Chelsea boss Antonio Conte hits back at 'fake' Jose Mourinho's match-fixing jibes: 'I think you are a little, little man'

Antonio Conte extended his extraordinary war of words with Jose Mourinho on Saturday night by dismissing the Manchester United manager as a 'little man in the past, a little man in the present and a little man in the future'. Conte enraged Mourinho on Friday by suggesting he was suffering from senile dementia in response to comments interpreted as a dig against his touchline behaviour.

Mourinho hit back brutally that night by referencing Conte's four-month ban in 2012-13 for failing to report match fixing – Conte was cleared of all wrongdoing in 2016 – but any notions that the row might fizzle out were rapidly dispelled after Chelsea's 0-0 FA Cup draw at Norwich. In a remarkable rant that included calling Mourinho 'a fake' for his treatment of
Claudio Ranieri, Conte said: 'The truth is
that I was banned for four months for
failure to report. Then I asked for a real trial
by court and they declared my innocence.
'I think before you make this type of
comment, to hurt another person, you must
pay great attention. You show you are a
little man. A little man. You (Mourinho)
don't know very well what is the situation.
'But I know him very well in the past. In the
past he was a little man in many
circumstances, he is a little man in the
present and for sure he will be a little man
in the future.
'Mourinho is this. You know him very well.
The level is very low. I repeat: I think before
you speak you have to know very well what
happened.
'But this is not my problem. I consider him
a little man, I consider him a man with a
very low profile.'

The astonishing outburst continued with a
citation of Mourinho's behaviour towards
his close friend Claudio Ranieri. Mourinho
had previously mocked Ranieri and yet
wore his 'CR' initials on his training top in
solidarity when he was sacked by Leicester.
Conte said: 'I remember a stupid example
with Ranieri, when he offended Ranieri for
his English. Then when Ranieri was sacked
he put on a shirt for Ranieri. You are a
fake.
'If you want to fight a person, you try to kill
this person. And then after two years you
try to help this person, because maybe it's
good for you, for your profile.'
There might now be an intervention from
the FA, with Chelsea and United next due to
meet on February 25.
Conte added: 'I don't have anything to
clarify now. It will be the opportunity in the
game against United when we go to Old
Trafford. Me and him face to face. I'm
ready. I don't know if he's ready.'
Mourinho had initially triggered this seismic
row by referring on Thursday to 'clown'
behaviour on the touchline – comments
widely believed to have been aimed at
Conte and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
After Conte questionably called Mourinho
'senile', Mourinho said on Friday: 'The only
thing I want to say to Antonio Conte is that,
yes, I made my mistakes in the past on the
touchline. Yes, I make less but I will (still)
make a few.
'What has never happened to me and will
never happen is to be suspended for match-
fixing. That never happened to me and it
will never happen.'


www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5242355/Antonio-Conte-hits-little-man-Jose-Mourinho.html