Despite returning to England just over a year ago off the back of a Serie A title win with Inter Milan, Antonio Conte’s time back in the Premier League has so far not quite gone to plan.
The no-nonsense Italian succeeded Nuno Espirito Santo in the Tottenham hot seat back in November 2021 and although he was expected to restore the Lilywhites’ exciting style of play, it has yet to happen, with the club arguably worse off now than they were then.
Sitting outside of the league’s top four, Spurs, who have played a game more than fourth-placed Newcastle, saw their Champions League qualification hopes suffer another blow after they were thumped 4-1 by Leicester City last weekend.
Consequently, speculation surrounding Conte has once again begun to mount. The latest name to weigh in on the Italian’s future has been former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who while speaking in an exclusive interview, said: “Sometimes there are managers that just don’t fit clubs and I think Antonio Conte at Spurs is one of those examples. We also saw it with Rafa Benitez at Everton and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
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“Stylistically, Spurs fans rightfully have a certain expectation of how the team should play and Conte is failing to deliver that so it’s strange to me why he, or the players, have yet to really come under fire. All the heat appears to be directed at Daniel Levy.
“Interestingly, I’ve seen some whispers about three of the top jobs in Serie A potentially being available in the summer and Conte being in line to take up one of them, so in terms of what the incentive is for him to do well at Spurs, and only Spurs, I don’t think it exists.
“Conte is probably looking at the complete picture and thinking ‘some of my best players could leave soon, I haven’t been properly backed in the market and the fans are protesting against the owners – do I really need this?’
Should Conte depart Spurs at the end of the season, Mauricio Pochettino will probably be a leading contender to replace him. The Argentine, who managed the Lilywhites for five years, may feel he has some unfinished business at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after he was relieved of his duties at the end of 2019.