Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan has rubbished claims he made a racial slur towards AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
Gattuso twice clashed with the 59-year-old Scot as Spurs won 1-0 at the San Siro on Tuesday night, and he is now facing an extended ban after being charged with “gross unsporting conduct” by UEFA.
The Italian pushed Jordan on the sidelines during the Champions League last-16 tie and then, after the final whistle, head-butted Harry Redknapp’s number two before being dragged away.
Gattuso’s agent has since claimed it was Jordan who instigated the clash, claiming the Tottenham man had called his client a “f*****g Italian b*****d”.
But Jordan told the Daily Mail: “It's just a nonsense, it really is. It's a figment of his imagination and, I have to say, not a great imagination, at that.
“If he wanted to try and explain his behaviour, you would have thought he might have come up with something better than that. It's pathetic. Completely and utterly untrue and quite pathetic.
“He will have to address his conduct overall, and account for himself to UEFA, but the allegation he has made is something else. I'm not having that, because Italy has played an important part in my life and will continue to.
“Milan are an exceptional club and I consider myself very fortunate to have played for them. I had plenty of high points in my career, but signing for them was the best thing I did. They gave me a chapter in my career I always hankered after, a spell playing abroad, and I could not have picked a better club.
“I love Italy and have always had an affinity with the people. Does that sound like someone who would come out with the sort of line Gattuso has got his agent to say?
“I just find it pathetic on his part, I really do.”