Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[HildoSpur]

don't think i've ever seen him take one ounce of responsibility.

You should try listening to what he said then.

 

[spursfan77]

You think we are close to the point where Levy just runs to his safe option Poch. I mean hard to keep Conte after that outburst.

Unless Levy agrees with Conte of course and wants to deflect the blame onto the players?

 

[A Bit Much]

Unless Levy agrees with Conte of course and wants to deflect the blame onto the players?

That is far more expensive. Blaming the players would indicate he's going to jettison half the squad, which could be hundreds of millions of pounds down the drain.

 

[sidford]

Got a few messages yesterday saying Conte is a hero for calling out the board and I can see why people think that's what he's done but for me he was taking near sole aim at the players with his rant not the owners.
I think some people are focusing on they have never won something why line but are not focusing on what he says after that.
I have wanted him gone for months, and still want him Gone, but he's gone up in my estimation for calling out the players who have consistently let us down year after year in most big games that we have played.

 

[RuskyM]

They're all just taking money and not committed to the club, not like you eh Antonio? I remember thinking when you subbed Sanchez on for Kulusevski "this isn't a team that wants to win". Or when you took off all our attackers at the fucking Emirates with 20 minutes left. Or when you started Kane against Forest in the League Cup, went 2-0 down and then took him off. Or when you rested players in the FA Cup against Sheffield United to win against Wolves, and lost both. Or your consistently late changes and persistence with tactics and players that don't work, whilst letting Danjuma, Spence, Bissouma, Richarlison, Gil, Skipp & Sarr until recently just stay on the bench. The players don't want to win, so we can't possibly change them, then we might not want to win.

The fucking audacity to argue that the team doesn't want to win when he's put ten men behind the ball in basically every game this season.

This twat's not "right", he's not saying what needs to be said, he's just blaming everyone else. Which is exactly what he's done at Juve and Chelsea too. I understand people's frustration but siding with this prick isn't the solution. All this has done is give other fans another soundbite, which is the sort of thing that happens when your manager couldn't give less of a fuck about the team that's paying him. Utter mercenary.

 

[spursfan77]

Is anybody saying that a managerial change won't make a difference?

I'm saying in the medium to long term it won't matter, because either the next appointment won't work at all, or they'll get frustrated and leave. We might pick up, and we might play a better brand of football but whilst Levy is in charge we will just keep going round in circles, and we still won't be putting any pots in the cabinet.

My biggest question over the last 18 months has been, does Levy ever question himself? I don’t think he’s hard enough on himself or surrounds himself with the right people to make decisions. I hate the phrase “football people” but maybe he needs some more around him.

 

[DiVaio]

Tell Pep that.

The same Pep who currently doesn't have any LB in his squad, who gives a lot of minutes to 18yrs old Rico Lewis or won the league last year without striker?

 

[stormfly]

Apart from Kane, I don’t think I’d be gutted if we sold any other of our players. That is the reality of how average our squad is now. About 6 years ago I didn’t want to lose a single player from the starting 11. This painful rebuild has been painful for all the wrong reasons.

 

[spursfan77]

Obviously you never know in football but if he's still here come Monday/Tuesday i'd be a bit surprised. Having said that, it's an international break so who knows how long it'll take for Levy to send him his P45 or Conte to quit.

He’ll send it second class to save money so 3 or 4 days!

 

[TropicalYid]

Is he gone yet?

 

[Vwbottom]

I'd never heard "Please sack me" in Italian till yesterday.

 

[cozzo]

Every bad result is world war 3 lol

 

[spursfan77]

So so so spot on mate what a great post!!

Conte kept saying in his pressers the length of my contract doesn’t matter etc etc but it absolutely does for so many reasons especially because the state the club was in when he took over more than anything we needed stability, the players, the fans, everyone.

He has said in the past he was open to a 3 or 4 year contract when he came, but it was the club who wanted the shorter one.

 

[stormfly]

Is he gone yet?

I’m hearing he’s just about to sign a new 5 year contract with us alongside Harry Kane.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Apart from Kane, I don’t think I’d be gutted if we sold any other of our players. That is the reality of how average our squad is now. About 6 years ago I didn’t want to lose a single player from the starting 11. This painful rebuild has been painful for all the wrong reasons.

Don’t know about that. I think there’s a lot more to come from:

Bentancur
Bissouma
Romero
Skipp
Sarr
Porro
Udogie
Deki - maybe…
Richi - maybe…

I know where you’re coming from, but under a different manager, there’s the basis of a good side there

 

[GetSpurredOn]

How does this rumination help ? Levy is going nowhere. The players are going nowhere . We need to get on with things NOW.

For me Conte is a dinosaur and isn't helping. Time to change the only big part we can and stop wallowing in abstracts like 'mentality' which we can't improve atm.

First bit I partially agree with. Yes, it would appear Levy is going nowhere, so we have to accept that and get a manager who can work within those limits. I’m reality whilst the investment is not there that we may like, it can’t be denied we have spent money. Whether that has been spent wisely takes me to the second point. Our transfers seem aimless, but Conte does not help with this, he wants explosive athletic wingbacks, but continues with Perisic who is getting dominated most weeks. Meanwhile Reguillon is languishing on loan at Atletico. He actually would be a better fit right now, he has energy and athleticism and gets himself into some good attacking positions, more rounded option as a LWB than Perisic, Sessegnon or Davies, but for whatever reason is out in the cold with Conte. Our CM is getting over run regularly, and out front three are too isolated, going to a 352/3412 could help take control of the middle of the park, and with extra bodies in there they can be released to break forward more when on attack, this closing the gap to CF’s, who also is playing narrower as a 2 may be more joined up, curently Son and Kulusevski seem too wide, that’s where the wingbacks should be. But Conte is too stubborn and sticks rigidly with 343.
We’ve bought in Bissouma who was brilliant for Brighton, technical on the ball yet athletic as you like, he bosses both games against us last year, yet couldn’t get a run of games before his injury. It’s like Conte didn’t want him. If that’s the case, then either be man enough and how the principles to walk because you are not being given the right tools to succeed, don’t just keep taking the cash, dishing out abject performances whilst moaning to the press. Alternatively, if you can, show how as a manager you are truly elite and have the tactical nous to adapt to what you do have.
So yes I completely agree with the second bit quoted. Get rid of Conte, change that bit and it may well allow is to change the player base, or at least what they deliver. Get someone who will utilise the players we do have, and provide a coherent plan of what is required, one achievable within the limits of the board support. Don’t promise more than the resource will allow, but work to make that best job of that you can. Get us playing some decent football, where a trip to Southampton yields the sort of performance and result the league table would suggest is a fair reflection. Let’s add some context, Wolves (13th) and Southampton (20th) both put 3 goals past us in the last few weeks, despite only scoring 22 and 23 goal’s respectively all season so far, against a team coached by a manager famed for his defensive game, let that sink in for a second. 14% of Wolves and Southampton’s goals this season have been scored in one game each against us as a ‘top four side’.

 

[JacoZA]

For me Conte is a dinosaur and isn't helping. Time to change the only big part we can and stop wallowing in abstracts like 'mentality' which we can't improve atm.

Firstly, you wouldn’t be solving the problem. You’d be kicking the can down the road, in essence, indicating that you are OK with continuing the current cycle of one managerial failure after another.

Secondly, mentality is not an abstract and it can be improved. Always.

 

[spurmin]

He likes a good moan.... he did finish the season at Chelsea but went in the summer.

Antonio Conte: Chelsea staff and players must share blame for poor season

Antonio Conte said if Chelsea fail to catch the top four, the collective responsibility for an error-strewn campaign would involve his players and the club’s hierarchy

www.theguardian.com

Every manager went at Chelsea under the previous ownership win or lose.

 

[jolsnogross]

Time will tell but I honestly think even with front footed tactics and coaching we will still fall short until there is a full reset at the club from top to bottom.

No matter what anyone thinks of the players in terms of quality, that loser mentality cannot be coached out of them. Just how many times have we fallen short? In 20 years? Complete failure on the pitch. I don’t give a fuck about how many semi’s, final’s and title runs we’ve had we’ve been able to win a sum total of fuck all.

I don’t give a shit about being entertained at this point, I want to win. I want to win consistently. I want trophies for my club. And it’s embarrassing that the fans have to constantly go through a rollercoaster ride because of utter incompetency.

Conte may have burned his bridges but my fuck everything he said was the truth. I don’t care about his intentions, his message was exactly what everyone at the club needed to hear.

The same players haven't been here for 20 years. We've had several teams in that time. Some were good, most weren't. Conte's told some good home truths, but it was also he who fucked this season up. We were primed after back to back london derby wins, and then they all fucked it up. Too fucking late to bemoan losing to sheffield reserves when that game was there for the taking.

Stamping your feet saying I want to win is just childish nonsense. You have to create a side that can win. That side have to be able to play proper football with proper character. We play walking football and apparently are in 'control's at 3-1.

The side's evolution and progress toward winning is very important. How you play leads to how you win. We had an upturn under one manager especially, and then we fucked it all away. That was about the only time the club's culture looked like turning.

 

[RuskyM]

I am baffled how anybody that supports Spurs and desperately wants the club to be successful can be unhappy about what Conte said. He has high standards and clearly the club, the players and the owners are not matching his ambition. If you are unhappy with what he said then ask yourself what your own ambitions are for the club?

I frankly couldn't care less about his "ambition" when he's had one foot out the door since he arrived.

The frustration remains understandable but the fact is we've literally been better than this under this ownership and with some of these players. Managers with less backing have achieved far more than Conte has - title challenges, cup runs, not sticking ten men behind the ball in every game. If you have squeezed every last drop out of a team, then you can argue you've not been backed.

Absolutely nothing about that week of Sheffield United/Wolves/Milan suggested to me "this is an ambitious manager".