When Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho after just 17 months in charge, Chairman Daniel Levy was faced with a daunting task of finding another top manager with as much charisma and technical knowledge that can get the club back to been serious contenders for the title.
Their previous exploit of reaching the UCL final under former boss now PSG Manager Mauricio Pochettino looked a distant feat and fans were obviously becoming too restless and agitated. They finished that season under care-taker manager and soon the hunt for a new manager started.
The likes of Julian Nagelsman of RB Leipzig, Brendan Rogers, Diego Simeone and Nuno Espirito Santo were all lined up to be approached with the prospect of taking over the job. At the end, it was Nuno who dared to accept the challenge of leading the Spurs challenge, but with top players of the club and influential captain; Harry Kane clearly wanting out, it was more of a ticking time bomb at the club. Little wonder that the circle has repeated itself quickly and the club is about to start a new phase under Antonio Conte.
Nuno spent just 10 weeks as manager, a far worse record than Jose managed with the North London club, and even though both had a transfer window under their belt, Conte does not have the luxury of shopping for the players he wants but forced to work with those assembled by others, and yes, with a want-away captain in the shape and mould of Harry Kane.
One thing is certain though, Conte’s coming has a better all-round feeling to it compared to the self-destructive Jose Mourinho. Both are proven winners but with a clearly different approach to success, while Jose is ready to sacrifice everything to get what he wants even insulting players after terrible performances, Conte prefers to man manage his players to get the best out of them. That alone is comforting to all Spur’s fans who know that as long as Harry Kane is convinced to play for the club, then the rest players will get in-sync too.
The fact that he didn’t sign a long term contract shows both parties are being cautious, let him pilot the team to the end of the season, get a transfer window under his belt and see where it can lead them from there, if he deserves another contract by then the results will speak for itself. But don’t let this pass lightly, Conte has the tools to work some magic with this side, and with one of the best stadiums across Europe, he also has the facilities to help him inject the right mentality to the squad.
He does not accept failure or below par performances, hence, his desire to have competition in almost every position, that he does not have at the moment but the January transfer window is just around the corner, two months precisely, and with his personality and the respect he commands, expect to see an influx of players heading to the club. He only has to signify interest and they will respond to him. The likes of Victor Moses of Spartak Moscow, a player who thrived under Conte in Chelsea and Inter Milan are already been mooted to be on the cards for a return back to England to join the Conte revival at Tottenham.
Rival fans are already preparing for tougher encounters now that Conte is in charge, he is known to properly drill his teams to make it extremely difficult to play against. A model that has delivered the EPL title for him in Chelsea and most recently, the Italian Scudetto with Inter Milan.
He has confirmed that he is “scared” he does not have enough time to work but pleaded for time and patience as he aims to turn it into a team with a killer instinct. He has won his first match in charge, a 3-2 win over Vitesse in the Uropa League which he described as “crazy”, but the 52 year old will be hoping that will be the first of many wins in the coming weeks as he quickly wants to stabilize the team after a difficult start to the season, with the team sitting on 9th position on the log table with a tricky trip to Rapheal Benitez led Everton side, desperate to get back to winning ways themselves this weekend.
