EXIT STRATEGY?
Antonio Conte and José Mourinho are not BFFs. They’re not even FFs, although they have been known to effing eff at one another on the touchline. In January 2018, while Manchester City were charging towards the title at record speed, Conte and Mourinho passed the time by slinging thinly-disguised abuse back and forth via the medium of press conferences. The insults included “clown”, “fake” and “demenza senile”, and the whole thing peaked when Mourinho, reaching a heroic level of gratuitous pettiness, referenced Conte’s historical ban for failing to report match-fixing. “Did he? Not me.” In other news, both were sacked before the end of the year. And while they’d never admit it, like many enemies they have plenty in common. They’re winners, for one thing, but heaven help the rest of the world when they realise they’re fighting a losing battle. That’s where another shared quality comes in; when it comes to conscientious, passive-aggressive pursuit of the sack, Conte and Mourinho are world leaders.
