Cristian Stellini addresses Tottenham future after ‘embarrassing’ Newcastle defeat

The Tottenham caretaker boss said his team’s display in the opening 25 minutes was the worst he had ever seen

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Cristian Stellini said he is still keen to manage Tottenham for the rest of the season after they were hammered 6-1 by Newcastle.

Captain Hugo Lloris branded it “embarrassing” and Stellini described the opening 25 minutes, when Newcastle scored five times, as the worst he had ever seen. Tottenham conceded after 61 seconds and were 3-0 down in nine minutes as Jacob Murphy struck twice and Joelinton scored before Alexander Isak, with two, and Callum Wilson completed a rout.

Stellini was put in caretaker charge when Antonio Conte was sacked and asked if he wanted to remain in the position for the remainder of the campaign, Stellini replied simply: “Yes”. Asked if he was concerned he may be dismissed, he said: “This is a question I have no answer for this, it is not a question for me.”

Stellini had changed system to pick a back four and took responsibility for Tottenham’s shambolic defending. Only Watford had ever conceded five times quicker from the start of a Premier League game and he added: “There are no words to explain a performance like this. The first 25 minutes were maybe the worst I have ever seen. We change system we play with four at the back and if it is a mistake, it is my mistake.”

Lloris said: “It’s very embarrassing. We should apologise to the fans. We didn’t show a good face and we could not match the performance of the Newcastle players. We were late in all aspects of the game and we completely missed the first part of the game.

“The second half is a different story but it’s really painful.

“It is not even about tactics, we just could not fight and we were late.”

Lloris went off at half-time and fears he could be sidelined for a while, adding: “My injury does not sound good, I don’t know if it’s a muscle but around the hip when I kicked.”