It was in the air, now it’s official. Antonio Conte is no longer the Tottenham manager. It is a consensual resolution with Spurs: until the end of the season, his deputy Cristian Stellini will sit on the bench of the English club. He will be joined by Ryan Mason in the role of Assistant Head Coach.
After the elimination from the round of 16 of the Champions League by Milan’s Stefano Pioli (1-0 on 24 February at the San Siro and 0-0 in London), the situation between Conte and Tottenham degenerated on 18 March at the end of the match that Spurs drew against Southampton. «They are used to it, they don’t play for something important, they don’t want to play under pressure, they are selfish. It’s easy this way – the coach had said – the story of Tottenham is this, for 20 years they have never won anything. I said I wanted to see fire in their eyes, in their hearts, and I didn’t see it. I wanted to see the right spirit. Not only in training, but also on the pitch because that’s where you make the difference.”
And again: «Up until now I have tried to hide the situation, but there are 10 games left and some people think we can fight. But fight for what? With this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? For seventh, eighth, tenth place? I’m not used to being in this location. I’m really angry and everyone has to take their responsibilities. Not just the club, the coach and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it’s time to change it if Tottenham want to change. If, on the other hand, they want to continue like this, they can change coaches, many managers, but everything will remain the same. For 20 years the various coaches took the blame, always apologizing to the players».
Important accusations in the umpteenth outburst of his career. His words that angered the players and took the club off guard. And it was goodbye. Now Conte is ready to return to Italy. Juventus and Inter (with Roma on the horizon in case of separation at the end of the season with José Mourinho) are thinking about it.