عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Reign Could Be Nearing the End

Football - Premier League - Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - March 18, 2023 Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - March 18, 2023 Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte reacts. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Reign Could Be Nearing the End

Football - Premier League - Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - March 18, 2023 Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - March 18, 2023 Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte reacts. (Reuters)

Even by Antonio Conte's standards, it was a remarkable outburst that leaves his position as manager at Tottenham in even greater doubt.

The fiery Italian, who will soon be out of contract, has long been expected to leave his post at the end of the season. But after publicly criticizing his players and the Premier League club's ownership following Saturday's 3-3 draw with last-place Southampton, he might not last that long.

"They don’t want to play under pressure. They don’t want to play under stress," Conte said Saturday. "Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the (same) owner and they never won something."

Conte is a serial winner who has also developed a reputation for conflict. While he has been unable to deliver trophies in his 16 months at Tottenham, the conflict has come.

After months of speculation about his future, Champions League elimination by AC Milan in the round of 16 this month appeared the be the beginning of the end for Conte.

Afterward he claimed his players were "soft," fan patience was "finished," and that it would take a "miracle" to win a trophy.

The 53-year-old coach, who has just returned to the touchline after recovering from gallbladder surgery, also said he would not "kill himself" in pursuit of success at a club that has not won a major trophy since the League Cup in 2008.

Conte's criticism of his players is unlikely to improve his relations with them after Brazil international Richarlison complained about his lack of playing time this season.

Meanwhile, his withering assessment of Tottenham's owners could prompt chairman Daniel Levy into action at a time when Champions League qualification is still a possibility.

The risk is that Conte's erratic outbursts could see the team's challenge for a top-four finish unravel if it leads to unrest within the squad.

Some have interpreted Conte's actions as evidence that he wants go now.

"Conte wants to be sacked in this international break," TV commentator Jamie Carragher wrote on Twitter on Saturday. "Spurs should just put him out of his misery and do it tonight."

If these are Conte's final days at Tottenham, they echo the end of his Chelsea reign in 2018.

Despite winning the Premier League title and FA Cup in his two seasons in charge at Stamford Bridge, he was openly critical about the club's transfer business and fell out with striker Diego Costa.

Conte has developed a reputation as a demanding manager.

Amid links with Manchester United last season, the club's former captain and now TV commentator Gary Neville urged against hiring him despite his stellar reputation.

"I wouldn’t bring Conte in to United," he said at the time. "He’s not a fit for United."

Conte went on to lead Tottenham to a top-four finish and into the Champions League, while United endured its worst ever Premier League campaign.

It appeared to be further evidence of Conte's golden touch after winning five league championships and numerous other trophies with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

But there was always the possibility that he would grow frustrated if Tottenham could not match his own ambitions and provide him with the players to seriously challenge at the top of the Premier League.

Spurs spent about $140 million since his arrival, including $73.5 million on Richarlison.

While they are currently in fourth place, both Newcastle and Liverpool can overtake them if they win their games in hand.

The loss to Milan felt like a missed opportunity to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, having avoided Europe's best teams — Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Napoli — in the round of 16.

There was also the embarrassing loss to second-division club Sheffield United in the FA Cup at the start of the month.

Conte has had to contend with personal trauma following the deaths of three close friends over the past five months — Tottenham fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, and former players Sinisa Mihailovic and Gianluca Vialli.

He then had to deal with his own health issues when undergoing gallbladder surgery in February.

Still, the season is far from a lost cause, and back-to-back top-four finishes would be considered a success for many teams — especially one that has not won a major trophy in 15 years.

For a serial winner like Conte, however, it doesn't appear to be enough to satisfy his relentless ambition.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France's three-time Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada's Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love", in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

The 30-meter (98 ft) high balloon carrying a 7-meter diameter ring of fire took to the air and was hovering dozens of meters above the ground.

It will be in the air from sunset until 2 am local time every day, organizers said.

"We are so proud of this show, I'm so proud that sport and culture were celebrated in such a fantastic manner tonight, it was a first and the result was fantastic despite the rain," Paris 2024 organizing president Tony Estanguet told reporters.

A fleet of barges took the competitors on a 6 km-stretch of the river alongside some of the French capital's most famous landmarks, as performers recreated some of the sports to be showcased in the Games on floating platforms.

It was the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside a stadium, adding to the headaches for a vast security operation, just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed TGV rail network caused travel chaos across France.

"I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living in peace," International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach said as the ceremony came to an end at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition started on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday.

As the show started four hours earlier, a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke, resembling the French flag, was sent high above a bridge over the Seine as part of a show that included many postcard-like depictions of France, including a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge dancers on the banks.

A more modern image of the country was on display when French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most-listened to French female singer in the world, sang some of her biggest hits, accompanied by the French Republican Guard's army choir.

Nakamura's performance drew some of the ceremony's biggest cheers. Rumors of her inclusion had sparked a row over French identity, with supporters saying she represented the vibrancy of modern-day France while her detractors said her music owes more to foreign influences than French.

POURING RAIN

While the celebration of French culture, fashion and history was warmly cheered by many of the 300,000 spectators lining the river, hundreds were seen leaving early as the rain fell.

"It was good other than the rain, it was nice, it was different, instead of being in a stadium being on the river, so that's always a good thing - interesting, unique," said Avid Pureval, 34, who came to the Games from Ohio.

"Once you're wet, it's fine," he said. Still, he was heading back to his hotel after the French boat passed, long before the ceremony ended.

"It would have been better with sun," said Josephine, from Paris, sitting beside her 9-year-old daughter and who paid 1,600 euros ($1,736) for her seat.

With many world leaders and VIPs present, the ceremony was protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine's riverbed was swept for bombs, and Paris' airspace was closed.

Some 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers were deployed in a huge security operation in Paris for the ceremony. Armed police patrolled along the river in inflatable boats as the armada made its passage along the Seine.

WELCOMED IN TAHITI

A mix of French and international stars, including soccer great Zinedine Zidane, 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and three paralympic athletes were among the last torchbearers before the cauldron was lit.

It will blaze until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.

At the start of the parade, applause erupted for the Greek boat - the first delegation, by tradition - and there were even bigger cheers for the boat that followed, carrying the refugees' team. The French, US and Ukrainian delegations also got loud cheers.

The two most decorated athletes in the Games' history, Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals.

At one point, there was a live crossover to the early morning welcome ceremony at the surfing venue, 16,000 km away in the Pacific island of Tahiti.

ISRAEL DELEGATION

France is at its highest level of security, though officials have repeatedly said there was no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.

But since the last Games - the Winter Olympics held in Beijing in 2022 - wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense international backdrop.

Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and are given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics due to the war in Gaza, officials say.

The Israel delegation got some boos, but also a lot of cheers, as it sailed by spectators, Reuters reporters saw. Chants of "Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!" rose from the crowd as the boat passed.

Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy. But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and cast a shadow over his moment on the international stage.