Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[ralphs bald spot]

Yes but he said that's more on levy than conte

yes and no - Conte has had reasonable backing he would have known that we are not going to be huge spenders in comparison to some clubs - but the performances have been awful, no one expected that. Everyone at Tottenham would have expected some level of progression on the field and that's not been the case we have clearly regressed.

You can blame Levy for getting the wrong man etc but on this board almost to a man heralded the incoming of Conte, some on here after the summer signings even had us as title challengers though that was admittedly a minority. I am no Levy apologist but there is a lot of people bleating over Conte not having got his signings but have a look of who some of those were and how they have faired this season Bastoni has had a pretty awful time at inter and we spent almost all the summer trying to sign him and Zaniolo has scored once and remains an injury waiting to happen whilst Maddison who Conte didn't want has been outstanding for a poor Leicester side

 

[sidford]

Daniel Levy's uncomfortable moment and Conte's hypocritical Tottenham request

Here are our talking points from Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League on New Year's Day

www.football.london

Well worth spending 10 minutes reading this.

He hits nail on head so many times including the fact that it was an odd appointment in first place, that while Conte hasn't been backed properly he should still be getting more out of the current bunch etc etc

Some people on here are laying blame squarely on one side or the other but it's not that simple, both sides need to do a hell of alot better. This team is horrendous to watch with poor results & performances and players bang out of form - Conte needs to do better with what he has. With Levy (and Paratici) they need to sign players Conte wants regardless of age because everyone knows how Conte operates & you aren't going to change him so if you appoint him you must back him otherwise it's another horrendous decision which has cost the club tens of million.

The rest of the week is going to be horrendous trying to figure out if he stays or goes, my money is on him going by month end.

 

[Jamturk]

Let's not forget Aly was quite close to MP from a journo pov, I'm sure he'd be over the moon if he returned.

I'd like to put on record that I don't think bringing Poch back is the right thing to do.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

They definitely don't, but in this specific instance they can offer some hope.

If we have been this bad for months, and we can still manage to be 2 points off 4th with around half the season played, it's an endorsement of how good Conte actually is.

I think the scars from the rapid downfall under Mourinho are still fresh in the memory for a lot of our fans. I understand the worry and doubt.

We can all agree on one thing though, things need to change and fast.

 

[mabolsa_ritchey]

I'd like to put on record that I don't think bringing Poch back is the right thing to do.

Agreed. I also don’t think backing Conte with crazy money is the right thing to do until he extends his contract as it just seems like he could walk away at any moment. Pivotal moment.

 

[Stavrogin]

Yes but we're missing the fundamentals, which is that if you bring in an elite coach then you back them accordingly. Anything else is a let off and leaves us doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes. I know that many would take Poch back tomorrow but that would be the easy option and wouldn't address the fundamental issue.

I'm asking this honestly, how was he not backed? People are talking as if a crime was commited but why?

We signed a lot of players. In theory we really increased competition throughout the squad. Richarlison was a very expensive back up. We signed Perisic for experience. We got deals done early. We did a lot of things we do not usually do. People seemed very happy.

As far as I can tell, the only player we seemed to really want was Bastoni and Lenglet was a stop-gap. But the stories didn't seem to suggest that we wouldn't have paid or missed an opportunity there. ITK suggested Conte was happy.

Where does this firm belief come from? Was it net spend? The quality?

 

[St José Dominguez]

yep

And if he's the same around the training facilities, the players will pick up on it, which then creates a great aura of uncertainty and probably dampens the mood.

It's one thing Levy doesn't seem to understand with football. Some decisions from the top can seep into the dressing room and it can alter the mood, where morale needs to be high, positive or a sense of togetherness.

I don't think the club appreciate that side of things.

Like Jose and Poch, stuff was just allowed to linger and the mood became either toxic or downbeaten.

The whole club has been toxic since we left WHL in my opinion. We are a football club without any sort of plan from top to bottom. Our academy is a shambles right now and producing worse and worse players year on year. We have zero clue what we are in the transfer market, we have zero clue what we want to be in terms of our football philosophy long term. We have random coaches here there and everywhere without any kind of specific focus that elite football clubs should have. We go from attacking manager to defensive manager to unproven manager to proven manager back to attacking manager probably. One minute we don’t have a dof then we do then we don’t again probably. I’ve literally no idea if we even have a recruitment team, I have never seen any evidence that we have people behind the scenes watching players and creating transfer plans. Who is Paratici’s team of people? Or is it just him watching thousands of players? Or is it agent led or just stolen targets from other clubs. If I was a footballer there I’d be pretty demotivated to be honest, it just doesn’t feel like a club striving towards anything right now. We change managers too much, we don’t bring anyone through, if anything we sign too many players just at small amounts who don’t improve things rather than bringing in singular £75m players who massively improve the side. There’s no collective spirit right now within the club or in the fan base. We feel broken to me.

 

[Trotter]

You must really love our players to believe all of those problems fall solely at the feet of Conte.

Could you win the F1 championship with a Honda Civic?

He is not trying to win with a Honda Civic though is he.

He is complaining because he can’t win against a Honda Civic in his Jaguar, purely because someone else has got a Bugatti

 

[Jamturk]

Agreed. I also don’t think backing Conte with crazy money is the right thing to do until he extends his contract as it just seems like he could walk away at any moment. Pivotal moment.

Spend in the positions he wants but buy the players we want is a fair compromise if he's not willing to commit.

The thing is as we have seen with Spence Conte isn't one for compromise.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

Based on what I've read on here from people in the know, this would be more of a convenient get out for Daniel Levy.

its also giving Conte a more than convenient excuse for the appalling stuff HIS team are serving up on the pitch -one shot on target versus Villa

 

[Joely]

To be honest though, I feel drained writing this. Really wanted it to work out with Conte and this was Levy's final call for me.

Yup, just just feels like going through the usual cycle here. New manager comes in, some hope but inevitably goes pear shaped. If/when Conte goes, probably be the least excited/interested in a new manager coming in I've ever been.

No doubt it will be Poch...comes in and see's the likes of Kane and Son cannot press like they once used to, still has average/poor players defensive options in Dier (don't think he was a fan of his in a 2 so at least that would be a plus), Davies and Sanchez, a keeper on the decline with Kane no doubt got his eye on the exit door and then it will be a case of needing a couple of windows to rebuild again only for it to probably go pear shaped again a few windows down the line when we haven't done enough and Poch starts looking grumpy in his press conferences again because Levy has got him Che Adams as Kane's replacement all while City, Chelsea, Newcastle, Utd and no doubt Liverpool carry on steaming ahead.

 

[Fidget]

Levy is a business man he will charge whatever he can get away with for his product same as every other business man.

I'd like to put on record that I don't think bringing Poch back is the right thing to do.

Yep, he left because of the same situation we have now. What’s gonna change? Nothing, till they all sit down together, ENIC, Levy, Paratici, Conte, the players, everyone.

 

[sidford]

I'd like to put on record that I don't think bringing Poch back is the right thing to do.

Don't think many fans at all want him back. Most people recognise that him coming back is just Levy taking the cheap option yet again. While I loved Poch he had huge flaws - stagnating youth players as he wouldn't play them or loan them out, terrible choice in signings, refusal to make subs, stubborn refusal to accept the diamond formation wasn't working etc.
Its easy to forgot those issues but they'll still be there. We will win nothing & end up back here in less than 3 seasons.

All he would do is buy Levy & Enic more time until they eventually sell up

 

[-Afri-Coy-]

@ComfortablyNumb Can't see any text in your post mate

 

[Metalhead]

its also giving Conte a more than convenient excuse for the appalling stuff HIS team are serving up on the pitch -one shot on target versus Villa

We've got Conte in. No sense in not backing him. Genuinely each to their own - if people are happy to settle for Poch or similar, again with the same kind of scattergun backing then fair enough but irrespective of the coach, we'll be back in this situation over and over again.

 

[Fidget]

Agreed. I also don’t think backing Conte with crazy money is the right thing to do until he extends his contract as it just seems like he could walk away at any moment. Pivotal moment.

We need to spend money and we need pivotal signings that will give the club a boost throughout. It shouldn’t be like a game of let’s annoy (insert this season’s manager’s name) till he does such and such.

 

[nedley]

Let's not forget Aly was quite close to MP from a journo pov, I'm sure he'd be over the moon if he returned.

I don't think he would.

 

[Trix]

I'd like to put on record that I don't think bringing Poch back is the right thing to do.

So what is? You've been one of the most vocal regarding Conte, so what do you want to see happen? How do we push on from this and get any success?

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Simple reason there were no attacking players on the bench yesterday is the fact that there are none available , Richy, Kulu & Lucas all injured.
Regardless of what people are saying about the younger players, none of the under 21's or youth academy attacking players are capable of stepping into the Premier League it's too much of a jump in class.

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

Agreed. I also don’t think backing Conte with crazy money is the right thing to do until he extends his contract as it just seems like he could walk away at any moment. Pivotal moment.

He could, anyway, regardless of an extended contract. We wouldn't be able to refuse his resignation if he has had enough.