Cristian Stellini has hit back at pundits Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy for branding fall-guy Harry Kane “embarrassing” and scowled: “They don't respect Tottenham enough.”
Kane won few admirers in the blue half of Merseyside when he went down clutching his face after Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure pushed him away head-high with his hand in Monday night's 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. But Spurs interim head coach Stellini jumped to the England captain's defence, insisting: “I have never seen Harry exaggerate anything.”
Although there was unanimous agreement on the night Doucoure deserved his red card for raising a hand in Kane's face, much of the post-match furore focused on whether Tottenham's record scorer was injured badly enough to end up sprawled on the deck.
Sky Sports pundit Carragher and talkSPORT's Murphy both accused Kane of milking the incident, with Murphy hissing: “Why’s he gone over like that, stitching someone up? Doucoure would have been sent off anyway.”
But Stellini was unimpressed by the chorus line of condemnation and hit back: “I think it's strange that some ex-players said some things wrong about Harry.
“As ex-players they understand the difference between seeing a situation like this in slow-motion and living this experience in real time. It's completely different. Everton's manager said it was a clear red card, so there's no discussion about this. I don't understand why some players spoke about it.
“I think they don't agree with Tottenham, instead of not agreeing with Harry. I think they respect Harry but probably they don't respect Tottenham enough.”
Asked if Kane's reaction was too dramatic, Stellini replied: “I have never seen him exaggerate something. I have seen him stand up after a strong tackle and we have a lot of examples.
“We spoke with the board of referees about some of the tackles Harry received (wich were) really bad. Also in the first half of the last match, there was a strong tackle from a central defender but we don't discuss this and Harry doesn't discuss this.
“He's an amazing player in every aspect, also in the behaviour he has and he respects the game a lot. It's important to say this and everyone has to understand that they cannot challenge Harry on this aspect.”
Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot shortly after Doucoure's dismissal, but Stellini was furious that Everton's 10 men fought back to earn a point.
