Jamie Carragher believes Tottenham manager Antonio Conte wants to be sacked, while Jamie Redknapp feels the Italian’s position is becoming untenable after his extraordinary speech following the 3-3 draw at Southampton.
A furious Conte called his Spurs players “selfish”, criticized their underachievement and attacked the club’s property in a surprising outburst after his side blew a two-goal lead at bottom Southampton.
“Conte wants to be fired in this international break” sky sports commentator Carragher tweeted. “The Spurs should just put him out of his misery and do it tonight.”
Tottenham’s collapse at St Mary’s ends a miserable March after they were knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League earlier this month, leaving them trophyless since 2008.
Carragher added: “Your argument about Spurs not winning for long is right, but you don’t talk about your own club like that.
“Especially when you’re taking fortunes from them! Arsenal’s improvement this season after finishing above them last season kills a lot of their arguments.”
Redknapp: Conte’s position is becoming untenable
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Tottenham manager Antonio Conte criticizes his team after late collapse at Southampton
Conte’s contract with Spurs expires this summer but Redknapp feels the 53-year-old will struggle to reach the end of the season despite Tottenham lying fourth with 10 games to spare.
“It looks like his position is becoming untenable – I don’t see where he goes from here,” said the former Spurs midfielder sky sports.
“I felt like he was trying to quit his job after they lost to Nottingham Forest. [in the Carabao Cup].
“Tottenham have a history of sacking managers, even before the cup finals. When you start selecting players it’s a surefire way to lose a dressing room.
“He’s mostly talking about the owners not having won a trophy in the 15 years since the current chairman has been in charge. They’ve had 10 or 11 managers. Great managers but they’ve never won anything.
“He feels that as long as the owners are in charge, they will buy the players you need.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the 3-3 draw between Southampton and Tottenham in the Premier League
“I thought Conte might be the one to get the keys to the kingdom to buy the players he needs, but I think too many players have been forced on him.
“Usually in his two or three years at clubs he wins. Even he feels he cannot win at Tottenham. It’s a sorry state.”
sky sports news reported earlier this month that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is under huge pressure to reappoint Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs manager, with a number of players and staff imploring the Argentine to return and reinvigorate the club.
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Melissa Reddy says Antonio Conte will remain in charge of Tottenham for the foreseeable future, but explains that the club understands that things can change quickly in football
Redknapp added: “The chairman will be thinking if this manager can galvanize this team into the top four.
“There are two really good coaches out there. Do you go back to Pochettino? Or do you go to Thomas Tuchel?
“Hell [Daniel Levy] will stay there because he always stays there but maybe someone has to take a look at who is running the club because it has been failing on the pitch. Off the pitch he’s spectacular, but on the pitch he hasn’t been good enough.”
O’Hara: Levy won’t like Conte’s interview | ‘I’ll be surprised if he wins next weekend’
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy watched at St Mary’s on Saturday
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara also agreed with Carragher and Redknapp on Conte’s position and feels that Levy, who was present at St Mary’s on Saturday, will be unhappy with the Italian’s comments.
O’Hara said sky sports: “I can’t believe he came out after a game and said that. I find it shocking.
“I don’t necessarily disagree with him on some of the things he said in terms of desire and passion and players not playing for each other, but those things are said in the dressing room after the game, or on Monday morning. Daniel Levy.
“To publicly come out and fully criticize the entire football club, I find it outrageous.
“The players are obviously going to listen to this interview – he has blasted them. If you’re digging them up in the media, they’re going to turn away.
“For him to say ‘them’ and not ‘us’ which to me potentially says the players aren’t playing for him, he’s looking for a way out.
Antonio Conte was appointed Spurs manager in November 2021
“I don’t think he necessarily wants to be there and I think the club will have to make a big decision.
“I don’t think Daniel Levy is going to like this interview. If Conte does it next weekend, I’ll be surprised. I think he’s looking for a way out.
“He talked about being selfish but he’s the one being selfish when you speak out and criticize everyone at the club but you.
“That to me sounds like a wake-up call and I think Levy will look at the comments he made because he included Levy in those comments and said, ‘That’s enough, we can’t take that from a Tottenham manager.
“We all wanted it to work and it didn’t and it’s getting a little sour now.
“Maybe you look at that and say, ‘If we get a coach next week like Pochettino, let’s do it now, let’s cut ties and move on.
“You don’t have to pay him [Conte] a four- or five-year contract he signed. His contract runs out at the end of the season, it won’t cost much to let him go and, by the looks of it, he doesn’t want to be there.”