Antonio Conte - Now Officially Manager

[Davey Baby]

Jose says it was a private conversation.

 

Firstly he shouted in Antonio's ear and then walked off, before Antonio had a chance to respond. Not much of a conversation then.

 

Secondly it was conducted right in front of a television camera, so not very private.

 

But yeah, other than that I suppose it was a private conversation.

[stevo]

I hope Conte completely ignores him from now on. No handshake, not even any eye contact.  Just a complete beating on the pitch and leave. 

[youlots]

2 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

You can't defend him this time, it was the definition of petulance, just shake the mans hand and move on. Giving Conte a lecture on when he should rally his own fans, in his own stadium is disrespectful and unnecessary, if he wanted to, he could have had a word in the dressing room, he did it because he was angry he didn't get his own way, simple. 

Have to agree with this. Although I wasn't at the game (for obvious reasons) I did watch it live down here. I thought ourlot were incredibly classy throughout the game in respect to Jose & just loved the irony when the Jose chants started after we'd put them to the sword - had a good chuckle & thought at the time that surely Jose must appreciate it too. At the end of the game Jose had, in turn, a golden opportunity to be classy in return but he stuffed it. All he had to do was smile & be gracious to Conte & say to him that we were too good on the day. Surely it has occurred to Jose (of all people) since the game that touchline managerial flamboyance is to be savoured and I hope for him that he has at least acknowledged to himself his hypocrisy in that regard. Anyway, the king is dead, long live king Conte etc etc. 

[youlots]

54 minutes ago, stevo said:

I hope Conte completely ignores him from now on. No handshake, not even any eye contact.  Just a complete beating on the pitch and leave. 

But don't you see - that would be exactly the wrong approach to take. The classy thing to do is always to be gracious & let bygones be bygones: it's only football for f**k sakes. In any case - if I have read Conte at all thus far - it would simply not be in his nature to act like that and nor would I be pleased if he did.

[DaRick]

You know, I have wondered why Conte chose to manage Chelsea when he realistically could have had his pick of clubs, given his profile, pedigree and performance during the EURO's. Sure we have a lot of money, but there are many more nouveau riche clubs around these days than there were even 10 years ago. 

Then it occurred to me - Conte obviously saw Chelsea as a project, much like Juventus was back in 2011. Basically, both were big clubs that were going through a down period. We had just finished 10th (!), Juventus had finished 7th and had not won the Scudetto (considering calciopoli) for about a decade. He saw the opportunity to mold both clubs into his own image and bring them back into prominence through an aggressive, pressing 3-defender formation with a ball-player at the back (For Luiz, see Bonucci). 

From that perspective, him joining Chelsea makes perfect sense. 

[Stim]

7 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

Jose says it was a private conversation.

Firstly he shouted in Antonio's ear and then walked off, before Antonio had a chance to respond. Not much of a conversation then.

Secondly it was conducted right in front of a television camera, so not very private.

But yeah, other than that I suppose it was a private conversation.

Well Antonio basically had his back to him by the time he was done, it was clear there would be no response.

If he wanted to do it in front of a camera he could have done it publicly in the post match and make a bigger deal of it. After a 4-0 he probably wants to make his point then get out. He basically was telling Conte he humiliated him, doubt he wanted to stick around.

4 hours ago, youlots said:

But don't you see - that would be exactly the wrong approach to take. The classy thing to do is always to be gracious & let bygones be bygones: it's only football for f**k sakes. In any case - if I have read Conte at all thus far - it would simply not be in his nature to act like that and nor would I be pleased if he did.

Yeah, strange how people would cheer a retaliation that was worse than the original offence. We won 4-0 and somehow came out the game with far more vitriol towards our former manager than before.

[CaptainConte]

Well well well....:)

[robdog]

just saw this image on Chelsea reddit & I wanted to share it

[Saru]

11 hours ago, Stim said:

Well Antonio basically had his back to him by the time he was done, it was clear there would be no response.

If he wanted to do it in front of a camera he could have done it publicly in the post match and make a bigger deal of it. After a 4-0 he probably wants to make his point then get out. He basically was telling Conte he humiliated him, doubt he wanted to stick around.

Yeah, strange how people would cheer a retaliation that was worse than the original offence. We won 4-0 and somehow came out the game with far more vitriol towards our former manager than before.

Is that what Fabregas has been doing on his time off? :D A way of getting back into the team? 

Edited October 26, 2016 by Saru

[Huttsey]

Just found this gem on the internet. 

EDIT: @robdog beat me to it!

Edited October 26, 2016 by Huttsey
I really should check what other people post on this thread, idiot.

[robdog]

1 hour ago, Huttsey said:

Just found this gem on the internet. 

EDIT: @robdog beat me to it!

Great Minds think alike ;)

[bola]

On 26/10/2016 at 10:22, DaRick said:

You know, I have wondered why Conte chose to manage Chelsea when he realistically could have had his pick of clubs, given his profile, pedigree and performance during the EURO's. Sure we have a lot of money, but there are many more nouveau riche clubs around these days than there were even 10 years ago. 

Then it occurred to me - Conte obviously saw Chelsea as a project, much like Juventus was back in 2011. Basically, both were big clubs that were going through a down period. We had just finished 10th (!), Juventus had finished 7th and had not won the Scudetto (considering calciopoli) for about a decade. He saw the opportunity to mold both clubs into his own image and bring them back into prominence through an aggressive, pressing 3-defender formation with a ball-player at the back (For Luiz, see Bonucci). 

From that perspective, him joining Chelsea makes perfect sense. 

has it ever occurred to you that which top club who at least in chelsea level that have gone to him in the summer? it's not like he had a lot of options (in term of top prospect) in the 1st place.. he should be thankful chelsea went in for him, not the other way around..

[DaRick]

52 minutes ago, bola said:

has it ever occurred to you that which top club who at least in chelsea level that have gone to him in the summer? it's not like he had a lot of options (in term of top prospect) in the 1st place.. he should be thankful chelsea went in for him, not the other way around..

No idea. Neither of us really know what offers Conte received. All we can do is speculate. 

However, given that he agreed to join Chelsea early in April 2016, he IMO would have received fewer offers than he otherwise would have had he waited until later (say, June) to consider his options. 

Had he waited until later, PSG, for example, might well have tried luring him, since IMO while Emery is a good manager he is not on par with Conte. Emery has been good at making sides competitive and (as of late) leading them to cup titles, but he does not quite have Conte's record, nor has he resurrected sides in the doldrums like Conte has. Even in Ligue 1, PSG is ATM underperforming. 

Like it or not, at that point in time PSG was at least arguably higher profile than Chelsea.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2016 by DaRick

[Nibs]

Disappointing last night but as much as it grates ti lose to the pikeys, I think the majority of us would take the defeat if we can carry on our good league form. 7 changes was probably too many, especially when those coming in were off the pace. But it will help Conte to understand who he can rely on and who are his first 11.

A bounce back and decent performance against Southampton on Sunday is now priority, and I expect the likes of JT, Oscar and Willian to make way and the starting 11 to be the one that started against Utd.

Always preferred the FA Cup anyway.......................!

 

[Ukraine Bolt]

Wasn't able to watch the game last night but from what i've seen/heard it looks like Azpi was RWB and Aina was LWB?  Strange decision by Conte.  I can see why he wanted to try Azpi on the right but throwing a right footed Aina into a completely new position on the left seemed a bit harsh, personally i think Alonso would have made a massive difference this game.

[Guest Sindre]

Conte clearly wanted to experiment a littlebit and get some answers in a cup he clearly doesn't care much for.

[Brutos]

Yes look at his comments after the match this was an experiment for him

[charierre]

I think Conte will have taken a few pointers from last night's game. His system requires good wingbacks, at present we only have two. I was disappointed with Azpi last night, would be interesting to see if Aina would have operated better on his natural right foot. We clearly need a left footed backup. JT looked a fish out of water in a back three. Bats looked a little lightweight to lead the line. Overall seven changes was probably too many on the night,we lacked cohesion. 

.

 

[Guest Sindre]

Really important game coming up against Southampton. A win would solidify us as serious title candidates in my view as Southampton are a good team.

[bola]

7 hours ago, DaRick said:

No idea. Neither of us really know what offers Conte received. All we can do is speculate. 

However, given that he agreed to join Chelsea early in April 2016, he IMO would have received fewer offers than he otherwise would have had he waited until later (say, June) to consider his options. 

Had he waited until later, PSG, for example, might well have tried luring him, since IMO while Emery is a good manager he is not on par with Conte. Emery has been good at making sides competitive and (as of late) leading them to cup titles, but he does not quite have Conte's record, nor has he resurrected sides in the doldrums like Conte has. Even in Ligue 1, PSG is ATM underperforming. 

Like it or not, at that point in time PSG was at least arguably higher profile than Chelsea.

 

 

 

Might as well or might not luring him is something we don't know, maybe emery was always 1st choice, we don't know... yes, it's all speculation whether or not he received any other 'top' offer but based on what have been reported, it seemed like we're the only top club that went in for him at that time..

whether or not PSG would eventually go for conte (had he still been available) over emery is far from forgone conclusion unless you're the one who call the shot at PSG because clearly you rate the former more and that would bring me to challenge your claim about conte's  so called record and 'has resurrected sides in the doldrums'.. 

 

If  by 'the side in doldrums' you mean the old lady (The biggest and the most influence club in Italy) then I don't think we could really use it as a milestone to justify conte's achievement.. For a start, when they're demoted, they still retained a good number of their main players and when they got back up and still remain dominated, well, hardly surprising given calciopolly fiasco that happened before.. The old lady remained dominated domestically but poor in europe at that time, that tells its own story imo..

 

As for the other record, AVB had at least, if not better, similar record with a lower division club before taking over porto and when talking at international level, well, greece won euro 2004.. who was their manager again?

 

You may not like it but I don't think conte has done enough to be included in the top manager bracket.. The jury is still out, we'll see..

 

 

 

 

 

[PloKoon13]

28 minutes ago, bola said:

maybe emery was always 1st choice, we don't know... yes, it's all speculation

Considering European success is really the only way PSG can lift themselves to the 'next level', I wouldn't be surprised if their sole motive for appointing Emery was the fact that he'd won three consecutive Europa League trophies.

[DaRick]

 

15 hours ago, bola said:

 

Might as well or might not luring him is something we don't know, maybe emery was always 1st choice, we don't know... yes, it's all speculation whether or not he received any other 'top' offer but based on what have been reported, it seemed like we're the only top club that went in for him at that time..

whether or not PSG would eventually go for conte (had he still been available) over emery is far from forgone conclusion unless you're the one who call the shot at PSG because clearly you rate the former more and that would bring me to challenge your claim about conte's  so called record and 'has resurrected sides in the doldrums'.. 

Indeed, I do clearly rate Conte more and I suspect that is a widely held opinion. If you can explain to me why Emery is objectively better though, then I'm all ears (or eyes LOL). 

 

If  by 'the side in doldrums' you mean the old lady (The biggest and the most influence club in Italy) then I don't think we could really use it as a milestone to justify conte's achievement.. For a start, when they're demoted, they still retained a good number of their main players and when they got back up and still remain dominated, well, hardly surprising given calciopolly fiasco that happened before.. The old lady remained dominated domestically but poor in europe at that time, that tells its own story imo..

I think we can. They came 7th in Serie A in both 2009/10 and 2010/11, sometimes ranking behind sides that have never even won a Scudetto (Palermo and Udinese). It is true that they retained many good players after their trip to Serie B and back, but they were far from the dominant force they were upon their return to Serie A before Conte came along. 

After Conte came in, they not only won their first (legitimate) Scudetto for about a decade, but two more after that. They also became much better in Europe, as you admit. I think one can reasonably conclude Juventus regained their powerhouse status because of his efforts. 

 

As for the other record, AVB had at least, if not better, similar record with a lower division club before taking over porto and when talking at international level, well, greece won euro 2004.. who was their manager again?

Respectfully, I have a hard time understanding your point. Making Academica competitive, while laudable, is hardly on the same level as winning 3 consecutive Scudettos. Conte also won a Serie B title with Bari, if we're talking lower leagues. 

AVB winning the treble with Porto was admittedly impressive and it IMO justified giving him a shot as a Chelsea manager, but it doesn't demonstrate the same staying power as delivering 3 consecutive Scudettos does. Also, unlike Conte, who IMO overperformed with a relatively limited Italian side during the EURO's, AVB has done relatively little to build upon his reputation since. For example, his Chelsea tenure was a disaster, and he only managed to win one Russian Premier League title with the most consistently talented squad in that league before getting sacked (Zenit). He even managed to finish behind Rostov (!) in his final season there. 

As for Greece winning the EURO's, well...sometimes unheralded or otherwise undistinguished managers win cups. Denmark managed to win EURO 1992. Hell, RDM managed to win the CL and the FA Cup with us; does that put him on par with Conte?  

You may not like it but I don't think conte has done enough to be included in the top manager bracket.. The jury is still out, we'll see..

I actually agree. He's not quite proven himself to be a Guardiola, a Mourinho or an Ancelotti. However IMO he's not too far off...

 

 

 

 

 

[PloKoon13]

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Edited October 28, 2016 by PloKoon13
delete

[PloKoon13]

41 minutes ago, DaRick said:

As for Greece winning the EURO's, well...sometimes unheralded or otherwise undistinguished managers win cups.

 

Wasn't Rehhagel the one who won the league with Kaiserslautern?

[PloKoon13]

Apparently he was the one who turned Werder Bremen into a serious force as well.