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Kane's replacement as he is going.
The usual downgrade
I'm Spurs through and through and I'm sick of ENIC's smoke and mirrors.
It is their management of the club that has led to all of this.
How can we take it seriously any longer?
I've just watched Woolwich come to our ground and win easily.
We helped them.
I've seen worse Spurs teams, than the current side, take at least a point of better Woolwich sides than the one that played Spurs today.
Perisic is a key player for Spurs.
Sessegnon is a joke.
Conte knows this better than me or you.
But I'm the fucking idiot?
Potentially, but even if so, why then? Why not wait till Kane goes? Why not use that money at that time on defenders that the manager wants instead?
Because we have useless cunts running the club
You said Conte football is for the history museum or something like that, whilst completely dismissing for no reason that we played well last season under him.
This is bang on 
After the final whistle, after the booing and brawling had subsided, as Woolwich’s giddy players jigged and danced their way over to their supporters in the corner, Yves Bissouma stood alone in the Tottenham half watching them. Watching with longing, and envy, and perhaps even a certain curiosity. Joy? Pleasure? Celebration? What are these strange new things?
By that stage, of course, Bissouma’s teammates had long since retired to the warmth of the dressing room. They did not want to be there any longer, and nor did the Tottenham fans who were already slogging down the High Road in search of liquid consolation. Antonio Conte, as he never tires of telling us, does still want to be here. Ideally. Providing several important conditions are met. It can hardly be his fault, after all, that the club keeps disappointing him like this.
Conte is one of the world’s great coaches. No quibbles there. But some coaches and clubs are simply the wrong fit for each other. Tottenham have now played six games against the rest of the big seven and lost every one, bar the late draw at Chelsea. What is the purpose of Conte’s nous and experience if not to navigate them through the biggest games? How many players have improved under him, developed, found new levels? If you were the sporting director at an elite European club looking to raid Tottenham for their best young talent, who would you look at to build a team around for the next five years?
Dejan Kulusevski, certainly. Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero, maybe. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, fitness permitting. The rest you would probably discard. Bissouma, signed to such fanfare in the summer, has retreated into himself. The same for Ryan Sessegnon. Djed Spence may turn into a player, but we’re not finding out any time soon. Pape Sarr has promise, but throwing a debutant into a two-on-four midfield ambush in a game of this size was an act of pure dereliction, and one with predictable consequences.
None of this is really the issue, though. As Tottenham forlornly tried to feel their way into a game that had started without them, the stench of gilded dysfunction poured out of every orifice. Heavy touches. Passes straight out of play. Passes to static players who had no room to manoeuvre. A genuinely unbelievable percentage of Tottenham attacks ended up with the ball at Hugo Lloris’s feet, as if they were trying to score the perfect team goal in reverse. At one point Pierre-Emile Højbjerg tried a little diagonal dink to Kulusevski and ended up not merely putting it out of play, but sending it halfway to Hornsey. There is a fear here, a fatalism, sod’s law in football club form. What if that pass gets cut out? What if I lose possession? What if Woolwich counter? Don’t make a mistake. DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE.
Antonio Conte showed in the defeat against Woolwich that he has failed to bring about any improvement in the players under his charge. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Remember Woolwich’s first game back after the World Cup? West Ham at home. Everyone’s wondering whether they still have it. Whether the break will kill their flow. They go a goal down. And the noise that rises around them is a godly thing: a howl of defiance and conviction, a storm to scream down the storm. The players still remember it fondly. Martin Ødegaard mentioned it last week. It was their fortifying moment.
Here Tottenham went a goal down. Nothing. Just the hiss of leaking air, a numbness, a dumbness. What if Woolwich win the league? What if Kane leaves? What is this thing we’ve paid to watch? Our bills keep rising, nothing works, last year’s Golden Boot winner has forgotten how to trap a football and it’s been raining for about four months. Best to sit quietly and wait for this to pass, which it will not.
There are a lot of things here that are not Conte’s fault, but one important thing that is. Conte is not responsible for the years of dysfunction that preceded him, Son’s mystifying decline, the uneven squad he inherited. It is not Conte’s fault that Woolwich are as good as they are, their movement so precise, extreme order in the clothes of extreme chaos, Ødegaard a man playing in his own personal metaverse, Bukayo Saka a winger who simply refuses to let you have the ball.
But when a coach’s commitment to the club feels so conditional, why should anybody else sweat and bleed for it? Conte is not wedded to this project as Pep Guardiola is to Manchester City or Jürgen Klopp to Liverpool. He does not empathise with Tottenham as Mikel Arteta does with Woolwich or Gareth Ainsworth with Wycombe. This is a job, and a strictly limited-term job at that, a job to keep him going until something better comes along. His priority, career-wise, is simply not to mess up. Grasp that, and everything you see on the pitch makes a little more sense.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess. The Conte interregnum should at least end Daniel Levy’s masochistic obsession with managers who believe the club is beneath them. A club of Tottenham’s size should not be trying to hire the last great coach but the next, the visionary who can pick through this shambles piece by piece, keep what works and sweep away what does not. At the very least, it should find someone who really, unconditionally wants to be there. Why, indeed, should any club settle for anything less?
Spurs’ – and Conte’s – lack of fervour thrown into stark relief by Woolwich
Led by a manager who is treading water, Tottenham are going nowhere, while their derby rivals kick on with commitment
Jonathan Liew
After the final whistle, after the booing and brawling had subsided, as Woolwich’s giddy players jigged and danced their way over to their supporters in the corner, Yves Bissouma stood alone in the Tottenham half watching them. Watching with longing, and envy, and perhaps even a certain curiosity. Joy? Pleasure? Celebration? What are these strange new things?
By that stage, of course, Bissouma’s teammates had long since retired to the warmth of the dressing room. They did not want to be there any longer, and nor did the Tottenham fans who were already slogging down the High Road in search of liquid consolation. Antonio Conte, as he never tires of telling us, does still want to be here. Ideally. Providing several important conditions are met. It can hardly be his fault, after all, that the club keeps disappointing him like this.
Conte is one of the world’s great coaches. No quibbles there. But some coaches and clubs are simply the wrong fit for each other. Tottenham have now played six games against the rest of the big seven and lost every one, bar the late draw at Chelsea. What is the purpose of Conte’s nous and experience if not to navigate them through the biggest games? How many players have improved under him, developed, found new levels? If you were the sporting director at an elite European club looking to raid Tottenham for their best young talent, who would you look at to build a team around for the next five years?
Dejan Kulusevski, certainly. Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero, maybe. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, fitness permitting. The rest you would probably discard. Bissouma, signed to such fanfare in the summer, has retreated into himself. The same for Ryan Sessegnon. Djed Spence may turn into a player, but we’re not finding out any time soon. Pape Sarr has promise, but throwing a debutant into a two-on-four midfield ambush in a game of this size was an act of pure dereliction, and one with predictable consequences.
None of this is really the issue, though. As Tottenham forlornly tried to feel their way into a game that had started without them, the stench of gilded dysfunction poured out of every orifice. Heavy touches. Passes straight out of play. Passes to static players who had no room to manoeuvre. A genuinely unbelievable percentage of Tottenham attacks ended up with the ball at Hugo Lloris’s feet, as if they were trying to score the perfect team goal in reverse. At one point Pierre-Emile Højbjerg tried a little diagonal dink to Kulusevski and ended up not merely putting it out of play, but sending it halfway to Hornsey. There is a fear here, a fatalism, sod’s law in football club form. What if that pass gets cut out? What if I lose possession? What if Woolwich counter? Don’t make a mistake. DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE.
Antonio Conte showed in the defeat against Woolwich that he has failed to bring about any improvement in the players under his charge. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Remember Woolwich’s first game back after the World Cup? West Ham at home. Everyone’s wondering whether they still have it. Whether the break will kill their flow. They go a goal down. And the noise that rises around them is a godly thing: a howl of defiance and conviction, a storm to scream down the storm. The players still remember it fondly. Martin Ødegaard mentioned it last week. It was their fortifying moment.
Here Tottenham went a goal down. Nothing. Just the hiss of leaking air, a numbness, a dumbness. What if Woolwich win the league? What if Kane leaves? What is this thing we’ve paid to watch? Our bills keep rising, nothing works, last year’s Golden Boot winner has forgotten how to trap a football and it’s been raining for about four months. Best to sit quietly and wait for this to pass, which it will not.
There are a lot of things here that are not Conte’s fault, but one important thing that is. Conte is not responsible for the years of dysfunction that preceded him, Son’s mystifying decline, the uneven squad he inherited. It is not Conte’s fault that Woolwich are as good as they are, their movement so precise, extreme order in the clothes of extreme chaos, Ødegaard a man playing in his own personal metaverse, Bukayo Saka a winger who simply refuses to let you have the ball.
But when a coach’s commitment to the club feels so conditional, why should anybody else sweat and bleed for it? Conte is not wedded to this project as Pep Guardiola is to Manchester City or Jürgen Klopp to Liverpool. He does not empathise with Tottenham as Mikel Arteta does with Woolwich or Gareth Ainsworth with Wycombe. This is a job, and a strictly limited-term job at that, a job to keep him going until something better comes along. His priority, career-wise, is simply not to mess up. Grasp that, and everything you see on the pitch makes a little more sense.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess. The Conte interregnum should at least end Daniel Levy’s masochistic obsession with managers who believe the club is beneath them. A club of Tottenham’s size should not be trying to hire the last great coach but the next, the visionary who can pick through this shambles piece by piece, keep what works and sweep away what does not. At the very least, it should find someone who really, unconditionally wants to be there. Why, indeed, should any club settle for anything less?
The players responded to Conte last season.
My view is based on what I have seen over the whole of this season.
Spurs have not been convincing even when they have won a game.
The results now reflect the performances that have been consistent all season.
Conte usually stays for two seasons and then the players get fed up.
This lot are fed up in less than two seasons.
I have only seen sky highlights so far and will watch full game on Spursplay to do the ratings. I did note that Lloris came off his feet and dived backwards for the first goal. A simple firm punch or parry from a standing position would have done. He shouldn't really be getting beat from that distance on the second goal either.
I saw our best chances to score and they were reasonable attempts but not quite good enough to beat Ramsdale.
If anyone feels like rating I would appreciate it. I know it's painful.
I saw our best chances to score and they were reasonable attempts but not quite good enough to beat Ramsdale.
If anyone feels like rating I would appreciate it. I know it's painful.
Then it says as much about them as it seemingly says about Conte.
Just woke up here in oz….seen the result. Disappointed but pretty much what I was expecting really.
Our season is going absolutely no where now. Won’t see any major signings and that conte will walk along with Kane at the end of the season. It’s going to be another tough few more seasons, ahead . A tough few more years with these owners
Just going to have to pray city get their act together and win the league.
Our season is going absolutely no where now. Won’t see any major signings and that conte will walk along with Kane at the end of the season. It’s going to be another tough few more seasons, ahead . A tough few more years with these owners
Just going to have to pray city get their act together and win the league.
You can never go back
I am not saying otherwise though. I haven't once said that Conte shouldn't be doing better or the players shouldn't be doing better. I am simply saying that it doesn't matter who we get in to replace the manager, the end result will remain the same whilst these owners are here.
This is bang on
Spurs’ – and Conte’s – lack of fervour thrown into stark relief by Woolwich
Led by a manager who is treading water, Tottenham are going nowhere, while their derby rivals kick on with commitment
Jonathan Liew
After the final whistle, after the booing and brawling had subsided, as Woolwich’s giddy players jigged and danced their way over to their supporters in the corner, Yves Bissouma stood alone in the Tottenham half watching them. Watching with longing, and envy, and perhaps even a certain curiosity. Joy? Pleasure? Celebration? What are these strange new things?
By that stage, of course, Bissouma’s teammates had long since retired to the warmth of the dressing room. They did not want to be there any longer, and nor did the Tottenham fans who were already slogging down the High Road in search of liquid consolation. Antonio Conte, as he never tires of telling us, does still want to be here. Ideally. Providing several important conditions are met. It can hardly be his fault, after all, that the club keeps disappointing him like this.
Conte is one of the world’s great coaches. No quibbles there. But some coaches and clubs are simply the wrong fit for each other. Tottenham have now played six games against the rest of the big seven and lost every one, bar the late draw at Chelsea. What is the purpose of Conte’s nous and experience if not to navigate them through the biggest games? How many players have improved under him, developed, found new levels? If you were the sporting director at an elite European club looking to raid Tottenham for their best young talent, who would you look at to build a team around for the next five years?
Dejan Kulusevski, certainly. Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero, maybe. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, fitness permitting. The rest you would probably discard. Bissouma, signed to such fanfare in the summer, has retreated into himself. The same for Ryan Sessegnon. Djed Spence may turn into a player, but we’re not finding out any time soon. Pape Sarr has promise, but throwing a debutant into a two-on-four midfield ambush in a game of this size was an act of pure dereliction, and one with predictable consequences.
None of this is really the issue, though. As Tottenham forlornly tried to feel their way into a game that had started without them, the stench of gilded dysfunction poured out of every orifice. Heavy touches. Passes straight out of play. Passes to static players who had no room to manoeuvre. A genuinely unbelievable percentage of Tottenham attacks ended up with the ball at Hugo Lloris’s feet, as if they were trying to score the perfect team goal in reverse. At one point Pierre-Emile Højbjerg tried a little diagonal dink to Kulusevski and ended up not merely putting it out of play, but sending it halfway to Hornsey. There is a fear here, a fatalism, sod’s law in football club form. What if that pass gets cut out? What if I lose possession? What if Woolwich counter? Don’t make a mistake. DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE.
Antonio Conte showed in the defeat against Woolwich that he has failed to bring about any improvement in the players under his charge. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Remember Woolwich’s first game back after the World Cup? West Ham at home. Everyone’s wondering whether they still have it. Whether the break will kill their flow. They go a goal down. And the noise that rises around them is a godly thing: a howl of defiance and conviction, a storm to scream down the storm. The players still remember it fondly. Martin Ødegaard mentioned it last week. It was their fortifying moment.
Here Tottenham went a goal down. Nothing. Just the hiss of leaking air, a numbness, a dumbness. What if Woolwich win the league? What if Kane leaves? What is this thing we’ve paid to watch? Our bills keep rising, nothing works, last year’s Golden Boot winner has forgotten how to trap a football and it’s been raining for about four months. Best to sit quietly and wait for this to pass, which it will not.
There are a lot of things here that are not Conte’s fault, but one important thing that is. Conte is not responsible for the years of dysfunction that preceded him, Son’s mystifying decline, the uneven squad he inherited. It is not Conte’s fault that Woolwich are as good as they are, their movement so precise, extreme order in the clothes of extreme chaos, Ødegaard a man playing in his own personal metaverse, Bukayo Saka a winger who simply refuses to let you have the ball.
But when a coach’s commitment to the club feels so conditional, why should anybody else sweat and bleed for it? Conte is not wedded to this project as Pep Guardiola is to Manchester City or Jürgen Klopp to Liverpool. He does not empathise with Tottenham as Mikel Arteta does with Woolwich or Gareth Ainsworth with Wycombe. This is a job, and a strictly limited-term job at that, a job to keep him going until something better comes along. His priority, career-wise, is simply not to mess up. Grasp that, and everything you see on the pitch makes a little more sense.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess. The Conte interregnum should at least end Daniel Levy’s masochistic obsession with managers who believe the club is beneath them. A club of Tottenham’s size should not be trying to hire the last great coach but the next, the visionary who can pick through this shambles piece by piece, keep what works and sweep away what does not. At the very least, it should find someone who really, unconditionally wants to be there. Why, indeed, should any club settle for anything less?
Makes one really excellent point.
This club needs a visionary coach to have any chance.
Now compare to Brighton who lost potter and skipped straight into another coach to get a song from their players in De Zerbi.
Our Chairman doesn’t have the ability to run a football team.
Why not?
I've given Conte the benefit of the doubt until today.
He has been stubborn about the 3-4-3 and the excuse for failure has been that he needs the right players to fit his system.
Conte refuses to change the system even if it costs Spurs points; as it did in the games against Brentford away and Villa at home.
Both teams had one striker but Conte stuck rigidly to 3 centre backs.
Conte went with the same system today but instead of picking his best two wing backs he picked Sessegnon ahead of Perisic.
Perisic has 5 assists for Spurs this season. More than any other Spurs player.
Sessegnon has been underwhelming at best.
Conte set Spurs up to fail today in my honest opinion.
Hugo Lloris helped his cause.
They are both stinking up Spurs.
I love Spurs so I want both of these self interested pricks dumped sooner rather than later.
Seriously that's literally the case!No! I still remember that 3-3 against West Ham