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Manager Antonio Conte

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Thanks for that, a really good, well-balanced take. Conte was never going to be the cool, calm and collected character, and I don’t think most fans would have an issue with this as long as we see the progress on the pitch. The recent wobble has been disappointing, to say the least, but I hope we give Conte the time, and he gives himself the time, to see how we turn out through the summer. If he leaves prematurely, it is what it is.
I think 95% of us would be extremely glad to have him stay as long as he wants, I'd love it personally!

But if he walks in under a year without even seeing one transfer window thru, then it's just not a fit with where the club are at. I'm not suggesting he sticks around for a long-term project, obviously he's not that type of manager and of course the club knows that too.

But the squad can't just magically improve or get new players midseason. We got him two players in January that are already in the starting 11. Leaving now wouldn't even be giving the club a chance to back him.

If he wants to leave in August or September, fair play to him. Once again, I think 95% of us would agree if it is a disappointing window. But walking now would be horseshit IMO and clearly just quitting on the club with the goal of taking a bigger opening in the summer because he doesn't want to be part of the processs of improving a club in a tough spot. It wasn't any secret we were shit, he took the 15m/year and joined anyway. I'm not asking unlimited patience, or even significant patience, but you've gotta at least wait through summer.
 
My concern is if we assume Conte was very aware of the situation he was coming in to (which I think we can safely say given the ample evidence on show) then what has he encountered since arriving at the club which is making him act this way? Is it even worse than it appears on the surface?

Or is he just ultra emotional and prone to outbursts after defeats?
He's always been emotional and has a history of wild outbursts. He's talked himself out of both the Chelsea and Inter jobs, despite significant success and investment. It's who he is and he never leaves clubs on great terms, which is fine and we should all be prepared for it at some point in the future.

But come on, leaving us now, less than 4 months in, before a summer window would be ridiculous. You took over a team that finished 7th and is on pace to do the same again, you can't be THIS shocked at the quality.

I hope he's just trying to build leverage with Levy for the summer, but if he leaves before summer, then he was never serious about us or was extremely dishonest with himself about the challenge he was facing in accepting this job.
 
I think this is an emotional outburst from a man who is very accustomed winning at clubs that are above us in stature. He's an INTENSE competitor and clearly hates losing.

He's said a lot of pointed and intelligent things about what hasn't worked at Tottenham over the past few years and what need to change. I don't think this falls in the same category. He just seems mad as fuck about tonight and the recent run of form. I bet he'll walk back his comments a little bit in his next press conference.

He took over a project, just like Klopp took over a project at Liverpool, he needs to give the club at least a summer window to address the problems with the squad. Klopp's first Liverpool team finished 8th and it took three more years for them to get into the top two of the Premier League.

If Conte doesn't even wait for one transfer summer window, then he clearly wasn't cut out to deal with where we're at. He wasn't forced to come to the club, it's not exactly surprising information that the squad is shit. Just look at the results over the last three seasons. It's going to take more than three months.

If he doesn't feel he's being backed this summer and wants to walk, then by all means, every one of us would get it. But if he fucks off midseason, then it was just never going to work. And that's not to excuse ENIC one bit, they are still absolutely a problem. But my god, Antonio, just give us one window and chance to try to rebuild. If you don't like what's happening then go. But no one on Earth thought that this was situation that could be solved in one January window.

Measured post. Thanks.

Up until today, I would agree with you. I'm not so sure anymore.

One thing is certain, the status quo won't do it for either party. Levy has a massive challenge here, because whilst Conte leaving in and of itself would be tragic, in the long term what message does that send to potential signings, managers etc.

The reputational damage that would inflict on the "brand" would set us back years.

Sad state of affairs we are in. The media frenzy doesn't help either.
 
You could just accept that we don’t have a clue because there is so much contradictory information.

Possibly, but when the manager is saying the fans 'deserve better', is suggesting he may not be the right man for the job, and is already saying he needs to talk to the club regarding his future, then speculation will be there.

Is the information contradictory? Yes. But this is the most up to date information we have on how he feels at the club.
 
Possibly, but when the manager is saying the fans 'deserve better', is suggesting he may not be the right man for the job, and is already saying he needs to talk to the club regarding his future, then speculation will be there.

Is the information contradictory? Yes. But this is the most up to date information we have on how he feels at the club.
Storm in a teacup. Until the next high. And the following low.
 
Storm in a teacup. Until the next high. And the following low.

The latter increasingly becoming more common than the former..

But if that's the case, then we'd have a pretty bipolar manager on our hands, which wouldn't be ideal. I don't think either scenario (Conte doing this as a ploy, or Conte being reactionary) are particularly encouraging if you're a fan of the club.

But anyway, it is what it is .. and as you say, on to the next.
 
Measured post. Thanks.

Up until today, I would agree with you. I'm not so sure anymore.

One thing is certain, the status quo won't do it for either party. Levy has a massive challenge here, because whilst Conte leaving in and of itself would be tragic, in the long term what message does that send to potential signings, managers etc.

The reputational damage that would inflict on the "brand" would set us back years.

Sad state of affairs we are in. The media frenzy doesn't help either.
Totally agreed, it'd be a reputational disaster for the club, which doesn't exactly have the best reputation at the baseline. Where would we even go from there? We'd be on our fifth manager in less than 12 months.

It's impossible to know what's happening behind the scenes, but Levy needs to do whatever he can to hold Conte until the summer and hope he's satiated by our summer business. He has no alternative.

I still think it'd be pretty shit for Conte to walk now. It's really not too much to ask to wait for one summer window and a full year before quitting. It's not a big ask whatsoever.
 
I can’t see him walking when he’s on 15m a year. His contract is pretty short so at a minimum I’d expect he sees that through, or pokes the bear until he gets sacked for the payoff.
 
Wow, Conte throwing down the gauntlet.

I think there are a few different ways you could interpret some of his comments, but the "different coaches, same players" sentiment is about as clear as it gets.
 
Totally agreed, it'd be a reputational disaster for the club, which doesn't exactly have the best reputation at the baseline. Where would we even go from there? We'd be on our fifth manager in less than 12 months.

It's impossible to know what's happening behind the scenes, but Levy needs to do whatever he can to hold Conte until the summer and hope he's satiated by our summer business. He has no alternative.

I still think it'd be pretty shit for Conte to walk now. It's really not too much to ask to wait for one summer window and a full year before quitting. It's not a big ask whatsoever.
I don’t see how Levy’s reputation could survive Conte walking. He will never, ever get a manager as good as Conte. As it stands there’s only a handful of them out there and they’re all managing clubs bigger than ours.

One of the messages it will send out, is if Levy wouldn’t back Antonio Conte. Is he really going to back anyone else? No. There is a summer transfer window coming up in a few months, so we’ll see.

As you say, I hope Conte stays for the summer and I hope he’s given what he wants. If he doesn’t get what he wants then A) he’ll probably just walk before the season starts or B) he’ll see the season out and tell the club to fuck off when they ask him to extend.

Not to mention Kane. At this rate there is fuck all chance he’ll be sitting there quietly over the summer. I imagine it’ll be ten times worse than last year. Will Conte really want to go into another season with a shit squad minus Kane? Fuck no.
 
I don’t see how Levy’s reputation could survive Conte walking. He will never, ever get a manager as good as Conte. As it stands there’s only a handful of them out there and they’re all managing clubs bigger than ours.

You're not wrong, but I think Conte's takes a hit as well. Not as bad as the club/Levy, but it would be awfully shitty for him to walk without at least the summer to see what backing he could get.

Even with this I don't think he's walking at all at least until the summer and that would be dependent on how the club responds. Think about how mad we are with this run of form, and I'm assuming it's eating him up inside. He's already said that he is miserable to be around after a loss, and we're starting to see that in action.

I'm glad. I hope it ruffles a few things in both the boardroom and through the team. The players are being called out as much as Levy.
 
We dominated the game but didn't come away with the points. So where did it go wrong; or rather the better question - who didn't do their job?

Royal - Slow to make decisions. Got in MANY good positions, but the ball was never delivered.
Sessegnon - Failed to get behind or beat defenders.

Our system is heavily dependant on good deliver from our full backs - of which we don't have any of that style.

Kane, Holjberg, Romero, Dier, Son, Kulu all looked decent; but out lack of full backs strangles us. We must adapt to a new formation/system that doesn't require the full backs to be pivotal to our attack; however we do not have an Eriksen-style playmaker to run the show through the middle.
Exactly but Conte is too stubborn to admit he’s getting it all wrong and switch things up to improve the play. Everyone realizes but him
 
squad not changed or refreshed, levy and enic not willing to spend to address that

top 3 manager in world football giving up

the only thing that needs going is enic, they are the poison that is slowly killing the club just like mike ashley did at newcastle

sure we can sayhes getting paid 15 millbut fuck me our team is shit you cant polish turds eventually you need to flush the shit away for good

where do we go if conte resigns, we get another yes man happy with the squad for the next 5 yrs

no im tired of this bullshit we will never ever win anything as long as enic is here

they need to fuck off for good
 
I think this is an emotional outburst from a man who is very accustomed winning at clubs that are above us in stature. He's an INTENSE competitor and clearly hates losing.

He's said a lot of pointed and intelligent things about what hasn't worked at Tottenham over the past few years and what need to change. I don't think this falls in the same category. He just seems mad as fuck about tonight and the recent run of form. I bet he'll walk back his comments a little bit in his next press conference.

He took over a project, just like Klopp took over a project at Liverpool, he needs to give the club at least a summer window to address the problems with the squad. Klopp's first Liverpool team finished 8th and it took three more years for them to get into the top two of the Premier League.

If Conte doesn't even wait for one transfer summer window, then he clearly wasn't cut out to deal with where we're at. He wasn't forced to come to the club, it's not exactly surprising information that the squad is shit. Just look at the results over the last three seasons. It's going to take more than three months.

If he doesn't feel he's being backed this summer and wants to walk, then by all means, every one of us would get it. But if he fucks off midseason, then it was just never going to work. And that's not to excuse ENIC one bit, they are still absolutely a problem. But my god, Antonio, just give us one window and chance to try to rebuild. If you don't like what's happening then go. But no one on Earth thought that this was situation that could be solved in one January window.
I think this past January transfer window made Conte insecure about any summer promises. Him not joining last summer, and instead joining mid season before winter window with all the hype about January transfer window; it looks like there was plenty of promises in place. I doubt that it's pure coincidence when that interview occurred after the January window.

Then we know that Conte walked out of Juventus despite they were on the rise at the time because disagreement on transfer. Conte is not Klopp. He's not here for project. He has goal for each season, and demands to have the best backing for each season. His way of working. You can't say he's wrong in this relationship. This is more to do with the people at this club that choose and persuade him to come here. They should be well aware of this situation, since it's common knowledge for even regular fan, and especially with Paratici who personally worked with Conte previously.

Also for a transfer to go through, more often than not, the ground work is underway during the season. As per the rule, clubs can legally hold talk with players' agents whose contract running out in the summer now. Clubs going behind selling clubs' back illegally talk with agents all the time too. Conte keeps saying he talks with Paratici everyday. Perhaps Conte knows that we're not preparing/doing enough right now to have the summer window that Conte expects?
 
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