CRISTIAN STELLINI wept as he recalled how coaching a team of REFUGEES taught him what a real crisis is.
Tottenham’s interim-boss left his job working with Antonio Conte at Juventus under a cloud in 2012 after being given a 2½-year ban for his part in a match-fixing scandal.
Cristian Stellini was Antonio Conte’s assistant at Tottenham for the duration of the Italian’s tenure
But he found redemption and a new perspective as the coach of Survivors — an ever-changing squad of players in Turin that included Africans who wanted to fight each other, an Afghan boxer on the run and a one-eyed Moroccan goalkeeper.
Stellini declared: “It’s very emotional, talking about that experience. It allowed me to grow as a man.
“What I learned was they had more problems than me. I was sad for my own situation but they smiled, they worked hard, they came.
“We had 35 people on the pitch without shoes. They asked, ‘I can train?’ It was a big experience. I could write a book.”
It puts the current “chaos” at Spurs in perspective.
Stellini takes charge at Everton tomorrow night and then the remaining nine games of the season after Conte was axed following his extraordinary rant at his “selfish” players and the “underachieving” club.
Then, on Friday, Fabio Paratici stood down as director of football after Fifa issued a worldwide ban for his part in the finance scandal at Juventus.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust has urged under-fire chairman Daniel Levy to sort out the mess or face a fans’ revolt, while Manchester United want to sign Harry Kane this summer.
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But Stellini’s hangdog features lit up as he described the cast of characters he found himself working with in Turin after accepting an invitation from a friend of a friend.
He added: “They came from many countries, some from English Africa and French Africa and every training, the two sides would fight.
“It was a big problem but I used football to create a unit. The guy from Afghanistan had a great history — he tried to come on a dinghy but they brought him back to Turkey three times.
“The next step for him was hiding in a big spare tyre. He hid there until Greece, for maybe 24 hours and when they brought him out all curled up it was impossible for him to extend his leg.
“From that he escaped and came to Italy. He was a boxer and also not a perfect man. He was guilty of something and he had to hide in Italy.
“But they taught me a lot of things about enjoying your life.”
Stellini and Conte’s reign at Tottenham left fans disappointed with their style of football
Stellini’s Survivors were also champions, thanks to an unlikely hero.
The 48-year-old Italian said: “We changed many players because sometimes they arrived and sometimes they didn’t. I saw this guy for the first time on the bench and said, ‘Who’s this?’.
“We were in this tournament and all the players said to me, ‘If we go to penalties, he has to be the keeper’. I said, ‘But he is without an eye’ and they said, ‘But he saves every penalty’.
“In the semi-final and final he saved three penalties and we won the tournament. I said, ‘How is this possible?’ And they said, ‘It’s about desire’.”
Stellini has never talked about the refugee team in such detail with Spurs’ players or anywhere else, although perhaps he should.
But he has already seen signs his players are ready to fight against their first-world problems.
He appreciated Son Heung-min’s emotional confession he had let Conte down.
Stellini said: “When players take responsibility in this type of situation, it means they are mature.
“It would be worse if the players didn’t care about what happened.”
Tottenham’s players held a clear-the-air meeting on Friday — the first chance for everyone to meet after an eventful international break.
England captain Kane was among the speakers and Stellini said: “I was impressed because I felt that players were taking responsibility for the situation, for the club.
Stellini took charge of four games as Spurs boss whilst Conte was recovering from surgery and managed four wins
“Football is about time and movement and spaces. It’s the same in life. You have to know where you are and where you want to go and the speed you need to go where you want.”
But also you need to understand what really matters, something Stellini only learned during his time with those refugees in Turin a decade ago.
He keeps in touch with some of them via Facebook — one now has a degree in chemical engineering.
So, think on, Tottenham players . . . and you Tottenham fans.
Stellini added: “You cannot feel it’s a crisis when you have a club around you, when you have fans around you.
“Crisis is a different thing. Crisis means you cannot play football. When we had Covid, that was a crisis for everyone.
“One of the first things I said to the players was that I don’t want sad faces.
“I want only players with smiles. Because we are playing football. We are playing for Tottenham!”