Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho was in a combative mood after watching his side fall to defeat at Southampton on Wednesday, saying he was "rude to an idiot" after receiving a yellow card from the touchline, while revealing his frustration with "always injured" Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
Danny Ings' superb goal in the 17th-minute proved the difference between the two sides at St Mary's Stadium as Tottenham missed the chance to close the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea, who had earlier drawn at Brighton & Hove Albion.
However, the defeat was just one of a number of negatives for Spurs on England's south coast.
Captain and striker Harry Kane limped off with a hamstring injury, which could rule him out for a number of weeks, after stretching to score a goal that was subsequently ruled out for offside. Mourinho was soon after seen arguing with a member of the Southampton bench after appearing to look at a piece of paper. The Portuguese was soon shown a yellow card by referee Mike Dean, and while he accepted his punishment, he was quick to make a dig at the Southampton staff member.
"I was rude. But I was rude with an idiot. I clearly deserved the yellow card. I had bad words with the guy," Mourinho told BT Sport. "There was of course a reason for it. I will not tell you but for some reason I had that reaction."
Southampton counterpart Ralph Hassenhuttl refused to be drawn into the row, saying: "I don't want to say anything. I have a very high opinion about this manager - he did so much for football."
On Kane, Mourinho said post-match that he was not yet aware of the severity of the injury to his star striker, but expects there to be a spell on the sidelines.
"For Harry to come out is negative," he said. "Hamstring is always a negative. Is it tear? Is it a spasm? Is it a contraction? In this moment I cannot say."
However, the Tottenham manager was less sympathetic towards Ndombele.
The France midfielder has been beset by fitness concerns following his summer move from Lyon and recently told his manager that he did not want to be selected for the Boxing Day win over Brighton.
Mourinho did not hold back in his assessment of the club's record signing, who was brought in by previous manager Mauricio Pochettino.
"He is always injured, he is injured, is not injured," he said. "He plays one match, the next week he is injured, he plays another match. We are full of hopes and this is since the beginning of the season.
"Of course it is a concern, you think you have a player, you think the player is in an evolution process, he plays very well against Norwich, you think today he is ready for it and he is not ready for it. I cannot say much more than that because it is a situation that comes from the beginning of the season.”
