Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[piedpiper]

Until Harry missed the England penalty, another disappointing time.
Perhaps Antonio back in the morning will make all the difference!!!

Yeah we weren't winning it anyway.... like Spurs England were just there to make up the numbers.

 

[Nerine]

I’m still Conte in, but it’s a real struggle.

The only reason is because he can potentially force Levy’s hand and has enough clout and pedigree to hopefully instil some kind of change in the way we go about things but that’s looking more and more unlikely and more and more like DL doesn’t have the appetite for this experiment any longer.

The game management lately has been baffling, though. I can’t defend it. I don’t think anyone who is pro-Conte can, either. The decisions, lineups, subs (or lack of) have been shambolic. It’s not often I go along with the “all the fans can see it, why can’t the manager” schtick, but I can’t disagree with any fans that say the decision making lately has been nothing short of woeful.

The next manager is a dead man walking whatever happens due to those above him, though. So it’s all a bit of a moot point. Nothing will change regardless of who is at the helm.


My main overriding thought is essentially “What is the point in Spurs?” We are a completely pointless football club right now.

In fact, “football club” is a bit of a stretch. We’re barely one of those.

 

[makeveli]

Sack him now now now blame the board but blame conte too clueless

 

[glacierSpurs]

It's embarrassing isn't it. For the want of a reset, the last 4 years have been such a waste of time.

I always kinda imagine deep down Levy's he must be rubbing his hands and grinning with 'these fickle fans wanted a DOF, I'll give them one since he will be charged and banned in a few years anyway. They wanted a serial winner coach? I'll give them two! Comes 3 years later see who's the daddy! Mwahahah' thoughts.

 

[glacierSpurs]

We started brightly today and played well in the first half. Wolves didn’t even muster 1 effort on goal in the first half. The defence was solid, midfield in control, we dominated the ball and although still not firing on all cylinders Kane, Son and Kulusevski were to some extent at the races.

Second half, although Wolves had several chances we still defended pretty well. What was unfathomable was why despite our first half dominance we went back into our shell, an approach that has rarely worked out well this season. Like seriously, we were controlling the game but due to some moronic reason we did a Man City away all over again… literally downed tools from a midfield control and offensive perspective.

We finally looked solid at the back only to forget how to attack again. Conte harps on about how we need better defenders but even when they play well we’re still not allowed to play attacking free flowing football. Today’s turnaround from 56% possession and 11-0 on shots in the first half was a new all time low. It’s like Conte’s waiting for the defence to fuck up so we must defend and hope for a lucky counter attack. There’s no way we’re getting top 4 this season with Conte still at the helm. Don’t forget, if the teams below us win their games in hand we’ll be 8th.

If we showed the first half for the entire season with the addition of scoring, we are title challengers. If we showed the 2nd half for the entire season, we will be relegation fodders. Fine margins, but that only goes to show me the team literally has no winners. Nobody is pushing the next player to know they have to keep up the effort and score, because suddenly when we were behind we then started playing, too often this season.

The way Wolves could alter their formation, personnel and shape and became effective over us in the 2nd half while we did nothing to react to that was really an embarrassment. I honestly don't expect such amateur work from a PL team which the coach was paid the 3rd highest.

 

[glacierSpurs]

There was this myth that reguillon performed poorly under conte, he didnt

He just didn't perform to the level we saw under Mourinho

The reason why we let him go, was because he was never available and always injured

Sometimes I really thinking if it's not his ability hindering his future here, but his character/lifestyle. He didn't seem too well-placed in the squad ever since he broke the covid protocol? Like sometimes there could be things BTS that crossed Levy in some ways that players could never make it back into the squad perhaps.

 

[EastUpperDK82]

After all that has happened to and around Conte this season, I find it hard to think that he will come back full of energy and with his heart and mind set on a commitment to us for the next couple of years.

I would love for us to have some continuity and an overall plan for once. And ride through the tough times and come out on top.

But I have lost faith in it clicking now with this setup. Too much has happened for this to work out. Sadly... it's just weird...

 

[sidford]

We're stuck with Conte until at least Thursday as no way the gnome will do anything before we get knocked out of CL.
Still think neither side wants a break up before the end of season where they can try and spin his time here as not a failure and only leaving because of his health and need to be back in Italy after a tough year. Fans will know it's bullshit but they'll push that narrative hard.

 

[olliec]

Conte in

the rebuild has started. It’s just been a rotten season with a lot of bad luck and to top it off our arch rivals might win the league. Of course we are all mad, but Conte isn’t solely to blame. We have missed some absolute sitters which we would have been finishing last season. I’m sick of the players more than anything. Poch, Mourinho and Conte all can’t get a tune out of them and produce enough fire in their belly to go and win something. Players like Dier, Davies, playing first team is just not good enough.

let Conte strengthen at the back this summer and see if he wants to finish what he started. Im sure when he returns we will see the fire back in him.

Give the guy a break. He’s probably just had one of the worse years of his life.

Let’s back him for Milan and welcome him back.

 

[Japhet]

Yeah not sure what happened there.

If it's true we interviewed him and were the ones to turn him down then it's pretty unforgivable. The vast majority of Spurs fans would've been very behind that appointment and he would've fulfilled Levy's promise of attractive football.

Given the options that summer, he was surely by far the best punt (I mean, most of us said it on here at the time).

Turned down Fonseca too. Not big enough names if you ask me. Should have learned something with Mourinho but didn't. Conte's a bit better but I've had enough of this 'playing without the ball' bollocks after him and Mourinho and don't want us investing huge money for more of the same. The evidence shows that no matter how bad it gets, he will not change a thing.

 

[glacierSpurs]

I'm still waiting for the moment - his change in tactic and setup at chelscum when he lost to the scum then gone on to win the league.. But it's still not coming..

 

[Stamford]

I’m a levy supporter, but I can’t even defend the decision to pass up on Ten Hag. What’s really weird is Levy has a thing for snatching talent that impresses vs us. (Porro being the most recent case)
That Ajax team were one of the most impressive teams I’ve ever watched, and he would have likely been chicken feed in terms of expense compared to Conte.
Really odd and out of character.

it's completely in character for him to make the wrong managerial choice. That couldn't be more levy

 

[RuskyM]

Having seen Ivan Perisic recently, undoubtedly a Conte signing, I’m more than a little hesitant to give him the keys to a rebuild.

 

[Lukasz]

Best of luck to him re his health issues, but please just leave.

It will never work out with Levy in charge.

 

[worcestersauce]

In the long term I don't see Conte staying beyond the end of the season but in the short term I'm hoping his return from sick leave will give everyone a bit of a lift for the rest of the season.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

The fact that Conte hasnt committed his future is the problem.

Even Sir Alex face a massive drop off when he announced his first retirement date.

 

[tommo84]

I think that is your Bias coming through. Redknapp turned us down 18 months prior to taking the job but even if he didn't, hiring the right manager for the circumstances is hardly a stick to beat him with.

Also, if I recall correctly, the previous appointment (Ramos) was actually a Comolli hire not a Levy hire.

I didn’t use it as a stick to beat him with. He got the appointment of Redknapp right, but my point was he was brought in to dig us out of a mess Levy created and - initially at least - with a different objective from the other appointments. However I didn’t know HR had turned us down previously which changes things.

I stand by my overarching pov though that Levy is a horrid judge of managers - how many more ex-Chelsea coaches can we go through before he recognises the two clubs operate completely differently, with contrasting short term objectives and therefore require different managers? Santini, AVB, Mourinho, Nuno and Conte have all been a bad fit, and Ramos was just a bad appointment.

Edit: And I haven’t even mentioned Sherwood!

 

[DanielJohnCosta]

team got stronger and the results have regressed, all on Conte.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Well, I thought there were lots of positives to take from yesterday, bar the result, of course. We'll win more then we lose playing like that, and the first half was a good watch. There were patterns of play that we haven't seen much of this year, and Porro's pace clearly alters the dynamic down our right. If the changes are coming from Conte's sick bed, then there's some hope that he might be getting a grip on his job here. Can't help thinking it's down to Stellini, though.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Why would we have faith in Conte to undertake a rebuild, even if he indicated that he wanted to stay? ignoring the awful football for a moment, Conte is winner (he’s proven that over the course of his career) but he’s also fundamentally a quitter. He quits every job (either literally or in spirit) at practically the first bump in the road. He doesn’t stay and fight. If we want a rebuild manager, we need someone we can rely on to actually stick around for a while.