Antonio Conte has called Jose Mourinho a ‘little man’ after the Manchester United boss made a passing reference to the Chelsea manager’s previous suspension for match-fixing. Mourinho and Conte have been involved in a war of words this week after the Manchester United boss suggested that the Chelsea manager behaves like a ‘clown’ on the touchline. Conte responded to Mourinho by claiming that the Portuguese was ‘senile’ and pointed out that the United manager also has a history of being animated whilst watching matches. After United’s 2-0 victory over Derby on Friday, Mourinho initially sympathised with Conte during his press conference but then referenced the Italian’s ban for match-fixing during the 2012-13 season. Conte was suspended for four months for failing to report match-fixing during his time at Siena, but was later cleared of wrongdoing by a court in 2016. Jose Mourinho highlighted Conte’s suspension for match-fixing. ‘I think its very difficult to answer this type of comment,’ Conte told BT Sport after Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Norwich City in the FA Cup. ‘I think when a person the target is to offend, to insult another person, I think you’re a little man, but we all know him very well what’s in the past but he’s always the same.’ Antonio Conte hits back at Jose Mourinho over clowns insult Play
Asked if he is annoyed by Mourinho’s comments, Conte replied: ‘No, but this is his way, it’s not a surprise for me, when you insult or offend another person you’re a little man, and I think he’s a little man. ‘Life goes on, I not worried about him. For sure, there is a good opportunity when we play against Manchester United to clarify in a room, me and him. ‘I repeat, I don’t like to speak about other coaches, I think when you tell something you have to take the responsibility for this, if you try to speak and then to keep the situation in general, you must have a big personality and big balls, to tell this and this, and I’m talking about this.’