood in for Conte when the former Chelsea and Juventus boss required time to recover from gallbladder surgery.
The 48-year-old had previously stepped in for Conte on the touchline in the Champions League against Marseille when the boss was suspended back in late 2022.
After the surgery in February, Stellini led Spurs to a 1-0 win over Manchester City before Conte returned for defeats to Leicester and AC Milan. He then remained in Italy as Stellini and Spurs beat West Ham and Chelsea.
Stellini was then named acting head coach until the end of the season on 26 March, after Conte had chastised the club in the wake of a 3-3 draw at Southampton. He took charge of four games, picking up a win, a draw and two embarrassing losses.
The first match ended 1-1 at Everton as Michael Keane banged in a late equaliser from distance before a rather fortunate win over Brighton, aided by a series of missed referee calls.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Aston Villa | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | +8 | 13 |
2. | Newcastle | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | +9 | 12 |
3. | Crystal Palace | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | +7 | 10 |
4. | West Ham | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 10 |
5. | Manchester City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +8 | 9 |
6. | Manchester United | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 9 |
7. | Bournemouth | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 9 |
8. | Liverpool | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | +3 | 8 |
9. | Brighton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 7 |
10. | Wolves | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 7 |
11. | Arsenal | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
12. | Fulham | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 6 |
13. | Tottenham | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 4 |
14. | Leicester | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 3 |
15. | Leeds | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -12 | 3 |
16. | Brentford | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 2 |
17. | Everton | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 2 |
18. | Chelsea | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 1 |
19. | Southampton | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -6 | 1 |
20. | Nottingham Forest | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -6 | 1 |
Newcastle's heavy defeat at Aston Villa looked to have opened the door for Spurs in the race for Champions League qualification but they couldn't capitalise that gameweek, losing 3-2 at home to Bournemouth.
The trip to St James' Park was billed as a pivotal one in that tussle for the top four but fans were greeted to an early knockout as opposed to a 12-round classic.
The Magpies were 3-0 up inside ten minutes thanks to two Jacob Murphy strikes and Joelinton's effort. Two goals in three minutes from Alexander Isak then made it 5-0 before a quarter of the first half had been played. Harry Kane 'pulled one back' in the second half before Callum Wilson capped off the scoring.
Read the latest Tottenham news here
feed
The table from Stellini's time in charge makes for pretty grim reading, all things considered. They sit 13th from the timeframe of games, managing four points. The thumping to Newcastle means only Leeds, Southampton and Nottingham Forest have worse goal difference in that time.
The Italian's exit ushers Mason back into the temporary hotseat, having previously done so when Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2021.