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Ever wondered how you can get yourself fired from a job you really hate but don’t want to quit?
Well, now we may have a blueprint thanks to Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte.
The 53-year-old Italian has a list of accolades that would make just about any manager blush.
He’s a three-time winner of Serie A win Italy with Juventus before winning a fourth with Inter Milan. He won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2017 and then the FA Cup the following year. He’s won the manager of the season award in both Italy and England.
But these days, the fiery old vet from Lecce is having a rough time of things.
He was brought into Tottenham mid-way through the 2021-22 season and guided the club to a Champions League spot in that half-season. Year two, however, has been a tougher go of things.
Conte didn’t get the signings over the summer that he wanted and Spurs have struggled. They currently sit fourth in the league, but with two more games played over fifth-placed Newcastle.
On Saturday, Tottenham blew a 3-1 lead against last-placed Southampton, allowing the tying goal deep into stoppage time for lose the victory.
That set Conte off…
“Tottenham’s story is this – 20 years there is this owner and they never won something. Why?” Conte said.
…
“The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here,” said Conte. “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 not now because, I repeat, I don’t want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans.” – via BBC.com
But that was just the start of his tirade.
“Not only the club, the manager and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change,” he said. “If they want to continue in this way, they can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.
“Maybe previously in the other games something can change. But here we’re used to it for a long time. The club has the responsibility for the transfer market, every coach that stayed here has the responsibility. And the players? The players? Where are the players?
“In my experience, I can tell you that if you want to be competitive, if you want to fight, you have to improve this aspect. And this aspect, I can tell you, in this moment is really, really low. And I see only 11 players that play for themselves.”
When asked why this is the case at Tottenham, Conte said: “Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important here. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.”
Only time will tell if Conte has a job when Tottenham reconvenes after the international break on April 3 to take on Everton.
But telling everyone in club that they’re giant losers doesn’t seem like the best plan if you don’t want to get fired.