Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[chas vs dave]

Look Levy is part of the problem but I think he has the best interests of the club, he has implemented his vision poorly. The issue is - look at Everton and Chelsea - theyve splashed and look whats happened. Id be very cautious about that.

However, you don't spend 15m a year on a manager and not give him the tools he needs.

Even worse, you don't leave a level of uncertainty bt not getting him on a lengthy contract, and expect results.

It's amateur hour by the owners.

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

We're mid month and no sign of any new players coming in and a new contract for him. He's a dead man walking and will very soon publicly start reputation management which is going to be a shit show for the club. Its going to be a rough few weeks ahead for the club until either he walks or levy just pays him off.
I wanted the club to back him but we know it won't so end it now, no point dragging it out.

The talk of him signing a new contract need to stop now. It exonerates him of any blame for how we’re currently playing. He should be clinging onto his job, if anything.

I said on 3rd January that backing him would be pointless and we’d be better off parting ways and bringing someone in who wants to build something here and backing them before the window closes. We’re half way through the month now and I’ve no idea what the club should do. I think Conte should go but is there enough time to bring someone in and back them?

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

Bizarre posts in here today about committing to and building something with a guy who's never stayed anywhere for more than 2 seasons even when he's won something. It's not working now, and it's never going to work in the long-term. Better pull the plaster now and get a proper project manager who is going to stick around for more than 5mins.

For what he's earning, Conte should be getting performances and making better decisions. Sure, it's not the greatest squad in the world, but it's not shit either. We couldn't even beat Brentford and Villa and we're definitely better than those. But every game this season he's set up negatively. The bloke is literally breaking records with how bad we are. Without Kane's setpiece goals, we'd be fucked.

I definitely want to support a manager and give them time, but Conte is literally the worst top-flight manager to hire if that's the goal. He's a win-now guy. And we're not winning a meat raffle with this turgid football.

 

[chas vs dave]

Apologies. I'm drunk and a bit ranty. I hate spurs rn.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Honestly don't know where we go from here. It's a complete and utter shitshow!

Conte needs better players to be able to play the way he wants to. If he isn't going to be given those players, then he needs to leave and we can bring in a manager who can get more out of the current crop of shite. I don't want Conte to leave, but unless we are actually going to back him, then there is no point him being here! Because there are many other managers like Poch etc who would get us playing some attractive attacking football if the club just want to continue treading water. I honestly don't know what's going to happen but at the moment, we aren't getting results, and we aren't playing well. We aren't winning trophies and the football is horrific to watch so it's a terrible combination.

I pray we have some investment coming in because if we don't, we are in for a very painful few years.

I am sick and tired of the way this club is being run on the field! I cannot believe that after 30 minutes of a NLD, I had accepted the fact today's game was over and we had lost. What a sad place to be in.

We are in the middle of the window with no sign of any incomings and we are still stuck with the mediocre players we can't get rid of because of previous mistakes. Lloris, Doherty Dier, Lenglet & Sessegnon were 5 of our 6 defenders today. Romero was very poor also but is a baller and is easily good enough, but the other 5 players who have started for us in a NLD are nowhere near the required level. I got a bit of flack the other week when I looked over the combined XI and only had 4 of our players in it (Romero, Kane, Bentancur and Kulusevski). Well after today I feel justified to be honest because Arsenal absolutely schooled us today.

Where do we go from here?! We are completely lost! ?

We do as you suggest, bin Conte, or persuade him to walk (cheaper). Then we get a decent coach in, who knows how to get a tune out of our current squad, and hopefully makes some of our dross look attractive to someone. Remember, our inability to sell squad stuffers is laregely because Conte has made them look like pub players with his anti-football tactics. Then we let Partici target players that normal managers value, and that can play in a system that can be tweaked until it works in the current tactical context at any point in the future. Danny still needs to spend, but hopefully there's a bigger pool of suitable players, and he has more confidence in their future values.

 

[faze_coys]

Very much a fan of Conte but this system looks positively archaic. Maybe someone smarter than me can tell me what the strategy is to overcome the numerical disadvantage in midfield.

You would need 3 top quality cbs for it to work (and better RWB’s), so when you get out numbered in midfield the central CB could step into midfield and you wouldn’t need to worry that the 2 remaining cbs would struggle.

we have one quality cb and no good wb’s so this system is never going to work

 

[crokey]

Very much a fan of Conte but this system looks positively archaic. Maybe someone smarter than me can tell me what the strategy is to overcome the numerical disadvantage in midfield.

The plan is you take a 2v3 in midfield so that you outbumber them high and wide. It's why so much of our goals go through Kulu and (before he fell off a cliff) Son.

Problem is you need wingbacks that are quality. Take RWB for example, they need to support Kulu in every single attack to make our numerical advantage count, but they also need to support Romero in every single defensive phase to mitigate the midfield loss.

Our wingbacks are just simply too shit. They need to be elite at both attacking and defending, but basically all of ours are mediocre at one and shit at the other, Perisic just about the only exception. Even he is quite weak defensively.

 

[chas vs dave]

I'm at the point where I Don't care if he stays, or goes.

Enic need to go first. I didnt care for this prior, but I feel like I'm being mugged off by levy and the rest

 

[agrdavidsfan]

The thing is you could give him 500 million he still wouldn’t be happy and it would never ever be his fault when it doesn’t work.

His non commitment isn’t helping us it’s driving a larger divide in the club it’s not helping

 

[mpickard2087]

I’m not actively ‘Conte Out’

though im certainly never going to be a disciple of his approach to football/games.

but we have to stop acting like he is doing us a favour by being here.

he should be judged like any other manager. And, while we know Some of our players aren’t good enough, that doesn’t excuse some absolutely awful decisions by him or his approach to many games.

Yeah that's word for word basically how I see it. There are a myriad of problems when it comes to Tottenham and where you can apportion blame, but come matchday when you're seeing such malfunction across the pitch/team then the methods, and man behind them, should be heavily questioned.

Whatever could be improved, it (the stuff on the pitch) shouldn't be anywhere near this bad, nor made such a horlicks of building on the momentum of the end of last season.

 

[JCRD]

Bizarre posts in here today about committing to and building something with a guy who's never stayed anywhere for more than 2 seasons even when win something. It's not working now, and it's never going to work in the long-term. Better pull the plaster now and get a proper project manager who is going to stick around for more than 5mins.

For what he's earning, Conte should be getting performances and making better decisions. Sure, it's not the greatest squad in the world, but it's not shit either. We couldn't even beat Brentford and Villa and we're definitely better than those. But every game this season he's set up negatively. The bloke is literally breaking records with how bad we are. Without Kane's setpiece goals, we'd be fucked.

I definitely want to support a manager and give them time, but Conte is literally the worse top-flight manager to hire if that's the goal. He's a win-now guy. And we're not winning a meat raffle with this turgid football.

Spot on. The guy from day one has held us to ransom. Belittled some of our players. Talked and talked about money and how we are paupers and im paraphrasing.

I have been repeating myself over this but this whole 'back Conte' phrasing - fuck me, I hate it. Conte isnt elite, he has been a very very good Manager and successful but not elite - only three or four real elite managers out there. Ive hated it from day one where people have been like 'we are so lucky to have him' - nope. He should be lucky he is with us too.

Just hated the dynamic from day one.

It is funny because at the start of the season - you would read how our squad is better than Arsenals or Man Uniteds etc etc etc - so where are those messages now?

Managers need to add value, they need to make the sum greater than the individual parts - and right now, the sum is lower in my view.

 

[ajspurs]

Thing that I don’t get, it’s clear and has been clear to everyone for a long time that we desperately need a playmaker. But even now we are getting linked to more wide forwards. Trossard and Zaniolo are not going to answer our attacking problems. I can’t think of one top team in Europe who doesn’t have a creative AM/CM.

I know that we will never see the best of Conte until we have two quality WB but whilst it will help I don’t think just adding Porro will be a cure all to our lack of attacking dynamism.

And on a side note. I’m so done with 3 at the back. Never liked it and I still don’t.

I was going to post the exact same thing. When you consider just what this side lacks, we should be going all out for a Maddison or Neves yet we want Zaniolo the most. We do need a higher calibre of player in certain positions and that will for sure help but the lack of technical ability and creativity in the side is worrying, every commentator picks up on it every game.

The most worrying thing for me is that we don't look to be rectifying this is any transfer window. This is a more glaring issue than the lack of decent WB's IMO. It's this that makes me worry about Conte's suitability more than anything else, if it's something that he doesn't want to address in the side.

 

[THOWIG]

I’m not concerned about losing Conte, but at this rate we’re losing Kane. He’s not going to sign based on this.
We have some very average players, but you can get them playing better than that.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Won't be a popular opinion, but Conte is simply a bad manager. A good manager will work with what he has and get the best possible outcome. That sometimes requires adapting their own philosophy to suit the task at hand.
Yes, Enic and Levy's tight arsed approach has limited us on the pitch, but building a good team which is competitive doesn't require a bottomless pit of money.
I'm probably not alone in thinking leading up to this game that Lloris would make a blunder and we'd be completely over run in midfield, worrying thing is I don't think Conte gets that, he just stubbornly sticks with the same formation week in week out, we keep on getting dominated way more often than not and continue to concede two goals in almost every game.

It won't be too unpopular. Scales are falling from eyes like a blizzard.

 

[Stamford]

It doesn't matter who the manager is. Conte, poch. Prime Alex Ferguson couldn't win something with these players. I'm so sick and tired of watching these errors across multiple managers. Same players. It's boring.

 

[Rogmeister]

We need him in charge for city. Cant risk turning them over ?

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

I’m not concerned about losing Conte, but at this rate we’re losing Kane. He’s not going to sign based on this.
We have some very average players, but you can get them playing better than that.

Kane is off to United and that is going to kill football for me.

 

[14/04/91]

The plan is you take a 2v3 in midfield so that you outbumber them high and wide. It's why so much of our goals go through Kulu and (before he fell off a cliff) Son.

Problem is you need wingbacks that are quality. Take RWB for example, they need to support Kulu in every single attack to make our numerical advantage count, but they also need to support Romero in every single defensive phase to mitigate the midfield loss.

Our wingbacks are just simply too shit. They need to be elite at both attacking and defending, but basically all of ours are mediocre at one and shit at the other, Perisic just about the only exception. Even he is quite weak defensively.

I don’t disagree but he looked like he had the players on board towards the end of last season (even Doc & Royal) and we’ve regressed this.
We’ve generally been average all season and that’s what’s been bothering me. Okay we’ve had some injuries but barring the opening game against Southampton there’s been very, very little positivity.
How have we gone backwards?

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

It doesn't matter who the manager is. Conte, poch. Prime Alex Ferguson couldn't win something with these players. I'm so sick and tired of watching these errors across multiple managers. Same players. It's boring.

It absolutely does matter who the manager is!

 

[Caco]

You don't win what he has won as a bad manager. It's more accurate to say he isn't a flexible manager. He is a good systems manager but needs the right players. With the right players, he gets the results consistently whereas with the wrong players, he gets inconsistent results and can't change tactics to fit the team as well.

While I respect your opinion, I absolutely disagree. He won things at teams where he either had the right players or else had a Russian billionaire bank rolling him. A good musician can get a half decent tune out of a bad instrument, a bad one can't.