Cristian Stellini has revealed that he will have the same authority when he leads Tottenham Hotspur into their Premier League match against West Ham United this weekend in Antonio Conte’s absence.
Conte missed the 1-0 win over Manchester City but returned for the defeats at Leicester City and the Champions League round of sixteen first leg at AC Milan on Tuesday.
The Spurs head coach disclosed at the San Siro press conference ahead of the Milan game that he had defied doctors’ orders to return to work at in north London but has now agreed to continue his recovery in his homeland having meet his surgeon for a scheduled appointment (Evening Standard).
The 53-year-old was forced to undergo emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder on February 1 in Italy and watched the recent win over Manchester City from home, with Stellini taking charge of first-team matters in his absence.
Conte confirmed on his Instagram account yesterday that had been ‘impatient’ over his return to work and he ‘underestimated’ the procedure which had been undertaken on his body.
Conte wrote: “My great sense of responsibility towards the club, the players, the staff and the fans brought me to anticipate my comeback on the field.
“Sadly I underestimated the procedure which wasn’t a routine operation, but a sudden and serious emergency.
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“My body has suffered my impatience and now I am forced to stop until my entire recovery. Who knows me understands what a burden this is for me but it is necessary.
“Come on You Spurs!”
The assistant manager has warned that Conte will not return as fast as he may wish following guidance from his doctor.
Stellini told Football.London at today’s press conference: “I will have the same authority [as before]. Since he came back he felt that maybe he underestimated the procedure after the surgery. Then coming closer to the game the stress of it all, it created some problems and when he spoke to the doctor they said he needed to take it easy. He will be back soon but not as quickly as he would like.
“We have a call every day, maybe three times a day and every time he wants to come back. He repeats every day ‘I want to come back Cristian, how was the training? We have to organise this tomorrow.'”
He added: “It’s more important than football and this is the reason why the club, Antonio and the doctor’s made this decision. We don’t know the time. The doctor has an idea but really it’s a feeling from Antonio.
“That surgery was not easy, it was an emergency surgery and maybe he underestimate this. Antonio not 100% is not Antonio, and this creates stress.’
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