Jose Mourinho branded Southampton’s goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes “an idiot” after they clashed in Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat at St Mary’s.
Mourinho received a yellow card from referee Mike Dean after the altercation in the second half, where the Portuguese was understood to be annoyed at time-wasting tactics from the Saints.
The Tottenham boss’ frustration boiled over after watching his side labour to a poor defeat, as well as losing striker Harry Kane to injury on the south coast, where Danny Ings’ first-half goal gave the hosts the points.
Asked about the incident after the game, Mourinho said: “I think the yellow card is fair because I was rude, but I was rude to an idiot.
“And for some reason, I was rude, but I was and because I was I deserve the yellow card.”
Southampton counterpart Ralph Hassenhuttl played dumb on the incident.
“I cannot tell anything, I’m so concentrated on my game, I can only look at what I can teach my players,” he said.
“I don’t want to say anything. I have a very high opinion about this manager – he did so much for football.
“To win against his team is one thing that is interesting me today. It is not easy to play such a strong side.”
Mourinho was perhaps deflecting from what was a disappointing showing against the Saints as Spurs’ top-four hopes suffered another blow.
He also heavily criticised VAR after a possible penalty for a foul on Dele Alli in the first half was not reviewed, while Kane had a goal chalked off for offside in the action where the striker injured himself.
“For me the referees are not the referees,” he said. “I think the VAR should change their name because Video Assistant Referee is not true.
“It should be VR – Video Referee – because they are the referees. It is strange. You see the refs on pitch and they not the refs, they are the assistants.
“The other guys in the office are the ones who make the big decisions of the game. In relation to the offsides, we had Harry Kane’s goal against Brighton disallowed for offside by I don’t know what margin.”
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