Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Dunc2610]

a message sent out by Conte to protect himself he comes away smelling of roses playing 'it wasn't me' - Levy is entitled to question a manager who has managed the team so poorly for the last two months and producing dour unimaginative football all season - does anyone here not question whether we get back to the champions league with the current style of play or even drop out of Europe completely - you don't rebuild a side in the January window you bolster it a bit make a few improvements

I think Conte is referring to the 'bolstering' of the squad as a process, and I don't think at any point Conte has said 'it wasn't me'.

I'm no Conte apologist, the football has been crap, but so has the historical investment in QUALITY (not financial) in the team until very recently, and Conte wants that to continue, otherwise we go back to square one. Another 'painful rebuild' in another managers vision with half baked investment. And Levy might well question Conte in his commitment but it works both ways, is everyone going to continue down this road, or does it stop once a contract is signed and Levy has him tied up for another year.

No one has called Levy out before, but now Conte is, and for some reason people think its an excuse as to why the team isn't playing well, or an excuse for him to be able to leave, but I personally, after reading ALL his recent quotes, see a guy who wants to be here, to build as he says, "a base" of a team that enables the club to kick on and in a way that's sustainable.

 

[spurmin]

‘He added: "The club in this period tried to sign good players - we signed Romero, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Richarlison. The club is trying to do something to accelerate this process.’

Not sure sure that will be but it needs to work and sharpish

Doesn’t read as, I’m fed up with this bollocks I’m off.
Not to me anyway.

 

[midoshairband]

‘He added: "The club in this period tried to sign good players - we signed Romero, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Richarlison. The club is trying to do something to accelerate this process.’

Not sure sure that will be but it needs to work and sharpish

isn't he just saying the club is trying to accelerate the process by signing good players, like the ones he's listed?

 

[Dunc2610]

Also, in response to those saying 'playing the youngsters' etc, right now with morale and performances as they are, I can only see that doing more harm that good to the younger players.

 

[RuskyM]

When has he threatened to leave?

““I signed a contract in November [2021] and found the club in a difficult position for many reasons. Now my task – I understood it very well – is to help the club go in the right direction about the choices of the players, about the work, to organise and to create a foundation. This is my big challenge here. If I want to stay here, then I have to accept this. Otherwise, if I don’t want to accept this, then I have to go.””


“My big challenge is this. To continue to work so strong with my staff and the players, to improve the club, to create a solid foundation.

“If I am satisfied to continue to do this work and to one day see the result I will continue to stay, if I’m not convinced 100 per cent then I can leave my work here.”

This is not a healthy dynamic for a manager to have with a club, and it’s definitely not a comfortable one to support. I’m happy to believe there’s some translation or personal subjective reading here but it’s not like it’s the first time he’s said he’s happy to walk, is it?

 

[knowlespurs]

Bentancur and Kulu's loan in January is about £25m, then Richy (£50m), Romero (£40m)*, Bissouma (£25m), Udogie (£15m), Spence (£15m)*. Asterisks because I know Romero was a deal beforehand but we'll basically be paying the same for Deki and Spence is still there, regardless of Conte not wanting him to be. I might be a bit off on some figures but it's pretty close, no?

I'm highly critical of ENIC - they should've gone after the super league debacle, and appointing Mourinho was the single daftest thing a top club has done in years - but a lot of the complaints seem reheated. They do spend money now - it's just they often spend it in really daft ways.

With respect mate you can't count Romero who he didnt sign or 15m on a player dont have yet

 

[Yiddo1982]

This "we have to create a new base" line is really grinding my gears. That's all we have been doing since I was 8 years old. I turned 40 in November.

 

[PLTuck]

This is a decent post asking the right questions that's worth replying to.

You are right in that Conte has been backed to a decent degree. I do believe we could and should have done more in the Summer especially when we had pulled the £150mil to do just that. The issue is that it was only the starting point. AC was happy with it because he was expecting the backing to keep coming but now Levy has decided he doesn't want to keep going in this direction. Last season we were thread bare but we only had one game per week and a decent enough starting 11 to play once per week. This season we've been playing 2-3 games in the same amount of time and it's taking it's toll on the squad. Yes he was backed but not enough that he could sustain last seasons form playing twice as many games. He understood this but again expected us to keep strengthening every window until we were able to compete. He isn't complaining about what we did last Summer, his rants right now are about what we are looking to do going forward and it's not matching his ambition or what he was expecting based on previous conversations with Levy when he took the job. As he keeps saying "it's a project" but right now it's a project that half way through has had the parameters and funding changed from the original brief.

The football is poor right now, no one can deny this but there have been circumstances to explain some of this, and it doesn't change that once again Levy has moved the goalposts on yet another manager.

You are also bang on with the fact at some point we need to stick rather than twist and bust, and for me a manager who is willing to ask "why are we settling for second best?" is the man that we should stick with.

Fabulous reply. Thanks mate.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I'm highly critical of ENIC - they should've gone after the super league debacle,

To be fair - the Super League issue was one of the things ENIC got right - albeit for the wrong reasons.

Once the idea of a Super League is out there, it's incumbent on Spurs to be involved, or get left behind. So, while many, rightfully, think he Super League is a terrible idea - if it came to fruition, and Spurs were not in it - that would be a massive fail by ownership.

Now, ENIC were making sure Spurs stayed involved in the conversations to protect ENIC's investment - but ultimately, they were correct, even from a sporting standpoint to make sure they were included.

Thankfully, the Super League imploded - because it is a bad idea for football - but, it will come around again, and Spurs will make sure to be involved when it does.

 

[soflapaul]

Been on the sidelines reading this rather repetitive thread which shows the level of frustration that has built up within the fanbase. I've been a major BSoDL for all things than switched to BSoDL for non football related things and am now slipping into the BSoDL for the stadium/training ground only territory. If he was a great businessman, he would see that "goodwill" as used in the business sense, is evaporating. This goes for the board too and their lack of acumen.

He had a business plan which was executed brilliantly when it came to the infrastructure despite the fact that we had a pandemic in the midst of finishing it up. But his business plan on product improvement is haphazard at best. For me, it's not so much AC or Poch or any of this but there isnt' a coherent strategy. There isn't a vision on what Spurs is or Spurs should be. It's way too scattergun and now that he finally hit upon a viable strategy (and AC was not my first choice), his and the Board's inability to execute is an indictment against his leadership or lack thereof. And at the very least, they should be out front and center in front of the fanbase communicating the vision.

Is he a brilliant manager of the business side of things? Yes. But he isn't a brilliant business leader. I'm not yet Enicout but am millimeters away. There still is time (this window) for him to do what it takes to support AC and HK to get them to commit their future to the club. (Edit: And show that he is back to executing a real plan rather than sleepwalking to the next managerial appointment)

 

[carlosspurs]

‘He added: "The club in this period tried to sign good players - we signed Romero, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Richarlison. The club is trying to do something to accelerate this process.’

Not sure sure that will be but it needs to work and sharpish

The guy speaks the truth and these comments articulate what I believe to be a commitment to the cause. That doesn't mean he will stay if not backed, but it states a clear recognition of where we are as a team and a preparedness to work as hard as possible to make us better. What else can you ask of the guy?

 

[ralphs bald spot]

Who got us into the CL in the first place?

Redknapp but he aint still here

 

[brasil_spur]

They are though because, other than Porro whose release clause is known, those fees are just speculative. They also don't take into account salaries, signing-on fees, agent fees etc. This is my problem with these over-simplified Football Manager-type breakdowns. They sound great on paper, but are very rarely rooted in reality.

I've said it before and i'll say it again, we can all spend thousands of hours theoretically debating the various nuances of transfer fees, from depreciating assets to increased sponsorship and fan coverage (i.e. Son) to signing fees, agent fees, etc... etc... but at the end of the day none of us have an accurate picture of all this and it adds massive of complexity to the conversation.

I'm using those rough numbers as funds we should have available based on rough numbers from the sources the funds are coming from. There is a lot more sources that aren't taken into account such as non footballing events income streams, but I'm not including any of that.

It's not about a FM type breakdown, it's about having a discussion about what we should be doing at a macro level. If it makes you feel better just add 10% to all those costs to cover extras like you've mentioned and then add 10% to all the incomes from additional revenue sources I haven't mentioned.

 

[PLTuck]

After dreaming of the romance of Poch or the excitement of a progressive manager who will give Gil, Spence, Sarr, NDogie, Skipp, even Harvey White plenty of gametime for a few hours I've changed my mind again.

Go for broke with Conte. Commit him to next season. If its all gone to shit in 18 months and we need a reboot, THEN get a progressive manager in. If Conte walks away in the summer, address it then. If Conte won;t commit, then of COURSE Levy will want veto on all signings. Spence like signings that alot of progressive managers will be able to work with he'll sign off on you'd imagine. Players like Bissouma who are PL proven he'd probably sign off on too. But I can understand Levy being wary of signing say a 26-30 year old for 3-5 years on big wages and a big fee if the manager that specifically demands that type of player is gone in less than 6 months.

 

[sidford]

Conte and Tottenham's awkward alliance needs full commitment to succeed

What Tottenham need and what Conte wants don't seem aligned, and this marriage of convenience is poised to get only more awkward over time.

www.espn.com

Sources close to the club have questioned whether Conte's gruelling training sessions are fully appropriate for the physical demands of a condensed, unprecedented season with a World Cup in the middle of it.


And so it begins, once stuff like this starts being leaked/spouted whatever you want to call it then there's usually not long left

 

[PLTuck]

Conte and Tottenham's awkward alliance needs full commitment to succeed

What Tottenham need and what Conte wants don't seem aligned, and this marriage of convenience is poised to get only more awkward over time.

www.espn.com

Sources close to the club have questioned whether Conte's gruelling training sessions are fully appropriate for the physical demands of a condensed, unprecedented season with a World Cup in the middle of it.


And so it begins, once stuff like this starts being leaked/spouted whatever you want to call it then there's usually not long left

lol Ally Gold is a fucking seer I tell ye.

YESTERDAY in his video he said expect these stories to start coming out in the next week or two.

We all know how this ends 99.9% of the time.

 

[soflapaul]

After dreaming of the romance of Poch or the excitement of a progressive manager who will give Gil, Spence, Sarr, NDogie, Skipp, even Harvey White plenty of gametime for a few hours I've changed my mind again.

Go for broke with Conte. Commit him to next season. If its all gone to shit in 18 months and we need a reboot, THEN get a progressive manager in. If Conte walks away in the summer, address it then. If Conte won;t commit, then of COURSE Levy will want veto on all signings. Spence like signings that alot of progressive managers will be able to work with he'll sign off on you'd imagine. Players like Bissouma who are PL proven he'd probably sign off on too. But I can understand Levy being wary of signing say a 26-30 year old for 3-5 years on big wages and a big fee if the manager that specifically demands that type of player is gone in less than 6 months.

BIngo. everything distilled into one simple paragraph. well done

 

[FinnYid]

And so it begins, once stuff like this starts being leaked/spouted whatever you want to call it then there's usually not long left

As long as any manager is on the job, performances on pitch can change that course. However if they don't change, then stories mount up more and time runs out.

 

[Stamford]

Briefing against our own manager. It's over.

 

[sidford]

lol Ally Gold is a fucking seer I tell ye.

YESTERDAY in his video he said expect these stories to start coming out in the next week or two.

We all know how this ends 99.9% of the time.

He's been around the club long enough to know what comes next and most of have been as well. I have said it several times but I don't see Conte here at end of month and this is a clear sign of it.

Fans need to make life at the ground as uncomfortable as possible for Levy from now on. At every game they should be singing levy out in-between songs / chants encouraging the team