WITH every rant, every slur and every Spursy capitulation, we always return to the same old question: “Why the hell did Antonio Conte take this job in the first place?”Conte had snubbed Tottenham in the summer of 2021, when they staged their farcical 72-day search for Jose Mourinho’s replacement and ended up with poor old Nuno ‘Dispirito’ Santo.
Antonio Conte unleashed an epic rant after Saturday’s draw with SouthamptonCredit: Getty
Some well-informed sources believe the turbulent Italian accepted the job at the second time of asking in a fit of frustration after being overlooked by Manchester United during the dog days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign.
Others come up with the more obvious answer that £15million is one hell of a salary to turn down.
And it is certainly a significant sum to trouser when you consistently react to setbacks by passing the buck to the dressing room and boardroom.
Imagine earning that much money, yet still feeling free to slaughter your employers and subordinates every time you mess up. Nice work if you can get it.
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Conte has made it pretty damned clear throughout his 16-month reign that he believes he is slumming it at Spurs.
But Saturday’s epic tantrum, after his side tossed away a two-goal lead at bottom-club Southampton, plunged new depths in disrespect, as he called out Daniel Levy’s record over 20 years as chairman and branded his players “selfish”.
Sure, Conte was a title-winner in his three previous club jobs at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
But he must surely have known he was never likely to achieve the same feat at Spurs, the seventh richest club in England.
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To paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson’s briefest and greatest team talk: ‘Lad, it’s Tottenham’.
For the record, though, Spurs did reach the Champions League final four years ago.
Conte has managed only one quarter-final in six attempts with four different clubs.
So, perhaps his arrogance should know some bounds.
Conte’s sneering tone began early on, when he frequently demanded a squad to match Tottenham’s world-class stadium and training ground, as if Levy had somehow got it wrong by building outstanding infrastructure for his club.
Spurs have recruited well since Conte arrived in November 2021.Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski were excellent signings in January last year, playing significant parts in Spurs qualifying for this season’s Champions League.
And last summer’s window was as good as Conte, or anyone else, could have reasonably expected.
They bought quality and experience and, unusually for Levy, they bought early.
Yet Conte wants no responsibility for the fact players with the impressive pedigree of Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Clement Lenglet have all bombed.
Daniel Levy is reportedly ready to get rid of Conte this weekCredit: PA
Under Conte, Spurs are often a desperately dull and predictable watch, as exemplified when they blew excellent chances of progress in two knockout competitions.
Defeats by Sheffield United in the FA Cup and AC Milan in the Champions League seemed entirely avoidable.
Harry Kane was benched for the trip to Bramall Lane. Had Spurs won there, they would have enjoyed a quarter-final at home to Blackburn and might be looking forward to a Wembley semi-final against a Manchester City side they have regularly beaten in recent seasons.
Against AC Milan, Spurs were passive and overly cautious when chasing a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
Had they won, they would be facing an inviting half of the draw with Napoli, Inter and Benfica.
Another Champions League final appearance might well have been on the cards.
It’s difficult to say exactly which Spurs players Conte regards as “selfish”. A lot of them aren’t playing very well, some simply aren’t good enough. But “selfish”?
The only obvious recent example of selfishness was Cristian Romero being sent off for two reckless challenges against Milan.
Poor performances against Sheffield United, Wolves, AC Milan and Southampton has left Spurs’ season stumbling towards an unsatisfactory conclusionCredit: Getty
And Conte seemed to give his Argentinian World Cup winner a free pass by accusing his team of being “too soft” in the aftermath of that Champions League exit.
Conte is a demanding manager capable of short-term success.
But he is also a tiresome bore, who even accused Roman Abramovich of not spending enough money during his prolonged second-season meltdown at Chelsea.
Now he clearly wants out of Spurs and many players will bid him good riddance. We should not forget Conte has suffered bereavements and a serious bout of ill health this season.
He probably needs a rest, physically and mentally.
Although, as author Adam Powley put it so brilliantly on Twitter: “Conte is the only man in medical history to have his gallbladder removed yet be able to store up more bile.”
Conte for Spurs was a marriage of inconvenience for both parties and divorce is long overdue.
Spurs must now rebuild under an ambitious, upwardly mobile boss. And certainly not one who suggests he is doing them some sort of favour by picking up his vast salary.
Gareth’s mo-role support
So are England players role models or not?
Gareth Southgate happily lauds his men as such when they take admirable stands for social justice, but he wasn’t so big on the whole ‘setting an example’ thing when he named Ivan Toney and Kyle Walker in his squad to face Italy and Ukraine.
Toney has admitted to many of the 262 breaches of FA betting rules he has been charged with, while Walker was dealt with by a police ‘out-of-court disposal’ after an alleged incident of indecent exposure.
The England chief says he is ‘no moral judge’. In truth, he is more than willing to be a moral judge when England players behave morally, just not when they’re gambling and flashing.
Shabby Palace
Crystal Palace always seemed like one of the last bastions of down-to-Earth old-school decency in the Premier League.
Yet for a man as great as Patrick Vieira to have been dismissed over the phone — two days before a trip to his beloved Arsenal and with a kindly run of fixtures up next for the Eagles — was one of the shabbiest sackings English football has known.
Now we may witness a third ‘retirement’ in as many seasons from Roy Hodgson.
Palace have stopped looking forward and are swiftly heading backwards.
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Wolves have had a shocking run of refereeing decisions since the World Cup.
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So it seems unfair to applaud a bad refereeing decision which went against them — but we’ll try.
When Adama Traore refused to play to the whistle after a slight shirt pull and allowed Leeds through to score their final goal in the 4-2 win at Molineux, ref Michael Salisbury was wrong to wave play on by the letter of the law — but correct by the spirit of the game. More
