Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Aleks]

I really hope that if he leaves we find a manager ASAP and don't just give it to Mason for the rest of the year.

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

I really hope that if he leaves we find a manager ASAP and don't just give it to Mason for the rest of the year.

I don’t think we would. I think the only reason we gave it to Mason before was because we had no hope of Top 4 and were (apparently) confident of getting Hansi Flick.

 

[Hoopspur]

He meant this or he meant that? Did he even know what he was saying? Surely a kind of rant like that takes its own direction.

If he did know what he was saying then maybe it was planned and may have been done with the approval of those ‘itk’ within the club.

Time will tell. What time is the Board meeting?

 

[MR_BEN]

Because it with or without him it won't change a thing. That's why it's a "they" thing. It doesn't matter who the manager is when the culture from the board to the players is second rate and has been for 20 years.

2nd rate for 20 years? Get a grip.

20 years ago we’d be sacking a manager if we were finishing outside the top 12…. We were terrible.

we are now classed as one of the top 6 teams, in the best league in the world, where finishing outside of the top 4 is deemed a failure….

that doesn’t sound like 20 years of failure to me.

6 or 7 years of stagnation maybe - but be honest with yourself about the teams above us in the pecking order…

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Not sure how you can call your employer penny pinching when he’s paying you £15m a year …

And the same with the players,
Spurs 1st team squad payroll per year approx. £131,000,000
Saints 1st team squad payroll per year approx. £59,000,000

 

[arthurgrimsdell]

Conte protecting his image? To what end? Do people seriously think he gives a rats arse about that? His reputation will remain intact and he'll be a sought after manager regardless of anything that happens at a club that are specialists in failure. The inner world of football is a LOT more pragmatic than the highly strung state of a clubs fans.

He's protecting his self-image.

 

[Clockspur]

So, I assume then, that if he’s somehow still in charge in two weeks time for Everton, we’ll see wholesale changes?

All the cowardly selfish players will be dropped until they start playing for the team… right?

We won’t just see

Forster
Porro
Romero
Dier
Lenglet
Perisic
Hojbjerg
Skipp
Kulu
Son
Kane

Forster - Clearly wasn’t directed at him, mentioned his great save
Porro - again not directed at him
Romero - not directed at him
Dier - I would pick a traffic cone over him
Lenglet - we have zero alternative - don’t you dare say Sanchez as he is somehow worse
Perisic - agreed, this guy shouldn’t start, but is Sess fit?
Hojbjerg - we don’t have a fit alternative
Skipp - we don’t have a fit alternative
Kulu - the alternative is faaacking Lucas
Son - Yes Danjuma should be given a chance
Kane - clearly not aimed at him

I think Bentancur alongside Kane was doing a lot of heavy lifting in this side - he really has been an amazing signing for us.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

If we were going to sack him before the end of the season now is the only point doing that makes sense. We have two weeks of International games which would give whoever came in a bit of time to work.

If he lasts the break then one could well assume Levy is 100% committed to letting him see out his contract. Or considering we have had ITK that the board have supposedly decided on their top target there is also the chance he may not be available until summer and the board consider Mason too big of a risk for an extended period.

Of course I say all that but I’d also not be surprised if we lost our first game after the break and Levy fires him then. Ether way I don’t really see the point in criticising Conte anymore, everyone knows he’s off, players, board, press.. at this point it just feels like waisted energy.

 

[MR_BEN]

And the same with the players,
Spurs 1st team squad payroll per year approx. £131,000,000
Saints 1st team squad payroll per year approx. £59,000,000

That’s not enough for some fans…. They just trot out the same old crap about Levy / the Club being penny pinching etc regardless of how much we spend.

likely the same fans who whinge about the stadium debt….

 

[Gbspurs]

Ledleys issues were injury related. Romeros are stupidity which ultimately costs the team.

elite covers all bases, not just ability. It’s mentality, playing under stress etc.

It’s a daft comparison anyway. Had Ledley been injury free he’d have been elite for man utd.

Was Sergio Ramos elite?

 

[Clockspur]

I honestly wonder if some think the Transfer market is just a have your choice and pack it in the bag.

We most likely never had a shot on Skriniar and we wont have With Gvardiol and Bastoni because unfortunately they and other Clubs are having also a say on this.

It raises questions though why we passed on affordable targets like Kim and Botman for example. If we are looking for next season, take a close look on Philipp Lienhart I would say.

i am fine with missing out on targets, what I don’t understand is how you drop from Skriniar to Joe Rodon - it’s like deciding you want to go to the Ivy for your birthday meal but then changing to Burger King at the last second.

Chelsea signed more CB’s in a month this summer than we have in 6 years - whether we like it or not that’s what we’re competing against. Arsenal kept buying CB’s until they hit it right as have United and City. Liverpool went after the one CB who could transform their defence and win things.

We looked at RB/DM Eric Dier and went he’ll do.

 

[Harrier]

You know what really pisses me off? People's inability to understand that you can believe in two statements that in part oppose each other. Does my fucking head in. You can be in support of Conte's comments AND want him gone at the same time....

I doubt there are many fans that would disagree with the contents of his statement.

What I VEHEMENTLY disagree with is doing this in public and spouting it with such vitriol to the media. It’s incredibly unprofessional IMHO.

 

[DJS]

Son is a problem this year yes

Hugo is finished, Davies isnt and never really had been the required level. Skipp is not the required level.

ENIC Dier might just be the biggest loader at the club. It boils my piss that he is still at Spurs - which of the other top 6 would he start for? Not a single fucking one of them.

so I disagree whole heartedly with you I am afraid

Disagree massively regarding Skipp and also Davies, who has been pretty good for us in recent games and was out injured yesterday - if he’d been playing I reckon we’d have won, rather than having Perisic on wing.

Dier is rubbish though.

 

[wishkah]

He wants to be sacked. Please let him go for everyone’s sake. Masons pressure free team would have won this one.

 

[HildoSpur]

Was Sergio Ramos elite?

Um.. yes he was

 

[Timberwolf]

Conte protecting his image? To what end? Do people seriously think he gives a rats arse about that? His reputation will remain intact and he'll be a sought after manager regardless of anything that happens at a club that are specialists in failure. The inner world of football is a LOT more pragmatic than the highly strung state of a clubs fans.

I think he cares about his image a lot. Almost all these top managers have humungous egos and care a great deal about how they are perceived.

He's already been rejected by clubs like Man Utd because of his intensity and I have no doubt that his weak record in Europe has put off clubs like Madrid and PSG that may have considered him otherwise. Being seen to have failed at Spurs really doesn't help his reputation as a so-called 'serial winner' and I'm sure that hurts him.

Him coming, say, 6th or 7th with Spurs would be the worst season of his career and I think he really, really doesn't like the idea of having that on his resume. Or at least being seen to be the one to blame for it - which to my mind is one of the reason's for yesterday's outburst.

 

[Oscar22]

Forster - Clearly wasn’t directed at him, mentioned his great save
Porro - again not directed at him
Romero - not directed at him
Dier - I would pick a traffic cone over him
Lenglet - we have zero alternative - don’t you dare say Sanchez as he is somehow worse
Perisic - agreed, this guy shouldn’t start, but is Sess fit?
Hojbjerg - we don’t have a fit alternative
Skipp - we don’t have a fit alternative
Kulu - the alternative is faaacking Lucas
Son - Yes Danjuma should be given a chance
Kane - clearly not aimed at him

I think Bentancur alongside Kane was doing a lot of heavy lifting in this side - he really has been an amazing signing for us.

So we play the cowardly selfish players who won’t be interested in playing for him at all? The ones he threw under the bus yesterday? I’m not saying he was necessarily wrong in his comments about the players, but if they are that bad, play youth players no?

How are you going to make those comments about players, then play the exact same ones and expect a miraculous turnaround?

Or is it now a case of we have cowardly players but actually “I wasn’t talking about you though…. Or you… or you… or…”

 

[Clockspur]

This argument falls apart when you look at how we just spent 60 on Richi and 50 on Porro, but whatever

No it doesn’t, because Arsenal have outspent us 2 seasons running - £500m over 2 summers and prepared to drop a further £100m this winter despite not kicking a CL football for 6 years.

I accept we have a more limited budget - why oh why then, if we had £110m available after finalising then Romero deal did we spend £40m on a “club signing” and a guy who had to remain on loan for the rest of the season.

Conte was essentially given £75m this summer - Man United spent £80m on one shit player alone

 

[Joely]

Son is a problem this year yes

Hugo is finished, Davies isnt and never really had been the required level. Skipp is not the required level.

ENIC Dier might just be the biggest loader at the club. It boils my piss that he is still at Spurs - which of the other top 6 would he start for? Not a single fucking one of them.

so I disagree whole heartedly with you I am afraid

Dier and Davies.....nearly a decade at the club for both of them and clear neither has the ability required and here we are with them regulars in the team. Other top 6 clubs wouldnt touch them with a barge pole but doubt likes of Newcastle, West Ham or Leicester would want them.

 

[Jamturk]

You mean "bigger and better clubs" like Brighton and Newcastle who will probably finish ahead of us this season. "Not winning anything is unfortunate" it's not now and again it's all the "bleedin" time. "This is in no way a failure" you have to be joking. I have to assume you were being sarcastic if not then you are delusional.

What does that make the likes of Everton, Villa, Leeds, Forest all with similar or even richer histories than us?

We're not winners (We really never have been) but we're not failures either.

I look at our trajectory and it is still pointing up as far as I can see.