Conte labelled ‘third-level’ coach; Paratici ‘incompetent’ for joining Tottenham

New Tottenham boss Antonio Conte and sporting director Fabio Paratici have been slammed by a former Serie A and Italy star for opting to move to north London.

Spurs announced the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo shortly after their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United and turned to the former Italy boss just days later, having missed out on bringing him to the club during the summer.

Conte won his first game in charge on Thursday with a narrow 3-2 win over Vitesse in the Europa Conference League. And Tottenham fans have, so far, reacted to the appointment with glee.

However, his appointment has been slated by a fellow Italian, who has targeted both Conte and Paratici.

In a recent interview, Antonio Cassano questioned their integrity and judgement for both joining Tottenham.

The former Roma and Italy forward first took aim at Paratici, as he told JuventusNews24: “An incompetent, he found himself at Tottenham and doesn’t even know how, he already had an agreement with Fonseca but he took on a coach of Jorge Mendes, Nuno Espirito Santo. Now he has gone to get Conte.”

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Cassano then decided to vent his fury at Conte in an extraordinary rant, adding: “In June he was asked by Tottenham, they called him and he said no, after three months he says yes.

“How come he has never been considered by Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern or these top top teams?

“Everyone says he is a phenomenon and brings results but the top clubs are not looking for him. United have never asked for him either.

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Conte not at the top level

“What I think is that the top four, together with Milan, have made history in the world. None of these have ever looked for him. He doesn’t have that top manager status, to let the team play in a certain way.

“I believe that the status of Conte is not first or second, but third level. He is good at rebuilding but does not give a beautiful, winning game.”

Cassano’s criticism of Conte may be down to the fact that the 52-year-old never selected him when taking charge of Italy after the 2014 World Cup. That turned out to be his final ever appearance for the national team.

Conte decided to quit Inter after guiding them to their first title in a decade. He also won the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea.

Tottenham will now be hoping that he can end their lengthy 13-year wait for silverware.

READ MORE: Conte urged to copy Chelsea plan with signing who would ‘transform’ Tottenham