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Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

-Afri-Coy-

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2012
5,869
18,665
It really isn’t!

We were really, really shit even when we were nicking results at the start of the season.

We’ve barely had a handful of what you’d consider acceptable performances all season.

Onions though isn’t it?

I’ve seen so many people on here say they could handle the boring turgid football if the results were there, which they were.

Now we’ve been rubbish all season?

Can’t have you cake and eat it too in that sense.

I’m not saying this is something you’re guilty of, but it’s something that needs to be said. All we really care about at the end of the day is results and up until the WC we were getting those results.
 

TOLBINY

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2019
1,243
2,841
Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 - 26 games into his first full season they were 5th having lost 3, drawn one and won one of their last 5 Prem Games.

Conte joined us in November 2021 and 26 games into his first full season we are 4th (maybe 5th come kick off today) having won 3 and lost two of our last 5 Prem games.

Time and patience.
 

Harrier

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2021
1,776
5,203
Onions though isn’t it?

I’ve seen so many people on here say they could handle the boring turgid football if the results were there, which they were.

Now we’ve been rubbish all season?

Can’t have you cake and eat it too in that sense.

I’m not saying this is something you’re guilty of, but it’s something that needs to be said. All we really care about at the end of the day is results and up until the WC we were getting those results.
In a pretty unconvincing manner against teams we should have beaten, and we came undone whenever we came up against a stronger side. 🤷🏻

I believe it was more a case of fans suffering in silence in the hope he took us somewhere. At no point this season could you really call it enjoyable to watch. When even the results fail to come no one is prepared to continue to put up with the dross football.
 
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Oh Teddy Teddy

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2017
5,275
12,514
Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 - 26 games into his first full season they were 5th having lost 3, drawn one and won one of their last 5 Prem Games.

Conte joined us in November 2021 and 26 games into his first full season we are 4th (maybe 5th come kick off today) having won 3 and lost two of our last 5 Prem games.

Time and patience.

Expecting Antonio to pen a new deal any day now then? :woot:
 

Ledders Army

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2008
738
783
Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 - 26 games into his first full season they were 5th having lost 3, drawn one and won one of their last 5 Prem Games.

Conte joined us in November 2021 and 26 games into his first full season we are 4th (maybe 5th come kick off today) having won 3 and lost two of our last 5 Prem games.

Time and patience.
That's a great stat to raise. But. Did Klopp see significant improvement when he first took over only then to see a huge drop off in performance & points gained? Was Klopp's contract about to run out? Momentum is important & it's all wrong with Conte. It doesn't feel like we're on the right track & it seems like the coach is desperate to get off the train
 

Nebby

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2013
3,363
6,377
I've said it multiple times in the past, but our home atmosphere is toxic AF. We jeer our own players when they make mistakes, it's not a group of fans you'd want to have an off day in front of.

Conte is picking a fight with this group now. He is right that we need patience because the next bloke won't get us playing like the fans want for a while. I don't expect the next coach to get patience either, especially if Kane leaves. We are unrealistic about our place in the footballing pyramid.

With all that said, Conte seems to be doing his best to provoke a sacking. Sabotaging our chances of winning anything hasn't worked. Pointing fingers at the hierarchy hasn't worked. Turning parts of the dressing room against him hasn't worked, so now he's going to stick the knife in the fan base.

That ought to do it. Unless the players fuck it up for him and win a few.
This is not something that's uniquely Spurs. All fans are the same. If the standard of football is poor, people are going to let their displeasure show. Things wouldn't be half as bad if we were playing an attractive and more positive style of football. But Conte has made it abundantly clear - that ain't gonna happen under his watch. It doesn't matter how many superstars we buy, he would still bring on a defender if down to ten men, even if we're playing at home, against pretty ordinary opposition, and have got 15 minutes left to score a goal just to get into extra time.
 

Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
10,328
50,217
That's a great stat to raise. But. Did Klopp see significant improvement when he first took over only then to see a huge drop off in performance & points gained? Was Klopp's contract about to run out? Momentum is important & it's all wrong with Conte. It doesn't feel like we're on the right track & it seems like the coach is desperate to get off the train
Yeah, Klopp was absolutely committed to Liverpool and his football continued to improve with time, despite some iffy results initially.

Conte has refused to commit and the quality of the football has gone down the toilet the longer he's been here after a good 3 month spell early on.

There are situations where the manager needs time but at this point it's very very clear that isn't the case with Conte. It's far too late for that.

He talks about patience but everything points to him being a short-term impact manager anyway - I'm actually thankful he didn't commit to a new deal in Jan as I'm not sure if would've helped matters much.
 

Styopa

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2014
5,399
15,025
That's a great stat to raise. But. Did Klopp see significant improvement when he first took over only then to see a huge drop off in performance & points gained? Was Klopp's contract about to run out? Momentum is important & it's all wrong with Conte. It doesn't feel like we're on the right track & it seems like the coach is desperate to get off the train

Klopp teams also play what most fans consider to be a much more entertaining style of football and he already had a record of staying at clubs for more than a couple of years.
 

Nebby

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2013
3,363
6,377
Onions though isn’t it?

I’ve seen so many people on here say they could handle the boring turgid football if the results were there, which they were.

Now we’ve been rubbish all season?

Can’t have you cake and eat it too in that sense.

I’m not saying this is something you’re guilty of, but it’s something that needs to be said. All we really care about at the end of the day is results and up until the WC we were getting those results.
I honestly thought that Conte had hatched some master plan before the World Cup. We were dreadfully slow, passive in our approach, playing some truly dreadful football but somehow getting results. I kept telling myself: this is all part of the plan; he's saving the players until after the World Cup and then we're going to go gangbusters and rip it up. Turns out I was wrong.
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,744
16,986
Yeah, Klopp was absolutely committed to Liverpool and his football continued to improve with time, despite some iffy results initially.

Conte has refused to commit and the quality of the football has gone down the toilet the longer he's been here after a good 3 month spell early on.

There are situations where the manager needs time but at this point it's very very clear that isn't the case with Conte. It's far too late for that.

He talks about patience but everything points to him being a short-term impact manager anyway - I'm actually thankful he didn't commit to a new deal in Jan as I'm not sure if would've helped matters much.
Game changer for Klopp was spending almost 200m in signings across 1 or 2 windows. He got everything he needed and you can't say we've done that as we havent signed any decent CBS across this whole period.

Either way it's all over and the next 18 month spell starts soon.
 

Jody

SC Supporter
Sep 11, 2004
7,008
5,826
Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 - 26 games into his first full season they were 5th having lost 3, drawn one and won one of their last 5 Prem Games.

Conte joined us in November 2021 and 26 games into his first full season we are 4th (maybe 5th come kick off today) having won 3 and lost two of our last 5 Prem games.

Time and patience.
But anyone watching can tell we’re getting worse, not better.
 

rabbikeane

Well-Known Member
Mar 29, 2005
6,989
12,836
I’d suggest their win percentages,..........................................................still count as achievements.

Very similar now at 54.something %, although Pochettino ruined a lot of his in the final year of his stay
 

JUSTINSIGNAL

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2008
16,034
48,777
I actually think Conte is spot on with his embargoed comments. The fanbase is ridiculously impatient. He has consistently called for time and patient to build a squad that compete for 'important' things. But because he is Antonio Conte most fans thought he would be challenging for trophies immediately.

The problem is that the fan's impatience and general toxicity stems from:

Arsenal being in a title challenge
Him constantly calling out the board
The football being pragmatic
His contract situation
Him not showing any real affection for the club
General negativity towards Levy/ENIC

The contract situation is a weird one as it's unclear whether Conte has refused to commit or that the club hasn't offered an extension. Although if he had signed for 3 years I still think the impatience would be there because of the other factors.

I really find it hard to see how he turns it around from here. Home matches are going to be toxic and the players' confidence on the floor. Without a doubt if he loses today he is gone.
 

rabbikeane

Well-Known Member
Mar 29, 2005
6,989
12,836
Fans would be behind him if it was going in a direction, if it was believable that he'd stay to build and if the FA cup had been taken serious and we hadn't acted like scared losers down to Milan. True that fans lack patience, we know this, old timers lost theirs 3 decades ago, while there's a part of it (younguns) that is entitled due to the last decade and expect big things - bigger than most of the club history. It is a toxic environment which will affect the manager going forward, which we know will be someone else than Conte, so get it done.
 

McFlash

In the corner, eating crayons.
Oct 19, 2005
12,990
46,621
It's game day, so I'm forgetting all the negative shite surrounding us for a few hours and am going to spend the next few hours being blindly optimistic for a good win.
A performance for the fans.
 

Darth Vega

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2013
1,710
10,496
I actually think Conte is spot on with his embargoed comments. The fanbase is ridiculously impatient. He has consistently called for time and patient to build a squad that compete for 'important' things. But because he is Antonio Conte most fans thought he would be challenging for trophies immediately.

The problem is that the fan's impatience and general toxicity stems from:

Arsenal being in a title challenge
Him constantly calling out the board
The football being pragmatic
His contract situation
Him not showing any real affection for the club
General negativity towards Levy/ENIC

The contract situation is a weird one as it's unclear whether Conte has refused to commit or that the club hasn't offered an extension. Although if he had signed for 3 years I still think the impatience would be there because of the other factors.

I really find it hard to see how he turns it around from here. Home matches are going to be toxic and the players' confidence on the floor. Without a doubt if he loses today he is gone.
I agree. The other issue is that Conte was appointed off the back of a pretty rubbish last 12 months of football under Poch, an even worse 18 months of football under Jose, and then the first 10 games of last season under Nuno. Sandwiched in between all of this was the Super League, the managerial shambles of 2021, and Kane wanting to go that summer as well.

Conte's time here in isolation isn't the biggest disaster ever but given we probably haven't played good football consistently since the 2017/18 season fans are clearly agitated. Chuck in the ever increasing prices since then and the various other factors you mentioned and it's easy to see why we're in this mess.
 
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