Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[nico97531]

They have scored 3 goals less than us and have 3 games in hand.

Liverpool, City etc etc haven't relied on CFs over the years.

That’s mainly due to a misfiring Sonny though, he should be around the 15 goals by now, that’s a whopping 10 goals we are missing never mind the assists he normally serve up for Kane and that’s just Sonny, now imagine if we lose Kane as well.

Liverpool is actually a great example, look at the difference between last season and now, it’s not the only reason but a major cause none the less as their new attackers can’t provide the numbers and consistency anywhere close to Mane and an inform Salah did.

 

[heinsmit]

Can't get through the paywall so don't know if it's just a clickbait title to get talking about potential new managers, or if there's any information in there. But JPB saying there is no will from anyone to extend his contract.

 

[sidford]

Antonio Conte is back at the wheel, but for how much longer?

Conte will resume media duties on Tuesday lunchtime before Wednesday’s Champions League game with AC Milan. It has been almost five weeks since his gallbladder surgery, since when he has done most of his management remotely from Italy. A brief upturn in results gave way to two dispiriting defeats at Sheffield United and Wolves last week.

This spell of illness means Conte has been spared from being asked about his contract and his future, but as soon as he sits down in front of the cameras again, the questions will be unavoidable. Conte’s contract has less than four months to run. If Spurs fail to get past Milan on Wednesday night, he will only have 12 more games in charge. The Conte era, which promised so much, could be coming to an end.

This is not a normal situation for a top club. Clubs want stability and a clear direction of travel. But Tottenham signed Conte in November 2021 on a 20-month contract, hoping they could agree a longer deal this sesaon. Talks were held after the World Cup but went nowhere and are unlikely to be revived. The only focus is getting to the end of the season. There is an option in the contract for another year but Tottenham have no intention of keeping Conte against his will.

There is a broad sense among the players that he is off at the end of the season. Some will miss him, but many will not, having grown tired of his intensity, training sessions and approach to the game. Many of the squad just want clarity about the situation. (This does not just apply to current Spurs players but also to potential transfer targets, who are in the dark about what Tottenham will look like next season.)


Some of the longest-serving Spurs players might remember the Tim Sherwood interregnum — those five months between the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas and the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino. It felt like the whole club was drifting to the end of the season.

Inside the club now, they sense a need to take control of the situation and make clear that they are thinking about life beyond Conte. They do not want to sleepwalk into a manager-less post-season as they did two years ago. Succession planning will not begin on the bus back from Elland Road after the final game of the season.

We do not know what the post-Conte era will look like. There is so much uncertainty — about who will be making the big decisions at the club, about which European competition Spurs will play in next season, about the futures of key players. Almost everything at Tottenham Hotspur is up in the air, and nothing is nailed down. Spurs fans will be familiar with the feeling. Perhaps that is part of why so many Spurs fans would like the club to provide them with the comforting certainty of a familiar face.

Pochettino, who managed Spurs from 2014 to 2019, is at the top of the summer wishlist for many Spurs fans. To most of them, he is the greatest and most loved manager of their lifetimes, the man who built a thrilling young team and took Spurs to the brink of success. It is three and a half years since chairman Daniel Levy sacked Pochettino, and very little that has happened since suggests Levy’s strategic pivot was right.

Nine years after he first appointed him, Levy has many reasons to go back to Pochettino, chief among them that it would be one of the most unambiguously popular moves he has ever made at Spurs. Despite his remote image, Levy cares deeply about what the fans want and even what gets written on social media. If he wants to win back the crowd, this is the biggest single lever he can pull.

This is not just pure nostalgia either. The football that Spurs played under Pochettino and the coaching methodology underpinning it were more modern than anything we have seen there since. Spurs have gone back in time since they sacked him, appointing a series of big-name managers who play negative football. The team has never been as fit, brave proactive or dominant as they were back then.

Spurs have been playing reactive football for years and it is only because they have been in the peak years of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min that results have not been worse. The idea of getting back to high-energy, high-pressing football is hugely attractive. When Levy famously talked about Tottenham’s ‘DNA’ in 2021 he was really just talking about Pochettino’s philosophy.


The prospect of an emotional reunion appeals to Pochettino as well as to the club. It was less than two years ago that Tottenham tried to bring Pochettino back for the first time, just six months into his role at Paris Saint-Germain. He was not enjoying his time in Paris and was starting to realise that he had had more power at Tottenham than he knew at the time. The idea of returning to Tottenham as the hero tugged at Pochettino’s heartstrings. But ultimately it was not up to him: PSG could not stomach the idea of losing their head coach. They even extended Pochettino’s contract by another year.

That would not be a barrier this time. Pochettino still spends a lot of time at his home in north London, and many Spurs fans would like Levy to drive around there next week, contract offer in hand. But what if the reality is not so simple? For a start, Tottenham may have some competition. Remember: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has tried twice in the past to appoint Pochettino — first in 2018 and again three years later, both after Zinedine Zidane had quit.

The first time, Real ended up with Julen Lopetegui after Spurs rebuffed them. When PSG did the same in 2021, Carlo Ancelotti rejoined and has remained since. It is still unclear whether Ancelotti will be at Real Madrid next season, but if he does leave then Pochettino would surely be under consideration from Perez for a third time. And this time, unlike in 2018 and 2021, Pochettino would not be under a contract managing anyone else.

Even though there were difficult moments when Pochettino managed PSG that does not mean that he is no longer interested in working at one of Europe’s biggest clubs. PSG has its own set of circumstances, in terms of ownership and the uniquely top-heavy squad. Real Madrid is not quite as abnormal as PSG. If offered the chance to take over at the Bernabeu, it would obviously be hugely attractive.

The other factor here is Fabio Paratici. His arrival as Spurs’ managing director of football in June 2021 means that Tottenham is organised differently from how it was when Pochettino was there. Levy only turned to Paratici when it became clear that PSG would block Pochettino’s return to Spurs. The thinking at Spurs that summer was that they would either go for Pochettino or Paratici, who would then choose a new head coach. The idea of having Pochettino and Paratici working together simultaneously was never on the cards.

Ultimately this is about power. Paratici was brought in to Spurs to run the football side of the club, to be the visible face at the training ground every day, to speak to players, to liaise between the coaching staff and the club, and of course to run the recruitment. His role as a go-between between Conte and Levy has been especially important in recent months. It is a job that he fills and the players have certainly been impressed by his presence.

If Pochettino were to return, hypothetically, then of course he would want to be the charismatic king of the training ground, just like he was from 2014 to 2019. Pochettino worked with a close team around him who were unfailingly loyal to him. This is not to say that Pochettino cannot work with a director of football, but rather that things work better if they are pulling in the same direction. So it does not feel — at least in theory — as if there would be room for Pochettino and Paratici to work together at the club. It feels likelier that there is only room for one of them.

So if Paratici is given the decisive say in who replaces Conte then it is difficult to see why he would go for the one man who would challenge his power at the club. To do so would be to undermine the power base he has spent almost two years building up. He would rather have a coach he knows and trusts and who would owe him his position at the club. Who would Paratici pick if he could choose Conte’s replacement? There are no guarantees of anything but he has always been a big admirer of Luis Enrique, who won the treble with Barcelona in 2015 and left the Spain national team job after last year’s World Cup.

But even though in theory Paratici makes the football decisions at Spurs, it is far from clear whether Paratici will choose Conte’s replacement. For a start, Paratici’s position is under scrutiny after he was given a 30-month ban in Italy for accounting practices at Juventus. There is no suggestion he has broken any rules at Spurs, where he remains a highly valued member of staff. His record in the transfer market at Spurs has been largely exceptional. But it remains to be seen how the Juventus case will affect his long-term future.


Even if Paratici does ride out the storm, it does not mean he has control over the biggest decisions. Paratici had little say in Tottenham recruiting Conte, even though they worked together at Juventus. That deal was driven by Levy. Paratici found out late in the process, on the night after Spurs lost 3-0 to Manchester United. And if Levy did not mind seizing control of the wheel to appoint Conte, why would he worry about doing the same again this summer?

The other name you hear most often in connection with Tottenham is Thomas Tuchel. He has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea six months ago. He has a stellar CV — not just Champions League and Club World Cup trophies with Chelsea but also two Ligue 1 titles with PSG (as well as their best Champions League campaign, reaching the 2020 final). He has experience coaching big-name players, a commitment to modern methods and a more proactive playing style than Spurs’ last three managers. He also knows the Premier League and speaks perfect English. It would feel like a smooth transition.

Tottenham is an attractive job in many ways but Tuchel may feel like he has better options. He will have seen that even Conte could not get Spurs higher than fourth in the table and has not taken them near any silverware. If Tuchel concludes that fourth is Spurs’ ceiling he may decide that he would rather his next job was at a club more set up to win.

Tuchel will know better than anyone that if Bayern Munich want to replace Julian Nagelsmann, he would be at the front of the queue to take over there. Equally Tuchel, like Pochettino, would be under consideration at Real Madrid if Ancelotti goes at the end of the season. He could end up with his choice of top jobs.

There is another factor with the potential appointment of Tuchel. He would be the fifth former Chelsea manager to take over at Spurs under Levy, and fourth in the last 11 years. (Glenn Hoddle in 2001, Andre Villas-Boas in 2012, Jose Mourinho in 2019 and Conte in 2021 being the others.) Hoddle can probably belong in a separate category — he was a Spurs legend as a player — but the other three were synonymous with Chelsea, starting their careers in England there. Many Spurs fans do not want the club to keep appointing managers after they have been dispatched from Stamford Bridge. Tuchel could well be tarred with the same brush.

Imagine a future in which Pochettino goes to Real Madrid and Tuchel to Bayern (or to different jobs, or they simply say no to Spurs). What would Tottenham do then? Some fans would love to see Ryan Mason promoted to the top job. He has been a valued part of Conte’s coaching staff and his influence has only increased during Conte’s recent absence. Mason and Cristian Stellini take the big decisions together on training and tactics. The players have been hugely impressed with Mason.

Mason, however, will only turn 32 in June, and even though he took interim charge at the end of the 2020-21 season when Mourinho was sacked, Levy may think he is not experienced enough. (At the same time, Mikel Arteta nearly got the Arsenal job at 36, got it at 37, and look at how that is turning out. Villas-Boas got the Porto job at 32, Chelsea at 33 and Tottenham at 34. There are precedents here.)

Who else is there? Roberto De Zerbi has taken Brighton & Hove Albion to another level since replacing Graham Potter and though he has three years left on his contract he is already being linked with a move away. Marco Silva is on track to deliver Fulham’s best Premier League season and his contract extension remains unsigned. Thomas Frank has done excellent work at Brentford, which has not gone unnoticed at Spurs. Perhaps the most intriguing name is Steve Cooper, who took Nottingham Forest into the Premier League before beginning to guide them away from the relegation places. It would be a big step up to Spurs but he has plenty of admirers.

It would certainly represent a pivot from Levy to go for a younger, less-decorated manager. He has spent the last few years trying to run Spurs like Chelsea on a budget, appointing a succession of high-profile short-term managers in the hope that they could instil a winning mentality to get them over the line. But it has not worked and all Spurs have to show for it was 2021’s League Cup final defeat and last season’s fourth-place finish.

Maybe this will be the summer when Spurs go back to their old approach, of patiently rebuilding over the longer term, regardless of who the next head coach may be.

 

[Lukasz]

Can't get through the paywall so don't know if it's just a clickbait title to get talking about potential new managers, or if there's any information in there. But JPB saying there is no will from anyone to extend his contract.

Hardly surprising… I wish he was gone already, maybe we could enjoy some good attacking footy under caretaker before this season ends.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

All the players you mentioned never came close to Kane’s numbers or consistency, which is why we were never really challenging back then, getting goals probably won’t be a problem but getting enough goals to keep us challenging will be difficult if not impossible IMO.

avoiding the glaring problem and hope the new manager is going to magically sort everything out is why we are where we are. We had the best defense in the league then as well, it’s still a fucking problem for us after how many years?

Poch coming back or any other manager for that matter won’t solve our issues instantly, it will take time with a proper plan and sound strategy, especially if we need to replace two of our best players as well.

Agree with this. And all this nonsense about "I don't care if we're not challenging as long as the football is good" is just that, nonsense. Fans will find something to moan about if we have another season where Arsenal are challenging and we're no where close.

Tbh though i'm more concerned about losing Paratici than I am Conte. Paratici is only 18 months into his tenure and the recruitment has improved massively. One more window and to sort out a goalkeeper and centre backs , and our team will nearly be there. If both Conte and Paratici leave then we'll be back to the drawing board again.

 

[spursfan77]

Ties in with what trix hinted at.
(that is what the arcticle actually says, easier to post this than copy as it’s behind paywall)

Either Gary Jacob is reading SC or there’s a person at THFC who’s putting out their agenda whatever that might be.

 

[spursfan77]

Going back to that whole period from May - September 2019. We can all recall Poch saying that he may "go home" even if the team didn't win the CL final.

But I also recall around early July time Poch being a little more animated after the Ndombele transfer and at the start of the preseason tour.

I dont know if Im misremembering or not but I believe had Levy not spent all summer;

- Bargaining for Lo Celso and not getting him in ASAP.
- Not failing to get Dybala/Fernandes/Ceballos
- Lumped Poch with two more kids - Sessegnon & Clarke.
- And sold a bunch of players who were clearly done at the club.

I reckon he'd have become reenergised and 'all in' once again.

The reason I feel that is because Levy had been telling everyone that we had to wait for the stadium to be built. If Levy had have REALLY backed Poch in that window it would have made up for the past windows and shown that Poch had their full trust ans the club want to go on and achieve something.

Instead we sucked what little Poch probably had left by dragging every transfer out whilst some players still remained.

Poch knew then that it was a broken promise and it'd never change.

Let’s hope Poch has better things to do than read SC because if he did there’s no way he’d come back after reading that. Let’s hope his memory of events back then is hazy!

 

[bubble07]

I do hate it when journalists write what spurs fans think/want when it may not be the case

How does Pitt-Brook research that spurs fans would love Poch back? Does he just ask a couple of fans as his sample ?

 

[hero]

Don’t mean to ruin your hopes but I’d suggest seeing what trix posted in the Djed Spence loan thread.

I was not surprised while reading it.

Agree with this. And all this nonsense about "I don't care if we're not challenging as long as the football is good" is just that, nonsense. Fans will find something to moan about if we have another season where Arsenal are challenging and we're no where close.

Tbh though i'm more concerned about losing Paratici than I am Conte. Paratici is only 18 months into his tenure and the recruitment has improved massively. One more window and to sort out a goalkeeper and centre backs , and our team will nearly be there. If both Conte and Paratici leave then we'll be back to the drawing board again.

For an unknown reason I cannot rate the posts. I support you POV absolutely. The club should have a vision, a strategy. The structure must be in place. We have no vision, no strategy and Paratici is working on the structure. I doesn't matter who manager is. Brighton has a brilliant structure and they always have a backup option whether it is down to a coach or a player. I am sure we are not a part of top 6 next year as our rivals have clear plans and the resources. I cannot see how the club can compete without CL while our recruitment will return to before Paratici era.

 

[Hawkey77]

Remarkable really that some mainstream media is starting to make these noises about the club/manager and there’s little reaction on here. Shows just how apathetic/accepting of the situation our fanbase has become.

 

[Trix]

Either Gary Jacob is reading SC or there’s a person at THFC who’s putting out their agenda whatever that might be.

I've always said this regarding any media leak or ITK it is likely to have some agenda attached to it. After actually having a conversation with my guy as well as other ITK's hearing similar I don't believe that is the case this time round. I'm 99% sure both Conte and Paratici won't be here next season, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Conte is gone in the next couple of weeks.

Now If Levy pulls his head out of his arse, he'll have people sounded it now and ready to step in. This could be a regain for him with the fans if he moves swiftly and appoints someone the fans could get on board with from day one. Fact is though I haven't heard any names other than MP. Now maybe thats because levy is keeping things very close to his chest and really he has a master plan well under way. Lets be honest here though we've seen this 3 times already under his tenure that he doesn't have a clear plan of attack, or actually know what to do. As such he will just appoint interims(for the third time) while he flits from one candidate to another dragging his backside on every possible appointment for fairly banal reasons that have very little to do with the actual football we will play.

 

[Monkey boy]

Remarkable really that some mainstream media is starting to make these noises about the club/manager and there’s little reaction on here. Shows just how apathetic/accepting of the situation our fanbase has become.

Because we've been hearing these types of stories since Conte joined. I think its pretty obvious to everyone that Conte isnt going to be here come June so this is hardly news anymore.

 

[DanielJohnCosta]

I do hate it when journalists write when spurs fans think/want when it may not be the case

How does Pitt-Brook research that spurs fans would love Poch back? Does he just ask a couple of fans as his sample ?

i'd say a majority do

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I do hate it when journalists write when spurs fans think/want when it may not be the case

How does Pitt-Brook research that spurs fans would love Poch back? Does he just ask a couple of fans as his sample ?

Twitter

 

[Trix]

Twitter

Every social media outlet is the same. Even the poll in the next manager thread on here he's a very clear favourite. If you think its just a select few on Twitter voicing out for Poch you are wrong. I'd say he's an overwhelming favourite amongst the majority of Spurs fans.

 

[spurs mental]

.I’m judging him on his ability as a coach, the ability to make 10 outfield players more than the sum of their parts, and in my opinion he was very poor at that. And I can remember when most on here felt the same way.
I hate the way he turned the most talented squad we’ve had since the sixties into an effort team.

Man, I don't really want Poch back to be honest, but it seems you've planted your flag firmly on this hill and you're prepared to die on it. Admirable as it is you're sticking to your guns, this is just total nonsense.

He literally made us exactly what you say he didn't, way more than the sum of our parts. He did an extraordinary job from 2015 to the start of 2019. With one hand tied behind his back.

Yeah, he inherited some very good players who might well have gone on to succeed under other coaches, but he transformed some players as others have already said to you.

I don't believe he's the answer and it seems some people just want him back so they can feel something for the club and team again, and that's fine, but it's not progressive for me..

 

[Hawkey77]

Because we've been hearing these types of stories since Conte joined. I think its pretty obvious to everyone that Conte isnt going to be here come June so this is hardly news anymore.

Exactly. Apathetic and accepting. It’s no criticism, and I’m not surprised. It all just leaves me with a dull sense of inevitability.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I was not surprised while reading it.

For an unknown reason I cannot rate the posts. I support you POV absolutely. The club should have a vision, a strategy. The structure must be in place. We have no vision, no strategy and Paratici is working on the structure. I doesn't matter who manager is. Brighton has a brilliant structure and they always have a backup option whether it is down to a coach or a player. I am sure we are not a part of top 6 next year as our rivals have clear plans and the resources. I cannot see how the club can compete without CL while our recruitment will return to before Paratici era.

Yeah at least if we kept Paratici there would be less squad churn as he has bought most of the players with a clear plan in place.

If we are forced to get a new DOF and manager then there will be another period of squad transition, inhibiting our ability to really back the new man while we try and move on unwanted players, in a difficult market where most of europe is skint apart from prem teams.

I wish we could just decide on a plan and stick with it. Keeping Paratici is our closest way of doing that. A club like ours can't flit from one plan to another as we don't have the financial might to absorb the churn.

 

[-Afri-Coy-]

Man, I don't really want Poch back to be honest, but it seems you've planted your flag firmly on this hill and you're prepared to die on it. Admirable as it is you're sticking to your guns, this is just total nonsense.

He literally made us exactly what you say he didn't, way more than the sum of our parts. He did an extraordinary job from 2015 to the start of 2019. With one hand tied behind his back.

Yeah, he inherited some very good players who might well have gone on to succeed under other coaches, but he transformed some players as others have already said to you.

I don't believe he's the answer and it seems some people just want him back so they can feel something for the club and team again, and that's fine, but it's not progressive for me..

I want Tuchel just so we can see the scenes on here.

Love me a little chaos and anarchy

 

[spurs9]

I do hate it when journalists write when spurs fans think/want when it may not be the case

How does Pitt-Brook research that spurs fans would love Poch back? Does he just ask a couple of fans as his sample ?

He is just making it up to write an article. I don't know any fans that want the below.

"Some fans would love to see Ryan Mason promoted to the top job."