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Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

jpascavitz

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
2,188
8,264
I hated the whole second season. Hated it!

I wasn't a total Conte hater like some were online, because he did always seem to get results when he was dialed in. But looking back, that second season was just absolutely soul sucking for myself and totally agree with you. I was rarely excited for matches and when I did watch it was some of the most unexcited and un-entertained I've ever been watching Spurs. If he's getting results like in the first season, that's one thing. I remember being out with friends and we watched a 1-0 win later in the season and we had less possession, sitting in at at home against some mid-table side (lol). Some of it wasn't his fault. He went through a tough time personally and I'm sure that had affects on his mental wellbeing.
 

Trix

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2004
21,607
356,705
Since ENIC took over a key part of their strategy was buying young talent and developing them. Eriksen, Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Dawson, Dele, Son etc... etc....

We're not a club who wants to focus on buying too many 29 yr olds on high wages
- which is what Conte would have preferred.


Conte had no bother whatsoever buying and using regularly 21 yo Dejan Kulusevski. Why because he was the right fit and profile. It's funny that some keep dropping this "Conte only wanted experienced players with no sell on value" as some sort of excuse for getting him the players he wanted. Yes he wanted some older players, some experienced winners that were coming to the end of their career's but it wasn't because they were old, it was because they had been there and done it.

Ange has come out this week and said we lack leadership and players who can negotiate the tough games and drag players through. Is it any surprise we are at times still so mentally fragile, and we just crumble when the pressure is on? Conte saw this, Conte said this, and Conte wanted to address this.......He got Djed Spence and Lenglet.
 

mattspur1986

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2007
1,244
6,416
He’s a great manager and we were great under him for a short period at the end of that first season. He clearly decided he was done with it in the second season and effectively downed tools.

It’s a real shame because if we’d done a bit more for him in the summer window I think he would’ve given it a proper go. We obviously needed to sign him Bastoni (even if it cost more than we wanted to pay) and giving him Lenglet instead was probably the final straw.
A story as old as time under levy’s Tottenham, alwys the cheaper, short term version of what the manager wants/neeed.

ive seen a aggregator on twitter saying okeefe has said a lot of damning things about not paying for eze cos if wage demands, and saying the clubs focus isn’t the football, but trying to increase our valuation as a company.

pinch of salt obvs, but if true, would it truly surprise you? And WTAF! How can anyone with any passion/a desire to succeed want to work with those restrictions?
 

fishhhandaricecake

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2018
21,770
54,250
Conte didn’t work for us we all know why and what happened after his strong start with us but the fact that he’s now got Napoli top and flying just shows he was damn right when he spoke about “20years the same owners and they won nothing”

The amount of players and managers who thrive at other clubs but not with us is incredible and it’s quite clear and obvious for the most part why that is.
 

fishhhandaricecake

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2018
21,770
54,250
Conte had no bother whatsoever buying and using regularly 21 yo Dejan Kulusevski. Why because he was the right fit and profile. It's funny that some keep dropping this "Conte only wanted experienced players with no sell on value" as some sort of excuse for getting him the players he wanted. Yes he wanted some older players, some experienced winners that were coming to the end of their career's but it wasn't because they were old, it was because they had been there and done it.

Ange has come out this week and said we lack leadership and players who can negotiate the tough games and drag players through. Is it any surprise we are at times still so mentally fragile, and we just crumble when the pressure is on? Conte saw this, Conte said this, and Conte wanted to address this.......He got Djed Spence and Lenglet.
Spot on although if the club wants to focus primarily on younger players then :
1. We should’ve never hired Conte
2. It’ll be damn hard to win anything as you need some out and out quality and experience alongside the younger players, if the balance is wrong then that’s not good
 

Nerine

Juicy corned beef
Jan 27, 2011
5,258
20,380
It's alllllll well and good reminiscing about this stuff, but what are we gonna do about it?

Call for Ange's head too, as most of the melts are doing??

People need to wise up.
 

14/04/91

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2006
3,878
6,530
Since ENIC took over a key part of their strategy was buying young talent and developing them. Eriksen, Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Dawson, Dele, Son etc... etc....

We're not a club who wants to focus on buying too many 29 yr olds on high wages - which is what Conte would have preferred.

But every team needs some wise heads. And Enic have done this from time to time. Naybet, Davids and Van der Vaart were brilliant signings and show perfectly how a sprinkle of experience can add so much. Conte got Perisic too (and on big money).
 

YB123

YB123
Aug 27, 2006
6,357
22,604
People seem to conveniently forget this. Yes his second season was a disaster, but he lost all interest after the Summer window imo and then blew up for that reason(plus all the bereavements). Like many others he wasn't backed, end of story for me. Yes he could have handled things miles better, but he knew it was a lost cause and so sulked and bitched his way to a pay off........ because he could.

Spot on. He got given Spence and Lenglet after miraculously getting us Top 4....
 

YB123

YB123
Aug 27, 2006
6,357
22,604
It's alllllll well and good reminiscing about this stuff, but what are we gonna do about it?

Call for Ange's head too, as most of the melts are doing??

People need to wise up.

Well said. We've tried everything haven't we. When you come to terms that we will never succeed under Levy and Enic, it becomes a lot easier.
 

Kingellesar

This is the way
May 2, 2005
9,020
9,641
He was one of the only managers I felt we might win something under, he came in and got us playing some really good football to begin with. And the start of the following season after the Chelsea touchline incident and the late equaliser, just felt like we were going places. But a mixture of Levy being Levy, the players not having any leadership qualities and some personal issues he was dealing with just all seemed to snowball.

The negative football was really ugly though, like unwatchable at times.
 

funkycoldmedina

Well-Known Member
Jun 20, 2004
2,650
8,671
Conte on his Napoli squad "I have guys who are ready to die for the team they play for."
He got Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Romelu Lukaku, warriors FFS. If he can get a tune out of them he should've done better with the Spurs squad.

He always knew he was up against in our league, 3 or 4 better managers than him and he wasn't up for the fight, speaks volumes in my eyes. He's in his happy place so good luck to him
 

animal

Active Member
Mar 16, 2005
580
209
I don't remember us having the 4th best squad.

I do wonder what might have happened if we truly backed Conte. One thing is for certain his first season we looked really good at times.
Without doubt had any one of Pochettino, Mourinho or Conte had been properly backed they would've won trophies.
 

ZiggySpurs

Ziggy Spursdust was a missed opportunity
Dec 28, 2020
1,600
9,974
I wish him the best of luck, really enjoyed our football under him at times and didn't like it at all at others. Curious if him sticking around longer would have been fruitful, but with all the circumstances in his life (including his family living in Italy) it made sense for him to go back home.
 

TOLBINY

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2019
1,325
3,005
Conte had no bother whatsoever buying and using regularly 21 yo Dejan Kulusevski. Why because he was the right fit and profile. It's funny that some keep dropping this "Conte only wanted experienced players with no sell on value" as some sort of excuse for getting him the players he wanted. Yes he wanted some older players, some experienced winners that were coming to the end of their career's but it wasn't because they were old, it was because they had been there and done it.

Ange has come out this week and said we lack leadership and players who can negotiate the tough games and drag players through. Is it any surprise we are at times still so mentally fragile, and we just crumble when the pressure is on? Conte saw this, Conte said this, and Conte wanted to address this.......He got Djed Spence and Lenglet.
He wanted to buy Bastoni at 23 years of age, he got Lenglet on loan at 27 years of age - To Dare is Too Dear.
 

dannyo

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2006
1,062
3,348
Are we pining for Conte now? He was a bad appointment for us, not because he’s a bad manager but because we were never ever going to give him what he wanted to achieve success. The bust up and the sulking off was the most obvious conclusion you’ve ever seen coming.

Also, going to games in that second season, after already enduring Mourinho and Nuno, was the most soul-sapping, negative experience. Is he an elite manager? Most definitely. Do I enjoy going to games more now than I did then? Most definitely. I’m not sure if we’ll win anything under Ange, and he can be frustratingly naive/stubborn, but give me a manager who’s proud to be here, who understands how much he’s hand-tied by the owners, and who wants to play good football over that negative, moany bloke any day of the week.
 

Rout-Ledge

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2005
10,016
22,875
Are we pining for Conte now? He was a bad appointment for us, not because he’s a bad manager but because we were never ever going to give him what he wanted to achieve success. The bust up and the sulking off was the most obvious conclusion you’ve ever seen coming.

Also, going to games in that second season, after already enduring Mourinho and Nuno, was the most soul-sapping, negative experience. Is he an elite manager? Most definitely. Do I enjoy going to games more now than I did then? Most definitely. I’m not sure if we’ll win anything under Ange, and he can be frustratingly naive/stubborn, but give me a manager who’s proud to be here, who understands how much he’s hand-tied by the owners, and who wants to play good football over that negative, moany bloke any day of the week.
Not pining over Conte per se, but bemoaning the fact that our problems clearly come from the top. Ange may or may not be good enough to achieve something significant with us. Conte unquestionably is/was good enough. The failure to take advantage of a golden opportunity and provide an elite coach with one blockbuster summer window is an abject disgrace. The £150m being made available was a complete PR con job because we weren’t willing to spend it on the player Conte wanted most (Bastoni).

I can absolutely see why Conte viewed that window as a failure. Forster, Spence, Lenglet, Perisic, Bissouma, Richarlison. There’s not a single player in the bunch who clearly improved our first 11. Bissouma looked good but was an opportunistic bargain buy who’s proven to be a mixed bag. Richarlison added depth but wasn’t better than Son, Kane or Kulusevski. Perisic was the best of the bunch but ageing and not fit for purpose as a LWB. The less said about the other three the better, and Conte clearly didn’t want any of them (bar maybe Forster).
 
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newbie

Well-Known Member
Jul 16, 2004
6,461
7,019
People seem to conveniently forget this. Yes his second season was a disaster, but he lost all interest after the Summer window imo and then blew up for that reason(plus all the bereavements). Like many others he wasn't backed, end of story for me. Yes he could have handled things miles better, but he knew it was a lost cause and so sulked and bitched his way to a pay off........ because he could.

true but how much backing would he have required and it was only a matter of when he exploded.
 
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