Santini admits Arnesen split lead to departure

Jacques Santini, the former manager at Tottenham Hotspur, has admitted there were no family problems involved in his decision to quit the club.

Santini said the reason for his departure was his tense relationship with the club's sporting director, Frank Arnesen, and confirmed that the story about family problems was a cover.

He refused to comment on reports that he could soon be working with Marseille and whether that might have been a factor. "I have no problems with my family even though we gave this as the reason because we thought it was a good reason for the press release," Santini said.

"The most important thing is that I made a mistake about where responsibility lay because I thought Frank Arnesen was here to support my ideas about the job, about the team. Several times, I asked for explanations from the staff but with no results until the decision last week. I am frustrated because I still think the three-year plan was good for Tottenham."

Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, was quick to criticise Santini. "All the respect I had for Santini has gone," he said. "I am extremely disappointed with him. I find it completely incomprehensible that Jacques claims not to have understood the role here. Jacques asked to leave for personal reasons. I am flabbergasted that he should say he has no "family problems". If that's the case he has been less than honest with us."