It Is Hard To See Antonio Conte Staying At Tottenham But It Will Be Even Harder To Replace Him

It will be very difficult for Antonio Conte to continue working as Tottenham Hotspur manager after his outburst in the wake of Wednesday's loss at Burnley.

It will be very difficult for Antonio Conte to continue working as Tottenham Hotspur manager after his outburst in the wake of Wednesday's loss at Burnley.

Once a manager says he is willing to walk, he almost inevitably has to follow through.

Conte was very honest in a lot of what he said - both in his interview with Sky Sport Italia last week and in his rant at Turf Moor.

READ MORE: Antonio Conte Hints At Imminent Tottenham Exit After Defeat At Burnley

But airing grievances with the Tottenham board in public is not a good look.

Nor is it productive. The transfer window has closed until the end of the season. So this is the group of players Conte has.

He effectively told Sky Sports on Wednesday night that he cannot succeed with the current squad. That the players are not good enough for him.

So not only has he upset those above him, he has publicly slated his own troops.

Of course, some of his players are good enough. Nobody will think for a second that Conte's words were meant for the likes of Harry Kane or Son Heung-min. But teams need to be united and Conte's sharp tongue is likely to have sparked division among the ranks.

Antonio Conte says the Club will now have to make an assessment about his future after a defeat to Burnley tonight. pic.twitter.com/z2QLaiEKZX

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 23, 2022

But Tottenham will not want to sack Conte for two reasons.

Firstly, if they sack him, they would have to pay him compensation, likely to the value of his contract which is due to run until June 2023.

Based on The Sun's claim this week that Conte was on £15m per year, 16 months of his salary would cost Spurs around £20m.

That may be a problem Conte will solve for Spurs because he sounded like a man ready to resign, rather than wait to be dismissed in his latest moan to the media.

But the main reason Spurs won't want to lose Conte is because he is a genuinely world class manager and they can't get anyone better.

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Spurs spent all summer trying to source a manager of Conte's level last summer and spectacularly failed, before reluctantly rolling the dice with Nuno Espirito Santo, only to sack him after 124 days.

Conte was eventually persuaded to take on the Tottenham project in November. But less than four months in it looks like he has decided that either Spurs are not worthy of his time, or that he is not good enough to miraculously transform them into a top team.

If Conte does leave, regardless of whether he walks or is pushed, Tottenham will have a huge problem attracting a suitable replacement.

What self-respecting manager is going to take on a project that two of the game's greatest have proven is almost impossible?

Antonio Conte has only been manager of Tottenham Hotspur since November 2, 2021 :: IMAGO/Philip Bryan

Conte was hands-down the best Spurs could get, on paper at least. So was Jose Mourinho when he arrived in November 2019.

The bar has been set so high that Spurs fans will demand another mega name to replace Conte if he departs.

Conte has played the fans and the board against each other. Naturally the fans will side with the manager when he publicly demands increased ambition and investment in the team.

If Spurs replace Conte with someone less glamorous then there is a risk that the fans who backed the Italian will view that new manager as the 'board's guy'.

The only way Spurs may be able hire someone who their supporters would be guaranteed to back would be if they hired a club legend.

So don't be surprised if Ryan Mason or Ledley King is given the job until the end of the season.

Also don't be surprised when it is discovered that even one of Tottenham's own cannot do a better job than Conte with the exact same players.