Tottenham expected to call time on Antonio Conte

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Tottenham expected to call time on Antonio Conte

Published: 23 Mar. 2023, 16:11 Updated: 23 Mar. 2023, 18:06

Tottenham's head coach Antonio Conte leaves the field at the end of a Premier League match against Southampton at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, England on March 18. [AP/YONHAP]

A decision on Antonio Conte’s future at Tottenham Hotspur is expected to be made in the next few days with the Italian manager’s position looking increasingly untenable after he turned on his own players in a dramatic outburst following Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Southampton.

Tottenham have reportedly started to check the market for a possible Conte successor, with Ryan Mason expected to again step into the interim manager role if Chairman Daniel Levy does decide to show Conte the door.

Conte’s contract at Tottenham expires at the end of the season, but a string of disappointing results has led to increasing pressure to drop him sooner. Saturday’s outburst could well prove to be the final nail in the coffin for Conte’s future at Spurs, although some analysts suspect that may have been the Italian manager’s intention anyway.

“For me this is unacceptable,” Conte said on Saturday. “We are winning 3-1, in control and concede two goals.

“I think it’s better to go into the problem, we are not a team. We are 11 players that go into the pitch. I see selfish players, players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart [into it]. This season compared to last, now we are worse in this aspect. When you are not a team you cannot improve.”

Conte then rounded on the club itself.

“They don’t play for something important, yeah. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.

“It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this, 20 years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment. Until now I try to hide the situation but now, no, because I repeat I don’t want to see what I have seen today.”

If Spurs drop Conte before the end of the season they will be liable to pay him £15 million, a sum written into his contract as a guaranteed pay off if he is fired during the season.

That leaves Levy with a difficult decision to make. Having publicly railed against his own players, it’s difficult to imagine a situation where Conte can return to London in 10 days with the support and trust of the changing room. But removing him costs Spurs a huge chunk of cash, even if Conte has created this situation himself.

If Levy does take the leap, the overwhelming favorite to replace him is Mauricio Pochettino, the former Tottenham manager who led the club through some of its most successful years in recent history. But whether that move would actually pay off and Pochettino’s return would actually trigger a return to those glory days remains a huge gamble for the club.

Ultimately, the Conte debacle will end with no winners.

When Conte does leave, Tottenham will have fired four managers in the space of four years. That all reflects terribly on both Levy, who ultimately made every single one of those decisions, the players, who have been at the center of all those failures, and the club, which is so desperate to have one season where it doesn’t look like the circus is back in town.

And then there is Conte, the so-called serial winner, who’s Midas Touch has taken a serious hit at Spurs.

Although Conte has worked hard to blame all the problems on the club, there’s no arguing with the hit his reputation has taken during his spell in north London. There’s a lesson to be learned for all of us there — if you start a new job acting like the entire thing is beneath you and they’re lucky to have you, you better be prepared to prove it.

Conte is currently back in Italy for the international break. Tottenham will be back in action with a game against Everton on April 3, but whether the Italian manager will be on the touchline remains to be seen.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]