Gennaro Gattuso has blasted "keyboard hatred" as the driving force behind his failure to secure the Tottenham Hotspur head coach role.
The Italian was a surprise name in the mix to become Jose Mourinho’s Spurs successor this summer after failed moves for Antonio Conte and Paulo Fonseca.
The links to Gattuso were met with hostility from supporters and in the end, Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici eventually selected former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as the club’s new head coach.
The 43-year-old Italian has pointed to Spurs’ fans inaccurate perceptions of him as a real reason behind why he was overlooked for the role.
Speaking to Gianluca Di Marzio, he said: “I find it hard to think that this was the reason for my failure to move to Tottenham. At the limit, their fans may have been left with the image of my fight with Jordan in 2011, who was their assistant manager at the time.
“Me racist, sexist and homophobic? That’s not true, ask my former teammates. Only some of my statements have been misrepresented.
“My story teaches that keyboard hatred is something dangerous and underestimated. I am a public figure and I have the strength to react, but there are many other people who may not succeed.”
In the end, Spurs eventually plumped for Espirito Santo, the Portuguese signing a two-year deal in north London.
Meanwhile, Gattuso remains out of work following a remarkable period with Fiorentina.
He was appointed as the Serie A outfit’s new boss but quit just three weeks later following a disagreement and was ironically replaced by former Spurs candidate Paulo Fonseca, who was himself the predecessor to ex-Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho at Roma.
