Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Nebby]

The players on the pitch look bereft of confidence, we concede far too many goals, and are getting overrun in midfield week in, week out. That should be pretty simple for Conte to fix. Add to that his propensity to moan and groan during press conferences, and it's pretty clear that things aren't working properly at the club. If he has a problem with recruitment he should restrict his comments to Levy and the board. When he talks negatively about the club to the press, it suggests to me that he's only really interested in himself and not a team player. It's the curse of the modern manager; they really don't care if they get sacked because they'll leave with a massive payout and walk straight into another job.

 

[parj]

Yep. No BS excuses about "the same players that let successive managers down" either. Almiron, Joelinton, Schar, Sain-Maximan etc are all on their 4th or 5th season and 3rd or 4th manager now, and he's managed to improve them.

Yet ours are all so uncoachable...

Spot on.

 

[HildoSpur]

The players on the pitch look bereft of confidence, we concede far too many goals, and are getting overrun in midfield week in, week out. That should be pretty simple for Conte to fix. Add to that his propensity to moan and groan during press conferences, and it's pretty clear that things aren't working properly at the club. If he has a problem with recruitment he should restrict his comments to Levy and the board. When he talks negatively about the club to the press, it suggests to me that he's only really interested in himself and not a team player. It's the curse of the modern manager; they really don't care if they get sacked because they'll leave with a massive payout and walk straight into another job.

If it was simple to fix you would think he would do it? Why then if it's so simple does a manager not fix it? Perhaps in fact, it's not simple right now due to the lack of quality players? Or maybe you think Conte is such a terrible manager he is unable to see what you can and you can see how to fix it? Maybe the club should hire you as manager

 

[spurs mental]

There's a lot of goalpost-moving going on in here. After the Brentford and (especially) Villa games, all the complaining was about how he hadn't been backed, we hadn't bought the players he'd asked for, and as such he couldn't be expected to do any more with such a shit squad of players that had let down a string of managers before him. And now it's changed to "no, we're just saying he needs to continue to be backed".

Am I going mad here?

I haven't seen any posts to say he hasn't been backed.

I'm not moving any goalposts I'm just going off what I've read. If you can find me the posts that have said he hasn't been backed at all then I'll happily stand corrected.

We've backed him, and the players brought in under him, for the most part, have been good. Kulu, Bentancur, Perisic have all done well. Lenglet I think has been decent, especially compared to a couple of his counterparts at CB, Richarlison has been injured but has done alright when hes played, Bissouma less so, Spence N/A. If we get him the players we all can see he needs, I think we'll be OK, but he's said from day one it would take a few windows, not just two, to get things right.

 

[Albertbarich]

I wasn't happy with the summer window but sometimes on here I feel like if you're negative you get overun so it isn't worth it

It was a typical ENIC window in that we sort of backed him but actually we didn't.

 

[brasil_spur]

I have just watched the press conference and as always it comes across a lot different to when you read it. He comes across as exasperated and fed up that he is kept on asking every week whether he is happy or not. But what should have happened is then someone should have asked "why haven't you signed a new contract then if you are happy?"

You may well be right. Let's see if he is questioned further about is contract in the written section released tonight. Could be interesting.

4.45 onwards below for the best bit

The bit at the beginning around 3-5 mins is telling IMO. He talks a lot about the project that he is a part of. Clearly there is an understanding that whilst he is the manager, and will get to ask for players he wants, the club also have a player signing strategy that they want to keep to.

Some of the time that will coincide nicely, players like Romero, for example, as well as Deki and Bentancur. Some of the time that won't, players like Bonucci. Likewise some of the players the club will want will not be Conte players, clearly Spence was this (and any young player that doesn't have a lot of top level experience).

This is where I think we're going to see transfers with Conte in charge - from teams like Inter, Juve, Barca etc...

It's why there's been links with the likes of McKennie, Kessie etc... and why we signed players like Deki, Bentancur and Lenglet.

 

[HildoSpur]

I wasn't happy with the summer window but sometimes on here I feel like if you're negative you get overun so it isn't worth it

It was a typical ENIC window in that we sort of backed him but actually we didn't.

I don't think anybody is happy right now - almost every post is negative but we all hope for things to get better, it's just the 'how' we disagree on.

 

[mil1lion]

Sure but when your finances are finite don’t spend £20m on Djed Spence when the manager doesn’t want him and has no intention of playing him.

I think we can look at Chelsea:

Todd Boehly wealth - 5.3bn dollars
Joe Lewis wealth - 5.1bn dollars

Spurs fans pay more money to watch their team than Chelsea fans. So what’s the difference - it’s simple, Todd Boehly wants to win, Joe Lewis doesn’t care.

Chelsea have been horrendous this season and look like they have spent poorly in the summer in particular - Todd Boehly though will back them again by splashing big money on a fantastic player.

what has building that stadium actually changed in terms of our on the pitch ambitions - nada

So Chelsea look terrible and have spent poorly but you use them for comparison? We just need to do what we did last year. There's nothing wrong with spending on Spence as an investment for the future. I don't think it impacted our other dealings, we just didn't find a more senior wing back who was obtainable at the time. We also invested in Udogie and previously invested in Sarr and Gil. It didn't stop us getting more experienced players for the first team in Perisic, Bissouma or Richarlison. Our approach since Paratici came in has been ideal. We just need Levy to let him get on with it. To be fair to ENIC they have financed the stadium and put good money into transfers since it opened.

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

I don't think anyone on here was really rating the window higher than an 8.

We probably all misjudged the fact that Spence was not a Conte signing, so effectively we didn't sign a RWB to help us this season.

Then we've had injuries to Richarlison - our 2nd highest player signing. Injuries to Deki - the one position (cover at RW/AM) that we didn't out in the summer.

There's then been a drop off in form with Dier, Davies and to an extent also Romero all looking shakier at the back this season.

But Conte was backed in the summer, perhaps on reflection it was more of a 7/10 window.

The Conte not being backed talk right now is current hypothetical based on ITK and other rumblings about Levy not fully backing him in Jan and also that we've had very little, if any, serious links to players so far and it's already the 4th.

7 or 8 is still a pretty good window in my book.

Injuries and form are just a part of life at this point. Even taking them into account, I think we should be playing better than we have been, and getting better results too.

Over the last couple of months, the reasons given for our poor form include:

- injuries
- players being shit/off-form
- congested fixtures
- preserving our energy ahead of the World Cup
- playing in the Champions League
- Conte not properly being backed in the summer window

Is there merit in some or all of these? Of course there is, but they simply don't excuse what has been 3 or 4 months of very dreadful football, and poor results against top-half teams. If we can agree that he has been backed so far, then the focus should be on why he has been unable to improve the team as a result. Instead, nearly all the anger has been directed at the board who, so far since the end of last season, are making a better fist of their job than he is his

 

[HildoSpur]

7 or 8 is still a pretty good window in my book.

Injuries and form are just a part of life at this point. Even taking them into account, I think we should be playing better than we have been, and getting better results too.

Over the last couple of months, the reasons given for our poor form include:

- injuries
- players being shit/off-form
- congested fixtures
- preserving our energy ahead of the World Cup
- playing in the Champions League
- Conte not properly being backed in the summer window

Is there merit in some or all of these? Of course there is, but they simply don't excuse what has been 3 or 4 months of very dreadful football, and poor results against top-half teams. If we can agree that he has been backed so far, then the focus should be on why he has been unable to improve the team as a result. Instead, nearly all the anger has been directed at the board who, so far since the end of last season, are making a better fist of their job than he is his

People are panicing because all the noises from Conte and our 'ITK' guys are that he is no longer going to be backed sufficiently because Levy has changed his mind. This is what we are all discussing here. The past is all well and good, what we need assurances on is the future of the club and the direction we are going. That comes down to Levy and the board which is why the focus is mostly on them.

 

[Albertbarich]

I don't think anybody is happy right now - almost every post is negative but we all hope for things to get better, it's just the 'how' we disagree on.

Yeah we're there now .

I remain in the camp of changing the manager right now is like putting a plaster on a gaping wound.

The change needs to come from the top, and quickly.

 

[Clockspur]

Romero, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Richarlison, Perisic, Bissouma and Lenglet are not better players?

I am thinking specifically of the defence here, in which case only Romero is. What that list shows me more than anything else is that we have nothing at wing back

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

People are panicing because all the noises from Conte and our 'ITK' guys are that he is no longer going to be backed sufficiently because Levy has changed his mind. This is what we are all discussing here. The past is all well and good, what we need assurances on is the future of the club and the direction we are going. That comes down to Levy and the board which is why the focus is mostly on them.

I personally never pay any mind to ITK, but even just glancing in the forum there are "assurances" (if that's your kind of thing) that players are being gone after. So again, the opprobrium being directed towards the board seems disproportionate given that Conte is more at fault for our current results than they are

 

[chas vs dave]

People are panicing because all the noises from Conte and our 'ITK' guys are that he is no longer going to be backed sufficiently because Levy has changed his mind. This is what we are all discussing here. The past is all well and good, what we need assurances on is the future of the club and the direction we are going. That comes down to Levy and the board which is why the focus is mostly on them.

Throw in some shocking performances and being 14 points behind your rivals and it makes a bit of a powder keg situation.

 

[Trix]

Would Poch take the job with no promises having previously said the same as Conte is now?

Not that I want Poch back. Or Conte with breaking all the wrong records recently. Or Levy, and defo not Enic.

Shit

Isn't that the biggest issue right now though? The promises are always there at the beginning, and the first couple of windows they are usually kept or at least there is an attempt to keep them at least. It's after that it always falls apart.

 

[Clockspur]

This is a decent post asking the right questions that's worth replying to.

You are right in that Conte has been backed to a decent degree. I do believe we could and should have done more in the Summer especially when we had pulled the £150mil to do just that. The issue is that it was only the starting point. AC was happy with it because he was expecting the backing to keep coming but now Levy has decided he doesn't want to keep going in this direction. Last season we were thread bare but we only had one game per week and a decent enough starting 11 to play once per week. This season we've been playing 2-3 games in the same amount of time and it's taking it's toll on the squad. Yes he was backed but not enough that he could sustain last seasons form playing twice as many games. He understood this but again expected us to keep strengthening every window until we were able to compete. He isn't complaining about what we did last Summer, his rants right now are about what we are looking to do going forward and it's not matching his ambition or what he was expecting based on previous conversations with Levy when he took the job. As he keeps saying "it's a project" but right now it's a project that half way through has had the parameters and funding changed from the original brief.

The football is poor right now, no one can deny this but there have been circumstances to explain some of this, and it doesn't change that once again Levy has moved the goalposts on yet another manager.

You are also bang on with the fact at some point we need to stick rather than twist and bust, and for me a manager who is willing to ask "why are we settling for second best?" is the man that we should stick with.

This post tells us everything we need to know about what’s happening really at our club. The owners never fully committed to Conte and how he operates and are now using him as the fall guy like they have done with others before. They get away with it because we have a sizeable amount of supporters that keep falling for it.

 

[brasil_spur]

7 or 8 is still a pretty good window in my book.

Injuries and form are just a part of life at this point. Even taking them into account, I think we should be playing better than we have been, and getting better results too.

Over the last couple of months, the reasons given for our poor form include:

- injuries
- players being shit/off-form
- congested fixtures
- preserving our energy ahead of the World Cup
- playing in the Champions League
- Conte not properly being backed in the summer window

Is there merit in some or all of these? Of course there is, but they simply don't excuse what has been 3 or 4 months of very dreadful football, and poor results against top-half teams. If we can agree that he has been backed so far, then the focus should be on why he has been unable to improve the team as a result. Instead, nearly all the anger has been directed at the board who, so far since the end of last season, are making a better fist of their job than he is his

Agree 7 is ok. But you have to remember that this is the first proper window to back a new manager with a very different style of football than we previously deployed. Add to that the mess created at the end of Poch's reign and throughout Jose's reign in terms of transfer strategy and you can see that whilst a 7 or 8 is good, it's playing catch-up on several years of 5 or less rated windows (including a fucking 0 window in 2018).

As Trix has said, summer was ok as long as it was the start and we would continue to back Conte. There is £50m left of the £150m injection. There is whatever we can make from player sales. There should be £30-50m of CL money in the pot and there should be whatever our usual Jan transfer budget is (£30m?) on top of all of that. Realistically Conte (and us fans) should expect there to be in excess off £100m to spend in January, with potentially as much as £150m available.

That gets us: Porro (£40m), AM (£30m), Winger rotation (£20m) and a CB from the expiring contract list (£10-20m) in Jan.

Do that and Conte is backed for another window.

Then the summer will be £50m summer budget + CL/EL qualification money (£20-50m) + Player Sales (£50m) - to go out and get us 2 very good players.

What seemingly is happening though is that Levy sees the numbers very differently to the above. The above is not some kind of magical fantasy land numbers and apart from the already agreed and partly drawn down £150m injection from ENIC doesn't require any level of additional investment into the club outside of normal operating revenue streams.

 

[HildoSpur]

I personally never pay any mind to ITK, but even just glancing in the forum there are "assurances" (if that's your kind of thing) that players are being gone after. So again, the opprobrium being directed towards the board seems disproportionate given that Conte is more at fault for our current results than they are

Well then if you ignored the itk info then I can understand your viewpoint however most us do listen to the itk (with a small pinch of salt of course because things change) and we are concerned.

 

[spurs mental]

Yep. No BS excuses about "the same players that let successive managers down" either.
Almiron, Joelinton, Schar, Sain-Maximan
etc are all on their 4th or 5th season and 3rd or 4th manager now, and he's managed to improve them.

Yet ours are all so uncoachable...

2 of those are in their 4th season, 2 of them on their 3rd, and none of them have had 4 managers at Newcastle. Unless your counting the interim boss for 3 games between Bruce and Howe. Benitez was before Bruce, not exactly renowned for improving players like Steve Bruce.

Schar has played an average of 30 more minutes under Howe than he did under Bruce or Benitez. No surprises he's playing better in that case.

Saint Maximin has always looked like he's had something, I don't actually thinks he's improved although injuries could be part of the reason.

Almiron has bettered his best ever goal tally by more than double, in all likelihood it comes from playing more football, and in a more suitable system to him. Not sure what Joelinton is but he isn't exactly pulling up trees or putting up better numbers off an already low base.

Schar is the oldest of you the ones you mentioned, but the other 3 are between 25 and 28, which probably peak for a footballer, so no surprise they are doing well.

Ours aren't uncoachable either, but some of them have shown under previous coaches that they either aren't capable any more, unfortunately, or have reached their ceiling and are in decline.

We've all seen how quickly it can happen, look at Dele Alli for example.

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

I am thinking specifically of the defence here, in which case only Romero is. What that list shows me more than anything else is that we have nothing at wing back

Lenglet is a very capable defender, and has been so far for us.

Re RWB, prior to his injury last season, Doherty started to play a lot better, such that we considered his injury a blow to our Top 4 hopes when it happened. We also bought a £20m RWB that we so far haven't given any sort of chance. So we might not yet have the finished article there, but that's not the same as "nothing". Is it too much to ask for Conte to manage the resources we do have until better come along?